Work Text:
Bilbo was in the den, sitting in the wooden rocking chair Thorin had handmade years ago with two-year-old Frodo on his lap, while Thorin was in the other room filling out paperwork with the social worker. Bilbo gently nuzzled Frodo’s dark curls, humming softly. If the toddler heard, he didn’t know. Frodo hadn’t spoken a word since the accident. It seemed like he had shut down when he realized his parents weren’t coming back, which Bilbo was sure Frodo understood no matter what certain relatives said. Thinking about certain relatives made Bilbo frown and he was still frowning when Thorin entered the den several minutes later, after having thanked the social worker and shown her out the door. Thorin knelt next to the chair and hesitantly put his hand on Frodo’s back, right under where Bilbo’s hand was. Frodo shifted slightly, pressing closer to Bilbo but didn’t protest Thorin’s touch. Bilbo moved his hand slightly, putting part of his hand over Thorin’s and leaving the rest on Frodo’s back.
“Are things settled?” Bilbo asked quietly, spitting out one of Frodo’s curls when it popped into his mouth.
Thorin nodded. “We foster him for a year and if things go well, we’ll have the opportunity to officially adopt him.” He slowly stroked Frodo’s back. The boy sniffed softly but didn’t move. Thorin and Bilbo shared a look over the boy’s head and Bilbo reached out to comfortingly stroke Thorin’s cheek.
“It’ll take time, dear. And things will go well. They did with Fili and Kili, didn’t they?”
“Dis and Vili had us in the will as the ones to take care of them if they ever died, Bilbo. There wasn’t much to anyone could do to contest that. It’s different with Frodo. Primula and Drogo didn’t have anything in their will, and we had to go to court just to get him out from under all the relatives he was drowning under with her side of the family, even with them supporting us it was still a fight. Anyone else could try to take him from us.”
“I know, darling. But no one is going to do that. They all know Frodo will be taken care of with us. They’re all fighting for us.” Right as Bilbo said that, the doorbell rang. Bilbo and Thorin frowned at each other and then Thorin straightened up. He quickly bent over and pressed a kiss to Bilbo’s honey curls and then left the den. Bilbo could hear his booted feet moving through the house to the front door, and then he heard the door open. Then he heard a voice he recognized, and it made him freeze. With a curse, he leapt to his feet, apologizing to Frodo when he jostled him, and he hurried through the house to the front door. It took him less than thirty seconds to make it to the door and when he did, he found just what he was expecting.
Thorin was standing in the door way, holding the door firmly so that the woman wearing the atrocious yellow dress on the doorstep couldn’t barge her way inside. On the other side of the door, Lobelia was screeching at Thorin, her voice growing louder with every word until when Bilbo appeared behind Thorin she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs. At seeing Bilbo, her next words died in her throat and she took a step back away from the door. Bilbo glanced up at Thorin and would have laughed at the wide-eyed look on his husband’s face in any other situation. As it was, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Lobelia and her nonsense today. He pulled Thorin’s away from the door and passed Frodo to him. Frodo transferred his hold from Bilbo’s neck to Thorin’s without protest and Thorin backed away from the door as Bilbo stepped forward to face Lobelia.
Bilbo put on a too big, obviously fake smile as he stepped close to Lobelia. “Lobelia. How nice of you to drop by. Did you come to welcome Frodo into our neighborhood and our home?” He made the suggestion, hoping she could take the bait and then just go home. As usual, she did the exact opposite. Lobelia was cowed by Bilbo’s sudden appearance for only seconds before she shook herself, straightened up and needlessly adjusted her lemony dress. Then, she crossed her arms and tried to look down her nose at Bilbo, not an easy feat when they were both the same height. Bilbo was used to it however and he adopted his own “looking down my nose at you” look, sure his was much stronger and frightening than hers was. To his intense pleasure, after a moment, she took a step back and cleared her throat.
“Bilbo. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. This, adoption thing. You can’t seriously be considering adopting Frodo, can you?”
Bilbo took a deep breath, glanced over his shoulder at Thorin, who had moved several feet down the hall so that Frodo wouldn’t hear anything that was said, and turned back to Lobelia. He made his smile bigger and said, with false cheerfulness, “Why yes, we are, Lobelia. Is there a problem we aren’t aware of? The social worker assured us everything was in order and after a year of fostering Frodo, we can adopt him. If you know something that could affect that, maybe you should call the social worker yourself, I’m sure she could assuage any fears you might have.” With that, Bilbo reached into his pocket and pulled the social worker had given him when she had dropped off Frodo earlier and held it out to Lobelia.
Lobelia stared at the card for a moment before she snatched it out of his hand and tucked it into the bulky yellow purse she carried. Bilbo hoped that would be enough to be rid of her, but to his dismay, she had more to say. “I will certainly be giving her a call, because there is no way you should be adopting Frodo. I say foster him until other arrangements can be made, better arrangements for him.”
Bilbo held up his hand and asked incredulously, “What better arrangements could there be, Lobelia?”
She scoffed. “Well, a home with less children for one! You already have two young, troublemakers running around tearing up Bag End, is that really the best place for Frodo when he’s so fragile right now? I, on the other hand, only have my son Lotho and he’s quite a bit older than Frodo so he won’t bother Frodo at all. Not to mention, it’s all well and good for the two you have now to grown up being raised by . . . well . . . you know, gays,” The way she said the word made it sound like the most disgusting word she knew, and Bilbo was sure it was in her mind. “But another Baggins? Why, your father must be rolling over in his grave at the thought, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he were still rolling over from your wedding with that man.” She glanced around Bilbo’s head to look at Thorin, who was still standing and watching quietly. When she opened her mouth to continue, Bilbo snapped his fingers in her face. The shock made her choke on her words and Bilbo took the advantage, stepping even closer to her, slowly forcing her to back up.
“How. Dare. You.” He bit out each word, his fake smile and any pleasantness replaced by anger. Lobelia’s eyes actually widened in fear and Bilbo had a quick thought that he wished someone were there to catch this moment on camera. “How dare you come to MY home, where my family lives, where my children are, and spout your homophobic nonsense!” Bilbo was careful to keep his voice low, for no matter how much he despised Lobelia he wouldn’t cause a scene like that. She lived a few miles away but he knew if his neighbors saw or heard anything, it wouldn’t long before her neighbors caught wind of it.
“Lobelia, I have put up with much from you over the years. I have tried to be civil, tried to be the bigger person as my father taught me. But now I see it’s time to take a lesson from my mother.” Bilbo took a long, deep breath before he continued. “Lobelia, you are a vile, greedy woman who should be kept away from society for everyone’s own good. Unfortunately, it is not illegal to spew the garbage that comes from your mouth so we all have to suffer from your presence. But I warn you, if you come back to my home and spout your filth again, I won’t be this nice.” With each word, he moved closer, forcing Lobelia backwards until she was down the front porch steps and the stone pathway and almost to the gate.
When Lobelia was at the gate, Bilbo shoved his face right up to hers, so they were only an inch apart, and growled, “Don’t you ever come back here and insult my family again. My boys are not troublemakers, and there is nothing wrong with my husband. Frodo will be perfectly happy here with us and my father is certainly not rolling over in his grave over our happiness, nor will Bag End fall apart because two gay men are living in it. Now, kindly get your arse off my property.” He shoved the gate open and Lobelia practically fell through it, before she caught her footing and hurried as fast she could to her car. Bilbo watched her until she sped off, then turned, shut the gate behind him, and walked along the path, up the porch steps, and into the still open front door.
Thorin met him in the doorway and immediately pulled him against his larger frame, keeping Frodo well out of the way on his hip. Thorin lowered his head and hungrily kissed Bilbo, who gasped and clutched at Thorin’s shoulders. Bilbo let him kiss him for a moment before he pulled away, chuckling. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and nodded towards the toddler. “We’re not alone, love,” he said pointedly. Thorin groaned, kissed his forehead, and released him before shifting Frodo in his arms so the boy was cradled against his chest again. Frodo moved slightly, tucking his head under Thorin’s chin, and Thorin smiled down at Bilbo. Bilbo reached up and gently rubbed up and down Frodo’s back a few times.
They stood there for a long moment, enjoying the peace, until Bilbo heard the bus pull up outside. They looked at each other and sighed, and then they heard the front gate being thrown open, two sets of tiny footsteps running up the path and onto the porch, and the front door was shoved open. Fili and Kili burst into the house, both already speaking a mile a minute as they hung up their backpacks and jackets, the front door left open. Bilbo sighed loudly and turned to face the boys, crossing his arms. Fili was the first to notice Bilbo, and he elbowed Kili to get his attention. Kili started to elbow him back but when he noticed Bilbo, he froze. Both boys stared up at Bilbo, who raised an eyebrow at them before looking at the door. Fili instantly spun around and slammed the door shut, causing Bilbo to wince. But he nodded his thanks to Fili and then held his arms out. Both boys jumped at him and Bilbo staggered back into Thorin slightly.
“Boys.” Thorin’s voice rumbled above his head and the boys backed away, looking contrite as they apologized. Then they noticed Frodo in Thorin’s arms and they both froze, their mouths dropping open. Bilbo stepped aside so they could see Frodo clearly and Thorin dropped to his knees in front of them. Bilbo moved around behind the boys and put his hands on their shoulders. He gently nudged them forward to Thorin and Frodo and they hesitantly closer. When they were just inches away, Thorin murmured, “Be easy, lads. We don’t want to scare him, do we?” Both boys shook their heads no.
Fili, trying to be the big brother he was, bit his lip, glanced up at Bilbo, who gave him an encouraging smile, and then cautiously reached out a hand to touch Frodo’s back. The toddler turned his head slightly to look at him and Fili smiled. “Hello. I’m Fili. That’s my brother Kili.” Kili waved shyly from beside Fili. Fili looked at Thorin and quietly asked, “Is he going to be living with us now?”
Thorin looked up at Bilbo before answering. “We hope so. How do you feel about that?”
Fili thought for a moment, then asked quietly, “He lost his mom and dad, just like we did, right?” Thorin confirmed that and Fili nodded. “There’s no better place to live for him then.” With that said, Fili slowly leaned forward so he could kiss Frodo’s curls. That apparently gave Kili permission because he stepped forward and gave Frodo a kiss too. Frodo didn’t make a sound, but he did loosen his hold on Thorin and turn his head more towards Fili and Kili.
Kili grinned at him and excitedly said, “We’re your family now, Frodo!” Thorin and Bilbo chuckled, and Bilbo gently pulled the boys back.
“Alright, boys, let’s do your homework and have a snack.” Bilbo shooed the boys towards the kitchen and after they had run off, Thorin stood up. Bilbo stretched up on his toes to kiss Thorin’s cheek, then he grabbed both backpacks and together they went into the kitchen, where Fili and Kili were arguing over who got to open the cookie jar. Thorin and Bilbo looked at each other, both with pained smiles on their faces, and quickly shared a kiss, prompting the boys to make gagging noises.