Chapter 101

March 1440

Just a week after Boromir's first birthday, Merry was once again waiting outside his daughter's bedroom door with Pippin. Ivy's pains had started the night before and Pippin had been up the whole night and all day with her. When they'd gotten worse--stronger and closer together--he'd retreated to the hallway.

Pippin looked exhausted. Merry had tried to talk him into going to a guest room to rest, that he'd come get him when the baby was born, but Pippin didn't want to leave. But he didn't want to nap in the parlor, either. "I can hear too much in there," he'd confessed. Pippin had felt guilty about that, that he couldn't stand to hear Ivy's pain so clearly. Merry tried his best to convince him he wasn't the only dad to feel that way, but it was no use.

He glanced at his cousin. Pippin had his head tipped back against the wall, staring intently at the door across from them. He looked pale. Merry nudged him with his elbow. "How are you doing?"

Pippin looked at him with tired eyes and sighed. "I thought it would be easier this time. It's not."

"It's never easy, Pip," Merry said. "Sam said he still gets nervous and he's on..." Merry did a quick count in his head. "Number twelve, now?"

Pippin snorted and shook his head. "I don't know how he does it."

Merry grinned. "Come now, Pippin. You're about to have your third child and you don't know that?"

Pippin looked at him with narrowed eyes, nose wrinkled, but at least he had a hint of a smile tugging at his mouth. "You're being crude again, Merry."

"I still blame it on Estella." Merry chuckled. He was willing to be crude if it would get Pippin to relax a little.

Pippin sighed again and Merry patted his leg. "She'll be fine, Pip. Estella said after the first baby, things usually go a little easier, because the mum knows what to expect."

"It's taking so much longer this time," Pippin fretted. "What if something's wrong?"

"It doesn't always go the same, Pip," Merry said. "Sometimes it takes longer." Poor Celandine had been in labor for two days with Clara. Freddy had nearly gone crazy with worry. He didn't think he should mention that to Pippin, though.

He heard a quiet whimpering down the hallway. Pearl was coming towards them, carrying a sniffling Bori.

"Had enough of him?" Pippin asked.

Pearl snorted. "I used to mind the two of you! Trust me, our little Bori is easy as pie compared to the both of you." She patted Bori's back. "He just wants his dad," she said and passed him down to Pippin. Bori clung to his father and Pippin wrapped his arms around him and murmured in his ear. "He's been crying for the last hour," Pearl said. "and he didn't want to take a nap, though I know he must be tired. I thought I'd bring him to see you for a while, then take him back."

Pippin shrugged. "That's all right, Pearl. I've got him."

Merry smiled, watching Pippin soothe his son. Boromir might be just the thing to take the edge off Pippin's worry.

"What are the boys up to?" Merry asked Pearl.

"Out riding around the orchard with their cousins." She grinned. "We're hoping it will be a distraction. Fari's almost as nervous as you are, Pippin."

Pippin stuck out his tongue at his sister.

Pearl knelt down and ruffled Bori's curls. "Do you feel better now?" she asked. Bori gave a weak nod to his aunt and clutched at his father's shirt. His face was still teary, but the whimpers had stopped. Pearl looked at Merry for a moment. "I remember when you were that small, Merry." Pearl shook her head. "It's still hard to believe you have more grandchildren than me!"

Merry gave an exaggerated sigh. "Don't remind me." He smiled. He certainly didn't mind being a granddad. He just didn't feel that old.

Pearl chuckled and stood up. "Would you like some tea? Something to eat?" She looked pointedly at Pippin. She'd been trying to convince him to get some rest, too.

"That would be great, Pearl," Merry answered for them.

By the time she returned with tea and sandwiches, Pippin was asleep, his cheek resting on Bori's head. Bori was sleeping, too, cuddled on his father's chest with his thumb stuck in his mouth. Merry exchanged smiles with Pearl. "They were both out before you were half-way down the hall," he whispered.

Pearl set the tray on the floor and sat next to him. "I guess it's just us gammers and gaffers then," she said. "We'll let Pippin nap a while, then get some food into him."

They never got a chance. Merry actually startled when he heard the cry of a newborn baby. He'd been so worried over how exhausted Pippin was, the reason he was here had been pushed to the back of his mind. Another grandchild!

Merry nudged Pippin, who opened sleepy eyes at him. "You're a dad again, Pip!" he said with a big grin.

Pippin just blinked a few times, still fuzzy from his nap. Merry chuckled and stood up. He lifted the sleeping Boromir from Pippin's chest. Bori woke too, with the same hazy look on his face as his dad.

"The baby's here?" Pippin finally managed to say. He scrambled to his feet, a little shaky at first, then proceeded to pace nervously in front of the door.

"It's going to take a little while, Pippin," Pearl said.

"I know." Pippin continued pacing. Pearl chuckled and shrugged.

Bori lifted his head from Merry's shoulder and pointed at the door. "Baby," he said.

"Do you hear the baby?" Merry asked. Though he certainly wasn't able to make the connection between a baby and his mother's large belly, Bori had already been introduced to the babies of relatives, just so he could learn what a 'baby' was.

"Baby cry," Bori said. He pouted.

"Yes. The baby's had a long day. Do you want to see the baby?"

"Baby," Bori said again. Merry smiled and kissed his grandson's cheek.

Vinca finally opened the door and Merry followed Pippin in. Ivy was smiling from the bed with the baby in her arms. "It's a girl," she said.

Pippin kissed her and murmured praise over their daughter. Then he picked up the tiny girl and brought her over to Merry and Bori.

"Look, Bori," Pippin said. "You've got a sister."

Bori looked at the baby for a moment, but his interest faded away when he saw Estella coming towards them. "Gran!" he yelled, and held his arms out to her.

"Hello, Bori-lad," Estella said, taking him from Merry. "Don't you want to see your sister?"

Bori just stuck his thumb back in his mouth and buried his face in Estella's neck.

Estella patted his back. "Well, perhaps we'll go see your mum instead?"

That got Bori's attention. His head shot up. "Mum!"

"There she is, sweetest," Estella said, walking over to the bed. She set him down and he scrambled over to his mother.

Ivy cuddled and kissed him. "Hello, dearest. I missed you."

Merry turned from the happy reunion to look at the girl in Pippin's arms. "Well, I'm interested in her," Merry laughed. Pippin handed him the baby. She was tiny, with a head of damp, dark curls, and she was quite possilby the prettiest little girl he'd ever seen. Besides her mum, of course.

"Her name is Willow," Pippin said. "Since the boys are named after Big Folk, we decided to give a girl a hobbit name." He chuckled. "And I figured a tree name was the closest I'd get to naming a baby after old Treebeard!"