Room Enough in Bag End
Bilbo gave Frodo the best bedroom at Bag End when the lad came to stay.
It was not so large as the master bedroom, though like the master room, it
looked into the garden. But this room was turned just so, and best captured the
morning sun. The walls were brighter in here, and it was cozier, more welcoming
than the grander master bedroom. It had been Bilbo's room when he was a lad,
and now he outfitted it with new drapes and blankets to go with the new books
and toys and oddments that went with the new lad.
***
Merry lay claim to his own little room at Bag End, directly across the
hall from Frodo's room. He left clothing in the drawers, and hid treasures in
the chest, and possessively called it "his" room from the first night he stayed
there. It was one of the smaller bedrooms, without a window, but cheery enough,
with the bright red quilt with a blue star that Bilbo had bought just with
Merry in mind, with an armchair to match. Before long, no one would remember
that it had ever been anything but Merry's room, and that suited Merry just
fine.
***
Pippin, though, always wanted to sleep with Frodo at Bag End, and was
prone to creating dramatic scenes if denied. At Brandy Hall, he would sleep
with Merry and only Merry, but at Bag End he wanted to sleep with Frodo and
only Frodo, irregardless if Merry was also staying at the Hill. Pippin loved
Frodo's cheery room, loved that it had been Bilbo's room, knew it was the best
bedroom in the burrow, and would have nothing less. Frodo, shamefully indulgent
of Pippin, did not refuse his little cousin, but merely slid over to make room
in the bed.
***
It took Frodo six years to move into the master bedroom. Sam had begun to
think the luxurious room would stand empty for the rest of Mr. Frodo's days,
when one morning he went to wake Mr. Frodo and he was not there. Sam found him
tucked in Mr. Bilbo's bed; furthermore, he discovered that overnight Mr. Frodo
had moved his clothing and personal effects into the master bedroom. Neither of
them said a word about it, and when Mr. Frodo asked Sam to fix up Pippin's
bedroom, Sam prepared the old room for the lad, and that was that.
***
Sam took the room next to Mr. Merry's when they came back home; it was
the room he had used whenever he had stayed at Bag End in the past. It was
cozy, but small, with no window. The week before Sam's wedding, Frodo, pouring
his tea at the breakfast table, said, "Sam, why don't you and Rose take my old
bedroom? It wouldn't do to move your bride into anything but the best
room" It was on the tip of Sam's tongue to refuse, but then he stopped
himself – his Rose did deserve the best, and she would have it.
***
"Merry," Pippin hissed, "Frodo has given Sam and Rose my room!"
"He's made you up a nice, new room, Pip," said Merry, who had foreseen this reaction.
"But it's not my room!" Pippin whined.
"It's got your quilt and your favorite chair all ready for you in it," Merry said. "And Sam and Rose certainly deserve the best room, don't you think?"
The tips of Pippin's ears flushed, and he skulked off to the kitchen to
console himself with ale and gingerbread. But the next day, he brought in a
bouquet of Rose's favorite blossoms to adorn her new bower.
***
They let Frodo's room stand empty for several years, but children began
piling up in the nursery, until Ellie stamped her foot and said, "Why do I have
to sleep with all these babies?"
"Let's change it all around," Rose said that night, "and then it will be
like new." She sewed up drapes and blankets, moved in books and toys and little
dresses, and then it was Ellie and Rose-lass' room. Sam didn't think he would
be able to sleep in the master bedroom, that first night, but Rose softly
stroked his hair, and he dreamed of Bagshot Row.
***
Ellie and Rose-lass reigned from the best room for many years, until they
had married and moved to the West and East Marches, respectively. Goldilocks
inherited it, by claim of seniority, taking Roo along with her, to the chagrin
of the other lasses, confined still to the old nursery. Goldilocks really only
wanted the room for the handy window, which she commonly used as an escape
route for unsanctioned adventuring. She found a second use the night Faramir
Took stood in the garden and leaned in the window of his father's old room to
kiss her for the first time.
***
Frodo-lad ended up with Merry's old room, and refused a new quilt or chair. He liked the bright red cover with the blue star, and he liked that it had been Mr. Merry's. He was the only Gamgee child with his own room, but he was generous about sharing his cozy haven, and many a younger sibling found refuge in the old red armchair, while Frodo sat at his little desk and listened to all their childhood woes. Sam watched, and would think of another Frodo, welcoming a host of miscreant younger cousins, and sheltering them with his kind heart.