Delphinium's Birthday by Mary (thebitterone@hotmail.com) and Singe (singeaddams @ hotmail.com).
"Mmm, that smells delightful. One of your spice cakes, if I'm not mistaken."
Rosie looked up from chopping the carrots and smirked. "Never known your nose to be wrong about baking yet, Frodo Baggins. Seems our Delphinium forgot to mention that she's another year older as of this morning, I had to make do with what ingredients we had. Ah, this larder, I don't know how I manage to keep you all fed."
Which was ridiculous, of course, for Bag End's pantry and cellars were overflowing with good tasty things all through the seasons.
"Well, last I saw she and Samlad and Daisy were tearing down the Hill towards the Water with shouts of 'don't follow the lights, precious!', so I doubt we'll be seeing them any time soon."
"Good thing I've brought extra towels off the line, then," Sam said, putting an armful of fresh tomatoes onto the kitchen table beside Rosie's cutting board. "They'll all be soaked through, if they ain't already."
"They're itching for adventures." Frodo's voice sounded almost wistful.
"They're itching for a scolding," retorted Rosie. "If you don't wipe that expression off your face this very minute, Frodo, I'll serve you nothing but plain biscuits wrapped in mallorn leaves for a week. That'll cure you of wanting to see the world again."
"Rose, I've thanked my lucky stars ever since our wedding day that in all your skill with a skillet and pan, you've no knowledge whatsoever of the recipe for lembas." Sam laughed and kissed her on the smudge of flour that followed the line of one cheekbone.
"Ah, well, I'll just have to write to the lady Arwen and fix that, shan't I? Now go down and bring those drowned ratlings home before they waterlog themselves too full to eat this here cake."
"Three precious little Gollums in a row we'll be before we get out of the Dead Marshes." Daisy groused as she sloshed through another sunlit pool of duckweed and spring-green reeds. "Gollum stinks!"
Del hissed and glared up at Daisy from her Gollum-crouch. "Yesss, and Master stinks and YOU ain't exactly a spring flower, you fat, nasssty Hobbit!"
"Del, why didn't you tell us it was your birthday?" Sammie asked and Del and Daisy gaped at him, thrown off their stride by his interruption.
Del recovered first and waved the question away. "Master follows good Smeagol, yesss..."
"No, I'm serious. Why didn't you tell us?" Sammie insisted. Del sighed and stood up straight, flicking water off her hands. She seemed to be uncomfortably stuck for an answer and Sammie rushed to reassure her. "Was it because you don't have any gifts for us? That's alright, we wouldn't have minded. I mean..." Del's expression was closed and Daisy's was bordering on frantic. She was making a chopping 'shut up!' motion with her hands behind Del's back but Sammie ignored her. "I mean...we know you don't have much."
"Oh, I have plenty." Del insisted and extended her hands towards Sammie as if she were cradling a butterfly in them. She slowly uncurled her fingers and Sammie stepped closer to see. Daisy jumped back. "I give to you, Samlad, the finest Smack to the Head that I have."
"What?" Smack! "OW!"
"It's the gift that keeps on giving!" Smackity Whap! "I'll never run out!" Pop! Sammie covered his stinging ears and ran behind his sister. "And for Daisy I'll give...a kick to the shin!"
"And for YOU I'll give a yank to the hair! Happy Birthday!" Daisy exclaimed, giving Del's hair a hard, but not too hard, pull.
"Oh, thank you!" Del splashed water onto them both. Sammie re-emerged and gave Del his own present, a tackle to the wet ground. "OUCH! Thank you, too!"
"You're welcome! Happy Birthday...YOWCH!" They rolled into deeper water.
Water and laughter and exclamations of sincere pain filled the air and the sun created rainbows amidst the commotion. The Mayor stopped at the edge of the pool and stared in wonder as the children whacked and bit and gouged and twisted and kicked each other with abandon. And were thanked for it. "Just what are you ratlin's doin'?!" They stopped and looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.
Sammie spit Daisy's hand out of his mouth. "Puh! Del was just giving us her birthday gifts, Dad." He rolled off the birthday girl and she coughed up water as she staggered to her feet. "Hey, Del, give Dad his present..." Del grinned and held out her hands, cupped around nothing.
"Oh, no, you're too generous. No, thank you, really..." The Mayor turned and ran and the three ratlings chased him all the way back to Bag End.
~
Pretty Good Year