Author's Notes
I wrote this purely out of speculation and for my own (and hopefully other's) enjoyment. All characters, settings and situations (ie, the birth of Faramir itself) belong only to Tolkien's estate. This is simply my own take on what might have happened. But you knew all of that already.
Flame it, really, I don't care, waste your time. I do appreciate constructive criticism, though, so feel free to point out anything you think needs improvement and enjoy!
Merry had just settled in for another night in front of the fire in Brandy Hall with his pipe when he became aware of a commotion outside. Someone knocked on his door and he opened it, surprised to see Elanor Gamgee, Sam's oldest child. It soon became apparent that she had run all the way to his home, presumably from Bag End.
"Uncle Merry!" she said with relief, gasping for breath.
"What is it, child?" he asked, concerned, as he led her into the house. "Is something wrong?"
"Papa sent me," Elanor explained. "Uncle Pippin and Auntie Diamond came to visit for supper, and- and Auntie…" she trailed off.
Merry's eyes went wide. Diamond, Pippin's wife of almost four years, was very pregnant with their first child. "Is something happened to Auntie, Elanor? Has the baby come?"
Elanor shook her head helplessly, near tears. "No, it hasn't come, Uncle. Papa told me to run here and tell you Auntie is in trouble, and that you need to come quick."
Merry nodded, knowing he could tarry no longer. It was the baby, he knew straightaway, and from what little Elanor knew he deducted that both it and Diamond were in trouble. And so, sweeping Elanor into his arms, he went the short distance to Bag End, running on the familiar paths. When he arrived, he saw the door was ajar, and the first things he heard were Diamond's anguished cries.
"Pippin?" he shouted, setting Elanor down and rushing into the house. "Pip! Sam!"
"Merry!" he finally heard, and Pippin came running into the hall. He looked as young as he had when he was a child and twice as vulnerable. Merry was stricken by it, and suddenly things were as they had been before the quest. His only task was to protect Pippin, no matter what that entailed.
"Merry?" He was shaken from these thoughts by his cousin, sounding horribly young and afraid.
"Is she all right, Pip?" he asked, taking Pippin by the shoulders.
"Oh, Merry, it's awful," Pippin said in a near whisper. "There's blood everywhere, though it's stopped now, and Rosie's looking after her for a bit. I thought we'd send for you, Estella being a healer an' all that. Thought maybe you'd picked up a few things. And, well-" suddenly his voice was small again, "I need you here, Merry; in case she- in case something…" he trailed off and looked away, shutting his eyes against his tears.
Merry pulled him into a tight hug and Pippin's tears let out onto his shoulder. "Nothing is going to happen to either of them, Pip," he whispered into his cousin's ear. "I don't know what help I'll be, but we're going to go in there and deliver your firstborn to you, a healthy, beautiful baby. Diamond is strong." But as he said this another scream tore through the air, and before he knew what was happening he and Pippin were running to the back of the house.
The scene reminded him forcibly of one of the reasons he and Estella had chosen to remain childless. Bloodied rags lay everywhere. Rose was on one side of Diamond, applying cool cloths to her forehead. Sam flanked the other side, holding her hand and looking absolutely terrified. Merry thought it a small wonder that he had done this for five of his own children already.
Taking in the mess and confusion, the thought suddenly struck Merry that they all were depending on him to bring Diamond and the child into safety. He wanted to see his wife now, it seemed, more than ever, and thought it horribly unfortunate that she had picked this particular week to visit her sister in Bree. She was a renowned healer, and Merry felt sure she could have handled the situation with ease. But now his friends were depending on only him. He tried frantically to remember anything she had told him, or anything he had seen her do, but his mind was blank.
"Merry!" Sam rose and strode over to him, Pippin quickly taking his place next to his wife and taking her hand. "It's been like this for an hour or more. We didn't know what to do, and Pippin needed you here, so…"
Merry nodded, knowing now what needed to be done. "How soon do you think you'd be able to get to Bree by horse, Sam?"
Sam shrugged. "An hour, as the crow flies."
"And fly you must! Estella's there, visiting family. She's staying at the Prancing Pony. I know a few things, Sam, enough o keep Diamond well until you return. But my wife will know exactly what to do to deliver the child safely. Go now!" Sam nodded, rushing out the room, and Merry turned again to face the scene.
It was the longest two hours of Merry's life. He blundered through his movements; doing everything he could to ease Diamond's pain. Though by the time Estella arrived, it seemed, she was the one comforting him and Pippin in particular.
The door crashed open and Merry looked up to see his wife, thinking, in his relief, she had never looked more beautiful. He strode to her but, except for a small glance and a shadow of a smile, she ignored him. "Take him out of here," she said to him once she had settled in and was prepared to deliver the child, indicating towards Pippin. Merry obliged, despite Pippin's protests.
"I want to be in there! I want to see the baby!" He was almost shouting as Merry and Sam lead him calmly away from the room.
"Shush, Pippin!" Merry finally said. "You may be future Thain, but I forbid you to enter that room!"
Pippin glared at his cousin, who glared right back, equally resolved. Sam, growing uncomfortable with the tension, muttered something about checking on his children and left the room. Immediately Pippin began to rise as well. "Sit down," Merry said gravely and Pippin, surprised by his tone, immediately obliged, and Merry immediately softened. "Pip, let Estella and Rose handle it. From the sounds of it, Diamond is no longer in pain. Your child will be here soon."
Pippin sighed. "You're right, I suppose. I was just… so scared when she started bleeding, I didn't know what to do, it wouldn't stop-" he broke off abruptly, holding back more tears. "What would I do, Merry, if I lost her and my child?"
"You will never have to think about that," Merry replied emphatically.
Pippin managed a small smile at him. "I know. I know. I just- oh, the wait is unbearable!"
For approximately the next hour, Merry, Pippin, and Sam passed the time chatting and smoking, though his two friends could tell Pippin's mind was elsewhere, with his wife. Finally, though, Estella appeared at the door, looking exhausted and happy. "You have a son, Peregrin Took!" she announced loudly, beaming. "A beautiful, healthy boy!"
Pippin leaped up. "A boy?" Estella nodded. "A boy!" He ran to her and hugged her, catching her off guard and almost knocking her over, but she just laughed. He then ran to both Sam and Merry, hugging them both in turn, nearly cutting off their air supply. Afterward he rushed out to see his wife and son.
Merry, beaming, went to his wife and took her hands. "Thank you for coming home to help. I was completely useless in there. I was terrified something would go wrong."
Estella smiled, kissing his cheek. "Aye, I was happy to do it. And thank you, Sam, for coming for me. I'd have never been able to forgive myself if I hadn't been here."
Rose then entered the room, looking just as Estella had. "Best give them a bit of privacy, hm?" They all nodded their agreement, sitting down in front of the fire Sam had been building when Estella had entered.
After a few moments of silence, Merry sighed. "We're getting old, you know. I remember the day Pippin was born, and now he's a father." They continued this kind of talk until Pippin reappeared some fifteen minutes later.
"Come on, come on, come see him," he said eagerly, and they all followed him back to Sam and Rose's bedroom, where Diamond was currently resting with her newborn son. They entered quietly, all taking spots on the bed, surrounding her sleeping form. Merry thought he had never felt more close to these people in his life.
"Hold him, Merry, I want you to first," Pippin said, and Merry grinned and, taking the child from him and looking down into his peaceful sleeping face, gasped quietly.
"I know I'm getting old, Pip, and maybe my memory is slipping," he said with a smile, "but I declare he looks exactly as you did when I first held you."
No one in the room thought Pippin's grin could possibly get any wider and yet somehow, it did. "Isn't he just the most perfect thing you've ever seen?"
"What's his name, then?" Rose asked Pippin quietly.
"Well, Merry was my first choice, of course," Pippin said, and Merry felt a surge of happiness and pride. "But of course that's the name of one of your lads, as is Frodo, our second choice. And I want it to have something to do with our journey. I feel like that's the least I can do. And so we've chosen Faramir."
"Perfect," Sam said immediately, and Merry couldn't agree more. He had nothing but positive memories of the son of the steward and felt this to be a fitting homage. Merry nodded, passing little Faramir onto his wife, who took him eagerly.
"So much has changed," he sighed, looking around at everyone. "Frodo gone, all of us married, and children running around. And the date- Pip, Sam, it's the 25th of March! Eleven years, to the day, since our quest has been completed."
Sam nodded. "I remembered, of course, though I wasn't about to mention it with all this going on."
"I'd completely forgotten," Pippin admitted. "I can't believe it. How I should like to see our friends again!"
"We may yet. We are still young," Merry reassured him. "At any rate I expect to see old Strider again. I do not know what has become of Legolas and Gimli, though I do not think they've forgotten about us entirely."
Pippin sighed. "I miss them all, to be sure, but for now I am content." He looked down to his son, now in Rose's arms, and smiled again. "For now I will remain."
"As we all will," Merry said, looking around the room at the people he loved more than anything. "As we all will."
