Chapter Text
Frodo woke to the sun slipping through the wooden panels of the window and filling his room with a warm light. The smile on his face only managed to brighten up the room more. Two days from now he would be getting married to the love of his life. He climbed out of bed feeling utter happiness filling his heart. And the world agreed with his happiness, as he pushed open the panels of his window the bright, beautiful cloudless day greeted him.
Along with the greeting from the perfect weather, many of the hotel employees waved up at him as they walked by. Frodo would never get sick of the light, pastel colors of the main block, it had been the view outside his room since he could remember. They only seemed to be even happier and adding more giddiness to his mood as he looked at them once more.
A gentle knock at his door drew his attention back into his room, he walked lightly over to the light blue door and pulled it open. He smiled kindly at one of the maids, Anna, who stood in the doorway.
"Good morning, Master Baggins, I came to tell that a boat with a pair of special guests in it is pulling into the dock," she explained politely, "Though, I imagine I won't be getting to call you Master Baggins for much longer."
His excitement got the best of him as Frodo gasped and let out a delighted laugh. "Thank you, Anna, I will go meet them immediately," he responded, "And yes that is very true."
She left with a small nod and smile. Quickly, Frodo grabbed the small red leather book sitting on his dresser and dashed from the room. He didn't bother with shoes, living on an island led to much barefoot walking and building up strong feet. Frodo spent a lot time running around on the beach and through the villa with no shoes.
In little time, he made it down to a more secluded section of the beach, saying hello to all of the workers he encountered. On this part of the beach a petite dock stretched out into the water and pulling up to the dock was small row boat. The boat held two of his most beloved cousins, Pippin and Merry. Frodo leaped down the slope of sand and ran hastily down the dock to meet them. His excited cheers were matched by his cousins.
"Frodo," they cried in unison.
He was pulled into a giant bear hug, squished between the other two.
"Pippin, Merry, oh my it's so good to see you," Frodo exclaimed.
"You didn't think we'd miss our favorite cousin's wedding, now did ya," Pippin replied.
Their excitement seemed to be endless, as they couldn't stop shouting and squealing in joy.
"And I must ask how's Sam," Merry inquired with a smirk.
"Perfect as always," Frodo sighed, "It's so surreal that it's just two days 'til our wedding."
"Yeah you guys must be so excited, I sure am, I mean do you know how much food is served at weddings," Pippin joked.
"Only you would be excited for the food, and not the happy couple," Merry elbowed his cousin.
"Well I mean I'm happy for them too," he added.
Frodo laughed at their antics, he missed having Pippin and Merry on the island. The three of them had grown up together, always exploring and running around. Then once they grew up the two of them chose to go to the mainland to move on with their lives, but Frodo had to stay on the island to help Bilbo run the hotel, which he never regretted, he loved helping his dad out.
"Come with me I wanna show you something," Frodo held the small journal out in front of him, smiling even wider at the sight of his cousins' confused looks.
He turned to head back up the beach, waving at them to follow. Frodo climbed hurriedly up the sand and onto a small path that lead back to town, where he promptly sat down on a large rock. Merry followed soon behind him, panting heavily from the steep climb made even worse by the sand. "What's the rush," he panted heavily.
A few moments later, Pippin arrived dramatically climbing up the last few steps gasping for air like he had just run a mile. He stepped onto level ground and gripped onto Merry's shoulder for support.
"Goodness two years off the island and you can't even get around anymore," Frodo chided.
"Well, sorry I don't go sand dune climbing on a daily basis," Pippin tried to snap but it came out as more of a wheeze.
"Anyways, check this out," Frodo held out the journal for them to look at.
"I mean I know it's a journal but what about it," Merry asked.
"Well yes it's a journal, but more specifically Bilbo's old journal," Frodo continued despite the surprised looks he was receiving,"So you know how I've never really known who my other dad is because Bilbo refuses to tell me and I can't find out on my own because any adoption papers that would have a name were lost in the fire back when we were little, well I think I may have some answers."
"Oh my goodness, are you serious," Merry gasped, "That's amazing, what does it say, tell us."
"Yes, yes, yes, tell us," Pippin perked up, now over the exhausting climb.
"Okay, I'll start with this one 'June 15, 1983. It's been one month since I first met Thorin and he is always telling me how much he loves me'," Frodo added emphasis on the name,"'And I love him too, he's so sweet and kind, even if he looks a little gruff to others. Who knows he might be the one, but I don't wanna jump to conclusions, no matter how utterly perfect he is. Last night we went on a super romantic date and when let's just say when we got back to my room it got a little dot, dot, dot.'"
"What do you mean 'dot,dot,dot'," Merry screeched.
"Here come look," Frodo giggled. The two scrambled to stand behind him and continue reading the entry. Frodo laughed loudly at the blushes on their cheeks.
"Oh my, so do you think this Thorin could be your other dad," Pippin asked.
"Well, wait listen to this," Frodo answered flipping a few pages, "'July 29, 1983. Although it's barely been a week with Bofur, he is one of the funniest guys I've ever met. He knows how to make me laugh no matter what mood I'm in. And, well, the other day things got a little dot, dot, dot.'"
"Holy crap, this is nuts," Pippin exclaimed.
"Yeah you're telling me, this is more than I've ever known," Frodo answered, "Now, there's one more. 'September 3, 1983. Thranduil and I have been together for about two weeks, and he's one of the most unique, spontaneous guys I've ever known. He shows me a different view on life, and when when things get dot, dot, dot.'"
"So it could be any of them, they're all so close to each other," Merry added.
"I tried to pinpoint who it could've been by the times, but in any situation it could be any of them," Frodo explained.
"What does this mean then," Pippin inquired.
"Well, it means a lot, but there's something else I need to tell you," Frodo gave a half smile,"I've actually invited all three of them to the wedding, so maybe then I can figure out who it is. But you can't tell Bilbo, promise."
The two released ear piercing shrieks of excitement, Frodo winced but was just as excited.
"That's so amazing," Merry pulled him into a tight hug.
"What's so amazing," a familiar voice grabbed their attention.
When they looked over, they saw Bilbo standing at the end of the path with a laundry basket in his hand. He was dressed in his typical white shirt and blue jean overalls with a bandanna pulling back his curly hair, he was also sporting the no shoe look same as Frodo.
"Oh nothing, dad, they're just excited to be my groomsmen," Frodo replied smoothly.
"We sure are," Merry added.
"Well, I'm glad you are, Frodo's going to need all the support he can get, to be honest I may need it myself," Bilbo joked.
"It's alright Master Baggins, you can let go of all that stress tomorrow at Frodo's stag party, we'll have loads of fun," Pippin responded.
"Oh my, yes, I don't know about now, but I used to have a lot of fun," Bilbo answered, nostalgic look on his face.
"Oh we know," Pippin murmured under his breath. Merry immediately elbowed him, hissing for him to shut up, while Frodo tried to ignore the strange look his dad was giving them.
"By the way Frodo, I just ran into Sam, he was looking for you," Bilbo continued, "I can show you two to your rooms if that's alright."
Merry and Pippin nodded their heads frantically, shooing Frodo forward. "Go, go, we'll catch up with you later," Merry encouraged.
Frodo smiled gratefully at his cousins before climbing up the path, he quickly placed a kiss on his father's cheek and headed back to town.
"Come on you troublemakers, let's get you to your room," Bilbo told them.
"Oh come now Master Baggins, we're the most well behaved kids you know ," Merry replied.
"Sure maybe when you're eating, and your mouths are too busy eating to be yapping," Bilbo called as he turned to walk the other way.
With a shared look, the boys grabbed their luggage and scampered up the sandy path to catch up to Bilbo.
Back in the center of town Frodo stood in the bustle of the crowd, many of the hotel workers were focused on preparing for his wedding. He was ecstatic to have so many of the nicest people helping him prepare for the most important day of his life. Frodo had known them all since he was just a babe, in a way they were all his family.
"Good afternoon, Master Baggins," the thud of a large crate made Frodo turn around.
"Good afternoon, Bard," Frodo replied.
"Everything's coming along quite nicely, isn't it," Bard asked, wiping the sweat off his brow.
"Oh it is, you all are doing amazing, thank you," Frodo answered.
"You're very welcome, by the way Sam's in the kitchen, if that's who you're looking for," Bard bent over to pick up the large crate once more.
"In fact, I am," he felt a little worried watching Bard take the first few wobbly steps with the large box, "Sure you can handle that Bard?"
"Yeah, no worries, Master Baggins," Bard's voice was strained.
"Okay, be careful then," Frodo waited a few moments, making sure that Bard truly could carry the large box, before making his way to the hotel kitchen.
Bard Bowman was the head maintenance guy at the hotel. Aside from Bilbo, he was in charge of any repairs in the hotel. A running joke Bard made was that he's fixed everything on the island at least once. Bard, since he worked so hard, also lived at the hotel with his three kids, all of whom were younger than Frodo. Everyone remembered his wife, June, and when she passed away it was like the island itself was altered. But Bard, the strong man he was, kept going for his kids he worked constantly at the hotel and always took great care of them.
Just as the main square was busy, the small kitchen was filled with cooks making food. He spotted Sam standing with one of the dessert chefs, Rita, and he tried not to laugh too loud when he saw him sneak behind Rita's back and steal a strawberry. As Sam popped the fruit into his mouth, he noticed Frodo staring at him and blushed. Sam walked over to him, swallowing the strawberry he placed a sticky kiss on his lips. "You won't tell her right, Rita kinda scares me," Sam whispered.
"My lips are sealed," Frodo kissed him again, "Even more so because of the stolen strawberry."
Frodo licked his lips trying to get the sticky fruit off of them.
"It's alright, just makes you even more sweet," Sam cooed.
Frodo smiled wider and chuckled against his fiance's lips, planting one last kiss he leaned back to gaze into Sam's eyes.
"I heard you were looking for me," Frodo asked in a hushed tone.
"Mhmm, yeah, I wanted to ask your opinion on the flavor of icing for the cake," Sam replied.
"Let's see, I think," Frodo licked his lips once more, "Strawberry."
"Of course you do," he chuckled, "Seriously, is that what you want?"
"Yeah, why not, I like strawberry," Frodo answered with a shrug.
"Alright, hey Rita, he wants strawberry icing," Sam turned to face the busy chef.
She responded with curt nod, but then gave him a glare before returning to her work. Sam grimaced slightly, the silent threat received clearly.
"See, I told you she's scary."
Bilbo chuckled to himself as he closed the doors to Merry and Pippin's shared room. Those two, he certainly forgot how much of a handful they could be. They were still a joy though, they carried a brightness around with them that Bilbo missed having on the island.
He readjusted the laundry basket in his hands for the umpteenth time, he'd been lugging this thing around for much too long. Bilbo left one of the many residential buildings and headed towards his own room. Finally he plopped the basket on the ground and began to pin up the cleaned sheets on the close line.
Bilbo managed to hang up about half the sheets when a head popped out from behind one of them, proceeding the scare the living daylights out of him.
"Goodness, Ori, you scared me to death," Bilbo placed a hand on his chest.
"Oops, sorry Bilbo, didn't mean to sneak up on you like that," Ori looked honestly apologetic.
"It's fine, I just wasn't expecting you to be hiding behind my sheets," Bilbo reassured.
Bilbo continued to hang up the sheet already in his hand, soon he realized that he was short a clothespin. As he leaned down to the basket to grab another one he saw Ori holding out a pin for him. Bilbo smiled gratefully and placed it on the sheet.
"Thank you Ori," he said straightening the linen.
"No problem," Ori replied, "Sure is a brilliant afternoon isn't it?"
"Oh it is, I can only hope that it stays this way for Frodo's wedding, it would be something horrible if it rained," Bilbo shook his head at the thought.
"I'm sure it won't, it's alw-," Bilbo cut him off.
"Wait did you say afternoon?"
"Why yes, it's actually going on one o'clock," Ori glanced at his watch.
"Oh my, I'm so terribly sorry Ori, but I must go, there's somewhere I have to be," Bilbo explained quickly. Without another word, Bilbo dashed down the cobblestone road back to the beach.
He made it just in time to see the ferry pulling into the main dock of the island. Feeling the giddiness bubble up inside his chest, he picked up his pace running down the beach. The crowd of the ferry had dissipated from the dock and two familiar figures stood at the opposite end.
"As if it could be, the one and only," one of them shouted, "Now, Bilbo Baggins is that you!"
He ran the remaining expanse of the dock only to pull the both of them into laughter filled hugs.
"I missed you two so much," he exclaimed, "Lobelia, looking stunning as always, and Daisi, it's been too long, too long."
"Well, she may be a bit too stunning if husband number three had anything to say about it," Daisi remarked.
"Oh hush you," Lobelia scolded.
Bilbo laughed joyously, his cousin Lobelia and his best friend Daisi, were back on the island again. Everything was looking bright and positive, nothing could go wrong. If only Bilbo knew what the next boat coming into dock held.