A Delightful Visit From The Dwarves
Disclaimer Author's Notes and Warnings: See Page one
Bilbo was sleeping deeply in his bed. He was so tired from taking care of his energetic and mischievous nephew yesterday that he slept two hours passed sunrise. He woke again slowly. At first he was groggy, but a few seconds later he was wide awake and felt refreshed. He combed his hair, put on his robe and followed the smell of eggs and bacon that were coming to him from the kitchen.
The scent became stronger while he was walking down the tunnel until he came to the kitchen.
When Bilbo entered the kitchen he saw the dwarves sitting at the table eating bacon, eggs, and toast and drinking grape juice. Frodo was sitting next to Bofer.
"Good morning, Bilbo," said Bofer. "I see you're finally up."
"We have breakfast ready for you," said Nori while he put Bilbo's plate which consisted of two eggs, two bacons, and a slice of toast in front of Bilbo's chair.
Bilbo sat down and poured some grape juice in his glass. Then he plunged his fork into one of the eggs and took a bite out of it. He put it into his mouth and savored the taste of the fried egg that felt so light and fluffy that it seemed to almost melting his mouth.
"This is delicious," he told them.
"The bacon is delicious too," said Ori before he took another bite out of it. "I love how crisp it is."
"Why do you have hea gwoing on ya faces?" Frodo asked curiously before he ate a piece of his buttered toast.
The dwarves laughed slightly at the curious child's question.
"All of the dwarves have beards?" Bilbo answered before he took another bite out of his eggs.
"Why?" Frodo asked not understanding the answer Bilbo gave him.
"It makes us look majestic," answered Gloin before he ate another piece of bacon.
"What majetic?" Frodo asked.
"Important," Gloin answered him.
"Wi I gwo, a bead?" Frodo asked.
"No, Frodo, hobbits never grow beards," Bilbo answered him.
"It also makes us look rough," Nori said.
"Wike Bouncy?"Frodo asked before he drank some of his grape juice.
"Like Bouncy," Gloin answered.
"Who's Bouncy?" Ori asked just before he began to eat his toast.
"He's my favowit bea."
"I used to have a stuffed bear when I was a little dwarvling; I slept with him every night," said Ori.
"He still does," said Nori while Ori hit him lightly over the head.
"I sweep with my bea evewy night too."
"How did you enjoy your sleep?" Gloin asked Bilbo before he drank some more juice.
"It was good," answered Bilbo. "Frodo tried to wake me up this morning, but Bofer took care of him for me so I could get the sleep that I needed. Now I'm wide awake and refreshed."
"Energetic enough to go dancing?" Nori asked with amusement in his voice.
"Well…" Bilbo ate another piece of his toast.
Frodo began to talk a mile a minute. "I wike pwayin in tis house. It is fun. I pwayed hide and seek, cwimbed the couches, and the dwapes, swung on wopes picked flowas, twied to catch butafwys and wabbits, and pwayed wit my toys including Bouncy, Fwuffy the bunny, Bwonie the tuffed dog…."
"You must have been very busy chasing after him all the time yesterday, Bilbo," said Nori stating the obvious. He ate some more of his toast.
Bilbo ate some more of his toast too.
Bilbo nodded his head. "I never realized that a small child could have this much energy," said Bilbo. "I had to keep running after him. He ran so fast that I was hardly able to keep up with him."
The hobbits and dwarves continued to talk and laugh with each other while eating their breakfast.
Two hours later everybody was outside in the backyard enjoying the fresh air. The dwarves were playing with Frodo while Bilbo was having a conversation with Hamfast who was pulling up the ripe potatoes which were at the right side of the yard.
"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!" said Ori who was being chased by his brother while he was running towards the lilac bush which was on the left side of the yard. "Squeak! Squeak!"
"Meow! Meow!" said Nori who was chasing after him.
They were playing a game called Cat and Mouse. This time Nori was the cat. Nori was chasing after Ori, but just as he was about to catch him, Ori made it to the "mouse hole" which was actually the lilac bush. Nori was disappointed that he missed his brother, but a second later he saw Bofer running across his path. Nori began to chase after Bofer who was squeaking all the while, but Nori caught him.
"The cat caught the Mouse!" Nori yelled while he caught Bofer around the waste. "I'm going to eat him."
"I caught a mouse and now I'm going to eat him!" Nori shouted while he pretended to take a bite out of Bofer.
"You're the cat now, Bofer," said Nori.
"Meow! I'm going to get you," said Bofer who was beginning to chase after Frodo because Frodo who was close by. "I'm going to eat you for lunch."
"Can't cat me! Can't cat me!" Frodo yelled while he ran as fast as could on his tiny legs. "Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!"
Bofer slowed his pace so that he wouldn't be able to catch Frodo too easily, but the toddler was fast for his age and was soon ten feet away from him.
"I see that the dwarves are having lots of fun playing with Frodo," Hamfast said while he used a weed puller to help him pull a large potato out of the ground.
"The dwarves are very fond of him," said Bilbo in agreement. "And so am I. He is a very charming and sweet child, but he is also lively and full of mischief. He keeps me on my toes."
"My Halfred is the same way," said Hamfast. "Yesterday, my Bell was giving him a bath, and he was fighting it because he did not like baths. She was chasing him down the tunnel until she caught him and then he was struggling while she put him in the tub and began to scrub him. She was worn out when she finished, and this morning she found him playing in a bucket of water that she was going to use to wash the kitchen floor with. She filled the bucket with water from the well in our yard and brought it to the kitchen. Then she went inside a closet and picked up box of soap, and as soon as she entered the kitchen again, to her dismayed she saw him playing in the bucket and splashing water on the floor. She also saw Hamson playing with his toys and not taking any notice of his brother. 'I should have known better than to ask our six year old to take watch our two year old,' she said to me."
"Taking care of children is hard," said Bilbo.
"It is Hamfast agreed especially if you're not used to it, but they are worth it. We had to child proof the house to keep Halfred away from the harmful items."
"I did too; I put the items that I did not want Frodo to touch out of his reach."
A second later Bifer was running past them towards the apple tree while Frodo was chasing after him and meowing.
"My Hamson used to get into everything to, but he has grown out of it," said Hamfast. "We still have to watch him, though not as closely as when he was a toddler and we certainly did not have to chase after him every five minutes because he is old enough now to know to stay away from certain things."
Next door Dodo and Tulip Greenhome and their guest Lobelia were gossiping nastily about the Baggins and the dwarves while they were watching them from the other side of the fence.
"Look at those dwarves," Tulip sneered. "I can't believe Bilbo would have them as guests in his home. Any hobbit with sense wouldn't have such guests."
"Bilbo doesn't have any sense," said Dodo with a frown on his face. "He welcomes outsiders including dwarves and Gandalf the wizard. He is as unnatural a hobbit as he can get; going on adventures."
"And his nephew is just as unnatural as Bilbo," Lobelia said nastily while looking at the toddler with disapproval. "His mother is actually a Brandybuck."
"How shocking!" Tulip said with a look of horror on her face. "I certainly will not allow my child to play with him." She patted her stomach lightly where her child was residing in.
"Otho and I will not allow our Lotho to play with him either, or to associate with Bilbo. The last thing he needs are wild ideas about going on adventures and visiting elves."
"I agree with you," said Dodo.
"And look at Bilbo talking to his servant and treating him like an equal," Lobelia said haughtily. "We would never talk to our servants unless it was to give them orders."
"We would never associate with them either," Dodo agreed.
Gloin, who was being chased by Bifer, heard them gossiping and became a little angry.
"You have no right to talk about Bilbo and his nephew like that. Bilbo is a good hobbit who helped us get our home back."
"That is right," Nori agreed who was just as angry.
Biffer also gestured his agreement with the two dwarves.
"Ignore them," Bilbo said to them. "They obviously have nothing better to do."
"I wish you have never returned from your journey!" Lobelia shouted angrily to Bilbo. "This house would belong to us now if it weren't for you."
"They would be better neighbors because they are proper hobbits and not unnatural like you and Frodo," said Tulip just before she walked back inside her hole with Dodo and Lobelia following her.
"I'm glad that you are living in Bag end instead of the Sackville Baggins," said Hamfast while he was brushing dirt off a potato. "You are a much better neighbor than those Sackville Baggins or those Greenhomes. You are a pleasant hobbit and have good manners."
"Thank you Hamfast," said Bilbo.
Bilbo decided that it was time for lunch, so he said to Hamfast. "I'm going to go inside now and make lunch now. Would you care to join us?"
Hamfast looked up from his gardening. "No thank you, Mr. Bilbo, my Bell is making savory mushroom soup and sandwiches for lunch, and I'm looking forward to eat them.
Bilbo nodded his head at Hamfast while Hamfast resumed picking the potatoes out the ground.
"Bofer, Bifer, Nori, Ori, and Gloin, I'm going to make lunch now," said Bilbo.
"Did you say lunch?" Nori asked.
"Yes, come…."
Zoom!
Before he was able to say another word all of the dwarves ran faster than hares to the hole."
And I thought, that Frodo was fast," Bilbo thought.
Frodo was still playing on the lawn. He was chasing a monarch butterfly trying to catch it with his hands, but it always seemed to be out of his reach. The butterfly was over a flower garden that was located in the middle of the yard which included lilies, marigolds, and daffodils. The butterfly landed on a daffodil, but as soon as frodo tried to grab it with his chubby hands it flew out of his reach again causing him to pout.
Bilbo walked up to Frodo.
"Come on Frodo, it is time for lunch."
"I no wan wunch, I wanna pway," said Frodo with a pouting look on his face.
"No Frodo, you can play again after you eat your lunch."
"I wanna pway; I no wanna eat now."
"But if you don't eat you won't grow to be big and strong your," Bilbo objected.
"But I having wots of fun pwaying; no wanna top now," he said.
Bilbo saw that his face was beginning to turn red with anger and his eyes were beginning to be filled with tears. Frodo was about to have a temper tantrum, but Bilbo wasn't going to give in to it.
He said with a firm tone, "No, Frodo, you are not going to play now; you are going to eat lunch with us. So come on."
At that moment Frodo's face became redder and the tears that were in his eyes began to leak out. He dropped to the ground and began to hit and kick with his feet.
"No! No! No! I no wanna eat! I wanna pway! I wanna pway!"
Bilbo did not like to watch Frodo having a temper tantrum, and he was tempted to give in, but he held his ground, because he knew that giving in to a child and spoiling him, will do no good for the child especially when the child grows older.
So he watched him for a few seconds hoping that Frodo would tire out, but Frodo didn't stop in fact, he was hitting and kicking the grass, faster than before, while screaming loudly.
Bilbo was getting tired of this, so he said with a firm tone to Frodo. "We are going to eat lunch now, and if you don't come I am going to pick you up and carry you to the kitchen. If I have to carry you, you can stay in your room for the rest of the day and forget about playing."
He did not want to carry Frodo inside the hole kicking and screaming, because he wanted lunch time to be pleasant for everybody but if Frodo didn't stop in a few seconds he would have no choice. Luckily, he did not have to do that. Frodo, who didn't want to spend the rest of the day in his room, calmed down and stood up.
"I have wunch now," he said quietly.
Bilbo took Frodo's hand and walked him inside. The Baggins and the dwarves had a nice lunch of potato and beef stew, and the dwarves helped Bilbo clean up afterwards.
An hour later Bilbo was siting in his chair in the parlor reading one of his favorite books., Bifer, Ori, Nori, and Gloin were talking to each about different things, Bofer was carving toy animals for Frodo out of wood, and Frodo was playing with his toys that are on the floor.
"Gimli and I visited my brother last month; it took us a week to get to the new caves that he and the other dwarves discovered a few years ago. On our way down we encountered some orcs and fought them. They put up a good fight, but we defeated them. Gimli killed three of them."
"Your son is a good fighter," said Nori.
"He is," Gloin agreed. "He wanted to travel to Erubor with us, but I wouldn't let him because he was only 12 years old."
Dwarvlings around 12 fought in battles before," said Ori.
"Only when the need is dire, or there is a shortage of soldiers and other adult dwarves, but for the most part we do not let them fight," said Gloin.
"Gloin is right," said Bofer who looked up from his carving.
Bifer also gestured that he agreed with Gloin.
"How is your carving coming along?" Nori asked.
Bofer picked up a toy cat and a toy horse as well as the toy he was currently working on which looked like the top half of an oliphant.
"That is excellent work," said Gloin.
"It is," Nori agreed.
At that moment Frodo who was quietly playing with his toys for the last ten minutes got up and began to run to the kitchen with Bouncy in his small right hand. Bofer dropped the toy oliphant he was carving and began to chase after Frodo with Bifer following behind him. Bilbo who was involved in the story about Luthien and Beren also noticed it. He dropped his book and ran after Frodo.
Frodo opened the kitchen door and entered the kitchen. He dragged a chair to the counter and climbed on it. He tried to reach the cookie jar that was in the top cabinet by standing on his toes and stretching his arm towards it, but the cookie jar was way in the back out of his reach. He knocked down some plates which fell on the floor with a crash, and his foot began to slip. At that moment Bilbo and the two dwarves entered the kitchen and were alarmed by what they saw. Bilbo pushed the two dwarves out of his way and ran towards Frodo ignoring the broken plates on the floor. He caught Frodo who almost fell on the kitchen floor and spanked his bottom. Frodo began to wail.
Bilbo looked at frodo kindly and said to him, "I didn't want to do that, but you could have gotten hurt. It is dangerous to climb counters. "Promise me that you will never climb them again."
"I pwomise."
"Good," Bilbo said while he wiped Frodo's tears. "Now let's go inside the parlor and you can play with your toys again."
"I wike pwaying with toys," Frodo said while he was beginning to cheer up.
Bofer and Bifer cleaned up the broken dishes while Bilbo carried him back to the parlor.
He placed him on the floor and said; "now be a good boy and play with your toys."
Frodo took one of his horses and buggies and began to move it around.
"So what did you do while you visited your brother?" Ori asked.
"My brother welcomed us with a great feast of roast beef, venison, and potatoes, because he hasn't seen us for years. We were so happy to see each other that we were celebrating. I visited the inside of the cave and the carvings they did on the walls were exquisite, and the jewels they extracted were beautiful. I have never seen such a wide variety of gems before."
"Were there mithril there?" Ori asked.
"There wasn't," said Gloin. "But there were diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc."
"They are beautiful, but mithril is the best mineral that we have ever extracted," said Nori.
"That is true," said Gloin. "But I cannot deny the beauty of other gems."
"Bili and his wife Nala are expecting a child soon," said Ori. "I wonder what it is."
"Bili wants a boy and Nala wants a girl," Nori answered.
"Whatever the dwarvling is I know that they are looking forward to holding him or her in their arms. They are so excited about the baby that they talk about it all the time," said Ori.
"I also know that Dodi is also looking forward to his first grandchild," said Bofer who just returned from the kitchen and resumed carving a toy oliphant.
"It is sad that there are hardly any dwarvlings anymore," said Gloin. "Our race is dwindling like the elves," and someday we will no longer be in middle earth."
"I don't like to think of that," said Nori.
Frodo put his stuffed squirrel on top of his horse and buggy, and said "wook evawybody"
Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at Frodo who had put his stuffed squirrel on top of one of the buggies.
"I giving nutty a wide," Frodo said while he began to move the horse and buggy around again.
"It looks like Nutty is having fun," Bofer said.
"He wikes going on a buggy wide."
"Where is Nutty going?"Bilbo asked.
"He's goin to visit the ewen pwincess," in ef wand," Frodo answered.
The dwarves frowned when Frodo mentioned elves because they were not very fond of them, but Bilbo smiled and said, "have fun with your adventure."
"I wana have adventas wike you when I gwo up," said Frodo.
"What story are you reading, Bilbo?" Gloin asked.
Bilbo looked up from his book. "I'm reading about Luthien and Beren."
The dwarves continued to talk to each other, while Frodo continued to play with his toys.
Five minutes later, Frodo began to run towards one of the tunnels. Bilbo dropped his book again and began to follow the mischievous toddler with Nori and Ori following him.
"He's heading for our rooms," Nori said in alarm while he was chasing Frodo.
Frodo entered opened the door to Nori's guest room and entered it. Bilbo and the two dwarves entered it a minute later. To Nori's horror he saw that two of his dwawers were opened and his breeches and shirts were all over the floor and on his bed. Then he saw Frodo wearing one of his shirts which fit him like a dress and was bouncing up and down on his bed making it squeak.
"My room is a mess!" Nori cried in horror while Ori laughed. Nori glared at him.
Bilbo ran to Frodo and picked him up off the bed, and said to him, "no Frodo you must not jump on beds."
"But it's fun," said Frodo while Bilbo was pulling Nori's shirt off him.
"We are going back to the parlor and you can play quietly with your toys again."
"But I wanna wun awound, Unca Bibo. No wanna sit stiw"
"Maybe you should take him outside again, so he can run use up his energy," said Nori who was folding one of his shirts.
"Do you want to go outside and play?" Bilbo asked him.
Frodo nodded his head. "I wanna pway wit my baw."
He took Frodo's hand and said, "Let's go get your ball and play outside with it.
To be continued