A Flawed Diamond 4: Connections
The Shire 1428 (late summer-early fall)
Rosemary and Iris stayed until it was time for them to leave on their annual trek to the Havens. Diamond was glad to have the female company and the help around the house they offered but she couldn't help feeling a little sad when she looked at Iris and thought about what might have been. However, the attentions of her husband and friend helped her to recall that happiness and joy might still be possible.
Despite her loss, she felt as if she had been relieved of a great pressure. Pippin knew her secret and would not leave her. He spent every spare moment with her and brought her little gifts and made sure she had the food and herbal infusions recommended by the healer. He also talked with her for hours and that was the best medicine.
He put bouquets of the white roses by her bed every night and once, when the moon was brilliant and as round as an apple, she thought they gave off a faint glow. They stayed fresh for a long time and were obviously special roses. She resolved to remember to ask Pippin about their origin.
When she asked him he smiled and said, "Belladonna Took brought them back from an adventure. It is something of a Took secret and a long tale, dear wife."
Her eyes glittered in anticipation of an interesting tale and she replied, "Go ahead, Pippin-love. I would love to hear it."
He told her of how Belladonna, when she was a hobbit-lass barely in her tweens, went on an adventure with Gandalf and bought back a cutting of these roses from Rivendell. "She was an artist like you. The portraits of the Old Took and his children that you see around the smial are her work."
Later, Diamond took her inks, paints, and other art supplies out to the garden. Rosemary and Iris joined her there for tea and Diamond sketched them. She would have a finished portrait for them by the time they got back to the Shire. They were lovely subjects and she felt it was somehow important to capture their image on canvas.
On the first crisp morning of the new autumn season, she and Pippin bid them farewell. Watching them go, Diamond knew two things with certainty: she would draw more pictures of Rosemary and Iris and, one day, she would have a child of her own.
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Epilogue: a new promise The Shire 1430 (early spring)
On a fresh-scrubbed spring day that sparkled like an opal, Diamond watched her husband hold their newborn son. Pippin had been far more worried over this pregnancy than she had. She knew from the beginning that she would carry the baby to term safely. She smiled and asked, "What do you think we should name him, Pip?"
Pippin, weak with relief and happiness answered, "I would like to name him Faramir. Is that okay, dearest?"
Diamond smiled and said, "Of course it is."
Rosemary and Iris stayed until it was time for them to leave on their annual trek to the Havens. Diamond was glad to have the female company and the help around the house they offered but she couldn't help feeling a little sad when she looked at Iris and thought about what might have been. However, the attentions of her husband and friend helped her to recall that happiness and joy might still be possible.
Despite her loss, she felt as if she had been relieved of a great pressure. Pippin knew her secret and would not leave her. He spent every spare moment with her and brought her little gifts and made sure she had the food and herbal infusions recommended by the healer. He also talked with her for hours and that was the best medicine.
He put bouquets of the white roses by her bed every night and once, when the moon was brilliant and as round as an apple, she thought they gave off a faint glow. They stayed fresh for a long time and were obviously special roses. She resolved to remember to ask Pippin about their origin.
When she asked him he smiled and said, "Belladonna Took brought them back from an adventure. It is something of a Took secret and a long tale, dear wife."
Her eyes glittered in anticipation of an interesting tale and she replied, "Go ahead, Pippin-love. I would love to hear it."
He told her of how Belladonna, when she was a hobbit-lass barely in her tweens, went on an adventure with Gandalf and bought back a cutting of these roses from Rivendell. "She was an artist like you. The portraits of the Old Took and his children that you see around the smial are her work."
Later, Diamond took her inks, paints, and other art supplies out to the garden. Rosemary and Iris joined her there for tea and Diamond sketched them. She would have a finished portrait for them by the time they got back to the Shire. They were lovely subjects and she felt it was somehow important to capture their image on canvas.
On the first crisp morning of the new autumn season, she and Pippin bid them farewell. Watching them go, Diamond knew two things with certainty: she would draw more pictures of Rosemary and Iris and, one day, she would have a child of her own.
************************************
Epilogue: a new promise The Shire 1430 (early spring)
On a fresh-scrubbed spring day that sparkled like an opal, Diamond watched her husband hold their newborn son. Pippin had been far more worried over this pregnancy than she had. She knew from the beginning that she would carry the baby to term safely. She smiled and asked, "What do you think we should name him, Pip?"
Pippin, weak with relief and happiness answered, "I would like to name him Faramir. Is that okay, dearest?"
Diamond smiled and said, "Of course it is."