Little Elanor, Frodo, Rose, Merry, Pippin and Goldilocks were gathered around the glowing corner of the fire. It was early spring, and the weather was still rather cold and wet in the Shire. Baby Hamfast gurgled as he crawled along the floor and Elanor picked him up.
"Mama," she called to the kitchen "is there anything I can do for you in here?" She brought the baby into the gaily lit room, where Rosie Gamgee was boiling potatoes.
"Oh, thank you, dear,' she said, wiping flour off her nose "but you'll be of more help to me watching the youngsters. Yer Da's not home yet, and goodness knows they need looking after."
"Yes, Mama, but they do grow tiresome, what with their energy and mischief and what not."
Rosie hadn't looked up from her work before but now she wiped her hands on her apron and looked at Elanor.
"I know, dearest, but as soon as yer father's home he'll tell you stories and help you with 'em. Right now I got me a supper to cook."
She kissed Elanor on the forehead and then went about her work.
The young hobbit girl returned to the den. Frodo was bossing Merry and Pippin and telling them to stop playing 'adventure'. Goldilocks, scarcely two years old, was sucking her fist, watching Rose, age eight; draw a picture of a garden.
"Frodo," Elanor called. "Let the boys play. Merry, Pippin, stay off of the furniture please. You may play 'adventure', but no running or climbing."
She sat down, setting baby Hamfast nest to Goldilocks. "I like your picture, Rose," she said.
The boys wandered into the kitchen.
"Hallo, Mama!" Pippin said. "What's for supper?"
He was usually the hungry one. At least, hungrier than the others. Not to say that most hobbits do not get hungry, for they most certainly do.
"Taters!" cheered Merry; though he was two years older than Pip, Merry was always more excited than his brother, and always smiling.
Just then, the big green door to Bag End swung open and in stomped Master Samwise Gamgee (He had stepped in a muddy puddle on the way home and didn't want Rose to scold him for getting the hole dirty). He wiped his feet and shut the door.
"Da!" the boys shouted in unison, leaving their mother.
Pippin got there first.
"How's me boy?" Sam asked, picking him up and spinning him around.
The four-year-old squealed in delight. Sam put him down and got on one knee to embrace Merry.
"Hallo, Da," he said. "Pip and I were playing 'adventure'. I was you and he was Mr. Frodo!"
"Were you now?" Sam asked, rather pleased.
"Only 'cuz he made me," Pippin pointed out.
"Hey, now," said Sam. "Mr. Frodo was the Ring-bearer. Without him the Quest would have failed. I was there to help him continue on, but he's as noble a character there ever was! Besides, he's my best friend."
"How long ago was it, Da, when he disappeared?" Frodo asked, walking up.
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked, standing up and taking off his coat. "It was in autumn of 1421, and he and I rode to the Grey Havens where I watched him go. Elanor was only one of you then, maybe half a year old. Well, I'll tell ye 'bout it, but I need to greet your mum. She in the kitchen?"
Without waiting for an answer, he strode in happily to greet Rosie with a kiss.
"Hallo, Sam,' she said, a twinkle in her eye. "The children and I were waiting for you." He smiled, and then noticed the feast she was preparing.
"Mm!" said he. "It certainly looks good! Taters, tea, chicken, strawberries, and pies! And you make my favorite pies," he added with a grin.
"Thank you, dear," Rosie said.
"Is the baby sleeping?" Sam asked.
"No, but even though Hamfast is awake and happy as ever," she replied, " Daisy isn't up just yet."
Sam tiptoed into the bedroom. His daughter was sound asleep, stirring softly in her dreams.
"My girl," he said, caressing her face with his fingers "you're number eight. And no less precious to me then stars."
Little did he know that he would have five more children, and that he had as much love in his heart for one as for the rest.
Daisy woke up, her blues eyes framed by her curly brown hair.
"Well, hallo," Sam said. "I'm glad you got some sleep."
He picked her up and sang to her softly before carrying her out to the den. The boys had been running around and Elanor was trying to stop Hamfast from grabbing all of Rose's pencils.
"All right, time to settle down," Sam said. "I'll tell you a tale before supper."
So they all gathered 'round his big chair by the fire. After they had all settled down, he put Daisy on his lap and they all sat in a circle in front of him.
"Let's see now, what story would you like to hear?" he asked. "There's the time I snuck into the council at Rivendell, for one. Or maybe me following Mr. Frodo and trying to swim."
"Tell us about Bill the Pony, Da." Merry suggested. He liked animals and loved stories, too. Frodo turned to his father.
"But you said you would tell us about when Mr. Frodo left," he reminded.
"Oh, that's right," Sam said. "Well, let's see now. It was…September of 1421, and Mr. Frodo had asked if we could go somewhere together. I didn't ask where, but I could guess. And we rode out, I was riding Bill and Mr. Frodo rode his pony. He named it Strider after Aragorn, bless him."
"It was a beautiful morning and we went slowly. By evening we had camped in the Green Hills. The next day we rode until dusk and then we stopped by the hazel thickets. We heard voices singing. Elven voices, clear as the wind and beautiful as songbirds, if you take my meaning. And Elrond and the Lady Galadriel rode up with a shimmering company of elves, all tall and fair. And Mr. Bilbo was there, bless him!"
"And then he told Mr. Frodo he was ready for another adventure, and Mr. Frodo said this time he was coming, too. And then, I asked him where he was to go. But I knew it was the Grey Havens. And I could go no further with him than the shore.
'So me, Mr. Frodo, and the company rode to the Havens, and a white ship was just off shore, and there was Gandalf, and Shadowfax! And just as I was wishing that I wouldn't have to go home along, up rode Merry and Pippin, and they laughed and told Mr. Frodo that he will always fail to give them the slip."
"And Mr. Frodo said goodbye and then climbed aboard after Gandalf and the Elves, including Lady Galadriel. He didn't look back, and the three of us remaining watched 'em go with heavy hearts."
Just as Sam concluded his story, telling of his long ride home to Bag End, Rosie called from the kitchen that supper was ready. So the nine of them came to the table and beheld the glorious meal. She had roasted a chicken, and boiled potatoes, and made a lovely salad with bright red tomatoes; there were strawberries and cream, a hot kettle of rosemary tea, a fresh baked apple pie, and toast with raspberry jam and plum pudding. They all sat down and thanked her for the feast, and then began to eat.
As he looked at each child, his lovely wife and comfortable home, Sam smiled.
'There couldn't be a happier hobbit in all the Shire,' he thought to himself
The End.