Chapter Text
Thorin laid Frodo carefully down on the soft mattress, gently pushed errand curls out of his forehead and extracted himself from the toddler's grip. Frodo sighed in his sleep but didn't wake up. Quietly Thorin walked out of the room closing the door behind him.
'He's asleep?' Bilbo inquired not lifting his head from the book.
'Yes.' Thorin rouse the fire still burning slightly and sat next to his husband. 'I hope tonight he won't wake up with nightmares.'
Bilbo didn’t respond for a few minutes. He turn to the small table and poured some tea into the delicate china, wedding gift from Dori. Then he quietly said, 'There's no telling but even if... We just need to keep trying. He's so small and I thought it would be easier on him.'
Thorin put his head in his hands, his shoulders slumped, 'He just lost both of his parents and we uprooted him from all he knew. Maybe we were wrong bringing him here? Maybe we should've stayed longer in Shire?'
Absentmindedly Bilbo patted Thorin’s leg, 'Nonsense. You cannot abandon your Kingdom for a very long time and besides I asked him what he wanted, he said he wants to go to the mountain. His nightmares have nothing to do with Erebor or us but with witnessing his parents death. We can only support him and make sure he feels loved. Don't beat yourself up about it Thorin.'
'I just... I'm so happy he's here with us. And I feel guilty about it because he lost his parents... and I'm just...'
Bilbo looked up from what he was reading, 'I'm happy he's with us here too. I'm happy that we managed to snatch him from the clutches of the likes of Lobelia. During the day he's happy here, don't worry.'
'I just never thought I'd be able to rise a son of my own. After we lost Erebor my people were my main concern and later... Dis had boys and I kind of helped rise them but it was never... and now. Now Frodo is here and I feel like I shouldn't be as happy as I am. But I am happy. I'm sorry Bilbo. '
'Whatever for?’ Bilbo put down his book and looked carefully at his husband.
Thorin nervously poked fire from the distance of the sofa, ‘For saying things like that. I’m happy to raise him as my son, because I always wanted to have dwarflings.’ Flames started to die down once again for the lack of fresh wood in the hearth. Dwarf stood up, considering how long they will still sit in the living room. In the end decided that it was warm enough to drink the rest of their tea and later head to bed.
‘But you said you didn't want more heirs, that with Fili and Kili is enough.' Said Bilbo angrily, also standing up and going behind the sofa.
Something in Bilbo’s voice made Thorin look up. His husband was not calm and the king could only imagine how his hobbit felt – betrayed. Thorin said he didn’t want children, because it was and is more important for him to be with Bilbo, than to sire heirs, he’d never give up on the love of his life for the possibility of having his own dwarflings. 'Frodo hardly can be my heir Bilbo. He's not my blood.' Finally said Thorin trying to voice dismissal of the topic in that sentence.
Bilbo narrowed his eyes, 'But you said you didn't want children, when asking me to stay here with you.'
'And that is true Bilbo. I love you more than anything and I would never marry anyone else. I said I don't want children to put your mind at ease as far as throne succession goes.'
'So I spend a week trying to figure out how to tell you about Frodo because I thought you don’t want small fauntlings running around here just so you could tell me all those moths later that you wanted children all along?'
'Bilbo, what does it matter now? We have Frodo he's not going anywhere and it's not like we could adopt some dwarfling - there's not abundance of them around.' Thorin approached his husband and embraced him. Willing his warmth to calm the hobbit down.
'So you do want children?' Carefully mumbled Bilbo burying his face in Thorin’s shirt.
The king sighed, 'All I want is for you and Frodo to be happy!'
'But you'd like more children to fil this rooms?' Bilbo looked up at his husband face trying to see the truth behind those words, but all he saw was concern.
Thorin squinted at Bilbo, this conversation was weirder by the minute. 'You're not making any sense. We can't have children.'
'I can.' Happily admitted hobbit smiling brightly.
Surprised Thorin released Bilbo and stepped back until his legs hit the sofa. 'What?’
Using his freedom Bilbo started to pace around the room muttering, 'All this time I've been taking those horrible herbs so we don’t get pregnant, when I thought you don't want children of our own, what made me sad but I would give up anything for you, while you... you insufferable dwarf!'
'You can have children? You can conceive?' Thorin stared with wonder at his husband. He might’ve squealed the last words, but there was no one but Bilbo here to hear.
The sound, however gave the hobbit a pause. Looking at king’s face who wore expression of pure astonishment. 'Yes, of course I can!'
Thorin regain his composure, walked towards Bilbo and put his hands on smaller man’s shoulders, 'Why? How?'
'How is of no importance here, but long story short: some male from Took family can have children due to fraternising with fairies in the past.'
Thorin quirked his eyebrows, 'What?'
'Nothing.' Bilbo manoeuvred himself out of Thorin’s personal space and got back to the sofa, sitting down when he reached it.
Dwarf turn around following Bilbo with his gaze, 'Why haven't you told me that before?'
'Because I thought you didn't want children!' Exclaimed the hobbit.
'Oh....' Thorin came closer to the sofa and slumped down next to Bilbo.
They sat in silence for a long time, Bilbo leaving Thorin to process all new information and Thorin starring at the fire dumbfounded. When the tea was almost cold and Bilbo's book had only handful of pages left, Thorin moved and embraced Bilbo tightly kissing the side of his head, 'would you mind foregoing your herbs then? Will you stop taking them?'
'Oh yes!'