The Master Sonnet

The Consort's Secret
Hidden Door
Others Might Disagree
Reality Came Crashing Down
In the Morning Light
Never Let Them Go

Adventure Seeker
Nine Day Wonder
Disaster Management

Born Under the Mountain
Into Action
Love
Blast From The Past
On Durin's Day

-Epilogue-

As always it was just another busy day for Bilbo. "Frerin, where is your brother?" he asked his son who was just sitting at the table since he woke up. Frerin who was now twenty years old was in no mood to help his Papa.

"You will have to be a tad more specific," Frerin answered slowly, "I have a lot of brothers."

"Frodo," clarified Bilbo as he put the last things on the kitchen counter. He needed to check again if he prepared everything.

Frerin just shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. Probably somewhere reading. Away from this chaos," he added as the twins ran into the kitchen.

"Thoan, Derin! No running in the kitchen," scolded Bilbo. The nine-year-old twins just smiled before they ran away. Not a minute later they heard something break in the common room. "Please go check what they are doing," Bilbo asked Frerin, who rolled his eyes before he went to check on his brothers.

"Papa?" Another one of his and Thorin's children demanded attention.

"What can I do for you Náin?" asked Bilbo while going through the list once again.

"If this one isn't a girl, will you try for another one?" asked Náin and looked at his Papa who was in his last month of pregnancy.

Another one. He and Thorin wanted a girl no matter what. So far no luck. They were blessed with beautiful boys but as Bilbo soon realized they were really hard to handle. Two years after Frodo, Theoir joined them. He was now thirteen and was finally starting to calm down. Náin was one year younger than him and Bilbo had to admit that he came as a surprise. Thoan and Derin, playful nine-year-old twins were just starting to cause mischief and because they always worked together they managed to cause twice as more trouble than the rest of the children. Matis was the last one. He was now four years old and he was Frerin's favorite. Frerin never paid so much attention to any of his brothers like he did to Matis. He played with him, carried him around and allowed him to sleep in his bed, on which Bilbo and Thorin never agreed.

Now Bilbo was pregnant again and he knew this would be his last one. Never before he had problems getting pregnant, but with this last one he and Thorin had been trying for over a year and a half. He wasn't young anymore but Lord Elrond assured him he won't be having any trouble carrying this child to term. This was their last hope for a girl and they couldn't be happier when the Elf announced that their wish will come true. Bilbo knew that his boys were a little worried about the arrival of a certain princess because they were afraid that she will become the center of their parents' attention.

"No sweetheart, I have enough of you," answered Bilbo and for a moment studied his son's expression.

"Really?"

"Yes, I think that nine is my limit. I want to have at least a few days of my life left when I'm not taking care of you," explained Bilbo. "Why do you ask, love?"

"Because Frerin controls us all." Lucky Frerin, thought Bilbo who always had trouble controlling all his children at once. "He says we have to listen to him because he the oldest."

Now Bilbo understood what this was all about. "So you want someone to listen to you."

Náin nodded. "Thoan and Derin never listen to me-"

"They don't listen to anyone," sighed Bilbo.

"And Matis is too young to understand anything," complained Náin. "If Thráin would spend more time with us everything would be better. Frerin never dares to say anything to him."

"He is busy," explained Bilbo. "You know he is helping your father." At the mention of Thorin, Náin's eyes sparkled. He quickly opened the basket in front of him to check what his Papa prepared. "Paws off," scolded Bilbo. "That's for later. Now go find your brothers so we can go."

Bilbo managed to go through the list once again before all his children came into the kitchen. "What did you two broke?" he asked the twins who avoided eye contact.

"Nothing…" they answered.

"Mhmm…" said Bilbo, not entirely convinced. "Take these please," he said and gave the two light baskets to hold, "And be very careful with them. If you break what's inside you won't get any cake," he threatened, which apparently worked because the twins carried the baskets very carefully out of the kitchen. "Theoir…"

"Yes Papa?"

"These two are yours. Náin you will take this," ordered Bilbo.

"And I will take Matis," said Frerin.

"And this basket, please," said Bilbo. "You are strong enough to carry both. " Frerin accepted the basket and together with his Papa they followed everyone to the garden in upper halls.

Before Bilbo even came up the twins were already running around, Frerin was playing with Matis and Náin and Theoir were arguing about who knows what. When Bilbo thought he would have to do everything alone, help came in a form of a certain someone Bilbo liked very much.

"Do you need any help?"

Bilbo turned around, only to see Tora standing there. "I always need your help," he smiled.

Together they prepared all the food very quickly. All they had to do now was to wait for a certain someone to join them. Luckily it didn't take long before Thráin and Thorin showed up.

"Surprise!" they shouted and the younger ones ran to Thorin.

"Happy birthday, dad!"

Thráin just stepped away so that they could torture his father in peace. He approached his Papa and greeted him with a kiss on a cheek. At twenty-seven he was almost as tall as Thorin which meant he was much taller than Bilbo. "Hi," he smiled. "I see that you managed to get them all here in one piece," he laughed.

"I can still handle all of you, you know." Thráin smiled and pressed a kiss to his Papa's belly.

"You are going to be so spoiled when you get here," he cooed, until someone cleared its throat to get his attention. Thráin lifted his eyes only to see Tora standing right next to his Papa. "I didn't forget about you," he said as he wrapped his arms around his love and gave her kiss. "I missed you."

"I missed you more."

Bilbo just rolled his eyes at their open display of affection. He looked around to find another member of his family that was still missing. Luckily it didn't take him long to spot him. "It's your father's birthday," Bilbo said and confiscated the book Frodo was reading. "Now go there and at least say hello, your adventure can wait for a few hours," he smiled. Frodo placed a kiss on his cheek before he ran to his dad to wish him happy birthday.

After a few minutes of struggling, Thorin finally managed to reach his husband who was smiling happily as he was watching their family. "No kiss for me?" Thorin asked teasingly.

"Just one," smiled Bilbo before wrapping his arms around his husband. Thorin pulled him as close as he could, due to the fact that Bilbo's large belly was between them. "Happy birthday, love."

Thorin leaned down for a lingering kiss. As always a few of their children protested at their display of affection, others, who were already used to it, ignored them. But as expected someone had to interrupt.

"Daddy," cried Thoan, "I want cake!" he demanded while clutching to Thorin's leg.

Bilbo and Thorin pulled apart to look down at their son. "We love them even if they are annoying like this, right?" Thorin whispered.

"Always," answered Bilbo before pulling Thorin down for another kiss.

"Who wants cake?!" called Thorin after they pulled apart.

"Me!" Thorin laughed at their enthusiasm before he scooped Thoan up and took him to the cake.

Bilbo rested a hand on his belly as he watched his family fight with one another over the first piece of cake. This was his family, he thought, and he wouldn't change it for nothing in this world. Bilbo smiled again before he joined the little chaos he and Thorin created.

-THE END-