Disclaimer: I own nothing that is recognizable here.

The Birth of a Leaf

Sunlight streamed through the emerald leaves of the forest foliage, reaching the sheltered garden with its dappled golden light to warm the beautiful figure of the copper haired elven mother sitting with her infant child cuddled gently in her strong, protective arms. A gentle smile lit her pale features as the child gurgled its content feelings in a childish babble made only by the smallest of children, before any recognizable speech was attained, and a warm laugh wound its way through the air at the sight of the happy pair.

The mother's eyes lifted to see the tall, strong figure of her husband walking towards them, obviously having escaped working in his office for a small amount of time at least. His handsomeness never ceased to catch her unaware as her breath was stolen away at the sight of the sunlight glinting off of his golden hair and making his gem-like emerald eyes, while his well shaped mouth was spread into a warm smile within his golden tanned features. He quickly reached the couple's side with the strides of his long legs, and lowered himself gracefully to the ground, wrapping a muscular arm around her thin shoulders. "And how is our little Leaf doing today?" he asked gently, his baritone voice warm and gentle as he spoke quietly into his wife's gracefully peaked ear, and tweaking his son's nose with his free hand causing the small hands clumsy with baby fat to reach for his hand to grasp it with small, pudgy fingers.

His wife laughed gently as she kissed his cheek gently, joy lighting her features at the sight of the love and happiness that was shinning in the crystal depths of his emerald eyes. "He loves being out in the warmth of the sun," she said with a gentle laugh at the sight of the father/son interaction. "He is growing stronger with everyday. Soon I am afraid that he shall be your rival, Thranduil. You will have to watch carefully or our son will take your place in the affections of the people of Greenwood."

Mock fear lit the green eyes as he nestled his head into the crook of her shoulder answering, "I best watch my step when he comes of age, or else we might have a usurper on our hands." After a moment that was captured only by the shared laughter of the couple which was joined by that of their son, who did not understand what was being said, but understood the joy that was passing between his loving parents, Thranduil motioned to take the small infant into his own arms. His wife willingly surrendered the young one to him, and he gently held the delicate figure of his first born son. He pressed a loving kiss to the pale forehead and his smile widened when he saw the small jewels of eyes that matched his own emerald eyes crossed as he attempted to watch the incoming face of his father and then a shake of the small head in order to set the world to its right orientation once more. "You have stolen my heart, Little Leaf. The time will come when I will not begrudge the people of their love for you, just as I love you. He then turned his attention to his lovely wife. "I also love you, my beautiful Allaryia." A content sigh passed his lips as the happy family sat together, enjoying the peaceful afternoon in the son, basking in the warmth of the golden son in the family's private garden, away from the watchful eyes of the various advisors, servants ,and friends that would have interrupted the glorious bonding time for the family.

A/N: Hey everybody! I am officially back now as November is over and that means that NaNoWriMo is too. On the bright side that means that I have roughly 50,000 words worth of stuff to post after revisions. For those of you who have read Even the Leaves Fall, I promise that it has not been abandoned. My NaNo is the back story to that one, so I don't know what order I am going to post in, but the story will be finished. Consider this one a One Shot at the very beginning of the series. Anyway, that is all for tonight so please, let me know what you think, even flames are welcome!