Bilbo Baggins was one very nervous Hobbit by the time nightfall came. He couldn't believe this afternoon was actually real. He was starting to consider if he had maybe gone off the rocker and imagined the whole thing due to his wishful thinking. Suddenly, he was assaulted with gut wrenching pain. He had never felt anything like this ever in his life, he was sure he was screaming but couldn't feel his own limbs. He found himself in a vast expanse of nothingness of sorts, only existing, without his body only in his soul. It was very strange. Everything was foggy and he couldn't see or feel anything but emptiness. Just as he was getting familiar with the emptiness, he found himself in Bag End. His Tad was pacing in front of the medical room in the house and he could hear his Mamau screaming from the inside. He tried to rush to her side but found that he couldn't move. He saw Aunt Mirabella and Healer Took come out, one with a bundle in their arms. His Aunt placed the bundle in his Tad's arms and found himself looking at a tiny face peeking out of it. The face had a button nose, mass of golden curls, pointed ears and the greenest eyes he had ever seen. His Tad gave the baby a loving smile and just when Bilbo was wondering who this baby was, Bungo Baggins spoke.
"Welcome dear daughter, you shall called Arabella after your and my Mamau. Blessed be."
Before Bilbo could comprehend what happened, he was pulled into the body of the little child and found himself settling there. Slowly, steadily and sluggishly over the course of a year, he started getting acclimated with being in a baby girl's body. It felt as though he was a child again at some level but at the same time, he had no control over anything that the girl did. He only had a first hand experience since everything happened as though he was the one doing it. It was strange to say the least. As the years passed, he experimented, tried to help Bella with his knowledge and experience. It didn't help much and he didn't try sharing any of his memories either. No fauntling needed to grow up with that kind of burden. The more she grew up, the more he could help. Knowing it would make his Tad happy, he allowed as much of his knowledge of languages and accounts to slip in as he could. Which wasn't a lot at all but for a fauntling her age, it made her smarter than her peers, much to the joy of Bungo Baggins. At the same time, knowing how woefully unprepared he had been for his own adventure, Bilbo did all he could to encourage her adventurous spirit. He had accidentally discovered that as long as there were no people in them, he could send some images to her dreams on occasions. So, he started with showing her the places around Bag End, his favourite hiding spots as a fauntling that she had yet to discover. When he knew that she was careful and it might not hurt, he showed her places outside of Hobbiton. That it made their Mamau happy to see her daughter wish to explore from such a young age, was an added benefit.
Even though he was in an unusual situation, Bilbo found he couldn't have it any other way. This beautiful fauntling was everything he hadn't been able to become. Back when he was her age, he was always being pulled at two extremes, to one by his Tookish free spirit and to one by his Baggins' home bound ways. But probably having him not allow her self doubts to pester her, Arabella was a living and breathing contradiction much like her parents were of each other. There was a reason why Baggins never married into the Took family. The Baggins were scholars, land owners, bookkeepers and cooks. The very definition of respectable Hobbits. Never going on adventures or such. They were tethered to their Home and Hearth. What people tended to forget was, while they never left their Homes physically, their huge book collections allowed them to explore the world outside through the eyes of others. But it wasn't a respectable thing, so nobody bothered reminding others of it. The Tooks on the other hand, were a highly curious sort. They were known for their unhobbity habits. They indulged in adventures, befriended big folk and most of all, learned to fight for more than the Bounders training. But they had been the Thain's family for generations, so nobody objected. Besides, the Tooks were excellent at needlework of all variety, as good as the Maggot's with Farming and mainly were the best of healers. All of which were very hobbity things. So, the people endured. Nobody had ever imagined a Took and a Baggins ever getting married.
Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took were gossip material for a long time. Their daughter though, was even more so. She was excellent at her letters and helped her father maintain the estate from a young age. At the same time, she had a knack for wandering around like her mother did and was always found trying to wield her mother's bow. She was brilliant at all expected hobbity things from her respective families along with all the unhobbity things from them. This caused her to be somewhat shunned some by the general populace but Arabella was never bothered. If the Shirelings had thought Arabella's more unhobbity habits would be a thing of the past once she grew older, they were wrong. Just how much, was witnessed when The Disturber of Peace visited.