Poppy continued to trash in Daisy's arms and screamed. "Daisy, let me go! I want to see my baby! What's wrong with my baby? I want to see my baby!"

"No Poppy! You have to calm down now. Please! You can see your baby soon." Daisy held her tightly in her arms and looked towards Fili and Fjola in worry.

Runa stood next to her friend and tried to catch her hands. Then she gasped when she saw quite a lot of blood between Poopy's legs. She tried to stop the bleeding with a piece of cloth but the hobbit's trashing only worsened the bleeding. She looked to Fjola with tears in her eyes. "Please, you have to help her."

The midwife looked to Runa and Poppy with wide and sad eyes. "Oh no! This can't be true!"

Fili gasped as well. "Fjola, please help Poppy. I will try to help the little one."

Fjola nodded and rushed to Poppy to try to stop the bleeding. But first she had to calm her down. She grabbed a small bottle with a tea that would help Poppy calm down and sleep. But the hobbit was still trashing in her best friends arms and didn't want to drink anything.

Runa tried to hold Poppy's body as good as she could while Daisy tried to hold her head. Fjola finally managed to grasp the hobbit's chin. She tried to open her mouth but Poppy pressed her jaw and lips together as strong as she could with all the power she still had. She looked at Fjola and spoke through clenched teeth. "I don't want to drink your tea! I just want to see and hold my baby."

Fjola looked at the hobbit sadly because it broke her heart to see her like that and to have to do something that she didn't want. But she had to. The midwife was about to forcefully open Poppy's mouth when she heard a noise.

Meanwhile Fili focused on his youngest daughter. He massaged her small chest and blew his breath into her mouth and nose in an attempt to make her breathe one her own.

After what felt like an eternity the little girl finally started to breathe and whimper weakly. Fili sighed in relief and took the her into his arms. He wrapped her in a towel, kissed her forehead and went to Poppy. He had seen how desperate she wanted to see her baby and hoped that the baby could calm her down. The hobbit had finally calmed down a bit because she had heard the cry of another baby. She looked at her husband with red puffy eyes but then started to smile at him through her tears. "My baby!"

"Aye, our little princess!" Fili smiled back at his wife and sat down on the bed next to her. He held their daughter close to Poppy for her to see. Poppy wanted to touch her daughter but she was to weak to lift her hand. Then she started crying again. "Fili, I... I'm so tired. I don't want to... to..." Her eyelids fluttered and her head fell back in Daisy's arms.

"Poppy! Poppy! Please look at me! You just need some rest and then you'll be fine again." Fili said and put their baby on Poppy's chest because he hoped that their daughter's presence might help her. He also took Poppy's hand to place in on their daughter. He wanted to believe what he had just said but looked at Fjola in worry.

Poppy smiled weakly when she could finally touch her daughter. She tried to stroke her golden curls but even this was difficult for her.

Fjola was finally able to examine Poppy. The bleeding had already lessened a lot now that Poppy laid still and after a few minutes she was able to stop it. Fjola sighed in relief and checked Poppy's heartbeat. Then she smiled at Fili. "She will need a lot of rest, probably much more than after her previous births. We will all help you to care for the children but I think you should think about a wet nurse for at least a couple of days. I'm not sure if Poppy has enough strength to nurse your daughters."

Poppy started crying again. "They are my daughters! I don't want a stranger to nurse them! Please!"

Fili took his wife and youngest daughter in his arms and kissed them. "Poppy, please! You have to rest. The more you rest, the sooner you will be able to care for them."

Daisy went closer to her best friend and took her hand. "Poppy, I think I have an idea. You could try to nurse them and if you don't have enough milk to feed them properly or are to weak to do so, I could help. I'm their aunt and not a total stranger after all."

Poppy smiled at her best friend weakly. "That's a good idea. Thank you, Daisy."

Dis, who had stood a bit further away with the older twin, went to Poppy as well. She smiled at her and the baby. She told them that she liked Daisy's idea as well and suggested that she'd bath both of her grandchildren. Meanwhile Runa, Daisy and Fjola changed the sheets and washed Poppy's body and hair. Fjola also gave her a tea that would help her to regain her strength. They propped her up against a few cushions and finally placed both children in her arms. Since Poppy still had problems to hold the children, Fili sat down next to her and helped her to nurse the twins. Then she fell asleep in her husband's arms after all.

Fili quietly thanked everyone for their help and so Fjola and Daisy left to go to their homes while Runa and Dis promised to stay. They would fetch Fjola if Poppy was in pain or developed a fever.

Daisy was relieved that all children were asleep when she arrived in hers and Kili's rooms. She wouldn't have had the strength to explain to them why they wouldn't be able to visit their mother and new siblings immediately. She told her husband, Bilbo and Dwalin what had happened though. They were all shocked but thanked Mahal that Poppy and the baby had survived the difficult birth.

Kili wrapped his arms around his wife to comfort her and suddenly paled. He and Daisy had dreamed of more children but suddenly he was very scared that the same might happen to her as well. "My love, I know that we wanted more children but-" he said with tears in his eyes.

Daisy silenced him with a kiss. "I know Kili."

Fjola was relieved that Thorin was there when she returned home. All the way home she had wondered if this was her fault and if she would have been able to save the baby. She was an experienced midwife and knew that such things could happen but she still blamed herself. She rushed to her husband, who smiled at her but then started to frown when he saw her tears. "What happened?"

"Just hold me!" Fjola said and buried her face in Thorin's hair. Then she finally started crying desperately.

Thorin was afraid that the worst might have happened to Poppy and the child wanted to check on Fili but he knew that she needed him now. He wrapped his strong arms around his wife and stroked her back. When she started shaking, he quickly grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her. He put a kiss on the top of her head and embraced her again.

After a lot of time Fjola finally calmed down and was able to tell Thorin everything that had happened in the last few hours. Of course Thorin knew that many dwarflings suffocated during their birth because the umbilical cord was wrapped around their necks but he hadn't expected this to happen to Poppy. He wanted to go to check on her and Fili but Fjola told him that she needed a lot of rest. They would visit her the next morning.

Thorin held Fjola for a long time until they finally went to bed. They had just fallen asleep in each other's room when Dis ran into their room. "Fjola, you have to come! Something is wrong with Poppy!"

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