"Uncle! Uncle! Look!"

"What is it my lad?"

A muffled noise brought both their attention to a tiny creature laying on the floor wrapped in a little blanket. A baby hobbit. She looked no older than a week or so. Her pointed ears looked more elf like and her eyes were a bright blue.

"Why, it's a baby!"

"It is indeed..." Bilbo picked the baby up and Frodo stood on his tippy toes to look at her.

"Should we take her home?"

The crying instantly stopped as a sweet little smile bloomed on her little face, and her bright blue eyes glistened in the sun as they fluttered open for the first time that day. Both hobbits hearts filled with pity for the beautiful little creature looking up at them.

"I think that would be the best thing to do. Come along Frodo."

~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~

I was sitting at the dining table, reading a book and eating an apple. Frodo walked past me with the mail. I finished my page and stood up, put the apple core in a bin and walked over to Bilbo's study. Frodo was talking to Bilbo about a book he was writing and Me and Frodo were both eager to read it, but every time we tried to look over his shoulder at it he would tell us it's not ready yet. I chuckled as I heard Bilbo tell Frodo to get his 'sticky paws' off of his work. I went over to see them and saw Bilbo with a handful of letters.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Replies to the party invitations." Frodo said. "Bilbo just asked the same thing."

"Ah! Good gracious, is it today?" Bilbo said, getting out of his chair happily.

"They all say they're coming, except the Sackville-Bagginses, who are demanding you ask them in person." Frodo said, rolling his eyes.

"Are they, indeed. Over my dead body." Bilbo said and I giggled.

"They'd probably find that quite agreeable. They seem to think you have tunnels overflowing with gold." Frodo chuckled.

"It was one small chest, hardly overflowing. And it still smells of troll." Bilbo said.

Bilbo suddenly started frantically hurrying around and hiding silverware and other valuable and expensive household items in pots and cupboard or covering them up in cloths.

"What on earth are you doing?" Frodo and I asked at the same time.

"Taking precautions." Bilbo said. "You know I caught her making off with the silverware once."

"Who?" Frodo asked.

I think I knew who it was. A certain someone would be going around slipping things into her pockets. Like the time she got away with some of Bilbo's spoons. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

"Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. She had all my spoons stuffed in her pockets. Dreadful woman." Bilbo headed into another room. "Make sure you keep an eye on here after I'm... when I'm... when..."

"When your... what?" Frodo asked and I stood, leaning against a wall and raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing. Nothing."

"You know, some people are beginning to wonder about you, Uncle." Frodo continued.

"Hmm?"

"They think you're becoming, odd."

"Odd?"

"Well, unsociable." I added.

"Unsociable? Me? Nonsense." Bilbo continued to write on a big piece of paper.

"Can one of you put this on the gate for me?" He handed the paper to Frodo, since he was nearest.

I peered over Frodo's shoulder and chuckled when I read it.

'No admittance, except on party business.'

I laughed at my adoptive uncle.

Frodo went outside and nailed it into the gate with a hammer, and I ran down to the front gate when he had finished. Bilbo walked out after us.

"Do you think he'll come?" Frodo asked.

"Who?"

"Gandalf!" Me and Frodo both said at the same time again.

"Oh, he wouldn't miss a chance to let off his whiz poppers. He'll give us quite a show, you see."

"Right then. I am off." Frodo exclaimed, dropping the hammer he was holding.

"Off to where?"

"Eastfarthing woods. Im going to surprise him."

"Well, go on then. You don't want to be late!" Bilbo shouted as Frodo headed off to Eastfarthing woods.

I would've gone with him, but I thought it would be best to let Frodo have time alone. I'm not a child anymore, therefore we don't need to stick together all the time like we used to. Besides, the Shire isn't a dangerous place anyway. Right?

I remembered that Bilbo said about us running out of milk earlier.

"And where are you off to dear?" Bilbo asked, looking down at me.

"To buy some milk from the market like you asked me to earlier!"

"Oh, well you better go then! I'll see you later before the party!"

"Goodbye uncle!" I said and hurried off in the opposite direction to where Frodo ran, waving goodbye to Bilbo.

I made my way down to the market in the middle of Hobbiton, I got some milk for Bilbo and had a conversation with a friend of Bilbo's who was asking how he was doing.

Frodo met Gandalf in the woods.

I was just about to leave the market area when my friend Angelica came to me.

"Hey Maisy!"

"Oh, hi Jelly."

Yes, some thought it was rather odd but Jelly had been my nickname for her since we were small.

"You going to the party later?" I asked.

"You bet I am."

I smiled. Suddenly, we both turned around when we heard running coming out way.

"Quick! He's comin!"

"Alright alright! I can't carry all of these carrots on my own!"

"Just come on!"

Suddenly, I was knocked over by someone, and fell into a haystack. Angelica was also knocked over by someone else. I spat a straw of hay out of my mouth.

"Ahh!"

Two familiar hobbits were stood in front of us, and one I knew as 'Pippin' was laughing like an idiot.

"Excuse me!?" Angelica got up and hit Pippin in the arm. "Pippin!"

I was still shocked and I just sat in the pile of hay, looking at Angelica and laughing when she hit Pippin so hard that he dropped all of the vegetables he was holding.

I spat some hay out of my mouth and looked up at the hobbit who was in front of me.

"E-er sorry Maisy." he said and helped me up out of the mess I was in.

I brushed myself down and then I looked at him, trying to keep a stern face.

"Merry!"

"I-I er... I didn't mean to! It was Pippins fault, we were being chased by farmer maggot again and-"

"What? It wasn't my fault! It was Merry's idea to go steal from him!" Pippin said, and Merry glared at him with a face almost as red as a tomato.

I just glared back at them, although my face was almost as red as Merry's. Angelica sighed and stood next to me. But that didn't last long when my face just broke into a smile and I giggled.

"Can you two please just stop getting into trouble all time?" she said.

"But it's fun!" Pippin said.

Angelica sighed and brushed more hay off of her. "What were you two even doing anyway?"

"Oh, you know the usual. Getting our daily load of vegetables from our dearest friend farmer maggot-" Pippin started.

"Yes, I think we know that by now. You do this almost every day." I giggled again.

"Of course we are!" Merry said, and I smiled a little.

"You two are ridiculous." Angelica said.

"It's okay." I said to Angelica.

Suddenly, we heard someone shouting in the distance. It sounded a lot like farmer maggot. Oh wait, it probably was farmer maggot.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, well we'd love to stay and... talk to you... but we have to go!" Pippin said and grabbed Merry by the arm and they took off running again, barging past many other people.

"We'll see you at the party later!" Merry shouted, laughing.

I laughed and shook my head whilst picking up the crate of hay that fell on the floor.

"May, you really should be more harsh on them." Angelica said.

"I know but... their family."

"But they're not your real family."

I just shook my head. "Yeah, I-I know..."

I knew that I was taken in by Bilbo and Frodo mainly out of pity. Right?

Anyway, I carried on walking back to Bag End. I was quite excited for the party later. When I got back, I got a bit of a telling off for leaving a trail of hay all around the house. I spent ages trying to pick all the hay out of my hair.

It was about two hours since I had been out. I was in my bedroom. For a bit I'd been sat at my desk, finishing off a drawing of a flower I started earlier. I realised it was getting later and the party would be soon.

On my bed I had two dresses laid out. I could either wear a green and white one or a blue one. I ended up picking the blue one.

I tied the front and the top of my hair back and let the rest hang down in curls. After I got ready I headed out of my room and as I walked out of the house, I saw Gandalf on the front garden with Bilbo.

"Good evening Gandalf!" I grinned as I stepped onto one of the stone slabs.

"Ah! Little lass! It has been quite some time since I last saw you, and I must say you've grown Maisy!" Gandalf said, and I gave the old wizard a warm hug.

"Why thank you Gandalf!" I said and skipped down the pathway, waving goodbye to Gandalf and Bilbo. "I'll see you later Bilbo!"

They both chuckled and sat on a bench, smoking Old Toby.

"Your niece certainly has the loveliest manners!" Gandalf said.

He also knew about me being adopted and all that, and he also didn't care about it. Which I really appreciated.

"Ah yes, she is growing. Too quickly. I can hardly keep up with it." Bilbo chuckled.

Together they blew all sorts of shapes with the smoke and Gandalf even blew a ship made of smoke that sailed through the air and through a circle that Bilbo blew out. Bilbo talked about how Old Toby is the best and the finest pipe weed in The Southfarthing, and even in the whole of The Shire.

"Gandalf my old friend, this will be a night to remember..."

At the party, most people were dancing and having fun. There was music and singing too, and an excellent band playing funky instruments which everyone danced to. As I came more into the crowd I saw Frodo dancing at the front. I think he was doing a chicken dance or something. I laughed and then joined in.

After all our dancing and singing, I sat down for a drink with our loyal Gardner, Samwise Gamgee. He was also one of Frodo's good friends, and mine too. I noticed Sam kept turning around to look at a lady I knew as Rosie Cotton, she was dancing and twirling around in her long blue dress with the crowd. Every time they looked at each other, Sam looked back at us, blushing, yet looking very unsure of himself.

I smirked and nudged Frodo who stood up and confronted Sam.

"Go on Sam! Ask Rosie for a dance!" He said rather loudly.

"Eh... I think I'm just gonna have another ale-"

"Oh no you don't!" And with that Frodo turned Sam around and pushed him into the crowd.

We laughed as Rosie grabbed hold of Sam and they danced away to the music. I looked up at the amazing, bright and colourful fireworks that lit up the sky. Gandalf sure does make the best fireworks.

"Maisy? Aren't you going to dance with anyone?" Frodo asked, scooting up next to me.

I looked up and saw Merry and Pippin stood together near our table. I looked down.

"Hey Merry." Pippin said.

"Yeah?"

"Maisy's there."

"O-oh, so she is."

Pippin smirked at Merry.

"Pippin!"

Pippin noticed the embarrassment in his cousins face.

I turned around and looked at Merry and Pippin.

"Are you two alright?" I got up and asked.

"Y-y-yes, we're fine." Merry said, and Pippin looked like he was about to burst into laughter.

"You're not getting into anymore trouble are you?" I asked.

"No, not at all." Pippin said and nudged Merry.

"Why don't we go and do what we planned earlier?" Merry suddenly asked and looked at Pippin, who looked a bit annoyed for a second, and then he realised something.

"Oh yeah!"

Merry suddenly looked at me and then at the floor.

"Me and Pip have things to do so I'll er... see you around..."

"Yeah. Come on Merry or we won't have any time!" Pippin said and Merry turned to go with Pippin.

"Oh, alright... bye then." I said and shrugged.

I just saw Merry and Pippin running off behind a tent. I sighed and a slight sad look passed over my face. I shook it off and sat back down with Frodo.

Frodo noticed me looking at where Merry and Pippin had just been. He chuckled.

"It's okay, I'm sure you'll have another chance one day."

"W-what?" I went bright red and shook my head.

Frodo just laughed at me.

"Frodo, I know what you're thinking, and... it's not like that!"

"Sure."

"Come on, let's go and find Bilbo." I said, trying to get Frodo off the subject of finding me someone to dance with.

"Fine then, but don't think I've forgotten."

I scoffed. "Frodo, I was just a child. Come on."

"Yes, and technically, you still are."

"Oh whatever. Come on, or the Sackville-Bagginses will find him first!" I grabbed Frodo by the arm and we ran through the crowd.

Frodo used to tease me for apparently having a 'crush' on Merry when I was growing up.

I never knew why he did that. He would say how 'bashful' and 'giggly' I would get in front of Merry. It got rather annoying. But, surely that's blown over now... right? I was just a child. It's silly.

Me and Frodo went to find Bilbo and soon found him telling one of his adventures to a group of amazed looking children. I remember Bilbo telling me and Frodo his stories when we were children, and this particular one was one of my favourites. It was about the big tolls that captured Bilbo and his dwarf friends, and they couldn't decide how to cook them. Bilbo had to stall the trolls by telling them that the dwarfs had worms and infections and all sorts of diseases, but it wasn't working. Soon, Gandalf came to the rescue and he cracked a massive rock open with his staff, the light pouring through and all the trips turned to stone. I used to love that story.

"Ah, Maisy my dear! You look lovely tonight!" Bilbo said and hugged me.

"Why thank you Bilbo!" I said, smiling.

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin had another idea to cause mischief. Merry pushed Pippin into a crate of fireworks. Pippin picked up a small one.

"No no the big one! Big one!" Merry ordered, and Pippin pulled out a big red one with a dragon head on top.

Merry's face lit up and Pippin ran into a tent, followed by Merry, nonchalantly biting his apple after glancing around to check nobody was watching.

Bilbo greeted me and Frodo and we talked for a bit, until Bilbo pulled Frodo behind a tent because of some angry looking people that came storming past me, looking for Bilbo I think. They were the Sackville-Baggins'. I soon left them and went over behind a couple of tents where I heard voices.

"Done!"

"You're supposed to stick it in the ground."

"It is in the ground!"

"Outside!"

"This was your idea!"

I was about to go in to see if they were okay, but then there was a massive bang that sent the tent flying into the air, followed by a loud squeal and Merry and Pippin were thrown backwards. I yelped and dived out of the way and landed almost under a table.

I watched as the firework that took the tent with it was shot up into the air, and it exploded into a massive fiery form of a dragon. It swooped down and the amount of running and panicking Hobbits knocked over tables and each other. Soon it flew back up and exploded in the sky. Everyone cheered and I watched in awe as bright fiery particles scattered in the night sky.

"That was good."

"Let's get another one!"

"Ahh-"

"Meriadoc Brandybuck... And Peregrin Took! I might have known..." It was Gandalf, he was holding Merry and Pippin by their ears.

I got up and I ran off back into the crowd before I got the blame for anything.

People started cheering and chanting for Bilbo to do a speech. He climbed on top of a barrel and at first started thanking everyone and talking about different family names of The Shire; Bagginses and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks, Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bulgers, Bracegirdles, and Proudfoots. (Also called Proudfeet by some).

I looked back and saw Merry and Pippin washing the dishes, beside Gandalf who was sat, smoking. I felt a little bit bad for them. I guess that was their 'punishment' from Gandalf. Merry looked over at me for a split second and I turned back around, giggling.

Bilbo carried on with his speech, pointing out different family names of The Shire and the crowd cheered him back, then he stopped and said something along the lines of "And I don't know half of you half as much as I should like, and I like less than half of you, half as well as you deserve."

We all went quiet for a moment. Was he joking or not? I think that offended a lot of the crowd. I didn't know what to think. Then Bilbo started mumbling to himself and fidgeting around with something he took from his pocket behind his back.

"I've put this off for far too long..." He muttered.

He looked at me and Frodo and spoke very quietly.

"Goodbye."

Seconds later he disappeared into thin air. He was just... gone. Just like that.