~ One ~

It was a fine sunny afternoon in Hobbiton, and it was the day of Josephine's first job. She was going to watch Sam and Rosie Gamgee's three children; Elanor, who was six, Frodo-lad who was four, and Rose, who was just two.

Josephine was twenty seven, and had three younger siblings, George, Flora and Clarabell, she she had plenty of experience with children, even though the youngest of her siblings was now fourteen. She thought she could handle it, but this job was going to be like nothing she had ever dealth with.

* * *

Knock... knock...knock...

"Mummy, there's a pewson at the doow, what do we do?" Little Frodo asked, jumping around the room and just being downright obnoxious.

"Frodo, it's Josephine. She's coming to watch you while Da and I go out. Could you please sit still for just one moment?" Rosie asked, going to open the door.

"Ma!" Elanor said in a snobby voice. "Rose won't stop crying and Frodo won't sit still and I can't concentrate while he's running and making noise!" She had been trying to teach herself to read, and it wasn't really working with all the distractions.

"Just a moment, dear. Hello, come right in, Josephine!" Rosie said, opening the door for the hobbit girl to enter. "This is Frodo," she pointed to the boy looking up at them with wide blue eyes. "That's Elanor," she indicated the girl sitting on the back of a big arm chair with a book upside down in her hands. "And I will show you Rose in a moment, she's napping."

She led the girl into the kitchen. "Here is where the pantry is, and here are some things to make pancakes for the children for dinner, or supper. The girl's room is down that hall, and Frodo's is next to it. Rose should sleep for another hour or so."

Then after the tour of the hole, she reminded her where she and Sam would be, then proceeded to leave. They were delayed a few minutes because of the hugs and kisses from their children, but finally they were able to be on their way.

* * *

Frodo watched the girl quietly as she mixed the ingredients for the pancakes. Elanor was sitting on the counter handing Josephine the flour and eggs.

"Let me crack the eggs, Jo!" Elanor exclaimed. "Please?"

"All right," Jo said, handing Elanor an egg and the mixing bowl. "Don't get any shell in it, dear."

"I know how to do it," Elanor said, dangling her furry feet off the edge of the counter.

"When is it going to be done?" Frodo asked.

"It'll be done in just a few minutes," Jo said, smiling.

"There," Jo said moments later, placing a plate of steaming pancakes on the table with some syrup beside it.

"Wait here while I go check on Rose," she said, then left.

Elanor glanced at Frodo with a mischievous look in her grey-blue eyes. She carefully maneuvered her way off the tall countertop.

"Can you weatch that bowl?" Frodo asked quietly, eyeing the syrup questioningly.

"It's a pitcher, stupid," Elanor replied, giving her younger brother an "I'm-six-and-I-know-it-all" look.

"Whatevew, can you weatch it?" Frodo demanded.

"Of course I can," she stated, climbing on the nearest chair to reach the glass pitcher.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Jo exclaimed.

The two children looked up from the mess that was all over the floor.

"Do you like my picture?" Elanor asked, stepping aside from the syrup and pancake mess that faintly resembled a cow.

"Oh, all right, you two go wash, then do something quiet in the parlor," Josephine said, trying to find a good way to clean the mess and keep her temper.

"But what about supper?" Frodo asked.

"Never mind that," Jo said.

"But I'm hungwy!"

Jo sighed and handed the lad a dry pancake from the plate.

The lad smiled. "Oh.... and it's a wittle sticky," he added.

"Yes, I know that. Now please go and get cleaned up."

"All wight. Ellie!" Frodo flew off to find his sister.

"Ugh, I can't believe this! This mess is going to take forever to clean up!" Jo thought as she got to cleaning the sticky syrup up from the floor.

Suddenly she heard a cry from the back room.

"Not Rose, now!" she said, witholding a scream.

* * *

Jo had finally managed to get the mess in the kitchen resolved carrying Little Rose on her hip. The baby was calm enough and was facinated with Jo's unusually straight blonde-red hair. She was used to the normally curly hair most hobbits had.

Jo was just sitting down to feed the baby when she heard a crash and Ellie's voice screaming, "Frodo!"

She clutched Rose close and dashed into the parlor to see Elanor kneeling by a side table, and a beautiful hand painted Gondorian vase in pieces on the floor.

"What happened, Ellie?" Jo asked, setting Rose on the rug away from the glass pieces.

"We were playing tag..." Elanor began.

"Oh great!" Jo exclaimed, rolling her eyes and kneeling by the child.

"Just listen!" Elanor continued. "Frodo just paused in the middle of the floor for a long time, then he backed up and broke the vase on accident and now he's back there cryin'!"

"What happened to him?" Jo demanded, looking at the child, curled up with a big pillow.

"Da says he can see things as ain't there," Elanor said, her eyes getting large.

Jo rolled her eyes. Something had probably scared the boy, but it couldn't have been a vision.

"Frodo-lad, do you want to come out?"

The boy glanced over the edge of his pillow and shook his head.

Jo sighed. "Would you like to tell me what you saw?"

Again Frodo shook his head. "I want to tell Da."

"All right, you can tell Da when he comes home. But for now, howabout I tell you a story as soon as I get this mess cleaned up?" Jo asked heading for the broken pieces of vase.

"Do you want some help?" Elanor asked.

"No, you might get hurt. I want you to help your brother for me," Jo said, kindly but firmly.

Elanor looked like she was going to protest and say something about how grown up she really was, and that she wouldn't be hurt by the glass, but she decided not to after Josephine told her she was in charge of keeping her brother safe.

"What story are you going to tell?" asked Little Frodo, now subdued and sitting curled up next to Jo.

"Yes, what story will you tell us?" Elanor asked from her perch on the back of the chair.

The two children were pleased that Jo was willing to tell them a story after their prank earlier. They were also glad that Ho wouldn't have to be interrupted by Rose, because she was sleeping peacefully again.

"Well," Jo thought a moment. "How about..."

"Jo!" Frodo said, looking up. "I'm hungwy!"

"You're always hungry," Elanor complained.

"Well, it's about time for supper, so how about we eat and then I tell you a story?"

Both children nodded.

"Do you want to help?"

Again they nodded, but this time more eagerly.

* * *

"Now can you tell us a story?" Little Frodo asked, licking his chubby fingers clean of the jam from his rather large sandwich.

"Yes, let's go into the parlor, and I will tell you a story my Da used to tell me and my siblings."

The two small hobbits scurried after Jo.

"Once upon a time..." she began.