"Oh my love, we have been given a second chance to raise our baby boy," Azalea said looking up at him with tears in her eyes. Frerin blinks and gets a thoughtful look on his face and sucks in a breath, Harry, our Harry,
Azalea smiles, Not Harry but Balbo,
Frerin nods, Balbo Baggins, after your great grandfather?
Azalea smiles, Yes,
Frerin smiles, An excellent choice,
Azalea snorts, You re just happy it s an easy family connection to remember,
Frerin groans, They are hard to remember, I keep getting them all mixed up like the Rosa s!
Azalea laughs, Great Aunt Rosa Baggins is a Brockhouse by birth, she married Great Uncle Lingo Baggins. Rosa Took is a Baggins by birth, she is papa s cousin, she married momma s brother Hildigrim Took,
Frerin gives her a lost look, I ll forget all of that, seriously its worse than the pureblood family trees,
Azalea shakes her head, Just go get our family before I smack you silly, He smiles and bows, As my lady commands, he leaves to get them.
When he exited the room, he saw Bilbo was standing right outside the door leaning against the wall waiting for news, Well?
Frerin, The Valar have given us all a second chance with him, she named him Balbo, tears water his eyes, we ve been extremely blessed, I need to tell mother and father, she wants to see you all,
Bilbo pulls him into a hug, We will make sure he has everything and more, pulls away and walks in.
While Azalea was giving birth a group of Dwarrow entered Hobbiton. They see Dwalin and approach him. He sees them and hangs his head in shame at the stern look in the eyes of his Crown Prince, cousin, and friend, Thorin. Among the group Dwalin sees, Dis with her boys, Balin, Gloin, and Oin. The group rides up and stops.
Thorin levels his gaze on Dwalin, Why did you not speak with me first? Dwalin, I did my duty following my king s orders sent to me from Balin, Thorin, Did it ever occur to you and Balin that his decision is because of the gold sickness, he left as soon as he knew you were heading here instead of the Blue Mountains. I arrived half a day after he left, mother had Dis and the boys along with the others so I could come here. Father left for Erebor with a small company, for your lack of thought, of the fact that he sought to distract you, you and Balin are to find him and bring him back home,
The sons of Fundin hang their heads in shame, Dwalin speaks up, I have seen Frerin he is married l, swallows, I caused the princess distress and sent her into early labor. I accept any punishment the royal Family sees fit if the child and her pass into Mandos halls,
Dis inhales sharply, Where is their home?
Dwalin gives them instructions, Thorin looks at him, Leave my sight both of you, you both have seen in him what we saw in Thror, and you let him influence your actions. Now go!
Balin and Dwalin nod and head off. Dis kicks her pony into action to lead the way because Thorin would truthfully get lost if he was in the lead. So the group rides to Bag End, while the sons of Fundin head to find their wayward king. They arrive and dismount Thorin heads to the door and knocks.
Inside Bag End, Frerin walks off calling in a teary voice to Belladonna and Bungo, Mother, Father, you have a grandson,
They walk over and hug him. It was at this time they heard a knock, Frerin with his heightened protective instincts pulls out a knife and slowly walks to the door. He opens it and looks into a pair of painfully familiar Durin blue eyes.
His brother pulled him into a hug. He wasn't sure how they had gotten to the Shire so fast, but he was willing to wager that they had arrived with Dwalin. "I'm sorry we didn't come to the wedding, I didn t know, and well that can wait, we saw Dwalin and how are they," Thorin said looking his brother in the eye with worry in them.
"We will talk about it later," Frerin said and they heard the rage in his voice. They understood because the stress of Dwalin's arrival caused Azalea to go into early labor. If anything had happened to either of them, Frerin would have been well within his rights to demand Dwalin's head. It wouldn't have mattered if they viewed each other as brothers growing up, if Frerin had lost Azalea and the baby, then he would demand justice no matter the cost.
"What's the lad's name?" Bungo asked. "Azalea would like to tell you. I will say it's a miracle," Frerin said and Bella and Bungo understood at once. Their son from a previous life had been reborn. When everyone entered the room, they saw tears running down Azalea's face, and she smiled and sang to her baby.
She looked up beaming, "Everyone, I would like you to meet Balbo Baggins," she introduced her first child. "He's beautiful," Bella told her daughter. She was itching to hold her grandchild, but she knew better than to ask right now.
"May I ask something?" Thorin asked. "Of course," Azalea said smiling at what she assumes is her brother-in-law. "We know Frerin was reborn into this world. Are you reborn as well?" he asked. "Yes. I was his wife in our previous life. I was Lily," she said. "And by a miracle, I'm guessing this is your son from the life you lived before," he continued. "Yes," Azalea and Frerin said beaming down at their son marveling at the wonder in their arms.
A little voice pops up and asks, Can we see the baby?
Frerin looks over shocked to see two pebbles. Dis chuckles because they forgot to introduce them.
Dis, Well big brother I would like you to meet your nephews, my eldest Fili, a blonde Dwarrow bows, and my youngest Kili, a miniature replica of him steps forward and bows, boys I would like you to meet your uncle Frerin,
Frerin s mouth gapes at them and faints.
Bilbo starts to laugh, Well he still passes out when in shock,
Azalea begins to laugh and waves the little ones forward, come and meet your little cousin,
The boys need no further invitation and immediately join her on the bed, they look at Balbo and then Azalea, We promise to be the best cousins ever! For the longest time, no matter how long they stared at the tiny bundle in their arms, Frerin and Azalea could not get over the fact that they had another chance to raise their family. It was by the grace of the Valar that they had this second chance and they vowed that they would never take it for granted. They more than anyone, knew that life was short.
As the years flew by, they watched at the marvel of their son growing up into a very fine dwobbit. You could clearly see that he was part dwarf but he was more of a hobbit than anything. He found love in growing things. He enjoyed it. Over the last month or so, Balbo has been talking to Azalea's belly, and they couldn't figure out why. They would soon find out, and they would be as stunned as they were when they found out about Balbo.