Chapter 51:

Thorin Oakenshield's midlife crisis

    It has been two weeks since the marriage of my brother, and one week since the marriage of my sister.  And more than these two, a great many things have occurred in this lapse of time.  Not only is my mother pregnant now, but Bren and Pyrrhin themselves.  In this way, I am both ignored and coddled at this point of time.  The females in my family have practically forgotten about me in their own change of health, whereas the men cannot leave me alone for a second.  My father seems to be in a crisis, now realizing that I am the only child that he still has under his wing.  Furthermore, the female cousins that my family usually spend time with now are MIA, leaving me with the whole army of male cousins; this means many hours are spent with Typhon II and Thrain, if not Frerin and the older princes in addition.

    In this way, Boromir has been more than hesitant to spend time with me.  It's not like he fears or loathes my family, but with Thrain's first performance, he is more than hesitant to sit with him.  Typhon, of course, is as cordial and welcoming as ever, though he will do nothing to stop one of Thrain's teasings.  Honestly, my patience is starting to seriously falter, and I wish, more than anything else, for female company or that of Boromir's.

    The man of Gondor has found a new pastime in counseling with my father during the days.  It seems as if he has taken on our intended duties as advisors and ambassadors to the kingdoms, leaving me behind with my meddlesome cousins.  To be honest, the fact that my One is now spending many hours with my own father is more than worrying, especially in regards to Boromir's change in demeanor these last two weeks.

    Ever since the wedding of my brother, I've been thinking more on the prospect of marrying the man of Gondor.  And though I first expected that Boromir was pondering the same, his great amount of absences from my side bodes a different story.  Maybe it is my father, or the vision of my home, but he seems less than desirous to claim me as his forever.

    This whole notion makes his invitation for me to join him on a walk all the more surprising.  Awaking on this random morning, I did not expect Boromir to still be waiting in bed with me, given his new habit of rising before I awake, nonetheless his offer to walk later in the afternoon.  Of course, I agreed without a second thought, yearning for his attention if only for an hour or so.

    I spend my time in our chambers that morning, wishing to avoid my cousins and to look my best for Boromir.  Of course, I fail to adorn a dress, as I will never do so willingly, but I put on my nicest pair of gray trousers and a deep blue shirt.  My feet are bare, as I typically wear given the opportunity, and my hair is wavy down my back.  But these preparations take very little time, and I find myself making up games in my chamber in order to keep myself busy.

    Somewhere between the time of one-person tick-tack-toe and a planned round of hopscotch, Boromir enters the room to find me in a state of utter boredom.  HIs eyes light up in humour at my splayed position on the ground, and my obvious excitement as I rush to my feet.  I do believe I hear muffled chuckling as he moves towards me, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, but I will never be sure.

    "Did you dress up for me?" he asks, looking down at my fit and clean clothing that is so different from my typical looks.  I blush at his words, lowering my eyes at his own nicer clothing of multiple blues.  My father is rubbing off on him, to be sure.

    "Only you," I relent, tucking my head upward to smile at him.  Boromir matches this look, leaning over to leave a warm kiss on my cheek before pulling me from the room in a hurry.  My excited laughter rings through the corridors as he locks the door behind us, pulling me deeper into the Lonely Mountain with each footstep.

    It seems as though Boromir has reserved many hours of absence, leading me to and from places while we converse.  The hours pass on around us, strangely enough, never once seeing another dwarf that we know.  If I was not so entranced in the presence of my One, I would most likely have noticed, but that is a failed attempt with Boromir holding my sole attention.

    It's near sunset when we dawdle back to the front of the kingdom, not in a rush and taking great ease in the calm of our situation.  With my hand clenched in that of the Gondorian's, I could not be calmer and happier, a smile shining across my lips.  The man seems to feel the same, though his eyes hold another emotion that I have yet to discover.

"Do you remember our one conversation back in Rohan?" Boromir asks, looking at me as I move my eyes to his.  Dropping my hand, the man seems to desire my sole attention, though I am less than willing to give it to him.  Moving towards a painting on a nearby wall, I can feel Boromir's eyes on my back as he desires for my focus.

"Which one? There were quite a few," I respond with a grin as I turn to face him for a mere second.  Reaching out to the painting on the wall, I recognize Boromir's moving towards me with anxious footsteps.  And thus, just to mess with him, I move on to the next wall and painting with a smirk hidden on my face.

"The one about children and family," Boromir responds, hinting to perhaps the most important conversation we had, even before our declarations of love.  And though I am surprised that he is just now bringing this up, I continue to lead him along in the hallway, towards the light reaching out from down the hall.

"Oh, yes I remember that one...What about it?" I ask, turning around to walk backwards and converse with the man.  Looking at Boromir, I can tell he is not pleased with my playful flee, eyes hooded as he practically glares at me.  But this is no matter for me, as I find great joy in teasing the man like my family teases me.

"Do you still wish for that?" Boromir asks softly, looking at me with his beautiful eyes as I step onto the ledge leading out the the balcony.  I have to pay no mind to this step, knowing it like the back of my hand given the great amount of time I've spent here in my six decades.  This was my refuge when violin lessons became too trying.

"A family?" I ask, prompting a nod on his part.  "Well, of course I do.  Now that we live in peace without the threat of Sauron, I wish for that more than anything else."

This seems to set the man's demeanor at ease, his eyes swimming with more confidence and happiness than moments ago.  Of course, I have no idea what he is up to, but given our continued conversation over the last few hours, I think nothing different of these questions.  "And you love me?"

"Yes, very much so," I remark easily, turning around to look upon the sunlit horizon, though dawdling in the falling light of the sun.  With such a clear day, I can see the steam of trades in Dale upon the horizon, a lake hiding behind these mere foothills.  A wind brushes by me with a gentle caress, like that of Boromir's as I turn back to him.  "Now what's up with the twenty questions?"

But what I don't expect is the scene that welcomes my eye as I turn back around.  Instead of the powering brute of Gondorian origin, Boromir has humbled himself to rest upon one knee by my feet.  And though it is the same form of bowing to a king, I know that this gesture requires much inner strength and confidence in my reaction.

"I'm asking you to spend the rest of your life with me, to be my wife and mother of my children.  I can think of no one else I'd rather spend eternity with.  Sidel Oakenshield, will you marry me?" Boromir asks, looking at me with steel-blue eyes as I merely gape at him with widened eyes.  In that moment, my eyes dissolve into the similarly coloured sky, clouds forming a scene of future happiness with children, duty, and family.  No longer does the sun set on our lands, but light shines with continued radiance.

Looking back to the man I love, who still awaits my answer with mere seconds passing, I cannot help in relinquishing myself to both my future and my happiness.  My smile widens at him, eyes shining in intimate harmony with the man I love, as I remove his fear of denial and promise him a profitable future.  "Ah--of course I will.  Yes, I'll marry you."

Boromir smiles widely at this, lunging upward to meet me in an embrace.  Happy laughter rings from my mouth as I lay my head happily on his shoulder and he swings me around.   Boromir grabs my left hand from on his chest, sliding the ring that Lady Galadriel gifted him months ago onto my finger.  It is a humble stone, and one perfect for me, as I press my lips to the man's in a gentle motion of poignant love and happiness.  It is just lips to this kiss, but more pleasing in a way, as I promise myself to the man I love so dearly and completely.

Suddenly, and with the force of a dwarven tackle, cheering overtakes my ears from the other side of the balcony.  Pulling away from Boromir, though still wrapped in his arms, I look at my cheering family, who has likely been waiting for this moment for months.  The smile on both my brother and my father's faces remark on Boromir's asking for permission to marry me, and the grin of my mother tells me that they all knew of Boromir's plan to ask me today.  I guess that would explain the lack of company earlier in our walk.

"Yay, marriage!  Let's get some champagne and celebrate!" Frerin cheers, being the same dwarf I grew up with and traveled with, though now married and with a child on the way.  I laugh at my brother, feeling a sense of unending happiness stirring in my chest at the old memories of our times together, and the prospect of new memories.  With blue tunics, we will continue on infinitely in this life, borrowing people from other lands as we take on more family as our own kin.

"Take it easy, Frerin.  Your wife is pregnant and shouldn't be in such excitable company," my father criticizes, though Bren is only smiling next to Frerin, winking at me as I look to her.  If anything, the dwarrowdam is used to the antics of Frerin by this point, taking no pain from his crazy and wild ways, but great happiness.

"I love weddings!  They always have the best bread!" my mother exclaims happily, and despite the fact that she has to plan another wedding.  Her body jumps up and down with no pain, despite the fact that she has an obvious baby bump.   I simply roll my eyes at the scene, seeing as my father is quick to criticize others for things my mother does naturally.

"How is it that I fell for you?" my father asks, looking huffy but happy at the same time.  My mother stops her jumping at this, winding her arm into that of my father's with a characteristic smirk.  It's the same smirk of my brother, and a well-known one for those who know my family.

"Because I loved you for your stubbornness and temper, for underneath it all, there is a man of great courage and kindness," my mother responds in her continued character from many years ago.  She will always be a child, playful yet innocent in her ability to look upon the best in people.  It is why my mother loves my father, and why my father loves her in return.

Turning to Boromir who is already staring at me in awe, I meet his smile with my own.  Our eyes connect in their usual melody, a sweet song to our senses and one that I doubt will ever end.  Leaning upward, I graze Boromir's chiseled and furry jaw with my lips, feeling his shiver with a grin, as I move towards his ear.  His arms wrap tighter around my waist, pulling me into his chest as my lips hover over his left ear. 

"Sound familiar?" I whisper, a cheeky grin across my face, acting as a sign to my connection to Kili.  My head lowers to look at Boromir's directly, our eyes meeting on level playing-field with lust from my actions and love from our fate.

"Very," Boromir responds with a huskier tone, pulling me into his lips before I can even grin in response.  So as our lips meet once more, sealing our future with romantic motions, I can only feel the great joy of victory in my heart.  Not only have I knocked sense into the man of Gondor, saved him, relinquished my love for him, courted him, comforted him, and defeated evil with him.  I have beat the cruel monster and blessing of fate.

From dead to alive.

Proud to humble.

Stubborn to less-stubborn.

Loud to reserved.

Hate to love.

and mortal to eternity.