When it rains, it pours. o.o

[frodogamgee]

holy shit

I've sort of locked myself inside for the past few days, doing a lot of reading. Lots of good books here by Plato and Aristole and all those old Greek cronies. But then I went out to check on Pete and discovered that Elanor now has beach-front proper

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[elanorgamgee]

*whispers* Sixth Age, actually, but who's counting, right?

Um. *wonders if she should ruin his fun by telling him that the water is actually very slowly receding now* Would you like some help? *completely straight-faced* I could waterproof your ark boat if nothing else.

[frodogamgee]

Must have slept through the ending of the Fifth Age. Or, whichever. I forget.

*He smiles half heartedly as he attempts to tie off a bit of twine around some of the sticks* I'm thinking this is pretty hopeless, anyhow. *he tossed the bundle of sticks aside* But thanks for the offer.

*he looked up as in the distance, out in the water, a small boat from Erchi sailed by. He blinked a few times, then laughed softly* That was nice of him.

[elanorgamgee]

*jokes lamely* Ah well, after a few near-apocalyptic disasters who keeps track anyways.

*winces inwardly as she realizes how sharp her claws had been*

*nods* Erchi's a total sweetheart.. *softly* he reminds me of you, sometimes.

*bites lip* Frodo, I'm really sorry.. for being so awful lately.

[frodogamgee]

*He stands looking out at the rippling water a bit, nodding to himself, and then glances at her when she winces, concerned. He hasn't heard much about Erchi or really ever met him, so he pleased to hear Elanor thought he reminded her of him. Not that he was big-headed about things, but he considered himself a good person, and Elanor a good judge of character, so if he reminded her of him, he couldn't be all bad.* I should like to hear of him, sometime. *He commented softly, and then turned towards her* We've both had a hard time of it of late. There's no need for apologies.

[elanorgamgee]

*laughs softly* I'm not entirely sure where to begin, but he's a good k- a good guy. *sideways grin* A bit of a joker at times, but the type to really be there when you need someone, you know? *smiles wistfully, thinking of him*

*sighs quietly* I know, but I'm still sorry. I'd like to at least explain some of what's been going on for me, if that's all right, *wry smile* just so you don't think me completely unreasonable.

[frodogamgee]

*He noticed her wistful smile and wondered at it. She seemed quite fond of Erchi, but he couldn't pin point more on the feeling* *instead, he nodded at her offer, and glanced back out, over the sea. It had been a long time since he had seen such an expanse of water; Far-Harad had nothing of the sort* You are most often unreasonable. *he teased softly, smiling in remeberance, recalling many times in their youth when she stubbornly refused to do something -- or not do something. He glanced at her, eyes twinkling, showing he was playing fun*

[elanorgamgee]

*laughs* You know, it's actually good to be reminded of that once in a while--perhaps I haven't been 'unreasonable' enough lately

[frodogamgee]

*He had spent the better part of listening to her talk as he looked out at the water, and dug his toes into the dirt beneath his feet. When she finished, he looked back to her and studied her face in the moonlight, and then had to look away, because she was too beautiful like that*

I appericate you telling me all this, *he answered quietly. It was, perhaps, better than he deserved* I would apologise again, for picking such an in-oppertune time to return, but I don't think it would matter, anymore. *he took a deep breath, pondering over all his own problems and angsts buried inside, but not forgotten* Have you heard anything about mom and dad, anyway? I mean, do they even know you're expecting? *not that he suspected either one of them would do much more than crack jokes about littering the world with more Gamgee's, but it seemed like he should ask.*

[elanorgamgee]

*looks over at him and smiles softly* There's nothing to apologize for, Frodo--how were you to know? I just wanted to explain, is all.

*returns her gaze to the water and sighs quietly* Dad and Mr. Frodo know. But they left to go over Sea as well. Sometimes they pop back up, once in a long while, but.. *lets her voice trail off, not wishing to even speak her hope that they may come to see the baby*

*deep breath* As for Mom, *heavy sigh* I haven't seen Mom since before.. no wait! I think I had just gotten pregnant but I didn't even know.. well.. I hoped that I was but..

*returning to the subject at hand, she adds quietly* No, she doesn't even know. *glances back up at him* Can you believe that? I'm about ready to give birth and Mom doesn't even know I'm pregnant?

[frodogamgee]

*He couldn't meet her eyes, because until a week ago, he hadn't known she was pregnant either. He swallowed hard, and wondered how poorly she must have thought of him for not even sending her a letter or a postcard saying "How do you do?" And because of his mother's absence he wanted to reassure Elanor that their mother probably did know somehow. He felt he should defend her, but he couldn't force the words out. The day she had been 'liberated' from their father, she had changed. The mother he and Elanor had grown up with was as good as dead. Things did change, and he had learned to accept that, but losing their mother had never sat well with him -- and it obviously sat worse with Elanor. He finally tore his eyes off of their vantage point of his toes and looked back to his sister* She's missing out on a great thing, Elly. And it's gonna be her loss. *He gingerly lowered himself down, at last, to sit beside her, and drew his knees to his chest* But she wasn't there for Mer, either, or any of us. I mean, *softly* I died,

[elanorgamgee]

*sighs quietly and stares out over the water a long time before answering*

I don't know, Frodo.. I guess I can't quiet think of her is dead.. transformed, maybe, but not entirely dead. *reaches out and steadies herself against his arm while she shifts position slightly in an attempt to ease the pain of the Braxton-Hicks contraction she's feeling* But maybe that's just childish thinking.. after all, if you don't have the belief that somewhere out there, wherever she may be, your mother is still holding you in her heart.. what do you have?

[frodogamgee]

I have people like you, and Mer, and . . . maybe Merry, still. I still love mom, and I still care about her, but I find that I can't afford to miss her anymore. She gave me twenty-two and a half undivided years of her life. I figure she deserves a break.

And, sometimes it's easier to remember as she was, as opposed to what she's become.

[elanorgamgee]

*glances over at him for a moment* I know--it's justthe pregnancy thing again, I think. I'm not sure it's possible to go through a pregnancy and labor and childbirth without bring up old issues about one's mother.

*laughs softly* Well, I think new Mom would have been proud of me. Did you know I walked out on G-g in November? I could no longer stand living with the constant reminder that his heart was elsewhere.

[frodogamgee]

*he looks back out at the water, watching the way the moonlight rippled on the surface, his knees still tucked under his chin comfortably* I don't suppose I'll ever really understand pregnancy, Elly. It's not something I mean to be unsympathetic towards, but unlike Mer, if I ever have children, I plan to adopt them. I know all too well about how many children are unwanted by their parents; the world doesn't need more Gamgee's. *he smiled over at her faintly at that, but they both knew that despite all the jokes people made about their family that they had learned to brush off or laugh at, in the core of it all, it hurt. A lot.* Besides, I'm still of the belief that men just aren't supposed to have babies. I know, I'm sexist, but, *he smiles more geniuinely now* I can't help it.

As for Gil-Galad, no, I didn't know you walked out. *He glanced back to the sea, wondering how someone could so love it that they would give up Elanor for it* That's truly his loss.

[elanorgamgee]

*Smirking back at the shared joke, she starts to say something but thinks better of it*

*raises eyebrow playfully* Can't help being sexist or can't help the thought? I don't necessarily think the thought sexist, but I suppose that would depend on why you think so.

*rueful smile* Ah, but you know what Valinor's like. I'm sure the Scion of Kings isn't feeling too much pain.

*softens the bitterness out of her voice* I really should give him the chance to stay true to his word, though. *whispers* He does deserve that at least. *She holds her breath as she starts to feel another contraction, as if to stop her very body from marking time for her.. time that the elf was running out of*

*focuses on her body and wills herself to breathe through the contraction*

[frodogamgee]

*He glares at the sea, finding it more and more distasteful now that he knows more personally what it does to people. While Gil-Galad was probably happier, and Mr. Frodo and their dad there all smiles and painless, the ones they left still hurt in their wake. He had been to Valinor; he knew it's charms and its luxuries. But he knew the price it meant to go there as well, when others couldn't follow. He turns to retort to her, about Gil-Galad's loss, about to say how he doesn't deserve it, when he notices her tensed face. She looked like she was pained, and he was suddenly alarmed.* Elly? What's wrong? *He was moving, getting to his knees as he spoke*