"It's time to get up sleepyhead," Diamond whispered, her warm breath tickling his ear and making him squirm slightly even as he dozed. Seeing that her son would not be woken that morning by words alone, Faramir's mother began to tap gently but persistently on his arm until he eventually rolled over to face her, emerald eyes laden heavy with sleep gazing blearily in to her own.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, yawning widely as he stretched his small body as far as he could down the length of his bed in an effort to awaken his tired limbs.

"Not long past seven."

The little hobbit's body snapped back immediately into its previous position, facing away from his mother and letting his eyes fall shut again. Clucking her tongue impatiently, Diamond put down the little lamp she had been holding and, grasping her son firmly by the shoulder, turned him back over.

"It's time to get up," she repeated, louder this time.

"But it's still early Mama," Faramir groaned, "can't I sleep for just a little longer?"

"I'm afraid not little one," his mother answered kindly, "your father wants to leave within the hour. If I leave you to sleep any longer, you won't even have time to eat breakfast before you leave."

"Why must we leave so early?" he asked sleepily, prising his eyes slowly open, "it's not like we have to be at the river by any particular time, surely I could sleep a while longer so I'm not tired later."

It was then that Diamond realised with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she would not be able to extricate Faramir from his bed at any point in the near future without telling him the reason for them having to leave so early that morning, and she knew that it was not a reason that he was going to appreciate in the slightest.

"You must get up now sweetheart, no arguments please! There isn't time to dawdle; the three of you must be at the border by midmorning to meet Mr Gamgee and little Goldilocks."

"Why? They're not coming camping with us!" Faramir exclaimed, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the very thought of Goldilocks Gamgee joining him on his special trip. Diamond looked awkwardly at him for a moment in silence before deciding it was probably best just to break the 'bad' news to her son and give him the chance to get the bad mood it was bound to cause out of his system before he left the house.

"Well actually they are Faramir."

To her surprise, Faramir did not shout, complain or stamp his feet. Quite unexpectedly, he laughed instead.

"I give it an hour before she wants to go home. Between the midges, mud and lack of a mirror, there's no way Goldilocks Gamgee will survive a whole night with us down by the Brandywine!"

He was forced to concede later that this opinion may perhaps have been wrong, and his mood soured considerably as a result.

"Did she have to come Papa?" Faramir moaned, narrowing his eyes in annoyance as the young hobbit lass who was the cause of his current discontent skipped daintily past them, heading back to her father with a freshly picked bunch of daisies clasped in her small hands, an angelic smile lighting up her pretty face. They both watched as Sam accepted his young daughter's gift with delight, thrilled that she seemed already to be following in his footsteps at such a young age, her fascination with nature clear to all. Goldilocks Gamgee and her father Samwise had met Merry, Pippin and Faramir just a few hours ago on the Buckland border, and the young lass had been a source of overwhelming annoyance to Faramir ever since. It seemed to him that she was bound to be trouble; it was not possible for a hobbit lass to be so perfect, with bright golden curls, deep blue eyes and a white, sparkling smile, and perfect manners to match. She was far too thoughtful too; on arriving, she had presented both his papa and uncle with brand new blankets she had apparently embroidered herself, though Faramir suspected that Mrs Gamgee had had more than a passing involvement. Nevertheless, and much to his disgust, the blankets had been accepted with much praising of the fine stitching and bright colours, and he had been forced to carry them in his arms throughout the walk back to the river, whilst his father and uncle took care of the considerably heavier supply packs.

"Now Faramir, there's no need to speak like that," Pippin replied sternly, "Sam is a dear friend of mine, and I'm sure that if you put the effort in you would find a good friend in Goldilocks too. So why don't you two spend some time together whilst we set up camp for tonight? Perhaps you might find you have something in common with her after all."

"She's a girl! What could we possibly have in common?"

"Please little one, just go and speak to her, for my sake if nothing else."

Faramir scowled darkly at his father but obeyed nonetheless, stomping over to where Goldilocks now sat alone on the riverbank, her father having gone off in search of extra supplies for that evening's supper.

"There's going to be trouble isn't there?" Pippin asked Merry, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Merry answered truthfully, "he's a Took, there's always trouble when Tooks are around."

Pippin punched him lightly on the arm, but Merry was pleased to see that his comment had at least raised a smile. He looked over again at Faramir and Goldilocks, sat in complete silence, just staring at each other awkwardly, neither sure of what they were supposed to do or say to each other, but knowing that for their fathers' sake they had to eventually. It was going to be a very long night for them both.

Unless, of course, Faramir's favourite uncle stepped in to lend his young nephew a helping hand.

AN: So, it's been well over a year, but little Faramir Took is too sweet to resist wriiting about, and I've finally given in! Not sure when the next update will be, but I hope you liked this one, do let me know what you think :)

Until Next Time...

Smileyhalo