14

“Well, are you ready to have the lads back?” Regi asked as he helped Pippin finish signing the last-minute documents that wouldn’t keep till he returned from Hobbiton.

“Yes.  We’ve enjoyed the time with the lasses but we agree that it’s too quiet with them gone.  I can’t believe I miss hearing Ruby whining about something they’ve done or Faramir asking just why he wanted younger brothers and sisters after all.  I really do love a home full of life.  Now I realize why my parents seemed so happy while we lived at the farm.  Part of it had to be the joy of children.  Too bad it had to end when da became Thain.”

“It was something that he should never have had to take on,” Regi agreed.  “His heart was on that farm and he should have been able to stay there himself.  At least you have seemed to get a grip on the balancing act that leading the Tooks and being a good father can be.”

“I hope so,” agreed Pippin.  “I never want any of them to doubt my love.”

They won’t,” Reginard assured him.

-----

Everybody got everything?” Merry asked as they prepared to ride out of the stable yard at Brandy Hall.  

“Yes!” came a chorus from the three lads and one lass before him.  Wenny had been granted permission from her parents to ride with her father, brother and cousins on this trip.  Estella and the younger two children would accompany them in the family coach.

“All right then, the next stop, the Halfway to Everywhere Inn!”

The children laughed as they always did when they heard the funny name of the inn they usually stayed at when traveling from Buckland to Hobbiton.

As the group from Buckland left the inn in the early morning hours, The part of the Took family coming from Great Smials rolled out of the courtyard in the Thain’s best coach.

-----

They arrived at Bag End at tea time.  The Brandybucks and their extras arrived first.  The Thain, his wife and the two little lasses arrived about a half hour later.

Shortly thereafter, a happy and talkative group was gathered in the Bag End dining room, the only room big enough for them, enjoying a companionable tea.

Diamond and Estella did most of the work of setting out the food and drink for the occasion.  They didn’t want Rose taxing herself overmuch.  She was due to enter her confinement within the month and they didn’t want her stressing and straining herself overmuch.

As they worked, the three discussed babies.

“Have you picked out names yet?” asked Estella.

“If its a girl,” said Rose, sitting down at the kitchen table to rest, “we want a jewel name this time we think.  We’d been partial to the name Ruby but seein’ as your little faunt is a Ruby, Mistress Diamond, we may have to think of a different choice.”

“Nonsense,” said Diamond as she loaded two more plates of sandwiches on a tray to take into the next room.  “First, you don’t need to call me Mistress.  You know that we’re all friends and equals here.  This isn’t Great Smials, after all.  Second, if you and Sam like the name Ruby for a lass, you should call her Ruby.  There’s plenty of lasses with the name all over the Shire.  As for our Ruby, I’m sure she’ll be flattered that the Mayor and his wife named their daughter after her.”

They all laughed at this.  They knew that this was exactly how any faunt would see it.  After all, every three-year-old knows the world revolves around them.

“What about a lad name?” asked Estella.

“For some reason,” Rose admitted, “we can’t seem to think of one.  Hopefully, we won’t need one.”

The day that would have been Frodo Baggins’ 70th birthday, had he stayed in Middle-Earth and lived, dawned as bright and promising as it had 37 years ago on the occasion of Bilbo and Frodo’s infamous birthday party.

The gathering at Bag End on this day was much smaller than the crowds that attended that long-ago party or even the 144 hobbits that were present for Bilbo’s departure from the Shire.

This party consisted of Frodo’s closest friends and their families.  Sam, as the Master of Bag End, was the host.  The guests were Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, Fredegar Bolger, Folco Boffin and their wives and children.

Sam had taken much of the preparation upon himself since his wife was in the advanced stages of her pregnancy.  All the adults as well as Sam’s eldest two children pitched in wherever they were needed.

Elanor took on the responsibility of keeping most of the children occupied and out of the adults’ way.  Her little brother Bilbo, Simelmyne Brandybuck and baby Sapphire stayed with their mums.  It would have been asking an awful lot of a 17-year-old to care for three infants along with all the rest.

Frodo-lad had been assigned the task of making sure that there was a good supply of wood for the cooking fire and to fetch it when his Sam-dad, or one of the others, called for it.

Diamond and Estella took turns keeping Rose company, and out of the kitchen.  When they weren’t with their friend, they were helping with the chopping of vegetables and the taste-testing of the food as it cooked.

Merry and Pippin spent much of the morning setting up tables and chairs in the party field and decorating the lower branches of the Mallorn for the dinner.

-----

As the sun began to slide down the sky, food began to appear on the serving table.  All the children became even more excited than they had been.  They knew that one of the best meals of the year was about to begin.

“All right, all of you,” Elanor called to the other children.  “Everyone into the bathing room to wash hands and faces and then it’s off to each of our mums to be checked to make sure we’re presentable.  Goldy, I can tell you right now that you need to change your dress.  You’re worse than the lads sometimes.”

With some grumbling and complaining, more out of habit than because they didn’t want to finish playing, all the children headed back to Bag End.

Rose inspected her brood as Estella and Diamond did the same to theirs.  In the end, young Pippin, Merry, Faramir, Bandobras and Theodoc all had to change their clothes before they were allowed to go out to the party field and join the others for the meal.

Once Goldilocks had put on a clean dress, her mum declared her fit to be seen in public.  “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” Rose told the little lass.  “You’re every bit as bad about ruining your clothes as any lad.”

“Lads just have more fun,” was her daughter’s reply as she skipped out the door.

-----

The food at the birthday/memorial feast was abundant and varied. and the drink was excellent.  Merry had contributed some of Buckland’s best brandy and had brought a barrel of the Tookland’s finest ale.  There was also South Farthing wine and plenty of fresh-pressed cider for the children.

Once the serious eating was over and they sat nibbling dainties, the talk of the adults turned to memories of Frodo and the long-ago party.

Diamond found herself listening with interest to these discussions.  She was the only person in the group who had not been at that feast.

Merry looked over at Pippin.  “Do you know how crazy you made me that evening?” he asked.

“I didn’t care,” Pippin retorted but the smile on his face let them all know that he wasn’t seriously offended.  “I just knew something wasn’t right and I thought you would understand but you were more interested in being with the teens and tweens than you were in listening to me.  But I was right, something strange was definitely going on.”

“Well, there was nothing we could have done to change things even if I’d believed you,” said Merry.  “I don’t think we were meant to change things.  Everything, from the time Bilbo found that ring was out of mortal hands.”

Sam shook his head and sighed.  “Sadly, I agree,” he said.  “We each made our own decisions, but did we really have control?”

“Now that’s getting a lot deeper than I want to go,” said Pippin.  “I did some things that were really stupid and I seriously hope that those weren’t the will of one of the higher Powers.  I don’t want to think that they manipulated my impulsiveness.  Can we change the subject now?”

Diamond decided that the mood definitely needed lightening.  “We could celebrate the newest birth to fall on this day,” she said.

“Yes, we could, and we should,” agreed her husband.

Carefully, Pippin took his sleepy, young daughter from Diamond’s arms.  He held her so that he could look into her face.

“You share your birthday with the two best hobbits to ever grace Middle Earth.  I’m sure they would be proud of you and would wish you all the joy that life can bring.  I’m so thankful to have you and to know that you share your birthday with Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.”

Father and daughter looked long into each others faces.  No words were spoken but Merry and Sam knew that a conversation was taking place.  They’d both seen that type of exchange before.

Once all the children that were old enough to eat it, had had their share of cake, the mums began to prepare them for bed.  The five hobbits who shared Frodo’s final birthday dinner before his departure to Buckland were left to reflect on that evening and all that had happened since.

While they had been talking, Sam had filled five glasses with fine Gondorian wine.  He now handed one to each of his friends.  He then raised his glass in a toast.

“To the byrdings, both present and absent.”

Once the traditional toast had been spoken, Freddy and Folco excused themselves.  They knew that the three Travelers needed some time to themselves to reflect and remember.

The three remaining hobbit members of the Fellowship were left to enjoy each other’s company in the quiet of the autumn evening.

-----

The conversation between the three meandered through a multitude of topics before it slowly returned to the present.

Pippin notice Sam giving him a searching look and when he looked back, the older hobbit finally spoke what had come into his mind.

“She’s like you, isn’t she?”

Pippin nodded.  He knew exactly who and what the Mayor was speaking of.  “It’s not nearly as strong as my gift, but she definitely has it.  We’ve been having little ‘talks’ almost since she was born.  The time is coming when I’m going to have to start showing her how to live with it and not abuse what the Valar have given her.  Hopefully, she’ll manage better than I did.”

“She will,” Sam assured him.  “You will teach her well.”

“I’m glad she has you to guide her,” said Merry.  “You were a real mess there for a while.  No one wanted to even admit that the Sight existed let alone help you cope with it.”

Pippin shook his head.  “If it hadn’t been for Frodo listening to me and believing me and giving me his help, I think I just might have exploded from the stress of it all.”

Once Frodo’s name came back into the conversation, they returned to their memories of him and voiced their curiosity about what he was doing in the West.

Sam quietly refilled their three glasses with wine.  They all sipped it as they spoke.

“I know he’s still alive and aware of us,” Sam finally said.

“I believe you’re right,” agreed Merry.  “I’m sure he knows how each of  us are doing and what our futures hold.”

Pippin was silent.  He was hearing the words of his companions but he was seeing the beloved face of his cousin as he sat on the sand of that far, green country and looked back across the waves to a world he would never again walk in except in thought.  Pippin heard the familiar voice in his mind.  I am well and looking forward to that day when we are all united again.

Merry looked over at Pippin but didn’t speak.  He merely watched as his younger cousin took a long sip of wine.

Pippin looked at the small amount of liquid in his glass before he raised it.  “To absent friends and the promise of reunion.”

The others raised their glasses in acknowledgement of the toast and once they’d drained them, they each walked silently back to Bag End and their waiting families.

-----

Any spell that had been cast the previous night was clearly broken the next morning.

Bag End was a beehive of activity as the remains of the party were cleared from beneath the Mallorn tree and the visitors prepared to depart.

In the chaos, Pippin and Sam managed to meet on an official matter for just a short time.

“Have you had any report on the progress on the road between here and Tuckborough?” Pippin asked.

“The survey is complete,” Sam told him, “and I have sent out notices to the landholders that would be impacted by the construction.  I’m waiting now to hear back with they approval or disapproval, as the case may be.”

“Let’s hope there isn’t any disapproval,” said Pippin.  “I really don’t want to have to fight for this road.  It is something long overdue and I hope the farmers of the area realize that.”

“I hope not either,” agreed Sam.  “You have to remember that we’re dealing with hobbits here, and change is seldom viewed as good around here.”

Pippin sighed.  “I know,” he said.  “I hope that by this time next year we’re traveling a new route between here and the Smials.”

-----

The Brandybucks departed just after elevenses.  They hoped to make the Golden Perch before it was too late.  

The Tooks left in the early afternoon, planning to arrive back home in time for late supper.

-----

Things were back to normal in Bag End for a few hours; until Rose went into labor with her eleventh child.  Early on Halimath 24, Sam and Rose became the parents of lovely lass that they named Ruby.