I do not own the Hobbit!

Chapter 2.

Thorin Oakenshield, king of Erebor was not very pleased at the moment. He was stuck at a meeting with his counsel. The meeting had already been twice as long as usual and the other dwarves showed no signs to stop arguing. Unfortunately this was a normal occurrence and one of the most common reasons to his headaches, the second being his sister sons and their mischief. They most often then not seemed to be up to something and most of the times it wasn't something great.

Not only had he been stuck in this meeting for what seemed like forever but he also knew that his wife was currently at home, probably making dinner. She had been feeling ill for quite some time and Thorin had started to worry. Thankfully she had visited Oin yesterday, unfortunately she had yet to tell him any of the results of what Oin told her. And now he was stuck in this meeting and not at home with his wife, finding out what was wrong.

"Enough" He roared, slamming a fist on the table. The dwarves in the room froze and looked at the king. It was not often that he actually shouted mostly because he used that as a weapon for the extreme moment he really needed their attention. "We will not reach a conclusion today, we will continue tomorrow with this. You can all go now" He sat back down into his chair with a sigh.

The council hurried out of the room in fear of making their king angrier than he was. They knew he had been in a bad mood for some time now and felt a retreat was safest. Besides the meeting had been going on for a couple of hours and they were all tired and hungry by now. The only ones who stayed in the room was Thorin and Dwalin, since Dwalin was both Thorins guards and had been his friend for such a long time he was not intimidated by Thorins royal grumpiness. Well that's what Kili, Fili and Billa called it, the rest of the company usually referred to it as "mood swings".

"What put you in such a bad mood?" Dwalin huffed out, walking closer to Thorin who was sitting on his throne, hunched over with his head in his hands, then leaning against the table and shoving Thorin's shin with his foot. Dwalin was even slightly disappointed that Thorin hadn't even twitched at his kick. It was a normal thing for the two dwarves to tease each other and whenever one of them didn't react to the others actions it meant that it was one of those "time to be serious" moments.

"Billa have yet to tell me about her visit to Oin… And they were annoying me with their shouting." He said, voice muffled by his hands which he was currently rubbing his face with before sitting up and looking at Dwalin with an frustrated look on his face. It sort of looked like he had smelled something bad but didn't want to show it.

" Then what are you still doing here you great oaf? Go to her." And with those words Dwalin left the room, heading for the royal hall, Thorin following after realizing that sitting and sulking would not solve any problems.

Billa was cooking up a feast. She had invited all of the companyand their families over for dinner, since this was when she was planning on revealing the pregnancy to her family. She had cooked pies, stews and steaks and dessert after dessert. As a hobbit she absolutely loved to cook food, especially for people she loved.

She had spent most of the day cooking and cleaning since she had a day off from her duties as a queen and finally had time to do whatever she wanted for a day. It was not often they had these kinds of days so she made sure to treasure every single one of them. Just as she was pulling out the last of the pies from the oven she heard a knock on the door. She knew just who it was, since she had told them to come earlier to help with the reveal.

When she opened the door she was met with two bright smiles and eager dwarves. Fili and Kili were so excited they were almost jumping where they were standing. Then they burst through the barely opened door and hugged her and actually started to spin her around in circles. The forgotten door slamming shut behind them.

"We are going to get a cousin! We are going to get a cousin! We are going to get a cousin!" They sang while still hugging her between them. Apparently they were still extremely excited about the news even though they had known for more then a day and a half. The same could be said for Oin who, if rumors were right, had walked around and humming ever since her pregnancy was confirmed. It had actually started to raise some concerns and had even created theories about how he finally had lost his mind. But Billa knew that everyone would understand as soon as the news were revealed.

"I know that you are excited boys, I know I am too. Did you have time to make it?" She could already tell from their smiles that they had managed to finish it because their smiles were as bright as the sun. And the fact that they were both extremely hard workers and would never let something as important as this go wrong. That and the fact that she had not even finished talking before the boys were nodding as the answer to her question.

"Auntie, what is that smell? It smells delicious, even better that normal" Kili said while slowly moved towards the kitchen, the source of the smells of course being the food she had made. She might have gone overboard and made everyone's favorites foods and desserts. Fili being more patient than his brother actually took off his shoes before following his brother into the room. Sometimes she got amused by how easily distracted they were, especially if the distraction was food.

"Nevermind that Kili, please be a good boy and remove your shoes first though, then we can wait for the rest to show up, and of course prepare the surprise." Billa said while shooing the boys out of the kitchen so they wouldn't eat all of the desserts before the others arrived. They really were like children sometimes. Though she never minded, they were under so much stress, being heirs to the throne, that when they were home and relaxed she loved it that they acted as they did and she might also be spoiling them a bit.

After all of them were seated on the couch with some tea and scones they finally took out and showed her the bead. It was a normal sized one made from mithril, which the boy thought was perfect since it was strong and priceless just like her and their future cousin (their words not hers). It had the Durin family crest on it to show which family the baby would be born into, runes to show that it was a pregnancy bead and a beautiful sapphire which the boys thought looked perfect against the mithril and her hair. The stone was polished to make the light catch it as much as possible and therefore making it impossible for anyone to miss it.

"Oh it is so beautiful. You have outdone yourselves again my boys." Billa got tears in her eyes because their spectacular work really showed how much they cared for her and loved her and the baby. When they really wanted to they could create some of the most beautiful masterpieces "Thank you, thank you so much you two. It is amazing as always, thank you." And if a tear or two escaped her eyes and their eyes seemed a bit wet, no one said a thing.

"No problem auntie. We were honored that you allowed us to do this for you." Fili answered for the both of them. Billa then reached inside one of her own pockets to take out a small box , some tissue and a blue ribbon which she packaged the bead in. After all gifts were more fun to give when you could see the person open a package and experiencing the suspense it created before revealing what's inside.

A couple of hours later everyone except for Thorin and Dwalin had arrived to dinner and everyone were feeling happy and relaxed. It had been some times since the last time they had gathered and they had been working hard and deserved a break. The drinks were flowing and the food was disappearing, it was just as the time as when the company first arrived at her doorstep, only slightly more welcome, slightly cleaner and even more fun then that time. After all the threat of a dragon can dampen your mood a bit.

Bofur had already started to dance on the tables, Bombur was on his fifth portion of stew, and Oin was sitting in the corner with Fili and Kili. The three of them were wearing knowing smiles and waiting for the moment when the reveal would come. They were quite smug at the moment but at the same time she could not blame them for being smug.

Suddenly the door flew up with a bang, showing Dwalin and Thorin the former having the latter in a headlock. They were both laughing and shoving at each other clearly having fun roughhousing. This was actually a normal occurrence for the two since sometimes they could not help acting like children when they were together. Since they had grown up together the often acted more like brothers then just friends.

"Billa, here's your lump of a husband." Dwalin said and shoving Thorin to her who stumbled lightly at first before reached her side. His years of sword training and hand to hand combat had made him surprisingly light on his feet and fast to move. Thorin had even some skill in archery because when Kili started to hint about wanting to learn archery Thorin learnt the basics from some humans and then passed it on to Kili.

" Thank you Dwalin for bringing him back safe." She giggled at Thorin grumble at her words. Thorin then gathered her in his arms and put his chin on her shoulder, his beard tickling her neck until she was full on laughing ()which was his goal: to hear her laughter.) His arms were around her waist and their hands were intertwined. She could feel his warmth even through her dress and his wolf fur coat.

" Well come on you two and eat before the food is gone. You have been gone for so long, you must be hungry." She said while pushing her husband towards the dinner table which still had food on it, even though the amount of food had decreased by quite a bit. Which made Billa incredibly happy since it meant that they enjoyed her food and she had succeeded as a hostess, something that was very important for Hobbits.

The company spent the night singing all of the songs they knew, laughing at jokes and stories about the past and eating the food that Billa made. They were clearly enjoying each others company but at the same time Billa was starting to become slightly nervous as time went by. Soon was the time when she would reveal her pregnancy to the rest of the company and she could not stop thinking about it. She was excited and nervous at the same time and that combined with her pregnancy made her slightly nauseous.

"My love? I have something to tell you. Or rather ,Thorin, I have something to show you." She said, reaching into the hidden pocket of her dress and pulling out a small package, neatly wrapped with a blue bow on top. It had been in her pocket all night, the weight of the package feeling extremely heavy even though she knew that it barely weighed anything.

" I want you to open this" She said while giving the package to Thorin who took it surprised at getting a gift when it was not his birthday nor yule. After all why would he get a gift now of all times, he hoped that he at least hadn't forgotten any important anniversary or similar. As soon as she had given the small package to him Billa started to fidget, too nervous and excited to stay still. Billas fidgeting led to that the rest of the company, including Thorin, became nervous since trained soldiers often notices others emotions.

" What is this? Should I have gotten you something as well? Did I forget anything" But he didn't wait for her to answer, he only opened the package. And when it finally opened time seemed to freeze and everyone in the room gasped for breath as they realized what they were witnessing. They could barely believe what their eyes were seeing. Out of the package a small bead fell into Thorins hands, and they could all see what it was; A bead, designed in the way of expecting mothers to wear.

"What?" Thorin breathed out, looking at Billa with big eyes full of shock and his ja dropping. All in all he looked ridiculous while trying to connect what he was seeing to what it meant.

"I´m pregnant, we are having a baby Thorin." She said with a smile. The room was so silent you could even hear if a pin dropped on the floor. Everyone's eyes moved between Billa and the bead, everyone except for Oin and Fili and Kili who were trying not to laugh at the faces the others made.

"Mahal! A baby. Oh Mahal." Thorin said before jumping up and grabbing Bill to spin her around. They were both laughing and pressed their foreheads together, holding each other and celebrating. Around them the company shouted their joy, danced and hugged. The room was simply filled with joy. Babies were celebrated in dwarven culture because of the trouble they went through trying to get them. And babies born into the royal line were even more celebrated because that meant that another king or queen would be born.

When they finally managed to calm down they all sat down in front of the fire and watched as Thorin braded the bead into Billas hair, next to her marriage bead. Currently she had the pregnancy bead, her queen bead, and her marriage and courting beads that Thorin gave her. Already a bet about if the baby would be a girl or a boy had started, so far most thought a boy since it was so rare for girls to be born. The low numbers of females were also another reason why there weren't many babies.

All in all both children and women were treasured and everytime pregnancy was announced the whole kingdom celebrated. The only celebration that was bigger was when a child was born. There had even been times when a few pregnancies and births were so close that the celebrations had lasted almost non-stop for months.

"How did you know about the beads?" Thorin asked Billa, still looking at her with shock, the news have barely sunken in. He hadn't even released her from his embrace fully yet. So far the only dwarves who seemed like fully fiunctioning individuals were Oin, fili and Kili who obviously already knew and Bifur who was sitting in a corner and grinning while muttering.

"Actually it is a funny story." She answered while holding his hand and playing with his fingers. "It all happened during my check up with Oin."

Thank you for reading!

I´m sorry that it took a while to post this chapter. I am currently writing the next chapter and it should not take too long for it to be done :)

-J