B2MeM Challenge: N-32, Art Supplies, pastels; Hobbits, The Tooks (won't count for Bingo; too late)
Format: Frame story; Ficlet
Title: Tookish Tradition
Genre: Story
Rating: G
Warnings: N /A
Characters: Pippin, OFC (his oldest daughter, Primrose)
Pairings: N/A
Author's Notes: This has been part of my headcanon for years, that Great Smials Tooks say 'mother' and 'father' instead of using diminuitives for their parents; at last I have the chance to explain the story behind it.
Summary: Pippin explains a Tookish custom to his daughter.

"Papa?" Pippin gave a start; in the pleasant spring afternoon, sitting with his back against a tree overlooking the green hills, he'd nearly dozed off with a pipe in his hand, which would not do with daughters, nieces, nephews and cousins to watch over. Most of them were racing about just below him, but Primrose had chosen to sit with him, plying her pastels and her sketchpad. She was a rather accomplished young artist. He and Diamond had considered sending her to Buckland to study under Cousin Celandine for a while to develop her talent even more.

"Papa?" she repeated, impatient that he'd not spoken immediately.

"Yes, Prim?"

"Why does Cousin Rosamunda disapprove of us?"

" 'Us'?" Pippin asked sharply. "Which 'us' does she disapprove of? She's half-Took herself!"

"She thinks it is quite disgraceful that we-- er, your children-- still call you and mama, well, 'papa' and 'mama' instead of 'mother' and 'father'. She says that Tooks always say 'mother' and 'father' once they are out of faunthood, and that it is 'common' for us to be saying 'papa' and 'mama' at our age."

Pippin burst out laughing. "Cousin Rosamunda thinks too much of appearances, Prim. I have no intention of enforcing that silly rule anymore. It only goes back to the Old Took anyway, and I don't think it would have continued as long as it did if it hadn't been for Mistress Lalia and her own obsession with appearances. It suited her to have something that set the Tooks apart."

"But why did the Old Took make the rule in the first place, Papa? And why didn't you and mama make us call you 'mother' and 'father'?"

"Well, to answer your last question first, we were living in Buckland at the time, and your mother and I always thought it a very silly rule; from the way the story was told to me, so did the Old Took-- he only made the rule out of frustration."

Prim put down her sketchbook and turned to him, intrigued. "Frustration?"

As I heard the story, a Took cousin who had always lived in Tookbank married a lass from Bywater. He got a position here at the Great Smials as a recordkeeper for the pony stables and moved here with his bride. All was well until she found herself in the family way and they began to prepare for the coming of the babe. One day as they were preparing the nursery they had a discussion about what the child would call them when he or she got old enough to talk. Well, the wife was all for 'mam' and 'dad' as that was how she was brought up, while the husband favored 'papa' and 'mama' as they had always said in his family. Probably their argument would have been settled comfortably if they had been living in a little place of their own, but they got rather loud, and pretty soon people began to put their own opinions in and to take sides. In only a few days, the Great Smials was in an uproar, and a number of hobbits old enough and up until then, presumably wise enough, were no longer speaking to one another; or worse yet, were only speaking to argue.

Perhaps it didn't help that this all happened when folks were cooped up from a spell of rainy gloomy days. The Old Took had just about as much as he could stand after only a few days.

And so he sent out a message that all Tooks who lived in the Great Smials were to be at supper in the main hall that night. He stood up and made an announcement:

"No more will Tooks argue over what children are to call their parents! 'Mother' and 'Father' are perfectly serviceable and useful words. Therefore, and until I say otherwise all Took children above faunthood will say 'mother' and 'father'! There will be no more arguments on the subject from now on!"

Well, that was the Took's word, and a lot of Tooks were embarrassed about the way they'd behaved, and some Tooks thought that 'mother' and 'father' sounded grander than 'mama' or 'mum' or 'papa' or 'da', and so it came to be the custom until many had forgotten the origins. I've heard the Old Took came to regret his fit of pique, but for fear of starting the whole mess up again, he never rescinded the order.

"And when Lalia came along, it suited her fine, because she liked the idea of Tooks sounding 'better' than other hobbits. My father grew up with the whole idea, so it never bothered him. But I spent a lot of time in Buckland and Hobbiton as I was growing up, and I always thought 'papa' and 'da' sounded much more affectionate and friendly. Cousin Rosamunda was brought up in the Great Smials during Lalia's heyday, so you can see why she thinks as she does. Just ignore her; your Uncle Merry does-- she sniffs every time she hears her grandchildren calling their father 'Da'."

Primrose looked up at Pippin, and giggled. "She does! I've noticed that!"

"Yes, she does! But she can't object, because they are Brandybucks, not Tooks."

"Thank you for telling me about that. We Tooks are interesting, I think!"

Pippin burst out laughing. "I think we are, too, my little flower, and what's more, I know people from one end of the Two Kingdoms to the other who would agree!"