Coming of Age

Frodo walked along Bagshot Row beneath a colorful sunset sky. He had spent the day by himself, sitting beneath a tree reading a book of poetry. He let his thoughts ramble through his head as his feet rambled down the road. Frodo was so caught up in his own musings that he did hear his name being called from behind him. He did feel the pinecone that hit him in the back of the head. "Hey!" Exclaimed Frodo as he turned catch the perpetrator. Walking towards him from about twenty feet behind was a lass with nutty brown hair. The lass was laughing merrily. "’Tis your own fault, Frodo. If you would pay attention to what is going on around you, then you would have heard me call your name."

"Good evening, Impatien, thank you so much for the advice. Next time I will try to be more observant." Was Frodo’s wry response. "Now was there something I could do for you, or were you just needing a target to throw pinecones at?"

Impatien came within three feet of Frodo and stopped. "I was just heading home when I saw you. I thought it would be nice to have you along for company," she said with a bright playful smile, "so will you, walk with me that is?"

"How could I possibly resist, you might decide to start throwing rocks at me if I don’t."

"Now be nice. You know I would not do such a thing. I would have had to call your name ten times and have been ignored each time to resort to rocks."

"Oh, well, that is a comfort," said Frodo. "I would like to make amends for my ill treatment of you a moment ago. May I offer you my arm to lean on as we continue on our way?"

"Why, thank you, Mr. Baggins. I believe I will." Impatiens took Frodo’s left arm and the pair started on their way once more. Frodo noticed, as they walked, that Impatien was close to him. Impatien was a buxom lass. With the way she kept a snug hold on his arm, her ample bosom kept brushing against it. Every time this happened, Frodo felt a little thrill shiver through him. "How are you this evening Miss Banks?"

"I am doing tolerably well. How are you, Mr. Baggins?"

" I think I am going to have a difficult time getting used to folks calling me Mr. Baggins."

"Well it is time your start. Your birthday is tomorrow and with that gigantic party Bilbo is throwing, you will have half the Shire calling your Mr. Baggins tomorrow night, in honor of your coming of age."

"I can’t say that I am looking forward to the ‘coming of age’ nonsense. I don’t anticipate it effecting my life in any significant way. Bilbo has treated me as a grown Hobbit since I first came to Bag End. As a result I have been my own Hobbit since I was twenty-one."

"There is a difference. Now you will be on the market." Impatien said with a wise and thoughtful expression on her face.

"On the market, for what?" Frodo asked, not understanding her meaning.

"You will be on the market as a potential husband of course." Really Frodo, are you so lost in your books and thoughts of adventure that you have failed to notice lasses or that the main point to a Hobbit’s coming of age is that they are considered old enough to marry?"

Frodo blushed, "Oh, I have noticed lasses." He said as he caught a whiff of Impatien’s perfume and felt her bosom brush his arm again.

"Oh good, for a moment there I thought the fact that there are two different kinds of Hobbit may have escaped your attention. Now starting tomorrow all sorts of young lady Hobbits will start paying a great deal of attention to you. There are few young misses who would consider you to be a tremendous catch as a husband. There are all the rumors of the gold that Bilbo stashed away in that old hole of his, and you are the heir to that gold. Yes, I think you will find that you are a very popular Hobbit indeed, come tomorrow."

Frodo groaned, "How could I have forgotten all of that."

"Oh I can think of a couple of ways. For starters, you were likely too busy counting all of that lovely gold." Teased Impatien, "then there is the fact that you are quite likely as cracked in the head as your Uncle. That sort of thing runs in families you know."

Frodo tried to glare down at her but she threw him a dazzling smile that had no shortage of dimples. "You are really enjoying this, aren’t you?" accused Frodo, "Tell me, did you look forward to your coming of age? And why is it you are not married with about half a dozen little ones pulling at your skirts?"

"If you are trying to imply that I was found wanting by the lads, you could not be more mistaken. I was quit popular myself when I turned thirty-three. I could have had my pick for a husband."

"Then why didn’t you, pick I mean."

"For the same reason you are not thrilled about this birthday of yours. I didn’t want a husband. I still don’t. I have been on my own since I was twenty-five, when my mother died. Our neighbor’s, the Muddyfoots, kept an eye out for me, but I was left to do as I wished which was continue living in the hole I grew up in. I have been a self sustaining Hobbit since then. By the time I turned thirty-three I had decided that I did not wish to be married, that I was content living on my own. At the ripe old age of thirty-nine, I am still happy with the choices I made then."

The rainbow colored sky was reflected by the surface of the slowly moving surface of The Water. It was a warm evening, one that invited the willing to walk about, savoring the soft caress of the early autumn air. Frodo and Impatien walked for a few moments in the companionable silence of two individuals who have been friends for a long while. Impatien felt the invitation of the evening and accepted. "Frodo, it is too lovely of an evening to go straight home, why don’t you and I go for a walk down by The Water." Frodo had felt the invitation of the evening as well, he accept it and Impatien’s, "I would love to."

Together they turned down a path that went from the road to the bank of The Water. There beneath summer green tree, fire flies rose from the tall grass, Frodo and Impatien’s path followed along the path of the river. "Impatien, may I ask you something, that is rather personal?" Frodo’s voice was hushed matching the softness of the early evening.

"Of course you may, so long as you remember that I do not have to answer."

"Oh, of course." Frodo hurriedly agreed.

Impatien smiled encouragingly, "What is your question, Frodo?"

Frodo paused thoughtfully, "Well, I was wondering if you have any regrets? About never having married I mean."

Impatien walked in thoughtful silence for several moments, "I think there is only one, and I really don’t consider it to be a terribly great one. It is that I am as warm blooded as any other Hobbit. I have the same urges and needs to experience the intimacy reserved for husband and wife. It isn’t unbearable but the need is still there. I have no great desire to have a family. I have been on my own for far too long to change my habits to suit the needs of a husband and children. But I do admit that sometimes I would like a warm caring companion in my bed." Impatien stole a glance at Frodo and saw that he was blushing, "Did I tell you too much?"

Frodo ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "Err… well… I don’t suppose so. I did ask. I guess I did not accept quite so much."

"I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable. For what it is worth, I don’t think I intended to say more than it is a little lonely at times. I suppose at the last moment I was inspired to be a bit more honest."

"There is no need to apologize. I did not expect your answer, but I think you told me what it was I was really wondering about."

"What are you wondering about, Frodo?"

It was Frodo’s turn to walk a few paces in thoughtful silence, "I guess I am suddenly wondering if it would be so terrible to never get married. I mean I like lasses and I am at least curious to some of what goes with being married. I just don’t see myself getting married. Like you I don’t feel any great desire to share my life with a wife and children. "

"Those are important considerations for a lad about to come of age. But you know you need not make a choice today. For now maybe all you need is to go on as you are. But in ten years time you might wake up one day deciding that you want a family, and that would be all right too."

"Do you think you will ever decide to have a family?" asked Frodo.

Impatien sighed, "I really don’t know. Maybe the reason I have not considered it before now is because I have not found the right Hobbit. I remember just before my coming of age the other lasses my age seemed so eager to get married that it was almost as though they would have married anyone. There were lads that I thought were handsome, some of them wanted to court me, they were nice lads, but I just could not imagine myself married to them. It was like I wished for something more than nice."

"Have you ever thought yourself in love?"

"No, not really." Impatien stopped took her hand from Frodo’s arm. She bent down to pick up a stone then she sent it skipping across the surface of the water.

Frodo bent down to pick up his own stone. The two friends spent several minutes skipping stones in peace, as the evening shadows deepened beneath the trees. After a while Impatien stopped then sat down on the lush grass of the bank, Frodo left off with his stone skipping to sit down next to her. Fireflies flickered all around, the sky overhead was deepening to blue and purple. "Frodo, I have decided that it is my turn to ask you a rather personal question." Frodo looked at Impatien feeling twinges of mild trepidation. Impatien looked back at him with a playful smile on her face. Frodo felt a warm thrill move through him at the site of her smile and merrily sparkling eyes. "Very well, you may with the same rule that I do not have to answer if I do not wish to."

"I would have it no other way, my good Hobbit."

"In that case, what would you like to ask me?"

Impatien took a quick moment to shift a little bit, Frodo noticed that she was quite near to him, "I was just wondering if you have ever kissed a girl."

Frodo felt his face turn red. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Because I am curious. It is a failing of mine. My mother used to say I should have been a Took with all of my curiosity. You, sir, are changing the subject. Will you answer my question or no?"

"I will answer. You just caught me off guard with your question."

"Well then answer it. Have you or have you not ever kissed a girl?"

"I have." Frodo’s answer was firm.

"On the lips?"

Frodo blushed more, "Yes, it was on the lips."

"How serious of a kiss was it? You do know that some kisses are more serious than others, don’t you?"

"Yes, I am aware of that fact. The kiss in question, was more in the nature of a firm peck."

"Did you start the kiss or did the lass?"

"What? You are entirely too curious. Someone should check your family lineage, surely there is some Took blood in you somewhere."

"Your changing the subject again, Frodo."

"If you really must know, she kissed me. It was three years ago, at the Lithe fair. The lass told me she had something in her eye and bid me to look. No sooner than I leaned forward she had her arms around my neck and her lips pressed firmly to mine."

"Ah, an old trick but almost always an effective one. Did you like the kiss?"

"As I recall, yes, very much so. I was just getting over being stunned by her actions and moving on to figuring out what I should do next when she ran away giggling. Why is it girls giggle so much?"

Impatien laughed, "I can not tell you more than it is one of the mysterious ways of girls."

Frodo shook his head, "It is annoying, that is what it is."

Impatien laughed again. Frodo noticed that somehow her laughter caused her to move still nearer. He swallowed hard and looked straight a head of him.

The silence that passed between them no longer felt peaceful to Frodo. The air around them now seemed to be charged with some sort of energy. Frodo did not necessarily dislike the feeling but it did have him feeling most uneasy.

"Frodo, I have been thinking that I would like to give you a very special gift for your birthday, this birthday being an important one, you know."

"That isn’t necessary, Impatien, your good wishes are enough." Frodo became even more nervous.

"I know," Impatien said calmly, "but I want to, so I will."

"If that is how you feel about it, then there is nothing I can do to stop you."

"I am so glad you see it that way. Now turn your head towards me."

Frodo did so, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Impatien looked into his eyes for what seemed to Frodo like many long moments, then she smiled, a small somehow knowing smile. "Now, close your eyes," She directed him.

Frodo closed his eyes. He waited like that for what felt like an eternity. In that long moment he was acutely aware of the sound of the birds settling for the night, crickets singing there evening song, and the rustling of leaves in a light breeze. Then it happened. A pair of soft warm lips were pressed to his own, his eyes flew open in surprise. He would have broken the contact were it not for the fact that Impatien had one hand on the back of his neck, the other on the side of his head, holding him firmly in place. When Frodo’s initial shock passed he noticed that her lips were moving gently against his own, caressing him. He closed his eyes then instinctively moved his lips in the same way. He lost himself in the rhythm of the kiss. Absently he reached up with one hand to bury his fingers in her hair. The fragrance of Impatien’s perfume filled his every breath. His heart pounded so hard he thought it might burst. A warm tingling feeling welled up from deep inside him filling him to the tips of his toes and fingers. Just when Frodo had the thought come into his head that nothing could be finer than this kiss, Impatien’s lips parted ever so slightly, then the tip of her tongue brushed delicately against his lips. Frodo felt as though a fire had erupted in him with that single touch. His answer was to allow his lips to part making way for his own tongue to reach out to touch hers with the gentlest caress, deepening the kiss.

The intimate dance of the kiss went on, Frodo losing all awareness of time and surrounding. His hands started to move of their own accord, exploring the warm softness of Impatien. He could feel her hands, touching and caressing his shoulders, his chest. He felt a growing need inside of him for something more, but was unsure as to what. Then to his dismay, Impatien pulled away. She looked deeply into his eyes, he could see a sort of burning hunger in hers. She reached up to gently touch his face, "Come Frodo, it is time you walk me home."

Author's Note-- For another Frodo and Impatien encounter go and read Apple Flavored Kisses.