Thank you so much, everyone! I love your reviews, really, they're always so nice! I'd write and update all the chapters right now if I wanted but I don't have that much time on my hands! I'll try to get chapters up no more than a week, maybe two if I'm really busy. Ok, time to thank everyone who has reveiwed so far… phew!

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Pellakanoiel: Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you like it!

Loveofthering: Thank you so much for reading my stories! You always have great reviews and I hope you'll hang in there with my upcoming chapters. ;)

Rosa Cotton: I'm so happy you're reading my story! *hugs FF.net* Everyone is so nice on here! I can't stand it! *walks away* Alright I'm kidding ;)

LolliPopsAreTears: Yes, Nolfarm might come up again…but Sam's always around!

Isadora Quagmire: Yes, Sam always needs hugs! *hugs*

Harmonic Friction: Thanks for reading! I don't know what else to say to everyone!

Len: Thanks for the warm review! It really made me smile and I'm glad you like it!

Lindalerial: Yes, unfortunately, there aren't many Sam/Rosie fics out there! I hope you'll like this one.

Galaxy3: A bondage? No, never… *wink*

Aemilia Rose: You're always so nice and I'm thrilled you're reading this! You already know how much I love your fics, so I won't even go there. ;)

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Ok, time for MlynnBloom to be quiet and start the story already!!

Chapter four: A Lesson in Herbs

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Sam tied the bags of dry goods and placed them securely above the ground on a high cabinet shelf. He took the remains of the bags with wet sugar, flour, yeast, and so on, outside the shed and saw Mrs. Cotton come outside.

"Mrs. Cotton, I'm afraid the snow got to some of your baking goods and such, but I saved as much as the non-spoiled food as I could," Sam showed her and she frowned at the wet bags.

"Ah well, thank'ee Sam for saving the rest. I'll have to go into town and get some more," She took the bags and looked towards the shed, "Sam, you really don't need to be cleaning out the shed. When I said you could come over to help, I meant with Mr. Cotton. You're doing more than you need to, dear." Lily said politely but Sam shook his head.

"Well, Mrs. Cotton, when I said I'd come over to help you, I meant to help make your life easier and your shed was a complete mess. It's not a problem, really," He said and she smiled.

"Alright, but when it gets too cold, you come inside, you hear? I worry about your sake, Sam," She said and she walked back to the house. He came back to the shed and picked up the fallen tools and boxes when Nick and Tom came in.

"Hey, Sam, do you need any help?" Nick asked and Sam looked around.

"Not really, but many thanks for asking," Sam said and then he looked at a dusty basket on top of the drawer. "In fact," said Sam, "Tom, could you get that basket for me up there? You're a bit taller than me and I can't reach it."

Afterwards when Tom pulled it down, Nick looked inside and laughed, "My word, it's Ma's old sewing basket. Remember how she flipped the house upside down looking for it? We've got to tell her we found it in here!" Nick said and after one final sweep around the shed, Sam locked it up and they came towards the house.

"Ma! Look what was inside the shed all this time!" Tom said and Mrs. Cotton took the basket.

"My old sewing needles! My yarn! I cannot believe you found them!" She cried and she started immediately on her knitting.

Throughout the day, Sam occasionally would check up on Mr. Cotton and get him things like water or another book to read. And before the sun died down, Sam bid his goodbye and left for home.

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Two days later, Sam came back around noon and Mrs. Cotton was pleased to see him again. She still thanked him for his generosity and he would still try to find things to do to help. After helping Farmer Cotton, he checked the shed again, just in case, and decided to come around to the stable. Rosie was there, brushing Cobfoot, and Sam tried to walk away slowly out of shyness. Rosie heard his crushing footsteps in the snow and smiled, "Hello, Sam."

He turned around red-faced, and embarrassed she saw him leave and came up to the stable. "Hello…I see you've already taken care of the pony." He said and she looked over to his feed.

"Aye, I fed him just a while ago," Rosie said and Sam came up to the pony's gentle face.

"What's his name?" Sam asked and Rosie put the brush away.

"Cobfoot---I'm still not sure who thought up the name," Rosie explained and she fed him a piece of carrot.

Sam straightened up the leaning bale of hay and said, "My Gaffer's pony is named Toadstool. Funny name I'd say, but he won him at Frogmorton and that's the name he came with. 'Tis sort of ironic if you think about it," Sam said and he quickly stayed quiet after feeling like he was talking too much.

After Rosie came out of the barn, Sam came out after her and he closed up the stable. She wrapped her coat tightly around her shoulders and they walked towards the house. The setting sun was falling slow and Sam knew he had to get home soon. Rosie looked up at the sky and she said thoughtfully, "Winter sunsets always looks like the promising colors of Spring, don't you think?"

Sam looked up at the clouds and sky and said softly, "Aye, it does." They walked silently for a little while until Sam said, "But don't it look like the sea, as well?"

Rosie looked back up, "You have seen the sea?" She asked curiously and Sam blushed.

"Well---no, but it's what I imagine it to look like. Blue water with waves of many colours, washing up to a golden-like shore," He confessed and Rosie could imagine it as she looked up to the pink and purple clouds reaching for the gold sun.

"Sam, you don't speak much to me, but when you do it's always so promising in a way," Rosie spoke gently and after she smiled warmly to Sam, he looked away with a smile towards the snow on the ground by his feet.

Another day was over and Sam couldn't wait to come back in a few days.

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Sam came back after three days had passed. Hamson had come from Tighfield and Halfred was still fashionably late and the whole family (excluding Halfred and Daisy) was getting ready for the six-day holiday the next days. Sam helped Mrs. Cotton rewrap and tend Farmer Cotton's leg and ankle and as much as he persisted on getting up to stand, Mrs. Cotton would not allow it.

Mrs. Cotton knew she had to replace the sugar and flour and such before the feasting so she took Cobfoot out and herself and Tom went down to town. Sam promised he would make lunch for Mr. Cotton and everyone else while she was gone and she was grateful. She had the meat out for him and he started to make the broth.

Rosie came in the kitchen and saw the herbs and spices he had out, along with the steaming pots and pans. "Who taught you how to cook?" Rosie asked and she took out bowls for everyone.

"Mostly my Ma, and some things I picked up from my Dad and brothers. And you?" Sam asked and Rosie looked down at the soup.

"Me? No, I'm a horrible cook." Rosie frowned at the spices and Sam gave a skeptic look.

"You cannot be that bad," He said sympathetically and she nodded and laughed.

"Well, alright, maybe not that bad. I at least know what basil looks like," She said and picked up the small bowl of crushed herbs.

"Pardon me, but that's oregano, Rosie," Sam said and she set it down.

"Yes, yes, that's what I meant. This! This is basil!" Rosie said and Sam laughed.

"Those are bay leaves…I put the basil away a while ago," said Sam and Rosie laughed. "See, I really am that bad."

"Well, you're never too old to learn and once you get them down, you'll never forget," Sam said and he showed her what herbs were what.

Nibs came in shortly and smelled the soup. Rosie took her turn in stirring it while Sam got out a side of bread and butter. He tried the soup and knew it was missing something. "Salt, just a little bit of salt will finish it. Nibs, I think I saw some coarse salt in that cabinet. It was in a red jar, can you get it for me?" Sam asked and Nibs hesitantly opened the drawer.

He looked for a very long time and after studying the many jars of salt his mother kept, he pulled down a slim jar. Sam looked at it and said gently, "It's that red jar right there." He handed back the green jar and Nibs bit his lip out of frustration. "I can't get it, Sam," Nibs said.

"Here, Nibs, I'll grab it for you," Rosie said and she took down the red jar in front. Sam took it and added some and stayed quiet while he stirred the soup some more.

Rosie walked over to Nibs while he looked out the window helplessly and said quietly, "Sam, Nibs has a problem with his eyes," Rosie explained and Nibs shifted uncomfortably.

"I cannot tell the colors apart." He explained insecurely and he brought the bowls and napkins to the other room, his head hung low.

Rosie came to Sam and whispered, "Don't tell anyone, Sam. He's very self-conscious 'bout his colorblindness. I'm not even sure if he's told anybody but our family; he never brings it up and I need to help him sometimes," Sam nodded and said, "I won't tell a soul, honest."

He brought the pot of soup to the table and a bowl to Farmer Cotton. Jolly and Nibs decided to eat their lunch with their Pa while everyone else ate at the table.

Mrs. Cotton and Tom came back with sacks for cooking in the late afternoon and Sam helped them carry it to the shed. Mrs. Cotton pulled him aside after he set the last of the bags down.

"Sam, I was wondering if you could ask your mother if your family would like to come over for a day for feasting during Yule. It is the least I can do to thank your family and we have plenty of room." She offered and Sam promised her that he would tell her.

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Sam walked towards the front of their house, rubbing his hands together and Rosie spotted him from the inside. She ran out to get him and he turned around, "Here, you forgot your mittens." He put them on and shivered, "I knew I had forgotten something."

He found a shovel he placed there earlier and shoveled the snow off their pathway. She went back to the shed to get one and helped him with it. He hummed slightly and dug the snow away from their porch. Rosie heard him and smiled brightly, "That song, I haven't heard it in ages."

Sam turned around pink-faced, "Oh, uh, you have heard of it as well?" Sam asked and Rosie stepped through the snow.

"I loved it when I was little, it was such a nonsense song; do you remember how it goes?" Rosie asked and when Sam nodded, Rosie shoveled the snow lightly and sang.

Only tomorrow says, when Lilacs sway their beds

Of buds of Morning Glory and: Trolley-Tum-Toe High!

Flowers of Sun with say, when Moon of silver lay

Up in their castles, singing Hum-Tally-Toe-Ta!

Rosie sang it again and Sam joined in quietly with a harmony part, both with big childlike grins on their faces. Rosie sang sweetly as she remembered her brothers and herself singing this very loudly in the fields, making neighbor hobbits turn their heads and scowl for being so disruptive. Sam continued shoveling all the while singing and never taking his eyes off Rosie.

When she stopped she set her shovel deep in the snow, "Sorry, I only wanted to remember how it went." And she blushed when she thought about how silly she must have sounded.

"There's no need in apologizing, Rosie," Sam said softly, "I don't mind you singing. It was quite lovely despite the words." He finished up his work with shoveling and set them both back into the shed. Sam said nothing more except for when he said his good-byes to the Cottons and he headed down the icy lane.

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