*All rights belong to J.R.R Tolkien; I own nothing but my characters and the plot. Please read and review!*
I was awakened by a low and slightly panicked shout, "Wake up! Wake up!" Bilbo hollered as he ran through the house, attempting to wake us up and ready himself at the same time.
I rose from my bed; deep red hair fell from my scalp in disarray and shielded my multi-colored eyes from the sunlight peeking through the cracked window.
"What's going on?" I muttered voice thick with sleep and slurred by an unexpected yawn.
A petite frame colliding with my own and a sudden sharp pain cleared my sluggish mind. "You all over slept!" Ember's bell like voice screeched in my ear as she lunged on my bed to rip the brush through my unruly hair. I winced in pain "OW! Ember!" I whined as she ruthlessly freed my hair of the pesky tangles, "If you brushed it more often it wouldn't get so..." she paused and gave an extra hard pull, ripping out a few unfortunate strands of my hair in the process. I unwillingly sat and endured the pain, wiggling in my bed, and waiting to escape Ember's death grip. All the while I watched Bilbo scurry in and out of my room, gathering bags and supplies as he went.
Due to all of the chaos, Frodo woke from his slumber, slowly crawled from his bed; his blanket secured around his little neck and dragged across the cool wooden floor like the long robe of an egotistical king, and waddled over to me.
A yawn left his lips and he grumbled "Li-Li… You loud." his nose scrunched on his face, his lips puckered, and his brows furrowed over his bright blue eyes, in his signature angry face. A smile pulled at my lips, I did my best to hold a serious facade in order to avoid one of his "I'm mad at you" fits.
I placed a hand atop his wonderfully messy dark curls and said in the most sincere way I could possibly manage while speaking to the three year olds absolutely adorable angry face, "I am so sorry little Frodo, forgive me?"
He paused and evaluated me, checking for the authenticity of my apology, then a goofy grin stretched his lips "It ok, Li-Li!" and with that he was gone, off running around the house, his long quilt tucked around his neck and trailing behind him as he went in search of trouble.
"There!" Ember stepped back and admired her work with sparkling midnight blue eyes; her own deep red ringlets twisted into a neat bun and said with a giggle, "Be glad you're not a dwarf! Then we would be braiding a beard along with your stubborn ringlets!" she giggled even more, most likely imagining my smooth jaw covered in thick red hair, braided up into the hair resting on top of my head.
I grinned and rolled my eyes, pinching her lightly on the arm teasingly, once the sting of harsh hair-pulling left my scalp and I rose from my bed with a small relieved smile and quickly dressed into my light grey, knee length pants, short sleeved white blouse, and a dark purple vest.
Before exiting the room I placed my satchel over my head, resting the bag on my hip, and then tied my favorite lavender cloak around my neck. With Ember close behind, still fussing with her dark brown skirt and crisp white button up blouse, we made our way through the halls and outside into the bright light of the spring day.
Just as it was yesterday, the sun shined happily, white fluffy clouds glided along with the light breeze, the sweet smell of newly budding flowers drifted on the wind, and birds were heard singing softly as the bright green leaves in the trees twirled gently in the wind.
Frodo sat in the gated yard, in the pale green grass, picking small flowers and plucking random blades of grass. Thankfully, Uncle Bilbo had already dressed Frodo, he wore his little tan pants, pale blue shirt now lightly stained with the fresh dirt, and his dark brown cloak was secured around his neck.
"Frodo," Uncle Bilbo hollered as he shuffled through the house, "Lilac! Where is Frodo? He's not in the house!" he came to a stumbling halt at the door; breathing labored, dirty blonde curls messy, and blue eyes slightly wide with growing concern.
Frodo's squealing laughter alerted Uncle of his presence, the little baby hobbit was running among the garden, chasing a little hungry rabbit. A long sigh of relief left Bilbo's lips "Thank goodness…" he turned his gaze to us and chirped, "Come girls, there is still a lot to do before we leave!"
We followed after Uncle and began the long process of loading the small wagon of our possessions.
Once the easy work was done we all did our best to corral the bundle of energy that was baby Frodo. He ran and laughed as I chased him around the small yard, doing my best to scoop him up. Frodo squealed in glee just as I finally snatched him into my arms, he giggled and squirmed as I tickled his ribs while laughing manically.
Uncle Bilbo took his place in the driver's seat of the wagon, Frodo and Ember took their place beside him, of course after Ember fell flat on her bottom repeatedly trying to hop in the wagon, and I climbed aboard my own little chestnut mare.
"Are we all here?" Uncle looked behind in search of all the familiar faces and nodded in satisfaction. His smile was radiant "Excellent! Here we go!"
With grins planted on all of our faces we pushed on, Bilbo leading the way with the wagon and I followed up behind. We began our way to Erebor, all of us so full of excitement at the wonder that awaited us on the other side of the mountains.
