Chapter 18: I've Been Waiting A Long Time

Frodo slept for about half an hour, before waking in Eos's arms again. It seemed that everyone regarded her as they would the highest of angels, since she had seemingly brought Frodo around with her presence. The Cottons, in their gratefulness to Eos, did everything she told them to do, including hauling a large tub of hot bathwater into the room. In it, she washed the sweat and grease from Frodo's body. The clasps in her hair were slipping out, but she let her hair come loose and hang about her shoulders.

He was so heartbreakingly thin. When they had made love, Eos had noticed Frodo's prominent ribs, but now they seemed to stand out even more.

Frodo leaned back into Eos's hands as she scrubbed his shoulders, back and hair. This dependence and complete trust he had in her moved Eos. She knelt down to bring her soapy cloth across his arms. He closed his eyes as she picked up his right hand, his maimed one, wiped it gently with the cloth and kissed the stub where his third finger should have been. She set his hand down and lifted his curls to caress Shelob's wound and kiss it as well. She knew these wounds were not nearly healed as yet. He sighed under her mouth, and she drew away and commanded him to stand up and step out of the tub. Like everyone else, he obeyed her.

Eos grabbed a towel and dried his shivering body with it. She was about to reach for his nightshirt when he grasped her shoulders, and let the towel slip from his own. He clasped her to him in his arms, not minding that he was naked against her clothed body. His wiry arms held her with surprising strength, considering that he had seemed so breakable not too long ago. Eos's lips submitted to Frodo's desperate mouth. She felt him hardening against her skirts, pressing toward the place between her legs that was protected by layers of cloth. He put his hands on her covered buttocks and ground them against his hips, squeezing them. His desire was infectious, and she grasped his upper arms, gritting her teeth from the heat between her legs. But she drew away, knowing that Frodo was not yet strong enough for a satisfying period of lovemaking.

"Frodo," she whispered, nuzzling his neck, "Don't press your body against my clothes! They're dirty, from me kneeling on the floor."

"That's just an excuse," Frodo groaned, but letting go of her.

"Also, I don't want you to catch cold," she continued, waving her hand at his body, which was still bare. She helped him slip his nightshirt over his head, and supported him on his way back to bed. She arranged the pillows so that he could sit back against them, and sat beside him, holding his wounded hand.

"Melan lye," he murmured softly to her, gazing at her lovingly.

Eos smiled, remembering the snatches of elvish she had learned from her younger days, when she and Frodo had still been friends and had no passion of any sort to deny. "Nólan," she replied in a mockingly exasperated tone. "I know." She held his hand against her breast. "Ar melan lye."

"I shall never tire of telling you that," he said.

"Nor I you," she replied. He reached for her, and she let him embrace her. "Vanimelda – fair love," he whispered. "My silme, my starlight, my angel…" He kissed the tip of her ear with each affectionate name. "Tindomerel – nightingale."

Eos rested her head against his shoulder and lost herself in his words of love until she heard his sharp intake of breath. She sat up and looked at him in panic.

"It's nothing," he gasped. "Just this pain in my neck…"

"Were you ill from that wound? The spider bite?"

Frodo looked back at her, panicky as well. "Today is the thirteenth of March, is it not? It is? Then yes, it's that wound."

He put a cool hand on Eos's cheek. "I ought to tell you everything now, Eos, so that you'll be ready when it catches up with me again. You've waited a long time for this, have you not?"

Eos nodded. "Yes, I have."

Frodo closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "It shouldn't be so difficult," he said. "I just hate remembering."

Eos tucked her feet under her on the bed and slipped her arms around his waist. She spoke into his shoulder, "Tell me, Frodo, please."

He buried his face and hands in her abundant hair and began to recount the tale.

"Remember eighteen years ago, when I came of age and you were twenty-five, when my uncle Bilbo disappeared at his birthday party…?"

And all the while, she held him.

When he was finished, they both sat in silence, with their arms around each other. Eos knew he did not want to talk anymore. She felt wetness on her ears, and she knew Frodo was crying. His sobs heaved in his chest, and she held him tighter. Finally, he managed a choked "Thank you."

She sat back and took his face in her hands and kissed the tears away, tasting the salt in them. "Thank you," she replied softly. "Thank you for telling me."

Eos continued to visit Frodo. He was still weak and clumsy as a newborn kitten, but he appeared to be recovering. A few days after his collapse, he was sitting up in bed when Eos came in.

"Frodo, you're awake! You seem to be pulling through."

"Thanks to you, my love," he said, clasping her hand.

Her friend appeared, coming from the kitchen. "How is he?" she asked excitedly. Do you want me to get you two some food? I know neither of you have eaten much."

Eos went to the door to meet her. "Why, Rosie Cotton, you've read my mind! Yes, food would be splendid. I'm sorry I've been ordering you around."

"Not at all! We've been attending to your daughter, mostly. We just put her to bed an hour ago."

Eos sighed regretfully. "I'd go to her now, but I promised Frodo that I'd stay with him."

"Stay with Frodo. We'll take care of Crystal."

"I'm a terrible mother, Rosie. I fear that I will love Frodo's baby more than I love her, and she will hate me for it."

"You have a while to compensate before the baby is born, Eos. But don't worry about that now! Go to Frodo, he needs you. I'll be back with food."

Eos stepped back into the room. Frodo had laid his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes. He opened them again and sat up when Eos sat on the bed beside him.

"I heard what you said about Crystal," he said. Eos looked down and folded her hands in her lap.

"That will not happen," he continued. "I know it. I know she will feel she is unloved," he went on at Eos's silence. "She is a child of an unhappy marriage, and her blood father is a criminal. Many will look on her with disfavor. But she will never hate you. As for favoring my child over her…" Eos winced. "Let's wait until the baby is born, like Rosie said."

Eos looked away, tears collecting in her eyes, but not before Frodo caught sight of them.

"Come here," he murmured softly.

Eos edged into his arms uneasily. "I've heard that worrying is not good for pregnant women or their babies," whispered Frodo, stroking her hair. "And I certainly don't want anything to happen to my love or my baby. My baby," he repeated, savoring the words, running them over his tongue like syrup.

Eos smiled. "Yes, your baby," she echoed.

Frodo lay back again, and Eos leaned back beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. He laced his fingers through hers.

"I can hardly believe I was so desolate not too long ago," he said. "I am so happy, Eos. All because you are with me." He turned to face her. "It is remarkable… your voice and your touch are enough to revive me. I was thinking… maybe you're not really an ordinary hobbit at all. Perhaps you're a fairy from the woods come to me in the form of a hobbit. You're beautiful enough to be one, you know."

"Shut up, you old ass!" Eos giggled. "You sound like a little boy!"

"But maybe it's possible," said Frodo.

"Possible, but highly unlikely." Eos leaned over him and kissed him playfully. "I think a whole childhood of reading stories and lore has put fantasies in your head for life."

"And it has also kept me from being a foolish blockhead, you must admit that."

"That has an element of truth," she agreed. She touched her nose to his and gave him a dizzyingly sensuous kiss. Frodo felt such a shocking jolt of desire in his loins that he jerked away, gasping.

"You'll be the downfall of me, Eos, I swear," he panted, glowering mockingly at her hysterical giggles.

Shortly after they both recuperated, Rosie came in and left them a tray of food. Frodo ate ravenously. Looking at him, Eos said, "I knew you were hungry!"

When they had both cleared their plates of food, they returned their former position on the bed, lying beside one another and holding hands.

"Frodo?"

"Hm?"

"When did you start loving me?"

"Oh, I don't know, I can't name any time or place specifically. Probably it was around the time I started dancing with you. I just didn't realize it then. I just know that around the time you got married, I woke up one day and realized I had loved you the whole time. I felt like a complete idiot then. I could have had you, and I let you slip through my fingers. What did you feel for me? Before I went ahead and told you, I mean."

"I suppose I played with the idea of being married to you for a little, but then I decided to put it away. I thought it was just one of those girlish infatuations all my friends had. I trusted my parents very much, you know. I trusted that everything they did was right. Not that I've changed my mind about them, but I've learned that they are not infallible. But never mind, we're together, and we're about to have a baby of our very own." She paused for a moment, frowning. "Of course, there is the question of my divorce, which isn't even final yet."

"Well, that reminds me of something." Frodo sat up slowly, minding the wound in his neck. He stopped for a moment.

"What is it?" Eos asked curiously.

"I need to tell you a story."

"A story? Meaning no offense, but I don't feel like it right now."

"No, you have to hear this. I would have told you yesterday if not for my sedated state, and I wanted you to know first. Today, I was lying here in bed, when Pip came rushing in, panting like anything and disturbing my sleep. I asked him what he was so panicky about, but instead of telling me he collapsed in a chair and asked Rosie for a brandy."

"Is this short?" Eos pouted.

"You're lucky I love you this much, or I'd holler at you for whining. Anyway, I told Pippin that no, the Cottons didn't have any brandy, and that he'd better tell me what the excitement was about. He paused and looked at me, and then said what he was about to show me was self-explanatory. At that, he produced a rather large stack of papers, and said that he'd run a long distance to give these papers to me, and that he was too out of breathe to tell about them himself."

"Hmm, would those happen to be my divorce papers?" asked Eos, her face brightening a little.

"No."

Eos's face fell slightly.

"I'm joking, I'm joking! They were the divorce papers! All stamped and approved by Mr. Whitfoot, the temporarily retired mayor! It's done!"

Eos stared hard at him. "You don't seem to be twisted enough to fool around with me about this."

"I'm not! It's true! The papers are approved! It was a hard decision for all those people under Whitfoot to make, since divorces are so rare. But now, all you have to do now is sign them, and you are done!"

"Frodo…" Eos whispered disbelievingly. She put a hand on his cheek. "I'm free to go."

"Yes, you are. You're free to go."

Her reaction was totally unexpected by Frodo. She began to weep softly and collapsed into Frodo's arms. "I can't believe it, Frodo. It's done."

"Easy, easy, my love," said Frodo, as Eos gripped his arms. "Yes, it's done. We've been waiting a while, and that's paid off, hasn't it?"

"Frodo… Frodo…" Eos wept. Frodo rocked her for a bit and kissed her to calm her down. She responded passionately, burying her hands in his hair and pulling him down on top of her. He pulled his legs from under his blankets so that he could lie fully on top of her. Their lips and tongues explored and caressed each other, like long lost lovers in a reunion. They both felt themselves grow hot and groped each other's bodies desperately. Eos pulled up Frodo's nightshirt, and stroked his member gently, remembering that he was still rather weak. Frodo groaned and hastily unclasped her bodice and her shirt. While Eos was preoccupied with his desire, he suckled and caressed her breasts, as he had longed to do for eternity. Seeing and tasting the hot white skin, he felt as a beggar coming upon a feast. He pulled up her skirts, pulled off her under drawers and stroked her velvet folds, which grew wetter and wetter by the second.

"Oh, my Eos," he moaned, as he pushed inside her for the second time.

Acknowledging the weakness that still remained in Frodo's body, they took on a slow, gentle rhythm. For a while, the only sounds in the room were the rhythmic squeaking of the bed and soft moans here and there. Their lovemaking this time round had none of the wildness and spontaneity of last time, but it was passionate nonetheless. Both felt they had never been so gratified in their lives.

Eventually, Frodo's frail body overtook him, and he took one last long thrust into Eos's body, spilling the last of his liquid into her. He lay on top of her for a bit, both of them half-naked and spent. And then he rolled off and pulled her to him to lie in his arms. Eos crawled on top of him and they kissed and murmured their love to each other until Frodo became too drowsy to speak.

Eos sat up and pulled her under drawers on. She buttoned up her open blouse and bodice and tugged her skirt, which was bunched up around her waist, into its proper place over her legs. She stood up and pulled Frodo's nightshirt over his legs and tucked the blankets over him.

"I'll do better next time," he said, a bit regretfully.

"Well, I thought you were wonderful. I enjoyed it," she assured him, sitting by him for the last time.

He reached out a hand to stroke her belly, smiling with the knowledge that his baby was hiding inside. He settled against the pillows, his lids heavy with tiredness.

"I have to go now," Eos whispered, kissing his ear and stroking his hair.

"Don't be too long," Frodo murmured sleepily, his heavy lids half-shut.

"I won't. I'll be back," she replied.

I've been waiting a long time

For this moment to come

I'm destined

For anything…at all.

Downtown lights will be shining

On me like a new diamond ring

Out under the midnight hour.

No one can touch me now

And I can't turn my back

It's too late

Ready or not at all.

I'm so much closer than

I have ever known…

Wake up.

Dawning of a new era

Calling…don't let it catch you falling

Ready or not at all.

So close enough to taste it

Almost…I can embrace this feeling…

On the tip of my tongue

I'm so much closer than

I have ever known…

Wake up

Better thank your lucky stars…

I've been waiting a lifetime

For this moment to come

I'm destined for anything at all.

Dumbstruck

Colour me stupid

Good luck

You're gonna need it

Where I'm going if I get there…

At all…

Wake up

Better thank your lucky stars.

– "Waiting", Green Day, from their album Warning