Author Notes : Okay, so I uploaded this one really fast. There's no real 'reviewers section' in this A/N, because no one's reviewed Chapter 15 yet. S' okay. I'm not offended. *buries face in hands and weeps* j/k ! I love you if you reviewed, whoever you are ! Especially my veteran readers ! Read on, people, it's bathtime for our beautiful boys.
« Here, lad, I'll take him, » Bell said, reaching for her son. Kissing Sam one last time, he handed him to her. The steaming water in the bathtubs looked very inviting, and Frodo wanted nothing more than to just sink down into it. Then he remembered Bell, and blushed, suddenly awkward. With an amused smile, Bell looked away and he quickly got out of his breeches and into the water.
« I've had three sons, lad, » she said, and Frodo blushed again.
« Yeah, well I'm not your son, » he mumbled, even more embarrassed. Bell laughed softly.
« No, you're not. Hold still, baby, » she said, wrapping the towels around Sam's already bandage-encased foot and leg. The little boy sat in her lap naked as the day he was born and completely unfazed by the fact. He might have been embarrassed but for that he was still very young, that hobbits generally had no inhibitions about undressing in front of members of the same sex, and that he was so hazy with painkillers he hardly noticed what was going on.
« There, now… » his mother said, lowering him carefully into the hot water, making sure to keep his injured limb above the surface. Then she took the soap and began washing him up, scrubbing his hair and his back and his body and rinsing him off with a large bath-sponge. Frodo, too, was washing up, his eyes for the most part fixed on Sam. They finished at about the same time, and with an embarrassed look, Frodo gestured for Bell to turn away. She did, still looking amused, and Frodo got out of the water, drying off quickly and wrapping a towel around his waist.
« Alright, Mistress, » he said, and she turned back to her son.
« Come on, Samwise, » she said cheerfully, lifting him out of the water and onto her lap again. She unwound the towels around his leg, and, taking a dry one, dried him off. « Clothes you said you had for him ? » she asked.
« I'll go get them, » said Frodo, shivering a little as he stepped into the cold dark hallway from the warmth and light of the bathroom. Walking a short ways and turning down another hallway, he went into his bedroom. Clothes for him, clothes for him. I should just get dressed here, he thought, and letting his towel drop to the ground, he dressed in a soft grey woolen tunic – one of the warmest things he owned. Pulling a pair of black knee breeches on, he tied his tunic with a black sash. Now clothes for him, he thought, searching through his drawers. Mistress is right, he'll be practically swimming in these. I don't care. I'll feel like I've wrapped him up in me. The thought sent a warm glow through his chest and he smiled. Oh, this'll work…
He took out a dark blue tunic, almost the color of his eyes. It was thick and soft and beautifully woven – it had been a present for his sixteenth birthday. He's given me enough, he thought. Only fair that he should have this. He nodded and smiled in satisfaction. I suppose any breeches would be far too big. As for a sash… Searching through his drawers again, he found a white one. He'll look like an Elven princeling in this, Frodo thought grinning. Alright, these are good.
He walked back down the hallways to the bathroom and handed the clothes to Bell. She gave a little 'oh !' of delight at the feel of the fabric and the rich dark color. « Lad, these're beautiful, » she said. « Are you sure you want to… ? »
« I'm sure, Mistress. Those are the ones, » he answered. Looking bemused, Bell shook her head and dressed her son. The large tunic slipped easily over Sam's head, and the collar rested on the ends of his slim shoulders. Fortunately, it wasn't so large it slid off. The tunic, which came to about Frodo's knees, hung to the floor on Sam, and Frodo smothered a laugh. When Bell tied it with the white sash, though, Sam stopped looking ridiculous and was verily the Elf-prince Frodo had imagined him to be. He smiled again with satisfaction. A soft question touched his mind, and he drew a picture for Sam of the golden-haired child clad in blue and white as he rested in his mother's arms. Green flashed back to him, and he saw the boy smiling sleepily. The dark blue of the tunic made his eyes look almost turquoise, and Frodo loved him so much in that moment, he could have cried out. With an effort, he bit his lip and held his silence.
Then he walked over to Bell's side and reached for Samwise. She handed him to him unquestioningly, and Frodo blushed with pleasure when the child wrapped his arms about Frodo's neck. Kissing Sam's brow, he held him close and stood thus for a moment, holding the child. Someone knocked softly on the door, and Bell opened it. Bilbo and Hamfast stood there, both looking every bit the worried father. They relaxed to see Sam and Frodo bathed, dressed, and ready for bed.
« Come on, lads, » Bilbo said. « Frodo, I've laid a fire in your room. » Frodo nodded.
« Thanks, » he said.
« Bell, » said Hamfast. « We'd best be goin' now. The other children… » Bell sighed, extremely reluctant to leave her son, even if with trusted friends.
« Right, » she said, and kissed both Sam and Frodo. « You'll be good now, won't you ? » Both of them nodded, and she smiled. « Then I'll see thee both in the morning. »
Hamfast also kissed his son and smiled affectionately at Frodo, who smiled back. « Tomorrow, lads, » he said, and with that, they took their leave of Bag End, walking home through the blinding rain.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
To bed at last ! Frodo thought wearily. I've said it before, but this has undoubtedly been the single longest day of my entire life. And I'm so glad it's over. Sam smiled and said nothing as Frodo carried him down the hallway to his bedroom. Laying him down gently on the bed, he started the fire and built it up till it was burning brightly. Then he turned down the covers of the bed and pulled them over Sam. I'm cold, he thought, and retrieved more blankets from the chest at the foot of the bed, taking from the top the soft green blanket Sam had given him. Laying them over Sam and still holding the green one, he slipped into the bed and spread the green blanket over both of them. Sam smiled again and Frodo wrapped his arms tightly around the child. Their eyes were drifting slowly shut when Bilbo came in bearing a tray. What the – ? they both thought.
Setting the tray down on the bedside table, Bilbo gestured for them to sit up.
« Sorry for waking you two, » he said. « But Bell left explicit orders that had to be filled before you slept. Sam, you're to drink this Frodo, this. It's for your coughing, it's supposed to help, » he explained, handing them both mugs of tea. Still sleepy, they took them from him and drank. It tasted like chamomile and honey, and they had no objections to draining them. Handing the empty mugs back to Bilbo, they lay back down. Bilbo tousled their hair and smiled at them.
« Good boys, » he said softly. « You sleep now. » They nodded, and he walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.
Well, Sam. ~ Well ? ~ I promised you a great big bed, and here we are. ~ Mmhmm, Sam answered sleepily. I promised you stories, too, but I'm too tired. ~ S'alright, Sam said. I'm too tired to listen. Frodo smiled. Maybe later, then. ~ Later, Sam agreed. The fire crackled and the rain pounded outside, but in the room it was dark and warm. Their eyes closed, and they slept.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Whee! There's so much more still to write! Sorry this one's a little short, but the last one was long. I'm maintaining harmony. ^_^ Reviews very much appreciated!