Chapter 3
Nightmares
Estel sat straight up in bed. He wiped the tears away from his eyes and looked expectantly around his room. Everything was so dark, and looked very scary. The young boy pulled the covers up tighter around his body and heard the thunder rumble outside his window. He jumped at the loud sound and started whimpering quietly.
The little three-year-old wanted to go and get into his mother's bed, but couldn't since she was sick. His mother said that if he got in bed with her he might get sick too. Then he would have to take the nasty medicine. Estel hated it when it rained. It always seemed to give him nightmares. He thought about who he could go and stay with for the rest of the night.
Normally the boy would have gone to Glorfindel or Erestor, but the two were away on a hunting trip. The only person in the house was Lord Elrond. The boy gulped and lay back down in his own bed. He didn't want to go see the large elf. Whereas Glorfindel and Erestor seemed so nice and welcoming, Elrond was the opposite. The little boy was frightened of the elf lord. Even though the boy had been residing in Rivendell for five months, he still tried to avoid the intimidating elf whenever possible.
Another loud clap of thunder and a bright flash of lightning sent Estel diving beneath his sheets. He didn't want to stay alone anymore. Estel slowly crawled out of his bed and padded over to his door. He had to stretch his little arms all the way up to reach the handle. The door creaked open, and Estel peeked out down the hall. He didn't see any monsters so he darted down the hall as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Stopping at Elrond's door, he slowly opened it. Quiet as a mouse the little boy tiptoed into the room. Estel could just make out the form of the elf lord sleeping in his bed. The boy was not quite brave enough to actually wake the elf lord up, instead he climbed up into a large overstuffed chair. He snuggled down tightly into the chair and tried to go to sleep. Just as he closed his eyes he let out a loud sneeze.
Elrond stirred in his bed. Someone was in his room. He could make out the sound of their breathing, and the sound of them climbing into his stuffed chair. When he heard a little sneeze, the elf lord realized that it was Estel. The elf lord sat up in bed, and could just make out the form of the little boy in the darkness. He stood and glided over to the chair. He reached out to touch the boy, but Estel pulled away. So the child was still afraid of him. Elrond was strangely bothered by the fact. He actually wanted to get close to the boy, but every time he tried, the child pushed him away.
Elrond crouched down beside the small human and asked, "Estel, what's wrong?"
The little boy looked up cautiously at the elf lord crouched beside him. The elf lord didn't look anymore scary than before, but his mother had said Elrond was very nice. He answered the elf's question barely above a whisper, "Rain scary. Made me have a bad dream."
Elrond smiled warmly. "Well monsters can't get you in here Estel. Do you want to stay with me tonight?" The elf waited with held breathe for the boy's response to his offer. He had been as gentle as he could possibly be. Elrond was afraid the boy would reject the offer and run away scared.
Estel looked at the elf lord. To his surprise the elf had smiled. He had started to believe that Elrond didn't know how to smile. The boy also found the elf didn't seem as scary when he smiled. He thought about the elf lord's offer. He really didn't want to stay by himself, and his Mother said that he was nice. And his Mother would never lie to him. And since he was so big, he would probably scare any monsters away. He answered simply, "Yes."
Elrond slowly reached down and picked the child up. He carried him back to bed and let the child snuggle down next to him. He wrapped an arm around the child and whispered, "Good-night."
Estel yawned, "Night Uncle Elrond."
Elrond asked, "What did you call me?"
The little boy rolled over and replied, "Mamma said you're my uncle. You are in my family aren't you?"
Elrond smiled again. It had been a long time since anyone had called him uncle. In a distant way he was the child's uncle. He answered happily, "Yes, little one, I'm your uncle."
Estel smiled and then closed his eyes. He nuzzled down closer to Elrond and wasn't long before the two were both in a deep untroubled sleep.
A/N: Well there's Chapter 3. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I don't have time for reviewer responses, but I want to let all of you know that I appreciate them. To say thank you I will give each one of you a virtual cookie.