Disclaimer: Tolkien owns this world, and everything in it. Even these characters I created myself. I say he owns them because they never would have come about had he not created his Opus. Thank you, Professor.

The Fellowship of the Greenholms

Prolouge: "May I Hold Him?"

Elanor sat wearily on a sofa, her newest child crying louder than ever.

"What is it, Frodo dear?" she asked finally. "You've been fed, cleaned, and burped. You have no reason to cry so!" she sighed and bounced him gently.

"May I hold him?" a quiet voice asked from the doorway. Elanor frowned, unable to see the child that belonged to the voice. It was a certain voice that Elanor hadn't heard, to her knowledge, so it couldn't be one of HER children, could it?

"What was that, dear?" she asked, hoping the child would come into the light of her candle.

"If I'm careful, may I hold him?" Elanor's 5-year-old daughter Sadie shuffled over, nearly causing her mother to drop little Frodo from shock. Sadie, to Elanor's knowledge, had not ever spoken. The loud and rowdy group of boys she had grown up with had left Sadie with no desire to speak thus far, but now a sweet, practiced voice came from the hobbit-lass' mouth.

"You're supposed to be asleep." Elanor finally commented. Sadie wrinkled her nose.

"I can't. Sam is snoring." she said simply, as if she'd said it many times before. Elanor let a smile creep onto her face.

"Well, then I suppose you may hold him." Elanor helped situate Sadie on the couch as Frodo started wailing with renewed strength. She set him in Sadie's arms.

"Stop it, Fro." Sadie told the baby crossly. Elanor opened her mouth to explain that Frodo was just a baby and couldn't understand, but he suddenly hiccuped and gave a few put-out gurgling noises, then fell silent. She watched as the lad flailed his arms, as if to say "What took you so long?". Sadie smiled at him.

"Sorry I didn't come sooner. Sam said you were too loud." Frodo babbled a little, and Sadie giggled at him. Elanor felt sorry to disrupt the sweet scene unfolding before her, but it was late, and time for a certain Hobbit-lass to be in bed.

"Alright, sweetheart, it's bedtime." Elanor took Frodo back and put him in his crib. He gave a few half-hearted whimpers, but seemed ready to drop off into dreamland. Sadie pulled on Elanor's sleeve and then (when the taller of the two had bent down) hugged her tightly.

"Goodnight, Mama. I love you."

"I love you, too." Elanor answered. She watched with a smile as Sadie skipped back to the nursery she and Sam shared. Her oldest daughter was a gem indeed.

((A note:

These stories started from a little scribbling of conversation in one of my notebooks. (That particular conversation turned into "Confessions of a Tween-age Tomboy") It is growing and mutating into what I hope and pray will be a wonderful story. I know where it's going, I just need to get it there. And let me tell you about the Genre of this story: It's "Anne of Green Gables" meets "The Hobbit". Fun? Oh, yes. ^^

A quick thank you before the story really begins, to Baylor for writing her wonderful stories and - in many cases - directly inspiring the events in this story. I'll try to keep track of everything major so I can thank her and/or ask her permission to use ideas. ^^

~Rosie-Ann))