The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 61

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I did not wake up until midday but Thorin was by my side nonetheless. He was holding Jyssa in his arms, trying to feed her with a bottle but she wasn't having anything to do with it. Dis was sitting on the sofa trying to do the same with Tyssa but was having the same amount of luck. Only Wani, who was sitting on Thorin's harp chair, was able to get Thrain to take the bottle. Thorin was the first one to notice that I was awake.

"Mereniver." The two other women perked up. I opened my mouth to say good morning but Dis beat me to it.

"I dismissed the midwives. Ordinarily, they would feed the children of the royals but I am assuming you want to breastfeed them yourself?"

"Yes." I didn't feel comfortable with trusting anyone else with my children.

"Thorin, give her Jyssa. I got Tyssa to cooperate and Thrain has taken a liking to Wani. Come here and I'll teach you how I get a baby to take a bottle." Thorin helped me get out of my right sleeve before handing Jyssa to me. Unlike Thorin, I had no trouble getting her to nurse.

Once all three of them were fed and sleeping, I ate again and fell asleep as I was still very tired.

The next few days were a bit of a blur. I spent most of my time asleep and when I wasn't sleeping, I was eating or nursing. Thorin had to carry me around whenever I needed to go to the loo for the first couple days, claiming I couldn't walk, and then after that, he had to help me along. All the time in bed had diminished the muscles in my legs. It wasn't for another week that I could actually stay lucid enough to hold a conversation. Everyone had come to visit the triplets beforehand, of course, and invitations were being sent out to all the kingdoms of Middle Earth for the presentation ceremony that would take place in five weeks, designed to fall on the one year anniversary of Thorin and I meeting. Since the fact that I had had triplets was such a big deal–apparently it had never happened in all of Middle Earth before–every tiny little faction of people would receive an invitation. However, before that happened, we had to pick godparents for the children just in case anything were to happen to Thorin or myself and kill us, Fili, Kili, and Tauriel.

"We should chose people who are likely to live as long as them or at least for a major portion of their lives but are not linked to us."

"No elves."

"Come on. Who then? We need six."

"Dis, Wani, and Sigrid. Bofur, Balin, and Dwalin."

"Thorin. They're all mortal. For all we know, the triplets could grow up very slowly. All those you have chosen could be gone by the time they're toddlers!" He sighed, "It would be seen as an act of trust that would resonate throughout all of Middle Earth."

"We shall never reach agreement on six. You decide on Jyssa's, I'll decide on Thrain's, and we'll agree on Tyssa's as she is the oldest. But no Thranduil. Absolutely not, no way in any world."

"Alright. Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond."

"You are tempting me to change my mind. Bilbo and Sigrid."

"Why Sigrid? I'm not opposed!" I put in before he could say anything, "I'm just curious."

"It will strengthen relations between Erebor and Dale. Relations that are not as strong as they should be. And she is young, she will live long enough to make an impact."

"Alright. I really think Arwen should be Tyssa's godmother. We don't really know anyone else who won't already be close to her. It will show our trust explicitly since Tyssa is crown princess and plus, there is so much Arwen can teach her!"