The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The next week passed in a flash. Invitations to our wedding were sent out, Thorin's only immediate family that was still alive was Dis but he had also invited Dain as well as several other distant relatives living in the Blue Mountains. As for me, everyone I wanted to invite was here except for Gandalf, Bilbo, and Beorn. Given my condition, Thorin would not let me go to invite Beorn in person so he sent the message by raven, hoping he would get it in time. I really wanted to invite Fenriel but when I had approached Tauriel on the subject, she had shot it down. I tried to convince her that her older sister would forgive her once she saw how happy Tauriel was with Kili but that didn't change her mind although she did recommend inviting Legolas. Thorin was opposed to that from the start, still harboring a grudge against Thranduil and his kin, even though Legolas had not even been present when his father had abandoned the dwarves. A few days ago, I had snuck up to Mirkwood by river while Thorin was holding council with the members that had already arrived to see if I could find Legolas and invite him personally but to no avail. As it turned out, he had taken my advice, leaving Mirkwood and not telling anyone where he was going, not even his own father. Needless to say, Thorin had been furious when he found out what I had done, he gave me the whole 'you're three months pregnant and are not to leave without an escort' speech and hasn't spoken to me since. All too soon, the wedding was a week away and Thorin and I had yet to make up.

The council had decided that Thorin and I should go through with the week apart thing, instructing us to pick a different room to sleep in as well as a friend to room with. I had chosen Wani and I knew that Thorin had picked Dwalin, their jobs were to make sure that Thorin and I were not seeing each other under the cover of darkness or in a secluded corridor somewhere. Wani and I were going to room in an unoccupied room in the royal hallway but Thorin didn't know that, nor did I know where he would be staying. Since I was now over three months pregnant, the chances of me having a miscarriage was very low but even so, the council had reluctantly agreed that should something happen or should I have a close call, Thorin would be allowed to see me. My baby bump seemed to be getting larger every day, it had doubled in size in the past month and was now a bit harder to hide without looking suspicious, not that it mattered anymore, the whole of Erebor knew about my pregnancy now thanks to Doryan's little outburst. Much to my delight, my morning sickness had nearly gone away completely, I had only had it once this week! My mother was a little worried about how large my stomach was, considering that this was my first pregnancy but Lord Elrond had assured her that it was normal, as I was having twins that were half dwarven.

Tonight was the first night I would have to sleep without Thorin and my last chance to make up with him before the wedding. We didn't speak to each other at dinner, opting to speak to the person on the other side of us like we had for the past two days. It hurt more than I would like to admit to push him away but I was not going to be the weak one that was going to come crawling back, Thorin would just have to accept that I had some friends who were elves and that was all there was to it. Even so, I felt cold and empty without him. I retired early that night, before sunset. I went to the our bedroom and began to gather my things, planning to be gone by the time he came up. When I was done, I slung my bag over my shoulder and reached for the door. All of a sudden, the door opened quickly on it's own, smashing into my arm and knocking me backwards. I landed on my butt with a high-pitched squeal and my bag fell to the floor next to me, missing me altogether.

"Oh Mahal! Mereniver, are you alright!?" Thorin rushed to my side from the other side of the door, kneeling so we were at eye-level.

"I'm fine love."

"Are you sure? Does anything hurt?"

"Just my arm and my tailbone."

"Are the babies ok?"