Mini-prologue within the first chapter to save time:

This is a little Birthday fiction for Gamgeefest. If you don't know already, these are not my characters and I am not making any money at all on this one. But then, you aren't supposed to make money on birthday gifts, are you? So, the Hobbits are Tolkien's and the only thing in this story that is mine is the cake. It is an original!

Enjoy!
*****

“Sam’s Cake”

“It’s spoiled!” the small lass said looking up at Frodo with sad, blue eyes. “I tried awful hard but it’s spoiled now. Daisy said I was too little to do it but I said I could and now I’ve ruined it!” She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

Frodo looked at the lopsided confection, which was sitting on his kitchen table and frowned. It was a fairly dreadful effort but the child was only eleven after all. “I wouldn’t exactly call it spoiled, Marigold,” Frodo said running a hand through her honey blond curls and still looking at the cake. “Perhaps with a bit of frosting.”

“I spoiled the frostin’ too,” the child said between sobs. “It was all hard and wouldn’t come out of the bowl!”

Merry, who was standing next to the table looked at the cake and said, “Since it’s ruined can I have it?” he asked looking at Marigold who began to cry louder when Merry made his request.

Frodo took his free hand, the one he wasn’t using to comfort Marigold, and rapped Merry on the top of his head.

“Ouch!” Merry objected. “What did I do?”

Frodo rolled his eyes and looked back at Marigold. He didn’t know a great deal about sobbing eleven-year-old lasses and he really did wish that Bilbo were here now. “Maybe we can fix it,” Frodo said.

Marigold looked up at Frodo interested. “How?”

“I was gonna ask that,” Merry said peering at the cake. “I kinda like the way it slants to one side but you’d have to fix that if you were going to make it a proper birthday cake.”

Marigold glared at him, her tear-streaked face turning red with rage. “I hate lads!”

“Sam’s a lad and you’re making him a cake,” Merry said folding his arms over his chest.

Just then wailing ensued from somewhere in the smial and Frodo sighed. “Merry, go and get Pippin will you? I am guessing that he is awake and that he is objecting to being left on his own.”

Merry sighed and said, “He is always objecting to that.” He trudged from the room.

“How do we fix it?” Marigold said looking pleased that Merry was gone.

“I think, in this case, we should begin again,” Frodo said smiling. “We’ll call this one a practice cake. Everyone should make at least one practice cake before baking the actual cake for an event as important as a birthday.”

Marigold pondered this for a moment and then said, “So this one doesn’t really count as a mistake?”

“Of course not,” Frodo said relieved that the child was getting into the spirit of things. “This one was just an attempt to get an idea of how cake-baking is done. Now, you make the real birthday cake and you don’t have to worry about spoiling it because you’ve practiced.”

Marigold smiled brightly. “I’ve made all the mistakes in that one!”

“Exactly,” Frodo said.

“Eat!” Pippin shouted as Merry led the nearly four-year-old hobbit into the kitchen.

“Not now,” Marigold sighed. “Frodo and I are baking.” Marigold looked sternly at the small hobbit lad who was holding fast to Merry’s hand.

“I could feed him the cake,” Merry suggested.

“Cake!” Pippin crowed bouncing in place and smiling at Merry.

“Don’t get too excited,” Merry warned the child. “I’m not sure what’s in it and it’s a bit crooked and there’s no frosting and-“

“Cake! Cake! Cake!” Pippin said insistently.

“Merry, you cannot give the child cake for lunch,” Frodo said sternly as he pulled several of his mixing bowls out of the cupboard and sat them on the far end of the table.

“I have to now,” Merry said looking at Frodo as if his older cousin were a bit dense. “He thinks he’s getting cake and so I have to give it to him or he’ll just keep asking for it.”

“Cake!” Pippin said as if attempting to give more weight to Merry’s words. “Cake!”

“He can have it,” Marigold said reluctantly. “It was only practice and we’re making Sammy a better cake. I don’t mind.”

Pippin pulled his hand from Merry’s grip and raced over to Marigold and looked up at her now. “Cake?”

“That isn’t the point,” Frodo said. He wasn’t certain if the cake would harm the child. He had no idea what Marigold might have put into it. It looked rather unhealthy on the whole. “Children shouldn’t have cake for luncheon unless they’ve had something healthy first.”

Pippin scowled at Frodo. “Cake!” he shouted stamping a tiny foot.

“I told you,” Merry said smiling. “He’ll do that until he gets it.”

“We can’t bake Sammy’s cake if that faunt is going to fuss the whole time,” Marigold said. “Give him the cake if he wants it.”

“Yeah, Frodo,” Merry said. “No one else would eat it but Pippin won’t even notice that it’s lopsided. He doesn’t look at his food. He just crams it into his mouth.”

“Cake!” Pippin shouted again waving his arms over his head as if trying to signal help.

Frodo frowned down at Pippin and said, “Can you at least ask nicely?”

Pippin stopped waving his arms about and looked up at Frodo hopefully and said, “Cake?” in a very polite voice while looking pleadingly at his cousin.

“I had in mind something like, ‘May I have some cake please’ but I suppose that will have to do,” Frodo sighed.

“You’re giving it to him?” Merry said looking surprised.

Pippin clapped his hands and spun in a circle singing, “Cake, cake, cake, cake, eat cake, eat cake!”

“I don’t suppose it will hurt him,” Frodo said.

Marigold looked at Frodo sharply.

“I mean that it won’t harm him not to have eaten a proper luncheon first,” Frodo corrected himself and Marigold smiled and nodded.

“That way, you and me can bake Sammy’s real cake,” Marigold said happily. She turned to Merry and said, “Take him someplace else and feed it to him so he isn’t in our way.”

“Who died and put you in charge?” Merry objected glaring at her.

“I’m in charge cause I’m baking a cake for Sammy,” Marigold said placing her hands on her hips and facing Merry’s glare. She looked up at him and seemed to be daring him to say anything more.

“I don’t have to take orders from you,” Merry said moving closer to her and strengthening his glare.

Pippin, sensing that all of this was getting in the way of his cake-eating, pushed in between the two of them and looked up at both of them and howled. “Per-gun’s cake!”

Exasperated, Frodo pulled Pippin from between the two older children and sat him in the high seat that Bilbo kept at the table for the little ones who visited. “Sit still and I’ll get your cake.”

“Not there!” Marigold objected turning to look at Frodo.

Merry smiled smugly and watched Pippin pat his small hands on the table top while looking at Marigold’s lopsided cake which was just out of his reach. “Cake, cake, Cake?” Pippin frowned looking at the cake rather critically. He wrinkled his nose and said “No cake.” He shook his little head and repeated it. “No cake.”

Marigold sniffled as if another bout of tears was going to begin at any moment.

Frodo looked at Merry and frowned.

“I didn’t do it!” Merry objected.

“Do what?” a voice asked from the doorway. “I knocked but no one came so I opened it and came on in.” It was Sam and all present turned to look at him except for Pippin who was still frowning at the cake and shaking his head.

“Sammy!” Marigold said turning a startled tear-streaked face to her older brother.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked looking first at Marigold and then at Merry.

“I didn’t do anything!” Merry objected. “Why does everyone always think it’s me when most of the time it’s only Pippin?”

Sam looked doubtfully at the faunt at the table and then said, “What’s wrong, Marigold?”

“It was supposed to be a surprise and I spoiled it,” Marigold sniffled. She hurried forward and wrapped her arms around her older brother.

“What surprise?’ Sam asked looking mystified.

Marigold was crying so hard that she was unable to explain and so Frodo said, “Marigold was trying to bake you a birthday cake, Sam.” He pointed to the cake on the table and then continued. “The first one didn’t come out as she’d planned and so she and I were just about to make a second attempt.”

“No cake,” Pippin said darkly pointing to the cake.

“And I didn’t do anything,” Merry said hurriedly. “Pippin’s the one that insulted her cake, not me.”

“No cake,” Pippin said again.

“You baked me a cake?” Sam asked Marigold ignoring Merry and Pippin.

She looked up at him, still holding tightly to him and nodded her head. “I spoiled it,” she whimpered.

“It don’t look spoiled to me,” Sam said smiling at her.

“It’s leaning awful bad and there’s no frostin’,” Marigold said but she had stopped crying.

“Well, it might be leanin’ just a bit but I bet it tastes good,” Sam said looking as if he meant it.

“I’ll take that bet,” Merry said and Frodo promptly kicked Merry lightly in the shin.

“Ouch!” Merry objected glaring at Frodo.

“Leave well enough alone,” Frodo whispered to Merry.

“If he eats it he’ll be sick,” Merry whispered back.

“You were going to let me feed it to Pippin,” Frodo whispered looking stunned.

Merry shrugged.

“Can I have a piece of it?” Sam asked.

“You want some of it?” Marigold asked looking completely stunned. She let go of Sam’s waist and then looked from him to the cake and back again. “Really?”

“You made it for me for my birthday didn’t you?” Sam asked.

“I did, but you don’t have to really eat it if you don’t want to,” Marigold said softly.

“O course I want to,” Sam said. “I like cake.”

“No, no, no, no,” Pippin said shaking his head. He pointed a finger at the cake and said, “Bad, cake!”

“I’ll get some plates and a knife and some forks,” Frodo said quickly hoping to keep Marigold from turning on Pippin. Frodo desperately hoped that Pippin would be more tactful once he learned how to talk properly. It hadn’t worked that way with Merry but since it was taking Pippin longer to pick up the art of language perhaps the child would be more careful with his words than Merry was. He hurried over to get the plates from the cupboard.

Merry sat down at the table next to Pippin and waited. He wasn’t about to miss this. If Sam was actually going to eat that mess then Merry wanted to see him do it. Nothing was more interesting then watching someone eat something dreadful.

Marigold also seemed absorbed by the entire process. She moved over to the table and stood watching as Frodo placed the plated and forks on the table and then handed the knife to Sam. “I’ll let you cut your piece of cake,” Frodo said smiling admiringly at Sam. “That way you can decide how large a slice you’d like.” He said this last softly so that only Sam could hear and he watched with almost as much amazement as Merry as Sam sliced off a very generous piece of the odd-looking cake and placed it on a plate.

“All of that?” Merry said wonderingly.

“I’ll share if you want some but if you don’t then there’s more for me,” Sam grinned.

Merry straightened back in his chair and said politely. “No, thank you. It’s your cake. I’ll sit here and let you enjoy it.”

Pippin stuck out his tongue and made a rude noise and Merry tried not to laugh. Sam frowned at the child and said, “Don’t you got no manners at all?”

“None whatsoever,” Merry said with a sigh.

Pippin looked insulted but he put his tongue back into his mouth and sat there watching as Sam lifted a forkful of the cake to his mouth and put it inside. Everyone in the room watched Sam chew and swallow as if viewing a rare animal on the lawn. “Cake?” Pippin asked interested now.

Sam swallowed and then grinned at Marigold. “It’s real good, Marigold,” Sam said taking another bite.

“But it’s crooked and there’s no frostin’,” Marigold said looking amazed.

“And some of it is burnt,” Merry pointed out. This earned him a glare from Frodo, Marigold, and Sam so he closed his mouth and sat still.

“Burn!” Pippin shouted shaking a finger as if he’d touched something hot.

“Not like that,” Merry whispered. “Now hush before you get me in trouble again.”

Pippin blinked at Merry and said, “Eat!”

“I’ll fix you something, Pippin,” Frodo said smiling as Sam continued to polish off the piece of cake.

“Could I have a glass ‘o water or something, Mr. Frodo?” Sam asked looking hopeful.

“Oh, of course, Sam,” Frodo said and he hurried to fill a glass with water and bring it back to the table.

Sam gulped greedily and then set to finishing his cake while Marigold watched with an ever-widening smile on her face.

“Eat?” Pippin said looking up at Frodo and Frodo quickly spread some butter on a couple of slices of bread and sat them in front of Pippin.

Pippin poked the bread with his finger and then frowned, “Jam?”

“Why not?” Frodo said. “It is a bit of a celebration.” He retrieved the jam and spread a generous amount on the bread.

Pippin grinned broadly and then began to devour the bread. He reached one hand out and pushed the jar in Sam’s direction and said loudly. “Jam!”

Sam glanced at it, shrugged and then spread some on top of his cake. He looked hopefully at Marigold. “Since it ain’t got no frostin.”

Merry was positively a’wash with glee as he watched Sam eat the jam-coated cake. This just got better and better. No one was going to believe this when he told it.

Pippin was smacking his lips and making all manner of rude noised as his ate the bread and jam. Frodo realized that he was going to have to clean the child from head to toe after the meal. Pippin already had jam all over both hands and most of his face.

“Do you want more?” Marigold asked looking at Sam’s empty plate.

Sam swallowed and said, “I would like another piece.”

Grinning, Marigold cut a slice of the cake and dropped it onto Sam’s plate and Sam quickly slathered it with lots and lots of jam. He smiled at Pippin and then began to eat.

“I guess my practice cake was pretty good after all,” Marigold said proudly.

Frodo gave Merry a warning glance and said, “I guess it was. It looks like Sam is enjoying it.”

“Do you want some?” Marigold asked.

Frodo looked as if he might choke but Sam spoke up at that instant. “If you don’t mind, Marigold. I’d like to keep the rest ‘o this fine cake for a snack later on.”

Marigold blushed with pleasure and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Frodo. I promise I’ll make you one for your very own on your birthday.”

As if concerned that he might be getting a cake too, Pippin said, “No cake!”

Merry rapped the small child on the top of his head. “Hush up!”

Pippin rubbed his head with a jam-covered hand and glared at Merry.

Frodo looked at Pippin’s hair and he glared at Merry also.

“You do it to me all the time,” Merry hissed at Frodo.

“Not when you are coated in jam,” Frodo sighed.

“Jam?” Pippin asked hopefully looking at his empty plate.

Sam pushed the now half empty jar back in Pippin’s direction and smiled. “Thank you,” he said softly to the child.

Pippin rewarded him with a big, jam-covered smile and then proceeded to stick one hand into the jam and pull out his hand and lick it clean.

Merry made a noise of disgust but he watched anyway. Pippin eating jam was nearly as gross as Sam eating that awful cake.

Having finished his second piece of cake, Sam stood and picked up the rest of it. “I think me and Marigold ought to be getting’ home,” Sam said. “Thank you for the water and the jam.”

“You are most welcome, Sam,” Frodo said, smiling at the lad.

“Do you think we should let anyone else at home have any?” Marigold asked as she and Sam started for the door.

“No, this time I plan on bein’ a bit selfish,” Sam said grinning at her.

As he closed the door behind him, Frodo smiled and said quietly, “You don’t’ know how to be selfish, Sam Gamgee.”

The End

GW 08/11/2007

Happy Birthday, Gamgeefest! I hope it was a good one!