Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the following material. The places, events, characters, names, titles, etc. belong to their proper owners, and they get full credit. Events are fictional. Names that resemble any other individual, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Any and ALL content pertaining to the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy & Romeo and Juliet belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson, and any other holders of the rights. All rights reserved to them and them only. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED!
Frodo Baggins hadn't even been staying in the Undying Lands for a year yet. He was feeling much better than he had before he came here, though, and for that he was thankful. He had endured hardships during and after his quest to destroy the evil ring of Sauron, and he didn't feel the same after. That is, until he came here, and even now, not all of his hurts were healed. There was still one that plagued him every day, one that caused him immense pain and tears many times a day. One that he would never fully recover from for the rest of his days.
That pain was the death of his beloved Belladonna Goodchild nearly three years ago. The day of her death was supposed to be a blissful one for he and his wife Belladonna (the two of them had wed nearly five years ago, shortly after his return from his journey). The day in question would be the day that Belladonna was set to give birth to their first child, and Belladonna and Frodo had been overjoyed with the news and were excited about becoming parents. The day soon turned tragic when Belladonna began to bleed immensely as the baby boy was coming into the world. She had the chance to know her son for about five hours before she died from the infection that had set in. Frodo had been with her when she died, holding her in his arms one last time as she slipped away from him and from their son, who was named Drogo Baggins II.
Frodo had been absolutely out-of-his-mind devastated, and he nearly had a breakdown at Belladonna's funeral. Seeing her in her casket was the absolute worst; she looked so peaceful, almost as if she had been only sleeping, but Frodo knew that his beloved was gone from him forever. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cold forehead, tears falling onto his cheeks. He would never, ever get that image out of his mind. It would haunt him forever.
Sam, Merry, and Pippin refused to leave his side as Frodo recovered from the loss. However, he never did fully recover from it, and he never would. Belladonna had been his love, his life, since they were children. He did visit her grave every day, bringing fresh red roses with the thorns cut off, just as she always loved. He would even lay one lily on her grave as well, for that was baby Drogo's favorite flower. He even took baby Drogo to the grave, but Drogo was too young to realize that was his mother beneath that headstone, beneath all that earth. When Drogo would go with Frodo, Drogo would lay the lily down on the grave, still not knowing what was beneath.
Frodo had departed Middle-earth with his uncle Bilbo and Drogo II as well. Frodo was allowed to take the child, for there was no one else to raise him. Belladonna's parents were both dead, and Frodo didn't have any close relatives willing to raise him. Drogo II seemed comfortable in his new home, but of course he wasn't even three years old yet. He would always ask about his mother, and Frodo didn't know what to say to him. He knew the child was too young to understand what death was, so he always told him that "Mummy's gone away for a little while, my sweet child."
One day, Frodo and Drogo II were outside, enjoying the lovely weather. They were walking down a path, seeing what they could find and if it would be anything new for them. This place was big, and Frodo always figured that they would discover something new everyday. After all, they had only been here for a short time.
Drogo II had grown tired, so Frodo picked him up and began to carry him. He reminded Frodo so much of Belladonna that it was uncanny. He was the spitting image of Frodo, but he had inherited his mother's personality. Sometimes, just the way he would act, or something he would say would instantly remind him of his beloved Belladonna. Frodo was happy that at least a part of her lived on in the child. Frodo loved his son to death, and he couldn't imagine what life would be like without him. Drogo II may have been the only child Frodo ever had, but he was Frodo's entire life.
Frodo's legs were tired, so he and Drogo II sat down to rest for a little bit. The child was running around, trying to pick flowers and trying to catch a butterfly or two. The angry expressions that crept across his face when the butterflies would fly away reminded him so much of Belladonna that Frodo felt a lump building in his throat as tears stung his eyes. He watched his son play happily, so full of innocence and so oblivious to all the sadness in the world. The very child who believed his mother to be away for just a short time, and would return to him someday. The child who would never know his mother, never know what a beautiful hobbit she was, both inside and out.
"Fower!" Drogo II cried happily as he ran over to a little patch of lilies that were growing. "Ilwy, Dad-dee! Ilwy!"
"That's right," Frodo said, speaking past the lump in his throat. "Those are lilies. They aren't thorny, are they?"
Frodo walked over to inspect them so that Drogo II wouldn't cut his little hands on thorns. When Frodo could see that there were no thorns on the flowers, he allowed Drogo II to pick as many as he could. Drogo II was babbling merrily to himself as he picked the flowers. Once he had some picked, he walked back over to Frodo and handed him the lilies.
"Thank you," Frodo said, smiling at Drogo II as the baby tried to climb into his lap. Frodo helped him up, then said, "They're beautiful."
"Mummy fowers!" Drogo II chriped, clapping his hands together. "Mummy wuv Dwogo fowers, Dad-dee! Dwogo wan Mummy hab fowers!"
At this, Frodo couldn't stop the tears from flowing. He began to sob openly and loudly, and Drogo II just looked at his father, puzzled at first. He then placed a tiny hand on Frodo's cheek and said, "No eye, Dad-dee. Mummy otay!"
Frodo only sobbed harder, hugging his son tightly against him as he did. Drogo II whined in protest at first, wanting to be let go to pick more flowers and run around some more, but he immediately warmed into his father's embrace. Frodo sobbed Belladonna's name between weeps, hugging his son tighter against him.
"Mummy's not okay, Drogo," Frodo said, knowing that his son still wouldn't understand just yet. He had to say it, though. Even if he would have to say it again when Drogo was older, he knew he had to say it to feel better for the time being. "Mummy died right after you came into the world. She loved you so very much, Drogo. She tearfully begged me to take care you, because she knew she was going to die. She knew she'd never be able to raise you, to see you grow, to see you wed someday and have your own children. She knew she'd never be in your life, but the short time she was here after you were born, she loved you so very, very much."
Frodo cut off with more sobs, then lessened his grip on his son so that he could look at him. The child was looking up at Frodo with big blue eyes, ones that were so much like Frodo's. Drogo only reached out a tiny hand toward Frodo's cheeks, a smile on his face as he attempted to wipe the tears away from his father's face.
"She would love to be here with us now," Frodo said. "I know she would, but I also know that wherever she is now, she's happy. That's all I want for her, but I also want her here with us, too. I know she is in a way, because I can feel it. I feel it in my heart, in my soul, and I also feel her next to me sometimes. I'll get a brief whiff of the perfume she always loved to wear, I'll smell her skin, I'll smell her hair, sometimes I think I see her out of the corner of my eye. She's here to make sure I'm doing a good job in raising you, I think."
Frodo ended that last sentence with a little laugh and smile, more tears leaking from his eyes. "I think she would be quite proud of me for how I'm raising you. I only had my parents in my life for too brief of a time, and I want to do everything I can to raise you into a successful adult hobbit. I know you'll get there. I also know that you'll probably leave me someday to go back to the Shire, where you can find a wife of your own. I know I may never see you again after that, so I'm going to make the most of the time we have together. Right now, all of this is everything to me. I love you, my beautiful child. I love you more than I'll ever be able to say."
Drogo II looked up at his father and babbled at him. Frodo lifted him up a little, and Drogo II grabbed both of Frodo's cheeks, leaning in and giving Frodo a kiss on the forehead. Drogo II then said, "Dwogo wuvs oo, Dad-dee. No eye!"
Frodo smiled at his son, then said, "Here. Let's leave these flowers here for Mummy, okay? Perhaps she'll come and get them. She'll know they're from us."
"Otay!" Drogo II chirped.
Frodo smiled, then picked the child up and began to walk away. However, there was a noise behind them and Frodo turned to see what it was. What he saw nearly made him stop dead right there.
The lilies that Frodo had laid upon the ground were now sitting in a small, thin tree stump that was filled with water. Frodo walked over to them and saw that they were all placed in there, almost as if they were in a vase to keep them from dying. Frodo looked around, hoping to see who had done this, but he knew already.
"Belladonna?" Frodo asked, smiling a little. "Belladonna? Are you here?"
One of the lilies moved, and it hadn't been breezy at all that day. Another tear came from his eye as he caught a whiff of her perfume, that lovely smell flooding him and making him feel both sad and happy. Then, what happened next nearly made Frodo drop his son in shock.
"MUMMY!" Drogo II screamed happily, reaching in the direction of the lilies. "MUMMY EAR! MUMMY EAR!"
Frodo looked over there again, but could not see Belladonna. Drogo II began to wriggle madly in Frodo's arms, wanting free. Frodo sat him down, and Drogo II ran over to the stump, looking up and cackling and cooing happily. Frodo fell to his knees, knowing that Drogo II was really seeing his mother. Frodo kept looking, hoping he could get a glimpse of her...and he did.
"Belladonna..." Frodo said, more tears spilling. "You really have been here, haven't you?"
"I have," she said, but her spirit sounded so distant, so far away from him that Frodo felt more sadness bubbling within him. "I've always been here with you and our son."
"I thought I could see and smell you a few times," Frodo said with a smile. "I miss you."
"I miss you, too," Belladonna's spirit said, making its way over to Frodo. Drogo II waddled after it, screaming happily and laughing. "You'll see me again someday, though. Both of you. We'll all be together forever."
Frodo reached out to touch her, and his heart shattered when he realized his hand went right through her cheek. He figured as much, because she was transparent as any spirit was. However, when Belladonna reached out to touch Frodo, he could feel it. He leaned into her touch, craving it.
"How am I only seeing you now?" Frodo asked. "Fully, I mean."
"You'll see me sometimes, just like this," Belladonna explained. "As I said, though, I've always been here. I've rocked our son to sleep, I've laid next to you in our bed and I've held you as you wept over my loss, and I've always been looking after you both. You may not have felt it then, but I was there."
"Will–will you still be here?" Frodo asked tearfully.
"Yes," Belladonna said soothingly. "I'll always be with both of you, whether you see or feel me or not. I must go now, however."
"Wait!" Frodo said. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you so much, my beloved."
Belladonna smiled, tears welling in her spirit's eyes. "And I love you, too, Frodo Baggins."
She then leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips, then on his cheek. Frodo could feel it, and it felt as it always had when she was still alive. Before Belladonna's spirit departed, she leaned down and planted a kiss in her son's hair, whispering, "I love you so much, little Drogo. Mummy's leaving now, but she'll be back." With those words, Belladonna vanished and was gone.
"MUMMY!" Drogo II cried, clapping his hands. "Way-uh Mummy doe, Dad-dee?"
"She'll be back," Frodo said, more tears spilling down his cheeks. "She'll always be back."