Here is than finally chapter five:)
A year had passed since Kili had entered Thorin's life. And Thorin couldn't be more grateful for the little guy. A little ball of sunshine, just starting to learn how to pronounce words right. And the best thing for Thorin: Kili was starting to learn how to walk.
The crawling was slowly fading and Kili was always trying to stand straight. Most of the time he couldn't and needed help from either a table, Thorin or Fili.
Kili didn't like that. He didn't want any help, he wanted to learn it all by himself. But without their help he would constantly fall over. Besides, having Fili next to him made him only feel better about himself.
Fili was now a year older and a year wiser. He was still a little toddler, but he had made friends who were not Kili. Little dwarflings who lived near them and who were just as eager to discover the world as Fili. He loved Kili, more than anything, but Kili wasn't always available to play with.
But it didn't change his feelings about his little cousin. Kili was still his favourite person in the world, next to Thorin of course. He and Kili were both still very young yet inseparable. They were practically always together when Kili was awake and allowed to play.
Thorin had the annoying habit, at least that's how Fili sees it, to not let Kili leave the house or garden without him. Only if Dis was with them it was alright. But with other dwarves, Thorin didn't trust it. 'He is still a baby, he can't just leave the house like you.' Was what Thorin always told his nephew. Fili could dream the sentence by now, he heard it too many times for his likings.
'Are you managing, little one?' Thorin asked, looking down next to the table. Kili was holding on the side of the table, concentration all over his face: 'I cawn dow twhis!' the baby said, getting more stubborn every day. Just like his dad. Thorin grinned and decided to leave his son for a while.
After breakfast, Thorin decided to paint his house. It was a calm day, the sun was shining and no enemies anywhere. There were no meetings and Fili and Dis were on the market. That left Thorin behind, bored. That was why he decided it was the perfect time to do some DIY on his house.
Before getting everything ready, Thorin wanted to have Kili outside the house. He was an overprotective father, he needed Kili to be in the corner of his eye. He was determined to keep his promise to his beloved wife and wanted Kili to stay out of any danger. That included sharp knives and other sharp and heavy objects.
Knowing Kili wanted to walk himself, Thorin gently grabbed Kili's hands and led him outside. Kili had his little hands wrapped around Thorin's thumbs and did little and slow steps. They were a bit clumsy and Thorin could feel Kili's grip tightening at times.
Thorin stopped once they were at the grass right in front of the house. Kili sat down and Thorin gave him the wooden dragon that Bofur had made for him. Thorin went back inside and was surprised to find paint there. He grabbed the tin and a latter and went back outside.
'Little one.' Thorin sighed frustrated when Kili was once again eating grass. Thorin had panicked the first time he caught Kili eating grass. He was deadly afraid Kili would die because of it. Lucky for him, Gandalf was still in town. The old wizard had told him that grass contained no toxic chemicals and that it would do him no harm. Since those helpful words, Thorin let Kili eat it. Though he did not like it.
Thorin placed the tin on the ground, but did it a bit too fast. Paint spat into his face and Thorin had to shut his eyes. Kili started laughing when he saw the paint in his dad's face. Thorin groaned and wiped it out of his face. He turned his head to Kili, who was giggling like it was his last day in Middle-Earth. He smiled and turned back to the painting job.
It was a little before lunch time and Thorin wanted to take a break, when he saw Kili pushing himself up. He slowed down and turned to watch his son. Kili managed to stand straight, still with shaking legs, and turned his body to Thorin. He hesitated but did his first step.
His first ever step. Thorin dropped the tin he had in his hands and dropped down to the ground, opening his arms: 'Come to your father, little one! You can do it!' Kili did little and shaking steps, falling over a few times. Once he was in reach of his father's arms, Kili started walking faster and ended up falling into Thorin's arms. Thorin immediately wrapped them around Kili and he hugged him tightly, kissing him on his forehead: 'I'm so proud of you, kin. Well done.' 'Dawddy happy?' Kili asked, pulling out of the hug. Thorin ruffled his hair, which started to grow longer every day. 'Daddy is very happy. Daddy is very, very proud of you.' Kili cheered and gave Thorin a hug. 'So, what's all this fuss about?'
Thorin looked behind Kili and saw Dis and Fili standing there. 'Sister! Kili, can you show your cousin and aunt what you just did?' Kili nodded confidently, getting another kiss from Thorin. 'What did he do?' Fili asked, walking closer. Kili turned to Fili and did small steps towards him. 'Thorin! He can walk!' Dis exclaimed. 'Kili! Kili, come here!' Fili exclaimed, opening his arms. Kili started walking a bit faster and Fili ran up to him. Kili fell in Fili's arms and smiled up at him: 'Fiwi!' 'Kee! You walked to me! Mother! Did you see that?' Fili gave Kili a hug and stood up. 'Can you walk back to uncle?' Kili nodded and Fili reached for his little hand. Kili took it and with small steps, he walked back Thorin, who was beaming with pride.
Dis ran over to him as well. Thorin stood up, smiling from ear to ear: 'He did his first steps.' 'Thorin, I'm so happy for you! Do you feel it? That feeling when your child does his first steps. It's like there are a thousand little butterflies flying around your stomach. It just makes you proud, doesn't it?' Thorin nodded: 'It does. It definitely does. It's just like when he said his first word. I'm just so proud of him. I'm so proud to call him my son.' Dis smiled and gave Thorin a kiss on his cheek. 'I felt the same with Fili. I was more or less relieved as well, you know? He could finally walk. After all that time. It makes you feel proud of yourself as well. You did it.' Thorin smiled at the ground and looked back inside. What he saw, Thorin would never forget it.
Fili was crouched down to the ground and Kili was walking up to him. Fili had his arms wide open while telling Kili he did he a great job and that he didn't need to be afraid. Thorin watched how Fili's words boosted Kili's confident and the little dwarfling walked to Fili and for the first time, didn't fall into the arms. He grabbed Fili's arms and pulled himself into his arms. Fili wrapped his arms around Kili and gave him a tight hug.
Thorin felt Dis coming up to stand next to him. She was just in time to see Fili hugging Kili and she patted Thorin on his back: 'We are raising our children the right way, brother. Look at them, you would almost say they are brothers, rather than nephews.' She said. Thorin's eyes didn't leave the two boys: 'I'm proud of them. They've achieved so much in their lives, this is just a highlight.' Dis smiled and suddenly noticed the paint on Thorin's face. She raised one eyebrow and said: 'Thorin, have you been painting?'
'What? What do you mean?' Thorin turned around. 'You have paint all over you face. How come I didn't notice earlier? Is there even a bit of paint left to go on the house?' she said, getting a deadly glare from Thorin. 'There is enough to go on the house. In fact, I've already started.' 'Can I help?! I want to paint!' Fili exclaimed, catching the last bit of Thorin's sentence. Thorin wanted to say no, afraid Fili would only paint the wrong things but one glare from his sister made him change his mind: 'Sure you can. Go grab a paintbrush. We are going to start after lunch.' Fili cheered and rushed away. 'Cawn I gow as well?' Kili asked, walking up to Thorin.
Thorin couldn't help but smile. It felt fantastic, having your son walking up to you. He sighed: 'Little one, I think you're a bit too young to start painting.' Kili's eyes filled with tears and Thorin immediately regretted his words. He couldn't take it any more: 'Alright, you can have a go as well. But only on the places that dad points out for you.' The tears were soon gone and Kili rushed after Fili, for as good as possible. His rushing consisted out of fast walking and falling over. Thorin shook his head and walked over to his table: 'You wanna join?' he asked Dis before sitting down. She nodded and sat down next to him.
With some struggle, Thorin and Dis got Fili and Kili at the table as well. The two boys ate as fast as possible and as soon as they were done, Fili jumped out of his seat and rushed outside. Kili let himself slide down and wanted to go after Fili but Thorin stopped him: 'Little one, it's not polite to leave the table when not everyone's quite down yet.' 'Buwt why cawn Fiwi gow?' Kili whined. 'He can't.' Dis said and stood up. She walked over to the door and shouted: 'Fili! Get back inside! You can go when me and Thorin have finished our lunch.' Fili came back inside, grumpy face. He sat down again and crossed his arms. In a poor attempt, Kili copied him, making Thorin grin.
15 minutes had past and Thorin and Dis were done. Fili didn't know how fast he had to get outside. Only this time he waited for Kili to get ready and once he was, Kili followed Fili outside.
Thorin sighed and turned to Dis: 'If the house looks like someone puked on it, you know the reason.' Dis playfully punched his arm: 'That's not very nice. For all you know it could turn out beautiful.'
'Come on, uncle! Let's paint the house!'
I hope you liked it:) I'm sorry for the time it took me to update it again, but here it is finally:) I know it's short but I'll try to get the next chapter to be longer:) xx