Chapter Twenty-nine

"Wake up, my beautiful one," said a low voice near Linwe’s ear. Linwe was lying on her side, she shifted her legs a little then opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first, as it often is when one first wakes up in the morning. She blinked several times in an effort to clear her blurry, morning vision. Her eyes saw a small white box tied with a pink satin bow, sitting on the pillow before her. She smiled. "You should open it," said the low voice. It was so near that the breath of the one who spoke tickled her

Slowly Linwe reached up, took the box then rolled onto her back. She smiled up at Frodo. "This is entirely unfair. I was not planning on giving you your present until the party tonight."

"This is just a small token to start the day with. I will wait until tonight to give you the extra special gift. Now go ahead, open this one," Frodo said insistently.

Linwe pushed herself up into a sitting position then holding the box in her left hand she pulled on end of the pink ribbon with her right. The bow came undone letting the ribbon fall away from the box. Linwe lifted the lid off of the box then peered inside. There, tucked in a nest of tissue paper was a small frog sitting on a lily pad, all made of chocolate. "Oh Frodo! This is simply too darling to eat!"

"Now that would be something new to see. I have never seen you turn down chocolate," he said then kissed her cheek.

Linwe sighed tragically, "That is all too true. I am sure it will lead to my ruin. Will you still love me even then."

"I will always love you, even if little Rudiger Bolger steals your heart from me by offering you an endless supply of chocolate from his mother’s shop."

"You are truly too good for me."

"I know," said Frodo then kissed his wife on the nose causing her to giggle.

~~~~~~

Later that same morning, Linwe was preparing to take a bath. Normally she waited until the evening after she and Rosie were done with washing up after dinner. Some evenings Frodo would join her. Today Rosie had insisted that Linwe take the day off since it was her birthday. Frodo had disappeared not long after first breakfast with little explanation of where he was going off to. Linwe found she had time do pretty much what ever she pleased so she decided that a long bath would be nice. The fact that Rosie suggested this then strongly encouraged the notion helped Linwe to make her decision.

As the bath tub filled, Linwe went to fetch clean towels from the bathroom cupboard. There sitting on top of the towels was a white box tied up with a pink satin bow. She lifted the box out untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside she found three glass bottles of fragrant bath oil. Linwe savored the aroma of all three before choosing to pour a judicious amount of the lavender scented oil into the hot bath water.

After spending about an hour soaking in fragrant water, Linwe emerged. When she went into her bedroom to dress she was surprised to find someone had slipped in while she had been bathing and had laid out the pink dress she had worn for Rosie and Sam’s wedding. It was one of Frodo’s favorites, he said the color exactly matched her blush. An envelope rested on the folds of the luxurious fabric. When Linwe picked up the envelope she found it was addressed to her in Frodo’s gently flowing hand. Linwe smiled as she opened the note and read...

"Go to the Mallorn tree."After dressing quickly, Linwe slipped out the back entrance to the hole, unobserved. I was a lovely September day, the air was pleasantly warm and dry. The sort of day that made one want to spend the entire day outside in the sunshine and fresh air. Linwe hurried along to the Mallorn tree, there she found a note attached to the tree with a pink satin ribbon. This time the note read…

"This is only just started, now you must go to the bridge that crosses The Water."

One note after another eventually led Linwe to the grove of trees bordering the Cotton farm, where she and Frodo liked to walk. The last message had told her to follow the pink bows into the grove. Linwe found the old path she and Frodo would often follow, lined with trees decorated with pink bows. Linwe laughed out loud from sheer happiness and wondered what other surprises Frodo had in store for her.

Linwe made her way quickly through the trees. Soon she could see where the creek cut a trench through the middle of the grove. A few more yards and Linwe could see the ancient oak tree where Frodo had found her the November before, was festooned with a very large pink bow. At the foot of the tree a quilt had been spread, on top of that was a white basket, also tied with a pink bow. Linwe turned all the way around while calling Frodo’s name. When she turned back to the tree there stood Frodo, smiling at her. "Happy birthday," He said quietly.

Linwe ran towards him then threw her arms around his neck. "Oh Frodo, it is the loveliest thing anyone has ever done for me!" Exclaimed Linwe then kissed him. Frodo instinctively tightened his arms around her, holding her closer. The kiss deepened, their heart beats quickening. Frodo pulled away breaking the kiss but still holding Linwe close. "I think we should give our attention to the picnic in that basket," he said, his voice slightly breathless. "I would hate to have someone come along to find us in what could be a most interesting situation."

Linwe chuckled, "You worry to much, my love. We have nothing to be ashamed of. If anyone should see us, which I doubt anyone would, all they would see is a husband and wife loving one another."

"You do have a way of making pretty much anything seem perfectly reasonable, but all the same I would rather not put on such a display. I would prefer to keep that particular expression of love private. Now come and see the picnic I have made for us."

"I would be happy too, but you seem to be holding me rather tightly," Linwe gazed into Frodo’s eyes smiling smugly, "Your words say one thing but your arms say something else."

Frodo tried to scowl at his wife, "Cheeky lass!" then removed his arms from about her. He took one of her hands in his leading her over to the blanket with the basket resting on the top. Sitting closely together on the blanket Frodo started to unpack the basket displaying all of the delicacies for Linwe’s approval. Frodo had amassed nearly all of Linwe’s favorite foods. There was fried chicken, zesty pickled carrots, Rosie’s sourdough herb bread, a creamy, tangy cheese that came from the east farthing, grapes, sweet glazed and spicy roasted nuts as well as bite size petit four cakes.

Late morning passed to early afternoon savoring the food and sharing stories of past birthdays. Frodo told Linwe of the first birthday he celebrated at Bag End. "Esmeralda, Saradoc and Merry all came to spend a few days at Bag End. Merry and I spent the day of my birthday roaming where ever we pleased. Our feet eventually took us to Farmer Muddyfoot’s apple orchard. Merry and I were hungry so we decided to borrow some of the apples. We didn’t wish to bother Farmer Muddyfoot so I told Merry that it would only be considerate if we climbed up to sit in one of the trees, then we could eat our fill without being a bother to anyone. The venture went well for a while, we climbed the tree without any problem. W e found comfortable perches to sit in while we enjoyed our snack. It was not until we decided we had enough that we ran into trouble. Being the oldest I started down first, the idea being I could catch Merry if he happened to fall. As soon as I started down I realized we had climbed much higher than I had originally estimated. A fairly strong breeze had started to move the branches of the tree. I started to get nervous. Moving slowly I started making my way down. I made it about half way and was starting to feel more confident when my foot slipped, I did not have a tight hold with my hands so I fell and broke my arm when I hit the ground. Merry scrambled down fast then started hollering for help. Two of Farmer Muddyfoot’s sons hear him and came to my rescue. I spent the evening of my birthday in bed, my arm in a tight splint, with Esmeralda forcing the most horrible tasting concoctions down my throat. It was one of the most miserable birthdays I have ever had."

"It was well deserved, Frodo Baggins! What a dreadful boy you were. Do you realize that because of you my birthday was ruined as well that year?"

Frodo’s face immediately took on a look of alarm and horror, "You mean you felt that too?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. Late that same afternoon my arm started hurting something dreadful, but I had been doing nothing more than reading. My mother and father were baffled. When my arm started swelling mother started making me take some truly horrible tonics. Here I have been feeling terribly guilty for not having planned more for you after all the trouble you have gone to for me today. I think now it is all nothing more than I deserve. You owe me a birthday."

Frodo’s face was filled with anguish horrified at discovering he had brought more pain to her. "Linwe, my darling, I am so very sorry. If I had known I would have…"

"…acted no differently. " Linwe said with a smile, "I am not really upset about it, please don’t fret, Frodo. There is nothing you could have done and I would not change any of it not matter how much it all hurt."

The troubled look did not leave Frodo’s face, "I am so sorry."

"That will be enough Mr. Baggins. No more apologies. Now, kindly get that look of guilt off of your face or I will kiss you again."

Frodo could not keep up his regretful mood with Linwe smiling so happily at him. However Linwe’s threat was too much to resist at well. Frodo suppressed his own smile and made a great effort to continue looking completely shameful then he said. "I am so very sorry."

"That’s it!" cried Linwe "Now I will show you no mercy." She grabbed Frodo by the shoulders, pulled him closer then kissed him firmly on the lips. Frodo’s reaction was immediate, his arms went around her as he returned her kiss with equal intensity.

Two hours later every stitch of clothing had been discarded. The remains of their picnic lunch had been haphazardly shoved aside. Frodo and Linwe lay nestled in the secure embrace of one another’s arms. In drowsy contentment they gazed up into the leaves and branches over head. Linwe sighed, "I feel like I could lay here looking up through the trees forever. It is so beautiful and peaceful here under the trees."

"We could," said Frodo as an idea started to form in his mind.

"Of course we could. Though someone would have to bring us food and more blankets. Rosie and Sam seem to love looking after us but I somehow think that even this would test their loyalty."

"I didn’t mean that, you cheeky lass. What I meant is that if you wanted we could build a house here. We could build it in the style of Rivendell with the house being built around the trees, all open and airy in the warmer months."

Linwe looked up at Frodo in surprise. "Are you suggesting that we leave Bag End? Leave Sam and Rosie?"

"Dearest, it isn’t as though we were moving to the very end of Middle Earth. We can build the house here, Rosie and Sam would be near enough to visit with everyday if we wanted to. At the very least it is something to consider. We do have all twenty-nine of our future children to think about. I am sure Sam and Rosie will have one or two of their own. Bag End will likely become over crowded."

"This is true. I would not want Sam and Rosie’s child to drown in the heap of our own brood. But if we move out it will hurt Sam’s feelings. You know how much he loves the idea of us living raising our families together in Bag End." Said Linwe

"This is true," Frodo was silent for a few moments, Linwe could tell he was thinking over the situation. "What if we were to build ourselves a small place out here as our little place to be by ourselves. Sam and Rosie could use it as well. When ever either couple was feeling the need for more privacy they could come here."

"That would be nice," Linwe said thoughtfully.

"And in the event that Bag End becomes over crowded, we can add on to the house here turning it into a proper home for our family."

"It does seem like a good plan."

"Then we will. All winter long we can drawing up plans. Next spring we can break ground, maybe as early as next March." ear. The one who spoke was her own dear Frodo. He was behind her, near enough so that she could feel the warmth of his body against her back.