Thank you, Pearl Took and Zebra Wallpaper, for your wonderful words of encouragement in all your reviews! Nothing wrong with "wonderful"...I sort of like that word myself!

Chapter Three - Too Much Too Soon

It was late in the evening as most of the overnight guests were in bed for an early start back home the next morning. Frodo decided to stay and visit with Merry a couple more days before heading back, so both he and Merry sat up until midnight sitting in front of the fireplace warming their toes, smoking pipes and chatting.

"So he's giving you an office all your own?" Frodo spoke softly, exhaling smoke into the dimly lit room. The main light came from the fireplace itself.

"That's what he told me earlier in his study."

Frodo turned to his friend, "Did he say what you would be doing with an office all your own?"

Merry shook his head, "No, he didn't say. He did say that I'd have responsibilities of my own. What they are I have yet to discover."

The silence was too long for Frodo's reply. Merry looked over to see if his friend had fallen asleep. Instead, Frodo sat very still as if concentrating on something. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Did you hear something?" Frodo crinkled his brow, trying to hear it again. Merry shook his head. "Shhh, listen!" Frodo whispered.

Merry listened carefully as the fire crackled and hissed. He looked at Frodo and shook his head again. Then he almost missed it. The sound blended well with the hissing of the burning wood. Someone was asleep nearby, breathing deeply. The sound was now very distinct. "Yes," Said Merry, "I can hear it now."

They both got up to investigate the intruder. Together they made their way towards the back part of the room; the part that had little light. Frodo saw the figure first and pointed downward above an overstuffed chair with his finger to his lips. Merry crept over to view the slight, dark form curled up into ball, fast asleep.

Merry put his hands on his hips, "Uncle Paladin made him go to bed early! How did he get in here?"

Pippin stirred from his sleep, and coughed. "Hullo."

"That cough doesn't sound good, Pip." Frodo leaned over and felt Pippin's forehead and looked at Merry. "Warm. Hand me your pipe, cousin, and help him up to his room. I'll go and wake Paladin."

Merry helped Pippin into his bed and tucked the covers around him as he knew his uncle used to do for him when he was young and visited Whitwell often. "How did you sneak into the room without us seeing or hearing you?"

"I didn't mean to sneak; I just didn't want to upset you and Frodo, is all." Pippin held his pillow to his face as he coughed up more congestion. Pippin's face was pale in the dim light. "I wish this would stop."

Merry sat down on the bed next his best friend. "I wish it would stop, too. You look so miserable, Pip."

"I feel it, Merry." Then he added, "You know, back in the garden, I was going to say something then stopped."

"I remember." Merry said. "You said, 'And I really...' ."

Pippin held his pillow tight in case another bout of coughing started up. "I wanted to say...I really missed you, and I really wanted to see you. And I did, Merry."

"I miss you, too, Pip. And I miss your whole loony family!" He smiled.

"Well, if we're loony, you are too, for all the time you've spent with us--and don't forget your own mother's loony Took blood!" Then another coughing fit shook him as Paladin came into the room trailed by Frodo.

He came over at once and put his hand to his son's face and brow and sighed. "Ah, Pippin."

Merry got up from his side of the bed, "I'll run and fetch the healer."

In a little while, Pippin was resting comfortably after drinking an elixir the healer made for him. She made enough for the next couple of days and gave instructions on how to administer it. She further explained that peace and quiet, and more bed rest was all Pippin really needed. Merry thanked Mistress Salinda for her help and saw her back to her own family's apartment.

"I knew I let him get up too soon." Paladin was weary, sitting dejectedly in one of the chairs in the bedroom. "I should've expected this."

Frodo felt for his older cousin, "Pippin's not a child anymore, Paladin, so it's difficult to keep him in bed at his age. I should know--I gave my dear Uncle Saradas some trying times just like this in the past."

"The timing for this couldn't be more wrong." Paladin shook his head. He had a far away look on his face. "I left Ferumbras in the care of a hired attendant." Said Paladin. "He's becoming feeble in his old age, so I must return to mind him and his affairs. He only seems to trust me, but he realized that I had to come to Rory's burial."

Frodo watched as Paladin began to nod off; he'd done much traveling in the past couple days. "Why don't you go to bed, Paladin? Pippin looks much better and he's breathing easier now. You need your own rest before you become ill yourself."

Paladin hadn't thought of it that way. "Yes, I suppose I shall."