A/N: This is my first Lord of the Rings fic. I have only watched all the movies that are currently made, and so know very little about the series. So I will be getting facts wrong left and right. But I really do love the series, so I just started writing, and thus the first chapter was born. It really made me sad that Frodo and Gandalf left, so this is my hopeful story. Please review! The only characters I own are Merry and Pip's wives. Otherwise, I don't own lotr. I am just playing this by ear for now.

It's been three years since Frodo and Gandalf and Bilbo left on the ship to the undying lands, seven years since the fellowship returned from their quest of the ring. Sam, Merry and Pippin were all married and Sam and Merry had children. Aragorn was bringing Gondor to a wonderful peace that was sure to last for many years. Legolas had returned to his kin, as had Gimli, although the two of them see each other occasionally. Besides that, it had been years since the other members of the fellowship had last seen each other, save for Merry, Pippin and Sam, who saw each other frequently. So when Aragorn sent out invitations for a feast to celebrate the anniversary of their victory, as well as the birth of his son Eldrion, everyone was excited. They were going to be reunited after all these years. The only sad part about the celebration was that it was missing some important members. Frodo and Gandalf had been gone for years, and while everyone had moved on from their departure, the group still missed their friends. However, in spite of this, Aragorn had a surprise for them.

. . .

"Rosie! Have you seen my jacket? You know the brown leather one with the two pockets?"

Rosie rolled her eyes at her husband; he was always losing things. She walked into their shared room to find it in disarray, as Sam had thrown their things all about the place.

"Sam!" she exclaimed. Sam looked up at her guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Rosie," he said. "It's just that I couldn't find it and it's my best one and I need it for the feast, and… and…" he sunk down on their bed in a disgruntled heap. "I'm ruddy horrible at finding things." Rosie sighed, and smiled.

"Well, luckily for you, I think I might know where it is," she said. Sam sat up quickly.

"Really?" he said. "Rosie, you're the most wonderful wife a man could have." Rosie giggled.

"Why Sam, you flatter me," she exclaimed. Sam rushed up and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She blushed. Even after six years of marriage and two wonderful children, Sam was as respectful to her as the day he met her, not even kissing her properly without her permission. Seeing her blush, Sam blushed as well. He was so cute when he looked embarrassed! Rosie thought.

"Go check the back of your chair at the table," she told him. He smiled lovingly at her and hurried to the kitchen. Sure enough, Rosie could hear his exclamation of excitement as he found his jacket. He hurried back with it scrunched in his hand.

"Thank you, Rosie!" he hugged her, and gave her another peck on the cheek, causing the both of them to blush once more. He rushed over to his bag, and put the jacket in it. As he was checking his essentials, he looked up at his wife.

"Are you sure you want to come with me?" he asked. "It's a long journey to Gondor. Plus, the children will be a hassle along the way. You sure you're up for it?"

Rosie scoffed at her husband playfully. "Me, not being up for a journey across the country? You doubt me, husband?" Sam blushed for the third time that day.

"I'm sorry," he blurted. "I didn't-"

"It's ok, Sam," Rosie soothed. "I was only teasing. But I do still want to go with you, as well as bring the children. I have long waited to meet the other saviors of Middle Earth, seeing as my husband is one of them."

"Was," Sam corrected softly. Rosie shook her head.

"As long as I have a say, and I do," she walked up to him and put her arms around his shoulders. "You, Samwise Gamgee, are the greatest savior, hobbit and husband Middle Earth has ever seen." And then she kissed him full on the lips. Sam's eyes widened for a moment, but then he relaxed and kissed her back, his arms holding her close, so that when Rosie broke the kiss, he continued to hold her, their foreheads touching as they gazed at each other lovingly. Rosie's blond curls shrouded their faces from the outside world. They were content.

"Alright, love," Sam said softly. "I am just worried, what with the orc's and everything." Rosie giggled.

"Yes, but I know if something happens, you, Merry and Pippin will be there to protect us." Sam groaned.

"Oh yes," he grumbled. "Merry and Pippin." It's not that he didn't care about the cousins, or that he didn't enjoy their company, but they were always acting foolish, not respectable at all. Sure, they had grown up after the quest, but they were still Merry and Pippin, although Sam treasured their friendship. Now that they were married it was better; Merry even had a little girl who played with their youngest son. Yes, they had adjusted well back to life at the shire.

Rosie raised an eyebrow. "What about them?" Sam sighed, exasperated, and turned back to his bag.

"Nothing, nothing dearest," he said. "It's just that we best be prepared for their antics, seeing as we'll be traveling together for awhile, that's all." Rosie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well I am right excited to be going on a trip with Estella and Diamond. You boy's go have your fun with the orc's and whatnot, while us wives sit around the campfire drinking tea and gossiping." Sam laughed loudly.

"Yes Rosie, we'll be sure to do that."

Just then, their four year old boy and six year old girl came bursting into their parent's room, giggling and squealing. They jumped up onto their bed and began bouncing around.

"We're going on a trip! We're going on a trip!" they shouted. Sam and Rosie's eyes widened.

"How did you find out?" Rosie asked.

"Merry and Pip told us!" squealed their six year old, Elanor.

"What?" Sam sputtered. "When?"

"Just now!" Elanor answered. "Me and Frodo let them in!" Sam brought his hand up to his face.

"What did your mother and I tell you about opening the door, Elanor?" he said. Elanor stopped jumping.

"It was Frodo's idea!" she squealed and ran out the door. Sam sighed.

"Best get this over with," he said, and went out to greet his friends. Rose picked up her son and followed him.

As soon as Sam rounded the corner, he was bombarded with hugs and cries of delight. He laughed nervously when he saw that his friends had brought their families.

"Sam!" the two hobbits exclaimed as their wives began conversing with Rosie. "How've you been my friend?" asked Merry.

"F-fine," Sam said, a bit overwhelmed.

"Are you ready to go?" Pippin asked. Sam looked taken aback.

"Now?" he exclaimed. Merry nodded.

"Yes," he said. "Now. It's a week's journey to Gondor, and we don't want to miss the feast. We have the ponies set up outside for the womenfolk and the children. Are you packed?" Sam was about to object when Rosie stepped in.

"Yes," she replied. To Sam, she explained, "I packed for me and the children ages ago. And you just finished. We've hired the house sitter, and so now, there is nothing more for us to do then to just be on our way." Sam sighed with defeat.

"Yes, I suppose we're ready," he said. That brought forth cheers from Merry, Pippin and the children.

"Well then, let's be off!" Pippin called. Merry took his daughter Lillian's hand and Rosie picked up their children as all nine of them walked out. They got the women situated on the short, hobbit-sized ponies, and were just about to leave when Sam smacked his forehead.

"I forgot the bags!" Sam exclaimed. This earned him laughter from the other adults as he ran in to get them. He soon returned under the multitude of luggage his wife had packed.

"Are you sure we're going to need all of this, darling?" he grunted. "We're only going for a week!"

"I'm sure," Rosie stated. "It's not just you and Frodo traveling anymore, Sam. We've got children to tend to."

"And not to mention needy women," Merry joked, which got him a well earned smack on the back of the head from his wife.

They soon got the bags stowed on the horses and began the long journey to Gondor. Soon enough, Merry and Pippin were telling stories to the children about their adventures, exaggerating bits to make it more exciting.

"And then kids," Merry began, "Your uncle Pip and I took the sword that had cut our bonds and killed all of the orc's with it! And we only had one sword between the two of us!"

Sam scoffed at the two of them. "That's not the way I heard it. I heard that you two ran for the woods as at the first chance you got and that Rohan's army killed the orc's."

"Shh!" exclaimed Pippin. "That's not what happened!"

"Ya," said Merry. "And even if that was what happened, it would've taken some great skill to get away from a battle like that; no regular hobbit could've done it."

"And we all know that the two of you are far from regular hobbits," Pippin's wife Diamond teased.

"Precisely," Pippin said. "But I'll tell you something that really did happen-"

And so it continued for the first three days. They got up, ate a breakfast or two, and traveled telling stories until lunchtime (they had to skip elevensies and tea time) and then it was traveling again until dinner. The women and children did surprisingly well, considering it was their first time out of the shire. They didn't meet anything unexpected until lunchtime on the fourth day. Merry, Sam and Pippin were enjoying a smoke, the children were playing near ponies and the women were sitting around their makeshift campfire cooking and talking.

The women's conversations went much along these lines:

"It's great to finally be meeting the men our husbands traveled with," exclaimed Estella, Merry's wife. The other two nodded.

"I'm tired of just hearing stories about 'em," Diamond agreed. "I want to see 'em for myself."

"I wonder what Gondor will be like," Rosie said. "I've never been anywhere but the Shire."

"I suppose it will be right grand," Diamond said. "Being a kingdom and all. Suppose we'll get to be like ladies of the court, seeing as we're married to heroes?"

"Diamond!" Estella cried. "No need to be getting greedy!"

"I'm just sayin-" Diamond began.

"Don't bother!" called Pippin. "She's right maddening when she doesn't get her way." Diamond gave her husband a furious look before she buried herself in her cooking, muttering things like 'he's one to talk,' or 'never seen what I have to put up with.'

Meanwhile, the boy's conversation was on a similar topic.

"It'll be grand to see everyone again, after all these years," said Merry. "Haven't seen anyone since them since Aragorn's coronation."

"T'is a shame that mister Frodo isn't here with us," said Sam. "He would've loved to see everyone back together once more." The whole group got solemn after that.

Suddenly, all three of the men sensed another's presence and stood up. They drew their swords that their wives didn't know they were carrying under their cloaks.

"Kids!" Merry called. "Go to your mothers!" They didn't respond. The fathers got a panicked look in their eyes and raced over to the ponies. They were met by their fleeing, screaming children who hid behind their fathers.

"Kids, go to the campsite," Sam urged. "Quickly!" And they did. Then, the three hobbits turned to see what had scared their kids so badly. And were met, face to face, with a creature they never thought they'd see again.

A/N: and this looked like a good place to leave off. Like I said, I am really just playing this by ear. If you catch any mistakes, please, don't hesitate to review or pm me about it. I hardly know anything about the Lord of the Rings world, so there are likely to be several mistakes along the way. Anyways, Review! And I saw an author doing this, so I figured, I might try it. I'm gonna be asking questions about the series at the end of the chapters, so here's the first one: Who's your favorite character in Lord of the Rings and why? Thanks!

Additional note: I had a reviewer catch me on some mistakes, and I really appreciate that. I changed some names (even though I had to keep some of the facts for the next chapter. That plus I wanted to keep their number at nine) The majority of her notes were about names, so I was able to fix that, but for this story, Minas Tirth will have to be closer to the shire then 900 miles. I do want to keep this story relatively short.