Many thanks to elanor winterflowers for her helpful suggestions for this chapter. 

"How much further?" the clear high voice piped.

"Honestly, Meriadoc, how many times must you ask that during any given hour? We'll be there before tea time; another two hours at the most."

Saradoc sighed heavily, and wondered, not for the first time, at the wisdom of bringing his highly energetic eight-year old son along on this trip. He would have decided against it, if it hadn't been for the fact that Merry had had his heart set on this visit since the babe had been born two months ago. Eglantine had finally given birth to a lad! After all those lasses, this was truly an occasion for celebration. Now Paladin had an heir, and Merry had a potential playmate during visits with Paladin and his family.

There were plenty of cousins living at Brandy Hall who were close enough in age to Merry to serve as adequate playmates. Merry's best friend out of all of them was Berilac, the son of Merimac, Saradoc's brother. Berilac was only two years older than Merry. Neither of them had siblings, so they gravitated towards each other and became fast friends. There were also three others in their little 'gang': Oberic, Frederic and Maranac. Merry was the youngest, and Oberic was the eldest at twelve years of age.

Be that as it may, every time Paladin's family got together with Saradoc's, Merry was left out in the cold. He loved his lass cousins, but he really didn't want to play dress-up with them, or have tea parties with their dolls. It would be good for him to have a little lad to play with; someone he could play big brother to. Of course, there had also been Frodo Baggins, who had served as a surrogate older brother for Merry. Although Frodo had doted on Merry, and Merry had adored Frodo, the age difference was such that they hadn't really been 'playmates'. And now, Frodo no longer lived with them.

Merry had been so excited ever since Pippin's birth, and almost every other day had asked when they were going to go see him. Saradoc hadn't been able to get away for more than a couple of days until now, what with harvest time being in full swing at the Hall. Finally, they were making the three day journey to Whitwell, and Merry would not be left behind.

"Sit still, Merry!" scolded Esmeralda. "We won't get there any faster with you wriggling all over the place."

"Sorry, Mum," Merry mumbled. He sat back down next to his mother as the waggon jostled along down the road. "I can hardly wait to see Pippin! He's my new little cousin, you know, and I'm going to play with him, and teach him how to fish, and how to swim, and how to climb trees and pick apples....."

"Goodness me," Esmeralda smiled down at her son, tousling his curly hair. "You're going to teach him all that?"

Merry nodded his head vigorously. "Yes. Frodo can play with him too, of course. Even Bilbo can, if he wants to... although he might be too old to play with little lads. I'm going to be Pippin's big brother!"

Stopping for breath, Merry grinned at his mother from ear to ear. She smiled back; her son's enthusiasm was contagious. She could hardly wait to see the new little Took herself. This would be her first nephew by blood; Berilac, of course, was her nephew by marriage, and she had nieces by her older sisters. She could hardly wait to hold the little one in her arms; it had been a long time since she spent much time with a baby. It wasn't as if Saradoc and Esmeralda hadn't tried to add to their small family. Nothing had happened for the past six years, and it didn't look like it was ever going to happen, barring some miracle. It was a shame; Esmeralda hailed from a large family, and would have loved to have had many children. But sadly, it was not meant to be.

The waggon merrily made its way down the road, passing many hobbit holes on either side. They were in farm country now, and the harvest was well underway here, just as it was on the other side of the Brandywine. Fields of corn caught the sunlight, glistening gold under a clear, blue sky. Verdant fields of alfalfa and clover swayed beneath a gentle breeze. It was the perfect day; perfect for travelling, and perfect for spotting working hobbits out in the field gathering up the harvests.

Paladin and his four sisters had grown up on the very farm that he was now raising his family on. It was a fairly large farm; it covered over 40 acres, most of which grew wheat and barley. They had a rather large herd of sheep as well. Paladin had stayed on the farm after coming of age, after his older sisters had all married and moved away, and that is where he had brought Eglantine to live after marrying her. When Adalgrim passed away, the farm passed to Paladin. His mother Citrine had continued to live with the couple and their family until her death five years ago.

Saradoc sighed contentedly. He always enjoyed the trip to Whitwell; it was a pleasant jaunt. They would usually start very early in the morning, around sunrise, and stop for dinner and a sleep-over at Frogmorton. With another early start the next morning, they would arrive in Hobbiton for their second night's stay at Bag End with Bilbo. Then with another early start the following morning, they would arrive in Whitwell at about 4 in the afternoon. Frodo and Bilbo would not be joining them on their last leg, since they had just made a visit to Whitwell two weeks before.

The next two hours passed pleasantly enough; Merry took a nap for about an hour, then sat up with his father for the rest of the trip, excitedly looking to the road ahead for signs of his aunt and uncle's smial. As soon as the smial in question popped into view, Merry scrambled down from the waggon and started running towards it. "Hey now, Meriadoc!" Saradoc shouted, but to no avail. Merry just kept running. "That lad will be the death of me yet," Saradoc muttered under his breath.

Eglantine stood outside the entrance to her home, cradling a tiny hobbit in her arms. Paladin stepped up behind her and put his arms around her waist. "Is that my nephew, kicking up the dust like that?" he chuckled. "I think he's eager to meet his new cousin." The hobbit lad in question came running up, breathing hard and grinning from ear to ear.

"Hi, Uncle Paladin! Hello, Aunt Lanti," he said politely as he stopped to get his breath. His eyes widened as they took in the sight of the babe in Eglantine's arms. "Is that... is that Pippin?"

"Indeed, it is. Would you like to hold him, Merry?"

Wide eyed, Merry stared at his aunt. "Can I?" he asked breathlessly.

"Of course you may," Eglantine smiled. Gently, she eased the sleeping baby into Merry's waiting and eager arms. Awestruck, Merry gazed upon the sleeping form of his young cousin. He stroked Pippin's soft, downy cheek and drank in the sight of him. The baby had light, auburn coloured hair, with two perfect, pointed ears sticking out. His complexion was very fair, with a sprinkling of freckles along his nose and on his cheeks. Pippin stretched, put his fist in his mouth, and opened his eyes.

From that moment, Merry was lost. His grey eyes latched onto Pippin's emerald green ones, and the two gazed into each other's souls. Merry smiled down at the little one, and said "It's about time you got here. I've been waiting ever so long!"