"Oh, for goodness sake, Merry! She'll be fine!"
Merry just continued to pace; his appearance had become very dishevelled over the last hour and a half, curls in his face, jacket left unbuttoned and open. He was pacing the corridor outside of his and Estella's bedroom, hands in his pockets and head down as he thought to himself; Pippin had no choice but to watch his cousin worry about what was going on inside the room.
At first Merry had demanded to be in there, doing all but physically fighting with the midwives to do so; it was only when they told him it would be better for Estella's health if he stayed out of the way that he relented. Pippin had, of course, also been denied access to the room and so had instead decided to wait with his cousin in the hopes of calming him down somewhat; he did think it somewhat unfair that Diamond had been allowed inside, though, but the midwives had told him it was because she was a lass - this was a lass thing, apparently.
Well if the birth-room was a 'lass thing' then waiting outside and panicking was what the male hobbits did, it appeared.
"Pacing won't help," Pippin tried again, though he didn't leave his seat. "I think they know what they're doing, you know; it's not the first time a lass has had to have a baby, and I suspect it won't be the last."
Merry spun around to face him, and Pippin was alarmed to see traces of anger on his cousin's face. "You don't get it, Pip! After what happened last year when she fell..." He stopped and looked down at the floor. "I worry about her. I know she tells me not to, and that she's not some delicate thing I can easily break, but I just...I need to know that she will be alright."
"And she will be," Pippin said, although he himself wasn't completely sure; there were always risks, and they could only hope that all would go well. "She's a tough one, your Stella; she's never once complained to me or Di about being pregnant, not even when she could barely walk."
Merry allowed himself a small smile. "Yes, that's her; she never wants me to know if something's too hard or hurting her - she says she can put up with it herself." He hesitated for a moment, pondering over something in his mind. "It's not just her, Pippin...it's the baby. What if something goes wrong and it effects the baby?"
Pippin had no answer to this, for he himself did not know - he could not even relate his own experiences to Merry, seeing as he and Diamond had married only six months earlier during the Yuletide festivities. In short, he was rather useless in that moment.
Instead, he stood and put an arm on Merry's shoulder. "We should go for a walk, get some fresh air."
"And leave Estella in there?" Merry asked, utterly shocked by such a suggestion. "What if the baby is born before we're back?! Or something goes wrong and I'm not here? I can't, Pip-"
"We won't go far," Pippin promised calmly, and he meant it. "We shan't be longer than five minutes; just a short walk, nothing more." He squeezed his older cousin's shoulder. "I won't let you miss this, Merry. I don't want to miss it either. But we cannot stay cooped up in this hall all afternoon waiting for news. It's not healthy - and it will drive you crazy."
Merry looked torn, and his eyes drifted over to the door; no one opened it, and all that he could hear was the sound of a few voices talking to one another. So far there hadn't been any screams or cries yet, so...surely five minutes would not hurt?
"Alright," He agreed reluctantly, looking back at Pippin. "Five minutes."
Once outside of the hall, Pippin pulled out his pipe and lit it before taking a puff; it had been a number of days since he'd last indulged in the pipe, and with all of the stressful events going on at the moment, it wasn't a moment too soon that he took to his pipe once more.
"You're not smoking?" Pippin asked when he saw Merry just watching him.
Merry gave a shrug. "No. I haven't really taken the pipe lately; not since Estella..." The word miscarried died on his lips. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'm not much in the mood for pipeweed at the moment."
Pippin didn't look convinced. "Not in the mood for pipeweed?" He asked incredously. "I would have thought that now is the perfect time!" But he decided not to press further about it; after all, Merry was clearly not thinking properly as it was, what with his wife being in labour. "Alright, suit yourself; more for me."
As promised, they only walked around the outside of the hall in a simple lap that took no more than a few minutes; as they walked, Merry was silent with his hands tucked in his pockets, head bowed down. Pippin kept sneaking glances at his cousin, slightly concerned, but continued to enjoy his pipe as they strolled together side-by-side.
"It's actually a rather nice day," Pippin muttered to himself after a couple of minutes of silence. "I wonder what the little lads are up to today; causing mischief, I suppose. Ah, I miss those days, don't you, Merry?"
Merry didn't answer, and Pippin looked at his older cousin - he was extremely alarmed when he saw that Merry was crying; Merry hardly ever cried, not even when he had been a young tween, not even in nightmares.
"Merry, what's wrong?" He asked, putting a hand on his cousin's shoulder. They had stopped walking now, and the sun beat down on them as Pippin looked at Merry's face, and Merry looked down at the floor. "I know you're scared, but...but...but just think about when this is all over. You and Estella shall have a beautiful little babe - and they'll both be healthy," He added firmly. "I know that they will, Merry; I may be a fool, but I'm an honest fool."
Merry gave a sigh, wiping at his eyes. "I know. I'm sorry. I've just been worrying too much over the last month, that's all, and it's gotten to me. I'm sorry," He repeated, looking rather ashamed in himself. "It was silly of me to cry."
"You're tired," Pippin said kindly. "I will probably be the same one day when I'm in your position - if I'm ever in your position. I suppose it's something that we gentle-hobbits do, worrying over our lasses even if we don't need to; why break tradition?" Merry tried to hide his smile but failed miserably. "See? You should be happy at the moment; I know you and Estella have been eager to have a baby - and now you will!"
"If only it were as easy as that," Merry agreed ruefully. For a moment he just looked at his cousin before smiling. "Thank you, Pip. What would I do without you?"
Pippin grinned. "I know, I know; I'm rather fantastic. Now come on: the lasses will murder us in our sleep if we miss that baby being born...and while I can't speak for Estella, I can certainly say that I don't doubt Diamond would indeed murder me."
Merry managed to stay calm - for all of twenty minutes until Estella had to start pushing; once he heard those screams, he gave up composure and began pacing once more. Pippin only sighed, shaking his head at his older cousin - and everyone said he was the foolish one!
Having said that, he did feel somewhat nervous himself - just in case.
It was a few more hours before any news came through, and Merry had been wearing the floors down with his pacing; he looked very much like he was about to go mad when one of the midwives entered into the hall, with one of the clearest smiles that either of them had ever seen.
"Congratulations, Master Brandybuck! You have a son!"
And just like that Merry was reduced to tears again - though now it was tears of joy and not of sadness. He was even further overjoyed when the midwife announced that both mother and baby were doing extremely well, and that he could go and visit them both very shortly. Diamond also came out after a few minutes, looking rather tired but pleased nonetheless as she went to sit next to her husband.
"It really went alright?" Pippin asked quietly, so that Merry would not hear.
She nodded and smiled. "Yes, thankfully. A boy - and a beautiful one at that. He really favours Merry, particularly in the eyes, although I think he'll have Estella's fair curls."
A grin curled Pippin's mouth at the thought of a tiny child looking alike to Merry running around the Shire causing mischief. When the boy was of a certain age, perhaps a tween, then he'd be up to the same tricks that Merry and Pippin had been up to at that age - stealing crops, sneaking extras when his mother wasn't looking, trying to have a crafty puff of his father's pipe when no one was looking.
Suddenly, Pippin had the image of another child - one that looked like a combination of himself and Diamond - running around the hills, laughing with Merry's lad as the two of them teamed up to pull pranks or jokes on unsuspecting hobbits in the fields. Not necessarily a boy though, he thought to himself; one of Sam's daughters was very much a troublemaker when she played outdoors, racing after her brothers with glee.
What if?
Merry was so unbelievably relieved when he entered the room and saw Estella sitting up against the headboard and cradling a small bundle in a blanket; she looked up as he entered and smiled tiredly at him - it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It didn't matter that she was still sweating from the exertion of bringing a new life into the world or that her curls were an absolute mess because his wife was alright and holding their newly born son in her arms.
"Stell...
"He's beautiful, Merry," She told him blissfully, and she seemed to glow with happiness. "Come and see him."
Merry carefully approached the bed, gently sitting down beside her and peering down at the baby curiously. The baby was a healthy pink with wonderfully round cherub cheeks, a pristine nose, a smattering of fair hair that would curl as it got longer...Merry's heart swelled as he thought to himself that this was his son, his and Estella's, something they had brought into the world together. He was indeed a most beautiful babe, Merry thought, and he felt his heart swell with both pride and joy.
"He is so wonderful, isn't he?" Merry told his wife, trying not to tear up as he reached to stroke the baby's cheek with his finger gently. "May I perhaps hold him?"
Estella laughed quietly and she nodded. "I was about to ask you to take him - my arms are extremely tired at the moment."
Carefully, so as to not disturb the sleeping babe, Merry took his son into his arms and smiled down at him joyfully. "Hello there...aren't you a handsome young lad? You're going to be popular with the lasses, I can tell..."
"Merry! He's barely an hour old!"
But she was laughing, and Merry couldn't help but laugh with her too. "Alright, maybe when you're older we can talk about that...for now, your mother is the only lass you need to worry about - and a lovely one at that." He turned to Estella and grinned. "He is beautiful. I love you both so much, Stell..."
Thank goodness Pippin wasn't in the room, because there was no doubt of the teasing his cousin would give him if he saw this.
Alright, guys, I'm not sure if anyone's reading but if you are then I was wondering if you could recommend names for Baby Brandybuck - if they don't get used for this baby then I MIGHT use them for another...and, yes, I will take female names too. As far as Merry and Estella are concerned, there's no knowledge as to whether they had kids or indeed how many so it's purely up to the fans on that one. But suggestions would be lovely.
Hope you enjoyed guys, and I'll see you soon!
