Thorin woke up and felt dizzy instantly. Daughters. Two daughters. By Mahal.

'Thorin...husband, wake up.' he could hear Branns voice in the distance. She sounded amused.

'For Mahals sake, brother, don't be such a sissy.' that was Dis.

'See? I'm not the only one fainting.' Dwalin.

Thorin groaned as he opened his eyes. He was in his bed, surrounded by his family and friends.

'Hello there.' Brann smiled as her husband looked at her with a confused expression.

'What happened?' Thorin tried to sit up, but his head was still spinning.

'You were told that you have two daughters and you fainted. Hit the ground like a tree.' Dis chuckled.

'Two daughters...' Thorin felt sick. He could not even say what he felt at the moment. He was simply overwhelmed and happy. Female dwarves were so rare and and female twins were even more rare. In fact he wasn't sure if there had ever been female twins created by the Maker.

'Our jewels.' Brann smiled and looked at her husband adoringly.

'Their eyes are so blue! Like lapislazuli.' Kili looked down at his cousins. He and his brother did not move from the princesses sides. They adored them already. Thrain sat at the fire and smiled happily. He had two grandsons and two grandaughters. His family was complete and he felt at ease. He could leave them without a bad consciense. They did not need him anymore. But he would take his time with the leave.

'None of us had ever thought of having a girl, we did not even think about it once!' Brann sighed and shook her head. She had been living with dwarves for so long that she had adapted their whole way of thinking. Never she had thought about having a daughter. Or in this case, two daughters.

Brann was still sore and could not get up and Thorin still felt dizzy. The royal couple stayed in bed while their daughters slept peacefully at their side. Their family and friends began to leave and gave them some privacy.

'We will leave you now.' Dis smiled knowingly. 'If you need anything, just call for us.'

Brann nodded gratefully and Thorin frowned at his retreating family. He felt completely lost, but happy nevertheless. Never before he had felt such a chaos of emotions and he was more than confused.

'Thorin...' Brann smiled at her husband sleepily. 'We need new names. May I remind you that it took a really long time to decide to name them Thrain and Thror? And I don't even want to think about all the names Fili and Kili threw our way. What do we do?'

Thorin swallowed heavily, but then a smile brightened up his face. 'I say we do not leave this room until we have names.' the king smirked.

'You could name one Lapis and the other one Lazuli.' Kili grinned brightly as his aunt and uncle groaned. Their nephew had stayed hidden behind the craddle as his mother had left. His brother probably had kept their mother distracted and she had been so overwhelmed by her brothers daughters that she was not really paying attention.

'Come here, you little rascal.' Brann laughed as Kili snuggled in between of her and Thorin.

'What are you doing? You have your own two dwarflings now, don't steal away mine!' Dis stormed back into their chambers and pointed her finger at her son. 'Believe me, you will wish the peaceful times back one day.'

Dis could not help but laugh as she swirled out of the room with Kili under her arm. Thorin fell back onto his pillow with a groan and Brann took a look at their little ones who slept in their cradles.

'Lapis and Lazuli...I am so tired that I even think that its a good idea.' Brann sighed and leaned back against her husband who had sneaked up behind her.

'You were so brave, I am proud of you.' Thorin whispered into Branns ear and nibbled her neck.

'I did what many females have done before me.' Brann chuckled as she felt Thorins teeth on her skin.

'You gave birth to the two most precious jewels in Middle Earth and you did this all by yourself - well, mostly.' Thorin grinned.

'It was a blessing that Dwalin was with me. I had to concentrate on him instead of my pain and my fear. That way everything was more...easy.' Brann mused. 'But don't tell him that.'

'Never.' Thorin laughed quietly and grabbed his wife, pulling her back into the bed. Their daughters let them both sleep until the next miday.

Thorin woke up to the most beautiful sight he could ever imagine. Brann sat in a huge armchair and was breastfeeding one of the twins. The other twin was still sleeping in the cradle and Brann gently rocked it back and forth with her foot. She looked down at the dwarfling in her arms and smiled lightly. The love in her eyes warmed Thorins heart and he was sure that he could not feel any happier than in this moment.

'Are you going to watch me all morning?' Brann asked him quietly. She could not meet his gaze, for she knew that all the love in his eyes would make her heart stop immediately. She could hear the bedsheets move and then slow and light steps. How a so heavy dwarf could move so quietly Brann would never understand. The queen of the Blue Mountains looked up as her husband kneeled down before the cradle and looked down at his sleeping daughter.

'Good morning, princesses.' Thorin smiled. 'We really need names.'

'We had planned to name them after your father and grandfather.' Brann tilted her head. 'We could simply switch to the names of your mother and grandmother.'

Thorin looked up at his wife in surprise. 'Thats...we could take the name of my mother. But I would rather not chose my grandmothers name.'

'Why?' Brann frowned.

'Well...her name was Dara.' Thorin grinned as he saw Brann open her mouth in shock. 'Don't yell, don't wake up our little gems.'

Brann closed her mouth and forced herself to calm down. 'Alright...then we still need one name.'

'How about Gwen?' Thorin took his wifes hand and looked into her warm eyes. Eyes which filled with tears at the thought of her own mother.

'Gwen...its a name of men.' Brann whispered.

'Its a beautiful name. An honorable name.' Thorin looked down at his daughters. 'What do you think?'

'I think that I have the most perfect husband in Middle Earth.' Brann leaned down and kissed Thorin softly, careful not to wake her daughter who had fallen asleep while eating. She covered herself and put the dwarfling down into the cradle. 'And who is who? And how do we distinguish them?'

'I have an idea.' Thorin kissed his wife and stood up. 'I will be back in a moment.'

Brann watched the king dress and walk out of their rooms in astonishment. As the door closed behind him she looked down at her girls. 'Your father has an idea.' she remarked dryly.

Thorin came back in the evening. What he had planned had taken longer than expected and he had forgotten the time. He was worried that he had left his wife alone with the two newborns, but as he approached the royal chambers he could already hear cheering and laughter. His whole family was there, as well as the twins midwife, Dwalin. He was holding one of the twins in his huge arms, careful not to crush her and hummed happily. Thorin had to blink various times as he saw his old friend like that.

'Thank Mahal that you did not name the girl Dara! I loved my mother but she was not a nice dwarf - must be the name.' Thrain remarked and for the first time in months Thorin saw his eye sparkle in amusement.

'I still can't believe that father helped you while giving birth!' Dwana shook her head. She eyed her father with the little princess in his arms and frowned. She felt jealous when she looked at her father and the little girl. Dwalin had not been there when Dwana was this age. Dwana knew that it was not his fault, but it hurt nevertheless. She almost hated her mother for not telling her father about her. As if he sensed her pain, Thorin Stonehelms arms wrapped around his beloved and the comfort brought a smile to Dwanas face. Thorin did not say a word, but he did not need to.

Brann smiled as she looked at the young couple. Her gaze moved past them and focused on the person standing in the doorway, her Thorin. She tilted her head as she watched him. The king stood leaning against the doorframe, with an expression of love, happiness and...Brann could not count the emotions on the face of her husband. As she had seen him for the first time his face had been as hard as stone, showing bitterness, grief and pain through his eyes. She had been amazed by him back then, amazed and terrified. Now, she could not help but feel a warm feeling in her stomach.

'Sister, what are you staring at...Oi! Welcome back, brother! What is your excuse for leaving your wife alone all day?' Dis grinned as she playfully scolded her older brother.

Thorin grinned at his sister as he made his way into the room. He knew that she was only teasing him and he had a good reason for his absense.

'I made these today.' Thorin held up his hands and showed Dis the two sparkling bracelets.

'Oh my goodness, these are beautiful!' Dis exclaimed and ripped them out of her brothers hands to give them to Brann. The bracelets were made of mithril and gems and Thorin had carved letters into the mithril.

'Gwen and Zial.' Brann read on the bracelets. 'Oh no...' the queen covered her mouth with her hand as tears started streaming down her face.

Thorin was at her side immediately. 'I am so sorry, don't you like them?' He wasn't even sad about it, his worry about his wife was stronger than hurt pride and for a dwarf like Thorin that was an exception.

'They are so beautiful! That is such a wonderful idea!' Brann sobbed.

'Then why are you...' Thorin started to understand. Dis had been this way as she had given birth, too. 'Oh...its that hormone thing.' Brann nodded and smiled at her husband. 'Then you do like them.'

'I do, I really do.' Brann grinned. 'But we still have to decide who is Gwen and who is Zial.'

'They look so much alike, how do you want to decide?' Dwalin looked at the dwarfling in his arms and then back to the other one who slept peacefully in Thrains arms.

'Zial was a strong and hotheaded warrior.' Thrain began to grin. 'Maybe we should decide when they start crying, which should have happened by now. Why aren't they crying? Thorin, Frerin and Dis almost cried me deaf when they were born.'

'Give them time.' Dis smiled. 'Fili and Kili barely cried either.'

As if on cue, the dwarfling in Dwalins arms began screaming bloody murder and the huge dwarf nearly let her fall. 'Whoa, I got Zial!'

And just like that the princesses were named. Thorin and Brann hurried and slipped the bracelets around their daughters wrists. Now they would not confuse them anymore.

The Blue Mountains celebrated the birth of their princesses for a week. The dwarves were delighted and overwhelmed by the news that their king and queen had female twins. In the eyes of the dwarves this was the best omen in Middle Earth and this blessful birth showed them that the Maker had blessed the reign of their royal family. Nobody even thought about the princesses being half human. For the Blue Mountains, the royal family was perfect.

Only one family could not cope with the birth of the twins. This dwarf family from Ered Luin glared daggers at the newborns in the kings and queens arms and did not cheer as the names were announced. The birth of those twins, as well as the queens great health was a near catastrophy for them. Instead of a dead human queen and a weakened king, they had to see a royal couple stronger and happier than ever.

'Now what?' lady Asif asked her husband.

'This was not planned. That damned queen is stronger than I thought.' lord Mara growled. 'The whore should have died in childbirth, like so many dwarven women before her.'

'Our Dara is crushed. She had hoped that everything would turn out well. This is not acceptable.' Asif hissed.

'Dara will have to wait. The queen is from the race of men. She will die of old age soon enough, or even better, the king will lose interest in her when she grows old.' Mara whispered. His eyes turned to slits as he watched the king kissing his queen and his daughters and the hall exploded in cheers and applause.

The celebration of the birth of the princesses was the last week where Brann and Thorin got any sleep. When the twins were one week old they began crying all night long and Brann thought that she was losing her mind. When one twin was sleeping the other one cried and when one was done eating the other one woke up hungry. Brann had banished Thorin from their rooms, so that the king would get some sleep at night. In the beginning Thorin had fought his wife and had stayed in their bed, but after a few more weeks he began to sleep in his old rooms.

One day when Thorin, Dwalin and Balin came into the royal chambers they found a completely nervewracked queen and two crying dwarlings. The princesses had been crying all day and Brann was exhausted. Dis had left with Fili and Kili, the two princes had only kept the princesses awake and Dwana had left to get Brann something to eat, for the queen had not left the royal chambers all day. Brann had dark shadows under her eyes and she was a bit pale. She did not know what to do anymore and could not hold back tears.

'I am so sorry, Thorin.' Brann whispered as she sat down on their bed, moving her hands over her face and through her hair. 'You must believe that I am a horrible mother, I can't even get my own children to sleep.'

'Thats not true!' Thorin took his wife into his arms. 'You are a wonderful mother. You are doing your best.' the king sighed as his queen laid down her head on his shoulders. 'Join Dwana in the kitchen, Dwalin, Balin and I will handle the twins.'

'Are you sure?' Brann asked her husband. She really needed a break.

'I helped raise Fili and Kili and Balin practically raised Dwalin.' Thorin smirked. 'I believe that we are all well practised.'

'Alright. Thank you, my bear.' Brann kissed Thorin on the nose. She looked back at the three dwarves one last time before she closed the door and sighed in relief as she faced the silence of the corridors.

She missed the sight of the king of the Blue Mountains, his captain of the guard and his closest advisor leaning over the cradle and eyeing the twins carefully.

'Now what?' Dwalin asked.

'I don't know.' Thorin sighed. 'Balin?'

The older dwarf shrugged his shoulders. 'Females are different. Dwalin was easy compared to them.' Balin ignored Dwalins huff. 'It was easy entertaining him. I only needed to bring him to the arena, Dwalin always stopped crying when he could see the soldiers of Thrain practise.'

Thorin frowned. 'I don't believe that this will do. What did my parents do when Frerin, Dis and I were crying?'

'They sang.' Balin cocked an eyebrow and looked at his brother and his king. 'Bumm...' he looked at the others and lifted his brows. 'Bumm, bummbummbummbummbumm, Bumm, Bummbummbummbumm...'

Thorin and Dwalin both recognised the melody and sang along.

'Mr. Sandman

bring me a dream

make him the cutest that I've ever seen

give him two lips like roses and clover

then tell him that his lonesome nights are over

sandman I'm so alone don't have nobody to call my own

please turn on your magic beam Mr. Sandman bring me a dream...'

The twins stopped crying and looked up at the three dwarves in awe. The king and the two Fundins looked at each other in triumph. They wanted to step back, but the twins started whinning the moment the three dwarves left their line of sight. Thorin, Balin and Dwalin immediately rushed back and started singing again.

'Mr. Sandman

bring me a dream

make him the cutest that I've ever seen

give him the word that I'm not a rover

then tell him that his lonesome nights are over

sandman I'm so alone don't have nobody to call my own

please turn on your magic beam Mr. Sandman bring me a dream'

Dwalin started swinging from the left to the right and made Thorin and Balin copy his movements. Soon the three adults were dancing around the cradle while singing. They were so concentrated on the twins that they did not notice Brann, Dis and Dwana standing in the doorway, looking at the three dancing and singing dwarves in amusement.

'Mahal, they are so cute!' Brann whispered. Dis nodded and Dwana only rolled her eyes.