Chapter 36: Pieces

I pricked my fingertips bloody trying to fix that be-damned dress. And still, every time that I put the stupid thing on, it only seemed more closely fitted to my baby bump. I looked perfectly pregnant in fact.

Prisca had seemed more than obliged to let me have the day off when she heard what I was to be doing. But I did hear footsteps come up to my door and then retreat several times in the morning. It seemed that she was attracted to my frustrated cursing…Prisca was an eternal helper, a giver. If she wasn't aiding someone, she was either asleep or eating.

I sat on the edge of my bed wondering if the dress was bewitched or something, it always seemed to hug my frame closely no matter how many seems I ripped out and re-stitched.

"If you really are bewitched then why can't you just make yourself bigger, huh?" I muttered darkly.

Someone knocked on my door, and I jumped about a foot off of the bed. "One second!" I yelled quickly scrambling to put my blouse and skirt back on. I had been sitting in naught but my underclothes, considering that I had been trying on the damn dress approximately every ten minutes.

When I was decent, I opened the door, my face flushed. Padroc was on the other side, and let me just say, his face was much more flushed than mine.

I sighed. "What is it now?" I opened the door wider to invite him in.

He walked over and sat down at the desk, but he wouldn't say anything. It was all so unlike him, usually I couldn't shut the boy up. Even when he had nothing else to say, he always resorted back to asking personal questions. Now he was just quiet as he sat there, staring at me.

"Are you going to say something?" I asked again.

He nodded and cleared his throat. "I…uh…." He seemed at a loss for words.

"Just spit it out, I'm not going to be mad, if that's what you're thinking." He was looking at me as if I might shatter into a million angry pieces before his very eyes.

"I'm…um…taking Blossom to the family reunion." He mumbled, suddenly finding the knothole in the wall to be completely absorbing.

I stood where I was for a second, not fully letting what he was saying sink in. His family thing was tomorrow…and most of the rooms here were already packed with bustling hobbits all excited about the festivities that hadn't even begun yet. I had taken care to say something nice to each one of them, searching out allies so that tomorrow I wouldn't be completely in the dark as to who these people all were.

I swallowed again, not knowing what to say. I had worked all day on my stupid dress…I had already practiced how I was going to wear my hair. It had grown like a weed since I had left Bag End, and I could hardly do anything with it.

I bit my lip for a second longer before I asked what was obvious, "Are you uninviting me then?"

His face went redder as he nodded. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, and right on cue, the baby delivered a mule kick to my ribs.

"I bet Blossom is happy, you should have seen the look she gave me that day you refused to walk her home." I joked halfheartedly.

"Are you mad?" he asked after a minute, his expressive brown eyes looking more hurt then they had rights too.

I shook my head no, and looked away.

"You could, um…still come if you wanted to, just, not as my…uh…date." He offered, wanting to feel better about what he had just done to me, I supposed.

"No. I don't think I will. I'll just catch up on sleep or something." I mumbled.

What did he think? That I wanted to hear everyone whispering "who's the pregnant girl?" and "who is SHE with?" Like they already had been doing as soon as I turned away when I had introduced myself to them.

No, thank you.

"I really did want to take you, but…" he continued, still as upset as ever.

"You don't have to explain anything to me Padroc. I get it, and just for the record, I get to say I told you so, now don't I?"

"No, Merna, really…don't be like that, please."

I laughed. "No, I'm used to it. I'm usually right about these sorts of things. And I did say it was a bad idea in the first place…I should have listened to myself." I sounded bitter even to my own ears.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled as he got up to leave.

I shrugged, "They all are." I snapped coldly as the door shut behind him.

And when I was sure that he was gone, I tore that stupid green dress to pieces and used the remains to sop up the tears that were running down my face.

OOO

If Sam had to say, "This is Rosie." Or "It was only a small wedding" one more time he thought he might burst.

It was only noon and he was already sick and tired of all his relatives. And he hadn't said hello to half of them yet. He would have taken Rose and left promptly at ten (a whole hour after they had arrived), if it wasn't for his old Gaffer beaming with pride only a step behind him as everyone praised him on his lovely new wife. So with a sigh, he just grinned and held his tongue, his arm linked through Rosie's for more his support than hers.

She was perfectly at home, having always been an almost overly social hobbit. And when a couple of Sam's distant cousins or some such nonsense came up giggling and proposed a walk on the garden paths, she had slipped away from him without so much as a backwards glance. Her laughter melting into theirs, abandoning him with grace.

He sighed and decided to search out the ale. It turned out not to be very hard to find, with some uncle already smashingly drunk and singing carols loudly, and off key. A lad around his own age, though a bit younger to be sure, was leaning against one of the barrels, watching the spectacle with a half empty mug in his fist.

He had a crop of sandy blonde hair, and a pair of big sad brown eyes that someone would usually associate with puppies. Sam would have known him anywhere. That was Padroc, his father's sister's son.

Sam had always been fond of his Aunt Prisca. She always had had some tidbit to give him when the Gaffer had taken him to visit. She had a fondness for ciders and a talent with apple trees that Sam absolutely adored.

Padroc sighed, and looked Sam's way, seemingly sensing his speculation.

With a sigh identical to Padroc's, Sam made his way over and grabbed up a full mug. His cousin looked as if he had been downing pints all morning, and Sam was tempted to take the mug he had clutched in his hands away from him. Usually the lad was in such high sprits, he couldn't be shut up. And Sam knew that that hadn't changed… he'd been that way since before they were tweens. It wasn't like him to be drinking like a fish before dinner was on the table.

"What's up with you?" Sam mumbled, face reddening. He wasn't one for new people, and even though this was his cousin, he hadn't seen him in two odd years.

Padroc sighed and shook his head, and then his free hand flew up to his forehead as he tried to steady his now swaying torso. "It's stupid." He mumbled back.

Sam took the mug from him without another thought, seeing just how baked he was, and dumped its contents on to the already sodden grass. "I think you need to have a seat." He said as he half carried him to a bench near the inn's front doors.

When they were settled, Sam tucked into his own ale, draining it halfway. Suddenly the world seemed a bit brighter, and his problems not so big. The noise of the crowd seemed to dim, and his eyes focused on Padroc's face.

"Well, come on then, tell your old cousin what's the matter." He crowed happily.

Padroc laughed. "Remember to go easy on that ale, Sam. My own sweet mother helped in its brewing, and she has a knack for making things pack an extra punch." He gurgled.

"Maybe you should have taken your own advice then." Sam replied, noticing how effectively Padroc had dodged answering his question. "Now, go on, spill. I know there's something the matter, usually you bother me to no end with all of your questions, but suddenly today you're this quiet?"

Padroc sighed, and dropped his face into his hands. "So, she isn't the only one who's bothered by me all the time. I don't know why you lot put up with me at all." He mumbled wearily.

Sam wasn't sure if it was the ale talking, or his cousin at this point. But something about the way that he had said "She" let him know that some girl or other was at the source of his cousin's problem.

"Alright then lad, what's this "she" gone and done to you?" he asked with a knowing smile. Goodness only knows how many of these sessions went on between himself and Frodo about his Rose.

Padroc looked up, his eyes narrowed and bleary. And Sam had a feeling if it were not for the all the ale he had consumed; he wouldn't have said another word on the subject. "She's not done anything to me, don't you go blaming this on what she's done." He snapped.

Sam put his hands up in truce. "Alright then, she's not done anything. But there is a she at the source of this mess, am I right?"

Padroc gave a reluctant nod.

'Well go on then, tell me about her." Sam encouraged.

His cousin shook his head, and swiped at his nose with an uncoordinated attempt at disguising how upsetting this topic was too him. "She's very sweet. Never been anything but sweet to me, even when I was just some git who wouldn't stop asking her questions."

Sam nodded so he would continue.

He did. "She's got gold-ish hair, and green eyes." He mentioned, seeming to want to give a good picture of her. "And I asked her to come with me today, to go to the reunion with me."

"Ahh," Sam replied. "She turned you down, is that it?"

Padroc shook his head, as if he was trying to rid himself of some buzzing in his ears. "No. I mean, yes. She did turn me down, at first. See, she said that she didn't want to go with me, 'cause she had someone else, but I persuaded her. She was gonna come." He replied through gritted teeth. Sam hadn't seen him so frustrated before.

"So let me get this straight, you like this girl, she's nice to you, you ask her to come out on a date with you and she says yes? I don't see the problem here, Padroc." Sam recounted, then as he cast his eyes on a gaggle of girls sitting beneath an apple tree across the way, he asked, "Which one is she? Who are you here with?"

Padroc squinted in the general direction and pointed at a pretty brunette in a yellow dress. "I'm here with her, Blossom, in the yellow skirts." He said sullenly.

Sam laughed. "Well, she's very pretty, lad!" He brought his mug up to his lips to take a gulp, still laughing to himself. He had thought that maybe she was ugly or something, and perhaps Padroc had gotten picked on for bringing her. It had happened before.

Padroc dropped his chin into his hands as he watched his date from afar. "Not as pretty as Merna." He spat bitterly.

Sam quite nearly choked on his beer. He almost chipped a tooth as he jerked his mug away from his face and set it down with a clatter next to him on the bench. "What did you just say?" He asked softly.

Padroc sighed. A big, 'I'm-fed-up-with-the-world-and-everyone-in-it'-sigh…" I said, that she is not as pretty as Mer-na." He repeated, annunciating each word perfectly, just to get his point across.

Sam looked at his cousin incredulously, trying to take it all in. And then it hit him. "Oh…you were supposed to come with this Merna girl, right?" he asked, giving a mental flinch at the sound of her name.

Another nod on Padroc's part. Sam smiled at his cousin's sullenness, trying to calm himself down. There were more than enough Merna's in the Shire after all, his logical side soothed.

"So, why aren't you here with her then?" He asked, waiting in happy suspense to hear what trivial thing he knew would have broken off the date…she had gotten flowers from another suitor, gone out of town…caught a head cold.

"My dad convinced me not to bring her. Said it would be bad for me to be seen with her, in what state she's in. Said it would embarrass him and mum, having to hear all of the whispers about her and me. So I uninvited her."

Sam felt short of breath. "You uninvited her? That's why you're upset?"

"Yes. I don't know why I listened to the old codger. You should have seen her face, Sam, when I told her. She was all bright-eyed and tight-lipped. I thought she was going to clout me about the ears. There were pins scattered all about the floor, as she was taking a dress out all day yesterday." He said sadly, and seemed to look about for his mug of ale, opening and closing his fingers as if he had just noticed its absence.

Sam licked his dry lips. "Why didn't Uncle Otto want you to bring her? Why would people have whispered?" He knew that the answer to this one question would prove whether this was the Merna they were all looking for or not…

Padroc sighed. "It doesn't matter. What I did is done, it'll just hurt her worse if I start spreading things around." He said with finality.

Sam nodded, albeit stubbornly. He was not going to let this rest until he knew for sure…"Well then, if you won't tell me why he doesn't like her, could you at least tell me her name?"

Padroc shrugged, not seeing why not. "It's Merna…Merna of Long Burrow, or something." He mumbled.

Sam shook his head, leaning toward his cousin intently. "Merna of Long Burrow? D'you mean, Merna of Long Cleeve?"

Padroc's face lit up as Sam helped him remember her name properly. He laughed at himself, "I can't believe I messed that up! Yeah, it's Merna of Long Cleeve, not Burrow!" He slapped himself lightly on the forehead.

Sam felt his heart speed up. "You mean to tell me, that she's here?"

Padroc shrugged. "She's staying at the inn."

Sam stood up, and grabbed Padroc by the arm, jerking him off of the bench none too kindly. "Show me." He said, before he pushed his way through the main doors, dragging Padroc along behind him.

OOO

Ok, here's the thing I am in vair vairLOW spirits at this point. It's nothing really to do with you lot, but my two best friends have decided to gang up on me as of late, and I am still twisting about trying to get the knives out of my back. No kidding. So, if you could all be so kind, I could use a bit of a pick me up, if you catch my drift. I've still got two more chapters in reserve as well, so it's only a matter of time until you get your next update too...thanx much.

PLK