Notes to Readers:
The co-author on this story, of course, is Jodancingtree.
Thank you for the comments! Reviews are very motivating and give me insights into
the stories that make me dig deeper in writing, which I probably wouldn't do
were I the only one reading these stories... (I am sending them on to Jo, and
she thanks you as well.) And thank you for your patience as well! We are
getting there—the last chapter is written, but there are a few in-between
chapters in the works to tie up loose ends, and they are slowly being written
and edited (under duress, my editor would have you know—she doesn't usually
edit a story until it's finished!).
Aemilia, thank you. Ferdi is such fun to write. Am just finishing up another
story where he plays a main role (Farry and Goldi's wedding story).
Hai, you're right about me and happy endings. I managed one in Pearl's story
(relatively happy, that is) even though it doesn't detail a happy incident in
Great Smials history.
Xena, I'm glad that Ferdi can be as devious as Pip in his own way. So nice that
he got to see his daughter born.
McCarthy, thank you for the kind words! Read all 30 chapters in one sitting,
that's the kind of thing I tend to do. Here's another for your reading
pleasure.
If you cannot access ff.net, try www.storiesofarda.com.
You can leave reviews there, as well (thanks SoA reviewers! See replies at SoA
as well), and there is a "reply" feature where an author can reply to
a review right there rather than within the text of the story. I have also
discovered the "author alert" feature. Amazing place, that SoA.
The next chapter of "A Small and Passing Thing" will be posted in a day or two,
if all goes well, after a chapter of "Shire" The next chapter of "Runaway" is
written and awaiting my editor's attention.
Enough admin notes. Let's get to the story.
***
Chapter 31. From One Heart to Another
'A fine lass,' Diamond said. 'Strong,
for all she came earlier than she was supposed to.'
The hobbits gathered in the corridor made a pleased jumble of noise.
Meadowsweet smiled widely from the circle of Tolly's arm as Haldi said, 'Ferdi
was there? I thought Mardi brought him a sleeping draught!'
'Aye, and he drank nearly the half of
it,' Diamond said wryly. 'The other half went into the chamber pot when Nell's
back was turned.' The assembled hobbits laughed, though quite a few shook their
heads. They were surprised to hear Ferdi had taken any at all, knowing how he
avoided healers and their potions like the plague.
'Come, Sweetie,' Tolly said now, giving
his wife a little tug. 'It was a long ride, and I'm that ravenous.'
'Rusty probably has the table laid
already,' Meadowsweet said. She looked to Diamond. 'Go and put your feet up,
Mistress! You've your own babe to be cosseting.'
'Don't you worry,' Diamond said. 'I
haven't felt so well in days.' Nevertheless, she turned back to the Thain's
private quarters. There was still some business to take care of.
She found Pippin and Farry sitting together, talking quietly. Pippin stood at
her entrance, their son hastily rising in imitation of his father; both waited
for Diamond to seat herself before resuming their seats. Pippin put one of his
arms about his son, pulling him close.
'Well now,' Diamond said, looking from
one to the other. 'What was this all about?'
'It was my fault,' Farry said, setting
his chin. 'I ran away.'
'You ran away,' Diamond echoed. Lads
had been known to play a game of "run away" before: grab a bag of
bread-and-cheese and steal out of the Smials, creeping back as soon as night
began to cast its shadows over the land.
'He really did, my love, no child's
game,' Pippin said soberly. 'He was more than halfway to Buckland when Ferdi
caught up with him.'
'Halfway to Buckland!' Diamond gasped,
thinking of foxes and stoats and stray dogs. 'Were you thinking to show up at
Brandy Hall, to surprise your father after being left home?'
'I was going to Gondor,' Farry said,
swallowing hard.
'Gondor,' Diamond whispered. 'O Farry.'
She looked to her husband. 'What sort of tales have you been filling his head
with?'
'It was all my fault,' Faramir
persisted. 'My idea.' To his surprise, his father spoke up, firmly overriding
his words.
'No, Faramir,' Pippin said. 'It was not
all your fault. A great deal of the fault lies with your father and your
mother.' He reached out to Diamond, taking her hand. 'We've been so wrapped up
in our misery we've hardly had a civil word for you in two years.'
Diamond's eyes flooded with tears and she forced down a sob. 'That's all over
and done,' she said bravely.
'No, it's not,' Pippin answered, his
voice quiet. 'Even now we grieve the babe born too soon, and we fear for the
babe you bear.'
'It was my fault,' Faramir said low.
'That was my fault as well,' he repeated.
'Your fault!' Diamond said. 'How?'
'You fell,' Faramir whispered, eyes
fixed on his hands, twisted together in his lap.
'O Farry,' Diamond said, getting up to
move to their son's other side, sitting down next to him, throwing her arms
around him. 'You didn't make me fall.'
'I had a bad dream,' Farry said simply.
'You got up because I was calling to you, and you fell, and my little brother
died next day.'
'O Farry no!' Diamond sobbed, pulling
him close.
Pippin let mother and son weep together for some moments, his own eyes
glistening, before saying quietly, 'And Sandy thought he'd lose his position
because the carpet was loose and your mother caught her foot when she rose from
the bed.'
'Sandy?' Faramir said.
'You see,' Pippin continued in a
reasonable tone, though his heart was wrung within him, 'Sandy blamed himself.'
He smiled ironically. 'He claimed the fault was his. Of course it wasn't. It
was no more his fault, Farry, than it was yours, or your mother's, or Healer
Woodruff's.'
He took a deep breath. 'The real tragedy in all this is what happened after. I
lost myself in my work and did not give your mother the time and tenderness she
needed to heal her grief, and neither of us gave you what you needed, lad.
We've let you muddle along while we buried ourselves, when what you required
was the love of a mother and a father.'
Diamond listened, breathing shallowly, tears running down her cheeks, but she
was nodding. 'Yes,' she whispered. 'Of course.' She hugged her son. 'O Farry,
forgive me.'
'O Diamond,' Pippin said, his arms
encompassing wife and son. 'Forgive me.'
Diamond pushed herself back, wiping at her face. 'That depends,' she said,
sniffling. 'What am I forgiving?'
Pippin smiled. 'Do you want a list?' he said softly.
'Do I need one?' Diamond said.
'Ah, love, you know me too well,'
Pippin answered. 'Very well.' He ticked off one finger. 'For burying myself in
business after our son died.'
'Yes,' Diamond said, sitting a little
straighter, one hand unconsciously going to her belly.
Pippin ticked off another finger. 'For passing Farry on to my special assistant,
thinking he'd get more attention that way, more care, thinking that the
business of being Thain was more important than anything else.'
'Yes,' Diamond said again, and Farry
nodded.
Pippin ticked a third finger. 'For going off to Buckland for diversion, without
taking you along, when surely you could use a change of scene as well, and a
chance to be relieved of some of the everyday tasks that burden you.'
'There is that,' Diamond agreed.
Pippin ticked off a fourth finger. 'For falsely accusing Ferdibrand and
Tolibold of intending harm to Farry,' he said.
'O Pippin,' Diamond gasped. Pimpernel's words had not registered at the time
she was berating her brother, but now the implications struck Diamond full
force. 'Falsely accusing... intending harm... that's banishment!'
'Or restitution,' Pippin said. 'I have
apologised, and I have only begun to pay.' He watched Diamond with narrowed
eyes. 'Are you well, my love?' he asked. 'We can finish this another time. I do
not want to tax you.'
'I am well,' Diamond said defiantly,
straightening once more. 'Don't tell me there's something worse.'
'Much worse,' Pippin said. 'But it is
also the last, I hope.'
'I don't know what to hope,' Diamond said
slowly, as Faramir looked from mother to father in wonder. He could not
remember the last time they had talked so... clearly... before him.
Pippin hesitated, then steeling
himself, he ticked the last finger. 'For dying,' he said softly. 'For leaving
you a widow, and Farry fatherless, and for refusing to face the fact that it's
going to happen one of these days, sooner than later if the healers are to be
believed.'
'O Pippin,' Diamond whispered once
again and looked to their son.
'Farry knows,' Pippin said. 'I thought
to hide it from him, but he's known for years, haven't you, lad?' He tousled
the curls so like his own. 'You're a bright one; you can add two and two as
well as any other Took.'
Looking back to Diamond, he added, 'I've tried to deny it myself, resented the
healers and their attentions, resisted any "help" they've tried to offer, made
their job harder and caused you needless worry.'
'You are a Took,' Diamond said simply.
'Yes, Tooks and our disdain of
healers,' Pippin said. 'You'd think we were made of something stronger than
flesh and bone, the way we carry on. Well, my love,' he added with a sigh, 'I'm
going to try to do better. O—' he said, holding up his hands, 'I'm not going to
turn into a Lalia, groaning about my many complaints and fussing about shawls
and medicaments and fresh air and ailments, but I will try to heed the
healers... and you, my dear,' he finished, taking Diamond's hand once more.
'That is a promise.'
'Da always keeps his promises, you
know,' Faramir said earnestly.
'I know,' Diamond said, and the three
shared a long, wordless embrace.
Finally Pippin settled back, unobtrusively wiping his face and putting on a
smile. 'So,' he said. 'What's the word about Nell? Am I an uncle or an aunt
this time?'
