The Smallest Gift

6 Astron, 1380 SR

Bell had felt the pains beginning as she prepared to go to bed that night. She didn’t think much of it though, as she still had three weeks before the birth according to the healer, Miss Camellia, who had visited her the previous day. She shrugged the pains off as false labor and said nothing to Hamfast as they climbed into bed. No need to worry him over a few minor pains after all. If he knew, he would insist on getting the healer and she didn’t want to bother Miss Camellia over a couple of early contractions.

They got into bed and Bell spent several minutes trying to find the most comfortable position she could. Hamfast waited patiently until she was settled, then snuggled up next to her and slung a protective arm around her. A minute later, he was fast asleep. Slumber came to Bell slowly and even when she eventually drifted off, she remained acutely aware of everything around her: her husband snoring softly, May coughing two rooms away, Halfred getting up for a late night snack, and the bairn becoming more restless.

Shortly before midnight, the pains became slightly more pronounced, waking her completely when her water broke. She looked down at her soaked sheets in wonder. She had never been early before. With all her previous pregnancies she had been late to deliver; Halfred she had actually carried almost two weeks past term. Yet her legs, dressing gown and sheets were undeniably wet.

She contracted again, the pain surprisingly easy to bear, unlike with the other children. She wondered at this too as she shook Hamfast gently. “Ham,” she whispered.

Hamfast mumbled something in his sleep and stretched reflexively before snuggling closer to his wife.

“Ham,” Bell whispered again, shaking him harder. “The bairn’s setting to come.”

This woke Hamfast in an instant. He blinked and yawned and looked bleary-eyed at his wife. “What?”

“The bairn’s coming,” she repeated.

“You’re not due for three more weeks,” he protested.

“I’m about to be due in three more minutes,” Bell said. “Fetch the healer for me, and don’t go forgetting your jacket. It’s cold out.”

Hamfast first retrieved every available pillow in the smial and propped her up into a sitting position. He bunched up the soaked sheets, tossed them into a corner and grabbed a thick wool blanket from the linen chest which he draped loosely over his wife. He woke Hamson and assigned the child to sit next to Bell. A cold blast of air swept into the room as Hamfast left to retrieve the healer.

Bell smiled warmly at her eldest son. Hamson would be fifteen soon and though he remembered the births of his sisters, this would be the first time he was entrusted to sit with his mother. Then again, this was the first time Bell would be delivering at night and delivering early. Her sisters, who had helped her with all her previous deliveries, weren’t due to arrive for another two weeks.

Hamson watched worriedly, cringing every time Bell winced and started breathing heavily. To keep his mind off what was happening, Bell sent him to gather all the candles in the smial and set them around the room and light them for the healer. This kept him busy until Hamfast and Miss Camellia arrived, then both father and son were chased from the room so the healer could work in peace.

An hour later, the newborn’s wails filled the smial. Halfred and Daisy woke now also, but May continued to sleep, oblivious to the new addition to the family. Halfred and Daisy stumbled from their rooms and, drawn by the firelight in the parlor, they joined their father and Hamson there as the bairn’s wails were silenced. Daisy rubbed her eyes and climbed into her father’s lap.

“What’s crying?” she asked.

“Your new little brother or sister,” Hamfast announced, feeling much relief at another successful birth.

“Can we see it?” Halfred asked, crawling onto the settee to sit beside his father. Hamson yawned tiredly on his father’s other side.

“When Miss Camellia’s got your ma and the bairn cleaned up and presentable, she’ll come and fetch us,” Hamfast said and began counting the long, slow minutes until that time.

The children were dozing again by the time Miss Camellia came to the parlor. “You have a strong and healthy son, Master Hamfast,” she announced and helped him wake the children. She carried Daisy as the lads trudged behind, and led the way to the bedroom, where Bell sat in bed, surrounded by the glow of dozens of candles.

Camellia put Daisy down and the children crowded around the bed to peer closely at the bairn, asleep in his mother’s arms.

“He’s pink and wrinkled,” Halfred announced.

“He’s so small. Were we that small when we were born?” Hamson asked.

“Not quite this small, but close enough,” Hamfast said, beaming proudly at his wife and newborn son.

“He smells funny,” said Daisy after pecking a small kiss on the bairn’s pointed bald head.

“Did his head get squished by something?” Halfred asked.

Bell laughed. “He’s new is all, and he’s a bit early. It’s going to take him a while to fill out and start looking like a normal bairn.”

“What’s his name?” asked Daisy.

“Samwise,” answered Bell.

“Samwise?” Hamfast repeated, not very sure he liked this name.

“It will keep him humble,” Bell replied, reading her husband’s mind. “Besides, it’s twice as good as Andy’s.”

Hamfast chuckled. “I’ll be sure to mention that next time as I see him,” he promised but knew the joke would be lost on his brother, who was as bright as his name suggested.

Bell handed the bairn to him and Hamfast stared down in wonder at his tiny, pink, smelly, squash-headed son. Samwise yawned in his sleep and Hamfast would swear, just as he had when each of his children were born, that he had never seen anything so beautiful before in his life. He sat down next to his wife as Camellia shepherded the children from the room, and together he and his wife stared at their son.

“Samwise Gamgee,” Hamfast said, testing the feel of the name on his tongue. “I guess as we’ll be calling him Sam or Sammy anyhow, it’s naught to be worriting over.”

“He’s going to be special, Ham,” Bell said in hushed whisper. “He’s going to be important to a lot of folk. He’s a gift to the world.”

“Is he now?” Hamfast asked. “Well, one’s thing certain. If he stays as ugly as he is, he’s going to have trouble finding himself a wife.”

Bell smacked him on the arm and laughed. “Give him back to me, you mean oaf, and go get him some milk for when he wakes. I haven’t started flowing yet and he’ll be hungry.”

Hamfast handed the bairn back and Bell watched with a fond smile as Hamfast shuffled out the door towards the kitchen. Then Bell stared down at her son and saw again the brief vision of her son’s future. “Don’t you listen to them, Sammy. You are going to be important some day and don’t you go forgetting it.”

Sam yawned again in his sleep and, if Bell wasn’t quite mistaken, nodded his head.

The End

GF 4/7/07