Frodo, Angelica, Merry, and Pippin were crammed together just underneath the Bag-end window which looked out on the main part of the garden. Merry had his hand clapped over Pippin's mouth to keep him quiet, as Pippin seemed to be unable to stop his maniacal giggling. Frodo exchanged a glance with Angelica. They were both grinning from ear to ear, and Frodo felt as if he might succumb to a fit of laughter himself.

"I'm going to peek," Frodo whispered.

"No!" hissed Angelica.

"No!" Merry echoed. "You'll get us caught, and then we won't even be able to hear…"

"I can't hear anything anyway," Frodo complained, shifting onto his knees.

"Sam's spluttering," said Angelica. "He hasn't asked her yet."

Frodo rose up carefully on his knees to peep out of the window to where his best friend, Sam Gamgee, was walking with Mistress Rosie Cotton. It was a beautiful, sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, and Rosie looked even more beautiful than Frodo remembered. She had one arm through Sam's and the other was full of pink roses, culled no doubt from the many, many bushes of them that Sam had planted around Bag-end.

They had arrived back in Hobbiton the day before yesterday, the whole lot of them -- Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Angelica, Pippin, Merry, Sam, Gimli, Legolas, and Ciendriel. The journey home had been quiet and uneventful, for which Frodo had been grateful. He had not been feeling well for most of the trip, but that had seemed to ease when they entered the Shire.

All the Hobbits of Hobbiton had rushed to throw them a welcome back party when they arrived, and there had been much eating, drinking, dancing, merriment, and reciting of drunken Dwarf poetry. Gimli's work seemed to have taken a new turn however, and the celebration of Elven and Hobbit love it took on had less to do with Legolas' fair charms and comparing them to assorted plants. Pippin had introduced Angelica as his Diamond of Long Cleeve, and now all of Hobbiton was calling her by that nickname.

Rosie and Sam had been inseparable for nearly the entire night, making a foursome with Angelica and Pippin, who had been unable to stop talking about how the next big party would be a wedding. Frodo wondered if Pippin would really be able to talk Gandalf into supplying the amount of fireworks he had in mind, though he sincerely doubted it. Merry had disappeared early in the party, sneaking off into the trees with someone Frodo hadn't recognized, not returning (and then returning alone) until close to dawn.

Angelica and Rosie had taken to each other like bees to honey, instant friends from the start. In fact, Frodo was rather curious about what had happened when they went off together to powder their noses, then returned an hour later wearing each others' dresses. By that time, almost nobody was sober enough to notice, certainly not Sam or Pippin. Rosie had invited Sam home with her, but he had been too drunk-- er, gentlemanly, to do any more than walk her to her door. What a night!

Home! Oh, it was good to be back… but even now Frodo could feel how much everything had changed. Bag-end would not be home for long. Soon he would be sailing over the seas to the Undying lands, to bid farewell forever to Middle-earth. He was ready for this. It was time. He understood how Bilbo felt when he said that he was stretched thin…

But right now was not the moment for thinking on serious matters, and though his mind strayed slightly, it snapped back as he heard Sam clear his throat for the fourteenth time and finally begin to speak.

"Rosie…there's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Is he? Is he?" Merry whispered.

"Mmmmph!" said Pippin more loudly from behind Merry's hand!

"Shhhh!" said Angelica.

Frodo ducked back down under the windowsill as he saw Sam look around suspiciously at the noise. He really wanted to hear this and did not want Sam to take Rosie somewhere else, especially when Frodo had spent so long convincing Sam that his rose garden was the perfect spot to ask her.

"Yes? What is it, Samwise?" Rosie asked.

Frodo popped back up to look again. Sam dropped down on one knee. He took Rosie's hand in his, and gazed soulfully up at her. Frodo's heart began to race and he prayed that Sam would say the right name this time.

"I may not be the finest of Hobbits, or the smartest. I may not be the most handsome or the bravest. I'm certainly not the richest… but I do love you. Mistress Rose Cotton, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

"Samwise, I have always thought you were the finest of Hobbits, and the most handsome, and the smartest, and the bravest. And you are rich -- in friends, and in happiness. Yes, I will be your wife."

Sam got unsteadily to his feet and kissed her just as Merry let go of Pippin, and the three of them jumped up next to Frodo to look out the window, all cheering loudly. Sam broke away from Rosie and scowled, blushing, but Rosie waved cheerily at them.

"Let's have the wedding tomorrow!" Pippin cried.

"Tomorrow?" said Sam. "That's a little--"

"Yes, tomorrow!" said Rosie eagerly.

"Tomorrow it is," said Sam.

Frodo, Angelica and Merry raced through Bag-end to get outside to hug Sam and Rosie properly. Pippin climbed through the window and would have beaten them there if he hadn't fallen into a thorny rose bush. Angelica looked over his scratches before she hugged the happy couple.

Sam embraced Frodo and hung on to him for a very long time. "I'm so happy, Mr. Frodo," he said with a hitch in his voice. Frodo patted his back.

"And you always will be, Sam," he said knowingly. "You always will be."

***

Angelica was genuinely happy for Sam, and it was without a trace of sadness or jealousy that she hugged him and Rosie to congratulate them on their wedding. She was delighted that she and Rosie had struck it off so well, and that she would have a female friend in Hobbiton, where she was going to begin her new life with Pippin. She knew that Ciendriel, Legolas, and Gimli would be leaving soon to set off on a new adventure, and she would miss her one female companion.

They left the happy couple to run off and tell Rosie's family the good news. Frodo went off to tell Bilbo, dragging Merry with him. Alone in Frodo's garden, Angelica turned to Pippin, her heart beating rapidly. She bit her lip and debated whether she should ask him the question that was brewing in her mind, then decided that it absolutely could not wait, especially with Sam and Rosie planning to tie the knot tomorrow.

"Pippin?"

"Yes, Diamond?"

"I was wondering…when are we going to get married?"

"As soon as Hobbitly possible," Pippin said solemnly.

"Do you mean that, then?"

"Absolutely. I'll marry you tonight, if Gandalf has any fireworks."

Angelica frowned. "You won't marry me without fireworks?"

"Well--"

"Peregrin Took, you are about to see some fireworks right now!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I would marry you right here, right now, without anyone around but the flowers. All I need is you, darling. The rest is just incidental. I just want it to be special, really special. I want all the Shire to turn out to see that I'm the luckiest Hobbit in the world," Pippin said earnestly, grabbing both of her hands. His eyes were shining in his fervor.

"Oh! Oh, Pip!" Angelica flung her arms around him and kissed him deeply on the mouth. "Let's go find Gandalf right now, and see if he has any fireworks."

Pippin grinned, grabbed her hand, and took off running. Angelica almost could not keep up with him. Pip was unstoppable when he was inspired, but Angelica admired this about him. Soon enough they found the venerable old wizard, lounging under a tree, smoking a pipe. When he saw them coming he smiled and let out a puff of smoke that seemed distinctly heart-shaped to Angelica.

"What a pair you make," he said fondly. "Diamond of Long Cleeve, I have waited many years to see Peregrin Took find a bit of sense. At last he has found it in you."

"Thank you, Gandalf," Angelica said, trying to catch her breath.

"Gandalf," Pippin said, "I need an enormous favor. Enormous."

"If you've come to ask for fireworks, you are too late. All the ones I could muster are promised to Sam and Rosie. They're to be wed tomorrow, you know."

"Well, yes, we know," said Angelica, "But how do you know? Sam only just proposed. We saw the whole thing!"

Gandalf chuckled. "I've known this would happen, down to the exact date, for some time now. You would not doubt the ways of wizards, would you?"

"No, sir," said Angelica, blushing.

"But how indulgent are the ways of fate that Samwise Gamgee should have his own eaves dropped upon him in his finest hour," Gandalf said, sounding amused.

"The thing is, Gandalf," said Pippin, who was clearly trying desperately to think of a way to talk Gandalf into giving up at least a few of the fireworks. "Angelica and I thought we would get married tonight. And since our wedding is first, then we should have the fireworks." Pippin seemed quite pleased with this logic.

"Tonight?" Gandalf said.

"Yes," said Angelica. "Pippin and I wish to be married as soon as possible."

"I am afraid, my dear, that it is not possible," the wizard said sadly, shaking his head.

Cold spiraled through Angelica as she and Pippin spoke at once "Not possible? What do you mean?"

"Peregrin, do not tell me that you have not enlightened your bride to be about your commitments."

"What commitments?" Angelica said, turning towards Pippin. A look of shock crossed the young Hobbit's face.

"I completely forgot. I meant to tell you after Legolas and Ciendriel's banquet back in Mirkwood, but I was so hung over the next day from that Elven wine that it slipped my mind."

"What slipped your mind?" Angelica nearly shouted.

"I'm sworn to Gondor."

"You're what?"

"Pippin is sworn to serve Gondor," Gandalf explained. "And unfortunately, that means it would be awfully rude of him to marry without Prince Faramir of Ithilien's consent."

Angelica could have cried with the frustration of it. "So when…can we marry?"

"The two of you will have to journey to Gondor and ask Faramir's permission. Do not worry, Angelica. I am certain he will give it, and his blessing."

"I'm sorry, Angelica," said Pippin, looking at her nervously. "Please forgive me."

She could not stay angry with him. She smiled, hiding her inner frustration. "It's all right. It does not change anything. I don't mind waiting… not too much."

Gandalf set aside his pipe and reached out then, taking one of each of their hands in his own. They both turned their attention to him immediately and completely.

"In your hearts, the two of you have been wed for a long time," he said. "I think, perhaps, from the moment that you first woke up lying between Peregrin and Meriadoc, Angelica. This has been written in the stars since long before that, even, no matter what paths you have traveled in finding each other."

Gandalf took their two hands and placed them together. Angelica felt Pippin take her hand though their tiny fingers were still covered by the wizard's gnarled fingers. She turned and looked into his eyes, and Pippin looked back at her and smiled.

"I love you, Angelica Headstrong of Hob's Corners…the most beautiful Diamond of Long Cleeve."

"I love you, too, Peregrin Took, the most succulent Hobbit of Hobbiton."

Gandalf chuckled, still holding their hands. "May all of your days be happy and bountiful," he said. "I give you my own blessing, as I fear I will no longer be in Middle-earth when you finally do have your wedding. I do promise you that there will be fireworks, however. No matter where I am, I will see to it that the sky is filled with exploding colors on the night that you have your nuptials."

"Thank you, Gandalf," said Pippin. His eyes were shiny with tears, and Angelica felt one of her own slide down her cheek as Gandalf let go of their hands.

Angelica looked down at her finger and saw that there was a band on one of them now, and a matching one on Pippin's hand. It was made of a glittery silver metal and the design was of entwined flowers and butterflies. Pippin looked as surprised as she felt. Angelica threw herself into the arms of Gandalf, hugging him tightly.

"I don't know how to thank you for this," she whispered.

She knew then that even though it might be some time before she and Pippin could travel to Gondor and get the blessing of Faramir, that Gandalf had just given them as beautiful a ceremony as she could ever have dreamed of. He hugged Angelica back, then let her go, still smiling.

"Look after him well, Angelica," Gandalf said into her ear. "He needs you."

"I need him, too," she said softly.

"I know. And do not fear. You have indeed chosen wisely."

Gandalf had answered the unspoken question which she had been carrying with her since she had made the announcement that Pippin was the Hobbit she would keep forever. And yet, in that moment, Angelica had had no doubts.

"I know," she said. She let go of Gandalf and looked at Pippin. Pippin smiled at her and took her hand.

"Let's go find Merry and Frodo," he said.

"All right."

Pippin leapt to his feet and dragged her off again.