Many Aspects
Part Three by Gillian
Late November 1420 S.R.
Sam had a thick blanket spread out on the ground, strewn with pillows. He thought it was too cold for Frodo outside, but the pregnant hobbit said he hated being cooped up inside. He needed the fresh air. Of course as soon as he got out into the fresh air it usually managed to put him to sleep, but since just about everything did these days, Sam couldn't say much about it.
As his condition advanced and his belly swelled, Frodo seemed to be going into a kind of hibernation. When he wasn't eating he slept, curled up against or on one memorable occasion even under whatever he happened to be nearest. Nestadren said he was conserving his energy, Sam insisted he was eating himself into a stupor, but Frodo just smiled serenely and patted his expanding belly.
"I'm sleeping for two now," he would say.
"Aye, and eating for twelve," Sam would tease.
Frodo lay curled on his side, his head on a cushion and a warm quilt tucked around him. Next to him dozed his uncle Bilbo, who often joined them as they strolled around the gardens or through the edges of the forest. The old hobbit would tell them stories of the Shire, or teach them songs from his youth that he'd half forgotten. Sometimes he read too, but mostly he was content to be read to, or 'rest his eyes' in the winter sunshine.
With a yawn and a stretch Frodo sat up and blinked pleasurably in the morning sunlight. "I feel good," he pronounced, trying to stand up. Sam hauled him to his feet, letting him lean against him for a moment to collect his balance. "Have we anything to eat?"
Sam chuckled and gestured to the picnic basket. "As if I'd stir without a snack for you," he said quietly, so as not to disturb the older hobbit. He picked up the basket and carried it to a bench a little distance off, and Frodo followed and sat down, ruefully rubbing his back.
"Here," Sam handed him a wedge of cake and took over the back massage, his experienced fingers finding the right spot and making Frodo stretch and purr.
"Sam," Frodo murmured softly. "I love my uncle very much, but sometimes I miss our privacy out here. That soft bed on the grass looks very tempting right now, and I don't mean to sleep on."
Sam's heart beat a little faster and he dropped a kiss on the nape of Frodo's neck. "Don't you get me going," he chided. "It's too bloomin' cold out here for those kinds of goings on anyway. Now, if you can stay awake long enough when we get to our room..."
"Dear Sam," Frodo said, turning and dropping a kiss on his cheek. "Have you been feeling deprived lately? I do fall asleep at the most inopportune moments, I know that."
"I miss that sometimes," Sam admitted. "But as long as I can hold you close I sleep just fine. The rest can wait until you've more energy."
"But that may be months away," Frodo said in dismay.
"Then it's months," Sam said sensibly. "I've waited my whole life for you, love. A few months more won't kill me."
"I think I hear some hobbit voices," a familiar voice called out, and with a cry of surprise Sam leapt to his feet, automatically hauling Frodo up after him.
"Legolas! Gimli!" Sam cried in delight.
Their friends bounded up all smiles and Sam and Frodo rushed to greet them.
"It's good to see you, my friends," Gimli roared, wringing Sam's hand painfully. "It's been too long!'
"Frodo," Legolas said in wonder, taking his outstretched hand. "You look wonderful." A slight frown marred his perfect brow. "Truly wonderful," he said more slowly. "It's somewhat of a surprise."
"Aye," Gimli said cheerfully, patting Frodo on the back so hard he jumped. "Especially since the we heard you were at death's door, or some such nonsense. Should have known it was just elvish gossip," he muttered loudly.
"Indeed, we did hear you were unwell," Legolas said. "How glad I am to see the news was false."
"I'm fine," Frodo smiled, sitting back down on his bench and rubbing his back ruefully. "But what on earth has brought you here? This is such a surprise!"
"A pleasant one I hope," Legolas grinned.
"It's wonderful!" Sam said, dazed and pleased at the surprise.
"I see Sam here's been feeding you up," Gimli chuckled, pulling out his pipe and tobacco pouch and joining him on the bench. "You've put on some weight, young hobbit, but it suits you, aye, it does."
"I think so," Sam agreed, accepting the pouch from Gimli and happily lighting his own pipe with a grin.
"But tell us, Frodo," Legolas said curiously. "How is it you look so well? You're glowing with health! And yet the reason friend Gimli and I chose to travel this way was because we heard you were seeking a healer amongst the elves. We thought to offer our help if it was needed."
"How good of you!" Frodo exclaimed. "But as it happens Sam and I found the help we needed here at Rivendell." He slanted a smile at Sam who puffed contentedly on his pipe and nodded back. "Perhaps you know the healer who helped us," Frodo said innocently. "He's from your realm."
"Nestadren is his name," Sam supplied helpfully.
"Nestadren, yes!" Legolas said in delight. "He's much renowned for his fight against evil. In fact he..." Legolas trailed away and his eyes widened. Sam and Frodo were treated to the sight of the normally imperturbable elf with his jaw hanging open. His gaze dropped to the swell of Frodo's belly and he blinked. "Frodo," he said in wonder. "You're pregnant."
Gimli choked on his pipe smoke and sputtered a dwarfish curse. "What's that elf saying now?" he exclaimed.
"He's saying Frodo's pregnant, Gimli," Sam supplied helpfully.
"I heard that part!" Gimli snapped back.
Legolas dropped gracefully to his knees in front of Frodo. "May I?"
Frodo smilingly unbuttoned his coat and the golden haired elf reverently lifted his hands and laid them on the swell of Frodo's belly.
"Stuff and nonsense," Gimli spluttered, frowning doubtfully at the smooth swell, much more clearly outlined beneath the thin shirt. "That's some joke, and no mistake." He raised a brow at Sam. "Strange sense of humor they have," he said in a loud aside.
Legolas' hands shaped Frodo's tummy, his eyes drifting closed. "Fael," he murmured. "Beautiful light."
"Fine," Gimli said grumpily. "Speak elvish now, tell your private jokes. Never let it be said a dwarf couldn't take an elf joke." He pointed the stem of his pipe at Frodo's middle. "Go on lad, pull that cushion out of your shirt and let us all in on it."
Sam was snickering through his pipe smoke and Frodo was grinning widely as he swiftly unbuttoned his thin white shirt. "Never let it be said a Baggins wasn't up for a dare," he chuckled, and a moment later his swelling stomach was clearly visible. What's more, with his perfect timing the babe extended one tiny limb and kicked, sending a ripple over the taut skin.
"That's my lad," Frodo said proudly.
Legolas was smiling in delight and Gimli's pipe hung out of his slack jaw as he pointed one quivering finger.
"That hobbit has a baby in him!" he exclaimed.
"I know," Sam said smugly. "I put it there."
This time Gimli bit clean through the stem and his pipe dropped in two pieces on the ground.
"Bloody hell," he cried. "That was my best pipe!"
"Sam!" Legolas said gladly, rising and reaching for Sam's hand. "Congratulations!"
"You put it there?" Gimli repeated. "How?"
Even Legolas broke into laughter at that question, and Gimli's face grew red, or at least the parts of it that could be seen through his beard and mustache.
"You know what I mean!" he thundered in embarrassment.
"It is Galinsell, Child of Light," Legolas explained. "He is healing Frodo from within." Legolas' eyes grew dreamy again. "He is beautiful."
"I think he will be," Frodo said complacently. "He'll get his looks from my side of the family," he teased Sam with a wink.
"As long as he gets his good sense from mine," Sam said placidly.
"Elven magic," Gimli said in dismay. "Hobbit lads with babies inside them, talking trees. What's next? Dancing rocks? Clouds that give milk? The world waits with bated breath for their next brilliant idea."
Legolas wrinkled his nose and shrugged eloquently. "You get used to it," he said to Frodo and Sam.
"That elven spell saved Frodo's life," Sam pointed out.
"Harumph, well," Gimli said, picking up his broken pipe and surveying it in dismay. "Elves come in handy from time to time, I suppose," he allowed grudgingly.
"Like fixing that pipe for you," Legolas offered, and Gimli harumphed again, slightly less grudgingly this time.
"Legolas," Sam asked curiously. "What was that word you used before? Fael?"
"I was describing the light I felt from within Frodo," Legolas explained. "Fael is brilliance, as if from the sun."
"Fael," Sam mused.
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Gimli pulled Sam aside while Frodo and Legolas chattered to each other.
"Sam lad," he said reproachfully. "I thought you had more sense than to get mixed up in elf magic. Surely you could have found another way?"
"I'd have used any magic, Gimli, to save his life. Paid any price." Sam smiled over at Frodo who was describing something to Legolas with broad sweeps of his hand. Legolas appeared to be hanging on every word, nodding his head with bright eyes. "As it turned out there was no price. Only a gift. Two gifts, Frodo's life, and the babe's."
"A babe," Gimli said, shaking his head doubtfully. "You seem to be taking all this in your stride, I must say. I never took hobbits for such adaptable creatures before. Have you had no doubts then?"
"Speaking for myself, no," Sam admitted. "Not really. But then I've had the easy part."
Gimli coughed into his hand. "I wouldn't say that," he muttered.
Sam chuckled and shook his head. "P'raps we won't go too far into that subject."
"I'd be grateful," Gimli said fervently. "But what about Frodo, lad? Surely he's had his doubts? Although he seems right as rain with it now."
Sam sobered a little. "It's been a long road, Gimli. And not an easy one for Frodo." He brightened. "But now? Let me tell you how it goes with us. Frodo is eating pretty much everything that doesn't move these days, and by that, my friend, I mean don't take any unexpected naps or you might wake to find him chewing on your beard."
Gimli snorted.
"And he sleeps a lot. I've seen him fall asleep between one word and the next, over the pages of a book, sitting in the bath. When he's not sleeping I'm rubbing his back because it aches or his belly because it's so tight. And I won't even go into the cravings that always, without fail come in the middle of the night. You've not lived until you've passed midnight crawling around the floor of an elven kitchen looking for the sack of mushrooms Frodo is sure he saw the day before."
"You sound like you're coping though," Gimli observed with a twinkle in his eye.
Sam smiled, his heart in his eyes. "My friend, these are the happiest days of our lives."
"Well, I'm glad for you both," Gimli said gruffly, sniffing a little. "You deserve a bit of happiness. Although I'm still not sure about lads having babies, I must admit. I'll have to think on that a wee bit more."
"But, Gimli," Legolas said with a wicked grin, joining them with Frodo by his side. "If it were I who needed this form of healing, and you were called upon to help me or lose me, what would you say?"
"I'd say, good-bye fair princeling," Gimli said with finality. "It was nice knowing ye."
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"What's this? Mr. Frodo in my bed? But I hardly recognize him with his eyes open."
"Very funny. Maybe you should just take advantage of him while his eyes are open," Frodo suggested seductively.
"Take advantage of a pregnant hobbit?" Sam asked in his best scandalized tone. He jumped eagerly in the bed and into welcoming arms. "Mm, you feel good! But it's been so long, maybe I've forgotten what to do?"
"It's been all of a week," Frodo corrected. "But if you're not in the mood..." He closed his eyes and yawned.
"Oh no you don't!" Sam ordered.
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"I forgot a cloth," Sam bemoaned, reluctantly fighting his way free of their nest of blankets. Frodo was humming with pleasure, laying back against the pillows with his eyes shut and a smile on his lips. Sam figured he'd be fast asleep by the time he came back with the cloth, but instead he found his love sitting up in the bed, hunched over.
"Frodo!' Sam panicked when Frodo hunched over even further. What if he had been too rough? Had they hurt the baby?
"Sam!" Frodo looked up, his face frightened. "Here." He laid his hand under his prominent swell and Sam's own stomach clenched in fear. He fair leapt up on the bed and pulled the covers down, eyes searching the spot where Frodo's hand lay.
"Do you see it?" Frodo asked nervously. "Or is it my imagination?"
"I see it," Sam confirmed, his mouth dry. He carefully reached out and traced the thin pink line that ran under the swell. It felt like a seam or scar under his fingertips. "Does it hurt?"
"I didn't even know it was there!" Frodo said, his voice slightly frantic. "Sam, it's hard for me to tell without seeing it, but does it seem awfully... small to you?"
Sam measured with his hands, sliding them up over Frodo's tummy until they reached his belly button. There was an awful lot of baby on both sides. The hobbits exchanged wide eyed looks. Then Sam widened his hands to encompass the width of Frodo's belly and then slid down, narrowing the gap until the palms spanned that narrow still-forming slit.
"That can't be right!" Frodo exclaimed, a definite note of hysteria in his voice.
"Calm down, love," Sam said automatically.
""But, Sam! I still have nearly two months to go, I'm getting bigger every week! How is he supposed to get out through that little opening?"
"Well, a lasses opening is a lot smaller, isn't it?"
"I'm not a lass!" Frodo shouted. He was breathing deeply in and out and Sam pulled the covers back over him, tucking them around his cooling skin and making soothing noises.
"I know you're not," he said, cuddling him close. "Of course you're not. But your body's known what to do so far, hasn't it? Hmm? Come on, let me wipe you over, since I went and got the cloth." He busied himself under the covers while Frodo's breathing leveled out and his clenched hands relaxed. "Sorry the cloth's cold. I wish we had a little fireplace in here, so's I could boil us a kettle sometimes. I sure miss my own kitchen."
"Sam," Frodo interrupted, eyes opening in his pale face. "It's all right, I'm all right."
"Course you are," Sam agreed, breathing a sigh of relief.
"I just panicked a little bit."
"Yes," Sam agreed ruefully, dumping the cloth over the side of the bed. "Me too."
"Sometimes it feels as if our time here is endless, doesn't it? Other times it feels as if it's all flying by too quickly."
"Quickly enough." Sam sat by Frodo, feeling his heart begin to slow. He pulled the covers straight and laid a loving hand on Frodo's tummy. Frodo covered his hand tenderly.
"Sam? There's something we have to talk about."
Sam settled down comfortably. "All right."
"I... I need you to promise me something."
"Anything, you know that."
"If anything happens to me, Sam, I need to know that you'll take care of the baby."
"Nothing's goin' to happen to you, Frodo," Sam said quickly. "You're fine."
"Yes, I am fine. We're fine. But things go wrong sometimes, Sam, and we have to-"
"No!" Sam interrupted fiercely. "Nothin's goin' to go wrong! So you just stop-"
Frodo leaned forward and put a gentle hand over Sam's lips. "Sam," he whispered tenderly. "We've spent a lot of time ignoring things, haven't we? But we can't ignore this, love, not this." He stroked Sam's trembling lips.
Sam caught his fingers in his own and kissed them tenderly.
"My goodness, but we went into this blindly! All caught up in finding a cure, and then making it work. And here we are with a new life between us, a life we created, and we have to take responsibility for that."
"We have been responsible," Sam insisted shakily. "We are responsible."
"Then there's something we need to face," Frodo said solemnly. "Giving birth can be dangerous, love. Even for bodies designed to do it. Mothers die in childbirth, Sam, you know they do."
Sam clenched his jaw, tears pricking his eyes. "I know they do," he admitted. "But you're not goin' to."
"Course not." Frodo squeezed his fingers. "But we need to talk about it all the same. If the worst did happen I need to know you'll take care of our baby."
"Of course I will!" Sam choked out. He hated this helpless feeling, hated the tears clogging his throat, blinding his eyes. "You don't need to ask questions like that. I love him, remember? I always have."
Frodo winced and Sam instantly felt contrite.
"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"Didn't you?" Frodo wiped his own eyes now. "I'm not questioning your love for him, Sam. I'm just saying things have changed now, that's all. It's not just you and me any more. We can't go haring off on adventures when it suits us and we can't go making promises we can't keep."
"What promises?"
"You promised to follow me, Sam, remember? You followed me to the end of the world. You'd have followed me to the Undying Lands if I went, wouldn't you?"
Sam could only nod.
Frodo's voice was a whisper. "But if I die giving him life, you can't follow me, Sam. Not this time. One of us has to stay and take care of him."
Tears poured down Sam's face as he accepted the truth of that. He'd always known he wouldn't be left behind if Frodo went. He'd abandoned the Shire again, hadn't he? He'd have dragged Frodo across Middle Earth looking for a cure. And if they hadn't found one he'd always known at the back of his mind that he'd follow him on that last journey too.
Because the thought of living in a world without Frodo in it was unbearable.
"Sam?"
"I know," Sam wept. "I know you're right. And I do promise, Frodo, I do."
"And I promise too, Sam. If anything happens to either of us the other will go on." He reached out and stroked Sam's wet cheek. "It will be all right, Sam."
Sam cupped the hand to his face, feeling Frodo's warmth soak into his chilled skin. "I'm sorry I said that, about you not loving him. I know you do."
"But I haven't always," Frodo admitted. "I'm not sure I'll ever forgive myself for that. I never doubted your love for him though, Sam." Frodo grimaced and rubbed his back and Sam reached behind him and pressed with his strong fingers in just the right place. Frodo sighed and leaned back into his touch.
"Do you think all couples who are expectin' have talks like this?" Sam wondered.
"I suppose they do," Frodo said, looking bemused. He huffed a laugh. "I suppose they must. Sometimes it feels as if we're the only ones this has ever happened to."
"Well, we are pretty special." Sam yawned.
Frodo laid his head on Sam's shoulder. "We are that."
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"Well, he likes elf songs just fine, and hobbit songs make him dance, but so far dwarf songs just put him right to sleep."
"In pure self defense, I imagine," Legolas chuckled.
Sam joined in quietly, not wanting to disturb the napping trio. Frodo was curled up as usual on his side and Bilbo had his kerchief over his face and was snoring softly. And between then Gimli lay flat on his back, arms crossed, sleeping like the dead.
"Another one who'll insist he's just resting his eyes," Sam joked.
"He can sleep anywhere," Legolas said in admiration. "Even on horse back. While we're galloping."
"Well, Bilbo's old and Frodo's pregnant and Gimli's making up for lost sleep. Looks like between them we only have each other for company."
"Pregnant." Legolas shook his shining head. "Here is Legolas, son of Mirkwood, sitting in Imladris with a dwarf and a pregnant hobbit lad. When the world stops surprising me, Sam, then it will be time to listen to the call of the gulls, but not before."
"It feels like all our friends are sailing away," Sam said wistfully.
"Not I, Sam, at least not for a long while yet. Gimli has business with the dwarves of Erebor and I've promised to ask some of my own people to go to Gondor. Aragorn's neglected kingdom needs all the friends it can get."
"Then you'll be going soon?"
Legolas smiled quickly. "You won't get rid of us that easily. Gimli will do better talking to his people without an elf along, so with Lord Elrond's permission we'll use Imladris as a base, and come and go from here for a while yet."
"Will you still be here in February then?" Sam said hopefully.
"Dear Sam, have you been lonely here, you and Frodo?"
Sam shrugged. "As long as we have each other we're not lonely. But it is good to be with old friends again." Sam glanced over at Frodo, his face shadowed. "It takes our minds off our worries."
Legolas followed his gaze. "Old friends make good listeners, Sam."
Sam smiled gratefully. "We're just scared, that's all. Normal fears for parents to be, even if we're not very normal parents."
"Well then," Legolas said cheerfully. "Let's not talk about fears and worries on such a fine day. Tell me happy tales, Sam. Joyful ones. About you and Frodo perhaps. When did you discover this love you have for each other?"
Sam's cheeks turned pink. "We've always loved each other," he said shyly.
"Of course," Legolas nodded. "Your bond has been clear from the beginning. I remember how bravely you rushed into Lord Elrond's council and stated you would not let Frodo leave without you."
Sam covered his face with embarrassment.
"And how dedicated you were to care for him on our long journey. Never did he reach out that you weren't there to take his hand."
"I promised Gandalf that I'd look after him," he reminded Legolas. Then he chuckled. "But I'd of done it anyway."
"Your bond was clear. But I did not think then it was this kind of love." The elf's eyes twinkled. "The kind that makes babies."
Sam chortled. "Not hardly," he declared. "We was just friends is all. Deeper friends than most, on account of all we'd been through."
Legolas looked over at the snoring Gimli with a gentle look in his eyes. "Yes."
"But just friends."
"So when you came here," Legolas realized. "When my kinsman offered you a possible cure..." His blue eyes widened in admiration.
Sam couldn't help his wide smile. "Still being surprised by the world, Legolas?"
"So long as it has hobbits in it I think I always will be."
"What's all this chatter about?" Frodo yawned and stretched, pointing his toes and sighing in pleasure. "I'm trying to sleep for two over here."
Sam trotted over and hauled him to his feet, wrapping a strong arm around his waist and letting him steady himself.
"Come join us, Frodo," Legolas invited. Sam sat Frodo down at the stone table, and even before the weight was off his feet he was reaching for a shiny red apple.
"What were you two laughing about anyway?"
"The excellence of hobbits," Legolas said solemnly.
Frodo chuckled around a mouthful.
"Actually, Legolas," Sam said thoughtfully. "There's something I need some advice over. Frodo and I were thinkin' of giving the baby an elf name. What do you think?"
Blue eyes lit with pleasure. "I think it's a wonderful idea. Do you have a name in mind?"
"You don't think it's a bit of a cheek? A hobbit with an elf name?"
"My people will be honored, Sam."
"So how do elves name babies then?" Frodo asked curiously. "I've heard elf names that seem to have meaning and some that don't. How does it work?"
"The names we are given at birth are always ours," Legolas explained. "But they are not always the names we take when we are grown up or the names that might be given to us. Like Nestadren. His adult name describes his calling as a healer."
Frodo nodded thoughtfully.
"When you arrived yesterday and touched Frodo's belly, you said Fael, remember?" Sam said. "It was like you were callin' his name."
Frodo tilted his head. "Fael," he said softly. "It's nice. Gentle but strong."
"I was describing the light I saw from him, Sam," Legolas said dreamily. "Like brilliant sunlight."
"But would it make a good name?"
"A perfect name, I think."
"Fael," Frodo repeated. "I like it. Oh!" His eyes widened and he pressed his hand to his stomach with a wince. "He likes it too!"
Sam laid a hand on the mound and chuckled at the strong kick. "Fael," he said tenderly. "Our sunshine."
Continued in Part Four!