Chapter Text
Gimli yawned as he woke up, stretching his limbs till a satisfying pop occurred, the warmth of the bed still calling to him, but he had an important task today and he needed to get it done as soon as possible, even though a part of him wanted to stay in bed a little longer, he could always come back and snuggle in after.
A small noise near his ear drew Gimli’s attention towards who was laid in the bed with him, Legolas was sleeping peacefully, well, at peacefully as he could considering the circumstances.
The child resting under his heart had made that task rather difficult the past few months.
Along with the idea that the elf’s father would miss his grandchild’s birth.
Legolas said he had made peace with the idea that his father would never accept their union, that he would always be cold about it, much less if he learned that they had managed to produce a mixed child, but Gimli knew it still hurt him, Thranduil had received an invitation to the wedding, but had not shown up, not even bothering to send a representative, Legolas had sent him three letters after that, then had stopped when he received no response, Gimli knowing that the complete shunning had felt worse than if he had gotten a letter filled with curses back.
Gimli still sent letters, some normal fare and others wishing every misfortune he knew of upon the Elvenkings head, and he was going to send another one that day, and he would make sure this one got through.
The redhead knew it was perhaps a foolish thing to attempt, and he had not told his Forged-One about his letters, but Gimli still had held out hope that one day the proud ruler of the Greenwood’s pride would thin enough to where he would accept Legolas back into his arms, and the baby too.
Gimli couldn’t have cared less what Thranduil thought of him, from what he knew of the older elf he was a frigid, egotistical oath breaker who the whole company wanted to rip the hair out of, but he was still his beloved's father, and Legolas did not deserve to suffer, and neither did their babe.
“Where are you going?” came a tired voice as the elf managed to shuffle himself upward to sit up in bed properly rubbing sleep from his eyes, elves normally did not need to sleep nearly as much or as long as other beings did, unless drunk or in this case, heavily pregnant and needing every ounce of energy they could gather to grow the child and prepare for birth.
“To see the king, I just wanted to make sure that my leave is fully approved before the wee one gets here” Gimli’s leave had been fully approved a week ago, and he had no doubts Thorin would have let him take it from the moment the redhead learned his beloved was pregnant if he’d wanted, but with only one week left till the due date, (which as the nephew of a midwife, he knew meant, prepare for battle at any time) Gimli wanted to have one last shot at reaching the stubborn elf king, one last chance for Thranduil to see reason, and then Gimli also would give up on him.
Asking to borrow one of the royal ravens could prove to be a task, now, Thorin was far from stingy with their time, but the idea of sending one into the Greenwood might make him refuse, the king under the mountain had been almost as thunderous about Thranduil’s disowning of his son as Gimli had been, as much as Thorin still was no fan of elves, the fact Thranduil now sent others to represent him in political talks after the first few times proof of that, he knew how it felt to be turned away, backs turned by your own kin, yes, Thorin hated that even more, remembering the days before Erebor had been reclaimed, how so many of his people had refused the quest to retake the mountain, almost spitting in Thorin’s face at the idea, telling him how it would end in failure, how he was just courting death, and that how none of them would offer help, only thirteen dwarves being willing to assist him, after everything.
So yes, Thorin still disliked elves, but he had accepted both Tauriel and later Legolas into the mountain, and happily let Kili and Tauriel’s little boy Faelon crawl all over his lap just as easily as he let Frodo, Thora and Thrain when they were still small enough to do so, the dwarf king even defending Faelon when he had been teased for being taller than the other children, and the boy never shy about declaring his love for his great uncle.
So yes, Gimli just hoped that nothing and no one had put the king in a stormy mood that day.
“Will you be gone long? Should I go with you?” Legolas asked moving to get up only to have a hand be placed on his arm by Gimli.
“You stay, rest a while longer, mother will be over later, and you know she will ask a lot of questions, and has bags upon bags of things for you to approve for our pebble I don’t doubt, and I will be no more than an hour, the longest part will be the trek to and from the meeting room”
This was not a lie as Gimli already had the letter written so all he had to do was talk to Thorin about borrowing a raven, and Thorin was a dwarf of few detours in conversation, so Gimli expected a swift answer.
“Your mothers kindness knows no bounds” Legolas smiled, him and Odete had gotten along swimmingly, her even waving away the insult that the elf prince had leveled at her when he was younger about her portrait despite her husband still being sore about it, though she had given a rather chilly look when she learned about the goblin mutant comment.
She would easily forgive insults against her, insults against her precious baby boy however proved a much harder mountain to climb, but Legolas had offered his sincere apology and how he regretted many of his actions in his youth, so it had been excused as the loose tongue of a boy who sought out approval from his father and people.
“You have not seen her truly upset, even an orc would get out of her way” Gimli laughed “but if you want, I can stay here till she arrives, so you don’t have to be by yourself”
“No, it’s alright, I had a few things I wanted to sort out, seems we both have tasks ahead” Legolas smiled and managed to get to his feet, the bump not huge by any means, to the point a few dwarrow had raised concerns about the babe, but Oin had assured the soon to be parents that everything was fine, and the babe was most likely more like a dwarf in size, so did not take up too much space in an elfs larger frame, though they proved energetic and more than happy to use the extra room to spin around, and well the bump was small, it still could throw the elf off balance.
“Seems so, just be careful, I can do the cleaning when I get home, I think you have a note from a couple who want to know what plants to buy for their new home.
Legolas rubbed his stomach, chuckling a bit as the little one turned to give a butterfly like kick, seems they were going to behave somewhat today, good, he had a few chores to do well Gimli’s eyes were off him “I will look them over as soon as I can” well his normal job in the mountain was to be on guard duty with Gimli and Tauriel, both him and his old friend had happily offered their other skills as well, knowledge of plants, poetry in many languages, as did Gimli which was a fair surprise to Legolas when they had just started getting to know each other, and of course political savvy when dealing with other elves, so neither was ever without some task to occupy time and drive away negative thoughts of his father and people, and ever since becoming pregnant, had been tasked with lighter work since he still wanted something to do well him and Gimli waited, to further drive away the shadows in his head as they threatened to overtake what should be the happiest he had ever been in his long life.
The once prince of Greenwood knew what he was giving up when he announced his engagement, that Thranduil would not accept it, that Gimli would always just be a dwarf, nothing of matter even if he had struck a star out of the sky to present it to the elven court, and even if he had done so it would have somehow been seen as an insult or a thing of disgust.
He knew about Gimli sending more letters, it warmed him inside to know that his Heartsong still was fighting for him, fighting for their child to know their full family, that old hurts could hang themselves by the fingertips in the cellar before they intruded on his beloved and baby, and Legolas would be lying if he said that he had given up all hope in his father to see reason, as dim as that hope burned, it still was there.
To perhaps be able to learn how his people came into the world, Legolas himself had been one of the last children born in the Greenwood, so he had no real idea of what traditions were used, how it went, the baby would be born in a dwarf mountain, by a dwarven midwife with their traditions, well everyone had been supportive on what he mentioned how he wanted things to go, he was going into this blind to elven childbirth traditions, though at least they didn’t have to worry about when the baby would arrive since both elves and dwarves were pregnant the same amount of time, little elflings and pebbles took a full year to be ready, which had given them both plenty of time to prepare, so there was that mercy.
He didn’t blame anyone but his father though for this, even Gloin, who made it no secret that the idea his son’s destined was an elf, and the elf who had insulted his wife and son and caused them trouble during the Erebor quest no less, was not something he enjoyed, had still held his tongue more often than not on the matter, his first reactions to the engagement notwithstanding, and was being a perfectly doting future grandfather, happily telling stories of his wife’s pregnancy and tales of Gimli as a baby, never sparing details on how proud he was of his wife and son, and how ecstatic he was to become a sigin-adad.
Gimli offered a kiss to his husband's forehead before getting his boots on “want me to fetch anything well I’m out? I think I might be able to snatch those sticky buns that you love if Aloisa has not gotten there first, it is a wonder how she is so skinny”
Legolas chuckled “Because she runs about the city causing mischief that I bet she needs that much to keep going, so no, it’s alright, I’m not hungry yet, besides I bet I will be craving meat if anything as usual”
“Just means the babe will be a sturdy one” Gimli smiled back, having been more than a bit surprised as he had expected to be stocking up on every green food item in Arda, only for Legolas to say that he wanted things like ribs and backstraps, though he did sometimes want the usual elf diet of vegetables, but mostly it was hearty dwarven meals, which, again, Oin said was perfectly fine as Legolas was not becoming overweight or showed any negative side effects of the cravings, so him enjoying the unexpected desire was fine.
“Seems more like they wish to be a dancer” Legolas said
“Dancers are sturdy, mother was a dancer actually, so she will be more than happy to teach our little one the ropes of dwarven dancing well you can teach her elvish ones” Gimli could not help but grin imagining a little child spinning around laughing, hands clasped in much larger ones as music played.
A happy family
And Gimli wanted to at least try and make it a complete one.
0-0-0-0-0
Legolas hummed as he dusted around the house, Gimli was actually very good at keeping things tidy, though an odd weapon left on the table or a pair of socks on the rug did sometimes happen, and the dwarf could only reach so high to dust unless he climbed on chairs or ladders, and Legolas would much rather just do some himself, it was not stressful or straining, and it felt good to help, he felt energized today and wanted to take full advantage of it well he could.
The newlyweds had arrived not long after Gimli stepped out who had put in a request for plants to put around their house had been pleasant as they took the list from him and even presented him with a jar of raspberry jam as a thank you, something to try for breakfast when Gimli returned.
A small twinge went through Legolas’s back making him pause and put a hand there, that was odd, but perhaps the little one had kicked there, it hadn’t hurt, so it must be alright, he just needed to get a couple other chores done and then he could sit down.
Knock knock
Oh, that must be Odete
Legolas opened the door to find that it indeed was Odete, only it was not just her, as she was using her poor husband to help carry bags which were filled with random items.
“Hello, Gimli had to step out to take care of an errand for me, but he will be back soon” Legolas smiled opening the door wider and stepping out of the way to allow Gloin to set his burdens down on the carpet.
Odete smiled back and started to take out the items “I hope so, he needs to help sort through this stuff, some of it is his old baby things after all, I even dug out a few portraits of him as a baby for us to look through” the dwarrowdam then stuck her nose in the air and sniffed “goodness, have you had breakfast? Not even a wiff of food, if you want, I could make you something”
“No, thank you, I will make something when Gimli returns, I’m sure the both of us will be hungry then” Legolas said knowing full well that his mother-in-law would be cooking everything they had in the house if she was allowed to.
“Alright dear, just let me know” Odete seemed as though she didn’t quite believe that a pregnant being was not hungry, but she also knew not to press the issue.
“Are you sure your feeling alright?” Gloin questioned as he took some of Gimli’s old toys out of another bag.
“Yes, thank you for your concern, just glad to have some time to myself to tidy up, I can hardly lift a flowerpot without Gimli overreacting” well perhaps Legolas was exaggerating, but it could certainly feel like his husband thought he had suddenly become glass overnight…
But the elf couldn’t blame Gimli too much, after all the stories he had heard of how his loves many little cousins had entered the world over the years, before they had met.
Well Legolas was still wandering to find Strider, and their adventures, trying to find out who he was before returning and meeting Gimli, falling in love, growing to see the beauty in the restored Erebor
His father rejecting Gimli as his sons destined.
Sending letters in some hope his father would see reason, then becoming pregnant and choosing to focus on the life he had now over the one he had, all leading up to this point, one week left, suppose Legolas should consider himself incredibly lucky to have made it this far with no complications, Aloisa had been premature and Frodo and Thora had also arrived earlier than expected, at the very least no crazy assassins or wanna-be society climbers had occurred during his pregnancy.
Knock on a tree …
0-0-0-0-0
Gimli could not believe it; the crowd was not at all bad that morning so if things continued going well, he would make it back early!
He felt a hand brush past his hip.
“Alright, give it back you pain in the purse” Gimli said flatly as he turned to face who had just pick pocketed him and held out his hand for his property back.
“Your no fun” Aloisa grinned as she held up the letter “I don’t know why you bother with these, that old bastard will just kill and cook whatever raven you send in”
“Can a dwarf have any secrets around here?!”
“Not from me, no”
“It would mean the world to Legolas if his Adad was here, he gave up everything…” Gimli looked at the floor, well Legolas said he knew what he was leaving behind, it still didn’t sit right with the dwarf that his elf was just tossed into a whole new culture with no support from his kin, save Tauriel of course who was in the same boat, though she had just been a captain of the guard, not the heir to the crown.
“He gave up everything when he told his daddy where to stick it after he tried to give Tauriel another air hole” Aloisa laughed spinning off to the side as Gimli made a move to smack the back of her head and slipped the letter back into his belt “Look, cousin, I’m sure your hoping for him to read that letter, realize what a vile rukhs-unam he has been and come here with all the fanfare, but the only thing you should be worried about is if he’s going to wait for Leg-it to spit out the babe and then drag him back into that haunted forest kicking and screaming”
“I think even Thranduil knows that would not be a good idea” Gimli said flatly, feeling his temper warm at the idea.
No, his mind was made up, and he was going to do this.
“Well, alright then, oh, I have something for you-”
“I’m not hiding something that you pinched”
“I didn’t steal anything, and I only pinch assholes, this is something for the baby” Aloisa took a small, oh so small pair of socks out of her pocket “They have strings on them so you can loosen or tighten them as needed”
“You made these?” Gimli gently took the socks and couldn’t help but admire the little green sockies carefully knitted together “To think, you are actually creative”
“You know I can take those back”
“Sorry”
A new voice suddenly spoke up
“Oh, hello, Gimli, Aloisa, is everything alright?” Bilbo walked over, a shopping basket full of product in his arm, and a hood over his head to hide his identity “Did Thorin remember to officiate your leave? I swear if he didn’t-”
“Yes, everything is fine” Gimli spoke quickly not wanting to subject his king to that particular tongue lashing “I just ...needed the king's permission to borrow one of the ravens” Gimli confessed holding up the letter.
Bilbo smiled, eyes twinkling with an odd look, and Gimli couldn’t help but feel that he knew more than he should “Well, isn’t that nice, but Thorin is on a hunting trip with Frodo and Thora, they should be gone till this afternoon, but I’ll let you inside, Thorin took his raven with him, but you can borrow Lilybelle, she’ll make sure your letter gets through”
Gimli bowed slightly “Thank you, prince consort”
Bilbo waved a hand “None of that, right now I’m just a hobbit out doing his shopping, we don’t need to be overrun, now let’s head on” and with that the hobbit led the way to the raven's tower and headed in with Gimli and Aloisa at his heels.
The ravens cooed in their language as the trio appeared, one large female flying down to perch in front of Bilbo who pet her head smiling “Good morning, Lilybelle, care to take a letter for young Gimli here?” Bilbo asked presenting her with some seeds, which the raven happily consumed fluttering her wings in approval.
Gimli was gentle as he tied the letter to her foot, the raven staying still as she looked inquisitively at him “Please give this to the Elvenking” the dwarf whispered.
Lilybelle’s wings spread wide as she took off, flying out of an opening in the buildings side, cawing out something on her way out which made the other birds start chirping, the letter would be in Thranduil’s kingdom by the time Gimli got back home.
“Thank you, Prin-Bilbo” Gimli tripped over his own words smiling “I should get back now that the letter is on its way”
Bilbo nodded smiling back “Have a good day, and let us know when the baby arrives, due soon aren’t they?”
“Any day now, that’s why I am in such a rush to...well, the royal raven will make sure he reads this one” Gimli said looking out of the opening at the quickly fading black dot in the sky.
“Indeed she will, she’s a stubborn one too, so he will be hard pressed to not read your letter” Bilbo chuckled “But you should get back now, I’m sure you still have plenty of planning to do, and the both of you get as much rest as you can in between, I can’t stress that statement enough!”
“We will, thank you”
0-0-0-0-0
Thranduil sat on his throne, listening to the sounds of the forest around him, a glass of wine in his hand, the first one of several ahead for the day, but before he could lift it to his lips…
caw caw
A raven flew inside, obviously an Ereborian messenger from the size and fine feathers, she spun the room twice before landing right next to Thranduil’s shoulder perched on one of the antlers that made up his throne and stared intently before sticking out her leg that held a note attached making the elf roll his eyes at the display.
Just what he needed today…
The Elvenking waved his hand at the bird's face “Shoo, I have no need of dwarvish crows in my kingdom-gah!”
The cursed bird bit him!
Another elf ran into the throne room at the call and saw the raven “Shall I take the animal out of here?”
“Please do, Logon, and put the letter with the others in the red box…” Thranduil said covering his face, he had disowned his son in all ways save to his face, but somehow the king did not have the heart to throw the letters away, he just shoved them into a box and locked it.
That wedding invitation had been like a slap to the face, his son, after years of nothing, of not knowing if his heir was alive, dead or something in between, turned out to have fallen in love with and would be married to, a dwarf, and a dwarf from the line of Durin no less, bad enough his captain of the guard had turned her back and ran off with one, now he had to live with his son doing the same.
He felt something peck at his hair.
“Will you grab this beast!?” Thranduil shouted, getting to his feet to step off of the throne to get as far away from the raven as he possibly could only for the bird to promptly hop from the antler straight onto the Elvenkings head.
Thranduil grabbed for the raven, his hands wrapping around the bird's body as it did its best to wriggle free screeching as loudly as its lungs would allow.
“I don’t think she will leave you alone unless you read the letter, sire…that is an Ereborian royal raven, she’s not going to stop unless she gets what she wants or she’s killed” another elf spoke up from the side “And if she does not return, it could cause problems”
The elf kings mouth tightened into a thin line as he glared at the raven who gave one of her own “Fine,remove the note and then I shall read it…. then this creature will leave peacefully, or it will if it knows what is in its best interest”
Logon stepped forward and removed the note and received a squawk as he was a bit too rough with the action.
Thranduil let her go and the raven flew around twice before landing on Logon’s head, much to the younger elf’s displeasure though he did nothing to dislodge his unwanted hat.
The letter was wrinkled but not torn as Thranduil opened it, recognizing the handwriting as not belonging to his son, so the dwarf dared to write him? This was no doubt going to be something crude and profanity-
What?
‘Just writing to let you know that you are days away from becoming a grandfather, as much as this news means dog droppings to you I have no doubt, you could have at least the decency to look your son and grandchild in the face as you reject them, so I have made sure that this one has not entered the fireplace, the past year has been full of highs and lows for Legolas, and you have been the subject of many of those low points, I do not care about your thoughts of me anymore than I care about the last time I sneezed, but it would mean the world to Legolas if you would at the very least come see the babe, just once, so for his sake, please come, then you can lock yourself up inside your squirrel hole for the rest of time as you wish.
Gimli son of Gloin
Thranduil’s hands tightened around the letter.