I will be making a few edits to this.  I discovered that I'd misread the Shire calendar and need to revise a few dates.  There are also some capitalization issues I need to address.

I don't know why the epilogue posted as Epilogue 2.  There's only one, I promise.

Also, for anyone who really cares, this story fits into my universe with my short story, "Vickories Won" and the longer stories, "Of Difficulties and Delicate Situations" and "To Have or Have Not".  I'm also hoping to complete that trilogy in the next few weeks so start looking for a story called "Completion" by the end of May.

Thanks again for the welcome back.