The History of Us by Daisy Gamgee

Summary: The story of the lives of Merry and Pippin, and how everything changes with time. "'Here,' he said finally, smiling into Pippin's wide green eyes. 'Lie down next to me and I'll tell you a story.'" Nominated for the 2003 Methril Awards.

Disclaimer: Merry and Pippin are both property of Tolkien, who did the world a great favour when he created them. No offence or infringement is intended to Tolkien's (or Peter Jackson's) vision.

Publishers Notes: This story has been reposted under the collection 'An Absent Author' by the requests of readers, as this story has become available only by limited sources to be downloaded, and has been published to be read online here with permission of the author.

Book I

Chapter 1: Commencement

"Meriadoc! Merry! Come see the baby!"

The little boy frowned and set another block on the tall tower he was making. He thought it looked like a gigantic branchless tree, or something weird and impossible out of Old Bilbo's stories. A building this tall would surely fall over, though, and no hobbit would ever want to sleep in it.

Pervinca plopped down next to him, shaking the tower and making it tumble. "Oops. Come on. You should see the baby now while Pearl's not so very cross." She took Merry's hand and stood, tugging him upwards.

He kicked at the remains of the tower, hrmphed, and jumped to his feet. He'd been afraid of Pearl as long as he could remember; she always looked at him as though he were a nasty little bug amongst the flowers. If it weren't for Vinca and her permanent smile, he shouldn't want to visit these bothersome Took cousins at all.

And he did want to see the new baby, born just yesterday morning, so he smiled and gripped Vinca's hand. "Is it another girl? Girls are okay, I guess. What's her name?"

Vinca laughed and led him down the hall. "No, silly, it's a boy this time. The way Da's carrying on, you'd think he was made of Old Mad Baggins's gold. What a lot of bother over such a little bean." Vinca rolled her eyes and smiled at Merry. "But he's the beautifullest boy baby I ever saw."

Merry could hear the baby's wails through the door of the nursery, and the noise when the door was opened was thrice magnified. The cradle in the center of the room was rocking from the force of the infant's furious flailing. Pearl stood over the cradle, making impatient shushing noises to no avail, frustrated and scowling.

"What'd you bring that Brandybuck in for?" she asked her younger sister irritably. "I'm trying to get the baby to sleep."

"Well, it ain't working. Mum said he can see the baby, and she's still the boss, Pearl, not you." Vinca stuck out her tongue defiantly.

Merry shrank back at Vinca's shoulder, afraid of Pearl's wrath, but she only frowned and gestured them over. Merry peeped over the edge of the cradle. The baby was no bigger than a half-grown cat, with a head of light brown curls, sweaty from the effort of his cries.

"Oi, baby," Merry told him. "Stop fussing so. That's too much noise for a wee pother like you."

The baby quieted, looking up at the source of the voice as best he could, hiccupping but not crying. His newborn-blue eyes were flooded with tears and his cheeks were red as ripe apples. Vinca was right, Merry decided. This was the beautifullest boy baby he ever saw. "That's better," he told him, and smiled.
Pearl was dumbfounded. "How did you do that?" she asked her cousin. "He's been crying since he woke up." She gave Merry a small smile.

"I just told him to stop, is all. Can I hold him? Can I?" He was emboldened by Pearl's approval and danced in a little circle, clapping his hands.

Pearl considered his request. "Well. All right, then. Go sit in the big chair." She lifted the baby out of the cradle and set him in Merry's arms, showing him how to support the head and behind. "Now don't you drop him."

"Oh, Pearl, everybody knows not to drop a baby," Merry answered, and looked closely at the bundle in his arms. "Hullo, boy." He counted the baby's tiny fingers, compared them to his own, and nodded, satisfied that he had the right number. "What's his name?"

"Peregrin," Vinca answered, smiling at the picture that Merry and the baby presented.

Merry wrinkled up his nose. "That's a silly name." He took note of the baby's button nose and impossibly small, barely pointed ears; the infant's skin was pink and as soft as goose down feathers. "I like him," Merry pronounced. "He's a good baby."

Pearl smiled, wrinkling her brow, mildly amazed. "He likes you, too. Quietest he's been since he was born. Here, then."

Merry handed him over reluctantly, pouting, and Pearl took him back to his cradle. As soon as the baby's back touched the mattress, he wound up his face and wailed.

"Botheration!" Pearl cried in exasperation. "Now what?"

"He doesn't like to be by himself," Merry said, slipping off the big chair. He walked over to the cradle, pushed over a footstool to stand on, and looked in; he offered the baby his finger to hold. "Hush, now." And the baby did, content again, Merry's finger tight in his grip. Merry laughed happily as the baby kicked at his blankets.

Pearl crossed her arms, perplexed. "Maybe you should stay here for a minute, until he's asleep." She frowned and tilted her head, trying to figure out what calming powers this pesky little Brandybuck whirlwind of a boy could possibly have.

"Yay!" Merry agreed. "Hear that, baby? I'm staying with you for a bit." He looked thoughtfully down into the cradle. "His name is too fussy for him. We should change it."

"We can't do that," Vinca told him, amused. "That's Mum and Da's name for him. They get to choose." She smiled in response to his frown. "Don't worry. He'll get tagged with a nickname soon enough, with all these relations about."

"Pip," Merry said with a firm nod. "I'll call him Pip. Or maybe Pippin." He smiled, satisfied. "That's it, then. Hullo, Pippin," he said into the cradle.
It was Pearl's turn to wrinkle her nose. "Where did you get that?"

"Cause he's so small," Merry answered. "And noisy. Like a songbird. And sweet like an apple. The baby likes it fine. See? He's sleeping."

Pearl and Vinca peered into the cradle to see a peacefully sleeping newborn, still clinging to Merry's finger, then looked up at the little boy's glowing face. Pearl felt a cold, hard twinge in her heart, knowing she'd just witnessed a bonding so complete that there was no room left for an older sister's dreams.

"Merry! Come along, son, you can't idle all day." Merry's mother opened the door and smiled. "Let the baby sleep, sweetheart." She held out her hand to him.

"Oh, pooh," Merry muttered, then gently worked his finger loose from the baby's grasp. He leaned into the crib and kissed the downy soft brow. "I love you, Pippin," he whispered, and hopped off the footstool with a happy bounce to join his mother.

"Well, I'll be tied," said Vinca as he skipped away.