CHAPTER FIVE - Berries And Babies
Merry was relieved to be back on the road and headed back home. He was now worrying over his aunt. Hopefully, she wouldn't think he snuck Pippin off without so much as a word to her--he'd done it once before! When he was ten and Pippin was two, they took a walk--a long walk without telling a grown up. His aunt was so upset with worry, she was crying when they returned. That is the thing that Merry remembered the most; his aunt being so upset over Pippin's disappearance. That...and the punishment he received from his own mother when he got home...
Merry looked up into the summer sky. The sun rose past noon and the day grew warmer than they expected. They stopped for a rest and drank a bit of the water Merry had with him.
"Look!", cried Pippin, and the two older children turned in the direction of
Pippin's voice. "Look what I find!" Pippin was covered head to toe in berry
juice; purple liquid smeared all over his mouth, shirt, and trousers. He stepped up to Perva and Merry and offered a little chubby hand dripping with berry juice that held two large, and slightly mushed berries.
"Berries!", shouted both children in unison. Ignoring Pippin's offer, Perva
almost knocked Merry to the ground in the race to the berry bushes. There were several bushes just off to the side of the road brimming with berries ready to burst. All the children ate their fill, and then filled their pockets.
"Look at my hands!", laughed Perva.
"Look at your dress!", Merry laughed in dismay, "your mother is going to be so angry!" Perva saw her dress was be terribly stained, but laughed as Merry did. "Yes, she'll be angry, but she won't fuss too much. It'll just become another work dress." Then Perva returned Merry's amazement, "And look at your shirt! Won't your mother be angry as well?"
Merry looked down at his shirt. It wasn't stained nearly as bad as Perva's
dress, or Pippin altogether, but there was a drop of berry juice here and there. "Yes, she will a little, and after a bit of fussing, she'll tell me how
fortunate she is to even have a son who gets his clothes stained!" Merry stopped laughing and realized what he'd just said.
Perva stopped laughing as well, understanding that Merry just disclosed a lonely, private part of himself. They walked together in silence for a moment, then Perva asked, "Do you miss not having a brother or
sister?"
Still walking, Merry shrugged, "A little." He sheepishly looked at the ground, and thought better, "no..." , He sighed, "I miss it a lot. Sometimes, I make believe that...", Merry blushed, "that you, Pippin, Pim and Pearl are my brother and sisters."
"Why do you suppose your momma and papa never had more children?"
"I don't know," Merry kicked a stone in his path. "I do know that it can't happen as long as one of them is always behind locked doors!"
"Sure it can!"
Merry laughed, "No it can't!"
"My sister, Pim, says that all it takes is a kiss to have a baby!", and with that, Perva pursed her lips and kissed the back of her own hand. She looked sideways at Merry, with an all-knowing look, "I'm certain your papa had enough time to kiss, didn't he?"
Merry looked with shock at his cousin. "A kiss?! I can't believe you fell for all that madness! Everyone knows it takes more than a kiss!"
Perva stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Are you calling my sister mad?"
"Yes!" laughed Merry, and he walked over to Perva and quickly kissed her on the cheek. "If that were true, then we'd have a baby, too!"
"Silly boy! It doesn't work on cousins! The momma and papa can't be cousins!"
"Doesn't work on cousins?! Silly girl, it doesn't work on cousins because it doesn't work at all!", Merry said as he dodged a swing from Perva.
"Alright, O Wise One!", Perva mocked as she connected her fist to Merry's arm, "How are babies born?"
Merry rubbed his arm, and became very serious. "Alright, I'll tell you. The mother lays an egg, much like a hen does, and then the dad sprinkles dust on it, specially made by the Elves. The mother then swallows the egg, and her tummy swells until the baby in the egg is ready to burst, and then the baby is born."
Perva nodded; this did sound more believable than kissing. Then added, "You mean your cousin Merimas and I could've kissed at Yule, and I wouldn't have had a baby?"
"Merimas?!", Merry put his arm around his cousin as they walked, "Perva, let me tell you about Merimas!"
