Meeting the In-Laws by awwyeah107

Chapter 1

So, this morning, the idea of Caranthir meeting Haleth’s father and brother and being awkward and nervous about it popped into my head. As soon as I could, I started writing it, and then bam, the fic basically wrote itself with minimal editing. It practically fell out of my brain fully formed, which virtually never happens. (I’ve never written and published a fic in the same day, so this is a fun experience for me!)

However, a side effect of this is that I had all of the interactions thought out…but no actual defined setting. Or time period. XD So, the setting/time period could be interpreted in different ways. This could be an AU where Haldad and Haldar are actually alive and somehow Caranthir got married to Haleth before he met them. This could be an AU where after Caranthir dies and goes to the halls of Mandos, he managed to get into whatever afterlife exists for men. This could be an AU post-Dagor Dagorath/the breaking of the world and Caranthir hadn’t met Haleth’s father and brother yet because he’d been too busy reuniting with his family. Any of those options and more are viable. (Just to give you an idea of what I envisioned when I wrote each scene, I somehow started off writing this in a pretty concrete environment—a living room—and then pictured the actual meeting in a bright, open space that one could imagine as the halls of Mandos. That’s as specific as I got. I kind of like this as a post-Dagor Dagorath AU, but feel free to imagine this scenario in whatever AU you would like.)

Customary disclaimer: I do not own The Silmarillion or any of the characters in it. Also, I do NOT give permission to ANYONE to feed this into ChatGPT or any other AI, or to repost it onto another website or public platform without my consent. Please treat my work with respect.

Read Chapter 1

“What if they don’t like me?”

Caranthir was pacing around the living room as Haleth folded clothes.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course they’ll like you.” She pursed her lips as she found a slight tear in one of the shirts, and set it aside for mending. “Once they get over the fact that you’re an immortal elven-lord, that is.”

Caranthir stopped pacing to stare at her. “That’s exactly what the problem is. What if they never get over it? What if…what if they reject…us?” He gestured to the both of them, to indicate their relationship, but in his heart he really meant her. He couldn’t stand to be a reason her family might push her away.

“Nonsense,” she said, starting a new stack of folded laundry next to the first one that was now quite wobbly due to its height. “It might take them a little while, but they’ll be fine. They didn’t really expect me to marry anyone anyway.”

Great, now her family had to not only overcome the shock of Haleth marrying an elf, but of her marrying at all. “Haleth…”

She looked up at him and saw the worry written all over his face. She wanted to laugh at him, truly she did, but instead she put down her laundry and opened her arms to him. “Come here.”

He came meekly, bowing his head, and let her enfold him in an embrace. “Caranthir. It will be fine. My family may be surprised, but they will accept you. I know it.”

He shook his head. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“I don’t want…” he made a miserable sound of frustration. “They shouldn’t look at you differently because of who you married. They…if they know you’re with me, I don’t want them to reject you.”

“Oh, Caranthir. They would love me no matter who I married.” She paused. “Well, they might have an issue with it if I married a goblin or a troll, but I’d sooner die than do that, of course. My father and brother will love me regardless of who I’m with—they love me for me, just like you do. At times they may be surprised by my life choices, but they will respect them. I know that. You haven’t met them yet. All you know of them is what I’ve told you, and I’m telling you now: you can trust me on this.”

He let out a deep sigh. “Okay. But…what do I say to them?” His voice had become a whine.

“Just be yourself.”

Caranthir’s expression conveyed skepticism about this idea. “Love, I don’t think my ‘self’ is the most pleasant person to be around. As you should know.”

“Alright, then, be yourself on your best behavior.”

“That I can do.”

She let go of him, and he noticed her grin as he pulled back. “What’s so funny?”

“My tall, dark, brooding warlord elf is actually nervous over meeting my family for the first time.”

“Well, I have reason to be!” He snapped, though not unkindly.

Haleth rolled her eyes, but kept her voice gentle as she responded. “It will go well. You’ll see.”

She could hear him muttering to himself as he walked into the kitchen, and she smiled to herself. The idea that he would be so nervous to meet her family was rather endearing. Centuries ago, before he had actually thought well of Edain and valued their friendship, he would have scoffed at the mere thought of being anxious over meeting with any mortals, she was sure of it. But now that he was married to one of them…well, it was different. It was still rather humorous to think that the cold, reserved elf she had first met was now an anxious mess over meeting her father and brother, who had only a fraction of the power in Beleriand that he commanded as a prince of the Noldor. Even if his worry was partially due to concern for her, she was certain there was an element of insecurity about himself underlying it. But she knew her family would accept him. All that needed to happen was for them to meet, and she would be proven right.

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As soon as they came within sight of Haldad and Haldar, Haleth waved and smiled, and she laughed as her father and brother ran to her and caught her up in a bear hug.

Then she stepped back and beckoned Caranthir forward.

“This is Caranthir,” Haleth introduced him, and he bowed to them.

They nodded back politely, and then Haldar cleared his throat and asked, “So, Haleth, is your husband coming along?”

A mixture of panic and dread shot through Caranthir as he realized that they didn’t realize he was married to her, since he was an elf, not a mortal, and he could feel heat rising in his neck and face—

Haleth tilted her head. “Oh, no, this is my husband.”

Both Haleth’s father and brother abruptly swiveled to stare at Caranthir like he had two heads, and Caranthir felt as if they were drilling holes into his skull with the intensity of their gazes.

Then, after several tense seconds, the most unexpected thing happened: Haldar threw back his head with a burst of laughter, and then kept laughing and laughing.

Caranthir was rather bemused by this, but he had no time to pay further attention, for Haldad was stepping forward. “You’re one of the elves from across the sea, eh? One of the types they call kinslayer?”

Caranthir swallowed. Trust Haleth’s family to get right to the point. “Yes, sir,” he replied, hating the way his voice inadvertently broke on the first word.

Haldad stood there with narrowed eyes, and Caranthir held his breath, dreading the proclamation of hostility and rejection that would surely come out of his mouth, but instead the stocky man broke into a grin. “I’m only messing with you, son. There’s no grievance between us. Welcome to the family!” And with that Caranthir found himself swept into a tight hug, quite relieved but rather bewildered. The pat on the back as he was released was even more bewildering.

Haldar was gasping for breath in the background, mostly recovered from his fit of hilarity. “Sister, you told us about the elf-lord who helped save our people from the orcs in Thargelion, but you didn’t say you married him right after!”

“I most certainly did not marry him right after,” Haleth sniffed haughtily. “I refused him outright when he boldly offered to take our people to northern lands under his guidance. As if we were incapable of ruling ourselves.”

“Yes, and then you insulted my food and drink for good measure, after I had just made a perfectly nice proposal that nobody in their right mind would turn down,” Caranthir shot back.

“Ah, just the way every romance should start,” Haldad said with a twinkle in his eye.

Haleth playfully shoved her father, but there was a grin on her face that belied her annoyance. “Are you quite done with the teasing?”

“I think it’s only getting started,” Haldad mused, and as Haldar came up beside him, he looked at his son. “I don’t suppose you’d have any further contributions?”

As her father and brother bantered good-naturedly, Haleth turned to smirk at Caranthir. “I told you it would turn out well,” she said, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Yes, yes, you were right,” Caranthir murmured, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. His wife reached out and squeezed his hand, and he released a happy sigh, glad that not only did his in-laws accept his marriage with Haleth, but they accepted him as well.

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Chapter End Notes

And there you have it, folks. Hope you enjoyed!

All editing done by me. If there are any typos or grammatical errors, feel free to let me know!

If you’d like to leave a comment, but you aren’t sure what to say, this post/these posts might help you put some of your thoughts into words: Appreciation without Anxiety: Commenting 101 and 101 Comment Starters.

Thank you for reading :)