A/N SURPRISE

What else would we do on this semi boring journey north EXCEPT find our we're pregnant? Certainly not have an uneventful trip. Not in this story.

Now we get to explore the new frontier... DADRAGORN!...D'Aragorn? Pappagorn?

Sometimes I think I'm funny.

Anyway, in background lore, the amount of times I've had to go back and find the flashback where I named Josephine's horse because I forgot his name is LITERALLY EVERY CHAPTER I'VE USED HIM IN SINCE. It's chapter 29 btw.

I'm sorry Galador, you deserve better.

Josephine felt herself getting hot and sank back down onto the bed. "Holy shit." She repeated. "Now?" Deep breath. "Here?" Halfway to Erebor and at least two and a half months from being home again? So soon after…everything?

Ciril took her liberties and sat down with Josephine, wrapping her up in her arms and tucking her head against her shoulder. "Shhh. There is no cause to worry."

No cause to worry? How about every cause to worry! Josephine wanted her mom, or Gilraen, or…she buried her face into the fabric of Ciril's dress as she started to cry. Was she sad? Scared? Ecstatic? Probably all three at the same time.

Ciril rocked and rubbed her arm, seeming to decide that mothering was just another thing she was needed for without question or comment. She let Josephine cry until the worst of it was over and then asked gently, "Shall I fetch the king?"

Josephine nodded and wiped at her face, hands going back to grip the wooden edge of the bed nervously.

He must not have been far because almost as soon as Ciril stepped out, he was bursting in.

"Josephine?" He dropped to his knees in front of her and touched her flushed cheeks.

She breathed shakily and a smile wiggled out as she made several false attempts to say something. She wasn't worried about his reaction, that was one certainty. He would have given her children the night they'd been married if she'd wanted.

"I'm sorry, I'm kind of freaking out." She rambled. That wasn't doing anything to quell his worry so she took his hands and kissed his knuckles, then took a deep breath. "You think you're ready to be a father?"

His worry shifted to confusion, and then another beat brought him to surprise. "Father…you are…"

"Ciril is positive. Won't be told otherwise." She chuckled, smiling through another barrage of tears.

He shot up and kissed her, lifting her off the bed and into the air. She could feel his joy as he held her close before setting her back on her feet. At least she wasn't the only one crying anymore.

"Meleth nin…" Followed by a kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers. "A child?" He spoke like he couldn't believe it.

Gathering himself after another few moments he cupped her cheek in his hand and hunched down so he could look her straight in the eye. "How are you, hiril nin?"

She gave a nervous laugh. "Terrified. Right now? Traveling?" Shaking her head she clarified. "Happy, but terrified." It wasn't the first time she was juggling both, the last had been the day she'd married him.

His hands ghosted down her arms and one came to rest on her stomach as he looked at her with all the quiet strength she realized she'd been starving for.

"A blessing from the Valar."

She laughed again. "They have a lot to make up for."

Snuggling into his arms she couldn't stop her mind from spinning. "I have to get better. The stress…it won't be good for the baby."

"Sidh, Josephine. You will be."

An hour later, the old Fellowship plus Halbarad were called into the tent. There was little to no hope of keeping things a secret for long, but at the very least their friends could find out first.

She tried not to look too deeply into Legolas' lack of surprise, some elvish sensibility probably already had him guessing it. Luckily Boromir's reaction helped move things along.

"I will inform the men to prepare for our return to Gondor."

"No, you won't." She said quickly. "We're halfway to Erebor and we're not turning back now. It's not like I'm dying."

Gandalf spoke up to agree with her. "All the more reason to continue on in fact, before there is a child to account for."

"See!" She said pointedly to Boromir. "The wizard agrees with me."

"If it eased your worry, Boromir," Aragorn said calmly. "I am certain Halbarad will have her well looked after when we are not near."

Josephine narrowed her eyes at both Boromir. "I swear, if you start hovering…" Josephine tensed and felt Aragorn's hand land lightly on her lower back. "Until I start waddling around with swollen ankles I'm not putting up with it, and probably not even then."

Boromir drew his hand over his face. "You collapsed not two hours ago, little sister."

"Let's look at the context here, brother."

Legolas chimed in. "I doubt she will push herself to train now that she knows."

"Thank you." She replied. At least Legolas was taking it well. "Can we just…be calm about this? It's still early, if I need anything I'll say something."

Gimli strode up and wrapped the both of them up in an awkward bear hug. "Ah! Good on ye both. Can't wait to meet the lad!"

Aragorn grunted and obliged Gimli's barrage of affections. "We will tell those in camp, but not send word beyond it. I'll not have a messenger intercepted. Boromir,"

Boromir dipped his chin. "I will see to it." Taking that as his request to leave he opened the tent flap and held it open for the others to follow him.

Once they were alone again, she took stock of the reception. "Boromir is going to be insufferable, isn't he?"

"He does it only out of care." Aragorn said sympathetically. "He only wishes you to be safe." He took her hands, a punctuation on the seriousness his tone dropped to. "Josephine, you must be gentle with yourself, I will beg it of you if I must. You have more than proven your strength, there is no need to do so further."

"I'm not trying to be some kind of badass, I'm just trying to stay sane and keep busy enough to do that." And maybe a little bit of pride was involved but she'd been damn near useless multiple times in the past year and it was getting to her.

He didn't believe her and his face said as much.

"Araogrn, I spent six months having to prove myself to a company of dwarves. I was walking around within forty-eight hours of Goblintown, I-"

"Should never have had to." He interrupted. "Had you been home-"

"What I mean is this is hardly as debilitating right now, nobody needs to be treating me like glass."

"You are not." He assured her. "But this does change things."

"I know that." She huffed. "But there's a line here. I'm not going to keep training or…start horse racing or something. But I don't need to be waited on hand and foot either." She was only just getting to the point of not feeling guilty for dragging all these people around with her, why make any of that anxiety worse with people walking on eggshells?

"All that is needed of you, is to carry our child. It is my duty to then care for you." He pulled her hands to his chest and looked down at her pleadingly. "I beg you grant me this."

She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his chest with a sigh. "You can't give me that look, you know I can't say no when you do."

He chuckled and pulled her close. "Do you think I doubt your strength or your resolve?"

She had to admit, she didn't. "No."

"Then as before, what I do for you is not because you cannot, it is because you should not have to."

"Okay." She sighed in defeat. "If it will make you feel better, you can hover. A little."

"It will." He promised.

Over the next several days she noted a few differences. He now checked Galador's tack three times instead of two, and was never missing when she went to mount before they set off each morning. He was also starting to whisper things to the horse in Sindarin that she couldn't make out but assumed was some of his magical horse boy magic to make sure Galador was careful with her.

The third day after the news broke he and Boromir rode ahead and rejoined them several hours later as they were making camp. Aragorn hefted the limp body of a buck off the back of Roheryn and slung it over his shoulder. Passing to take it back to the cooks he grinned at her, looking quite pleased with himself.

Josephine smirked as he got out of earshot. "Next thing we know he'll have a pair of cargo shorts and a cell phone belt clip."

Halbarad gave her a sideways look. "Cargo shorts?"

She laughed. "Nevermind."

It really wasn't everyone else she should've been worried about hovering, it was Aragorn. The man had held his decorum all the way through to their marriage and now he was peacocking around as if he didn't already have her in his bed. It was actually starting to get funny and she was enjoying his giddiness.

What she was getting suspicious of was the fact that she seemed to be stalked by a mysterious chair that popped up around her at all times. She hadn't caught who was responsible, but she was beginning to think it was a larger conspiracy than she'd originally coined. Everyone was becoming a chair wielding enemy, and based on the swiftness that it could appear in, Legolas was involved somehow.

Gimli and Gandalf seemed to be the most normal of everyone involved, the former mostly going on about being an uncle and the latter seeming about as unsurprised as Legolas had been. She blamed that one on wizard sensitivities.

"I must admit," Halbarad observed as they both watched Aragorn help the cooks hang the buck from a tree branch so it could be dressed. "I have never seen him like this, not even in his youth."

"I didn't know he had this in him. He never exactly had to try to impress me, there's not much else you can do to woo a woman when you're already leading armies and saving the world together." She smiled and waved awkwardly as he caught her eye while pulling the rope tight over the branch and tying it off. "One baby and he's suddenly acting like he's twenty years old." She laughed. It was cute, and it made her smile and warmed her heart. He was so damn excited and it helped her ignore the things about it all that worried her. Didn't make them go away, but it did help shut them up for a while.