13

When Pippin returned to the Great Smials, the first place he stopped was his office.  He found Regi there, hard at work.

“Do you ever take time off,” he teased his assistant.  It was a longstanding joke between them.

“You know I live for this, Right?” Reginard replied.

“In that case, maybe I should resign and run off back to Crickhollow.”

“I never said I lived for your job,” Regi said, finally putting down his pen.  “I live for my job.”

They both laughed.at that.

“So, what did I miss?” Pippin asked as he took the seat behind his desk.

“Let’s see,” Regi seemed to ponder for a moment, “there were several strayed sheep, a couple of instances of tween mischief and you have one fretful wife.  It appears Sapphire is teething and keeping Diamond up at all hours.”

“Oh dear,” said Pippin.  “I’m assuming you handled the other problems.”

Regi nodded.

“Then I’d better go relieve my wife of child minding so that she can get some rest and do what she needs to.”

Before Regi could say a word, Pippin was out the door and headed to his family’s quarters.

-----

When Pippin arrived, he found Diamond pacing the floor with a whining baby laying against her shoulder.

“Here,” he said, “let me take her.  You look like you could use a break.”

Diamond relinquished her daughter without a word.

“Where’s Ruby?” Pippin asked, settling his daughter against his own shoulder.

Diamond looked confused for a second before she answered.  “Oh, I sent her to the nursery.  I figured it would be better for her to be with the other children than to be here, especially since I’ve been so distracted.  I don’t remember Faramir being this fussy when he got his teeth.”

“You’re sure it’s just her teeth?” asked Pippin.  

“Yes,” Diamond sighed.  “I even asked the healer to look at her and she said it was just the first of her teeth coming in.  You know they can be miserable for some babies and apparently our Sassy is one of those.”

“Well, if Ruby’s in good hands and I’ve got this one, why don’t you go take a rest.  You look like you could use one.  I’ll wake you in time for a late supper.”

Diamond nodded and then plodded off to the bedroom.

-----

Pippin sat down and placed Sapphire on his lap so that he could look into her eyes.

“Now, my little darling, have you been giving your Nana a bad time?”

Sapphire’s eyes took on an intense focus and Pippin felt a touch in his mind.  Can’t help it, the tiny voice said.  Hurts.

“I know,” he told the small child.  “Let’s see if we can find something to help.  Do you want something to bite on?”

He knew that if anyone else heard this apparent one-sided conversation, they’d think he’d lost his mind.  For Pippin and his wee daughter, however, this had become normal and had helped build the close bond that existed between them.  He knew that Sapphire would have a lot of challenges ahead of her in trying to live in a world where the gifts she had were not common and were not particulars appreciated.  He hoped that these little moments would give him a chance to show her how to fit in and use her talents for the best but in a way that would not be off-putting to other people.  But for now, his concern was the fussiness and discomfort of the child’s emerging teeth.

A biscuit to bite on and a distracting story from her ada helped for the short term and when Diamond awoke from her nap, she found Pippin and their youngest asleep together on the sofa.

-----

That first Highday after his return from Buckland, Pippin made sure that he had everything official dealt with shortly after elevenses.  He had a surprise in store for the his lasses.

Well before time for luncheon, he made a stop in the kitchens to request a picnic be made for his family.  Once he had that done, he went back to his apartment to find his wife.

“How would you like to enjoy an afternoon outdoors with your favorite hobbit and two adorable little lasses?” he asked as he planted a kiss on Diamond’s cheek.

Diamond looked from her joyous husband to he ledger laying before her on the table.  She seemed to consider for a moment and then closed the book.  “These accounts aren’t going anywhere,” she said.  “I think I can safely leave them for a bit.”

“Excellent!” said Pippin, clapping his hands once.  “Where are our littlest ones?” 

“They’re both in the nursery with their cousins.  I’m sure they’ll be glad to see us early today.”

“Especially if we’re there to take them to eat,” Pippin laughed.

Together they went to collect Ruby and Sapphire and head for the meadow for an afternoon of sun and food and play and family.

-----

Diamond sat smiling as she held a babbling Sapphire on her lap.  They were watching as Pippin and Ruby played a game of catch-me-if-you-can.  Ruby appeared to winning until Pippin suddenly lengthened his stride and scooped the laughing child up into his arms.

“Hold your arms straight out,” he told her.  He then laid her across his arms and began to turn in a circle.

“I flyin’!” yelled the tiny lass.

Pippin changed his grip so that he could run around the field while his future daughter flapped her arms and shouted, “I’s a bird!  I flyin’  Fly me higher, Ada!”

After several trips around the field, Pippin slowed and gently placed Ruby down next to Diamond.  He then collapsed beside her gasping to catch his breath.

“I had forgot how much work that game is for me,” he panted.

“You’re not as young as you were when Faramir was Ruby’s age,” Diamond answered him.  “I’ll entertain her for a bit, if you’ll take this one,” she said, handing Sapphire to Pippin.

“Come on, Ruby, why don’t we go pick some flowers.  Then we can make flower crowns for ourselves.”

As he watched his wife and Ruby collecting flowers, he found himself thinking that soon Sapphire would be the little one running around the field and Ruby would be the big sister teaching her how to make daisy chains.

Soon, but not too soon, Ada.  Pippin heard that little voice in his mind.

Aloud, he said to his baby lass, “And soon I’m going to have to start teaching you what you may and may not do with this gift of ours.  I just hope you don’t have the issues I had with it.”  He smiled remembering younger days and the good and bad he’d discovered about the Sight.

-----

Merry checked Faramir’s handiwork.  “Not bad,” he said.  “You need to remember to check that you have the girths buckled tight enough.  No pony wants to truly be saddled so you can’t forget that they will sometimes hold their breath to keep you from getting the straps tight.”

Faramir sighed.  He’d known he’d forgot a detail.  He now double-checked that he had everything tightened properly without being too tight for the pony’s comfort.

“Good work,” Merry assured him with a pat on the shoulder.

“Now, Bandobras,” said the Master of Buckland.  “Have you got the saddle pad on?  Good, now I’ll help you with the rest.  It will another year or so before you’re tall enough or strong enough to all the tack up and onto your mount.”

Once all the lads had their ponies properly saddled, Merry led them out to an open area used for training both ponies and riders.

-----

For the rest of the afternoon, Merry put the young Tooks and his own older son through their paces.  Bandy was showing signs of becoming a reasonably good rider.  Faramir was learning but he was not a natural on pony back.  It was going to take effort for him to becoming accomplished at riding.

Merry found himself muttering, more than once, “You really are your father’s son, Faramir Took.”  

While he was now confident and competent with a pony, Pippin had not been a less than spectacular student in the care and riding of ponies.  At least, so far, Faramir had not fallen off his mount.  Pippin had not been so lucky as a youth.  Merry could count at least five times, one of them serious, where his cousin had taken a fall of his own causing from a pony.

-----

As the sun began her descent into evening, Merry led the young riders back to the stables and supervised them in the post-ride care of their ponies.

Once the animals were settled for the night, he announced, “Now it’s time for a to see to our mangers.  Shall we head in and prepare for supper?”

All three lads immediately headed for Brandy Hall at a run.  Merry followed them at a more sedate pace, smiling and shaking his head fondly at them.

-----

So the next several weeks passed.  Before any of them realized it, mid Halimath had arrived and it was time to think about preparing for the annual trip to Bag End for the Birthday.  The Tooks had missed the celebrations last year due to the birth of little Sapphire.  This year there would be even more to celebrate since she had arrived of Frodo Baggins’ 59th birthday and there was the added blessing of having Bandobras and Ruby added to the Thain’s family.

Thinking about this reminded Pippin that there was something very important that he’d almost forgot totally about.

“Regi,” he said to his assistant as they were wrapping up business a few days before the scheduled departure date.  “I need to meet with one of the lawyers to draw up the adoption papers for Bandy and Ruby.  I also need you to send a formal letter of invitation to Diamond’s parents to come visit at the harvest celebration to finalize the adoption.”

“Do you need me to find seven witnesses as well?” asked Regi.

“No,” Pippin answered.  “I have those already in mind.  I just have to see if Merry would be available to come here at that time.  He might have to stay in Buckland to manage their harvest.  I think the others I have in mind will be able to attend.”

Very good.  I’ll have one of the lawyers meet us here tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you, Regi.”

-----

“This should be an easy matter,” the young lawyer told the Thain at their meeting.  There is no one contesting the adoption, correct?”

Pippin smiled and shook his head.  “No one that we are aware of.  The children have been with us since Rethe and we have sent letters to their grandparents nearly every week letting them know how things are going.”

“Good,” said the lawyer.  “I’ll have these papers written out by the time you get back from your trip.”

“Thank you,” said Pippin.  “My wife and I appreciate it.”

“Yessir,” said the lawyer as Regi showed him to the door.