Day Three: after luncheon to after bedtime

Once he’d eaten, Pippin returned to his office.  Regi had stepped out for a while so he once again had the place to himself.  This time, instead of focusing on the paperwork, he focused on his surroundings.  He walked slowly around the room. He stepped to the doorway and looked around.  He turned to the right and walked behind the two chairs placed in front of the desk for visitors.  He ran his hand over the soft leather.  How many people have sat here over the years?  Come to think of it, how old are these chairs anyway?  He moved on to the small settee that took up most of one end of the room.  He paid no attention at all to the two straight-backed chairs that sat at either end.  He sat down on the small sofa and gave a little bounce. He remembered sitting here on several occasions during his father’s tenure.  This was the spot where he’d first come to realize that he would someday be the one behind the desk.  He stood up and wandered around the desk.  First he looked out the window which afforded a view of the front drive before the main door of the Great Smials.  He watched as a post rider approached but passed the main door and instead road on to the stables.  From this vantage, Pippin could not see the stables themselves or the door which the rider used to enter the Smials.  He raised his eyes and looked past the grounds of his home.  He looked out upon the rolling hills with their green turf and the scattered fields of grain and hay and the various fruit trees.  Everything was bright and blooming under a high sky of Springtime blue.  With a sigh, Pippin pulled his gaze away from the glorious outdoors and forced himself to look once again within the room.  He stood with his hands resting on the back of his chair.  He looked at the items on the desk.  Most were purely functional and would be the same no matter who sat here.  He remembered the ink well, the letter opener and the paperweight from clear back when Ferumbras was the inhabitant of this office.  I’m going to have to decide what I want to keep and what I want to replace.  I’m probably going to be spending more of my time than I really want to here for the next several years.  I might as well make it a little more my own.  Last he came to the bookcases that lined the final wall of the office.  Here was where the current volume of Old Yellowskin resided and here were also the most recent ledgers and crop reports and any number of other documents used in the management of the family and it’s holdings.  Pippin sighed again.

The door opened and Regi entered.  “You look like you’re thinking deep thoughts,” he said.

Pippin shook his head.  “No, just feeling the weight of this again.”  He held up his right hand and wiggled the fingers.  “What do we have on the schedule for this afternoon?”

“Nothing,” Regi answered.  He could see Pippin visibly relax.  “I knew the first few days would be a challenge so I’ve kept the appointments to as few as possible.  It won’t be this way for long, but for now you’re free until tomorrow morning at ten o’clock when you have a meeting with the Mayor.

Pippin smiled.  He knew he could handle that meeting.  “Personal or political?” he asked.

“Political,” answered Regi.  

“Oh well, at least he’s on the same side as I am.”

“Usually,” was all his assistant would say.

-----

Since he had the afternoon free, Pippin went in search of his wife.  He found her in his mother’s quarters going over various duties of the Mistress of Great Smials.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked as he entered the sitting room.  “You both look so engrossed.”

“No, you’re not interrupting,” said Eglantine.  “We were just about done with this anyway.  If you can give us just a couple of minutes, I’ll let you have your wife back.  I know this is about the longest you’ve both gone without seeing each other in almost the last seven years.”

Pippin and Diamond both blushed at this comment and Pippin decided that waiting outside might be in his best interests.

He’d only been standing in the hall a few minutes when the door opened and Diamond stepped out.  As she left the room, she and Pippin both heard Eglantine say, “Now, don’t forget, tomorrow we have the tea for all the matrons of the Smials.”

“I’ll remember,” said Diamond as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Thank you for the rescue,” she said, turning her full attention on her husband.

“You’re welcome,” he answered.  “I wish someone had rescued me this morning.”

“That bad?” she asked as she took his arm and allowed him to escort her down the hall.

“Worse,” he told her.  “Trust me when I say that Great Smials is a mad world unto itself,  I just hope I don’t lose my own mind, between the farmers and the gossips and the ledgers and the lore.

“Mother wasn’t too hard on you, was she?” he asked.  He knew it wasn’t right to prattle on about his day and not ask about hers.

“Actually, I learned a lot.  I’ve been helping her for the last several months, so I kind of knew what to expect.  The hard part is going to be the actual taking charge of things.  I’ve been so used to following instructions, now I’m going to be the one giving them.”

Pippin reached over and patted her hand where it rested on his arm.  “I have total faith in you, my dear.  I just wish I had it in myself.”

“How does this work then?” she suggested. “I’ll have faith in you and you’ll have faith in me and together we’ll make it work.”

“Just like we always have,” he added.

-----

“So, when do you have to be back in your office for the next meeting?” Diamond asked as they continued down the corridor.

Pippin grinned ear to ear.  “I don’t!” he crowed.  “Regi let me off the hook for the rest of the day.  I secretly think he’s afraid that if he overburdens me too quickly I’ll bolt and he’ll be left to become Thain after all.  He’s heating things up slowly so that I don’t notice until my goose is thoroughly cooked.”

Diamond giggled at the image of her husband being turned on a spit over a low fire being tended by Regi.  “Guess I’ll just have to supply the occasional bucket of water to keep the flames at bay.”

“I’d appreciate that,” agreed her husband.  

“If you have the rest of the day free, what do want to do?” she asked.

“That depends,” he answered.  “Do we want to spend the time as a family or as a couple.  Because if it’s a couple, I can think a pleasant indoor activity best enjoyed in our quarters.  If you want to include our son, I’d suggest we make up a picnic for tea and spend the afternoon outdoors in the warming sunshine.”

Diamond tapped her finger against her lips thoughtfully.  “Hmm,” she said.  “I’m thinking that this day it might be better to go with the picnic.  We just have to make sure we’re back in plenty of time to get ready for late supper.  People will be expecting the Thain and his Lady to be there, especially in these early days.”

Pippin smiled, but he couldn’t hide his sigh.  “Oh the weight of expectation.”

-----

They collected Faramir from the nursery and got a basket of food from the kitchens and headed out.  They didn’t go far but they went far enough that the talk and noise in the courtyard faded into the background.

As the sun slipped slowly down the sky and the shadows began to gradually lengthen the small family enjoyed a bounty of small sandwiches, teacakes, pieces of fruit and vegetables cut into interesting and pretty shapes.

“Only at Great smials would someone take the time to sculpt a radish into a rose,” said Pippin as he popped one in his mouth.

“Especially for a picnic,” agreed Diamond.

After they ate, Pippin took the opportunity to run and play chase with his son.  He knew that as his duties continued, the time with the child would become precious and he was determined that he and Diamond remain the primary influence in Faramir’s life.  It would be too easy to leave him in the care of nurses and minders, but that was not why they had worked so hard to have this child.  They wanted to be parents and share the joys and trials, the tribulations and blessings of raising their son.

Finally the sun began to dip toward the treetops and Diamond called her lads in from playing.  “Time to go,” she called.  “We have to get back and make ourselves presentable for supper.”

“Ah, Mama, do we have to? Faramir said with just a bit of a whine in his voice.  Pippin added his pout in his son’s support.

“Yes, children, I’m sorry to say that we do.”  She smiled at both of them and, taking Faramir’s left hand while Pippin took his right, they walked back toward the Great Smials.  Both parents swung their arms so that their son could take giant steps, skips and hops as they walked.

-----

Once Diamond got her lads back to their quarters, she saw to Faramir’s normal evening rituals.  The small child would not be attending the the formal meal in the great dining room.  It was agreed that he would need to be a few years older before he’d be ready to take his place at the head table.  For now, he would have his evening meal in the family’s quarters and then be tucked into bed for the night before one of the tweens came to sit with him as a minder for the evening.

-----

Pippin looked at his wife in total awe.  “You are the most beautiful hobbit I have ever seen,” he said as he extended his hand to escort her down the corridor to the dining hall.  “I think that you could rival even the elves.”

“Flattery will get many things,” she answered smiling, “but don’t push it.  You forget that I have seen elves and while I do not believe myself homely by any means, I know that I cannot begin to compare to the perfection that is the elves.”

“All right,” said Pippin, bringing the hand he clasped to his lips for a quick kiss, “how about this then?  In my eyes, no elf could be as lovely as my jewel.”

She smiled up at her husband.  “And no knight could be any more gallant than my own sweet husband, in my eyes.”

-----

Silence fell and everyone stood as they entered the room.  All in attendance had waited patiently, or not so patiently in some cases, for the Thain and his Lady to arrive.  Pippin lead Diamond to her spot at the head table and pulled her chair out for her.  Once she was seated, Pippin took his seat.  The others at the table were Meriadoc, the Master of Buckland; Samwise Gamgee, Mayor of the Shire; Eglantine, Mother of the Thain; Reginard Took, the Thain’s Assistant who was accompanied by his wife Aster.

The servers now moved through the room placing before each diner the first course of the meal and snatches of talk could once again be heard.  For most of the meal the topic of discussion was the wonderful quality of the food.  This was not the time for serious discussions.

-----

As the meal wound to its close, Pippin looked down the table toward Sam.  “I hear we are to meet tomorrow morning,” he said.

Sam nodded as he dabbed at his mouth with a napkin.  “I have just a few things to go over with you.  Don’t worry.  I’ll go easy on you, this time.”

Everyone who could hear the exchange chuckled.

Pippin then looked long at Merry.  “I know that neither Sam nor you can stay long, but please tell me that you will have a little time to get together before you leave.”

Merry caught the hint of desperate pleading in his cousin’s eyes.  “I can stay for a couple of more days,” he said.  “Don’t forget, I still have Strider’s letter to give you.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed Pippin.  “I’d almost forgot about it.  I really am looking forward to reading it.”

“I put you on the schedule for the morning day after tomorrow,” Regi told the Master.  “That way, if you need to leave that day, you can get a fair start before the day gets too old.”

-----

After the meal was over and everyone had spoken their wishes for a pleasant evening, Pippin walked Diamond back to their quarters.  “You know,” he said, “we could go for a walk.”

Diamond shook her head.  “As nice as it was this afternoon, it is still early Spring and the nights are rather cool.”

“I could keep you warm,” he offered.

“You could do that without the effort of a walk,” she answered.

“You have an excellent idea there, my love,”  He leaned down and placed a kiss on the spot where her neck met her shoulder.

“I think you may want to wait till we can reach our own door and send the young minder to her rest.”

“The reward will all the sweeter for the waiting,” he agreed.

-----

They quickly sent the young lass who had been watching their son on her after learning that nothing of note had happened.  Then, as quietly as they could, they slipped into their bedroom and shut the door.

“Do you need any help getting out of that dress?” he asked most generously as he removed his own waistcoat and unbuttoned the cuffs on the ivory-colored shirt he wore.

“Actually,” she giggled, “this one is very easy to get out of.  It’s one of the ones I had made on our travels a few years ago.”

Pippin held his arms out and Diamond stepped close to allow him to lovingly enfold her.  “Let me keep you warm, my dear,” he said, kissing her softly on her mouth.

Now, where is that little loop he wondered as he ran his hands over her back?  Aha!  There it is!  He gave the string a little pull and felt as well as heard the material fall to the floor about their feet.

-----

In the wee hours of the night, Pippin awakened slowly.  He felt a warm sense of peace and contentment lying there with the softness of his wife wrapped in his arms.  Despite the stress and uncertainty that he faced in his new position, he knew that he was the luckiest of hobbits.  He had all the things that truly mattered and as long as he had his Diamond, their son, Merry and all the other family and friends that loved him, both near and fat, he could face anything that might come his way.