[Child of the 7th Age]

As Cami watched her friend's figure blossom with the impending birth of twins, she found her own feelings caught up in a spiral of thankfulness. This must surely be why she'd been allowed to come back and spend this time with Piosenniel. Perhaps because she herself would never be graced with the birth of a child, she'd been given a rare chance to act as a loving Aunt. Later, when she'd heard that Mithadan, and even Bird, might be arriving shortly, her joy had increased even more.

Instead of hiking off on her own across the fields and roads of the Shire, she found herself spending more and more time preparing for the babies' arrival. In the late evening, after her chores were done, she'd sit with her handiwork in front of the fire, knitting booties and stitching samplers so the little ones would remember their Auntie Cami even after she'd gone far away. She even dragged out the quilt from the Star which Pio had tucked into a chest, and began adding blocks to tell what had happened to the ship and its passengers after they'd sailed from Numenor.

Cami was always full of good advice for Piosenniel on what she could eat and drink, or those activities which were good for her, and those from which she should refrain. The Elf seemed to take all this in a good natured manner, though Cami suspected that, when she was actually on her own, she did whatever pleased her, paying no attention to the hobbit's wise words!

Still, Pio couldn't help but be impressed with Cami's evident wealth of knowledge on small babies and their ways. The hobbit was a font of information on what babies ate and wore, how to feed them, the most sturdy and reliable toys, and time-honored tricks for enticing collicky little ones back to sleep.

One day, after a particularly long and intricate discourse on Cami's part, Piosenniel had looked over at her friend and laughed, "Cami, from all you know about infants, and how you love to go on about them, I'd swear you were the mother of ten!"

Cami shook her head, and looked a bit wistful, "Oh, no, Pio. It's just that I grew up in the Shire, and everyone discusses the best ways to raise children. It's one of our most popular topics of conversation. You see, almost all hobbit girls choose to marry and have little ones of their own, often in considerable numbers. An Elf may feel herself blessed to have one son or daughter, but, from the time they're young, hobbits dream of a whole burrowful of children. Even the lads do, although most of them won't admit it, until they come of age and marry." Then, Cami cheerfully took off on another tangent, offering to show her friend the most successful methods for swaddling a tiny infant.

Pio yawned, and promised to listen more attentively tomorrow, saying goodnight and retiring quickly to her own chamber. Cami stayed in the common room for a few minutes, poking about in the hearth with a rod, and watching the fire burn itself out in a medley of silver ashes. She didn't quite know how it happened, but she never made it to her bedroom that night. Instead, she felt herself nod once or twice, her body sliding down into the chair, her head falling gently to her chest as she slipped away in dreams.

[ February 03, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]