I was going to wait until I'd replied individually to everyone before posting this, but that'll have to wait; I feel guilty having this chapter just sitting in the document. :-P

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Chapter 22 - Preparations

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For a few drowsy seconds, Merry was surprised when he awoke to find Estella's head resting on his chest.  He stared down at her with furrowed brows, wondering how she had ended up in that position.  But he soon broke through his sleepy haze, remembering the events of the previous evening; how he had held Estella until she'd cried herself to sleep.

Merry protectively pulled Estella closer at the memory of those tears she had shed.  But he knew somehow that he would not have to see such tears from her for a long time.  As her husband, he would make it his duty to prevent her from crying with anything but joy, to prevent any sorrow from touching her - his wife.

Smiling contentedly at this thought, Merry kissed Estella's brow and sighed.  As he did so, he heard a loud and obvious coughing nearby that sounded like it came from Pippin.

With no small amount of trepidation, Merry slowly looked up.  He indeed saw his cousin, standing at the foot of the bed and looking terribly amused.  Also standing there was Sam, Rosie, Elanor, and a square-jawed Fredegar Bolger.

Keeping perfectly still except for his eyes, which darted from hobbit to hobbit, Merry let out a quick and meek, "Hello."

"Good morning!" Pippin replied cheerfully.  "I assume you are feeling far more healthy than you were before Estella arrived.  But you do know that this isn't supposed to happen until after the wedding, don't you?"

"Pippin!" exclaimed Rosie as Sam hurried to cover their daughter's ears.

"Oh, don't worry, Rose," said Pippin.  "You don't understand that sort of thing yet, do you, Ellie?"  The girl's furrowed brows showed that she clearly did not.

Seeing the look on Fatty's face, Merry decided to speak to his own defense.  "Nothing like that happened, Pip."  He glanced nervously at Fatty, who's face had retained that same glare.  "Really, Fatty, you know I would never..."

Fatty didn't break his glare.

"Honestly!"

The glare remained intact.

Merry was beginning to fear for his safety when he felt Estella stir beside him.  She yawned and pulled herself closer to him, and Merry saw that Pippin, Sam, and Rosie were desperately attempting to disguise their mirth.  Merry tapped Estella's shoulder rather frantically.

"Estella..."

"Hm?" she responded drowsily.

"I think you should get up now."

Estella lifted her head and blinked at him in confusion.  "Did I stay here all night?" she asked, sitting up on her knees.

Before Merry could reply, Fatty gave a noise very similar to a growl, and Estella froze.

"Oh, dear," she said simply.  She then turned to look at the hobbits who were gathered at the foot of the bed.  She folded her arms and glared at them defensively.  "And what are you all staring at?  Do you think so little of us?"

Brother and sister stared at each other for a moment, engaged in a sibling squabble of the eyes.  Finally, Fatty grumbled something inaudible and looked down at his feet.

But Estella wasn't finished with him.  "Don't you think you ought to apologize to you future brother-in-law for giving him such a fright?" she asked, her chin raised.

Fatty looked as though he wanted to roll his eyes; but he turned to Merry and said, "I am sorry for being presumptuous, Merry."

Estella wore a wry smirk.  "You did not presume anything, Fredegar, I know you too well.  You just wanted to intimidate poor Merry."

Merry shrugged slightly and grinned.  "No harm done, thankfully."  He pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked at Sam.  "It's wonderful to see you all, but what exactly are you doing here?  How did you know Pippin and I had come back?"

"A letter arrived at Mister Fredegar's house a few hours after Miss Estella left for Buckland," Sam replied.  "He told Rosie and me about it, and we decided to come and see if there was anything we could do to help you and Pippin, the two of you being injured and all."

Merry glanced down at the bandages that Estella had applied the previous evening; the pain of his wound was considerably less than it had been several days prior.

"How does it feel, Merry?" asked Estella softly.

"Much better," he responded, smiling up at her.

Seeing the look that passed between Merry and Estella, Rosie cleared her throat slightly and gestured for the others to follow her into the hallway; they did so, though Pippin had to tug rather hard on Fatty's arm to get him to leave the room.

Estella smiled and traced her fingertips across the side of Merry's face.  "I can hardly believe it," she said.

"Believe what?" inquired Merry as he caught her hand and brought it to his lips.

She curled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped one arm around her.  "That you're finally back.  That we're about to spend the rest of our lives together."

Merry ran his hand through her brown curls.  "I remember a time when you would have scoffed at the idea of spending the rest of your life with me."

Estella traced circles across Merry's chest.  "Well, perhaps 'scoff' isn't the right word.  I believe... 'been thoroughly appalled' is more accurate."

Merry laughed and kissed the top of her head.  "No matter.  It's all in the past."

Estella's look became pensive.  "Are you at all nervous about getting married?"

His brows furrowed slightly, Merry replied, "Not really, no.  It will be a change, certainly, but..."  He looked down at her and smiled.  "Not an unpleasant one."  He shifted so that he lay on his side, facing Estella, and he wrapped both arms around her tightly, pulling her close.  "And you?  Are you nervous?"

"No, actually."  Estella sounded confused.  "Which is strange, because I remember being almost terrified when I was set to marry Hugo."  She sighed and nuzzled her face against Merry's neck.  "But then, I was a very different person all those years ago."  She smiled into his skin.  "That was when I thought you were an arrogant fiend of a hobbit."

"Well for a while, I might have been," Merry responded with a grin.  "I did push you into a river, after all."

Estella laughed and looked up at him in astonishment.  "You still remember that?"

"Of course.  Felt rather bad about it afterwards, actually.  I had forgotten that most hobbits can't swim."

Estella pulled away from him slightly, wearing an expression of mock-indignance.  "Especially ten-year-old girls who are caught unawares!"

Merry leaned in with a teasing smile, noting with satisfaction that Estella's breathing had become rather husky.  "You must forgive my childhood antics; I was young and foolish, after all.  And I did not realize that the girl I was pushing into the water would grow up to be such a pleasant and beautiful young lady."

Estella smiled.  "When you put it that way, I have no choice but to forgive you."

Grinning, Merry leaned in further to kiss her.  Estella wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as she pressed herself against him.  Merry brought one hand to the back of her head, holding her tightly though not ungently.  Suddenly, breathing no longer became a priority with the pair.

Merry had Estella's lower lip between his teeth when there came a brisk knocking on the door.  He made a noise of protest while still holding her lip.  Estella pulled away and laughed.

"Yes?" she called out.

Rosie's voice answered from the other side of the door, "The two of you already slept through both breakfasts.  Do you intend to miss luncheon as well?"

"Give us five minutes," Estella replied.

"Five minutes," Merry murmured, leaning in again.  "Good."

"Five minutes to get washed and dressed!" Estella informed him, pushing him away with a grin.

Merry's face resembled that of a pouting child.

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"Oh, this is going to be fantastic," Rosie said to Estella as she set a stack of parchment on the table around which they, Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Fatty were seated (Elanor was taking a nap).  "Now I will be able to repay you for all the help you gave Sam and me when we were preparing for our wedding!"

Estella smiled and turned to Merry.  "Now, Rosie and I have already worked out most of the details that I thought you might find, well, cumbersome."

"Thank you for that," Merry said promptly.

"But there are certain things that you had best be involved in," she continued.  "Such as what we're doing today."

"Which is?" Pippin inquried.

Estella opened a box that sat on the table and lifted out a heavy stack of envelopes, letting them drop onto the table with a thud.  "Invitations," she replied happily.

"We'll be here all day, won't we?" Fatty remarked as he stared at the envelopes.

"More than likely," Rosie confirmed.

"Now then," said Estella, grabbing a piece of parchment.  "We need to send invitations to our parents, even though they already know they are invited."

"And Pippin's parents, as they are my aunt and uncle," Merry added.

"If you're going to invite them," Pippin put in, "you'll need to invite my sisters and their families."

"There's also our uncle Ferdinand," said Estella.

"And his son Ferdibrand," Fatty reminded her.

"And Ferdibrand's wife," Estella nodded.

"Sam, can you write these down?" Rosie asked, setting some parchment in front of her husband.

"My uncle Merimac and aunt Prisca, and cousin Berilac," Merry said.

"Filibert Bolger," said Fatty, "he's a distant cousin.  And his wife, Poppy."

"Seredic Brandybuck and his wife Hilda," Pippin said to Merry.  "They're your first cousins once removed, aren't they?"

"Yes, and Milo Burrows and his wife Peony, and their four children."  Merry's brow was furrowed in concentration.  "Mosco, Moro, Myrtle, and... Minto."

"Oh, and there's Adelard Took and his family," Estella said.  "He's our second cousin once removed."

"Merimas, Mentha, and Melilot, my second cousins once removed," said Merry.

"And we must invite Rosie's family," said Estella.

"Sam's family, too," said Merry.

"Oh!  And my old friend Angelica Baggins!"

Sam's hand raced across the parchment, trying to keep up with all the names that were being listed.  It took close to half an hour for the hobbits to complete the guest list, and another two hours to write up all the invitations (though some of that time was spent taking care of afternoon tea).

When Estella finished writing out Sancho Proudfoot's invitation, she immediately tossed her quill onto the table and sat back with a groan.  Merry reached out and gently massaged her shoulder.  Estella closed her eyes.

"That feels wonderful...  Oh, to the right a bit..."

Rosie stood suddenly.  "Well Sam, I think we had better check on Elanor."  She turned to Pippin and Fatty.  "Maybe you two had better come with us."  She gave them a meaningful look.  Pippin and Sam both stood, but Fatty folded his arms and stared at Rosie suspiciously.

"Why are you always so eager to let those two be alone together?" he asked.

Rosie leaned in close to his face and said with a small smile, "Because I remember how irksome it was when my brothers would never allow me a moment alone with the hobbit I intended to marry."

"It won't do no good to argue with her, Mister Fredegar," Sam said, fighting his own smile.

Estella grinned at her brother as Merry continued to massage her neck.  "Goodbye, Fredegar."

Fatty stood and spoke with a sigh, "I give up."  Merry smiled and shrugged at Fatty apologetically.

When they were alone in the kitchen, Estella turned to Merry and smiled.  "Just think - before long, we will be out of reach of my brother's sweet but bothersome over-protectiveness."

Merry took both of Estella's hands and gazed deep into her eyes.  "He does know that I intend to treat his sister with the utmost care, doesn't he?"

Estella leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his.  "I'm sure he does."

"Good."  Merry brought his hand up to caress her cheek.  "I love you," he murmured, his lips brushing ever so slightly against hers as he spoke.

Estella pressed her cheek to his and sighed contentedly.

"I love you, too."

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I think writing that chapter should help me qualify as an expert in hobbit geneaology. ;-)