Over the Mountains // Thorin Oakenshield

Chapter 23

Thorin lay awake, staring up at the ceiling above him. He didn't find anything of the wooden ceiling interesting, for he wasn't really looking. His mind was on other things. While he was running through the duties he had to fulfill the next few days, his fingers were gently running through Sepha's long brown hair that cascaded around her pretty sleeping head.

The girl was still sound asleep, her head resting on his bare chest, her soft breathing barely making the sheets rise and fall. Thorin could feel her heart beating against his chest and it made him smile. They had been married for almost two weeks now and almost every dwarf in Erabor had insisted Thorin take the mornings slow. That way, he didn't have to rush out of bed, either waking Sepha up earlier than need be or not being allowed to share breakfast with her.

In that case, Thorin was allowed the time to lay in bed for an extra hour before rousing and having breakfast with his wife before heading off to his duties as king.

Thorin turned his head to look at his sleeping wife and smiled. Her lashes were fluttering as she slowly woke. He reached over and ran his finger across her soft cheek and planted a kiss on her forehead.

The girl shifted at the gesture and let out a sigh as she opened her eyes. Thorin looked down at her as she turned to look up at him, a smile on her lips.

"Good morning," she whispered.

Thorin smiled, "Morning."

Sepha stirred enough so she could reach up and place a kiss on his lips before lying back down. She brought one hand up and laid it on his chest, feeling the taut muscle of his chest while she rested her chin on her hand, looking at him.

"How is it that you look beautiful even after you've been asleep for hours?" Thorin whispered.

Sepha smiled, "I move in my sleep in case you hadn't noticed so I don't look anywhere near beautiful in the morning."

THorin shook his head, "I beg to differ. You always look like an angel. Though, you have been restless more recently."

Sepha nodded and laid back, resting her head in the crook of his arm, "It's hard trying to get sleep for two people."

Thorin chuckled, "I'm getting enough sleep. You don't have worry about me."

"I wasn't talking about you," Sepha said softly.

Thorin thought that maybe she was trying to prank him with words so he thought back to what she had said. After a few minutes his eyes widened and he sat up straight with a start. SEpha rose to a sitting position, a smile on her face at her husband's reaction.

"You mean.... you are sure?" he asked, his eyes wide.

Sepha nodded and her smile widened, "I started getting symptoms a few days ago so Dis suggested I see Oin. He confirmed it."

Thorin's eyes kept widening until a huge grin spread across his face and he caught the girl up in a bone breaking hug.

Sepha chuckled as they laid back down, Thorin still holding her in a tight hug.

"I love you so much," he whispered into her ear.

Sepha smiled and turned to kiss his beard, "I love you two.... both of us do."

Thorin smiled widely at that and closed his eyes, his cheek resting against her forehead.

Eight Months Later

Thorin was restless. Balin could tell. The king had barely paid attention during the meeting that morning and then when Dwalin went with him to oversee the training of the warrior dwarves, Dwalin had agreed that Thorin really seemed in another world.