CHAPTER Twelve - Together Forever
Merry woke with a start. It was dark in the room, but he felt a cool chill under the blanket. Then he felt the source; a chilly snuggle against his back from something little. He turned over; it was just who he had guessed it would be.
"Pippin!", whispered Merry, "what's the matter?" His cousin snuggled closer, and Merry could feel Pippin was chilly. "Are you cold?" A nod from under the blanket. "Well, turn over, Pip, and then we can snuggle together a bit, okay?" Pippin rolled over onto his side and snuggled his back up to Merry's tummy. "I code", he sniffed.
Merry could see the silhouette of his mother sitting in the chair by the
fireplace. She wore a blanket that went up to her shoulders. She obviously had fallen asleep; letting the fire burn away to small embers. Having to build a fire in the summer was rare, but because of the dampness from the rain and his illness, Merry asked for a warm fire. He pulled the blanket and quilt up over his ears to ward off the chill, and made sure he wouldn't suffocate Pippin in the process.
Merry could feel he was lying on a lump of something underneath him. He fumbled around to make sure all of Pippins limbs were accounted for. Pippin giggled, thinking Merry was trying to tickle him. Merry felt a tiny hand reach up and lightly scratch his neck. Pippin was trying to tickle Merry back. "Shhh, Pippin! I wasn't trying to tickle you!", whispered Merry, finding the lump and tugging it out from under him. It was Pippin's favorite toy--a little blue silk pillow with a smiling face embroidered on it.
His mother helped him make the pillow for Pippin when he was a baby. Of course, his mother did most of the sewing, but she let Merry finish off the last few stitches, so as to feel like he had part in it. Merry now looked at it in the moonlight. He could see it was a bit faded and worn from many washings and baby's playtime. Merry knew Pippin took it to bed with him every night, and evidently brought it with him when he sought warmth with Merry. Merry smiled at the thought of his old pillow comforting his little cousin, the tiny form lying next to him now breathing small little breaths, deep in slumber. Merry placed the pillow against Pippin's tummy; he'd be looking for it when he woke up. Merry once more caressed the silky smoothness of the fabric, before wandering off into a dream.
Esmeralda's eyes opened to sunlight. Oh, what a fair morning it would be if the children weren't sick, she thought. She felt the room was a bit cool and realized the fire was out. Merry! He must be freezing--I'll never forgive myself if I've had a part in furthering his illness! She quickly got up to stoke the fire; she would have to build another small one to chase out the morning chill in the room. She gathered a few small logs at the side of the fireplace and bent down to light them when she froze in place, nearly dropping the wood. There was Merry asleep, buried under his quilt, and then there was a smaller shape lying next to him, but couldn't quite see whom it was. Esmeralda had to walk to the other side of the bed to see the little face of...Pippin. This was a rare moment--the two looked so innocent as they slept there. She would remember and cherish this moment until the day she died. How she wished she could give Merry
a little brother! Her eyes teared up at the thought of Merry feeling so alone.
Esmeralda heard a soft knock on the door, and it opened. Dahlia peered around the corner, "will ya be needin' breakfast, Mistress?" She asked softly, and then noticed Esmeralda wiping her eyes. "Are ya alright, Mistress?"
"Esmeralda....please call me Esmeralda.", she replied. Dahlia only smiled.
"Oh, and yes, please--on both questions", Esmeralda tried to smile, "only--may I have two extra pieces of toasted bread? For the boys when they wake up." Esmeralda nodded in the direction of the two slumbering hobbit children.
"Of course, Mistr--er, Miss Esmeralda", Dahlia replied as she shut the door.
Esmeralda smiled at her insistence.
Pippin stirred in his sleep, and one of his feet stuck out from under the quilt. Esmeralda slowly approached so as not to waken him. She saw the tiny foot; so little for a four-year-old, she thought. She looked at his small innocent face; he looked so much like Merry did when Merry was his age. It didn't seem that long ago! She carefully took his foot and tucked it back under the quilt. So little, and so warm, she thought. The hair on his foot still had the texture of baby hair. She noticed something at her feet. She picked it up and studied it in her hand. The little blue pillow! She never imagined she ever see it again! Oh, the love that was given into each stitch of this pillow! She made it before Merry was even born; she made it for another child--a child that now only lived in her heart. Afterwards, she decided to give it to Merry. The little blue pillow turned out to be his favorite toy. He took it everywhere--to the market, in the bath, and every night to bed.
When Pippin was born, Merry wanted to give his new boy cousin a gift; something very special. She almost cried when he handed her the blue pillow for repair. Over the years of child's play and slumbering nights, the pillow was torn, and some of the embroidery had been ripped out, but Merry was adamant. And now, looking at the two boys that lay quietly sleeping, she now understood. Merry must have guessed at that point that he would probably not get a baby brother or sister. The little blue pillow was his way of "claiming" Pippin--claiming him as his own little brother. She smiled at the cleverness of her son. Over the past
few years, she watched as Merry attached himself to his newfound "brother". Fine, she decided, so be it. She would welcome Pippin as her "adopted" son. From today onward, she would watch over these two boys as a mother hen until the day she was taken from Middle Earth.
Note: Thank you to all who have taken the time to read this story and send a review! I have sent thank you notes, but for some reason, the server returns them "undeliverable". But I thank loveofthering, hippy hobbit, meggie, and pansy chubb for your kind reviews! I look forward to more...Thanks, Pippinfan.
