It was a lovely spring day, several years later, when Bilba heard from Gandalf again. She had grown weary and thin. Her head hung low in the market place as she would pass the judgmental whispers. She wasn't the Hobbit she had once been. Bilba's golden locks had once reached the ground and she'd change between braiding it and or just tying it up with her favorite yellow ribbon. Now it looked to have been cut down and left to grow out, no braids, and no ribbon. She wasn't even a simple, normal Hobbit anymore. She was a harlot, an unfit mother, and an unrespectable Hobbit.
Bilba was sluggishly strolling out to receive her mail and morning paper. At first the brightness of the spring sun hurt her eyes. She squinted and shaded her eyes with her hand. She was still dressed in her sleeping gowned and bathrobe. Her mass of longish curly hair was unbrushed and a complete mess. Her emerald eyes were bloodshot and glassy, as they had been ever since Danny died. She made it as far as her mailbox when she heard a voice.
"My dear Bilba, the mornings have not treated you well I see."
She looked up to see Gandalf looking down at her with a smile, but pitiful eyes. Oh how she hated that look.
"Gandalf…" she yawned, "Good morning."
"What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning or mean that it is a good morning weather I want it or not, or that you feel good this morning, or that it is a morning to be good on?"
She sighed and looked up at the wizard with a content yet slightly annoyed smile.
"Still don't like giving straight yes no replies aye?" she said.
Gandalf smirked at the she hobbit widely. How like her mother she truly was.
"Quiet true my dear." He agreed, pulling out his pipe.
Bilba invited him to sit with her on the bench by the gate. He graciously did and went to sit beside his old friend.
"How are you my dear?" he asked, concerned by the state of how she looked.
She sighed deeply and watched the merry goals dance in the wind.
"I am well, but not well as well." She replied looking up to him with a playful smile.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement.
"How very much your mother you have become my dear girl."
Bilba's smile slowly started to fade, being pulled into memories of her mother. After a moment or two of silence, Bilba spoke up.
"Why are you here Gandalf?"
He stayed silent a few more moments before answering.
"I'm looking for someone to share on an adventure."
How did she guess that's what he wanted of her? She couldn't ever do such a thing and he knew damn bloody well that too! Minding what was left of her manners, she answered politely.
"Well I can't imagine anyone west of Bree would be interested in adventures. You might want to try over The Hill or across The Water."
"How kind of you, but I do know of at least one Hobbit that enjoys adventure and has since she were a child." He challenged.
"Damn it Gandalf!" she huffed, "You know damn bloody well that I won't go! Why would you offer such?"
"Bilba my dear, you aren't well sitting around Bag End with nothing to do but stir in your darkness and thoughts. It isn't healthy."
"And running off on adventures letting the loss of my son be a lesson in vain is?!" she shouted.
He sighed and stayed quiet for a while before mumbling to himself loud enough for her to hear.
"Looks like you're in a jam you old coot." He mumbled.
"Oh no," she groaned, "What did you do now?"
"I may have told the company I will be traveling with that there was a promising member here in Hobbiton and that they could start their way here."
"Bugger!" she said under her breath.
Bilba had an uncanny habit of having to help anyone coming to her door in need of anything. She knew what this meant. She stood and headed for her front door. She turned back and looked to Gandalf.
"How many will I be expecting for dinner tonight?"
The old wizards face lite up at her words. He already knew that she would assist at all cost for those in need, and these men were in need. He stood and headed for the front gate.
"Including myself there will be fourteen of us!" he called, her jaw dropping at the amount of strangers she would be expecting, "Make sure you have plenty of meat and ale."
Before she could think of anything to say, he disappeared into oblivion. She sighed yet again and entered her home. Looking around at the dirty and messy hole she lived in, she realized just how much work she had to take care of by dinner tonight.
'Start with the easy stuff' she thought to herself as she walked to her room and got dressed. After dressing, she walked over to her pantry to see what she will need to precise from the market. Not having the strength to care of herself or the will or want to eat, she didn't have much food. She sighed and collected her market sac and headed out the front door.
Shopping at the market had been one of the worst experiences she had to suffer in a long time. People stared at her as she walked by. She overheard a few of the whispering watchers.
"Look at how thin and scrawny she is…"
"Did you hear she had a baby that wasn't her husbands?"
"I heard her home is as messy as a troll cave…"
She was getting highly annoyed by the whispers.
'I heard this, I heard that' Bilba thought to herself, 'Guess what? I hear SHUT THE HELL UP!'
She was glad when she finally done with her shopping and back to the secluded safety of her home. She had bought about eight pounds of sheep meat, three two foot long loaves of bread, twelve large bass to sauté, four wheels of cheese, six pounds of assorted vegetables, several types of jams and tarts, eighteen pork and mince meat pies, three dozen boiled eggs, cakes of many kinds, a great lot of coffee, and enough ale to drowned an army of five hundred soldiers. Yes, that should be enough.
Once she had the food started, she started getting the arrangement of tables and chairs set in her dining room. Fifteen seats, fifteen plates, fifteen forks, knives, spoons, and napkins all lay out. She admired her handiwork for a moment than began the rest of the house. She set up of the seven spare rooms she had, cleaned the living room, arranged the bookshelf, dusted the fireplace before lighting it, and prepared her poor bathroom for what would no doubt be the most traumatic event it will ever face. After she was finished, the food was all set and ready. It had been a long time since she cooked in her home. She quickly constructed four large apple and raspberry pies and threw them into the oven.
Checking the time, she saw that she had about a half an hour left before she should be accepting anyone. Quickly, she bathed and readied herself for guests. She changed her clothes from her ratty old plaid dress to her favorite teal evening gowned with the soft pale blue bodice. She brushed and fixed her hair when she heard a loud knock on the front door.
She scurried to the door, stopping for a finale look in the mirror in the hall.
"Show time." She said to herself before answering the door.
On the opposite side of the door stood a wall of a man. Wait…not a man, a DWARF?!