A few days had passed since Christmas, and already the cabin's inhabitants were sick of leftovers. There were just so many casseroles that one could take, so the remainder of the holiday dinner was packed away in the freezer. Before they left they planned to divvy up whatever was left of anything they bought to preventing one couple from being loaded with food they couldn't finish. Such as it was, that left little else to eat in the cabin, which meant a trip to the grocery store.

As Jack looked up and down the aisle, he knew that this would require careful planning. One couldn't be too hasty in this kind of situation. The big question was: Captain Crunch or Corn Pops?

"No really, take your time, Jack," Esther said sarcastically. "We have an eternity."

"Shhh- This is an important decision, Es."

She rolled her eyes. "I've seen paint dry faster than you. They're both filled with sugar! Pick one!"

"But we'll be eating on it for at least a week! I don't want to be held responsible for picking something that we'll get sick of!"

"I take responsibility for that each day I wake up next to you."

"Ha ha. Love you too, babe." Jack looked up at Esther with the boxes. "Seriously though. Help?"

Esther frowned and stared at her boyfriend. Finally she sighed and said, "Put both in the cart. We'll get some more eggs and bread in case someone wants something healthier." The look of relief on his face as he placed the boxes in their shopping cart should not have made her smile. He was a grown man still fretting over kids' cereal, but he'd chant "yolo" as he turned in a research paper for a class.

"What do you think about pizza tonight?" Jack asked as they turned onto the next aisle. Esther shrugged and he reached for the boxed dough kit, adding it to the cart. She continued to push the cart down the aisle, keeping to the right so as not to hit the cart coming from the other direction. A shout from behind Jack and Esther had everyone on the aisle turning to the sound.

"Hey Gene!" Jack greeted the older man who had come running towards them. "How was your Christmas?"

"Good, good. You guys? Olivia, get over here girl!" Gene greeted the other cart-pusher in much the same way. Pleasantries were exchanged around the small group as each talked about how their holidays had passed. The topic then shifted to college - if any of them were ready for the next term, a unanimous negative - and then to work.

Olivia looked ready to burst with her news. "Did you get a call from Victor?"

"You too?" Gene asked.

"Yes! He called when I was in class, so I got a message from my roommate that said my old boss called. My first thought was that it was Rick, but thank god it wasn't!" She laughed out loud then. "I called him back, and Vic asked me if I wanted to return to work for him!"

"That's wonderful!" Esther said, "But what happened to that Rick guy? I thought he took over for Victor?" She hadn't met the replacement manager personally, but just one visit to the restaurant had been enough to see the damage he had done.

"That sonofabitch was fired," Gene grinned widely. "I happened to run into Victor doing a grocery run back before Thanksgiving, and he's been checking in with me all month."

"Isn't he the owner?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, but for the time being I've been promoted to assistant manager," He looked practically giddy to finally tell someone else. "He's coming on as manager until he can find someone that can handle the pressure. Said he wants to bring Terry back, but keep that off the records in case it's not possible. So how's Wennie? Any of you hear from her?"

Esther tried not to wince at her friend's name. She hadn't talked to her since Christmas morning, and the more she thought about it, she was almost certain that the woman wasn't in bed alone. Ithilwen had never told her if she had gotten the call to return to work, but Esther wondered if she'd even accept if offered the chance. Finally she said, "Wennie's in Scotland; I talked to her Christmas morning."

Olivia cooed. "A Scottish Christmas? Oh, that sounds magical!"

"Did she say if Victor called her?" Gene asked.

The blond shrugged. "I can't say. I think I had woken her up when I called, so we didn't talk long."

Gene sighed, tucking his hands in his jeans pockets. "Somehow I don't think she'll be coming back."

"What makes you say that?" Olivia looked at him, frowning. "If Rick is gone, I can see no reason why she wouldn't come back."

Jack shrugged. "It's probably got something to do with her family in Scotland." At the bewildered looks from the former coworkers, he added quickly, "Yeah, she found out that she has blood relatives a couple months ago. Wild stuff."

"What Jack's trying to say is that since Wennie's got one more term left, I think she might pack up and go back to Scotland," Esther clarified. She refused to say anything about Legolas specifically or the company he owned in the off chance they assumed she was chasing money. There was clearly more to it than all the money of the world.

"Well that's a shame," Olivia mused. "Not about her being with family, of course. It'll be different without her at the restaurant."

"I would reckon that it'll take more getting used to to have this nut as an assistant manager," Jack teased, poking his thumb towards Gene.

"Yes," Olivia laughed at the look of shock on his face. "You can't pull a Dukes of Hazzard and jump tables whenever there's a dispute!"

"Only if there's an actual fight," Gene pointed out. "We'll be the first restaurant in the area with an assistant manager that doubles as a bouncer."

The days after Christmas at the castle were always lazy. Erestor would use the following week to challenge himself with repurposing anything left over from the large dinner. Sometimes it worked, sometimes Lindir would be the only one brave enough to come back for seconds. He didn't take offense when the experiments fell flat, he could admit failure. It was his lover trying to please him by eating a botched dinner that drove him mad.

One of his latest ideas had been to attempt miniature shepard's pies. Using a cupcake pan, he had modified the recipe so that the filling wouldn't eat through the cupcake liners, and laid down a spoonful of fried onion sticks into each. As he stood there staring at the bubbling mess, he contemplated on if it would have been easier to line the bottoms with hash browns instead. The liners themselves held up to the gooey concoction, and the potatoes on top had gone browner far quicker than he had planned.

Lindir stood next to him. "It smells good."

"You're just saying that." Erestor took two spoons and pulled out one of the cupcake liners, setting the whole mess on the saucer Lindir held out for him. "Just look - the entire thing is falling apart! You can't even get the liner out from under the pie without ruining it!"

His lover didn't bat an eye at the liner, which had turned greasy and clung to the miniature pie. Lindir took one of the spoons from Erestor and peeled down one side of the liner before scooping up a sample of the pie to taste. The potatoes had been tough to cut through, and he had to admit that Erestor was right about it falling apart after that. The fried onions did nothing to help the pie hold its shape, and had even gone soggy under the weight of the filling. On the plus side, it was all leftovers, so all it really needed was to be heated up. "Still tastes good," he mumbled, going for a second taste.

"Are you completely insane? Put it down!"

"No," Lindir even made to hold the saucer away from Erestor. "Believe it or not, it is edible! Give it a chance!"

"You're only saying that to make me feel better," Erestor pressed, reaching for the saucer. Lindir took a step away, still holding the dish out of reach.

"What does it's appearance matter? It's going to end up in the same state as any other food we eat!"

Erestor huffed. "Excuse me for wanting my food to look nice before it's consumed!"

Lindir took a third bite, much to his lover's annoyance. "Tell you what," he said, "You try this. Then, if you can't get three good opinions in this entire castle apart from mine, you can toss it. Deal?"

The pleading look Erestor received only irked him; Lindir liked to pull that look when he wanted to get his way. "Fine," he mumbled, taking the other spoon and using it to scoop a small amount from the saucer. Trying not to think about what a disaster the food looked, he ate it. The taste was what one would expect, though the fried onions added a little more flavor. With each second that passed, Lindir's smug expression only made him more irritated. "Dammit," he growled, reaching for the container of tin foil to cover the remaining miniature pies.

"I thought I'd find you in here."

Legolas visibly tensed at the sound of her voice from the doorway. He had hoped that he could have been quick, just in and out without anyone noticing his absence. 'Should have known better.'

He heard the door shut as she asked, "Don't get me wrong, Legolas. I'm not mad; if anything, I find your initiative impressive."

"That's what you said last night," he said cheekily.

Ithilwen snickered as she swatted his arm. She looked over his shoulder at the mess of papers laid out across his desk. "You know I thought Bernard was kidding when he told me that you're bad to jump back into work right after Christmas."

"That's because not all of our affiliates honor the day," he said, pulling her down across the arm of the chair to sit in his lap. "For them it's another business day, and the sooner I get back to work, the less of a backlog I have to go through."

"He also said that you've been stealing away like this for years." Her eyes narrowed accusingly.

"...Alright, that is true. In my defense, I was allowing the others to have more quality time with their children."

Ithilwen sighed through her nose. Somehow it always came back to children. He wasn't blaming her absence, obviously, but she still didn't like the idea of him being upstairs in his office alone at Christmas. "Okay then," she started, wiggling in his lap to better see the desk. "What do you want me to do?"

"I beg your pardon?" There were a lot of things he could have said, but there wasn't anything playful about her tone.

"This work," she said. "What can I do to help?"

"Ithilwen, I don't expect-"

"Consider it an internship. You can show me the ropes of how the company works, and at the same time cut down on the paperwork backlog."

"It's really not that much-"

"But it's keeping you from your family," she poked him in the shoulder for emphasis. "Everyone else may let you go off on your own to handle the company, but I'm more stubborn than that. I'm going to have to learn how to help sooner or later anyway."

Legolas considered his options. On the one hand, it would get the work cleared off the desk faster. On the other hand, it meant putting Ithilwen to work, and he told himself that he wouldn't force the company on her so suddenly. Then again, it really wasn't that much work, so she wouldn't be diving in feet first… "Alright," he relented.

She perked up at his answer, bouncing in his lap excitedly. Intentional or not, her squirming about had consequences he wasn't about to apologize for.

"So this internship," he murmured, leaning forward to rest his chin on her shoulder. "What do you think about interoffice relationships?"

Ithilwen hummed, pretending not to notice the hand that moved lazily against the outside of her leg. It tickled like hell through her jeans, but she wasn't about to admit it. "Well, if both people are willing, then I don't see anything wrong with it…"

"What if it were between the boss and say, someone new to the company?" Legolas tilted his head just enough for his breath to tickle her ear as he spoke. "For example, would it be improper if said boss were to ask the new person to stay behind and help file away hard copies of work?"

"And…what are you referring to by that?" She knew, she knew plain as day. It was just too much fun to tease him.

"I think you know," he purred.

"I don't know," she mock-whined, trying desperately not to laugh. "How much work is there?"

Legolas shifted this time, and she was once again reminded of how much "work" there was. "There is enough that it could be done alone, however…I think it would be more efficient for two people to sort it out. Thoroughly," he added.

'Keep strong girl!' Her thoughts were pleading. 'Win this for womankind!' "Well…if you put it that way…" Ithilwen felt his hand move back up her leg to rest on her hip expectantly. She turned, just enough to see Legolas' face clearly. With a sweet smile she said, "I would love to help you with your other work, but I really do believe we should settle the matter before us. Shall we?"

The groan he let out then made her laugh. Hard.

"Where's the kids?" Morwen looked around the yard, but could find no trace of them, save for a bizarre set of small footprints in the snow. "I thought they were helping with the snowman?"

Haldir grunted as he pushed another clump of snow back into place. "They were, but I think the snow is too powdery for building over here." He looked up at her as he continued, "Right now they're teaching your mother how to make snow angels."

She set down the scarf and old top hat she had brought out and moved to squat in the snow opposite her husband. "And Adar?"

"Snowball fight."

"Let me guess, Thranduil?"

"Was it that easy?"

Morwen laughed. "I think they're making up for missed years since Adar stayed on that island for so long."

"Then it will surprise you to learn that your brother-in-law is also caught up in this battle."

"Really now? Whose side's he on? Do you know?"

Haldir smoothed out the ball of snow he had been working on before setting it on the body. As he reached for another handful of snow to help hold the pieces together, he said, "Do you really think he'd go against his father-in-law? Not when he has the chance to piss Thranduil off."

"Two against one doesn't seem very fair." It wasn't fair, but in case he was nearby she feigned sympathy to avoid snow down the back.

"They're not the only ones playing," Haldir said. "Glorfindel's in the game as well."

"So it's three against one, then?"

"Glorfindel's more of a blitzkrieg-" Shouts from nearby caused both elves to look up in alarm. Seconds later, the small pack of younglings came shuffling through the snow on the heels of Glorfindel, who was crowing about gaining an army. Following them at a slower pace was an unexpected pair-

"Naneth? Was it Glorfindel?"

Galadriel was dusting snow out of her hair as she growled, "It was your father." She had been helping Melui out of her formed snow angel when Glorfindel had run into the clearing, yelling something about being chased. The younglings jumped at the opportunity to help him, and she had considered stepping inside for a few minutes when it happened. A large snowball had landed at the base of her neck, sliding down into the collar of her shirt and melting.

Thranduil was next to her, unapologetically grinning as she recounted the story. "Never in my years have I seen an ellon's expression change so quickly! He had been aiming for me, but Galadriel had stepped in the snowball's path before he could stop himself. I saw the whole thing- he went from disbelief that he had missed me, to recognizing who he hit, then it dawned on him just who he hit!"

Galadriel still looked put out as she shook the last of the snow out of her jacket. "It occurred to me then that Thranduil was outnumbered," she said seriously. "And since it would not do to allow an ally to go into battle with minimal resources, I've decided to join his company."

"Sure Miraear won't be jealous?" Morwen asked Thranduil jokingly.

"She will be joining us," Thranduil said, kneeling to pack snowballs. "The question is, will you two?"

"You realize you're asking me to go up against my father-in-law," Haldir stated.

Galadriel sniffed as she reached down to collect the top hat, placing it on the head of the snowman jus so. "Would you rather have your mother-in-law or your father-in-law as an enemy?"

Morwen shifted her gaze quickly to Haldir and couldn't stop the snort at the conflicted look on her husband's face. This was a battle he wasn't going to win, no matter what, so it was best to go with the lesser of two evils.

"Lord Celeborn will just have to understand that I am bound to honor my queen's wishes," he said finally.

As Galadriel smiled in triumph, Haldir could see Thranduil grinning from behind her as he made snowballs. "You picked wisely, marchwarden."

That evening, Melda turned back the covers on the bed and crawled in with her latest book. Since Bernard had been away in California, she had used reading books before bed as a coping mechanism for being alone. Her latest one was an urban fantasy about a city of mortals being protected from zombies that featured gargoyles, vampires, and a collective of supernatural task force members. It wasn't one of the best books she had ever read, but it was interesting. She still wasn't sold on reading the other books in the series, though.

Bernard had come out of the bathroom and headed to the bookshelf to select his own book. Anything that wasn't a textbook seemed appealing lately, and since his wife had ecclectic tastes, there was something for any mood. Picking a book that mentioned something about a city of bones, he slid under the covers next to her. "Something wrong, Mel?" he asked when she didn't open her book.

Melda shrugged. "You ever think about the future?"

"This isn't like the time you asked me if the Y2K ordeal could actually happen, is it?"

"I was being serious then, too!" she protested. "But no…I was thinking about here. The castle. All of us."

"Well yeah. I think about that all the time. What are you talking about exactly?"

"Ithilwen's going back to California next month, right?"

"Yeah, she wants to finish her degree."

"And you'll be going back with her?"

Bernard was confused. Not sure where she was going with this, he nodded. "Yeah. If she goes, I'll go with her so she won't be there alone. Why? You want to come with us?"

Melda shook her head. "Maybe to visit you both, but I'll need to be working too." She stretched her legs out beneath the covers. "Do you think Legolas will go with her?"

"That, I don't know. I wouldn't put it past him. It's only a few months to graduation, and that'll be here before we know it. I'm pretty sure she'll be coming back after that."

"I know she will." At his look, she added. "Ithilwen told us girls that she's going to move over here after school."

He hummed a low "how bout that" as he opened the book to the first chapter. Bernard had made it a paragraph in before he set the book back down in his lap. "She's going to have to be brought into the swing of rotating identities," he said.

Melda set her book down and studied him. "You think she can handle it? I mean when it gets out that Legolas isn't single anymore, the public is going to zero in on her."

"We'll be here for her," he assured her and himself. They had all grown into the company's success and publicity, but Ithilwen would be dropped into it headfirst. "What concerns me is when they decide to have kids themselves. Keeping that secret isn't easy anymore."

She frowned, knowing what he meant. Technology had become too advanced to not notice that there were differences between mortal and elven blood, which was a concern on everyone's minds when they went outside the castle's borders. For centuries they had been using the excuse of being a family that closely resembled its elders whenever leadership changed. Then the younglings had come along, and guarding the pregnancies of the ellith had been a real challenge. They had to be especially careful to not say how far along they really were to mortals, since six months pregnant to an elf was vastly different than a woman. The babies themselves had to be kept within the castle much of the time to avoid gaining unwanted questions until they had grown. Even then they still had to say they were late bloomers. Ithilwen would have to be told of all these procedures beforehand. Melda knew all of this, having witnessed the struggles of her family, and still had to ask. "Do you think we'll ever have children, Bernard?"

If she had expected him to stutter or get flustered, she would have been disappointed. Melda looked over to see that the book lay open in his lap still, and he looked down at it as if he were reading. He appeared as if he were considering his words carefully. She felt her gut clench uncomfortably as she waited for an answer.

Bernard did look up at her, and said, "You know I'd like that, Melda."

"I didn't mean immediately or anything, B," she began, feeling her stomach contract tighter. "I was only asking if it could be in the plans before we returned to Valinor."

His relaxed expression changed to concern at her words. "Why would we wait that long? Melda, I have no idea when we're going back to Valinor. There is no way I want to wait that long!"

Melda sighed in relief, her stomach relaxing. "So we're going to try one day?"

Bernard smiled. "Yeah, we're going to try one day." He closed the book and set it on the bedside table. He then took Melda's and placed it with his. "One day," he said, pulling her down to join him against the mattress.

She settled into his arms and smiled. She could handle that answer.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: For the anon who asked, I decided to leave most of Ithilwen's gift up to the reader's imagination. There's sweet things like making homemade dinners and shoulder/back massages, but there's also some more private entries in the book too. ;) Like, waking up to her wearing nothing but a ribbon on his begetting day, for example. She did include some scrapbook aspects to it, like the text messages and pictures, as you mentioned; not all of them nsfw. I reckon Legolas wanted to reenact, if you get my drift.

A short chapter, but I must admit I'm at one of those "in-between" points in both of these stories. You know where there's that lull in big events? It's one of those gaps, and I didn't want to have one big thing happen in every chapter. So when I outlined the remainder of this story, I wrote out shorter chapters like this one. My problem now is that I wrote the outlines so long ago that I can't remember what I intended to write about. LOL It sucks having both writers' block and artists' block at the same time! But do let me know if you'd like to see anything in particular with a chapter like this!