You woke up early that morning. Not because of the birds that were chirping. Not because the smell of freshly baked bread woke you up. But because you heard a baby crying.

Several babies, if you were to be exact.

Which you weren't because it was really early. Who knew that elven babies could cry that loud? You yanked the pillow out from beneath your head and used it cover your ears. There, that helped a little.

*Knock, knock* Two rapid knocks tried to disturb your slumber.

Just ignore it. They will probably go away once they realize you are still asleep.

But the person on the other side didn't get the hint. *Knock, knock, knock* What was this kind of shannigans? Seriously, if this were Fili and Kili trying to be their delightful selves then they wouldn't see the end of the day.

You threw the pillow across the room when there was another set of three knocks. "Fine, I AM COMING!" you shouted.

As soon as you raised your voice, another child began to cry. It started with a few gurgling sounds followed by an explosive sound. A cry that you could hear clearer than the others before.

You turned around in shock. On your bed lay a baby.

A baby lay on your bed.

You forgot to cover your ears as one of your hands covered your mouth. There hadn't been a baby when you went to sleep last night. Had there? Maybe it was just Thorin trying to get some sort of message across.

"(Y/N)! Open the door!"

The voice slapped you out of your dizzy amazement. Quickly, you opened it and was the sight on the other side that surprised you the most.

Without uttering so much as a word, Dwalin and Balin helped themselves into your room.

Dwalin was carrying two babies in his arms, holding them like he had never done something else. It was quite the strange picture; a tattooed dwarf filled with battle scars and two axes strapped on his back, mumbling kind words to two small babies.

Balin was standing next to him, trying to untingle a set of fingers from his beard. "You have to help us. We woke up and they were like this" he said. He sounded exhausted, like he hadn't slept all night.

"Where is Thorin?" the advisor to the king asked you with a desperate tone to his voice.

Your eyes moved to the baby on the bed. It couldn't be...

The two sons of Fundin followed your gaze.

"Mahal help us" Dwalin said, sighing heavily afterwards. He sat down in one of the armchairs in your room. "Why aren't you holding him? When he cries you are supposed to hold him" Dwalin said, looking at you like you had lost your mind.

You quickly ran towards the bed to pick the child up. It is not like you didn't want to, you just felt like you were dreaming. Surely the babies weren't...

"Aye, I think they are lass" Balin answered the question you hadn't asked. He looked at the baby in his own arms. "We went to sleep last night along with the others. And when we woke up this morning -" He sighed, nodding towards the babies.

"That can't be true" you said. But as you looked down at the baby in your arms you were met with two light blue eyes staring straight back at you.

A small tuft of black hair was sitting on the top of his head.

"Thorin" you said, astonished. That couldn't be... Now that you looked more closely you could see a determination and stubbornness that only your king possessed. What had he done?

"I don't see another reason lass. The elves are looking after the others as we speak" Dwalin said gruffly. He had one baby over his shoulder, softly tapping it on his small back. When he burped, Dwalin smiled, "there we go, that is a good lad."

You and Balin exchanged an amused smile.

"Don't look at me like that. They are babies. They need to be taking care of" the warrior said grumpily. "Or do you have a better idea?"

The small child in your arms, presumably Thorin, had finally stopped crying. He was still looking at you with his big blue eyes. Slowly, he outstretched a hand, trying to hold on to your gown.

"What do we do now? We can't take care of them until they are grown-ups again. That will take decades" Balin said desperately. Unlike his brother, he didn't have a way with children.

Who knew that Dwalin would have a soft spot for smaller beings?

"Aye, and I don't have that much time left" you said, trying to make a joke. All it lead to was that Thorin was about to start crying again. You quickly rocked him so that he was lulled in to a nap.

"I will look for Gandalf. He will know more about this" Dwalin said, already getting up to do just that. "You two" he said, looking at you and Balin, "go to the other children and keep them fed. After that you tell them a story or cuddle them. Whatever they need from you."

He got up and left after that. There was no room for argument.

"How does he know all of that?" This was really confusing. You hadn't gotten quite over your first shock of finding your husband as a baby. Let alone that you now had to take care of the rest of a company of dwarflings.

If the whole company had been turned into babies, like Balin had claimed, then that would mean that there were a lot of diapers to be changed. And a lot of babies to cuddle so that they would keep quiet.

The severety of the problem hit you when you walked into the large bedroom.

Beds had been pushed aside and cribs had come in their place. Elves were running around to rock the dwarflings hoping that they would soon fall asleep.

Something told you that that was not going to happen.

"Thank you for coming my lady" one of the elves said once his eyes fell on you. "We have no idea how to take care of baby dwarves. They are quite different... from elves" he finished carefully.

"And don't forget the hobbit. I have fed him thrice this morning and he still sounds hungry" one of the other elves complained. And, sure, there he was, sitting with a small hobbit baby in his arms, whom was still suckling quietly on his bottle.

"Bilbo" you spoke softly. The small child had puffy cheeks with a healthy, rosy glow. He was too ingulfed in his drink to notice you. Hobbits were healthy eaters.

All of it hit you at once as you focused more and more on the babies. You noticed that you recognised your friends in them.

In the middle of the room stood a crib with a baby in it. He was big and round, with some red hair on his head. That had to be Bombur, no doubt. The way he held on to his bottle like nothing could seperate him from it.

Next to him was a small baby with an axe in his head. He laid still, unmoving like he was in a lot of pain.

You practically ran upto him. "Poor thing. Does it hurt a lot?" you asked. It hurt your heart to see little Bifur, pale and laying as still as he could. No doubt that the axe in his head hurt him plenty. Wasn't there something you could do...

"We have tried every potion we have. Nothing helps" an elf said from across the room. He was busy handling a dwarfling together with another elf.

One of them was trying to hold the child still in his arms while the other tried to remove the hat from his grasp. Which proved to be a rather difficult task.

The baby in said elves' arms was crying the loudest of all. You rolled your eyes. "Give him that hat back. He can't go without it." As soon as the baby had his hat back, the crying stopped and he was mumbling instead.

Crisis averted. For now.

Balin hurried past you to two other elves who had a hard time seperating four babies from each other. Two of them looked exactly like Fili and Kili, with a perseverance that would match their own.

The blonde one of the two was trying to pull his brother back to him. While the brunette was crying his eyes out.

"That is not how you should treat them. Keep them together. Just like little Dori and Ori. We have our hands full already, let alone if we don't keep closer together" Balin chastised the elves.

"Do you suggest we give in to their every demand? They are babies" you heard one of the elves say. They really didn't know how to raise dwarflings.

"Is there any other way with dwarves?" you muttered. As soon as you said that, you felt a light tug near your chest. A small fist was holding onto your gown with all it's might. "You must be hungry, aren't you?"

It was strange to talk to the love of your life like he was a child. Even though he technically was a child right now.

You sat down in one of the chairs, holding him close to your chest. "Let's see if you like this milk." You picked up one of the bottles and gently put it agianst his lips. "Will you open up for me? It tastes really good if you give it a try" you spoke softly.

Thorin pouted before he grabbed the top with his two small hands and started to drink the milk. He made content noises as the milk made it's way to his empty belly.

As long as he was in control everything would be fine.

"That's it. You are very strong for such a young dwarf" you cooed. Thorin tried to glare up at you but the milk was just too good. For now he would settle for food, later he would tell you exactly what he thought of that comment.

If he was honest with himself he would admit that it felt quite good to lay in your arms and simply drink. But he would never admit that to you when he was older.

Balin sat down beside you with a groan. "I believe this is baby Nori" he said, holding a bottle up so that the baby may drink. "He took this bottle from baby Fili. I can't believe he was already like this as a child."

You chuckled, looking at the already strangely formed hair on the baby's head. "Aye, I think you are right. Then that means that Dwalin is holding Oin and Gloin."

Finally, with all the babies being fed and kept together, the room quieted down. The only noise you could hear was that of babies drinking to their hearts content. A burp every now and then. And some complaints from the elves.

Apparently the dwarflings drank a lot more than baby elves would.

Thorin was done with his bottle, pushing it away with his stubby little hands. When he was done he was done, no point in keeping the thing close to him.

"Can you hold him for a second? Maybe I can get Bifur to drink a little" you asked Balin. The dwarf nodded, though a little hesitant. Thorin looked at you with wide eyes as you gave him to his advisor.

You were barely standing when he started to reach out for you.

"Just don't look back. Bifur needs to be fed too" you told yourself.

Thorin had other ideas. Balin saw tears forming in his eyes. "Lass, I think you better hurry. We just calmed them all down, we don't want to have them crying again" he warned you.

"Aye, I know that. But Bifur needs to eat too. Maybe he will eat when someone is holding him." You bend over to pick up little Bifur. He didn't feel hot or sweaty, so that was a good sign. At least he didn't have a fever.

And then the crying began.

It wasn't the baby you were holding. It was the baby who felt like you were supposed to be holding him. As soon as Thorin saw Bifur in your arms, he didn't hold back.

He pulled his little legs and arms towards his stomache and started crying like there was no tomorrow. His whole head turned red. Tears were running down in rivers of water and salt.

You hurried back to your chair with Bifur still in your arms.

When Thorin started, the other babies started to cry as well. First Fili and Kili joined him. Soon followed by the Ri-brothers and then Bombur and Bofur joined in as well. The crying was louder than before.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW!" Dwalin came in running. Baby Gloin and Oin had started crying as well. Dwalin tried to rock them to get them to calm down. But none of the babies was about to give in this time.

The warrior looked around the room to detect what the cause of this mess was. He rolled his eyes when he saw who was holding Thorin.

"Lass, give Bifur to one of the elves. Take Thorin back in your arms or this is never going to end" he said with a tired voice.

This was not the time to question his judgement so instead you did exactly what he said. One of the elves hurried to you to take the baby from you. Bifur was still not responding. You wanted to hold him so badly.

It was your mother heart who told you to take care of the child.

Thorin was already reaching for you with his hands as you finally attempted to take him from Balin. The crying slowly ended as you placed him back on your arm.

He was hiccuping after all the energy he put into his outburst of emotions.

His hand went back to your gown, holding on to it like you had left him for several hours. "I can have him back now. I can feed with Bifur with one arm" you said to the elf.

"Where is that wizard. I told him to follow me" Dwalin growled.

Thorin made a grumbling sound as he saw the other baby laying on your other arm. At least he didn't start crying again. The whole company was silent again and you would like to keep it that way.

And you were sure the elves of Rivendell wanted the same.

"Relax master dwarf! I am here!" Gandalf sounded way to happy for your liking. He marched with a smirk, pretending like everything was good in the world. He spread his arms when he noticed the babies.

"It looks like it all worked out for the better" he said joyfully.

All you knew was that Gandalf was lucky Dwalin was still holding two babies. Otherwise he wouldn't have been so joyous the rest of the day.

"You better explain what happened to them or I swear I will have your head" Dwalin growled quietly. He didn't want to disturb the children. It hit you again how strange it was to see him like this.

The only thing he was missing was an apron with flowers on it, milk in his hair and some bags under his eyes.

Gandalf chuckled. "Last night I ran into miss (y/n) over here and she gave me a good idea."

Your eyes widened and you quickly shook your head when Dwalin turned his attention to you. "This wasn't something I did" you hurried to say.

"The lass is correct. It was simply something she said that gave me this wonderful idea." He put his hands in his sides looking he was on top of the world. "I must say that I even surprised myself this time."

Dwalin's eyes were spitting fire. "This is no joke. What have you done to them and how long will it last?" He rocked back and forth to lull the babies to sleep.

More babies were beginning to drift away into a peaceful slumber.

Except for Thorin who was still glaring at the other baby like he was an intruder. You pulled your arm back a little so there was no chance of him kicking at Bifur.

"You are a little rascal with a temper" you said to him. You could swear there was a small smile on his lips for just a second.

Gandalf set down, lighting his pipe. "I simply used a spell that would turn them into dwarflings. It should last for only two days" he explained. He blew a big smoke ring in the air.

Balin sighed but looked happier than he had all morning. "That means we only have to survive one more day and a few hours. We can do that with all the help we have been given so far." He smiled, holding Nori a little tighter.

"And we can do that if we stay together" Dwalin said, looking at all the elves one by one. "Aye, we can little ones. If you just stay quiet until the moment you are big again we can all get through this."

His voice sounded as sweet as honey when he talked to the babies. Of course he wouldn't let anyone say such things when this was done.

Gandalf shook his head, laughing. "I am afraid it won't be that easy."

Dwalin slowly turned his head towards him. A terrifying glare on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, after two days they won't be babies anymore." He took another blow from his pipe. "Then, they will be toddlers. Followed by teenagers, young adults and then they will be back to their normal selves."

The wizard smiled as he watched the elves, two dwarves and you groaning in frustration.

"Why is this necessary?" you asked. Thorin and Bifur finally fell asleep as well. Although Thorin was the last to close his eyes because he had to make sure the other baby did nothing he didn't approve of.

Gandalf put a hand behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "I have spend enough time listening to you all being childish and unappreciative. You should count yourselves lucky that we have made it this far."

Balin got up to stand next to his brother. "But why not all of us?"

"Would you rather want me to turn you three into babies too?" Gandalf smiled blowing some more smoke circles. "No, that wouldn't work. You and your brother," he pointed at the two adult dwarves, "are the only ones who use their brains.

Granted, Dwalin should probably use it a lot more."

The tattooed dwarf bared his teeth.

"And the lass can be as thick headed as her better part" Gandalf continued casually. "The reason I didn't change her was because she didn't need to be changed to learn her lesson."

You frowned. "Learn my lesson?"

Dwalin nodded impatiently. "Aye, Thorin and her should learn to listen to each other. What I still don't understand is why you have to put us through this if we have done nothing wrong" he growled.

"You can help them remember their lesson when they are back to their normal selves. And I get to have some more fun." Gandalf got up, about to leave the room.

Suddenly, Dwalin smiled. Not only his lips turned upwards but his eyes started to sparkle as well. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Why, I was going to the library for some quiet reading" Gandalf said. The innocence disappeared from his face when he saw Dwalin's smile. "What is it th-"

"You are staying here. After all, the dwarflings are sleeping now. Someone should be on nap duty." Dwalin walked forward and forced baby Oin and Gloin into his arms. "And after that there is diaper duty. Which shall also be yours."

The dwarf signaled for you and Balin to follow him. "Keep Thorin with you, he will only awake if he notices you are gone."

You nodded. Balin and you laid baby Bifur and Nori down in their empty cribs. They continued to sleep, thankfully.

Dwalin clapped a frustrated looking Gandalf on his shoulder. "We are going to catch up on some of the sleep we've lost. Good luck. You will see us after lunch."

The wizard was left behind by some of the elves as well. They did wish him good luck before they left. "Dwarves and their idiot ideas" he grumbled. As soon as the last elf walked out and closed the door behind him, Bombur fart.

"How wonderful" Gandalf muttered.