'Ad...ad!' Thorin turned around and saw Belladonna stumble towards the throne. She was dragging her stuffed animal over the floor behind her and Thorin was grateful that the stuffed animal was already black, otherwise it would be now. He told himself to remind him to wash that thing if his daughter would let it out of her sight. Which would probably mean - never.

'There is my little munchkin!' Thorin kneeled down and reached out for his little daughter. 'How was your day? And where are your sisters?'

'Adaaaaaad!' Zial and Gwen came storming into the throne room and Thorin jumped. 'We have a new favorite game!'

'And that is?' Thorin asked and hid a smirk. Zial looked like a lady, but Gwen looked as if she had run through the whole mountain in search for him.

'Toss Don - na!' Belladonna chuckled and looked down at her sisters from her fathers arms.

'Toss? What do you mean - toss?' Thorin looked at his older daughters in shock. 'Like tossing, you tossed your sister around?!'

'We wanted to toss Blacky around, but Donna would not let go!' Gwen shrugged her shoulders. 'Donna liked it, she had fun!'

'Nobody tosses a dwarf!' Thorin nearly yelled and noticed Fili, Kili and Gimli stand in the door to the throne room. He could see that Gimli nodded in agreement, but he slowly sneaked away as he saw Thorins glare. 'Fili, Kili! You should take care of your cousins and not let them cause mayhem!'

'You let my sons take care of your daughters?' Dis emerged from the shadows behind the throne. 'Then mayhem is all you will get, dear brother mine.'

Thorin growled and looked over his Belladonna in worry, but he could not detect one buckled hair and sighed in relief.

'Go to your rooms, all of you.' Thorin told his daughters and nephews. 'I will be in our chambers in a moment.'

The four dwarflings hurried to obey and Thorin frowned at his sister, pressing Belladonna close. But his little daughter had different things in mind.

'Toss! Toss!' she shrieked and raised her arms up in the air.

Thorin frowned for a moment and turned around to look for any spectators, then he grabbed Belladonna below the armpits and hurled her up in the air, catching her as she fell down in his arms again. Belladonna shrieked with laughter and her father joined her and tossed her up again and again. Dis looked at her brother with wide eyes and left the throne room shaking her head in amusement. She loved to see her brother happy like that and she loved to watch his father and daughter moments. Dis smirked as she thought about the unexpected returnee who would crash the family dinner this evening. Thorin would be the most happy dwarf in Middle Earth.

Thorin passed by Dwalins office as he went to dinner. He found his old friend standing beside the desk, speaking to Spot, who was sitting on his desk.

'By Durins beard, are you speaking to the cat?' Thorin grinned as he saw Dwalins frown.

'As a matter of fact, I am training him.' Dwalin remarked and looked down at the cat with his best glare. The cat only started to lick his paw unimpressed.

'Spot, down!' Dwalin ordered the cat and pointed to the floor. The cat looked at the dwarf with its best ignorant expression and did not move. 'Spot, I said down!'

Spot actually had the nerve to coil up on Dwalins desk and snuggle his nose into his tail.

Thorin had to laugh at Dwalins successful training.

'He did it yesterday!' Dwalin frowned and gave up. As soon as Dwalin moved away from the table the cat jumped down and walked to the cupboard behind Thorin. 'I think Spot just lacks intelligence to get trained.'

Spot sat down beside the cupboard, looked at Dwalin and meowed. The captain of the guard walked to the cupboard, took out a cane of fish and drapped it on a small dish, handing it down to Spot. Thorin watched in amusement and started grinning.

'He seems intelligent enough to train you, my friend.' Thorin chuckled and started to laugh as he saw realization dawn in Dwalins face.

Thorin was still laughing as they walked to the royal chambers for dinner. His laughter got stuck in his throat as he opened the door to his rooms and saw his wife sit at the fireplace, with Belladonna on her lap and their twins in her arms. The king froze on the spot as he laid eyes on the four females who were the most important thing in his life. His breath stalled and all his emotions barred away in the last months were about to rise to the surface. Even Fili and Kili, who were also there with Dis, did not dare to talk to him as long as he stared at his wife, who he had missed more than anything else during the last months.

'Brann.' he whispered, but his wife did not hear him through the noise. All their three daughters were talking at once, wanting to inform their mother about what happened in her absence. Belladonna was babbling more than she was talking, but to Brann it was a precious moment. Zial was the first to notice Thorin standing in the middle of the room.

'Adad!' she exclaimed and stood up to run to him. Brann turned her head to look at her husband and Thorin could see the same longing in her eyes as must have been showing in his. Slowly, Brann stood up and gave Belladonna to Gwen. Not taking her eyes of her husband, she walked over to him and ran the last steps. With a powerful swing she threw herself in his arms and smirked into his shoulder as he did not even buckle one bit. She realised how much she had missed him as she felt his strong arms wrap around her middle and felt his beard scratch over her cheek. For a moment they just stood there, in each others arms, and refused to let go of the other. Dis silently told the rest of the family to get dinner ready to grant them some time alone. As the dwarflings were gone into the kitchen, Thorin cupped Branns face in his hands and kissed her that passionately that Dwalin blushed and followed the others into the kitchen. Brann did not even have enough breath left to moan, but she returned her husbands kiss fieverishly.

'I love you, by Mahal, I love you so much!' Thorin whispered against Branns lips as they broke the kiss.

'I love you more.' Brann smirked as Thorin shook his head determinately.

The royal couple jumped as a loud sneeze came from outside the door. And another one and another.

'What on earth?' Brann looked at her husband, who grinned.

'Thats Dwana.' Thorin explained and opened the door, only to get sneezed in the face.

'Sorry.' Dwana covered her mouth and nose. 'But then again, it all my husbands fault.'

Thorin Stonehelm followed his wife into the room and walked past the queen. He bowed in reflex and nodded. 'Your majesty.'

Thorin Stonehelm was half the way to the kitchen as he realised who he had greeted. 'Aunt Brann! You are back!' he exclaimed and ran back to the living room. Thorin Oakenshield, Brann and Dwana looked at him in amusement. 'I apologise, I did not get much sleep lately.'

'Why is that?' Brann asked and hugged him and Dwana tightly.

'Because...' Thorin Stonehelm was about to say something, but Dwana elbowed him. 'Because I am sleeping in the armchair since two weeks.'

'Why?' Brann looked at him and Dwana in surprise.

'Dwana will tell you at dinner.' Thorin Oakenshield smirked and led Brann to the kitchen. 'Now we eat. And we celebrate.'

Dinner passed quickly. Brann had almost leaped over the table as Dwana told her that she and Thorin would have a dwarfling. For some reason, Brann could only imagine a small dwarfling with a mohawk. Dwana had to sneeze every few moments and the royal family placed bets on how often in succession she would sneeze the next time.

'Five times!' Gwen grinned.

'Eight times!' Fili exclaimed.

'What about you, Thorin?' Kili asked Dwanas husband.

'You are betting on my wife, I will not participate in this.' Thorin Stonehelm told him, but held up his hand with four fingers up behind Dwanas back.

Dwana was not amused. 'This is not funny! I would rather throw up every morning than this!'

'No, you would not.' Dis and Brann said simultaneously and grinned.

'Nine.' Dis said.

'Seven.' Brann remarked and made Thorin Oakenshield smile. He had laid an arm around his wife during the whole dinner and had pulled her close, never to let her go again. Right now, Brann snuggled into his shoulder. Dis had already offered to take the princesses back to her chambers, so that Thorin and Brann could have some privacy at night. Brann had missed her daughters, but she also longed for her husband. More than she had ever felt possible.

'How was your journey, aunt Brann? Did you see any elves?' Kili asked with big eyes.

Brann smiled at his curiosity and Thorin grumbled something about his nephews fascination with tree shaggers.

'The Grey Havens are a wonderful and peaceful place.' Brann tried not to speak too fondly about the elves, but her stay there had been more than comfortable. 'But every day ships leave with some elves. More and more are leaving Middle Earth.'

'Why?' Fili asked. He was not as fascinated by elves like his brother, but he was also curious and he had never met any elves.

'Different reasons.' Brann sighed. It saddened her that the elves left Middle Earth. Often enough she had seen families being torn apart by ships leaving for Valinor. 'Some are leaving because they do not see any reason of staying. Some leave because they have lived through horrible things and cannot find any peace, here.'

'So they leave to die?' Dwana muttered.

'No, its not that simple.' Brann explained. 'One could say that they die for the ones remaining in Middle Earth. But they simply continue to live in Valinor. A place without darkness and evil. A place sealed to the rest of the people in Middle Earth.'

'Who would want to spend eternity with an elf?' Dwalin grumbled. 'They can have their Valinor. We will celebrate forever in the halls of our fathers.'

The dwarves at the table nodded, but Thorin and Brann remained silent. Thorin would ask Brann what she had learned about her own fate in private. In the moment, he only squeezed his wife´s hand under the table, comforting her. And she smiled and squeezed it back.

'Now...what have I missed?' Brann asked into the gathered family. 'Who or what is Spot and why has Blacky grown to the size of a real warg?'

The queen smiled as four dwarflings, Dwalin and Dwana started talking all at once and chaos broke loose around the dinner table. She had missed home.

'I see that you did very well, dear husband.' Brann and Thorin had brought their daughters to bed and silently closed the doors to their rooms. The others had already left to grant them some long overdue privacy. 'More than well. I am very proud of you.'

Thorin stood by the fireplace and smiled. 'It was hard graft. These three are a handful. You should have seen my nephews and me chase after a new Blacky for Donna.'

'I will never forgive myself that I missed it.' Brann chuckled, but in reality she was trully sad that she had not been there. She promised herself and Thorin that she would never leave again.

'And what did the elves say?' Thorin was curious. He hoped that the two months absence of his wife had not been in vain. 'Will you stay immortal now and stay at my side forever?'

'That would be bad. I do not want to live in a world without you.' Brann whispered and wrapped her arms around her husband, pressing her body against his back. She could feel him shiver and started nibbling at his ear. 'I am afraid that there is nothing that we can do. I am from the race of men and you are a dwarf. We only have my lifetime.'

Thorin turned around and looked into his wife´s sad face. 'Then we make this lifetime count.' he promised and kissed Branns nose.

'I will get old and wrinkly and ugly.' Brann muttered and Thorin had to laugh.

'You will never be wrinkly and ugly to me.' he promised and cupped Branns face in his hands at her snort. 'No, listen to me. You will always be the most beautiful woman in the world for me. Your hair can go white and you can have wrinkles and liver spots, but you will always the most precious gem under this mountain and in my life.'

Tears dripped down Branns face as Thorin kissed her. That night they only cuddled up in their bed and spent the whole night in each others arms.

The next morning, Brann had breakfast with Dwana. Brann had won the bet from dinner last night, Dwana had indeed sneezed seven times on her way back to her rooms. At first Brann thought that Dwanas pregnancy was amusing, but then she realised that the young dwarf was terrified.

'Why are you so afraid, Dwana?' Brann asked her and took her hand. 'You should be happy! A dwarfling is a gift! And you and Thorin will be wonderful parents.'

'Are you sure? I am not even feeling old enough to be a parent. I still see myself as the brat everyone thinks I am.' Dwana muttered.

'You have become a wonderful young brat, ehmmm dwarf, Dwana.' Brann smirked and made a mental not to give Thorin a slap to the back of his head for always calling Dwana a brat. She had gotten used to it by now. 'I am really proud of you and we will all be there for you, if you need us.'

Dwana nodded gratefully and sat back in her chair. 'But what about Thorin? That is, my Thorin?'

'What about him?' Brann asked.

'I will grow fat and I will be moody. Even more than I am now!' Dwana exclaimed. 'Thorin will fall out of love with me.'

'He will never fall out of love with you, Dwana, this is nonesense!' Brann squeezed herself into the same armchair as her friend and comforted her. 'Thorin loves you and he will stay at your side forever. He loves you because of you, regardless how you are behaving or how you look. Since he loves you, he will think that you are the most beautiful and perfect being in the world.'

'It is easy for you to say, you are perfect.' Dwana muttered and made Brann smile.

'No, I am far from perfect.' Branns smile grew wider. 'But I have Thorin.'

After Brann spent the whole day with her daughters and Spot, she crawled into bed with Thorin. She was exhausted, but as Thorins palms moved over her bare thighs she was wide awake again. The queen wished that she could purr like Spot, but instead she moaned quietly and leaned into her husbands touch.

'Are our daughters asleep already?' Brann asked and grinded her behind against Thorins groin, making him groan quietly.

'Their doors are closed and we will be silent.' he smirked against her hair. After all this time it would be hard for both of them to remain silent during lovemaking, but he would savor every quiet moan of his wife this night. Brann gasped as Thorins fingers trailed over her wetness. She let her head fall back against his shoulder and Thorin nibbled his way up her neck. Brann could feel Thorins erection stab her in the back and turned around to face him. Thorin held her close and moved his hands over her skin with gently strokes. They took their time and kissed like they had not kissed each other for a long time. Starting with small pecks, their lips slightly nibbled and softly brushed each other. Thorin deepened the kiss and slightly opened his mouth, feeling Branns tongue licking along his lips. As their tongues met, Brann let out a quiet moan, which made Thorins erection harden painfully. But Thorin was not ready to break their kissing. Instead he shoved his tongue into Branns mouth, dominating hers and kissed her breathless. His beard was scratching over her chin and lips and Brann slightly bit Thorins lower lip, trapping it between her teeth. This time she grabbed a handful of her husband´s black mane and pulled him down for a passionate kiss, which almost made Thorin come here and now. Their bodies pressed against each other and Brann grinded her hips against Thorin. Thorins hand moved up her leg and pushed up her nightgown. The feeling of his callous hand on her skin almost drove her insane and Brann started to pull at Thorins tunic. Soon, both were naked and covered the other´s body with kisses and licks. Brann gasped against Thorins shoulder as he pushed himself into her warm core. The whole length of his body grinded against hers as he started moving and his groin rubbed over her clit with every move. Branns teeth and nails digged into Thorins shoulders and in return, Thorins teeth burried themselves in Branns neck, leaving a red bruise. Brann needed all her restraint to not cry out in pleasure, but she gasped and moaned with everyone of Thorins thrusts, driving him to the edge slowly but steadily. Neither lasted long, for their longing for each other had been too strong. But as they climaxed in each others arms and their lips met in a kiss which silenced their cries, the world faded into oblivion.