𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

Teddy bear | Dwalin

The door of the house closed behind Dwalin, who was preparing to make the purchase. A week ago he had moved to his new apartment to live in solitude after having experienced a difficult situation, and thus be able to leave Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin and Dís calmer about his problems. It was time to buy things to fill the fridge; it was empty when he got home. He got into the car and drove off.

Once he arrived at the supermarket, he parked near the entrance and got out of the car, but his eyes could not escape the figure of two children, very similar and very young, who were together half hidden behind a post; they both stared at him, but Dwalin, after watching them for a few seconds, decided to divert his attention from them to continue with his tasks. He didn't give them much importance.

Once he left the supermarket with all the things he needed, he went to the car and started to put things in the trunk, but when he was about to get in the car he could see the two children from before right in the driver's door, and, once again, they stared at him.

"What? What are you doing here? What do you want?" he asked with some confusion, but none of the children answered, they just stared at him.

Dwalin sighed.

"Go to your mother," he said at last. "You will have her worried and she will be waiting for you."

The children still didn't say anything, still as stakes, and that made Dwalin lose patience little by little.

"Come on, I have to go, it's late," Dwalin continued after being silent for a while, waiting for them to move. The children finally turned away from the car and headed for the post again.

Dwalin got into the car and closed the door, driving off shortly after. He was confused, but he didn't give it much importance once again. However, once he was far enough away, he looked at them in the rearview mirror, seeing that the two children were following him with their eyes. Dwalin frowned in confusion and continued on his way home.

*****

A few days later, Dwalin was sitting on a bench in a small square looking at a photo, a picture that was important to him and that at that moment was bringing tears to his eyes, but they were bitter tears. He clenched his free fist tightly in anger at seeing the image; he had fallen in love with that woman so much that, faced with her disappointment, he felt broken inside, and he didn't want Thorin, or Fili, Kili, or even Balin to see him like that for her.

He dropped his fist and reached into his pants pocket for a lighter. He looked at the woman next to him once more before lighting the lighter and placing the flame on the image so that it would consume it until it turned into ashes that were blown by the wind. He closed his eyes and kept his face in his hands but... after a few seconds... a noise was heard to his right, and when he took his hands off his face to see what was happening, he found the two children from a few days ago, the same ones he met in the parking of the supermarket.

Once again, he was confused.

"Who are you?" he asked with a frown trying to hide his tears. "And what do you want? Go with your mother or your father."

"Mom died in an accident," said one of the children determined to break the silence, while the other remained silent without taking his eyes off Dwalin.

The bald man looked at them again, but this time with concern on his face.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"And daddy got shot in the forehead," said the same boy as he made a self-shooting gesture, managing to startle Dwalin and make him move from his place in surprise.

Silence fell momentarily as the three looked at each other, and the children decided not to say anything else, never taking their eyes off Dwalin.

The bald man looked away from them, thoughtful and a little nervous. He then turned his gaze to the children and, after thinking about it for a few minutes, he got up and picked them up.

"Come with me, I'm going to give you a surprise," he said as he held the children in each arm.

The infants got nervous seeing such a big man getting so close to them, they got so nervous that the most timid one emitted a groan due to insecurity. Dwalin looked at him and hesitantly smiled at him.

"I'm not going to do anything to you, I promise, you're safe with me," he said with a tone unusual for him, a soft tone that inspired security and protection. "My name is Dwalin, you can call me that."

He went to the car, a few meters from the square, and put both children in the back seats. He buckled them in, and after looking at them for a few seconds, he closed the door and got into the car in the driver's seat. He started up and decided to pay a visit to a toy shop.

Once he pulled into the parking lot, he scooped up both children in his arms again and entered the shop. He was walking through the innumerable corridors that it had.

"Do you see something you like?" he asked as he continued walking, and the talking boy pointed to a set of toy cars

"That! I want that!" he said as he thrashed in Dwalin's arms, and the bald man moved closer to let the boy take the cars. On the other hand, the most shy boy continued without saying anything, curled up on the man's chest with sad eyes that denoted insecurity.

"And what do you want? You don't like anything?" Dwalin asked, looking at the boy, who was staring blankly at a single object. The boy's brother followed the direction of the boy's eyes and, after a few seconds of thinking, grabbed Dwalin's shirt and shook it.

"He wants the teddy! The teddy bear," he said as he looked at the man. Dwalin looked at him as he listened to his words, and then turned his attention from him to the shy boy.

"Is that true?" he asked him, and the infant nodded without saying anything.

Dwalin then approached the teddy bear and took it to give it to the boy, seeing how suddenly he stretched out his arms to pick it up and hug it, closing his eyes and sheltering himself in Dwalin again, making for once in a long time the bald man feel tenderness. He decided to head to the checkout to pay for the toys, and headed to the car to go home.

Once he got home, he took the children out of his arms so they could do whatever they wanted while he dedicated himself to making dinner and, after the three of them had dinner, he decided to go to bed early. He was tired and the children also needed to rest.

Dwalin got into bed, and meanwhile, the children stayed on top of it, playing both racing cars and playing with the bear. The shy boy then, after scratching his eyes and releasing a yawn, fell into the bear, because it was bigger than him, and hugged him taking refuge in its chest.

"Dwalin," he said with a smile, still hugging the bear, and that made the bald man wince slightly. The first word he heard from that child was his name.

After a few seconds, he decided it was time to sleep.

"Well, it's time for bed, tomorrow we have to get up early and it's late for you."

The children got up from their seats and climbed into bed with him, making Dwalin think that he should buy a bed for each of them, but for tonight, the three of them would sleep together.

"Good night, guys," he said after turning off the light.

"Good evening, Mr. Dwalin," the two infants said at once, closing their little eyes.