I don't know about stuff like PG warnings but I think the coming chapter
might need a 'High Cuteness level warning - liable to be bad for those who
suffer from diabetes.'
What Frodo Did Part 12/13
That night Bilbo sat in his chair by Frodo's bedside, a portable desk on his lap. Writing letters to Brandy Hall of his cousin's progress was something of a daily solace to the old hobbit. The letters were becoming rather rambling missives, frequently interrupted, trains of thought broken, sentences unfinished.
He also found himself writing of his feelings for the boy. How dear Frodo had become to him.
Bilbo had never thought that another person could have had such an impact on his solitary bachelor life. If things had gone differently, Bilbo might have married and raised his own family to fill the tunnels of Bag End. But then Gandalf had challenged his casually wished 'Good Morning' and his life had utterly changed.
He admitted that he had returned from his adventure a changed hobbit. For a while he had been content to lead a peaceful life, restoring Bag End and enjoying the pleasures of hearth and home and a readily available supply of pocket-handkerchiefs. But soon he became restless and he took to wandering again, visiting with the Elves and somehow Hobbiton seemed a little shallow to the more widely travelled hobbit.
He had felt sorry for Frodo at first, wanting to give the lad a break from Brandy Hall. Then he came to appreciate his company. The boy was imaginative and quick to learn. Winters seemed to drag when Frodo was back at Brandy Hall and Bilbo began to look forward to the spring arrival of his cousin as much as the arrival of the primrose heralded days of sunshine.
He reached out and brushed away an errant curl from Frodo's eyes. His hand froze as the lad stirred and murmured a bit, but did not wake. The dark silky curl wound its way round Bilbo's finger and clung there.
*****
"Why, Master Frodo!" gasped Sam in utter amazement. "Ma said I could come see the kittens, but she didn't say I was to see you too."
Frodo was sitting propped around by cushions, well pleased with himself, in the barn which the Gamgees over-wintered their pigs in. May was sitting by him and offering kittens up one by one for his inspection. The kittens obviously thought little of this one by one business. Two were on Frodo's lap, one on his shoulder heading for his head, and a fourth was sitting on his cupped palms. The mother cat seemed to be highly grateful for her reprieve and was taking the time to groom herself thoroughly.
"Ow!" the one on Frodo's shoulder stuck its minute paw into his ear and a nose followed to sniff tentatively. "O, its whiskers tickle!" Frodo still looked frightfully pale, and the hands which held the kitten shook a little, but there was a certain sparkle back in his blue eyes.
Sam came over and took the kitten gently from Frodo's neck. "This one is my favourite. Look he's got orange stripes."
"So he has, Sam, quite orange," Frodo stroked one finger along the delicate little creature's head.
Bilbo and the Gaffer were sharing a pouch of pipeweed just outside, trying to make out they were not paying very close attention to the children's activities. When May ran back to the kitchen in answer to her mothers summons Frodo decided there was something he had to say.
"Sam," said Frodo putting the kitten down and looking the younger boy in the eyes. "I owe you an apology."
"What ever for Master Frodo?" Sam put his own kitten down and it promptly wandered back to its mother using its nose to detect her inviting warmth.
Frodo took a deep breath. "You saved me when I fell out of the tree and you came to see me when I was so ill. And then I was rude and nasty to you and sent you away. I am very sorry."
Sam felt tears pricking at his eyes. "You don't need to say sorry to me Master Frodo."
"Yes, I do," insisted the older boy. "I need to say sorry to you and to Uncle Bilbo for being so bad tempered and miserable when you were both only trying to help me. You are a good friend Sam and I promise never to ask you to leave again."
Sam blushed furiously under his freckles.
"What's more Sam," Frodo continued. "I am going to make it up to both of you. I don't know how, but I will. I would like it if you would come to see me at Bag End as often as you wanted to."
"I'll come everyday if Ma will let me," Sam promised.
Frodo smiled and it was like the sun had come out in the barn. He was still pale and gaunt but there was a certain animation returning to him.
"Oh look!" Sam cried. The orange and black striped cat had bumped into the younger boys chubby thigh and was now peering up in an unfocused way with eyes nearly as blue as Frodo's.
Bilbo and the Gaffer finished their pipes in companiable silence. For all their difference in station, the two had a mutual respect for each other and what might, had boundaries allowed, have been a friendship. A good pipe was something to be smoked in silence, something to take time over, as hobbits took time over most things. When they returned to the barn silence had fallen and they soon saw why.
Sitting up was rather painful and tiring for Frodo. Exhausted he had fallen asleep in his nest of cushions with Sam resting his head against his knee and also asleep.
"I said as how you had a good idea there, Mr Bilbo," said the Gaffer.
"That Samwise of yours is a treasure," Bilbo agreed. "He will make a wonderful gardener one day. He has the knack for making things bloom."
*****
After that Frodo was usually to be found in the warm spot at the back of Bag End enjoying the last of the summer sunshine and making plans with Bilbo for their birthday party. He could only sit up for short periods and got tired out very quickly. He still had his bad days but when these came he would call to mind his mothers face and promise himself that he would not disappoint her.
Often he would nap out in the garden and the colour was slowly returning to his cheeks. Sam was always in attendance, willing to run in and fetch things for Frodo and was not above retrieving a handful of raspberries for them to share.
Some relatives from Brandy Hall were coming to stay for the party and Bilbo noticed a certain hesitancy about his young cousin when arrangements were being made.
"Why so silent, lad?" Bilbo asked one day when Samwise was on one of his errands. Frodo always wore his heart on his sleeve and Bilbo could tell something was bothering the lad.
"Nothing," Frodo lied. "Just trying to decide what to get people for my birthday." Truth was that he usually went home to Brandy hall with the returning birthday visitors, and this year, more than any other he did not particularly want to return. He was not sure he could handle the bustle of life with so many people around.
"It is time we had a little talk about that my lad," said Bilbo, setting aside his portable writing desk. "In fact, I have been meaning to talk to you for a while now."
"About me going back to Buckland?" Frodo could not meet Bilbo's eyes.
"Well, I think we are going to have to put that off for a while. You have done so well but you can hardly travel all the way to Brandy Hall." Bilbo took one of Frodo's hands which he could see was heading to his mouth for his nails to be bitten at, a habit Frodo had formed while ill. "But, I was thinking. How would you like not to go back to Brandy Hall at all? How would you like to stay here with me?" Bilbo babbled on, afraid to stop now he had started. Afraid that once he did stop Frodo would say 'no' and all his little plans and dreams of the last few weeks would fall into ruin. "You could see how you liked it. And maybe in a year or so we could make some formal arrangement."
"Formal?"
"Well, Bag End needs an heir and it is so handy us having our birthdays on the same day," that sounded lame but Bilbo was floundering here. "What I mean to say, my boy, is that I would like you to come and live with me, and I would adopt you as my heir. I know it is terrible selfish of me, taking you away from all your friends and relations at Brandy Hall, and I quite understand if you would rather not. In fact, I should never have asked -"
"I would love to!" Frodo broke in. "I cannot think of anything I would like more."
"What?" Bilbo looked up and met those brightly shining blue eyes, Frodo looked as though he could not believe what he had just heard.
"But would you want me here? After I was so awful to everyone when I was ill."
"Frodo, my dearest boy. I love you so very much." And Bilbo put his arms round the boy and hugged him as close as he dared, and felt hands creep up around his own back as the hug was returned.
Sam ran round the corner to find them like that and stopped, bemused. Frodo opened his eyes to beam at his friend. "Guess what Sam. I am coming to live at Bag End for always."
Sam beamed and beamed and could not think of a thing to say - until at last a thought struck him. "Good, 'cause now you're stayin' you can have one of the kittens to keep!"
What Frodo Did Part 12/13
That night Bilbo sat in his chair by Frodo's bedside, a portable desk on his lap. Writing letters to Brandy Hall of his cousin's progress was something of a daily solace to the old hobbit. The letters were becoming rather rambling missives, frequently interrupted, trains of thought broken, sentences unfinished.
He also found himself writing of his feelings for the boy. How dear Frodo had become to him.
Bilbo had never thought that another person could have had such an impact on his solitary bachelor life. If things had gone differently, Bilbo might have married and raised his own family to fill the tunnels of Bag End. But then Gandalf had challenged his casually wished 'Good Morning' and his life had utterly changed.
He admitted that he had returned from his adventure a changed hobbit. For a while he had been content to lead a peaceful life, restoring Bag End and enjoying the pleasures of hearth and home and a readily available supply of pocket-handkerchiefs. But soon he became restless and he took to wandering again, visiting with the Elves and somehow Hobbiton seemed a little shallow to the more widely travelled hobbit.
He had felt sorry for Frodo at first, wanting to give the lad a break from Brandy Hall. Then he came to appreciate his company. The boy was imaginative and quick to learn. Winters seemed to drag when Frodo was back at Brandy Hall and Bilbo began to look forward to the spring arrival of his cousin as much as the arrival of the primrose heralded days of sunshine.
He reached out and brushed away an errant curl from Frodo's eyes. His hand froze as the lad stirred and murmured a bit, but did not wake. The dark silky curl wound its way round Bilbo's finger and clung there.
*****
"Why, Master Frodo!" gasped Sam in utter amazement. "Ma said I could come see the kittens, but she didn't say I was to see you too."
Frodo was sitting propped around by cushions, well pleased with himself, in the barn which the Gamgees over-wintered their pigs in. May was sitting by him and offering kittens up one by one for his inspection. The kittens obviously thought little of this one by one business. Two were on Frodo's lap, one on his shoulder heading for his head, and a fourth was sitting on his cupped palms. The mother cat seemed to be highly grateful for her reprieve and was taking the time to groom herself thoroughly.
"Ow!" the one on Frodo's shoulder stuck its minute paw into his ear and a nose followed to sniff tentatively. "O, its whiskers tickle!" Frodo still looked frightfully pale, and the hands which held the kitten shook a little, but there was a certain sparkle back in his blue eyes.
Sam came over and took the kitten gently from Frodo's neck. "This one is my favourite. Look he's got orange stripes."
"So he has, Sam, quite orange," Frodo stroked one finger along the delicate little creature's head.
Bilbo and the Gaffer were sharing a pouch of pipeweed just outside, trying to make out they were not paying very close attention to the children's activities. When May ran back to the kitchen in answer to her mothers summons Frodo decided there was something he had to say.
"Sam," said Frodo putting the kitten down and looking the younger boy in the eyes. "I owe you an apology."
"What ever for Master Frodo?" Sam put his own kitten down and it promptly wandered back to its mother using its nose to detect her inviting warmth.
Frodo took a deep breath. "You saved me when I fell out of the tree and you came to see me when I was so ill. And then I was rude and nasty to you and sent you away. I am very sorry."
Sam felt tears pricking at his eyes. "You don't need to say sorry to me Master Frodo."
"Yes, I do," insisted the older boy. "I need to say sorry to you and to Uncle Bilbo for being so bad tempered and miserable when you were both only trying to help me. You are a good friend Sam and I promise never to ask you to leave again."
Sam blushed furiously under his freckles.
"What's more Sam," Frodo continued. "I am going to make it up to both of you. I don't know how, but I will. I would like it if you would come to see me at Bag End as often as you wanted to."
"I'll come everyday if Ma will let me," Sam promised.
Frodo smiled and it was like the sun had come out in the barn. He was still pale and gaunt but there was a certain animation returning to him.
"Oh look!" Sam cried. The orange and black striped cat had bumped into the younger boys chubby thigh and was now peering up in an unfocused way with eyes nearly as blue as Frodo's.
Bilbo and the Gaffer finished their pipes in companiable silence. For all their difference in station, the two had a mutual respect for each other and what might, had boundaries allowed, have been a friendship. A good pipe was something to be smoked in silence, something to take time over, as hobbits took time over most things. When they returned to the barn silence had fallen and they soon saw why.
Sitting up was rather painful and tiring for Frodo. Exhausted he had fallen asleep in his nest of cushions with Sam resting his head against his knee and also asleep.
"I said as how you had a good idea there, Mr Bilbo," said the Gaffer.
"That Samwise of yours is a treasure," Bilbo agreed. "He will make a wonderful gardener one day. He has the knack for making things bloom."
*****
After that Frodo was usually to be found in the warm spot at the back of Bag End enjoying the last of the summer sunshine and making plans with Bilbo for their birthday party. He could only sit up for short periods and got tired out very quickly. He still had his bad days but when these came he would call to mind his mothers face and promise himself that he would not disappoint her.
Often he would nap out in the garden and the colour was slowly returning to his cheeks. Sam was always in attendance, willing to run in and fetch things for Frodo and was not above retrieving a handful of raspberries for them to share.
Some relatives from Brandy Hall were coming to stay for the party and Bilbo noticed a certain hesitancy about his young cousin when arrangements were being made.
"Why so silent, lad?" Bilbo asked one day when Samwise was on one of his errands. Frodo always wore his heart on his sleeve and Bilbo could tell something was bothering the lad.
"Nothing," Frodo lied. "Just trying to decide what to get people for my birthday." Truth was that he usually went home to Brandy hall with the returning birthday visitors, and this year, more than any other he did not particularly want to return. He was not sure he could handle the bustle of life with so many people around.
"It is time we had a little talk about that my lad," said Bilbo, setting aside his portable writing desk. "In fact, I have been meaning to talk to you for a while now."
"About me going back to Buckland?" Frodo could not meet Bilbo's eyes.
"Well, I think we are going to have to put that off for a while. You have done so well but you can hardly travel all the way to Brandy Hall." Bilbo took one of Frodo's hands which he could see was heading to his mouth for his nails to be bitten at, a habit Frodo had formed while ill. "But, I was thinking. How would you like not to go back to Brandy Hall at all? How would you like to stay here with me?" Bilbo babbled on, afraid to stop now he had started. Afraid that once he did stop Frodo would say 'no' and all his little plans and dreams of the last few weeks would fall into ruin. "You could see how you liked it. And maybe in a year or so we could make some formal arrangement."
"Formal?"
"Well, Bag End needs an heir and it is so handy us having our birthdays on the same day," that sounded lame but Bilbo was floundering here. "What I mean to say, my boy, is that I would like you to come and live with me, and I would adopt you as my heir. I know it is terrible selfish of me, taking you away from all your friends and relations at Brandy Hall, and I quite understand if you would rather not. In fact, I should never have asked -"
"I would love to!" Frodo broke in. "I cannot think of anything I would like more."
"What?" Bilbo looked up and met those brightly shining blue eyes, Frodo looked as though he could not believe what he had just heard.
"But would you want me here? After I was so awful to everyone when I was ill."
"Frodo, my dearest boy. I love you so very much." And Bilbo put his arms round the boy and hugged him as close as he dared, and felt hands creep up around his own back as the hug was returned.
Sam ran round the corner to find them like that and stopped, bemused. Frodo opened his eyes to beam at his friend. "Guess what Sam. I am coming to live at Bag End for always."
Sam beamed and beamed and could not think of a thing to say - until at last a thought struck him. "Good, 'cause now you're stayin' you can have one of the kittens to keep!"