My Dear Frodo: It's Time I Told You The Truth

Chapter Four

The next day, Bilbo and Frodo said farewell to Bard and his family. The servants had prepared their wagon, and they were back on the road after breakfast. Luckily they didn't have to travel so far this time around.

Erebor was so close they could see the details of the entrance, yet they were still so far away. With the wagon, their trip took longer than if they were each riding a horse, but since Frodo was too young for that and the fact they were carrying more than a few things, they had to go slow.

It caused the young hobbit to be restless and very eager to get to the mountain, but Bilbo made the tween promise to behave for the remaining distance of their long journey.

"Your family aren't going anywhere," Bilbo assured as they approached the halfway mark. "I know you are excited, but do try to stay calm for the next hour or so. I know you can do it."

"I'll try...." Frodo sighed.

The tween looked up at the mountain before them, imagining what it was like on the inside. All he knew was that the kingdom was carved from the mountain and was composed of green marble with golden streaks. It also once held the vast wealth his great-grandfather, Thror, had collected.

Over the months they had been on the road, the boy tried to get his father to tell him everything he remembered about the kingdom, which to his surprise, was not much.

He had expected his father to go on for hours about Erebor, as he did many other topics, but their conversation about the great dwarven kingdom was short. It happened once early on in their trip and only lasted a few minutes.

★ ★ ★

"There isn't much to tell," Bilbo had said when they were getting ready for bed at Rivendell. "I only knew the city when it was still in ruins. Smaug had left and attacked Lake-town, which I still feel responsible for, leaving us in the large, empty kingdom full of the corpses of the fallen dwarves from Smaug's initial attack."

"Were you scared?"

"Scared would be an understatement. For the first few days, we didn't know if Smaug would return or not and only learned of his death when Roäc, the raven, flew in with the news. The days before his arrival were anxious for us all as we feared that Smaug would be back to finish us all at any moment."

"And after Roäc confirmed Smaug was dead, you and dad... you... um...." Frodo trailed off as he struggled to find the right words.

The topic was something he never wanted to think about, let alone vocalise, yet his father seemed to have no issue with it. From the stammering and sudden pink tint to the tween's cheeks, Bilbo knew immediately what his son was referring to and couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the boy struggle to find the right words.

"It was about four days or so after we received word of Smaug's death when your father and I... celebrated, resulting in your conception."

"Papa!"

"What?"

"You don't have to say it!"

"It's the truth."

"But I don't want to hear it!"

"I'm hardly going into detail, love. Besides, it's part of my story and how you came into this world."

"Still... I don't want to think about it, let alone hear it...."

"My apologies, but you were the one who brought it up."