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It had been many years since Bilbo's journey, when he was forced by Gandalf to go on that adventure to reclaim the lost kingdom of Erebor. Since then, Bilbo had returned to the Shire with a dwarf husband. They settled down at Bag End, determined to spend the rest of their lives in peace.
Or so, they thought.
"It you're referring to the incident with the dragon, I was barely involved," said Gandalf to Frodo as they walked through the garden.
"Yeah right," said Frodo. "For all I know, you had something to do with why Uncle Bilbo is odd."
"Odd?" said Gandalf. "How is he...odd?"
"Well, when Mr. Bilbo came home and kicked those Sackville-Bagginses off his property, he had a ton of gold," Sam chimed in. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that, or did you?"
"And there's the part where he married a dwarf," said Frodo. "I know he wouldn't marry anyone unless you forced him to."
"As you boys see," Gandalf began, but Bilbo interrupted him, saying, "I know you're not lying to Frodo. He suspects something."
Frodo said to Bilbo, "What exactly happened to you while you went on that adventure?"
Bilbo said, "I know you've been asking me about my journey. While I have told you everything, I haven't told you all of it."
Frodo was about to respond when a crash was heard from the kitchen. "Fili! Kili!" Thorin yelled as he scolded Merry and Pippin for trying to steal the hot pepper pies.
"Uh, who are they, again?" said Merry as he and Pippin attempted to dodge the angry old dwarf and grab the pies.
"And why do you keep calling us that when we're Merry and Pippin?" said Pippin.
"Well, you boys remind me of my nephews, who kept driving me off the deep end," said Thorin.
"Yes, they most certainly do," said Bilbo.
Frodo said, "So, what happened the moment you met Uncle Thorin?"
Bilbo said, "I was simply minding my own business when that Gandalf showed up, asking me to go on an adventure with him. I told him no and demanded that he leave. But the next day, I saw 12 dwarves walking into my house, where they ate all the food in the pantry, blew up the plumbing, and threw all the dishes around."
"Sounds like they were terrible houseguests," said Sam.
"And to make matters worse, their leader shows up and he refers to me as a grocer, and not in a polite way," said Bilbo.
"Indeed," said Gandalf. "But there was the part where Thorin smiled as he saw you..."
"We're not going through that again," said Thorin. "Not for all the hot pepper pies in the Shire. Plus, you used me to get him out of the house, you old windbag!"
"And I had my reasons to do that," said Gandalf.
"Really?" said Bilbo. "What were those reasons why you used him to get me out of the Shire?"
At this, Bilbo had no idea that many Hobbits knew the true story about how he went on an adventure and came back the next year with several trunks full of treasures and a dwarf as a husband. (Of course, the Shire kept a good part of the story secret at Bilbo's own request, as he wanted to protect his dwarf friends from any orc wanting to get rid of them. He even wrote that Thorin and his nephews were killed in the Battle of the Five Armies, as opposed to them being healed by the Elves.)
Bilbo then said, "When I wanted to stay here, you made me go. But you didn't know I would return here, married to the dwarf you tried to set me up with, or did you?"
Gandalf couldn't say anything, as he knew Bilbo was right. Thorin said to him, "Maybe we should call off the anniversary celebration to spite him."
"No, let's not do that," said Bilbo. "Balin and Dis would have our heads for that, especially when we threatened to send him to Rivendell for a year when he spoke about going back and reconquering Moria. Dis worked too hard in planning this party for us to shut it down."
"Indeed we will have that party, if but to show them who's still boss," said Thorin. "It's not a good idea to keep them waiting."
At the same time, Frodo said to Sam, "It looks like we won't get the full story about Bilbo."
"Or we will," said Merry as he and Pippin began eating the hot pepper pies they liberated from the kitchen. "In fact, we'll find Kili and Fili and make them tell you about Bilbo and Thorin."
"And if not, we can always ask the other Dwarves about them," said Sam. "Mr. Bilbo isn't going to keep his secrets from you for very long."
Frodo nodded, knowing that the truth about his uncles was going to be revealed. Yet he had no idea that Gandalf had started the whole thing.