A/N:  This story was written for Dreamflower.  She requested a story based on this meme:

Give me one of my own stories, and a timestamp sometime in the future after the end of the story, or sometime in the past before the story started, and I'll write you at least a hundred words of what happened then, whether it's five minutes before the story started or ten years in the future.

This was Dreamflower's request:  A few months after "An Appropriate Punishment" with the Tooks visiting the Brandybucks, and Merry entrusted once more with Pippin's care.

MERRY'S RESPONSIBILITY

Merry spread his arms wide to catch the bundle of Took that hurtled his way.

"Ooof!" Merry exclaimed gaily, falling to the ground and hugging Pippin to his breast. "My, what a big lad you are now! Just a few months surely make a big difference, don‘t they?"

"I'm fwee!" Pippin chattered excitedly.

"You're three! I know! Your birthday was a week ago, am I right?" Merry stood up, set Pippin down, and brushed the dust off of his clothes.

Pippin grinned and nodded. "I'm fwee, Mewwy Bwandybuck! I'm a faunt!"

"My goodness! It seems like only yesterday you were a babe in arms."

Pippin crossed his arms, and lifted his chin indignantly. "Not a baby!" he exclaimed haughtily. "Am a faunt now."

Merry rolled his eyes. "Of course." He grinned at his aunt and uncle, and moved to help take some of their luggage into Brandy Hall. "Hello, Aunt Tina and Uncle Pal! How was your trip?"

"Uneventful," Paladin smiled at his nephew. "Except for a very small, energetic young Took, who kept wanting to get off the waggon and run to the side of the road to touch the patches of snow here and there. He was quite enthralled with the white stuff. It even snowed lightly when we first set out, and you should have seen him; he tried to catch the snowflakes with his little hands, and they just kept eluding him. Kept him entertained, anyway."

Merry smiled as he led his aunt and uncle to the entrance of Brandy Hall, a bag in each hand. "He's grown so much since I saw him last."

Eglantine smiled faintly. "Yes, they do tend to grow fast, especially at his age."

"The girls are staying with your sister, Aunt Tina?" Merry asked.

"Yes. Chryssa has two daughters of her own, and I thought the girls would enjoy spending time with them this week. They rarely ever get to see Lilac and Willow, and they are going to be in Tuckborough to fit Poppy Puddifoot's daughter for her wedding dress, so the three of them are staying at our farmhouse with the lasses until we return."

Chrysanthemum was Eglantine's younger sister. Her husband, Carl, had died two winters ago from pneumonia, and she had been left alone with her two small daughters. She had always supplemented the family's income by being a seamstress, and now that's how she supported her lasses. They lived in Waymeet, which wasn't an awfully long ways from Whitwell, but she was kept so busy with her business that she rarely had time for visiting relatives. This way she could combine business and pleasure.

"That's goo.....ooof! Pippin, my word." Merry looked down at the young lad who was now curled about his legs.

"Mewwy, pway with me! Pwease?"

Merry smiled weakly. "And I volunteered to take care of you while the grownups visit this week? I have my work cut out for me, don't I, Pip?"

"Yes!" Pippin proclaimed.

Merry groaned. It was certainly going to be a long week.

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The sound of giggles and small, running feet preceded Merry as he strode down the hallway. Merry could easily catch up to the small strides of the young Took, but he knew Pippin enjoyed this game, so Merry was prolonging it for his enjoyment.

"I'm going to get you!" Merry called, and was rewarded with a high shriek followed by more giggles.

Pippin was very exuberant today. It was the third day of his family's visit; the previous two days had been spent in relative calm and quiet. Pippin had been uncharacteristically subdued for some reason. He had been active, walking all over the Hall with Merry close behind, investigating various nooks and crannies. But his chatter had subsided substantially, according to his mother.

"He talks almost non-stop from the time he gets up until the time he goes to bed," explained Eglantine. "Added on top of the fact that he's walking all over the place now, it's exhausting."

Saradoc smiled around his pipe stem. "Weren't your girls just as active and high-strung as faunts?" he asked.

"Not nearly," Eglantine replied. "Well, Pervinca could probably give him a run for his money, but even she wasn't quite so active. I must thank Merry for giving me a bit of a break this week. He surely does love my Pippin."

Saradoc smiled fondly. "Yes, he does. And I think the sentiment is returned."

At that moment, Merry came striding into the room, carrying an exhausted Pippin in his arms. He smiled at his father. "I’m going to put this little guy down for a nap, I think. He's all tuckered out now. My, but he is a rambunctious lad! However do you keep up with him, Aunt Tina?"

"I was just telling your father that I needed to thank you for keeping Pippin occupied for me during our stay," Eglantine said. "He does wear me out, on a daily basis. His sisters do play with him, but not as often as he would like them to. He's forever pestering them for attention. So this week gives them a break as well."

"Not at all," Merry replied. "I'm happy to do it. And it's only for a few more days; how tiring can it possibly get in that amount of time?"

Eglantine groaned. "You have no idea, Merry...none whatsoever."

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Merry wiped the sweat off his brow as he bent down to take a few breaths. Hands on his knees, he said, without too much expectation of a response, "Pippin! Stop this instant. You are being quite naughty." As expected, Pippin didn't slow down one iota; he kept on running at a goodly pace down the hallway, and veered off into his and his parents' bedroom. By the time Merry came running in, Pippin was jumping up and down on his mattress, feathers flying. Groaning, Merry strode over and caught up the youngster in his arms. "Pippin, you must settle down! What if your mother or father found you acting like this? You'd probably get a paddling."

"No!" Pippin shrieked gleefully. "Mama says no spankings!"

Merry sighed. "Pippin, you are supposed to be taking a nap right now. You've been on the go since dawn, and it's now half-past two in the afternoon. Aren't you the least bit tired?"

"No!"

Frustrated beyond belief, Merry said, "Now see here, young sir. If you don't lay down for an hour, I'm going to tell your da what a bad lad you've been this afternoon. He may not bring you to Brandy Hall next time he comes; how would you like that?"

Pippin's eyes went wide, and he stared at Merry for a moment as if he had just grown two heads. Then, without warning, Pippin squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and started bawling loudly.

"Great," Merry mumbled under his breath as he set Pippin down on the floor. Pippin curled himself into a ball, and continued to cry inconsolably.

Tears of frustration pricked at Merry's eyes. "Pippin, please, stop!" he begged. "Just stop crying, and we'll do whatever you want, I promise."

Pippin just kept on crying, heedless of Merry's pleadings. Finally, it all got to be too much for Merry. He was, after all, only a lad of eleven, and could only handle so much emotion from a three year-old. Sinking to his knees, Merry started sobbing along with Pippin.

In the midst of all this, Esmeralda came walking in. "Whatever is the matter?" she cried. Instantly, she took in the scene in front of her. Understanding and concern crossed her features as she knelt by her son. "Merry, go to your room now. I'll take care of Pippin. I'll come and get you in time for tea, alright?" Wiping his face, Merry nodded. Wordlessly, he stood up and walked out of Pippin's room.

Pippin's sobs had started to subside a bit as soon as his aunt walked in. Esmeralda walked over and picked up her small nephew, stroking his back and whispering soothing words in his ear.

She softly shut the door, and started pacing back and forth along the floor, quietly mouthing sweet nothings until Pippin was sound asleep. Gently, she laid him on his bed, pulled the covers over him, and silently left.

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"Oh, dear! I am so sorry, Esme," Eglantine cried. "I keep forgetting that Merry is just a little lad himself; that's what got us into trouble a few months back, when Merry briefly 'lost' Pippin. I keep expecting him to act so much older than he is."

"We've all been guilty of that, Tina," Saradoc soothed. "Merry does such a splendid job with Pippin, that we've forgotten how much of a strain a little one can be even on us grown adults, let alone a lad of Merry's age."

"Well, it's a good thing that tomorrow we leave, then," Paladin said. "We now know that a week is a bit long for Merry to be fettered to Pippin." He gave Esmeralda an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry, Esme. We should have been more attentive as parents, and taken Pippin off of Merry's hands more often."

Esmeralda smiled. "Well, Merry did offer his services. We just have to be a bit more aware of his limits."

"Where is the lad now?" Saradoc asked.

"In his room, sleeping. I didn't have the heart to wake him for tea; he seems to need his rest more right now. And Pippin is still asleep as well."

"I'd better wake him," Eglantine said, as she stood up. "He'll never sleep tonight if I don't get him up now."

When Merry awoke an hour later, his aunt and uncle profusely thanked him for all of his hard work that week. They took Pippin off of his hands for the remainder of their stay. They also offered to pay him for his efforts, but Merry turned them down. After all, he had offered, thinking "How hard can it be?" He had not taken into account a thoroughly mobile Pippin.

When the time came for the Tooks to be leaving, Pippin was nearly inconsolable. He clung to Merry's leg and sobbed, refusing to enter the waggon with his parents. Smiling, Merry knelt down and stroked Pippin's hair. "Pippin, I'll be coming to see you in a few weeks. Then I will be all yours, again, to play with all the day long."

Sniffling, Pippin said, "Promise?"

Merry smiled. "Yes, Pip, I promise. Now be a good lad, and go with your mum and da. You don't want to be too late arriving at the inn. There's a good lad." Merry gave Pippin one last hug, and then delivered him to his aunt.

"Thank you once again, Merry," Paladin said, clasping Merry's shoulder. "You've grown into quite the mature hobbit, and I'm sure your parents are very proud of you."

"We are," piped up Esmeralda, giving a warm smile to her son. Merry grinned, flushed with pleasure.

"You're welcome, Uncle Paladin. Take good care of Pip until I get to see him again."

The final farewells were said, and the Tooks were off. As they rode away, Eglantine turned to Paladin and said, "Those lads have quite the bond with each other. I wonder if it will be a lifelong friendship."

"Only time will tell," Paladin replied. "Only time will tell."