The next one and a half years passed quietly. Fili and Poppy were still very sad and thought of their son every day but they tried to go on for their daughters.

The only thing that changed dramatically was their wish to have a bigger family. They barely slept with each other anymore and if they did there were very careful to prevent another pregnancy. After a while Poppy even used herbs that made it impossible for her to conceive as long as she drank a tea brewed of them every day. Poppy would have loved to have another daughter but was terribly afraid to have a son. She worried that, if they had one, Thorin might somehow find out and take him, too.

Fili was sad about that. He had three wonderful children and that was more than most dwarves could ask for though. He also worried that Poppy might not be strong enough to carry another child and that he might loose her as well. Anyways he hoped that his uncle never found out if they would have another child. He was sure that Poppy wouldn't survive loosing a second son. So he accepted her wish to have no more children at least for now.

Every now and then they got letters from Dis. Most of the time she wrote about Vili. He had grow a lot and could speak a lot for his age. He liked to run around but they had always be very careful that nothing happened to him. Vili spent most of the time with Dwalis. They had become very close but especially at night he missed his sister and yelled for Lili, Mama and Papa.

A few weeks after his second birthday Vili had become quite sick. Dis suspected that his illness was caused by the lack of fresh air and sunshine within the mountain. Luckily King Thorin showed some mercy with the little dwobbit and allowed his sister to go out for walks. So Dis spent time with him outdoors very often from that day onwards. As often as possible Dwalin, Dwalis and some other members of Thorin's company joined them for a trip to Dale. Vili loved to smell the flowers and eat some of the various fruits and vegetables that were on sale there. Soon Vili was healthy again and seemed to happy again for the first time since he had been kidnapped from Hobbiton.

Fili and Poppy often cried when they received a new letter from Dis but they were glad to know that she took good care of their son and that he was relatively happy with his grandparents and aunt.

Two years after Vili's disappearance from Hobbiton they got another letter from Dis. Fili sat down in the living room with Poppy and started to read the letter loud.

My dearest Fili and Poppy!

I hope you, Lili and Tulip are fine.

Here in Erebor everything was relatively well until yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday Dwalis, Dwalin, Vili and I went on a trip to Dale. Vili was a bit sick since we couldn't go outdoors to often because it was too cold and snowy. A few days ago the first flowers started to bloom and the snow finally melted. We wanted to make him happy and so we went to the market to buy some flowers and some of his favourite fruits.

After lunch Dwalin and Dwalis talked to some dwarvish merchants while I looked for some fabrics for new clothes for Vili. He loves to touch them and so I allow him to choose the fabric he likes the most. The stall was in a relatively quiet corner of the market and so I didn't pay to much attention to my surroundings. While I paid, Vili stood on the floor next to me but suddenly he was gone! The merchant, Dwalin and I looked everywhere but we couldn't find him. It was as if the ground had swallowed him!

I'm so very sorry! All of this is my fault! I insisted that we would be fine without any additional guards and I should have paid better attention. Dwalin thinks that someone has kidnapped him to get gold. But so far we haven't heard anything. All we can do is pray to Mahal that nothing bad has happened to him and that he will be returned to us soon.

I will write to you again as soon as I got any news. Please don't despair! I'm sure everything will turn out well!

With love,

Dis

Fili finished the letter with trembling fingers and a sob. He wrapped his arms around his wife who cried desperately. Apparently Vili had been kidnapped once again. Both of them couldn't imagine that it might end well this time. They also suspected that he had been taken away from Dis to blackmail the royal family. But they counldn't imagine that King Thorin would give any of his precious gold to save a child who was of no use for him.

Poppy couldn't stop crying. Her little sunshine had been taken by strangers nearly half a year ago. Now all they could do was pray to the Valar that he was still alive. She wondered if a mother felt the death of her child somehow in her heart. Of course she felt pain in her heart whenever she thought of Vili but it hadn't been worse than normal recently. So she tried to take that as a good sign. She hoped that they would receive another letter from Dis soon. Hopefully everything was just a terrible joke and Vili was in Erebor with his grandma safe and sound.

Fili held his wife in his arms and stroked her back. The young dwarf was broken-hearted. He had accepted that his son would most likely live in Erebor for the rest of his life but he had never expected than someone other than Thorin might hurt him there. For strangers Vili should simply be a little Dwobbit and no one of importance. Fili started to blame himself for all of this. He should have gone to Erebor to get his son back no matter what Thorin had threatened to do to him. Maybe he would have been successful and Vili would be happy with him and Poppy in the Shire.

Fili and Poppy held each other for a while. They finally calmed down to spent the rest of the evening with Lili and Tulip. They didn't need to know what had happened to their brother.

The next day shortly after lunch Hamfast Gamgee came to the forge. He told Fili that Mr Baggins had some very important news for them and that he and Poppy were supposed to come to Bad End immediately.

Fili went home as soon as possible to fetch Poppy. She was in the garden and played with the girls. Fili told his wife about Hamfast's visit. Poppy frowned since she had no idea what might have happened to Bilbo. Fili shrugged his shoulders because he didn't know what had happened, too.

Fili and Poppy decided to go to Bag End without the girls and wanted to ask Camelia to look after the children. Unfortunately she wasn't at home but Daisy didn't mind spending the afternoon with Lili and Tulip.

They thanked her and went to Bilbo nervously. Bilbo opened the door and smiled at them. Behind them stood two person they hadn't expected to see at all.