Over the next few weeks Dis tried to help her daughter in law as good as she could. Poppy was tired quite often and the morning sickness plagued her. On top of that she still had to breastfeed the twins and especially Vili wanted to stay with her most of the time.

Poppy wondered if Vili sensed the presence of his brother or sister in her womb. When he sat in her lap or lay next to her, he often put his hands or head on her belly and squeaked in joy. Sometimes she even thought that he talked to the baby. In those moments she looked even more forward to feeling the child's movements for she was excited to find out if and how the baby might react to Vili.

Fili worried about her deeply. Having another child so soon after giving birth may be normal for hobbits but their children and Poppy's pregnancy were different. He was relieved when Dwalin suggested to do most of the work in the forge as long as they were there. In that way he could help taking care of the children and Poppy could get some rest.

About one week after the dwarves' arrival in Hobbiton Bilbo came to visit them. He said that he didn't want to disturb them but that he had missed the little ones. Fili's family immediately told him that they didn't mind him being there at all and Dis even asked him to visit more often since she wanted to get to know the brave hobbit who had joined his brother on the quest to reclaim Erebor and who had helped to slay the dragon. Bilbo promised to visit them often and was more than happy to hear that Poppy was with child again. He hugged his friend and put a kiss on her cheek.

The next weeks passed quickly. Bilbo came to visit them every day and often he went to the market for Poppy and cooked food. Dis, Poppy and the three little ones spent most of the time together. The dwarrowdam wanted to know everything about the hobbits' way of life. So Poppy told her about her people and the life in the peaceful Shire. She showed her how to cook typical food and how to bake the cookies Dwalin liked so much.

They also talked about the differences between fauntlings and dwarflings and Poppy was glad about any advice Dis could offer. The dwarrowdam told her about her life and her happy marriage with Vili. A few tears rolled down Dis' cheeks when she thought about him. Poppy took her hands and told her about her family and how all of them had died in one single night. Dis held the hobbit as long as she cried. She knew that no words could take away the pain of loosing one's family.

Poppy also told her mother in law about her garden and the flowers she loved. Dis could only smile when Poppy showed her the different plants since she had never heard most of the names. Hobbiton was completely different from the life under the mountains but Dis liked it and even wanted to help in the garden. One afternoon Fili and Dwalin saw her crawling through the community garden next to the frog pond to harvest vegetables.

Poppy joined them at the gate when Dwalin laughed. "I wonder what the council would say when they saw the King's sister crawling in the dirt."

The hobbit was still quite scared of the huge, bald dwarf and swallowed. "I'm sorry! This is my fault. Dis wanted to help me and I asked her to harvest some carrots to make mash for the little ones. I won't do that again."

"Don't worry, lassie! No one will blame you. I'm glad that Dis is enjoying herself here. We don't have too much fun in Erebor." Dwalin tried to smile and patted her arm. Then he left to help Dis.

Poppy leaned her head against Fili's shoulder. "Your mother is such a wonderful person. I feel so sorry for her. Your uncle treats her terribly and this is all my fault."

Fili put his arms around her waist and pulled her down. He sat down in the grass with his wife on his lap and made her look at him. "What are you talking about? Non of this is your fault."

"She would have had a better life if you hadn't met me." Poppy said sadly.

Fili sighed. "Yes, but if you want to blame someone, you'd have to blame me. I'm the one who ran away from his duty and faked his own death. None of this is your fault."

Poppy shook her head "Your mother says the same. But still -"

Fili silenced her with a kiss and cupped her cheek. "Amad has Dwalin. They may not have married out of love, but they're best friends and they support each other. And my little sister makes her very happy." He kissed her again and put one hand on her belly. "And no stop worrying. It's not good for the little one."

Poppy chuckled. "Your sister. When I see Dwalis with Lili and Vili, it feels like she's their cousin but in truth she's their aunt."

"Aye, Auntie Dwalis. It's an odd situation, isn't it. If Amad will indeed have even more children, the nieces and nephews will be older than the aunt or uncle. And all of this is my fault." Fili whispered.

"Please stop blaming yourself, too. I can't stand seeing you like this. Let's simply enjoy the time we have with them." Poppy said and buried her head in his chest.

Fili placed his head on top of hers looked towards the three children on their blanket. Vili had a toy in his mouth, Lili tried to roll towards a flower and Dwalis tried to follow her. Soon they'd start to crawl. He prayed to Mahal that they wouldn't cause as much mischief as him and Kili when they were dwarflings.

I'm sorry that this is a quite short chapter without too much content. I feel quite sick at the moment and wasn't in the mood to write but I wanted to give you at least something.

The next chapter will most likely be some fluff with Fili's family, Bilbo and Primula :)