Can I Keep Him Mom?
Chapter 1
A Peregrin in a Pecan Tree
A/N: I thought I was all alone. I really did. Until I was wandering through the Fanfiction.net website one day looking for harmless entertainment, and what to my wondering eyes did I see but a story by the incredible alliwantisanelfforchristmas describing her life with Prince Legolas. She flat out states that her story is non-fiction, and I believe her. I may be the only other person on earth who has such a GOOD reason to believe her. You see, I also have a little visitor from Middle-earth in my house. Actually there are three. Three darling, wonderful, pesky..wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Suffice it to say, this story is absolute truth, and if you won't believe me, maybe you'll believe the little people hovering at my shoulders to make sure this is told correctly. Let's begin, shall we?
It all started on a lovely, sunny afternoon in April. Being a reasonable mother, I had firmly chased all three children (I'll just call them JJ-age 6, Brittany-8 and Lily-10) out to the woods behind our house to play. I had just finished mixing the batter for brownies when the backdoor slammed shut and JJ rounded the corner, for once not covered in dirt.
"Mommy, I found a new friend!" he announced with excitement. At six years old, all the world is a friend, including tree frogs and centipedes, so I greeted this news with some trepidation.
"Oh? Where does he live?" I thought I knew all the children on our block. They seemed to travel in age level packs, and I didn't remember any houses for sale recently.
"In our tree house. And he's awful hungry Mom," JJ finished with a hopeful look beaming from his face.
Our tree house? The one my husband built in the pecan tree behind our house? There was a child. . . no wait, he never said his new friend was a child. There was a person living in our tree house? Maybe I'd better meet this 'friend'.
"JJ, honey, why don't you introduce this person to me," I said in a rather strangled tone, surreptitiously reaching for the cordless phone in case I needed to call for help quickly.
"OK, Mom." He turned and bounced to the backdoor happily, with me close behind.
Peering around the corner of the door onto our porch, I was relieved to see that JJ's new friend was just about his height and, from the back at least, seemed to have an adorable mop of tousled blondish curls. ~How cute!~ I thought.
"Hey Friend, my mom wants to meet you," JJ said, coming up behind the boy.
That is when my life changed forever. You see, just before he turned around, I noticed that JJ's friend was dressed, well, to put it kindly, very oddly. You don't see too many little boys in this area of the world wearing heavy jackets and matching pants. At least not to go out to play. And to top that off, even though he had a jacket on, his feet were bare. Someone was not taking care of this. . .
"OH MY!!!"
I couldn't help myself. Really, I couldn't. When he turned around, it became obvious that JJ's friend was no little boy! I slowly sank to the stoop, phone falling from my suddenly nerveless fingers. "JJ, would you please go inside for a few minutes? Put Midnight in the guest room for me so he doesn't hurt your friend."
"Ok, Mommy." JJ bounced away happily. Thank heavens he usually does what he's told to.
I stared in utter bewilderment at my unexpected guest, who looked back at me with big, grayish green eyes set in a very woebegone little face.
"Peregrin Took?" I asked quietly, hardly daring to breathe.
His face looked slightly confused as he slowly nodded at me.
"Have we met, Lady?" he asked, obviously unsure of how I knew him.
"Um, not formally, I'm afraid. How in the world did you get here?"
"I don't know. One minute I was around the campfire with everyone else, and the next I was in your tree," he answered. "Are you an elf, Lady? I've heard they live in trees."
"No, I'm not, see?" I said as I lifted the hair away from my ear. "No point. "
I surveyed him a moment more as he nervously fidgeted with his scarf. "JJ said you were hungry, when was the last time you ate?"
"I think it was yesterday. Dunno how long it took to get here," he answered.
"Well, why don't you come inside and I'll find something for you to eat. Then we can try and figure out what to do," I said, leading the way into the house, closely followed by a sweet little being I had assumed was nothing more than a fictional character.
~What do you feed a hobbit?~ I mused as we entered the kitchen. ~Hmmmm. Peanut butter? Somehow I doubt they have peanut butter in Middle-earth. Perhaps a turkey sandwich? Worth a try~ I thought, reaching for the package of meat and the mayonnaise.
"Mommy, can I have a snack too?" JJ asked as he came in and sat next to Pippin at the table.
"Do you want peanut butter and jelly, or turkey?"
"P'butter please," came the not unexpected reply.
As I hurriedly finished making the sandwiches, one for JJ and two for our visitor, I heard an unearthly scream from the front yard and the dreaded words.. . .
"Mom! Come quick!"
Visions of children falling out of trees danced in my head as I thumped the plates on the table and took off at top speed for the front door. What else could happen!?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Sorry this ends so abruptly, you'll see why when I get to the next chapter..Pippin! Be careful, don't...too late. Sigh.
Chapter 1
A Peregrin in a Pecan Tree
A/N: I thought I was all alone. I really did. Until I was wandering through the Fanfiction.net website one day looking for harmless entertainment, and what to my wondering eyes did I see but a story by the incredible alliwantisanelfforchristmas describing her life with Prince Legolas. She flat out states that her story is non-fiction, and I believe her. I may be the only other person on earth who has such a GOOD reason to believe her. You see, I also have a little visitor from Middle-earth in my house. Actually there are three. Three darling, wonderful, pesky..wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Suffice it to say, this story is absolute truth, and if you won't believe me, maybe you'll believe the little people hovering at my shoulders to make sure this is told correctly. Let's begin, shall we?
It all started on a lovely, sunny afternoon in April. Being a reasonable mother, I had firmly chased all three children (I'll just call them JJ-age 6, Brittany-8 and Lily-10) out to the woods behind our house to play. I had just finished mixing the batter for brownies when the backdoor slammed shut and JJ rounded the corner, for once not covered in dirt.
"Mommy, I found a new friend!" he announced with excitement. At six years old, all the world is a friend, including tree frogs and centipedes, so I greeted this news with some trepidation.
"Oh? Where does he live?" I thought I knew all the children on our block. They seemed to travel in age level packs, and I didn't remember any houses for sale recently.
"In our tree house. And he's awful hungry Mom," JJ finished with a hopeful look beaming from his face.
Our tree house? The one my husband built in the pecan tree behind our house? There was a child. . . no wait, he never said his new friend was a child. There was a person living in our tree house? Maybe I'd better meet this 'friend'.
"JJ, honey, why don't you introduce this person to me," I said in a rather strangled tone, surreptitiously reaching for the cordless phone in case I needed to call for help quickly.
"OK, Mom." He turned and bounced to the backdoor happily, with me close behind.
Peering around the corner of the door onto our porch, I was relieved to see that JJ's new friend was just about his height and, from the back at least, seemed to have an adorable mop of tousled blondish curls. ~How cute!~ I thought.
"Hey Friend, my mom wants to meet you," JJ said, coming up behind the boy.
That is when my life changed forever. You see, just before he turned around, I noticed that JJ's friend was dressed, well, to put it kindly, very oddly. You don't see too many little boys in this area of the world wearing heavy jackets and matching pants. At least not to go out to play. And to top that off, even though he had a jacket on, his feet were bare. Someone was not taking care of this. . .
"OH MY!!!"
I couldn't help myself. Really, I couldn't. When he turned around, it became obvious that JJ's friend was no little boy! I slowly sank to the stoop, phone falling from my suddenly nerveless fingers. "JJ, would you please go inside for a few minutes? Put Midnight in the guest room for me so he doesn't hurt your friend."
"Ok, Mommy." JJ bounced away happily. Thank heavens he usually does what he's told to.
I stared in utter bewilderment at my unexpected guest, who looked back at me with big, grayish green eyes set in a very woebegone little face.
"Peregrin Took?" I asked quietly, hardly daring to breathe.
His face looked slightly confused as he slowly nodded at me.
"Have we met, Lady?" he asked, obviously unsure of how I knew him.
"Um, not formally, I'm afraid. How in the world did you get here?"
"I don't know. One minute I was around the campfire with everyone else, and the next I was in your tree," he answered. "Are you an elf, Lady? I've heard they live in trees."
"No, I'm not, see?" I said as I lifted the hair away from my ear. "No point. "
I surveyed him a moment more as he nervously fidgeted with his scarf. "JJ said you were hungry, when was the last time you ate?"
"I think it was yesterday. Dunno how long it took to get here," he answered.
"Well, why don't you come inside and I'll find something for you to eat. Then we can try and figure out what to do," I said, leading the way into the house, closely followed by a sweet little being I had assumed was nothing more than a fictional character.
~What do you feed a hobbit?~ I mused as we entered the kitchen. ~Hmmmm. Peanut butter? Somehow I doubt they have peanut butter in Middle-earth. Perhaps a turkey sandwich? Worth a try~ I thought, reaching for the package of meat and the mayonnaise.
"Mommy, can I have a snack too?" JJ asked as he came in and sat next to Pippin at the table.
"Do you want peanut butter and jelly, or turkey?"
"P'butter please," came the not unexpected reply.
As I hurriedly finished making the sandwiches, one for JJ and two for our visitor, I heard an unearthly scream from the front yard and the dreaded words.. . .
"Mom! Come quick!"
Visions of children falling out of trees danced in my head as I thumped the plates on the table and took off at top speed for the front door. What else could happen!?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Sorry this ends so abruptly, you'll see why when I get to the next chapter..Pippin! Be careful, don't...too late. Sigh.