Bella kissed her sleeping husband's bearded cheek as she slid out of her bed in the middle of the night. It was dark, but she knew their home well enough to be able to dress herself silently without needing to see. She checked one more time that her husband was still asleep (by leaning in close and listening to his breathing), and then tiptoed out of their chambers.

One of the guards posted in the corridor outside fell into step beside her as soon as she had left the safety of her home, and though he glanced curiously at her, he said nothing of her unusual nighttime stroll. Bella hated to admit it, but for once she was glad of the formal necessity of the guards. The dark corridors of Erebor seemed much less threatening when she did not traverse them alone, and though she had lived there for two years now, that would not stop her from feeling like a thief in the night had she been alone.

The guard beside her looked slightly worried once they reached the healer's quarters, but stayed outside the door without comment. Bella threw him a reassuring smile to try to let him know that there was no need for alarm, then stepped inside. As agreed, Fróya was waiting for her.

Fróya was one of the healers that had returned to Erebor slightly less than two years ago, and Óin had assured her that the dwarrowdam was one of the experts in matters concerning female health issues, so when Bella started to suspect something being off, she had been quick to arrange this secret meeting with the healer. No need to concern Thorin if it all turned out to be nothing, after all.

The meeting was quickly conducted, with the healer asking some questions, humming over her answers and examining body parts of Bella's that needed to be examined. At the end, Fróya confirmed Bella's suspicions and gave her a list of instructions to follow for the foreseeable future. All in all, it was less than half an hour later that Bella left the healer's quarters, list in hand and a pensive look on her face.

It was, as usual, the scent of breakfast that woke the Queen the next morning. What was not usual (but had been sadly common of late), was the nausea the scent brought with it. Lurching out of the bed, she rushed to the bathroom to throw up, her already awake and very worried husband following at her heels.

"This has to stop," Thorin rumbled behind her as he held her curtain of hair back from her face. "You need to see a healer."

Bella, being after all rather busy, waved at him to be quiet and wait until she was done emptying the contents of her stomach to let her speak. Sadly, he did not pick up on her hint.

"You are worrying me, Ghivashel. You have been ill for nearly a week, now. Had it been a common illness it should have passed already."

Convulsions over, Bella tentatively leaned back into her husband, who cradled her unhesitatingly. Even as she was embarrassed that her heart should see her like this, his tender care warmed her, because while there was no risk of Thorin picking up this particular "illness", he didn't know that. For all he knew, he was risking illness himself by caring for her.

Bella made a note to herself to tell the cooks to make Thorin's favorite meal today. She would personally make dessert, to be waiting for them in their quarters after dinner. Such care deserved a reward.

"I promise you, Thorin, I am not ill." She turned slightly in his arms to smile warmly up at him.

Thorin frowned down at her in response. "But you are so tired all the time now, and you can hardly keep any food down. That is not a sign of good health."

She giggled, then smiled wider (covering her mouth as she did, because going by the horrid taste in her mouth, her breath was absolutely awful at the moment. She did not even want to think about what her teeth looked like.) at the questioning and almost offended look on his face. Clearing her throat, she reached for the glass of water and the mint leaves that were always kept close to the toilet nowadays.

Thorin kept quiet while Bella took care of the taste in her mouth, her breath and her teeth, and once she was done, her husband helped her to her feet and she led him back into the bedroom, feeling much better on a truly empty stomach (also ravenously hungry, but that was another thing that was sadly nothing new these days). He must have recognized by now that she had something to tell him, because he took a seat on the bed without question, pulling her gently down beside him.

Cradling his hands, Bella looked up into her husband's beloved face, smiling at the expectant, still slightly worried look she found there.

"Thorin, I visited healer Fróya this night while you were sleeping. She confirmed my suspicions. I am not ill, Khaeluh, I am with child."

At first, Thorin's face remained blank. He stared at her, a look on his face that she would have found unreadable two years ago, but could now recognize as shock. His silence was nerve wracking, but Bella could only hope that his response would be joyous once he had been given a moment to take in her news.

It was, and when the blindingly bright smile finally spread on Thorin's face, lighting up his eyes, Bella let out a breath she had not been aware she had been holding.

"Truly?" he breathed, fingers turning in her hands to clutch at her, then he freed one of his hands to reach towards her belly, but hesitated. "You are sure?"

"Yes, Thorin," she laughed wetly, happy tears glistening in her eyes. "I told you, I visited the healer this past night. I wanted to wait to tell you until I was absolutely sure, and, well. Now I am."

Carefully, reverently, Thorin's large, warm hand covered her stomach, then he laughed, a bright, joyful sound such as she had never heard before from him, leaping up off the bed to pick her up and swing her about until she was dizzy, breathless and laughing. She collapsed into him afterwards, giggling into his shoulder, and he held her tightly to him, stroking her back in wonder.

"A child," he whispered into her hair, "we are going to have a child."

Bella nodded, finally straightening up to beam at him. The fierce, wondering joy in his eyes was enough to catch her breath, and then he was tearing away from her, throwing the door open to shout into the corridor, "A child! My wife is expecting a child!"

Bella blinked at his back in complete astonishment, then hurried after him. She reached the doors just in time to see the guards clapping Thorin on the back, congratulating him loudly, and when they saw her, they cheered. The guard who had been following her to the healer's quarters last night was there as well, and his cheer was especially loud, relief in his eyes.

Bella smiled somewhat uncertainly at them all – she had not expected Thorin to shout their news to the world like that, but in retrospect, perhaps she should have. Good news were rare, after all, and dwarves held the firm belief that good news should be shared, preferably as soon as possible (as long as there was not some secretive reason as to why they shouldn't be, that is).

As soon as she was close enough, Thorin threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him, and told the guards to send a message to the cooks to throw a feast that night. Bella noted down in her thoughts that the meal she had planned for her husband would have to wait for tomorrow, but she was not especially disappointed. A feast was a feast, after all, and a hobbit would never say no to good food. That is, as long as no nausea was around.

Bella fervently prayed that there would not be.

A clatter of running, shoe-clad feet alerted them to the arrival of Fíli and Kíli, breathless and bright-eyed. "We heard the news from our rooms," Fíli explained breathlessly.

"We are going to get a cousin?!" Kíli asked eagerly, a grin stretching his mouth wide. Thorin nodded at them, the beaming smile never leaving his face. Bella could hardly take her eyes off of him – the only times she had seen him smile for this long and so brightly before were the day their courtship started, the day she accepted his proposal of marriage and on their wedding day. All were bright, shining beacons in her memory, and she was determined to etch every moment of this day as well into her memory, to one day tell her child of how very, very wanted he or she had been. Also, because she lived to see her husband happy, and that smile. She had to taste it.

Tugging on Thorin's braids, she pulled his face down to hers, to kiss that smiling mouth. She did not care that the guards, as well as their nephews, were watching. Not when she could feel that Thorin could not even stop smiling long enough to kiss her properly, though he tried, the corners of his mouth kept pulling up. Not when she could taste his delight in the kiss. Not when she felt the reverence with which his hands held her waist.

Fíli and Kíli, complaining about their innocent eyes in the background, could just look away for a moment.

A/N:I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot of mine! Babies have been on my mind lately, seeing as in less than a month I'm going to be an aunt for the fifth time over (I'm not even kidding), and then I was struck with inspiration and hurriedly started writing. Less than two hours later, and here we are. This was a quick one.

Oh, and the Khuzdul words:

Ghivashel = Treasure of all Treasures. Also means Beloved in fanon.

Khaeluh = My wolf (of all wolves)