"Momma, Momma!" Janelle comes running in as fast as her little legs will take her. She was nought but ten yet, and full of the unquenchable energy of the young. There are twigs in her hair and grass stains dot her dress, but her hand clutches a fine letter, gilded with gold. "The invitation! Its come!!!" Momma springs up from her chair.

"Finally! I had begun to think we had been forgotten." But no, for indeed on the letter was written in a fine cursive: To My Esteemed Bluehills. Momma opens the letter and reads the text aloud. Janelle, Josiah, Jostin, and myself gather round her ancient rocking chair as she speaks.

"To the family of Mister Jeremiah Bluehill-- you, and all your relations are cordially invited to the eleventy-first birthday party of Mister Bilbo Baggins, and the twenty-eigth birthday party of Mister Frodo Baggins. This spectacular event shall include more than enough food for all and a wonderful fireworks display by Gandalf the Grey. Please be in the South Meadow at promptly five o' clock on September the 22nd." Below this, in a small text read: "Respond with the number coming to Mister Baggins at Bag End promptly." Just as she finishes reading, the round front door opens, and Poppa enters. We all cheer as he sets down the groceries.

"Now, what's all this about?" Janelle runs to him and he scoops her up in his arms, though she is far too old to be held.

"The invitation has come. Momma was just readin' it to us. O, please say you'll let us go!" Janelle whispers secretly in his ear.

"Yes, Poppa. Please say yes!" Jostin and Josiah, the twins dance around his legs. "Say yes, say yes, say yes!" They chant loudly, grinning and laughing all the while.

Poppa laughs merrily and sets Janelle down, who joins the twins in their boisterous chant. "And what of my two lovely ladies by the window? What say they?"

I look over at Momma, who hides a wide grin behind her hand. She nods at me, and gives me a playful wink. "We both say yes, yes, please!" 

"Jessa only wants to go 'cause Pippin'll be there!" Josiah teases. I blush. There's more than an inkling of truth in that.

"Alright, alright. Although I'm not quite sure why, you all seem to be excited about this party. I guess we'll have to go and see what it's all about." Poppa winks at Janelle as she joins hands with my brothers and runs around the room, shouting and jumping and cheering. Momma hurries to the study to write a response. Poppa walks over and ruffles my hair. "Now, who is this Pippin Josiah was talking about?"

"Oh, him," I blush again and push his hand away. "Pippin's my friend. That's all."

Poppa gives me a knowing smile and opens his mouth to ask another question, but Momma calls my name first.

"Jessa, would you run this up to Bag End for me?" I nod and took the letter from her hand, happy to have evaded Poppa's questioning. I leave my house whistling softly, a smile on my face. The sun is bright and there is a cool breeze whispering in the branches. 

The walk to Bag End is an easy one, especially on such a beautiful day. I open the gate to the driveway and take a step up the path.

"Mr. Bilbo isn't home." A voice calls close behind me. I jump, my heart racing.

"Peregrin Took! Don't scare me like that!!" I turn around to glare at the mischievous hobbit. He smirks, shrugging his shoulders.

"Calm down, Jessa. It's all for fun. Will I see you at the party tonight?"

I hold up the letter proudly. "Absolutely."

Pippin smiles, then scratches the back of his head. "Good. Um-- Jessa, maybe, you and I, I mean, I was wondering if--"

"Can I help you?" A new voice asks from behind me.

I gasp and turn around, heart racing for the second time. "Mr. Bilbo! I just brought this letter for you! But I thought you were out?"

"And who said that, Miss Jessa?" Bilbo raises an eyebrow and plucks the letter from my outstretched hand.

"Pippin told me." I turn to point at him, but the lane is empty. I sigh and turn back to Mr. Bilbo. "Scared me half to death, too!" Bilbo chuckles and turns to go back inside, waving as he does so.

"See you at the party, Jessa!"

I wave back and skip down the lane, keeping an eye out for Pippin, but he is nowhere to be seen.

What could he have wanted to ask me? 

******O******O******O******

Laughter and music fills the air around me. I jump and dance and laugh in the golden firelight. When the sun is just below the horizen, and the moon a soft white smudge in the sky, I decide to take a break. I sit down on a wooden bench and try to catch my breath.

"Whatcha doing, slacker?" Pippin sits down beside me, "Shouldn't you be dancing the night away with some handsome hobbit?" I look at him sideways.

"I was... waiting for someone," I say slyly, hoping he gets the hint.

"Well, he's going to have to wait for you now," Pippin stands up and holds out his hand. "Follow me, I've got a plan."

"What are you up to?" There's no denying the sparkle of mischief in his eyes.

"Well, Gandalf has this big cart of fireworks, right? And when Merry and I were exploring it, we found this humongous firework and we want to set it off." Pippin looks down at the ground, scuffing the dirt with his toe. "But..."

"But you need me to help." 

"Well, I'd hardly say 'need'. Either way, would you want to, Jessa?" I take one last look at the dancers, then give Pippin a playful shove.

"Of course!" I leap up from my seat and follow Pippin as he leads me inside a small tent. Merry is already waiting for us, the biggest firework I've ever seen in his hand, a majestic red and shaped like a dragon.

"Good," he says with a big grin, "you got her to come! I knew you wouldn't let us down, Jessa!" Merry and I hold the firework steady as Pippin strikes a match and lights the fuse.

"Wait, shouldn't it be outside?" I ask, looking around at the tent walls, pushing the firework towards Pippin.

"Oh, of course you say that now!" Pippin shouts pushing it towards Merry.

"Well, what are we going to do?" He asks, pushing towards me again.

I practically throw it back at him. "Don't ask me! This wasn't my idea!"

"Well-"

The fireworks shoots up into the sky taking the tent with it, pushing me flat on my back.

BOOM!  I stare up at the night sky as a golden red dragon explodes in the sky, followed by all sorts of shrieks and screams from the hobbit crowd. The dragon swoops over the crowd before bursting into golden sparkles that rain down on the terrified crowd. Screams turned into laughter, fear into joy, as hobbits resume their eating and dancing. The music starts up again and the festivities resume.

"That was awesome!!" Pippin looks up at the sky in awe.

"Let's get another one!" Merry exclaims. He hops to his feet then offers Pippin a hand up.

I prop myself up on my elbows and look over at their soot-blackened faces and their frazzled hair, and laugh, realizing I probably look just as ridiculous. It quickly morphs into a frown though, as I watch Gandalf sneak up behind my friends. He grabs their ears and smiles wickedly. Pippin and Merry squirm in pain from his tight grip and I wince in sympathy.

"Meriadoc Brandybuck. Peregrin Took. And Jessaka Bluehill. I might have known. Come with me." He pulls Pippin and Merry along by their ears as they complained all the while. I try to sneak off once, but Gandalf gives me such a terrifying glare that I follow him the rest of the way to the mountain of dishes without a sound. Even after he leaves and we're all up to our elbows in suds, I look over my shoulder now and again to make sure he hasn't been watching all the while. Merry and Pippin alternate between complaining all the dishes and bragging about how awesome the firework stunt was, hardly washing at all.

I look over at Pippin and then back at the dancers and sigh wistfully.

Guess I'll have to wait a little longer for that dance.

Oh, this was fun to revisit! Hope you guys are as excited as I am for this :) I'm going to be editing and writing and posting hopefully pretty regularly for this book so enjoy! It's so good to be back. -Spirit