Chapter Text
A heavy weight settled in his stomach as Oín confirmed what Dori had suspected for a few weeks now: he was with child. If only the new discovery had managed to shock the nausea out of him. Oín handed him a towel and a glass of water to clean his face and rinse out his mouth when he finished, and Dori sat down with a heavy sigh. He had been so careful too, daily brewing tea made to prevent this sort of thing from happening, as had been his habit since he had come of age so long ago. Perhaps he had gone too long without having it, or maybe it was that he hadn't waited long enough once he could brew it again to celebrate the success of the quest with various members of the Company.
Well, there had also been the odd soldier or two (or four) from Dain's army.
And there had been those two of Bard's men (that had been fun. Dori hadn't been properly spit-roasted in ages).
The father could be any of twelve, he realized glumly as Oín carried on with his examination. Mahal could have seen fit to bless him with carrying an heir for Thorin and neither of them would never, ever know. Without a known father to hold responsible, Dori was right back to being a single parent. Money wasn't a concern, at least, but he would have to give up any dreams of opening a tea shop until the young lad or lass was older and wouldn't be taking up so much of his time.
"You and the baby are in excellent health," Oín declared. He rested a hand on Dori's shoulder and paused to take in the look on his face. "It's not so bad, is it? Surely the father will be delighted to hear it!"
It was an attempt to pry. The rest of Company knew of his habit of sharing his bed with whomever he could lure home for a few hours of pleasure, and all had been hoping he might settle down now that Erebor was theirs. Oín clearly wanted to know if that was the case, and if so, who?
Well, it wasn't going to work. Dori just gave him a tight-lipped smile and stood to leave. "I'm sure he will be," Dori agreed, and slipped out the door before he could be further questioned. He had work to get back to, after all. The crews, equipment, and supplies needed for rebuilding wouldn't organize themselves.
---
It was precisely because of this sort of reaction that Dori had desperately tried to keep his pregnancy a secret. Everyone he had daily contact with knew he was more irritable than normal, felt ill quite often, and didn't want to be touched. He was desperately horny, wanted all sorts of strange foods, and his skin looked positively atrocious. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Nori recognized Dori's symptoms as matching the ones their Ma had gone through with Ori, but it was. What wasn't a surprise was that Nori chose to bring it up in front of Ori.
At dinner, of all times, where Dori's own rules forbid him from an easy escape.
"So..." Nori began. His tone was cautious and neutral, free of judgement. "How far are you?"
Dori's spoon was halfway to his mouth when he dropped it back in the bowl and gave Nori a Look. "I haven't the faintest idea of what you're asking," he responded coolly. His tone suggested Nori drop it.
Nori had never been good at listening to Dori.
Ori sat down his own spoon and looked between his older siblings. "Huh?" he asked.
"It's nothing, dear heart," Dori said.
"I think he's pregnant," Nori said at the same moment.
The older two brothers looked at each other, Nori's expression schooled into innocence and Dori's expression threatening a very painful death.
"Oh," said Ori, as he silently let the thought of that digest. Try to hide it though Dori might, Ori was well aware of his eldest brother's... proclivities. "Are you?"
The youngest gave Dori his most innocent, wide-eyed look. His brothers were terrible at denying him anything when he pulled it on them, and he really hoped Dori wasn't too mad to resist it now.
Dori tried to resist it, but failed miserably. He sighed. "Yes, fine, you're going to be uncles, are you happy now?" he groused at them.
If the looks of joy on their faces were anything to go by, the answer was quite obviously yes, yes they were, thank you very much. Ori squealed and got up to wrap Dori in big hug, and Nori laughed with joy and gathered them both in his arms. "Brother, I didn't know you had it in you! I mean, I didn't know you literally had anything in you at all, ever..." Which was obviously a lie, because everybody knew Dori liked sex, and a lot of it. Dori swatted him.
"It's none of your business, Nori."
The Spymaster of Erebor grinned at his big brother and kissed his forehead. "Everything that happens in Erebor is my business now, Dori! Who's the lucky father-to-be, eh? I'd like to buy him a pint or ten for making uncles out of Ori and I."
Dori's tone went from threatening to flat-out promising his murder. "It's none of your business!"
"But-!" Ori tried to cut in.
"None!"
"Why can't I be with Fili but you get to be with... whoever the father is? That's not fair!" Ori was an adult now too! Just because they didn't yet have the proper sacred space cleared of rubble and dragon dung to conduct his coming-of-age ceremony didn't mean he wasn't old enough to make his own choices.
Dori pulled away from them both, grateful that Ori had just unwittingly given him a way to change the topic. "Ori, I've told you repeatedly not to bring that up again until you're legally an adult!"
"But I'm more than old enough, Dori!" Ori huffed and glared, a look which turned on Nori as he murmured something about how cute Ori was, riled up like an angry little kitten.
Nori patted Ori's head to calm him, a trick which usually worked rather well. "Aye, but you're not a legal adult until you've passed through the fire and become an adult before Mahal. You'll get Fili in trouble, lad, if you aren't patient." Nori shrugged. "Of course, a real adult would be patient without having to be told."
Ori huffed, but didn't argue anymore, out of fear of proving Nori's point for him (something Dori had taught him never, ever to do). He turned instead to go back to questioning Dori, but the eldest was nowhere to be seen.
"When did he learn to vanish like that?" Ori asked.
"I have no idea," murmured Nori, quite impressed with Dori's quick distraction and silent escape.
---
There were few safe places in the city Dori could go to be alone, and he headed to the closest one, needing to clear his head. While it was possible that none of the Company would have an issue with him raising a child on his own, this sort of thing was looked down upon by most dwarrows, who only loved once and were loyal to that love to the last breath. Raising a child alone was tolerated only under the most grave of circumstances, such as their mother passing while giving birth to Ori, or losing one's spouse. Bearing males and women sleeping around as Dori did was an act that was frowned upon, even more so when children came about as a result. It was much less risky to have two incomes, two working parents, two bodies to do the hard tasks together. It was why their mother had held such a poor rank in society and could never get a good paying job. It was a good deal of the reason he had struggled to keep just Ori well-fed and clothed for a very long time.
Dori was terrified he would be seen as bringing shame on Thorin and his friends, and he did not want to have to have to bear the distaste and comments of others until he had no choice and could no longer hide his condition. Dori knew his dear brothers would not care, that they would love him and the babe no matter what, but he did not wish to make their lives more difficult because of his poor judgement in timing with regards to his sexual needs and the tea that was supposed to prevent this whole mess.
He rested his face in his hands and took a deep breath. How was he even supposed to do this a second time? Dori didn't want to be a single parent again, but he couldn't think of anyone who would have him like this. It was likely that Ori would help a little, he supposed, but was he going to lose Nori again like he had when their mother had died and they had an infant to care for in her place? Dori knew Ori had always blamed himself for that, though it wasn't his fault, and he didn't want this child growing up with the same guilt if Nori fled again.
A tear slid down his cheek at the thought and he angrily wiped it away, unwilling to cry where anybody could see him. Raising Ori had been so hard, and while Dori remembered the good things, the bad were also hard to forget.
There was the sound of boot scuffing against stone, and then he felt the warmth of Nori's hand on his shoulder. "Come back to the house," he urged. "Me and Ori want to talk to you about this."
If nothing else, now was as good a time as any to impress upon them the need for secrecy. Dori nodded and let Nori pull him to his feet.
---
Nori and Ori promised their silence if he would just answer their questions, and Dori complied. He wasn't quite three months, he was tired and nauseous, how else was he supposed to feel? No, he didn't know which of the twelve possibilities the father was and no, Nori, he wasn't naming the likely candidates for him to sneak out and threaten and interrogate.
They respected his desire to keep the baby a secret for now, though Nori strongly urged him to tell the rest of the Company ("Oh, so I can be mothered by that lot? No, Nori!"), and agreed to tell no one.
It turned out they needn't have bothered with promises, because the next day ended with Dori having to flee a Company dinner to go empty his stomach. Everyone turned to look at Oín, expecting him to go do something to deal with Dori's illness, but the way he sighed and shook his head caused many of the older members of the Company to raise their eyebrows and turn to Nori and Ori, who were staring at each other over the table, silently arguing who was going to go check on him this time.
Nori slipped out the door, Ori hot on his heels, everyone else following close behind.
"You all right there, Dori?" Nori asked, wincing at the mess Dori had made in a basin.
Neither of them had any way to know the whole of the company was just around the corner eavesdropping, Ori gagged and somewhat willingly pinned against Fili's chest to keep him from warning his brothers. "The baby doesn't like green food," he muttered in response. "Maybe it's on to something."
"The what?" Thorin asked calmly as he stepped around the corner. His sharp eyes took in the way Dori's hand rested over his stomach, remembered Dis's symptoms with Fili and Kili, and came to a conclusion. He ordered the others away before approaching to kneel in front of Dori.
"Thorin, I can explain-”
"Are you pregnant?" Thorin asked. His face and tone were perfectly neutral, in precisely the way Dori was sure they shouldn't be when one was asking this question of a friend: Thorin was clearly King at the moment, wishing an answer from a subject instead.
Dori knew better than to lie to his King. That was a lesson he had learned while trying to keep Nori's relationship to them a secret to protect Ori. He subserviently averted his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "Yes, my King," he answered.
"And who is the father?" It sounded to Dori like there was a bit of judgement in that tone.
"That is none of your concern," he said, glaring at the floor and ignoring Nori's supportive hand on his shoulder.
The defensive answer seemed to surprise Thorin, for it took him a minute to reply. "It is if there's a chance that it is mine. Is there that chance?" Thorin stood with his hands clasped behind his back, carefully evaluating Dori as though looking for weaknesses.
Dori's non-answer might as well have been a yes. Thorin let the silence linger between them for a moment longer, then asked, "How many others?"
"Eleven," he whispered. Nori's hand tightened on his shoulder and he stepped closer.
"Eleven? Mahal, Dori..." he breathed.
In a perfect world, Dori thought that he wouldn't have to explain his actions. "I misjudged the timing. I thought I had been drinking the tea again for long enough. I thought it was okay to celebrate our victory in the usual way."
There was silence for a moment, and then Nori and Thorin both hard arms wrapped around him. "A blessing is a blessing, Dori," Thorin murmured to him. "Mahal has seen fit to give you a child to raise in better circumstances, and none would ever argue that you would be a poor recipient of this gift."
"Ori came out just fine, even though you had to do everything alone," Nori added, and Dori couldn't deny that he was pleased to hear some measure of guilt in his voice. "It won't be like that again. You've got a ton of help, and Ori and I aren't going anywhere."
"But the father-" Dori argues.
Thorin cut him off. "It doesn't matter. You've got twelve other dwarrows here ready to evict anyone from the mountain who thinks otherwise, and need I remind you that I own it? You will have more help than you could ever possibly use or want. The child is yours, and so it will belong to a most honorable and noble family."
Dori couldn't help the tears that flowed as he let himself be held. "Thank you," he murmured to them both.
---
The next several months were both wonderful and torturous. Dori had a small army to help around the house (and to keep his body thoroughly satisfied). Those he had slept with tried to court him (and were subsequently interrogated and threatened by Nori and Thorin working in tandem, never mind that Thorin had done the same thing as they had), but Dori put off their advances, arguing that he really wasn't in any fit state to be courted until after the baby came.
After three days of hard labor that left Dori barely conscious and struggling to push at the end, it was easy to determine that she had to come from one of Fundin's sons, if that mohawk was anything to go by. Thorin had been the first to notice it, as it was his right as King to hold the child first. Once he had calmed down from rejoicing over her gender and marveling with Dori over her fingers and toes and adorable peach fuzz, he took in her hair and chuckled. He was still laughing as he passed her off to Dori for her first feeding and entered the waiting area where he patted Balin and Dwalin on the shoulders with a twinkle in his eye.
"She has a warrior's crest," he announced to the gathered group, clearly amused at their expense as the brothers' jaws hit the floor. The rest of the group cheered at the news of a daughter, then fell to silence as their leader's words caught up to them. Thorin gestured for Nori and Ori to go on in, and they slipped back quickly, closing the door behind them to greet their new niece. "It's a bit hard to tell whose hair color she took after, but I'm certain Father said that you two were the only babes he ever saw born with it straight from the womb."
Both brothers sat down hard and stared at the other. Neither had ever expected to be uncles or fathers, and each of them obviously laid claim to one of those titles apiece. The rest of the Company watched the two in silence, curious to see who would claim the lass. Dwalin was likely already going to end up being the lass's uncle if his relationship with Nori got much more serious. It would be so weird if he were her father as well.
"I never finished inside him," Dwalin said after a moment. "Not recently enough for her to be mine, at least."
"Then I suppose you must be her uncle, brother, for I most certainly did, and several times at that."
Thorin glanced over at the younger ones still in the room. Kili's cheeks were flushed red, Fili's mouth hung open in shock at the utter smugness in Balin's tone. The older adults shared chuckles at the unexpected comment and patted Balin on the back in congratulations.
"You?" Kili asked. His tone was incredulous.
Balin turned to look at him and chuckled. "I'm old, laddie, not dead." Thorin thought his advisor looked entirely too pleased with himself. He gestured Balin toward the room, and the older dwarrow nodded and stood to enter, excusing himself from the conversation.
"Be glad it didn't turn out to be Dwalin's or Fili's," Thorin told Kili as he gave his hair an affectionate ruffling. "Then they would have been the father and an eventual uncle, assuming their Ones ever forgave them for getting Dori in the family way."
"Oh, thank goodness," muttered Kili.
Nori poked his head out of the room. "Are you lot coming in to welcome her or do you just plan to sit out here and gossip like housewives all morning?"
The rest of their rather large family stood and entered the birthing room, crowding around the bed to see Dori and the babe. Dori handed her to Balin when his arms grew weak, and he handed her to Dwalin to hold next. "Here is 'Agâni, daughter of Balin," Dori said. Though his voice was soft and weak from his exertions, it was full of love and pride. "We shall call her Arri in the presence of outsiders."
"Welcome, 'Agâni," Dwalin murmured, and kissed her forehead. They passed her around from dwarf to dwarf, each greeting the little one and pressing a kiss to her forehead before passing her on to the next male. Fili, Kili, and Ori were unsure how to hold a baby, but the other adults were familiar enough with handling infants that there was no trouble amongst the group in showing them what to do. Oín took her next to last, once the old magic that had made it possible for Dori to birth her had been properly dismissed, and passed her to Thorin to give the first blessing.
Once that was done, the group left Balin and Dori in peace with the babe and prepared the first of a week of feasts, a good deal of which Thorin had sent in to the new parents in the hopes of helping Dori regain his strength. There was much feasting and dancing that night, and all were in a merry mood.
The first child born to Erebor in nearly two centuries had been a girl. It was a sign of hope, of Mahal's blessing, and Thorin - all of them - would take it as such.