[piosenniel]

Pio shrugged as Amaranthas glanced her way. If the girl did not care to share she had some Elven blood in her, then it was naught but her business. Still, she looked at Laurie with hooded eyes, recalling the impression she had received just prior to asking the girl to accompany her on a ride.

The air in the stable had reeked of the sea. The smell of it so strong that it sent the Elf’s senses reeling. And she remembered the waves which crashed against the Pelóri, the waves which had come westward, from far off. Even stronger was the want, the need which drove these thoughts. She looked now at Laurie, the seed cake in her hand, a guileless picture. Perhaps she did not know.

The Hobbit opened her mouth to ask another question, but Pio redirected her with a question of her own. ‘Amaranthas,’ she said, offering her the plate of sliced cake, ‘I need to ask you for a favor. Can you direct me to someone you would trust as a midwife?’ She put her hand on her belly for emphasis. ‘The twins will be born on Loënde, Mid Year’s Day, just a little over a month away. I need to find someone who can be there with me.’

Amaranthas looked at her questioningly. ‘I don’t know much about Elves, but I’ve been through my share of Hobbit births. How do you know they will be born that day exactly? Aren’t these your first? They could come at any time. And twins! That could prove difficult.’ She sat thinking on poor Marigold Brandybuck who lost one of the twins she had carried and never did get over the loss.

‘It will be Loënde, because the twins and I have agreed on it.’ Laurie and Amaranthas exchanged glances at this information. ‘And as to difficulty in the birth itself, Elven women are different in this respect, we carry our children differently and their births are fairly effortless. I expect some discomfort but nothing as I have heard told of Men’s births.’

‘Is that so?’ said the Hobbit, her black eyes glittering with barely concealed mirth. ‘Discomfort! Now that is an interesting word, indeed. Sort of pretties things up, doesn’t it?’ She looked Laurie and winked.

Pio kept an even expression on her face and looked back at the two as they turned to her, eyebrows raised. ‘More tea?’ she said, pouring herself another mugful. It was true her store of knowledge on this subject was extremely limited, having avoided involvement in helping with any births throughout her long years. Still, she assumed she would get through it much as she had any event in her life. She would simply take charge and see it done the way she intended.

As if she had read the Elf’s thoughts, Amaranthas shook her head, kindly holding her tongue on the subject. Instead she gave careful consideration to Pio’s request, and after a few moments produced a name she thought would fit the bill.

‘Rose Cotton Gamgee.’ she said with some finality. ‘That’s who it will be. I’ll speak to her myself on the morrow.’

Satisfied at her choice, Amaranthas turned to Laurie, watching her as she picked at the crumbs on her plate. Her hands were graceful in their movements, like small birds fluttering over the seeds scattered on a winter’s snow.

‘Tell me of your mother, child.’ she asked her gently. ‘She must have been a lovely woman to have had a daughter of such grace and beauty.’

[ February 04, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]