It was mid-day when three orc-blood-stained riders came through the field again. The twins rode over to the tree line, Gandalf following. Now that the orcs they were pursuing were no more, the twins greatly wanted to see and spend time with their baby brother. It had been years since he was last home, 27 years in fact.

Aragorn was leaning back against a tree, Faramir cradled in his arms and drinking the last from the little bottle. They would need to replenish the supply, soon. Aragorn was exhausted and only awake by sheer force of will; he did not hear his brothers approach.

Elladan and Elrohir were both surprised to see an infant in Aragorn's arms, there had not been any sign of one so young the night before, surely. For a moment they just watched, neither failed to note the exhaustion in their brother, and nor did they overlook the sense of contentment about him. He looked like a proud father might look... exactly how a proud father would like. They observed how alike the child looked to the Man. There was only one conclusion to come to.

"Well, it is a good thing in the end, 'Dan," Elrohir whispered to his brother. "This way the line of Isildur will not be broken when adar and Arwen kill him."

"This is not a joking matter, 'Ro. This is serious," Elladan hissed back. "If that is Estel's child...-"

Aragorn sighed. For some reason they always thought his hearing was so poor. Granted, he did not quite have Elven ears, but nor was he deaf. "This is my son and his name is Faramir. If you would like to meet him instead of standing there hypothesizing, you are quite welcome to - he does not bite, yet."

"Estel, we did not mean to...," Elladan began to apologize, but curiosity won out. "How did you come to have a son and what of his mother?"

"It is a long story, one i fear i shall be telling quite often," Aragorn said. "I would greatly prefer to remain silent on that matter until later. For now, i had rather hoped that you might want to meet your nephew. My advice to you is to get over your shock or surprise or whatever it is you are feeling. He and i are together from now on. It may take some getting used to, but whomever can not or will not get used to it," Aragorn shrugged, "so be it."

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged glances. "Our nephew," Elrohir said contemplatively, as if trying out the idea. "He is a cute little fellow." Elrohir attempted to pick up Faramir, but the baby screamed piercingly. The same effect was produced when Elladan tried to hold him. "I do not believe he likes us, Estel."

"We should clean up before handling him anyway," Elladan said. "Come on, we can talk afterward. We will bring lunch back with us. There are a few things to eat in the saddlebags," he said to his little brother, "you are looking malnourished. I think 'Wen packed us some lembas."

The twins walked off to look for a water supply while Gandalf stayed with Aragorn and Faramir. He was a great deal less blood-splattered as a result of actually trying to keep his distance from the orcs instead of rushing right into combat. It could be said that carrying Glamdring was also helpful, these were obviously mountain orcs who knew something about the particular sword that the Maia bore.

Aragorn looked as though he was about to drop over and so Gandalf volunteered to watch after the little one. Faramir liked Gandalf a lot, especially when he could get his hands tangled up in his long beard, causing them both to laugh delightedly.

"I'm glad you are on my side, Gandalf," Aragorn muttered before falling sound asleep.

"I am confident that i shall not end up the only one, Aragorn," the Wizard said. "Faramir is entirely too charming, and you should not underestimate how loved you are at home." He knew Aragorn did not hear a word he said, but it was just as well. The young man needed his sleep more than he did worry and concern.

Aragorn was still asleep when the twins came back from cleaning up, carrying some roots and berries of significant dietetic value. Sleeping humans always seemed so vulnerable to the Eldar, how they would lie there, eyes closed, blissfully unaware of their surroundings.

Elladan gently brushed aside a lock of hair that had found a place to rest in Aragorn's mouth - Elrohir was too busy trying not to laugh at him. "We have really gotten into some predicaments together in our days," he said quietly. "I never imagined this one though."

Elrohir managed to sober up, their little brother really did seem very helpless like this. Sometimes it seemed that while he had grown physically to manhood, there was still a part of him that would always need looking after. "We have always protected little Estel, 'Dan. Except when we were tormenting him... but that is not the point. The point is that this is no exception. He is still our little brother."

"And Faramir is still your little nephew," Gandalf said, standing up with some difficulty and disentangling Faramir's tiny hands from his beard. He made to lay the infant in Elrohir's arms but he backed away hesitantly.

"He really does not like me, Mithrandir," Elrohir said. "You saw how he acted before."

"That is nonsense, young Peredhel! You were covered in orc blood earlier. Hold him," Gandalf insisted. Faramir did not cry out, but he did not seem entirely pleased either. "Oh, i nearly forgot," Gandalf said taking a few strands of Elrohir's hair and putting them into Faramir's hand, cheering up the little one instantly. "You see, he quite likes you."

"Remind me to keep my hair braided from now on," Elrohir muttered. He hated to admit it, but Faramir had just stolen his heart with that joyful little smile and he was reluctant to let Elladan take him.

Faramir looked a little confused when he looked up to see that holding him was the same Elf who had been holding him a moment ago and was now busy re-braiding his hair. He was not going to press for answers, though, not as long as someone kept him fed, or at least as long as he could have a handful of someone's hair.

Elladan, too, was defenseless against Faramir's charm and fell in love with his little nephew. "There is no doubt, he is most definitely his father's son," Elladan said, remembering Aragorn's childhood habit of hair-pulling.

After a few minutes of contentedly tugging at Elladan's hair, Faramir soon got bored and remembered that he was hungry. He hadn't really had his fill earlier when his daddy was feeding him, he'd run out of milk and then the two matching Elves interrupted them anyway. Now he was hungry again and decided to fuss and cry, that usually got him food, and when it didn't get him food it got his daddy to hold him close for a while.

Faramir's cries woke Aragorn instantly. He knew his son needed to be fed, but there was not a drop left for him. Aragorn grew worried for he knew this land well and knew that there were no little settlements around where a wet-nurse might be found. The closest inhabited area was Rivendell, but that would take a week's journey.

Elladan had returned Faramir to his father's arms, wondering if an idea that had just come to him would work. He took one of the bottles little Faramir fed from, filled it with clean water, and sprinkled in some crumbs from the lembas that Arwen had packed for them. Aragorn had his doubts about this, but tried it anyway. Faramir seemed to enjoy the mixture very much and it kept him satisfied for much longer than ordinary milk.

So it was that Aragorn had somewhat of a respite from his fears of feeding his child, and he was able to make the last of the journey in relative composure. His brothers, at least, seemed to accept his child and that gave him great hope, more hope than he'd had since before his little one had come into the world.

ooo

Elenhin: Poor Aragorn, i can imagine his panic when Faramir does get mobile. It won't be too very long, i don't think. As to adding Mir to cutest kid's list, i see no trouble with that at all!

linda: The journey is nearly over, which means that some moments of truth will be coming up very soon. Wait and see how that works out!

grumpy: Gotta love the twins, no matter what. There is just something about them, you can never really stay mad at them for too long.

Next chapter is likely to be a visit in Minas Tirith again, just to tease you all a little longer about the reception Aragorn and Faramir get at home in Rivendell.