May 1459
Rose gasped when they walked in the front door of Crickhollow. The parlor was filled with flowers. Theo followed her into the room. She picked up a paper left on a table and he read it over her shoulder. "Love Goldi, Daisy, Prim and Ruby".
"It's lovely," Rose said, setting the paper down. "I think it's even more beautiful than when we decorated for Ivy."
"Not as beautiful as you." Theo put his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind, breathing in the flowery perfume she was wearing.
She turned in his arms to face him and he captured her mouth in a kiss. His hands brushed over the lacing up her back and he decided that he very much wanted to move this out of the parlor. He gave a tug at the end of a lace, pulling the bow out and loosening her bodice. She gasped and clutched at the bodice, keeping it in place, then relaxed and dropped her hand. She smiled and took his hand, then led him across the hall to the bedroom.
They came to a halt next to the bed and regarded each other shyly. Theo suddenly had no idea what to do next. Rose giggled. "Well, you might as well finish what you started," she said, turning around. "I can't believe after all your waiting, now you're just going to stand there."
Theo laughed and kissed her shoulder. "Just trying to figure out where to start," he said. He went back to work on the laces, tugging them loose so Rose could pull the bodice off. He paused for a moment, hands on her hips, to screw up his courage to loosen the tie for her skirt. The skirt slid to the floor, leaving her only in her chemise. He turned her around and kissed her,
Rose ran her fingers over the buttons of his waistcoat and pulled back to look at him. "You're overdressed, Mister Brandybuck," she breathed. She pushed his open jacket from his shoulders, then reached out with trembling fingers to open his waistcoat. His shirt followed, but she stopped when she got to the buttons of his trousers. Theo was glad of that, because he figured that if she touched him there, he'd probably have gone off without having done anything else.
He smiled at her. "I'll do this," he said.
She nodded. "I'll just, um..." She started to shimmy out of her chemise and Theo forgot what he was doing, his hands stilling on the second button, watching her lift the silky fabric to expose silky thighs and hips... Rose stopped, the chemise still draped around her neck. "Well...?" she asked, giving a nod towards his trouser buttons. Theo grinned sheepishly and set back to work on the buttons.
He stepped out of his trousers and took a deep, shuddering, nervous breath before looking up again. He made a small sound in his throat when he saw that Rose was naked, standing with her arms folded over her chest. Her eyes widened when she looked at him and then, to his suprise, she choked back a giggle.
"What?" he asked, a little put out. He looked down. All right, so an erection wasn't the most elegant of things, but he didn't see anything funny about it.
She shook her head. "It's just..." She giggled into her hands. "It's just something Ivy and Elanor told me." She bit her lip to stop the giggles. Theo shook his head, not sure if he wanted to know what his sister had told her.
"All right, so what's so funny?" he asked.
She grinned at him. "Ivy said it looks like a little creature with a mind of it's own, and Elanor agreed. I thought they were just teasing me, but they were right." She giggled again.
Theo rolled his eyes. Why did it not surprise him that Ivy would say something like that? He looked back at Rose and his breath caught at the sight. While she was laughing at him she had dropped her arms, completely exposing herself. Rose realized it too, and her arms went up across her chest again. She blushed.
Theo walked up to her and kissed her. "Now," he said, gazing into her eyes, "I think we have something better to do than making fun of my bits?"
Rose gave a smirk. "But it's so much fun to tease you," she said, then squealed as Theo grabbed her and swung her around to land on the bed. But unlike that time, so long ago now, when she had gotten angry at him and that whole mess between them had started, now she just looked up at him wide-eyed and giggling.
He dropped down next to her and pulled her close. "Love you," he said.
"I love you." Rose initiated the kiss this time and when they broke apart to breathe, he saw she had tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Theo asked, worried because she didn't seem nervous anymore. This was something else.
"I was just thinking..." She sniffled and turned her face away for a moment, composing herself. "I was just thinking how I almost ruined this. I almost drove you away and I would have been doing this with...someone else, when now I can't imagine being with anyone but you." She buried her face in his neck. "I'm sorry."
Theo hugged her tightly. "It's over, Rose, and it all worked out. Don't worry about it." She nodded but kept her face hidden and he heard another sniffle. "Look at me, Rose." She looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears. "We're together, we're married, the past doesn't matter." He reached between them to finger the elven pendant resting on her breast and smiled. "You're stuck with me now."
Theo let his hand wander to cup her breast, his fingers brushing the nipple. Rose sighed deeply, her eyes half-closed, and Theo thought it the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.
He dipped his head down to kiss her breast, his tongue replacing his fingers. Rose moaned and Theo's spine tingled at the sound. He kissed his way up to her face, his mouth following the mithril chain. As he kissed her, he moved over to settle on top of her.
When he reached her mouth he stopped and she opened her eyes, meeting his gaze. "I want you very much," she said. "No more waiting."
He kissed her again and reached down to guide himself into her. He pushed inside and she tensed. He wanted to take his time with this, but he was so close now and he had to move. She gasped into their kiss when he thrust into her and then the climax overcame him.
He sighed into her hair. Well, that wasn't the most romantic thing in the world. "I'm sorry," he said when he was able to catch his breath. "Did I hurt you?"
She stroked his cheek. "No, Theo, I'm fine."
He smiled apologeticaly."Sorry, it was so quick. It's just--"
"Don't worry about it. Mum told me that the first time is...well..." She grinned. "We'll just have to practice some more, right?"
He laughed and kissed her nose. "You know I love you?" he said.
"You may have mentioned it once or twice," she said and pulled him down to kiss him.
-o-O-o-
"I don't ever want to leave here," said Theo with a sigh.
Rose rolled over to look at him. "You want to stay at Crickhollow?"
"Actually, I was talking about the bed." He rested a hand on Rose's hip, trailing his fingers across her soft skin. In their few days at Crickhollow, he had explored every inch of his wife and maybe today he'd retrace his journey. They'd explored other things as well. The morning following their wedding, Rose had produced a Haradric book filled with all sorts of interesting things to do with your wife. She'd started to tell him who had loaned it to her, but Theo stopped her. He was fairly certain where the book had come from, but it was easier to pretend his sister didn't do those things.
Rose poked him in the stomach. "And who's going to feed you while you're staying in bed?"
He grinned at her. "Isn't that what I have a wife for?"
She sat up, picked up her pillow, and hit him with it. Then she got out of bed, put on her dressing gown, and turned to look at him. "I'm going to get breakfast," she said. "If you can manage to drag yourself out of bed, you can join me." She smirked at him and left.
Theo lay back, weighing whether to stay in bed or get up for breakfast. His stomach decided quite loudly for him.
Rose was in the kitchen, cracking eggs into a skillet. "Decided to leave your bed, have you?" she asked. "I knew food would win."
Theo hugged her from behind and kissed her shoulder. "Well, I suppose there's something even better than food out here."
She turned a bit to look at him. "Tea?"
Theo laughed and stepped back to sit in a chair, pulling Rose onto his lap. "Even better than that," he said and kissed her.
Rose broke the kiss. "Breakfast is going to burn."
"So," he said and leaned in to kiss her again.
She avoided the kiss and squirmed out of his lap. "I don't want to eat a burnt breakfast," she said, laughing. "We've got plenty of time for other things later."
"After breakfast," Theo said, wagging his eyebrows.
"Maybe. If you do the washing up." She gave him a cheeky grin and turned back to the eggs.
-o-O-o-
The honeymoon was over far too soon for Theo's liking, but they would still have the privacy of their own bedroom. When they returned to Brandy Hall, their things had already been moved into the rooms that had always belonged to the Master of the Hall. After their marriage, Theo's father had moved to Éowyn's room--it was easier than moving all the large-sized furniture--and the Master's bedroom had been unused.
Rose sat on the floor of the parlor, sorting through her dowry chest. "I don't really need most of this," she said. She'd pulled out a quilt she'd made with her Grandmother Cotton, baby things her mother had given her, a sewing kit and a few other decorative things. The practical items, such as plates and tea set and linens, were put back in the chest. "I'll just give these to my sisters."
"Well, wait a bit before giving anything to Goldi," Theo said. "Hopefully, she won't need it either, if my idiot cousin comes around."
She sighed. "Maybe you should talk to him."
Theo shook his head."No, you were right. This is something he's going to have to hear from Goldi herself or he'll just think I'm teasing him. You need to take the direct approach with Fari." He chuckled. "And Goldi's probably the best one for giving him a kick in the arse anyway."
Rose shrugged. "I don't know. She's being pretty stubborn about him noticing her on his own. And I think she's getting discouraged."
"I'm sure he really likes her. He's always teasing her, which is flirting whether he realizes it or not. Just tell her that she's going to have to hit him over the head or something."
"I"ll try to talk to her again about it," Rose said. "I was thinking of asking her to stay with us for a while after your birthday." She bit her lip and bowed her head.
Theo sat on the floor next to her. "Are you getting homesick?"
She nodded. "A little. I didn't think I would be, because I'd stayed here before for months. But I guess it's finally hit me that I'm not going back to Bag End." She looked up at him and gave a weak smile. "I thought having Goldi visit for a while would make it easier."
"That's fine, love." Theo leaned over to kiss her gently. "And we can go visit your mum and dad whenever you want, all right?"
She sighed. "I guess I'm just being silly. I'm sure once Éowyn puts me to work around here, I won't have time to be homesick."
Theo leaned over until his lips nearly touched her ear. "I'm sure I can think of ways to distract you as well."
