Shadow
Beta'd by Frodo the Jedi
Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit Tolkien does, and New Line Cinema owns the movies.
Merry was sitting in the parlor with his parents waiting for the Tooks to arrive. They were going to celebrate Merry's 11th birthday. Merry couldn't wait for them to come, especially Pippin. Pippin was only 2 years old, but Merry liked to play with him. He was like his "little brother" Merry never had. It had been about several months since he had last seen Pippin. He wondered if Pippin would even remember him. He hoped so. Except for his parents, he was closer to Pippin than anybody else, even Frodo. He was also good friends with Sam although their friendship did not get off to a good start. He wished that Frodo and Bilbo would come today, but he knew that they were visiting some dwarves who were passing by.
"I can't wait to see Pippin again, Mama," said Merry. "We are going to have so much fun today."
"That's great Merry," said Esmeralda. "His parents and sisters are coming too. Won't you be glad to see them?"
"Of course I will, they are a great family, and I will have fun with all of them" said Merry. "But Pippin is my favorite Took."
"What games are you going to play with them?" Saradoc asked.
"Hide and seek! I love hide and seek!"
"Hide and seek is a fun game, but remember that Pippin is only 2 and cannot be left alone at anytime," said Saradoc.
"We can play other games too like races and dragons and knights. We can also play with my toys."
"His parents are going to bring Pippin's toys over here," said Esmeralda.
"We can play with his toys too," said Merry.
"This is going to be a great birthday, but I wish Frodo and Uncle Bilbo would be able to come today."
"They would come here if they could, but they are visiting dwarves," said Saradoc. The dwarves don't come near the Shire all the time, and Bilbo is very fond of dwarves."
"I know dad. Frodo said that he and Bilbo are going to visit me as soon as possible, and they have presents for me."
"We have some presents for you too Merry, including a special one that you always wanted."
"What is it? A new sled, a chess game board, a rabbit?"
"We are not telling you ahead of time because we don't want to spoil the surprise for you," said Esmeralda.
"Please mama."
"No Merry."
At that moment there was a knock on the door.
"That must be them," said Esmeralda.
"I hope Pippin remembers me," said Merry.
They walked toward the door and Saradoc opened it. Standing on the other side was the Took family.
"Hi," said Englantine.
"Thank you for coming," said Esmeralda while she hugged Englantine.
"Happy birthday Merry!" Englantine said while she hugged him. "How old are you now?"
"Eleven."
Pearl hugged Merry, and said "Happy birthday Merry!"
"Thank you Pearl," said Merry.
"You must have grown a few inches since the last time we have seen you; you are getting really tall," said Paladin while he hugged Merry. One day you may even be taller than me."
Merry looked down and saw Pearl holding Pippin's hands.
"Merry!" Pippin shouted.
Merry bent down and picked up his little cousin and hugged him.
"How's my little Pippin?" Merry asked.
"Fine," Pippin answered.
"You are a smart little boy," Esmeralda said. "You remember Merry."
"I wemember him Auntie Esma elda. He's my favowit cousin."
"It's good to see you again Saradoc," said Paladin.
The family continued to greet each other with hugs.
"Come in, come in," said Saradoc.
The Took family entered the simile and placed their outerwear on hooks. They followed the Brandybuck family to the parlor.
"So how is your new sweater coming along?" Englantine asked Esmeralda just before they sat down on one of the couches.
"It's coming along fine," said Esmeralda. "Soon Saradoc will have a new warm sweater to wear."
The men sat down on another couch engaged in their own conversation.
"How did your harvest go, Paladin?" Saradoc asked.
"It went well. All the men and older boys helped with the harvest. We will have plenty of food during the winter months."
"What…" Saradoc began to ask, but he was interrupted by Merry.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Merry?"
"I'm going to take Pippin and the girls to my room to play with my toys?"
"Alright," said Saradoc.
Merry lead the Took children to his room where he showed them his new toys.
"Oh look, Pimpernel said. "Horses and buggies. I love horses and buggies."
"I love them too," said Pervinca. "Can we play with them, Merry?"
Merry nodded his head.
The girls started to play with horses and buggies.
"Animals!" Pippin shouted while he ran to a group of animals on the floor and started to play with them.
Merry joined Pippin in playing with the animals. He picked up a lion and showed it Pippin.
"Do you know what animal this is?"
"A wion."
"What sound does and wion make?"
"Waw! Waw!"
"Very good."
"How about this one?" Merry asked Pippin while he held a toy cow.
"A cow!"
"You are very smart. What sound does a cow make?"
"Moo."
Pearl was watching the younger children play with the toys. She felt that she was too old to play with toys because she was a tween. Her sisters were having horse and buggy races while Merry and Pippin were pretending the animals were fighting. After watching them for a few minutes, she noticed the large stuffed cat on Merry's chair in the corner of the room.
"Merry, aren't you kind of old for stuffed animals?"
"He's not too old for stuffed animals," Pimpernel objected. "It's not like he sleeps with them at night, do you?" she asked Merry.
"Of course not," Merry answered.
"Mewy is not too od?" Pippin said. "I have tuffed animaws too."
"Can I see your toys?" Merry asked Pippin.
"Yes."
"Come on Pippin let's bring your toys in here so you can show them to Merry," Pearl suggested.
Pearl and Pippin left the room, and a few minutes later returned with a bag of toys. Pippin began to pull out a few stuffed animals, and he began to show Merry them.
"Tis is Marigod," he said to Merry while he showed him the stuffed mouse.
He next picked up a stuffed puppy. "Tis is Pounce."
He picked up his last stuffed animal.
"Tis is Pots."
"He means Spots," Pervinca said.
Pippin handed the stuffed fawn to Merry, and Merry looked at it.
"Our mother made that for him," Pearl said.
"Mommy knows how to make thins," said Pippin. "I wanna be wike mommy and make thins too," said Pippin.
The older children laughed.
"Why don't you show Merry your other toys?" Pimpernel suggested.
Pippin took a bunch of blocks out of the bag.
"These are my favowit toys."
"What are they?" Merry asked.
"Bocks!"
"Would you like to build something with the blocks," Merry asked Pippin.
"I wanna buid a house."
"Okay, let's build one," said Merry.
"I want to play with my dolls," said Pervinca.
Pervinca left the room and Pimpernel followed her. Merry closed the door behind them.
A minute later the door opened again revealing Englantine.
"Pearl we need your help with the dinner."
Pearl left with her mother.
The boys were having fun building a house with the blocks.
To be continued.