Random note: I just saw Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd all together on TV. Gosh, they're so cute! I love Billy's accent…I want one! (An accent, that is, and maybe a hobbit or two!)

Author's note: A new LOTR romance! I've got 3 going at once! And not one involves a thin blonde elf-girl, Legolas romance, or Frodo romance! Is that a record, perhaps? LOL, no, it's not. OK, the summary pretty much explained the premise of this. So please read and review, I think this will be fun to write. I hope y'all like it!

Disclaimer: All characters but the Bywater family belong to Tolkien, as do all places, most events, etc. Their last name comes from the town.

Chapter One: Passing By

In the town of Bywater, there lived a family whose name was the same as the town. This family lived in a large green farmhouse just on the outskirts of the village; they were somewhat distantly related to the Cottons and were quite rich and well-known in the Shire.

In the years of Bilbo Baggins' youth, the Bywaters occupying the great farmhouse were Belcor and Iris, and their four daughters- Opal, Chrysanthemum, Amethyst, and Morning Glory. Other relatives lived in more ordinary smials in the village, but those in the farmhouse were considered to be the rulers of the brood.

Quite often, the three elder Bywater girls would make their way to Hobbiton. The youngest, Morning Glory, longed to accompany them, but was deemed too young and left behind to pout in the garden and play with her third cousin and best friend, Holman Cotton.

This finally changed when she was eleven years old, and her mother relented and allowed her to go to the nearby town with her sisters. The girls started off early in the morning, accompanied by Holman (more often called Hom).

The children made a pretty sight as they walked in a line in the lazy sunshine. Opal led the way, her solemn and rather sharp face framed by her wavy black hair. She was twenty and considered herself quite grown-up. Chrysanthemum, Chrys for short, followed close behind. She was two years younger, but thought herself just as mature. She resembled her older sister, but her hair was lighter and her face a bit less stern. Amethyst, known as Amy, trotted along and tried to keep up with Opal and Chrys. She was an oddity in the Shire, having golden hair that fell to her waist and an angelic face. At sixteen she already had several young hobbit-boys seeking her favor. Morning Glory, last in line, didn't resemble any of the others. She was small for her age, with tousled light red curls and blue eyes. She sang to herself as she walked, sometimes pausing in her song to tease Hom or ask her sisters an excited question about the town they were about to see.

After the tenth question, Opal grew impatient. "Hush, Glory, you'll see everything when we get there!"

"Fine, then!" Glory replied saucily, unaffected by her sister's reprimand. The journey was a short one, so the sisters didn't have time for any more conflicts before they reached Hobbiton and Glory forgot about everything but exploration. She ran off from her sisters, dragging Hom behind her.

"Free from those busy-bodies at last!" Glory sighed.

"Yes, indeed!" Hom replied emphatically. "Come on, Glor, I've been to Hobbiton before. I know all the best spots!"

Hom showed his cousin all around the town that day. His tour included bits of gossip and introductions to all his acquaintances in the village. Glory had quite a nice talk with Dora Baggins- "There's Bagginses all over Hobbiton," Hom told her wisely.

They'd each been given a bit of money to spend, and they bought some seed-cakes, which they sat in the back of a hay-wagon to eat. When the owner of the hay-wagon returned and shooed them out, they began looking for new diversions.

"I know!" Hom said excitedly. "Let's go see Bag End. It's the richest hobbit-hole about, and the young master of the house is quite nice."

"All right," Glory replied docilely, gobbling down the last bit of her third seed-cake. "Hom…" she began persuasively, reaching toward the seed-cake remaining in her cousin's hand.

"No!" he replied, jerking away and stuffing it in his own mouth. "Now let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the lane in the direction of the big Hill.

When they reached the hobbit-hole with the glossy green door, they were greeted with a cheerful "Good morning!" It came from a tween-aged hobbit who was smoking a pipe as he leaned against the side of the hill.

"Good morning, Bilbo, sir!" Hom replied, nodding deeply. Even such a rowdy young hobbit as he knew to be polite to the well-respected Bagginses.

"Who's this with you?" Bilbo asked, exhaling a large smoke ring and gazing at Glory, who was swinging back and forth on the front gate.

"My third cousin on my mother's side, Morning Glory Bywater," Hom replied, tugging on Glory's skirt in an attempt to communicate to her how improper her behavior was.

Bilbo laughed at Hom's unsuccessful try at propriety. "I don't mind if she swings; I did it myself in my youth," Bilbo replied magnanimously. (He was exactly twenty-three years old and still quite young, but he enjoyed putting on airs in front of the younger hobbit-folk).

"It's a lovely gate for it, that's for sure!" Glory said, nodding cheerfully at him.

Bilbo laughed again. He began to forget about acting dignified and instead watched this energetic hobbit-lass. Soon she stopped her swinging and sat serenely on the fence.

"I've met your sisters," Bilbo said conversationally. "They're not much like you, are they?"

"No, not at all!" Glory answered quickly. "They're ages older, and Opal and Chrys- Chrysanthemum, you know- are proper and quiet and rather dull. And Amy's lovely, of course. Loads lovelier than me. All sorts of boys, even from Great Smials and Michel Delving send her things, and want to dance with her at parties and such. I don't ever get to dance at parties. I don't mind so much, though, because I get to eat a lot more." She paused in her speech to examine a ladybug that had alighted on the fence beside her.

Bilbo was immensely amused by her speech, but his only action was to blow a particularly large smoke ring. This seemed to bring Glory's attention back to him. "Can I smoke a bit of your pipe?" she asked eagerly.

"Glory!" Hom exclaimed, horrified. But Bilbo seemed more delighted, if anything.

"I suppose you can," he replied, his eyes twinkling. Glory hopped off the fence and took the pipe from his outstretched hands. It was rather heavy, and made her lean forward a little. She took a great drag of it, then immediately began coughing and choking. Bilbo took the pipe from her and laughed so hard he almost bent over.

"How can you like THAT?" Glory cried when she could talk. "It's horrid!" Bilbo just grinned and sent two smoke rings sailing over the hill.

"That's why little girls shouldn't smoke pipes!" he said, ruffling her hair and causing her great indignation. She frowned at him, and he stopped chuckling. "There, now, don't glare at me! You were the one who wanted it!' She stopped glaring, but looked decidedly less cheerful. "Here, now, I'll give you your name!" Bilbo said, plucking a morning glory from the vines that grew by the door and handing it to her. "Now stop glowering and go back to that lovely gate!" She took the flower with a smile and obeyed his command.

Hom had been watching all this, and once he saw that Bilbo didn't mind Glory's un-ladylike behavior, found it very funny. He joined enthusiastically until a hobbit woman popped her head out the round green door. It was Belladonna Baggins, looking rather fierce. "Holman! And you, little girl! Stop that swinging on the gate!" They immediately obeyed, and Bilbo looked over at the sudden appearance.

"I told them to, Mum," he said.

"What? Telling hobbit- children to wear out our fence? Silly boy!" She shook her head, but a small smile began to blossom on her face. "Well, as long as they're here, perhaps they'd like some biscuits." Her smile was instantly reflected on the faces of her young visitors, and they eagerly accepted the treats offered.

"Now who are you, dear?" she asked Glory when they'd finished the biscuits.

"Morning Glory Bywater, ma'am," Glory answered. "You probably know my sisters," she added ruefully.

"Oh, yes, of course! How are your parents?"

"Fine, thank you," Glory replied automatically. She looked around. "You have a very nice house!" she said more enthusiastically.

"Why, thank you!" Belladonna said proudly. "My husband built it himself. We're quite fond of it."

"It must be grand living here!" Glory continued.

"Oh, yes, indeed," Belladonna said, even more proudly. Hom had been silent ever since thanking Mrs. Baggins for the biscuits, but he suddenly spoke.

"It's getting late, Glor. I think we'd better go find your sisters and go back to Bywater."

"Oh, I suppose you're right, Hom," she said. "It was lovely meeting you, ma'am. And Bilbo!" She nodded to both of them and turned toward the gate. Hom bid them goodbye, then followed her.

"Goodbye!" Mrs. Baggins called, bustling back into the house.

"Good day!" Bilbo said. "Nice meeting you, Glory! Feel free to stop by for a smoke whenever you like!" He laughed at his own humor and followed his mother inside.

When Hom and Glory found the other Bywater girls, they received scolding for running off, but neither of them minded. It had been a very exciting day, especially for Glory, and they'd had many nice things to eat as well. They were rather tired, and very glad the road home was short. They didn't want to miss dinner!

A/N: No romance yet, as you can see. But there will be! Please review, I love reviews! Tell me if you think Bilbo was characterized well (I mean, considering he's much younger than he was in any of the books), and what you think of Glory and all the original characters. All my info came from the Appendixes in the book, plus the Encyclopedia of Arda (which is an awesome site, ask for a link if you want), plus from a map from a site about the Shire Post, which I can get a link to as well. I don't own either site or anything, I just wanted to credit them since they were important in my research.