Author's Note- Hobbits do indeed celebrate a midwinter holiday called Yule, and they celebrate it for six days. The six-day celebration was known as Yuletide. However, as I do not know what their customs for this holiday are (other than "feasts and merriment"), I'm simply incorporating Christmas traditions into the story, such as candy canes and the like. (Also, it was a Christmas request for a friend, further explaining its Christmassy aspects.)

Also note that all characters mentioned herein are hobbits created by JRR Tolkien, with the exception of Bando, Pippin's nephew. Pippin had three sisters, but none of them appear to have had children.

"Merry, not over there!"

Merry turned back to the younger hobbit, trying hard not to fall down. He was standing at the top of a ladder, attempting to add decorations to the taller branches on the Hobbiton Yuletide tree. "Then where, Pippin?" He was getting more and more frustrated as time went on. If there was one person he hated being bossed around by, it was his younger cousin.

"That ornament needs to be three branches higher, at least," Pippin called up, trying to view the entire tree. "Otherwise, there'll be too much green on that side."

"For goodness sake, Pip, it's a tree! It's supposed to be green! Besides, if you're such an expert on the festive decorating of foliage, then why aren't you up here doing this? You are the tallest person around, you understand." As soon as Pippin realized what Merry was saying, he began walking away hastily. "Er, because, I already have a job, you know!" Kneeling on the ground besides a long string and a large bowl of popped corn, he added with a smirk, "Someone has got to string all of this popped corn." Merry glanced back just as the younger hobbit popped a handful of the snack food into his mouth, causing him to roll his eyes.

Yuletide was fast approaching in the Shire. The green hills rolled gently across houses decorated in red, mostly poinsettias. Pippin looked admiringly at the town, noting that the poinsettias generally came from the garden of none other than Samwise Gamgee. Looking back up at his companion, Pippin asked, "And where is our esteemed Mayor, the Great Gamgee? I haven't seen him since this morning! And put that ornament a bit more to the left and it'll be perfect!"

Ignoring Pippin's direction, Merry answered, "Last I heard, he was talking about Bag End with one of the Bagginses." Tightening his scarf around his throat and looking towards Bag End, Pippin marveled, "Not old Ponto! He'll drive him balmy before the holidays come along!" Standing and grabbing a candy cane out of a nearby box, he said, "I'm going to go over there and see if I can rescue him."

Even as Pippin began to walk away, Merry yelled down, "Pippin, this is Sam we're talking about. I'm sure he can handle himself against a distempered hobbit." Unwrapping the striped treat, Pippin remarked, "Merry, this is Ponto we're talking about! It's not like Sam's facing a mere Balrog, after all."

With the candy cane in his mouth and Merry looking after him skeptically, Pippin began making his way to Bag End.

"Hallo, Baggins!"

Sam could hear the sound of Ponto's muttering as the older hobbit yanked the door open, followed by a surprised gasp when he saw a tall young hobbit standing outside with a grin.

"Peregrin Took, what are you trying to do to me?" Ponto nearly growled as Pippin sidestepped him and walked into the house. Without responding to the older hobbit, Pippin turned to the Gamgee family and waved his arm broadly. "Hallo, Gamgees!" Like a high-pitched flash, six-year-old Elanor and four-year-old Frodo ran towards Pippin as he fell to his knees in front of them. "Uncle Pippin! Uncle Pippin! Uncle Pippin's here!"

"Oh lovely," Sam mumbled as Ponto left huffily.

Rosie Gamgee smiled warmly as she stood, baby Rose in her arms, and walked towards their new visitor. "G'afternoon, Pippin." Amidst hugs and giggles and attempting to keep his candy cane from getting into Elanor's golden hair, Pippin looked up at Rosie and grinned. "Hallo there, Rosie. Ah!" He craned his neck to look at the smaller child Rosie was holding onto. "And Baby Rose. She's getting bigger all the time!" Noting the belly on Rosie, Pippin laughed and joke, "And so's the future baby. Now, will that one be a Peregrin, or a Peregrina?"

"To what do we owe this unexpected visit, Pippin?" Pippin looked up at Sam, who obviously was not pleased with having to deal with Ponto, so it would probably have been in Pippin's best interest to make the visit short. Of course, Pippin rarely ever knew what lay in his best interests. "Sam, you look a bit tired." Offering the remainder of the candy he had in his hands, Pippin queried, "Candy cane?"

Upon seeing the candy cane, realization came to Sam's eyes. "Oh, darn, I've forgotten about helping you with the tree!" As Sam scattered to get his jacket, Pippin began, "Tree? Oh! Yes! The Yuletide tree! It's coming along quite nicely. I'm stringing the popped corn. Merry's decorating the higher parts right now." Talking now to the children, as it appeared that he could hold their attention no matter what he said, Pippin continued as Rosie gingerly gave him Rose to hold so that she may help Sam with his coat. "He says that I should do the higher parts, because I'm taller. But he always argued that he was the tallest of us! Shows how quick-witted he is, doesn't it? Next time we have an argument about height, let's hope he remembers today!" Looking down at Rose, he noted her eye color and exclaimed, "My, what a lovely shade of blue!"

Elanor giggled as she told him, "Uncle Pippin, her eyes are green!" As Frodo giggled along with his elder sister, Pippin stated, "Green, that's what I said! Obviously! Who can miss the pure greenness of her eyes?" His jacket ready, Sam said, "Come on, Pippin!" Standing and giving the baby back to her mother, Pippin mumbled, "Maybe I should let Merry decide which colored ornaments go where."

Waving goodbye to the good-natured family, Pippin followed Sam back to the tree.

"How's about a brew for the ol' gaffer, eh?"

Sam looked up at the glasses Merry and Pippin offered him and his elderly father and gently shook his head. "No, he can't have none of that anymore."

"Says who, you whippersnapper?" Sam gave his father a sideways glance as the younger hobbits sat opposite them. The three of them had just finished decorating the tree, and went into the Ivy Bush for a drink to warm them up. Sam settled for hot cider while Merry and Pippin didn't seem to mind the two extra glasses of ale they now had in front of them. They had encountered Sam's father sitting in his usual spot, since his caretaker's son ran the inn. "Widow Rumble says so, sir. Says it gives you the jitters."

"Bah, that old woman's crazy!" Merry snickered into his glass as he told the gaffer, "You're one to talk about her being an 'old woman!' She's over twenty years younger than you are!" Pippin and Sam chuckled at that, and Merry and the gaffer began having a conversation on the prospects of age. Pippin took this time to look towards Sam and begin a topic that had been weighing on his mind for quite some time. "Sam, I've got something to say." With a sip of his cider, Sam murmured, "Don't you always?"

"Well, you may have noticed that I've grown more serious lately." Sam had to force himself to stop drinking lest he spit out his drink. "More serious? You? How do you go figurin' that?" Pippin blinked up at him. "Well… I… uh…. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is… there's this girl."

"A girl?"

"A woman, really."

"A woman?"

"All right, she's a friend."

"Pippin," Sam broke in, realizing where this was going. "Aren't you still a bit young for this whole romantic nonsense?" A moment of silence, then, "Sam, I'm 37." Sam blinked. "Thirty-seven? You?"

"Yes."

"Well… you're still young!"

"You were only 40 when you were married!"

"Yes, but-"

"And you would've married Rosie earlier had it not have been for the whole Ring business."

Sam sighed. "All right, all right, fine. Let's get off the age topic. Why are you coming to me with this?" Pippin gave Sam a half smile as he said, "You're the only one I talk to who has any experience with women at all. Have you ever seen Merry with a-" Without missing a word in his conversation or even turning to his cousin, Merry hit Pippin soundly in the back of the head and carried on with what he was saying. Vaguely amused, Sam queried, "So I'm assumin' that you and him had this talk already?"

"As much of it as we could discuss," Pippin answered sorely, rubbing the spot that had just been abused. "Please, Sam, you've got to give me at least some advice!" Sam responded, "Advice on what? If you like the girl, then just talk to her!"

"I have been talking to her, Sam."

"For how long?"

"… eight years, give or take."

Sam was amazed. "Eight years? You can hardly keep your attention on something for eight minutes!" Pippin peered into his nearly-empty glass. "I know. Isn't it amazing?" He paused for a moment, then said, "I met her at your wedding."

"My wedding?" Pippin nodded. "She that stout girl from Long Cleeve?" Pippin nodded again. "Her name's Diamond. Isn't that a pretty name?" Sam shifted in his seat. His relationship with Rosie was based mostly on years of pining and then finally gaining the courage to speak to her after a near-death experience. He was in no position to lecture Pippin on romance. "Yes, I reckon it's a rather pretty name. But Pip-"

"The thing is, I've heard that Bando's also taken a shine to her." Sam stopped. That did cause some complications. "Bando, your nephew?" Pippin nodded. "I don't know what to do, Sam. Diamond looks at me like I'm a friend, but I don't even know where I stand compared to Bando. And competing with my own family—that's just not good form. It makes me feel like- watch out, she's coming!"

Pippin's eyes had been averted for only a moment, but he quickly caught sight of the girl in question and slipped out of his seat, turning away. Sam looked behind him and saw her, realizing that she was accompanied by the athletic young hobbit Bando, son of Pippin's eldest sister Pearl. Turning back to Pippin, Sam saw that he had made his way to the bar, hunching his shoulders as though trying to duck his head between his shoulder blades. With a smirk, Sam muttered, "Silly Took."

"That's what I told him," Merry said as Sam turned his attention back to the other two at the table. "He always fumbles when it's important, but can't shut up when he's gabbing about menial business. Speaking of menial business, I'm out of ale." He took his glass and stood, heading for the bar, when his name rang out. "Meriadoc Brandybuck!" Merry stopped, surprised, as Diamond and Bando approached him. "D-Diamond! H-hello! Uh, a-and hi there, Bando."

"Merry," Bando exclaimed, "good to see you!" He embraced his mother's cousin heartily, though the older hobbit loomed over Bando like a tree. "Hey, have you seen Uncle Pippin? Diamond's been looking for him everywhere, and I figured we'd find you, since you two are always together!" Diamond interrupted with, "And you were right! I see him getting a drink. Peregrin Took, are you trying to hide back there?"

As she went off to speak to the nervous hobbit, Merry looked down at Sam and the gaffer, his expression illustrating his current awkwardness. Into his glass, Sam remarked, "Fumbler." Bando looked down, noticing the Gamgees for the first time. "Mayor Gamgee! And Gaffer Gamgee, too! How's it going? Hey, are you ready for this year's Yuletide?" Marveling at the similarities in the garrulous uncle-and-nephew pair, Sam answered, "My speech is all writ and Rosie's almost done with the trim of the new dress she's making. I'd say we're about ready."

"Rosie. Wow. Hey, when's the new baby due?"

"Should be any day now."

"Hoping for a boy or a girl? And what're you naming it?"

Merry broke in and said, "I think Meriadoc's a particularly fine name." Bando laughed. "I bet you do." Merry insisted, "No, really! Think about it; Meriadoc means happiness, gaiety! And what better to name a child that's going to be born during the Yuletide?" Bando and the gaffer laughed, and Sam said, "Well, I'll talk it over with Rosie. It would probably be best to discover if it's a boy or a girl before we go naming her."

"Naming her?" Sam's father raised an eyebrow at him. "Looks like someone knows what he wants his next child to be." Sam shrugged. "As it stands, the girls have been easier to raise than little Frodo by himself." Merry smirked. "Watch you be plagued with not only the next child being a boy, but a boy after that, too! And if they are, I'd say they get named after me and Pip. After all, where'd you be if not for us?"

"I don't know. Where would I be?"

Merry blinked and mulled it over for some time, eliciting another laugh from the group. Grinning sheepishly, Merry responded. "Not here, that's for sure!" Glancing over at Pippin, Sam thought, Which is where Pippin looks like he wants to be. Looking in the direction of Sam's glance, Bando looked behind them, at Pippin and Diamond. "She's pretty, isn't she?"

Merry and Sam looked at Bando at the same time, muttering affirmations such as "Yes, sure. Beautiful." They shared a moment of looking at one another as Bando continued to look at the pair. Poor Pippin, their eyes seemed to convey to one another. Turning back to the others, Bando said, "Finally, I'm going to have some cousins. And they'll be adorable, too."

"Cousins?" Merry asked.

"Well sure. Any kids that Uncle Pippin has are my cousins."

Sam couldn't stifle a laugh. "So then, you don't have feelings for Diamond?" Bando gaped at Sam, genuinely shocked. "Feelings? For Diamond? No, of course not! She and Uncle Pippin have been friends for years! The problem is, his mind's still in his early tweens, so she's been coming to me for advice on what to do about him." Merry began howling with laughter and, much to Bando's confusion, Sam and even the gaffer joined in. After the hysterics died down, Merry explained the situation to Bando.

Seeing Pippin casting them a bewildered glance, Sam grinned at him.

"I still don't understand what all of the laughing was about."

Merry chuckled at Pippin as they walked home that night. "Don't worry about it, Pip." The sandy-haired hobbit was chewing into a pear thoughtfully as he pondered over the cause of the laughter. "I mean, I can understand you all laughing at me, but there was no reason to bring Bando into it, if you were insulting me, that is." Opening the door to their home, Merry responded, "You worry about the most absurd things, you know that?"

Once inside, Pippin threw the remainder of his pear away and reached for an apple from a bowl in the kitchen. Turning on the light, Merry scolded, "Can't you go two minutes without food in your mouth?" Sitting in his favorite chair in their sitting room, Pippin replied, "No! It's my only source of comfort. Well… after ale, that is."

"Which is after pipeweed."

"Which is after sleep."

The two hobbits laughed at their own discussion. "I tell you," Merry began half-jokingly as he sunk into his own chair across from Pippin, "if you don't shape up, it would take a miracle to get Diamond to look at you." Pippin quieted down at the mention of Diamond. At length, he finally said, "I think I'm giving up on Diamond." Sitting straight up in surprise, Merry exclaimed, "What! Why?"

Pippin sighed. "When she was talking to me at the inn today, all she talked about was how she spent the afternoon with Bando and Bando this and Bando that. I may be a bit dense, but not so much that I can't see what that means." Trying not to be angry at his housemate, Merry told him, "Of course not. You're even more dense than that!" Pippin asked what he meant, and Merry stated, "Look. What did you talk to her about?"

"Trimming the tree with you and Sam."

"So does that mean that you prefer mine and Sam's company more than hers?"

"If she'd rather be with Bando, then I'd say yes."

"Would you forget about Bando for a minute?" Pippin looked down, chewing his apple quietly. Moving a small hand through his hair, Merry said, "Look, she was just making conversation. She wouldn't hang around you for as long as she has just so she can give up on you now and become interested in your nephew." Realization coming into his eyes, Pippin snapped his fingers as he breathed, "Unless she was just using her friendship with me as a way to get closer to Bando!" With a groan, Merry reached over for the small pillow he was leaning against and chucked it at Pippin, hitting him squarely in the face.

"Pip, I said forget about Bando! The first day of the Yuletide celebration is the day after tomorrow. Now, you're going to wake up early tomorrow, brush your hair, put some decent clothes on, and march yourself over to Diamond's house and ask her to go with you to the party!"

Bitterly, Pippin responded, "Only if you do the same with that Estella Bolger girl you've been eyeing!" Shocked, Merry remarked, "Estella Bolger? Fatty's sister? Are you insane?" Tossing the pillow back towards Merry, Pippin smirked as he said, "Don't pretend it's not noticeable! Even Fatty himself remarked it to me the other day!" Throwing the pillow back, Merry spoke through gritted teeth. "Liar!"

"Bully!"

"Baby!"

The pillow thrown between them at every word, it soon got to the point where the two hobbits lunged at one another, making comments that had nothing to do with their previous conversation. "I'm taller!" "Says you!" "Smallfoot!"

Such were the evenings in the home of Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck.