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A Mother's Work  by Dreamflower 67 Review(s)
elanor winterflowersReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/15/2007
Poor little one! But what a gentle little scene, and so sweetly conceived. A lovely start to a spring day--thank you!

Author Reply: Thank you, dear! I meant to respond to this days ago, and was so surprised to realize I hadn't!

I was working for sweet and gentle, so I am glad that it came across that way.

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/14/2007
Aw! Poor Merry, missing his nursemaid. I love that he invited her husband to come live with them - that's such a Merry thing to do. But I can't help but think that in another year or so, Frodo will be leaving also. This is just a hint of things to come, I fear.

Author Reply: LOL! Merry sees no reason that everyone he loves can't be under the same roof!

This *was* meant to foreshadow the following year: Frodo's leaving will be much more difficult, though for "my" Merry, the actual event is partially ameliorated by the fact that he's visiting Bag End himself at the time ("A Place for Gandalf")--it doesn't really hit him until he gets back to Brandy Hall and has to face Frodo's empty room. Then he realizes that it's truly permanent, poor baby.

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/14/2007
LOL! Life is never boring at Number Three, or whenever Merry's around! First Mari, then Sam, then all three girls! This is one day she'll be happy to see end. Wonder if she'll tell Hamfast about Sam's close call?

Author Reply: No, not with all those kids! And Merry is *so* helpful! (*rolls eyes*). I'm sure Bell's had less hectic days.

Will she tell the Gaffer? I'm quite sure--though her version is likely to be very watered down! After all, the danger's over and done, no need to scare him.

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 1 on 5/14/2007
LOL! That is only too true. Boys and their toys - never changes no matter how old they get. And let's face it, these were rather appealing toys! I loved Frodo's bemused reaction to the theft of his toys and Gilda's, Esme's and Primula's reactions were perfect.

Author Reply: It really doesn't. We females aren't too different, with our own "toys", but we are a lot less blatant about it, LOL! And we don't usually swipe them from the kids! (And our "toys" often don't look like play.) I'm glad you think they were appealing though--I'd love to have such a thing myself, actually.

Poor little Frodo--if it had been other kids, he'd probably have asserted himself sooner, but when it was his father and uncles, he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. Mum to the rescue!

And of course, Gilda and Primula had seen it before, I'm sure. And Esme had a new side to her husband revealed!

Baggins BabeReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/14/2007
Poor Merry, missing Dahlia and not really knowing how to express it. You're right about his separation anxiety too. I loved Esme - so loving and kind with both her lads, and poor sweet Merry saying sorry for upsetting Frodo and being 'bad.' *sniff* And sensible Frodo to volunteer to write a letter!

Author Reply: That's just it, he doesn't quite know how to express it. Esme's a very good and understanding mother, I think. And she would know how poor Merry's crossness would upset Frodo.

Well, a letter would be just the thing for Frodo, who loves to write, to think of!

Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/13/2007
Aww! What a darling little story! Poor little Merry, not knowing how to deal with missing Dahlia. Esme certainly has her hands full, doesn't she? :) How good of Frodo to help Merry write the letter. I'll bet Dahlia will miss her little charge, too. Who couldn't?

Just one little thing--you have Eglantine instead of Esmeralda here:

Eglantine had not realized how hard Merry would take his nursemaid’s leaving.

And yes, I'm anxious to see Eglantine's own chapter too! :)
God bless,
Galadriel

Author Reply: Yes, poor little Merry's just too young to understand how to deal with missing an important person in his life.

Frodo would want to help Merry cope, and I'm sure that writing a letter would be just the thing he'd think of!

Yes--I need to get in there and change that! Thanks! 8-)

And I hope to have Eglantine's chapter up by Wednesday!

PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/13/2007
*sigh, sniffle* This was another hanky story; so sweet, so beautiful. Poor little Merry feeling so insecure! Good thing Frodo and his mummy are there and so very understanding. :-)

PF

Author Reply: For some reason, Merry, insecure at any age, just gets to me. I suppose it's because he seems so competent and self-assured in his plans, but you can see by his very determination to *be* with the people he loves--whether Frodo, Theoden, Eowyn, or Pippin--that he *still* has separation anxiety!

Frodo is always understanding of his "sprout", and Esmeralda is a very good mother.

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/13/2007
And there is another goodbye to come too. I dread that knowing how badly he reacted to this one, but it's completely natural and Frodo helped him through it and they will both survive their own parting and still remain close.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

Author Reply: Yes, this is a deliberate foreshadowing of the following year, when Frodo leaves for Hobbiton.

In *my* Shire, Merry is with Frodo at Bag End when the decisions are made ("A Place for Gandalf") and so, even though he's sad, it doesn't *really* hit him until he gets home to Buckland and sees Frodo's empty room. ( "Seven, Going on Thirty-nine") I'm afraid he really does grieve then. But he's just a little older, and perhaps weathering *this* parting helped him a little.

harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/13/2007
I love your Esmeralda and it is such a shame that she only has Frodo and Merry to lavish such love upon.

Author Reply: It is a shame that she did not have more children. But she did very well by those she *did* have.

KittyReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/13/2007
It is understandable that little Merry is so anxious to have everyone he loves around after losing his nursemaid. Though it must be difficult for his mother.
And it must have hurt Frodo when Merry said he loved his lessons more than him – it’s a pity the age difference is too much to give them lessons together. But Merry has to learn he can’t always be with everyone, as hard as it is just now.

Author Reply: But Merry has to learn he can’t always be with everyone, as hard as it is just now.

This is a lesson he never truly learns--years later, after the Quest, he is still fretting about any of his loved ones that he cannot keep near. But I think that is part of his tenacious and protective nature.

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