On a Moonlit Night

By: Elemmírë

Summary: A look at the events surrounding the circumstances that left Frodo an orphan.

Disclaimer: The Lord of the Rings does not belong to me, nor am I making any profit off either its story or characters.

Author's Note: This was written for Marigold's Tale Challenge 34 in which I had to write about someone taken unawares by something or someone & also include the following elements: a swarm of bats, a game played on a lawn, & a letter in the Post.

Drogo is 71, Primula is 60, & Frodo is 11½ (ages 45½, 38½, & 7 in Man years)

‘Boats are quite tricky enough for those that sit still without looking further for the cause of trouble.’ J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter One: A Long-Expected Party

"Frodo! Come along now, dearest. It's time to go," Primula Baggins called out to her 11½-year old son, as she folded a pair of his little breeches with care. She soon felt a tugging at her skirts and she turned to find Frodo standing behind her, clutching Beorn his toy bear in his hands.

"I'm all ready, Mama," he declared matter-of-factly.

"Are you now?" Primula smiled and smoothed her son's wayward mop of curls as only a mother's hand can before turning to pack the folded breeches into the lad's small traveling pack.

Just then, the front door to their guest apartment opened and Drogo Baggins strode forth bearing a large picnic basket, which he set down on the kitchen table.

"Daddy!" Frodo dropped Beorn and ran to his father, giving him as big a hug as he could, his little arms nowhere near to fully reaching around Drogo's more than ample waist.

“Hello to you too, my lad," Drogo greeted warmly. He bent and easily lifted his son into his arms, resting the small hobbit in the crook of one elbow.

"Would you like to see the picnic dinner I had the cook prepare special for you mum and I?" Drogo whispered loud enough for his beloved wife to hear. He teasingly lifted one corner of the picnic basket and inhaled deeply.

"Oh yes, Daddy. What good things did Cook bake for you?" Frodo squirmed in his father's embrace, trying to peer down into the basket for a better view.

Drogo let the lid fall back into place. "Are you really sure you want to see, Frodo?" he asked with a twinkle in his warm brown eyes.

"Yes, Daddy. I'm really sure!" Frodo squealed when his father began to tickle his ribs, as he expectantly knew he would. His father was a Baggins after all.

"Drogo," Primula admonished, her own twinkle of mirth and mischief showing in her large blue-green eyes. Drogo was the best father to their son that she could have ever asked for. It was no secret that Primula loved watching the special little moments like this between her two very most special Baggins lads.

With a dramatic flare, Drogo opened the lid the of the picnic basket fully and allowed his son to peer inside. Frodo's big blue eyes widened and the growing hobbit lad hungrily licked his lips.

"Mmm. Oh boy! Daddy got you a buttercream cake, Mama ... with strawberries!"

Frodo looked up at his parents mournfully. "Are you sure I can't come too?" he asked them once again before stealing another glance at the luscious, red, mouth-watering berries. Strawberries were one of his absolute favorites, just like they were Mama’s.

Drogo gave a hearty laugh and hugged his only son once more before setting the child down on his furry feet. "I thought you were excited to be spending the night with Saradoc and Esmeralda?" he said.

"I am excited. I've never gotten to stay with them before, but I would be just as excited to go boating with you and Mama," Frodo wheedled.

Primula knelt before her son, holding open his little pale blue jacket and helping him into it. "I know sweetheart," she said. "But you know that your father always takes me out for an evening boat ride under the moonlight on the last day of our visit to Brandy Hall."

"I know," Frodo sighed. "Uncle Rory and Auntie Gilda always say that 'as much as mothers and fathers love to be with their children, they need to spend time alone together as well.'" he quoted.

Drogo laughed again and ruffled his son's dark curls with affection when the lad stared wistfully at the cake and strawberries in the open picnic basket. "You keep listening to your uncle and aunt, for they are right, Frodo my lad."

He closed the lid of the basket, restraining himself from snitching a much-desired finger-lick of frosting from the scrumptious looking cake. "I'll tell you what. If you're a good lad for Sara and Esme, then your Mama and I will save you some cake and berries for a snack tomorrow."

Frodo's fair face with its rosy cheeks and lightly freckled nose brightened considerably. He was so busy sneaking one last look inside the picnic basket, that he didn’t see his mother pick up Beorn and stow the bear in his pack with all her loving care.

"Now, Sara and Esme are waiting and I know they have many fun things planned for you to do with them tonight." Primula fussed with Frodo's jacket before giving him a kiss and taking him by the hand, while holding his pack in the other. Drogo carried the picnic basket and soon the small family (by hobbit standards) were on their way, walking through the maze of bustling round tunnels that encompassed Brandy Hall.

They soon arrived at the section of the Hall that contained the Master's apartments along with those belonging to his sons'. Little Frodo stared up at the round door made of heavy wood, that his parents stopped at. In the center of the door was a shiny brass knob with a knocker. Above this was a nameplate that also bore the Brandybuck family crest. "S. & E. Brandybuck," Frodo read aloud.

"Very good, Frodo," Primula praised. She and her husband were so very proud that their spirited child was also extremely bright and had displayed remarkable reading skills at such an early age. It was no wonder that dear old Bilbo enjoyed teaching the lad every opportunity he got--and so far, Frodo seemed to love books and reading as much as his Uncle Bilbo.

"Is this where Uncle Sara and Auntie Esme live?" Frodo asked curiously. He had been to the Master's apartment many times, as that was where Uncle Rory and Auntie Gilda lived, but he had never been to their son's apartments before today.

Saradoc and Esmeralda Brandybuck were really his first and second cousins, but Frodo had been calling them uncle and aunt ever since he was five years of age and theirs had been the first wedding he had ever attended. With a child's viewpoint, Frodo had once assumed that when his older cousins related to him got married, they in turn became his uncles and aunts. Since beginning to learn his family trees, he now had a better grasp on genealogy and knew this wasn't so, but Sara and Esme found the titles endearing and didn't mind in the least.

"Yes," Drogo replied. "This is where Sara and Esme live. And right across the hall there, is where Merimac, Begonia, and baby Berilac live," he pointed out.

Berilac was the latest addition to the already very large Brandybuck clan. The new babe had been born at the beginning of the month and was one of the reasons the Baggins family had traveled to Buckland for a visit. Berilac was the first grandchild of the Master (Primula's eldest brother), and he was also Drogo and Primula's very first great-nephew. Frodo understood that the new baby was his first-cousin, once-removed on his mother's side, but he was simply thrilled to finally have a younger cousin, for all his cousins on both sides of his family were much older than he. He couldn't wait to be able to show Berilac all of the neat things he'd learned so far or share with him the stories of adventure that Uncle Bilbo shared with him.

"Would you like to do the honor, Frodo-lad?" Drogo indicated the shiny brass knocker.

Frodo nodded eagerly; he stood on his tiptoes, reached up, and lifted the knocker, letting it fall back upon the door. After a moment, the heavy round door swung inward to reveal Saradoc and Esmeralda. They greeted the Bagginses warmly with hugs and kisses and ushered them inside. Sara took Frodo's small pack from his aunt's hands.

"Besides his nightshirt and a set of clothes for tomorrow, I packed him an extra set in case the first should get dirty or stained," Primula explained to the young couple. She wasn't nervous per say about her nephew and his lovely wife watching Frodo for them. It was only for the one night and Saradoc had always been very good with the lad when he himself had only been a tweenager. No, she wasn't worried ... not exactly. It was only the understandable concern of a mother for her only begotten child, she knew.

"Primmie, Frodo will be fine," Drogo reassured his wife, knowing how she fretted whenever she was forced to leave her child behind even when it was with the best of relatives. He pulled her close to him, placing a steady arm around her waist. "Now bid our son a good night, dearest. We have to get going or we'll miss the sunset."

Primula knelt on the floor and hugged Frodo close to her, as if she would never see him again, although she knew he'd be bouncing up and down at Sara's front door the next morning, waiting for them to return. "Be a good lad for Sara and Esme, Frodo-love, and mind your manners. Daddy and I will see you again in the morning." She kissed his forehead, tenderly brushing his curls away from his eyes, studying his sweet little face before standing once more.

"Oh, I almost forgot. There's also one of Frodo's storybooks in his pack; he loves to hear a story before he goes to sleep ... most times more than one, but I leave that to your discretion. Beorn is also tucked away in there should Frodo need him," Primula whispered the last. Frodo was at that age where he did not want to be seen by the other lads and lasses carting around a stuffed toy bear. However, he was not yet loathe to sleep without its security either.

Drogo, too, knelt and smothered his only child in the most warmest of hugs. He kissed his son on the cheek, before playfully tapping the lightly freckled nose with his forefinger. He smiled when Frodo laughed and threw his little arms about his legs. "You heard your mother, lad. Behave and we'll see you again in the morning."

Standing next to Auntie Esmeralda, Frodo watched his parents leave for their evening out together. He waved at them, calling out, "Goodnight Mama, goodnight Daddy! Goodbye!"

"Good-bye, Frodo. Goodnight," they chorused.

And with that, they walked out the front door and disappeared down the hallway. Saradoc shut the round door and turned to face his wife and youngest first cousin. None of them knew just how permanent their situation was going to be come morning.

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