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Belba was grateful that Dori had left the rooms, even if it was daunting, the whole prospect of seeing Nori again. She loved him, and even though everyone said he loved her as well… it wasn’t easy, changing her thinking. She had assumed that he didn’t love her, that what they had was just – convenience, for him. A soft body to warm his bed, maybe, companionship during the long, cold nights.
She smoothed a hand down her tunic, cupping her stomach. If nothing else, she had the faunt, and no one would take her child from her. She took another deep breath, steeling herself for the heartbreak she was sure to experience, and then entered Nori’s bedroom.
The sight that met her was devastating, even in the dim light. Nori looked gaunt, in a way she hadn’t ever seen him, and even his usually so carefully maintained hair had lost all its lustre. She couldn’t stop the gasp even if she tried, hand going to her mouth as if to stifle her despair.
“Oh, Nori…” she whispered, not wanting to wake him if he slept – he looked like he desperately needed what sleep he could get. Despite her best efforts, however, his eyes flew open.
“I know you’re not here, not really,” he rasped, voice so hoarse it was nigh-on unrecognisable to her. “Always this apparition, taunting me with everything I could have had and now will never have… not usually pregnant though. Is this the final taunt? The be-all of everything I will never get to hold in my arms, again or ever?”
“Pull yourself together, Nori,” she said, trying and failing to not let on how much his state and words were affecting her. He looked like a broken shell of the dwarf she loved, and she wanted nothing more than to wrap him in wool and nurse him back to health. Belba hesitated but took the plunge. “I’m real, I’m here, and… I’m sorry for not having been here for so long.”
“Usually when you’re here you tell me how pathetic I am, love. I shouldn’t call you that, should I? You don’t love me, you even left when you figured out I love you…” his voice trailed off, the sound full of despair. She realised she had to do something, probably drastic, to wake him from his fugue.
“If you don’t wake up now, I’ll never forgive you,” she muttered, before nudging him over slightly in the bed. Once she had managed to get him to (bemusedly) move, she shoved her hands in his hair, hunched over him best she could with her stomach rather in the way, and leaned her forehead to his. Locking eyes with him, she saw the first signs of actual awareness, but it was nevertheless with some trepidation she took a deep breath and continued. “I love you, you are my One, and the child is yours – I’ve never let anyone else touch me.”
His hands came up to hesitantly rest on her hips, and inwardly she fairly purred at the long-missed touch of her cariad. He looked disbelieving, but she took that as a sign that he had actually heard what she said, and not discounted it all as a fever dream – again.
“But… you’re a hobbit?” he asked, voice full of confusion but sounding more aware than he had their entire encounter so far.
“We have cariads, Heart Loves, and you – you’re mine, Nori.” She knew she was crying, tears falling down her cheeks unchecked, but she figured she’d count herself lucky if she didn’t start sobbing as well. She’d never been much of a crier, but the pregnancy hormones certainly changed that. “But I heard about the dwarves Ones and… there’s never been anyone not a dwarf, and how could I stand by and see you love someone else? Especially once I found out about the faunt. My heart couldn’t take it, Nori love.”
“Belba, amrâlimê, you are my One!” Nori grasped her hips harder, and had he been well the grip would have been bruising. As it was, she could feel it, though it wasn’t much more. Suddenly he looked like he was entirely present, and something within her relaxed from a tension she didn’t know she was holding. “There’s only one I could ever love and that is you! That my cowardice was enough to drive you away – to make you think you or our… our pebble? We’re having a pebble?”
She laughed tearfully, removing one hand from his hair to grasp one of his, moving it from her hip to her stomach.
“We’re having a little one, Nori, we’ve been blessed.” She yelped as he sat up, taking her with him with a surprising strength considering how he’d looked when she entered the room, and almost wrapped himself around her.
“I love you so much, Belba, and I’m sorry I ever let you think anything else.” He cupped her cheek with one hand, thumb stroking her cheekbone, and kept the other hand on her stomach. After so long without, his touch was pleasantly distracting, leaving her aware of every single point of contact. “I will spend the rest of our lives making it up to you, if only you will stay – here, with me, and let me love you.”
Unable to resist any longer, she pulled him down to kiss her, a kiss full of passion and relief. If their lips tasted far saltier than they should, neither mentioned it.
When Dori, several hours later, opened the door to Nori’s bedroom, he was pleasantly surprised to see Belba still there and Nori looking newly groomed - and happier than Dori had ever seen him. He was wrapped protectively around Belba, one hand on her stomach, the other under a pillow. If Dori knew his brother right, that one held a knife.
Dori smiled to himself, closing the door and leaving them to it. Everything improper that could happen had already happened, and if there was anything both Belba and Nori looked to need, it was rest. They probably wouldn’t rest if they weren’t together, and Dori wasn’t taking any chances with his brother – or his family.
Dori had always wanted a sister.