After dinner, Merry and Pippin adjourned to the Thain’s office to enjoy a pipe and a glass or two of brandy.

“So,” said Merry, lighting his pipe and taking up his glass, “what you getting at with your announcement at dinner?”

Pippin removed his pipe from his mouth and looked at his cousin.  “I was trying to let you know that all is well and that you don’t need to watch me like a hawk.  Diamond and I have worked out our differences and are repairing the bonds between us.”

Merry set his glass down after taking a sip and considered Pippin’s words.  “You’re trying to tell me that all is well and life has gone back to what it was before that disastrous trip to Annuminas a couple of Summers ago?”

Pippin let out a sigh and took a drink and deep breath before answering.  “No, Merry, I am not saying that at all.  What I am trying to say is that we are now working to get ourselves back to that point.  We’re talking again, we’re working together to raise our children and we’re intimate again.”

“That last is a bit obvious,” Merry said.

“You are determined to not get my meaning, aren’t you?  I was totally shocked when Diamond came to me the night Sapphire was conceived.  I didn’t think she would ever want me again.  She avoided the slightest contact with me.  Then, that night, there she was, wanting me or, at least, wanting me to meet her physical need.  Merry, I never stopped loving her, you know.  I always wanted us to reconcile.  I was so happy for any scrap of our old love that I gave her what she wanted and asked for nothing in return.

“It wasn’t until after the baby was born that we began to talk again.  She confessed that what she had done was selfish and that she was glad you had made the decision you did.  She wanted to restore our marriage.  That was what I had always wanted.  We now make it a point to talk about how things make us feel and what each of us can do to help the other.  I think we’re both in love again.  It has been wonderful but challenging too.  Making parenting decisions is one of the hardest things to do.  We were both raised a little differently and have strong opinions so we have to talk about those things.”

Merry just shook his head.  “You’re both Tooks and that means you will always be incomprehensible to other hobbits.  I just don’t want to see you with your heart in pieces the way it was then.  If she breaks it again, I’ll….”

“You’ll pick up the pieces and help me rebuild it.  But that’s not going to happen, Merry.  We both vowed we would never do that to our family or our friends again.”

“I’m still going to be keeping my eyes open.”

“You do that,” Pippin said.  “All you’re going to see is a happy family.”

-----

While their husbands went to have their drink and smoke, Diamond and Estella went together to put their children to bed.

“Mum, do I have to go to bed already?” asked Peredoc, Estella’s oldest.

“Just the fact that you’re asking says that you do,” answered his mother.  “You’re whining and it really isn’t becoming in a ten-year-old.  We’re all tired after our trip and the Yule festivities start tomorrow.  Remember, the Yule Dwarf can still decide not to visit you even this late.  So it is best that you obey your parents and set a good example for your brother and sisters.”

“Perry may not sleepy but I am,” said seven-year-old Eowyn.  “I’m going to be extra good and maybe the Yule Dwarf will give me Perry’s presents since he’s always bad.”

Perry stuck his tongue out at his sister.  “I’m not always bad.”

“Now, stop it, both of you,” said Estella.  “If you don’t stop pestering each other, Theo and Mindy will be the only ones in this family getting anything.”

Diamond just stood watching the exchange and shaking her head.  Estella looked at her and made an ugly face.  “Just wait.  In a couple of years you’ll be dealing with same situation, trust me.”

“I can’t wait,” said Diamond.  “I’ve waited a long time to deal with squabbling siblings.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Estella.  “I guess you have.”

-----

Once they got the children all settled and Diamond had nursed Sapphire, the two mums sat down to spend some adult time together.

“So, things really are better between you and Pippin?” Estella asked.

Diamond nodded.  “I really was a fool,” she said.  “I should never have let my selfishness take control the way I did.  Pippin couldn’t do anything other than what he was doing and he had gone far above what anyone should have expected of him.  I never even considered how he felt.”

“I won’t even begin to say I understand what you two went through.  Merry and I have had the usual marital issues but nothing like you two have had to deal with.  I don’t know how either of us would have handled it.”

“Judging by the looks Merry was giving me at dinner, I’d say he believes you two would have done a much better job it than Pippin and I, especially I, did.  He seemed to be expecting me to suddenly start acting like an orc or something.  I know he was really upset with me but I had hoped that what Pippin said would reassure him.”

“Merry is a Brandybuck, and the only thing more immovable than a Brandybuck is a Baggins,” said Estella with a small laugh.  “He is not going to be convinced that all is well till he sees it clearly with his own eyes.”

Diamond sighed and curled into a ball on the sofa with her chin propped on her drawn-up knees.  “I will do what I can to show him that we are sincere in our efforts to be what we used to be, and maybe even stronger.”

She showed a bit of a smile.  “I watched Pippin a lot over the last year-and-a-half and I was truly astounded by what I saw.  He is truly the most selfless person I have ever met.  He would do things for me just because he knew I’d like them.  He never asked for anything from me.  He continued to be involved with Faramir and helped with the lad’s first lessons.  I was also able to see what he did for the Tooks.  He really is a good Thain, you know.”

Estella nodded.  “I’d heard something to that effect,” she quipped in an effort to lighten the mood.

“I’ll make sure that Merry sees that you and Pip will be fine.  I know that you are doing your part and I’m sure that Merry will know what Pippin is doing after their chat tonight.”

“Thanks, Stella.  I can’t tell you what that means to me.”

The two friends hugged each other and then Estella left to make sure her children really were sleeping and to prepare for bed herself.  She had no idea when, or if, she’s see her husband that night.

-----

Pippin quietly let himself into his apartment and, after checking on Faramir, went to his and Diamond’s bedroom.  He was surprised to find his wife still awake.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded then shook her head.  “I don’t know,” she finally admitted.

He sat beside her as she lay in bed.  “Care to talk about it?” he asked.

Diamond sighed and scooted up till she was sitting propped against the headboard.  “Merry doesn’t trust me, does he?” she asked.

“Well, you’re as blunt as that Brandybuck it would seem,” Pippin laughed softly.  They were both aware that Sapphire was asleep only a few feet away.  “I don’t know that I’d go that far.  He doesn’t yet believe that we have fully reconciled and he’s watching us both to make sure that what we’re saying matches what he sees us doing.”

“You mean you’re being watched too?” she asked.  “I never thought he’d doubt you.”

“I don’t know that it truly is doubt of either of us.  I think he just wants to be reassured.  He still sees me as needing protected sometimes.  I wish he’d stop doing it, but he’s probably never going to.”

“I feel a little better then,” Diamond replied.

Pippin smiled at her and got up.  As he got ready for bed, he asked, “So, what did you and Stella talk about?”

“Pretty much the same thing you and Merry did it would appear.  I think she’s a little more will to accept what we’ve said.”

“Good,” he said, turning back the covers on his side of the bed and climbing in.  “Now that we’ve got the Brandybucks dealt with, why don’t we remind ourselves how special our love is.”

Diamond giggled as she felt him pull her towards himself.  “We need to be quiet about it,” she reminded him.  “We don’t want to wake the baby.”

“I think we can be quiet enough,” he whispered.  “At this point words rather lose their meaning.”  He began kissing her deeply.

Diamond melted into the kiss and against her husband and soon his lips and hands had her gasping for more.

-----

While one couple made love, another one lay together talking.

“Merry,” said Estella, “you really need to let them be.  They are working things out in their own way and they don’t need your interference.”

“I’m not interfering, I’m observing.”

“Well, your observations are making Diamond a nervous wreck.  She’s convinced that you don’t like her.”

“She hasn’t given me much to like in the last couple of years,” Merry retorted.  “She hurt Pippin and I’m going to take a lot of convincing before I can forgive that.”

“Please remember, dear, that Pippin isn’t your responsibility.  He’s an adult and a father, just like you.  You need to let them work this out.  From what I saw and what Diamond said to me, they’re doing just fine.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Merry stated.

“Will you even know it when you see it?” asked Estella, only half tongue-in-cheek.  “Will you even know what it is?”

Merry laughed a little at his wife’s words.  “Maybe you’re right,” he agreed.  “I still plan to watch them though.”

“You’re hopeless.  I’m going to sleep,” she said.  “Tomorrow is a big day.”

“And the day after, and the day after that,” said Merry. “You know, sometimes it’s drattedly inconvenient having a birthday on the day after second Yule.”

Estella didn’t answer.  She was already sound asleep.