Part 129 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.

A/N: Look carefully and you'll spot a plot element sparked by Lialathuveril (involving Theomund). The overall idea somewhat ties to a comment Tracey made after reading Conference, and that story is referenced herein.

Apology

(August, 18 IV)

Eomer stretched contentedly, enjoying a full stomach, the sun on his face and the sound of his children's laughter nearby. It had been a while since they had been able to get away from Meduseld and just spend time together as a family. The picnic at the swimming hole had been Lothiriel's idea and he had readily agreed to it.

He smiled to himself as he remembered the sight of his wife in clothing that clung to her form from the water. She was yet a fine looking woman, even after four children. In that, and so much more, he must count himself a fortunate man. Lothiriel was a gem beyond compare. She had given him joy, in addition to those wonderful children, and he could honestly say he had loved every moment of their time together. Disagreements had been few and far between, just as he liked it, and he definitely enjoyed the apologies afterwards! Indeed, the two of them were rather fond of 'apologizing' on a fairly regular basis – yet another thing to be grateful for in his life!

The food and the sun's warmth were lulling him to sleep, and he made no effort to fight it, slipping agreeably into slumber. Unnoticed, his wife settled next to him, smiling down at him. She eased his head into her lap without waking him and gently carded his hair with her fingers. It had been too long since he had looked so at peace. She really did need to make time for more such outings as this, and insist that he accompany them. He desperately needed them, and she must not let her preoccupation with raising the children and managing the household interfere with her most cherished duty to her husband's needs.

Giggling, Morwen ran up to her parents, a bunch of wildflowers clutched in her tiny hand. "Look, Mama!" she exclaimed, holding out her prize for Lothiriel to admire.

This was a tremendous improvement over the discovery Theomund had made. Their youngest son had been studying the results of mixing various plants together, along with a bit of water, and some of the concoctions were quite...pungent! The most recent one he had brought to show them involved copious amounts of wild garlic, and the smell had almost brought her meal back up before she sent him off exploring again. Only moments ago she had heard him trying to convince Theodwyn to taste it, claiming it would prove her courage as a shieldmaiden, but her eldest daughter had been too clever to fall for that ruse.

"How beautiful!" her mother dutifully responded with a smile, as the little girl plunked down next to her father and began sorting the flowers by color on his chest. Lothiriel could not contain a grin at how readily she made a table of Eomer.

After several moments, Morwen giggled mischievously and poked a flower into Eomer's flowing mane. She surveyed her handiwork and then, pleased with what she saw, the other flowers began to bedeck her father as well. Lothiriel fought to restrain her laughter. When he awoke, Eomer was going to kill her for allowing this, but for now she could not help but find it adorable.

As Lothiriel glanced up to check on the other children, she noticed some of their escort watching the royal couple with grins on their faces that they were mightily attempting to disguise. She watched their shoulders shake with silent laughter as they tried not to let her see their amusement. Oh, yes, Eomer was definitely going to kill her for allowing this!

Biting her lip, she glanced back down. Morwen had finished her masterpiece, so she placed a wet kiss on her father's cheek before dashing off to collect more flowers. Moments after she departed, Lothiriel plucked a flower from Eomer's hair, and used the stem to brush lightly across his cheek. Eomer twitched and brushed at the tickle, then settled again. Grinning wickedly, Lothiriel resumed her torment; his nose, his cheek, his eyelids.

At length, the irritation was sufficient to bring him awake, but when his eyes flicked open, she raised her gaze and looked innocently away. His hand reached up and snared her, pulling her down for a kiss. When they parted, she whispered, "Did you have a nice nap, beloved?"

He sighed, saying, "It did not feel very long." He let out a huge yawn, and again she fought to hide her laughter. Apparently she was not entirely successful, for now his eyes narrowed as he looked more closely at her. "What is so amusing?"

"Nothing!" she giggled, resisting his interrogation.

Slowly he sat up, watching her warily. As he did, a flower dropped into his lap and he glanced down in surprise. Picking it up between two fingers he twirled it speculatively before glancing up questioningly at her once more. As she broke into giggles, a feeling of dread took him and he reluctantly lifted a hand to his head. A groan escaped as it readily became apparent that this flower in his hand had companions – many of them – and they were all...in his hair.

He fixed a glare on Lothiriel, clearly wanting an explanation, but she was too choked up with laughter to comment. Finally, she blurted out, "I seem to recall you thought it was charming when you adorned me thus!" A fresh fit of chortling took her and he blanched.

"That was far different!" he hissed, glancing at their guard from the corner of his eye and noting that they had clearly noticed the change to his appearance. "Thiri! How could you do this?" he plaintively whispered.

"I did not," she assured him. "Your daughter did!" No need to tell him which one; Theodwyn would never think to do such a thing.

Just then, said daughter dashed back up and flung herself into Eomer's arms. Catching his face between her hands, she giggled. "Papa looks pretty!" she exclaimed.

For an instant, Eomer was torn between embarrassment and tenderness. He glanced at his wife again and she raised an eyebrow in query. With a sigh, Eomer shook his head in defeat. "Yes, Papa looks pretty, dearest. But I think these flowers would be much prettier in your hair. Shall I put them there?"

"Yes!" she beamed, turning to plunk down in his lap. "And put some in Mama's hair, too!" she instructed.

"Oh, do not worry. I will take care of Mama in due course!" he assured her, with a meaningful look at his wife.

Hastily, she rose and commented, "I think I will go check on the children."

Quickly she moved away, but Eomer's eyes followed her across the small cove. Yes, she would need to do much 'apologizing' for this!

THE END

2/20/07

18 IV - Eomer 47/Lothiriel 39, Elfwine 17, Theodwyn 10, Theomund 8, Morwen 4

End note: It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.