Chapter Text
Deciding that they were leaving after breakfast was all good and well, but what Bilbo had forgotten was the presence of two somewhat hopeless brothers (and wasn’t it interesting that he for once wasn’t referring to Fíli and Kíli when he said that?).
Upon being told that they were leaving Lev and Liv acquired the saddest expressions known to Hobbit, Dwarf, Elf or Man and 'after breakfast' was postponed to 'after lunch' to give them more time to say good-bye to Addy and May. The rest of the Dwarfs were informed that they were of course also free to go and do as they pleased, and that lunch would be served at noon and not a moment later.
Before they went their separate ways however Dwalin had something to say to them all.
“There’ll just be one Hobbit with us when we go back,” Dwalin said sternly. “And if you’d like to stay here you’re going to wait to ask that until we’re back in Erebor.”
“A little harsh?” Bilbo murmured after Lev and Liv in particular had slunk off with distinctly cowed expressions.
Dwalin gave him an unamused look.
“No. If we’re going to have people settling down here, or if we’re going to have Hobbits coming to Erebor it needs to be done in an orderly fashion. Won’t have someone else’s relatives writing to blame us for kidnapping-“
“I feel I should not have told you this,” Bilbo sighed.
“And if someone has signed up to be a guard that’s what they’ll do. No part of being a guard says that you’ll flounce off on whim.”
There was reason in that, so Bilbo simply patted the still muttering Dwarf on the arm. “I’ll be going to have a word with the older of the Gamgees. Want to come along in case there are biscuits?”
A grunt was not really a good reply but Bilbo would take it anyway.
-
“If you’re looking for that boy of yours May’s dragged him down to the strawberry field.”
Briar had been weeding when Bilbo and Dwalin came along, and she straightened up and wiped her hands on her apron.
“Oh?” Bilbo said cautiously, remembering the very nice and secluded patch of soft grass not that far from the strawberry field. The one where no one would see you if you ended up on your back on said grass.
“Not to worry,” Briar said, a knowing look in her eyes. “It’s just for the strawberries. Valar knows I’ve heard enough from my girl lately about not wanting to scare your boy away.”
Dwalin made a strangled sound and Bilbo barely managed to stop a chuckle.
“She’s a good girl,” Briar added, looking at Dwalin. “She’d not go ahead and push for something that your lad isn’t ready for.”
“He’s not my lad,” Dwalin gritted out. “He’s a soldier under my command.”
“Technically they have the morning off,” Bilbo said, blinking innocently up at Dwalin when a sour look was turned his way. “Liv wasn’t the reason why we came though, Mrs-“
“Briar.”
“Briar,” Bilbo said smiling broadly. “I came to beg for a favour.”
“Royalty should not beg,” Dwalin murmured, but it was half-hearted at best.
“I thought we’d stopped talking about what Thorin and I do in bed,” Bilbo said, pretending not to see the pained look he received in reply to that. “Briar, I don’t mean to inconvenience you and Hobson, but since we all will be leaving today I was wondering if I could ask you to keep an eye on Bag End for me?”
“I thought you’d already had a talk with Hamfast about this?” Briar crossed her arms over her ample chest. “He’ll do a good job, Bilbo, there’s no need to-“
“Ah, yes, but there has perhaps been a change of plans. Not with Hamfast,” Bilbo hurried to tack on. “You see, I was hoping that Primula and Drogo would want to move to Bag End, lots of space to fill up with little ones-“
“How lovely!” Briar exclaimed. “Yes that would be a perfect fit for them.”
“Yes,” Bilbo smiled. “But as my cousins informed me they’ve been harbouring plans to come and live with me in Erebor. Not right away, but after their wee one has decided to make an entrance and grown up a bit.”
“More than a bit I would hope,” Briar said. “But if they’re not coming with you now.. they'll still move here then?”
“Well-“ Bilbo rocked back on his heels. “I hope they’ll still accept my offer to come and stay in Bag End until the time comes for them to go East, but when they leave, or if they decide they’re happier staying in Buckland for the time being, I was hoping that you and Hobson might find some use for Bag End?”
“Hobson!”
Bilbo winced. “Ah, that was not the word I was hoping to hear. I was thinking something shorter. Starts with a ‘Y’ and rhymes with mess?”
“What is going on?” Hobson asked as he walked out of the smial, feather duster in hand.
Briar pointed to Bilbo who tried his best to look like a respectable father of four who just wanted to make sure his family home was well taken care of. Oh, and there was quite a difference between his family home and his family’s home wasn’t there…
“I was asking for a rather large favour,” Bilbo said apologetically.
“He’s wanting to basically give us Bag End,” Briar said, somewhat flatly.
“Think of it as a really long-term lending if it feels better?”
Hobson aimed the feather duster at Bilbo. “This will require tea. Come in and I’ll put the kettle on.”
-
“But you are planning on coming back here with your family?” Briar asked, taking a sip of her tea before putting down the cup and nudging the plate of biscuits in Dwalin’s direction.
“Yes,” Bilbo nodded. “I am, but it might be years and years, decades if I listen to Thorin, and we won’t ever be coming to stay.” He sighed. “And I really don’t want for Bag End to become an empty place, collecting dust and old memories. It should be a home. Even if Prim and Drogo doesn’t come or if they just stay for a little while Bag End deserves to be a home.”
Lifting his hands to run his fingers over the forget-me-not-pin Bilbo ducked his head, and unbidden his lips quirked up in a smile. “But I’ve got a new home now.”
“I’m not sure you’ve noticed,” Hobson said drily. “But we also have a home.”
“And you’ve got several children-“ Bilbo raised his hand when Hobson was about to reply. “And your children are all a lot older than mine. May might very well want to start a family of her own soon-“
Dwalin let out a pained sigh and took another biscuit.
“-and Hamfast is not that much younger than her. Bag End would be more than happy to have either of them. Or both even. There certainly are rooms enough for two smaller families. And the hill stretches far enough that there can be several more rooms added and-“
“Bilbo-“
“I had considered Lobelia, but honestly, I’m quite sure that she doesn’t even know why she wants Bag End. She just wants it to have it for the sake of having it and that’s not-“
“Bilbo.”
Bilbo blinked at Briar.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” she asked. “We’re not family.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Bilbo said and winked. “Apparently your girl wants to start something with our lad.”
Dwalin dragged the plate of biscuits over to his side of the table.
“And I’ve known the both of you all my life,” Bilbo continued in a more sober tone, remembering how the Gamgees had cared for him after his parents had died. “You’ve been so kind and supportive and I would be proud to get to call you family.”
Teacups trembled and Dwalin hurried to move the plate of biscuits down into his lap as Briar sniffed wetly and threw herself across the table to drag Bilbo into her arms.
-
Happy that the odds had increased exponentially that Bag End would be filled with people, and happy that his happiness had managed to calm his travelling nerves a little, Bilbo continued his morning by dragging Dwalin with him to the market, wanting to make their last meal in Bag End memorable.
“Are you doing pies?” Dwalin asked hopefully when an entire sack of apples was purchased.
“For lunch? No, this is for the ponies.” They also deserved a treat. Bilbo wasn’t sure if they’d been horribly bored by this trip or if they enjoyed it, but apples were always a winner when it came to pony-preferences.
“Nothing wrong with pie for lunch.”
“I’m not going to make any pies. How can you even want pie? You had more than ten biscuits.”
“Eleven,” Dwalin said contently. ”Good biscuits. Always room for pie though.”
“There’s no dessert after lunch,” Bilbo tutted. “How would you have space for afternoon tea if that was the case.”
“I had biscuits now, still space for lunch.”
“I’m not going to make any pie.”
Dwalin was silent for a while. "We'll be on the road again so there won't be any afternoon tea."
"No pies."
-
Despite the lack of pie Dwalin couldn’t really keep sulking when he saw the spread Bilbo set about preparing as they got back to Bag End.
Smoked salmon, fried chicken, ham and roast beef, and add to that several loafs of freshly baked bread as well as crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes and vibrant bell peppers tumbled together in a fresh salad and it was hard for anyone to be glum.
It was fortunate that Bilbo had plenty of food because both May and Addy ended up joining them for the meal.
-
“It would be easier for the two of you to eat if you let go of each other’s hands,” Bilbo sighed, not bothering to repeat himself when it seemed that Lev and Addy hadn’t even heard him.
“Your fault,” Dwalin muttered as he kept piling salmon on his sandwich.
“If you had brought a change of clothes…” Bilbo shook his head. “And it’s not a mistake, so it’s not anyone’s fault.”
May’s and Liv’s hands were busy stuffing food into their mouths, but they were sitting close enough that their shoulders kept brushing together, and while Lev and Addy were too preoccupied with smiling at each other to talk, Liv and May kept up a low conversation that Bilbo tried not to pay any attention to as it was none of his business.
It was a peaceful lunch, but Bilbo looked around the crowded table and was reminded of a less peaceful dinner and the homesickness from that morning washed over him again like a wave.
Soon, he told himself. Soon he’d be one his way home again.
-
“I said, no Hobbits,” Dwalin said, glaring at Lev before jutting his thumb in Bilbo’s direction. “Just that one.”
“I do so appreciate it when you talk about me like that,” Bilbo murmured as he, without help and quite adeptly if he could say so himself, got up on his pony.
“Addy is just coming with us ‘til the road turns,” Lev defended, still holding Addy’s hand, the both of them standing by Lev’s pony. “He’s going that way anyway. It won’t take any extra time.”
“It’s all right,” Bilbo said to Dwalin. “We’ll see if he tries to smuggle anyone into his saddlebags.”
“I wouldn’t,” Lev protested, as if that was actually a possibility.
Liv just made a tiny sigh, as if to say that he’d considered it but thought better of it.
“Surrounded by children,” Dwalin muttered and another pang of homesickness needled at Bilbo’s heart.
“Just, everyone up on a pony,” Bilbo said, swallowing back something less pleasant. “We’re going to leave now so we’ll actually get somewhere before sunset.”
He pretended not to see the look Dwalin gave him, and as much as he didn’t like giving orders (regardless what Thorin would claim to the contrary) Bilbo was relieved when everyone did as he asked and saddled up.
“Bye then,” Bilbo whispered to Bag End as he nudged his pony into a slow trot, knowing that while it wasn’t the last time he’d see his childhood home it wouldn’t be the same next time.
It was already not the same, because if it had been there wouldn’t have been a greedy itch clawing beneath his skin, yelling at him to hurry up and go home already. The last time he'd left there'd been an adventure calling him.
The contrast couldn't be more distinct and Bilbo wouldn’t have it any other way.
-
Rivendell was their first real stop; they’d stay there for a couple of nights as there were supplies to replenish and diplomatic relations to uphold, and besides all that Bilbo wanted to give Trinn an opportunity to make Lord Elrond’s steward blush again.
However…
“I’m sorry Lindir wasn’t here,” Bilbo said quietly to Trinn as they were walking towards the chambers they’d been given. “You liked him didn’t you?”
Trinn chuckled slightly. “I know it doesn’t look that way, but it is possible to enjoy looking at someone without wanting to marry them. It’s all right. I’m not about to turn into Lev or Liv.”
The two brothers were less droopy now than they’d been just after leaving the Shire, but they still had a way to go before they hit perky. Unlike Edda and Breben who had proceeded from sneaking looks at each other to sneaking off together, not far mind, but they clearly were looking for some privacy . And the soft looks in their eyes made Bilbo both happy and sad, but most of all antsy.
Which was why the offer he received the next morning was an outright blessing.
-
“I would like to offer you our assistance,” Lord Elrond said during breakfast, raising his hand to make a very regal-looking gesture (and Bilbo would never tell Thorin that something Lord Elrond did had reminded him of Thorin because he’d never hear the end of it) and after mere moments a dozen Elves walked into the hall. “You would travel faster on horseback.”
Bilbo’s eyes widened as he understood what Lord Elrond was offering. “Oh, yes please.” If they doubled up with Elves already from Rivendell and not Mirkwood it would be a much faster journey home.
Dwalin opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. They’d all done it before, and well… Dwalin was as eager to go home as the rest of them.
Jem, Nim and Fraff actually ended up being huffier than Dwalin, but if Dwalin wouldn’t speak against it neither would they. At least not terribly loudly.
From their mutters Bilbo could very well work out that they weren’t at all happy about continuing the journey on giant beasts, not to mention needing to cling to Elves, again, and sharing a camp with them again. Hearing them go on you’d think that the last time it happened was a mere week ago instead of several months back.
Still, they were free to stick with their ponies if they wanted to but Bilbo was not going to wait for them, nor was he about to look a gift horse in the mouth, or the Elf riding it, as it were.
-
After a safe passage over the Misty Mountains and only one small, barely noticeable really, Orc attack (that Bilbo also wasn’t in any hurry to tell Thorin about) they arrived in Mirkwood.
Bilbo was fairly sure that he’d been rather rude to Thranduil, not staying longer than it took to say “Hello, King Thranduil, good-bye.” but he was fairly sure that the look on Thranduil’s face had been more amused than annoyed.
One possible reason for the amusement revealed itself when they cleared the forest and rode past a Dwarf who was all but asleep on her pony.
When she realised who they were she came speeding after them and Dwalin recognized her as Thina, one of the royal guards.
“Your Highness!” she called, and Bilbo, who had already asked the Elf he rode with to slow down, turned to look at her. “Welcome back!” The beaming smile Bilbo received was bright as the sun. “I will now return to prepare the King and the of Erebor for your return! This has been my mission!”
Bilbo tried to figure out if Thorin had seriously asked someone to remain here ever since he left; and if that was the case he truly hoped that they’d had plenty of shifts so it wasn’t just one or two unfortunate souls who had been here all this time, but he’d not quite finished his thought when Dwalin spoke up.
“Our horses are faster than your pony,” Dwalin pointed out, a little wryly.
Thina’s expression fell so quickly it was almost comical. “There weren’t supposed to be any Elves,” she said, glancing at said Elves.
“Our sincere apologies,” Bilbo’s Elf said with a remarkably straight face.
“You can join us,” Jem’s Elf said and nodded. “My horse can carry two of you, and together we’ll make haste to tell the King under the Mountain that his love has at last returned.
Jem actually gave the Elf a moderately friendly look after that statement. Figured, what with his fondness of epic tales of love through adversity and all.
Thina had brightened again, but-
“I can’t leave my pony,” she said, reaching down to pat her animal on the neck.
“We could…. stay,” Edda suggested after exchanging a look with Breben. “Breben and I. Safety in numbers. Riding slow enough that the pony can keep up.”
Bilbo tugged on the cloak of his Elf, who was called Erthor. The Elf that was, not the cloak.
“While they sort themselves out could we perhaps continue to Erebor?” he asked after getting Erthor’s attention.
“As you please, Your Highness” the Elf said, smiling down at him.
-
Eventually they did get to Erebor, all of them. But Bilbo did not actually need to go all the way to Erebor before he was able to lay eyes on a very familiar figure coming towards them full speed on a pony.
“Thorin,” Bilbo whispered and almost fell off his horse, and wouldn’t that have been a horribly embarrassing end for his journey. Not that he had time for such thoughts in that moment.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Bilbo whispered as Thorin pulled him close and hugged him fiercely enough that Bilbo’s toes left the ground. Bilbo wrapped his arms around Thorin’s neck and twisted his fingers into dark locks and just breathed for a moment; taking in Thorin’s familiar smell and sturdy warmth. “The children?”
“Are just fine,” Thorin promised, his voice like rough silk over thunder and oh dear now Bilbo was beginning to think as if he really was in one of Jem’s stories and he couldn’t even be bothered to mind because how could he mind anything now that he was finally back in Thorin's arms.
When Thorin pressed a kiss to Bilbo’s forehead he tilted his face up for a real kiss and he was not disappointed.
Dimly, he could hear Dwalin snorting in the background and telling someone just not to watch if they were going to turn that colour, but none of that mattered because Bilbo was finally back.
Back, yes... but not quite home, not just yet.
“I really want to go home now,” Bilbo said, trying to press himself even closer to Thorin even though he knew they couldn’t stay like this if they were to continue the last miles to Erebor. “I’ve missed you all so much and I’m never doing this without all of you ever again. I don’t care who’s getting married and bugger my spoons.”
“I’d rather not,” Thorin said, tightening his grip on Bilbo. “If it’s all the same to you.”
The chuckle that escaped Bilbo’s mouth was part sob and he hid his face against Thorin’s neck, rubbing his cheek against Thorin’s beard.
“Home,” Bilbo whispered. “To our children.”
“Home,” Thorin agreed, cupping the back of Bilbo’s neck with his warm big hand that felt exactly right and the next sob wasn’t even pretending to be a chuckle.
-
Bilbo had secretly been concerned that his babies would have forgotten all about him, but he shouldn’t had worried.
“Daddy!” Della squealed when she saw him, trotting towards him across the floor and Bilbo fell to his knees and pulled her in close, breathing in the soft clean smell of his oldest girl.
“You’ve grown!” he said, having to clear his throat. “Della, oh my sweet, let me look at you. Have you been good for your Adad?”
“Nuh-uh,” Della beamed and Bilbo hiccupped and lowered his head to hide his face in her soft curls, peppering them with kisses.
The triplets were napping and although he itched to wake them up Bilbo told himself that he could wait another hour. Just being able to look at them again was wonderful.
They had gotten so big down that there was no way for him to hold them all at once, but settling down on the bed beside them Bilbo did his best, even though they clearly didn’t need to be held anymore as they slept. Not even Burin.
Then again, Bilbo didn’t really need to be held either, strictly speaking, but when Thorin curled up behind him (with Della demanding to lie between them) Bilbo was not about to protest.
“Home,” he whispered. “I’m home.”
A small meow answered him and then the bed got considerably more crowded as Bill, Thorn and all of their children joined them as well.
“I love you,” Thorin said, voice a soft rumble and Della, never one to be outdone, squirmed up so she could give Bilbo’s cheek a big smacking kiss.
Then she almost fell down on top of Fennin as she got distracted by one or more of the hamsters and decided that she wanted to play, but Thorin managed to snag her in time to avoid injury and ever patient Bill went to keep her company (Della’s fascination with his tail had not yet passed it would seem.)
Not before Fennin had woken up though, staring up at Bilbo with big blue eyes, blinking several times in confusion before she gave him a big happy smile that had considerably more teeth than when he'd left.
“Home,” Bilbo said again and laughed as he reached for her. "Hello, my darling. Hi."
-
The next morning Bilbo found the Arkenstone in his favourite teacup.