Chapter 50

I woke bright and early one morning with a horrible feeling in my stomach. It had me dashing to the bathroom, and I was heaving heavily into the toilet. It was a horrible feeling, and I wasn't sure how long this was going to last. Once I was done, I moved to wash out my mouth.

"Are you all right?"

The knock on the other side of the door had me grumbling. "I'm fine," I grunted, washing my mouth out.

Another month later and I was hit with terrible sickness, puking at whatever didn't smell good. Usually I had pretty good control over it, but the early mornings were awful. I was happy to say that my cravings were not as bad as Dis's when she had been pregnant with Kili. Sighing softly, I fixed my hair and made sure my mouth was clean before I walked out. Thorin was waiting patiently and he arched his brow with a slight smile on his face. I gave him a narrowed look and walked past him, heading for the door.

Thorin chuckled softly and followed after me. He grabbed my hand when we got into the hall, and he wrapped my arm through his. I glanced at him, and couldn't help the gentle smile that came to my face. It was cold today, but soon it would be spring. Soon, we'd have a wedding to throw. Tauriel had made a point to start learning more about dwarves, and Kili had done what he could to learn about elves.

We had meetings to attend today, and the King didn't want me out of his sight. It annoyed me to no end, but I sighed and let him have his way. I participated as best I could during the meetings, before I became unbearably bored. Taking notice, Thorin gestured to Fili who immediately got to his feet.

"Fili, will you please take Arina out for a walk," he rumbled.

"Yes, Uncle," Fili nodded.

I grinned and got to my feet quickly and joined the prince as offered his arm. We left the room, I let out a huge sigh of happiness. Fili glanced at me gently, and patted my hand. He was always so kind to me, and it was very clear that he was a favorite of mine. With Kili now in love, he was much more scarce.

"Maybe you should come to these things more often," Fili chuckled.

"Only so you can get out of them," I smiled.

"It's a possibility," he laughed.

"Right," I snorted. "Well, I'm hungry so let's get something to eat."

We did go through the mountain to greet as many people as we could, and several dwarves were excited to see that I was indeed showing. The announcement had gone out two weeks ago that we were expecting and there had been a grand party. Any excuse the dwarves had, they'd throw a feast. Humming, I walked down to the market with Fili and picked out a few things to eat. Usually, we went to Bofur's tavern but I didn't feel like sitting down just yet.

"And have you made any progress with Sigrid?" I asked, tilting toward him.

"I'm working on it," Fili flushed. "She isn't making it easy."

"Then you found yourself a good woman," I laughed.

He blushed again, and I took a bite of the warm bread I had taken a slice of. We found our way back through the mountain and to a balcony where it over looked where all the gold had been. I remembered this being the same one I had come to see Thorin on when we had first arrived back at Erebor. It sent a soft shiver through my body, and I turned when I heard the familiar footsteps of the dwarf. Fili smiled at me, and leaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek before walking off.

"What brought you here?" Thorin asked, his voice gentle.

"We were just walking. I enjoyed stretching my legs," I hummed.

"I do remember the….significance of this place," he sighed. "This was where you all arrived when we got to the mountain."

"Yes, sorry. Guess it's a habit to go back to things from the past," I answered, my voice a soft sigh. "How was the meeting?"

"We are starting trade with Rohan," he answered. "One of the King's men came to initiate contact."

"Who is king right now in Rohan?" I asked curiously.

"Lord Fengel," Thorin replied slowly. "Have you heard of him?"

"I've heard of him, yes," I nodded.

"I do not like the stories I've heard," Thorin rumbled. "He is greedy, and does not do well to protect his own. It's like goldsickness has passed on to humans."

"With humans it isn't a sickness," I sighed. "Humans are naturally greedy. This should come as no surprise. Just be cautious with entering this trade. Do as little as possible. Do not give him the ability to call you for aid."

"Oh?"

"When a great king of men rises, you will know," I hummed.

He smiled, and pressed a kiss to my lips. I wrapped my arms around his waist gently, and leaned into him quietly.

"Ow," I sighed, leaning back into my chair.

"Is the babe kicking?" Dis asked, looking up from what she was doing.

"Yes," I hummed. "How is the wedding planning coming?"

"It is lovely," Dis smiled. "Don't worry. You'll have nothing to do when it comes. It's almost done. All the invitations have come back, and it will be fine."

I sighed, and glanced outside for a moment. The sun was out, and finally the snow had melted giving way to spring. I had two months left, and the midwives had said everything was progressing along well. I hated how fast things had gone and now I was feeling huge. I had stayed active, and still did everything I needed to do. It was easy, but I had tried not to shift unless I needed to. The trade with Fengel had gone better than expected, but I was assuming it was because we weren't dealing directly with the King of Rohan.

Leaning back again, I closed my eyes for a long moment as Dis worked away on something. Everyone had started taking bets on what the baby was, but I wasn't holding my breath. Dis had been keeping me company as Thorin had become more busy as the weather changed. He had gone down to Esgaroth several times already to over see the building, and had been doing other things. It kept him away much longer than I'd have wanted but I didn't complain. He made sure I was well taken care of each time he had to leave.

When Dis finally had to leave for the day, she had Dwalin come into the room. I arched my brow in surprise and he gave me one of his rare smiles. He took me down through the mountain to stretch my feet. I did the last of my own royal duties and made sure I had stopped by the healing halls. The healer there smiled as he checked me out, and he reached back and gave me some herbs that would ease my stomach.

"Put this in a tea," he instructed. "It will help."

"Thank you," I sighed.

Dwalin grunted a little once we were leaving, and I made sure to order a large dinner for him. The servants set it up for us in my chambers, and I let Fili and Kili join us briefly. Kili gave me a big hug and sat down with us for dinner. It was nice to have the company, and eased my mind. Thorin was hopefully returning tonight, but I wasn't sure I was able to stay up late enough. Dwalin saw the princes out of the room while I finally sat down to read and he went to the balcony to smoke.

"You know, I don't need a babysitter," I informed him. "I'm fine."

"Knowing you, I'd walk out this door and you'd trip over something," Dwalin grunted, blowing out smoke. "I think I'll take my chances and stay. Plus, I don't get silence like this very often."

I smiled, "If you insist."

Thorin's POV

He sighed softly as he jumped off his pony and handed the reins to a guard. It was raining out, and the building of Esgaroth had started up again. He had overseen several projects and had even helped out himself. It had been a good month since he had truly been home. He'd return at night only to be gone in the morning again. Being a king in the Blue Mountains had been easy. For most of it, his father and grandfather had ruled. So he had come in after it had been established. Erebor needed much work still, and on top of that he wanted to make this city and Dale prosper again.

There were so many things he wanted to do, to make things right. He had wronged many people back when he had been stuck in goldsickness. It was the least he could do. It was much better than being dead, he had to admit that. Walking back into the mountain, he slowly made his way back to his chambers. He was tired and wanted nothing more than dinner and a hot bath. Finding one of his servants, he requested a meal to be brought up to his chambers, and added something extra for Arina.

He smiled as he thought of her. Over the last few months, she had really started showing. He hadn't been able to feel the baby move yet, but she spoke of it often. He was desperately wanting to feel the movement, but with how busy things had been he wasn't ever able too. Opening the door to his chambers, he quietly walked inside. It was early evening, the sun not yet set. Glancing to the balcony, he was surprised to see Dwalin there, smoking a pipe. The warmaster turned when he heard the noise, and he relaxed.

Turning back to the room, he saw Arina curled up in his chair, asleep with a book on her belly. He softened instantly, and turned to go dismiss Dwalin. His friend gave him a silent nod, and straightened up.

"How was she today?" Thorin asked.

"She becomes bigger every time I see her," Dwalin chuckled. "She is fine. She is still doing her duties, but she does not last as long."

"The building is going well, I am glad to say I can actually stay within the mountain tomorrow," Thorin sighed.

Dwalin nodded. "I'll be sure to tell your sister."

"Thank you, Dwalin," Thorin grasped his friends arm.

Once he was alone with Arina, Thorin slowly walked over and removed the book from her growing belly. He watched quietly, and saw a spot move on her and she shifted in response. He smiled, and gently reached out and laid his hand on her stomach. The soft bump instantly had him freezing, and soon he was feeling little feet stretching across Arina's stomach. It was an amazing feeling, and he knelt quietly to continue keeping his hand in place.

"Oh, Mahal help me," he whispered.

Arina's hand came forward, over lapping his own and she hummed sleepily. "It's about time you felt him move."

"Him?" Thorin asked.

"I'm hoping for a boy," she admitted, her voice still heavy with sleep.

"You could give me a girl and I would still be the happiest dwarf alive," Thorin rumbled, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, and he stroked her cheek gently. Getting to his feet, he went into the bathroom to take a hot bath. It was close to heaven on earth for him. He was extremely sore, and tired. When he finished, he let her brush his hair and then he ate his dinner before he took his Queen to bed for the night. She was already close to falling asleep in his chair again when he finished eating, that he picked her up and just took her to bed.

So, I did it. Yup. I'm so glad at all the feedback from it! I tried to update quickly, but the next one might take a little longer. I need to catch up and write some more. So, do your thing. Comment, follow and favorite.

See you all in 2016! I hope you all enjoy the holiday!