Thank heavens the sun was shining, Peregrin, the Took and Thain of the Shire, thought with relief. He couldn’t imagine how his Diamond would have reacted if the light rains of yesterday had repeated themselves today. She and the Mistress Rose had worked ceaselessly to make the festivities of the like none would ever forget. To have that ruined by uncooperative weather would have sent them both into such states that their husbands would have feared for their sanity.

Not to mention they would have been clucking over the obvious disappointment of Faramir and Goldilocks at having their wedding disrupted.

Pippin nearly rolled his eyes at the thought as he waited next to his son while the rest of the guests seated themselves. If Faramir and Goldilocks had been permitted to have their way, their wedding would have been of the likes of Frodo Gardner and his wife. Nice, quiet, and simple. But no, as both Diamond and Rose had insisted, it was not everyday that the son and heir of the Thain was to be married. There simply had to be a big fancy to do.

Apparently, everyone else aside from the couple in question and their fathers agreed.

Pippin himself had actually, upon seeing Goldilocks pale and wan look, been a bit frightened she would call off the entire thing after seeing her mother and prospective mother-in-law bubbling with so many ideas. After all, it was Goldilocks’ natural shyness that had made her the most like her father of all her siblings.

And if anything, it was that shyness that had very nearly made this day impossible to reach. Goldilocks Gamgee was never one to put herself into the positions her sisters. While Elanor had thrived in the courts of the King and Rose had delighted in aiding Diamond and Estella in their many duties, Goldilocks had done her best to remain in the shadows, drawing as little attention to herself as possible. She had been content with helping her mother with her younger siblings. Children made her light up with happiness. Not parties, not lavish court functions, but the simple pleasures of the home and hearth.

Even more to the point, she had never wanted to be courted by young hobbits all eager to capture but a glimpse of the bright golden curls that had appeared in her family’s lines. Most of them had been sent on their way by a firm look from the lass’s father and the apparent disinterest of the lass herself. Besides, there were many other golden-haired lasses about these days.

So most of them had departed. All but one.

Pippin chuckled silently. It could have been considered a bit unfair, he supposed. Faramir had one advantage over Goldilocks’ other suitors, the very fact that he had known her from childhood and she had a trust in him that she bestowed on few people. So when he appeared at Bag End, politely asking her to take a walk with him, she had accepted without fear or irritation. Sweet Goldilocks trusted him not to break her tender heart.

Their love had blossomed quietly, attracting little attention. That is, except from the many disappointed lasses in Tookland. But few had listened to their pouting about the Thain’s son having his eye on a lass from Hobbiton, deeming it to be only jealous chatter.

Of course, Pippin recalled more soberly, Goldilocks and Faramir’s path had not exactly been an easy one. Faramir, unlike himself, took his duties as the Thain’s heir very seriously. Diamond had claimed it came from her, since her family was never thought to be as flighty as their southern relatives, but Pippin knew well enough that it came from being named for the Steward Faramir of Gondor. His son had met the man at a young age and had deeply idolized the Man, striving in all he did to prove himself worthy of sharing his name.

Due to that dedication, he had to balance it with his obvious adoration for Goldilocks, along with her fear of drawing attention to herself. And Faramir knew very well that being courted, not to mention married, to the Thain’s heir would mean immediate notice from over half of the Shire.

Pippin looked up at that point and turned his gaze to his eldest son, who stood tall and proud in his own Gondorian livery. If he was truly honest with himself, the trials and tribulations of Faramir and Goldilocks were known only to them. Faramir had told him little of his courtship with Goldilocks, save that he was courting her and hoped to convince her to marry him one day. Pippin had supported him whole-heartedly, recalling the delight on his own father’s face when he had informed him he was courting Diamond of Long Cleeve with the hopeful intent of marriage. Now thirty-six years and five children later, he was watching his own son marry his beloved bride.

He glanced then down towards where Diamond sat waiting with their other children. Their two youngest children, Nimloth and Lórien, sat on either side of their mother, with Boromir flanking his little sister and Aragorn beside Lórien. Pippin fought back a grin, knowing that the arrangement was no doubt planned to keep the two out of trouble. If not properly supervised, Nimloth would undoubtedly get some mischief into her mind and drag her younger brother into the mess she longed to create. Lórien‘s awe of his sister, which lasted even into their tweens, made him the perfect, if slightly unwilling, partner in Nimloth‘s games. But Boromir, though he doted on his only sister with great devotion, knew how to keep a firm hand with her and her adventurous and willful nature.

The hush that fell upon the crowd caused Pippin to look up from his proud survey of his family. Towards the back, he saw that Sam had appeared at last, bearing a flushed and shyly smiling Goldilocks on his arm. The lass looked beautiful in her pale pink dress and the red rose wreath that adorned her golden locks. Pippin watched her eyes take in the large group of people gazing at her and saw her lick her lips nervously. But when her gaze drifted towards the front, where he stood with Faramir, Pippin could have sworn her entire being light up. In that, young Goldilocks Gamgee could have been as bright as the Lady Galadriel had once been when he had first beheld her in the Golden Woods.

As Sam led down his daughter towards them, Pippin and he locked eyes for a brief moment. In that gaze he saw pride and love, but also a bit of amazement, and Pippin strove not to laugh. Just the night before, Sam had confided in him that he and Rose had doubted their third daughter would ever marry, due to her shyness. But Pippin had just chuckled and told him that although his eldest son had not the inherent wildness and penchant for trouble that plagued so many of the Tooks, including his own sister, but he had the family’s stubbornness. When a Took wanted something or wished to marry someone, then not even a Dark Lord could keep him from trying to get it. Faramir loved Goldilocks, and she him, and thus he was determined to marry her.

Sam and Goldilocks stopped before him and Faramir. They paused as the guests seated themselves, and then Sam and Pippin stepped forward, each holding one of their children’s hands. Carefully, they placed the two hands together, one with the other.

Quietly, Pippin heard Sam say to Faramir, “She is yours now, son. Take care of her and she will take care of you.” He then stepped back.

Pippin then said to Goldilocks, “I welcome you to the family, daughter. You will always have a home with us, and we will love you as though you were born to us.”

He then joined Sam, allowing Faramir and Goldilocks continue to the officiator alone. They stood together until the ceremony was concluded, then quickly stepped aside when all the unwed lasses stepped forward, eager to catch the bride’s bouquet. They all jostled for a good position and Pippin did not even bother to stifle his laughter when he saw Nimloth and Sam’s younger daughter Primrose pushing each other out of the way to the front of the group. Soon enough the bouquet flew into the air and landed somewhere in the middle of the group. The other lasses backed away to reveal a blushing Mira Bolger, one of Fatty Bolger’s daughters. Pippin grinned when he saw her glance furtively towards Boromir, who was also smiling with delight in her direction.

Pippin turned back to the bride and bridegroom and saw his son had pulled his new wife to him for another kiss. When he broke off, Faramir rested his forehead against Goldilocks’ and smiled down at her. Her face was one of pure elation as she gazed up at him, blissful tears in her eyes.

Their lips moved slightly, but what they said to one another, Pippin could only speculate. But as he saw the sun brightly shining behind them, he gave his own additional blessing to his son and new daughter.