THIS Big

Bungo sat with his little son's head resting heavily on his shoulder. The air was heady with the scent of summer flowers and warmth from the sun, which was setting and creating a golden crown as it sank behind the far off hills.

Bilbo was growing tired, and he sat with his head leaning on his father as Bilbo looked on at the book Bungo was reading. It looked incredibly dull, with no pictures or colour, and Bilbo's attention soon wandered.

Bungo was considering taking Bilbo inside, as it was getting dark now and the lad was evidently tired. He was about to shut the book, when he suddenly felt Bilbo go tense beside him.

Concerned, Bungo looked down at Bilbo's mop of curls but before he could ask what was wrong, the still air was rent with a shrill scream-

'DAAAAADDYYYY!'

Bilbo had sprung up and was crouching behind his father's other arm.

'What's up, Bilbo-lad?' Bungo asked gently, although he was rather bemused.

'S-s-spider...' Bilbo stuttered as he hid his face in his father's sleeve.

Bungo looked to where Bilbo pointed, and saw a bug, about the size of his little fingernail, slowly crawling up the arm of the wooden bench upon which they sat.

Bungo chuckled.

'That's not a spider, lad! It's just a bug.'

Bilbo buried his face deeper into Bungo's arm.

With a little sigh, Bungo pulled his son into his arms and carried him away from the 'spider' and into the smial. Belladonna rose from where she had been sitting by the window and took her son gently from Bungo's arms.

'I think he needs to be abed,' Bungo smiled, ruffling Bilbo's hair. Bilbo was lying serenely in his mother's embrace, eyes closed and his thumb was making it's way towards his mouth.

Belladonna smiled down at Bilbo.

'I'll just give him a quick bath,' she said, and Bungo went to the fire to take the gently heated water off and carried it to the bathroom.

Belladonna followed, and Bilbo looked up sleepily as he was carried along. While Bungo ascertained the water was a nice temperature, Belladonna undressed Bilbo and placed him in the copper tub, lined with a sheet and filled with gently steaming water.

Little Bilbo allowed himself to be washed and splashed with the pleasant water, and Belladonna smiled as her son gave a huge jaw-cracking yawn. When he was all washed, she reached out to grab the towel, but she had left it over by the door. Standing up, she turned and went to fetch it, when all of a sudden -

'MUUUUUUUUMMYYYYYY!'

Startled she span back around, expecting something horrific; but Bilbo was just sitting stock still in the bath, his knuckles white as they clasped the edges of the tub.

'Oh Bilbo! What is it, dear?'

'S-s-spider!' Bilbo replied in a querulous little voice, pointing up at the ceiling.

Belladonna followed his gaze, and there was indeed a spider in the corner, nearly hidden in the shadow.

'Bilbo, it's just a spider. It won't hurt you!' she chuckled a little.

But Bilbo's face was so upset and his chin was trembling, so she quickly wrapped him up in the thick fluffy towel and carried him into his bedroom, where she proceeded to dress him in his light cotton nightshirt.

'Bilbo, the spider wasn't going to hurt you. You needn't be scared of them.'

'But Mummy, Flambard said that there were spiders THIS big!' Bilbo demonstrated just how big 'this' was by throwing his arms out as wide as they could go. The look on his face was so earnest that Belladonna couldn't help but laugh.

'Dear Bilbo,' she said, pressing a kiss to his forehead and tucking him into the bed. 'I promise I won't let the spiders hurt you. Even if they are THIS big!' She threw her own arms wide, and then brought them together to encase Bilbo in a hug.

When she released him his eyes were already closing and his thumb was firmly in his mouth. With another soft kiss, Belladonna left the room, chuckling softly.

Huge spiders, indeed...

A/N: I am thinking at Bilbo is about 7 years old, which is about 4ish in human years. I think.

I hope you liked this! I was watching the Desolation of Smaug trailer and there's that shot of Bilbo hiding from the spiders, and I just had to write about that - in a fluffy way, if course!

Because Bilbo is too adorable.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you thought! :)