Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up!

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Chapter 13 - In a Whole New Light

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Very early in the morning came the sound of the door to Crickhollow opening, accompanied by a very jovial whistling.  Pippin looked up from his drink and smiled as he watched his cousin pass by the dining area, practically skipping.

"Good morning, Merry," Pippin said.

At the sound of Pippin's voice, Merry jumped in surprise, his whistling ending in a sharp, off-key note.  But when he overcame his shock and saw his friend sitting at the table, Merry grinned broadly.  "Good morning, Pip!"  He walked into the dining area and sat down beside Pippin.  "You're up early."

A mischevious glint in his eyes, Pippin replied, "Well, I was worried about my poor cousin, wandering off at all hours to visit some girl.  Who knows what could have happened to you?"

Merry laughed.  "I'm terribly sorry I had you worried, but I'm quite fine, I can assure you."

"It went well, then?" Pippin inquired, his smile widening into a grin.

Merry gazed out of the window, where the sky was beginning to show signs of dawn; he had a dazed, dreamy look on his face that Pippin had never seen on him before.  "It went perfectly."

"What happened?" Pippin asked eagerly.  He then listened to Merry's retelling of how he had spent the previous evening, how he had rather haphazardly confessed his love to Estella, the wonderful first kiss they had shared, and how they had spent hours afterwards talking about nothing and everything.

When Merry had finished, Pippin leaned back and said, "Well Merry, you certainly are smitten."

"I know," Merry replied with a rather silly grin.  "I've never felt this way about anyone.  Estella is just so... I don't really know how to put it.  When I'm with her, I feel stronger, more secure.  She makes me want to be a better person so that I'll come close to deserving her."

Pippin raised an amused eyebrow.  "You think you don't deserve her?"

"Pip, no one deserves something so close to perfection."

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As Estella walked down the streets of Hobbiton, she noticed that everything seemed different somehow.  The sunlight was warmer, the flowers were brighter, the birds' songs were sweeter.  Every breath Estella took made her heart swell with joy, all because of one simple fact:

She was in love.

It was such a wonderful little sentence; just the thought of it made Estella's grin widen.

"I'm in love," she said to herself.  The declaration prompted a delighted giggle to escape her.  Several hobbits stared curiously at Estella as she walked past, grinning to herself, but that didn't matter to her.  She was happier than she'd been in years, and it was all because of Merry.  The feeling of elation his name brought made Estella wonder why she had fought her feelings in the first place.

Estella was so caught up in memories of the previous night that she didn't even pay attention to her path of travel until she was only a few steps away from the door to Bag End.  It was only a few seconds after she knocked that the door opened, revealing Rosie.

Rosie looked slightly surprised to see Estella, but delighted nonetheless.  "Good morning, Stella!" she said as she gestured for her friend to enter.

Instead of replying, Estella merely grinned and moved forward to embrace Rosie, pulling away before her friend had much time to react and walking towards the kitchen.  Rosie stared after her for a moment, her eyebrows raised, but she could not help but smile at the look Estella wore.  "You're in quite a mood," she commented.

Estella turned her head back slightly to glance at Rosie, saying nothing but still wearing that same grin.

Rosie followed Estella into the kitchen and seated herself beside the smiling hobbit-lass.  Also at the table sat Sam and Elanor; the former was attempting to feed the little hobbit babe, but Elanor was being quite fussy.

"Hello, Estella," said Sam, briefly looking up from his efforts with Elanor.  He then spoke to his wife, "Rosie, do you think she--"

"Yes," Rosie replied with certainty.  "And I believe it is your turn to perform the required duties, Sam-love."

Sam gave a heavy sigh.  "Very well, Rose-wife."  But he was smiling, and as he carried Elanor out of the kitchen, he paused to give Rosie a quick kiss on the cheek.

Silence followed his departure as Estella simply sat smiling to herself.  Finally, Rosie asked, "Something happened to you last night, didn't it?" After receiving no response, she pressed on.  "Come now, you have to tell me!"

Estella put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands.  "How surprised would you be if I told you I was in love?" she inquired.

Laughing merrily, Rosie shook her head and replied, "Stella, that wouldn't surprise me at all!"

"Good.  Then it won't come as a terrible shock for you to learn that I'm in love with Merry."

"Finally!" Rosie exlaimed with a grin.  She took Estella's hand and said, "What happened?  You must tell me everything!"

"Well, let's see... he left a note on the door, asking me to meet him in the Field at sunset.  We talked, argued just a bit, and then..."  Estella trailed off, a dreamy, far-off look coming to her face.

"He kissed you, didn't he?" Rosie said eagerly.

Estella sighed deeply.  "It was so wonderful.  I never thought a kiss could be like that."

"That's because you used to be quite cynical when it came to that sort of thing," Rosie pointed out.  "But I have a sneaking suspicion that your cynical days are coming to a close."

"I think so, too," Estella replied, gazing out the window with that same dreamy look.

When Estella had not spoken for some time, Rosie prodded, "What else happened?"

Snapped out of her reverie, Estella said, "Oh, right," and reached into her pocket, pulling out a green, leaf-shaped brooch.  "He also gave me this."  She then proceeded to retell what Merry had said to her regarding his gift.  After finishing, she said with wonder in her voice, "Isn't is beautiful?"

Rosie gasped softly.  "From his Elvish cloak?  Oh, Stella, do you know what this could mean?"

Stroking the brooch lovingly, Estella responded, "That he really does care for me, and he wanted to give me something to show it?"

"Not just that he cares for you, though I daresay he's already made that point clear.  I think you could take this as sort of a... well, almost a marriage proposal."

Estella chuckled.  "Don't be silly, Rosie.  The relationship is still rather fledgling, you know."

"Think what you like, Estella," Rosie said with a impish smile.  "But I wouldn't be surprised if this time next year you're living in Crickhollow with the addition of 'Brandybuck' to your name.  Goodness, I wouldn't be surprised if this time next year you happened to be carrying the next addition to the Brandybuck family!"

Not very long ago, Estella knew that a statement such as that one would have angered and maybe even scared her.  But at that moment, she decided to respond with a smile, and wonder if perhaps it was too early to begin picking out names for a possible addition to the Brandybuck family.

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