Daisy and Kili decided to stay in Erebor for a few more days until they'd go back to Mirkwood. Daisy had wanted to stay for the length of Poppy's pregnancy to cover for her at work but she hadn't been allowed to.

Kili tried to visit his old friends but they were busy with their tasks and quite distant towards him. So he spent most of the time alone in his room. He tried to write a letter to Fili to explain everything Tauriel had done. He didn't want any pity but he still wanted Fili to know that he was no cold hearted monster although he had behaved like one.

Daisy spent the days with Poppy. She went to work with her and helped her as good and long as she could. Like that Poppy had been allowed to finish work earlier and was able to spend the evenings with her family and friends. At first Runa stayed away because she didn't want to disturb the limited time the two hobbits had together. Daisy insisted on her coming over to Poppy's house though because she wanted to meet the kind dwarrowdam.

Two days after Daisy and Kili a small group of elves from Lothlorien arrived with a cart full of food and a letter from the White Council to the King of Erebor. In the letter the council demanded that the food would be delivered to Poppy immediately. They also demanded that the hobbit would work no more than four hours a day and would be allowed to go outdoors for a short time each day. Thorin was furious and thought that Dis was behind this and had informed Gandalf or maybe even Lady Galadriel. He even threatened his sister to take Dwalis away from her if she ever did something like that again. But in the end he did as demanded in the letter because he didn't want to risk a conflict because of a useless hobbit lass.

Since the elves weren't allowed inside the mountain Dwalin, Bofur, Bombur, Bifur and Ori helped to bring the food to a cold storage room and some of it to Fili's and Poppy's house while Dori went to Poppy to send her home from work.

About half an hour later Daisy brought a crying Poppy home. The hobbit thought that she had done something wrong when she had been sent home. When she saw Dwalin and Balin at their home she started shaking and crying even more. She was sure that something terrible had to have happened and worried about her family.

Fili immediately noticed his wife's distress and rushed towards her. He kissed her tears away and told her that she didn't have to be scared. He put his uninjured arm around her waist and led her towards the kitchen.

Poppy gasped when she saw a basket full of fruits, vegetables, bread and fried meat on the table. She started crying once again because she didn't understand where the food came from.

Fili wrapped his arms around her because he worried that she might collapse any second. He explained where the food came from and everything else the White Council demanded.

Now Poppy cried even more but this time they were tears of joy. Maybe everything would end well after all.

On the day prior to Daisy's departure back to Mirkwood Poppy and her whole family had been allowed to spend the afternoon outdoors on a meadow close to Erebor. So they went on a picnic together with Runor, Dwalin, Dwalis, Dis and Daisy. Unfortunately Runa wasn't able to join them but she and Daisy had become friends during the last few days. They were surrounded by several guards but didn't care about them too much.

Kili also watched them from the distance with tears in his eyes. He was happy that Fili and his family were relatively happy and that his children had found a friend in the dwarfling. His mother had told him that his name was Runor, son of Anor and Runa. Of course Kili remembered the couple from Ered Luin and was glad that Fili had found some of their old friends again and that they still accepted him after everything that had happened. Dis had been unhappy about Kili watching them and the incident with Fili though. So he made sure that no one would see him this time.

Fili and his family and friends unpacked their basket full of good and sat down on a few blankets.

The blond dwarf sat down behind Poppy who leaned back against him. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her belly. He was relieved that the food and her daily walks outdoors with Dis had made her feel much better after just a few days. They enjoyed the food and sunshine and soon Poppy fell asleep in her husband's arms.

Meanwhile Dis and Daisy talked while Dwalin watched and played with the little ones. Lili and Tulip found a few flowers and found them to Dwalis and their younger sister. Vili enjoyed listening to the birds and even found a few beetles. Runor wasn't used to being outdoors but soon understood why his friends loved it that much. After a while they started playing with the toys they had brought. For a few hours everyone forgot about their worries and sorrows and they were grateful for that.

The next morning Daisy had to leave. She visited her friends once again. She embraced her Poppy tightly and both shed tears and hoped that they'd see each other again one day. Then she hugged the children and Fili and finally Dwalin led her towards the gates.

The following months passed quietly. Thanks to the food from Galadriel and being allowed to go outdoors Poppy felt much better and didn't mind working a few hours nearly every day at all. As long as Fili wasn't able to go back to work they spent every afternoon playing with their children. Often Runa and Runor as well as Dis and Dwalis joined them. But sometimes they also enjoyed being alone. Then they usually cuddled up in front of the fireplace and told each other stories. The little ones also loved to put their hands on their mother's belly to feel their new sibling kick.

At night Fili kissed and caressed Poppy's body and especially her belly. She often had to chuckle because the short beard that had grown on his cheeks again tickled her. Sometimes they made love but Fili was always worried that he might hurt their baby. Sometimes they also wondered if they might have another girl but they weren't scared of Thorin taking away a son anymore. They would be happy with a boy or a girl as long as the little one was healthy.

After nearly six months Fili finally started working in the mines again. He had been worried that the miners from the Iron Hills might hurt or even kill him or his family since he had balked their assassination attempt. But they simply ignored him. Soon he noticed that they talked in a low voice to each other again. He didn't expect them to plan another assassination attempt just eight months after the last one though.

At about the same time some of the miners including quite many from the Iron Hills had been deputed to help dig a new vault to store even more jewels and gold.

When the vault was nearly finished they needed someone to clean it. Dori sent Runa and Poppy because the task was quite easy and the hobbit would give birth any day.

Poppy was about to clean the floor when suddenly King Thorin entered the room. Runa had left a few minutes ago to fetch some cleaning supplies and so Poppy was alone in the room with the dwarf. She bowed as deeply as she could with her huge belly and quietly continued with her core.

The King inspected the walls to make sure that they were burglar proof when suddenly half of the vault collapsed burying the dwarf king and the hobbit behind a wall of rubble and stone.

Thorin and Poppy both fell to the ground and the latter screamed in pain and wrapped her arms around her belly. She felt liquid and blood flowing down her thighs and realised that she would probably have to give birth to her baby there alone with a mad dwarf who hated her more than everything else in the world. Tears started rolling down her cheeks and she begged Thorin to help her. But the dwarf ignored her completely.

Poppy tried to crawl to a corner and took of her coat and apron. She tried to lay down on the apron and put the coat next to her. Soon her labour started; of course Poppy knew what to do but she was still terribly afraid to give birth without a midwife.

Soon she started pushing but realised that something was wrong. She screamed and tried even more. Then she realised that her baby was probably facing the wrong direction. Fili had told her that this happened often and many dwarflings suffocated during the birth. Poppy didn't want that to happen to her baby and pushed as powerful as she could. After what felt like an eternity she finally felt her baby leave her body. Poppy was weak from blood loss but managed to take her baby boy into her arms and to wrap him into her coat. She cradled him against her chest and ran her fingers through his dark brown, nearly black curls. The baby grabbed her finger and opened his beautiful blue eyes. Poppy was relieved that her son looked healthy and smiled down at him with tears in her eyes. She felt more and more blood leave her body and wasn't sure if she'd survive though. She put a kiss on her son's forehead and whispered "Thorin."

The dwarf king heard the hobbit though and went towards her angrily. He slapped her square across the the face. "How dare you call me like that? I'm your king!"

The side of Poppy's head collided with the wall and she whimpered in pain. She pulled her baby even closer and looked at the dwarf with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, my King. My son, I... I want him to be called Thorin."

Thorin glared at the hobbit. "That's a lie! Why would you want to call him like me?"

Poppy swallowed and answered weekly. "He looks like you, my King, with his dark curls and blue eyes. When me and Fili talked about names for our children we decided to give our sons dwarvish names. Fili wanted his sons to be named after the persons he loved the most. That's why our first son is called Vili. We decided to call any future sons Kili or Thorin. You're name fits perfectly for this little one." Poppy whimpered again and looked at the dwarf king with pleading eyes. "Please tell Fili that I want the baby to be called Thorin and that I love him and the little ones." Then Poppy closed her eyes and everything went black.

Thorin looked at the hobbit in shock. He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around Poppy and her baby. He noticed the blood between her legs and on the side of her head. He cradled the hobbit's lifeless body in his arms and yelled for help.

Hello everyone! Thank you again for your follows, favourites and lovely reviews! You can't imagine how happy you make me :)

I'm not completely happy with the birthing scene. I'm not good at describing such things but I hope it's still ok.