By: Dana
Summary: In the summer of SR 1421...
Characters: It's a surprise!
Pairings: None
Rating: G
Warnings: So AU it'll make your head spin
Author's Notes: I would never have written this if not for dreamflower02.
I have backstory written on this AU as well, but I thought it better done if I posted this ficlet first.
Disclaimer: The author makes no claim to owning the rights of anything to do with J.R.R. Tolkien or New Line Cinema. Any and all characters and situations that have been borrowed are for the author's personal use only, and for the entertainment of others.

Summer had come, though the air was cool and crisp. Rose bustled about the Bag End, drawing light where she went – but that might have been Elanor, going on three months now, and her glowing near as brightly as the Sun. And he would watch them, as Rose went about her day to day, but never thought it his place to speak or act – he was much better at watching, anyhow. But then the day came, one summer morning, when he had been watching from the shadows, that Rose needed her hands free – and she spoke up, sharply, saying, 'Mr. Baggins, sir, here, hold my lass for just a moment – there's too much light and air out there to keep the windows shuttered, against so lovely a day,' and she passed Elanor on to him, with a mother's grace and care.

And then his arms were filled, and bright-blue eyes looked to his, and Elanor grasped at his hand with both her own, small and perfect, pulling on his fingers and giggling in delight. He stood, shocked, holding her, and she smiled and laughed in a way that, perhaps, all little babies shared.

Rose reached for the window's latch, but then she stopped short, the breath gone from her and a tremble gone through her, and she turned, pale, her eyes gone wide – he knew what she thought of him, after all, and though she never spoke ill against him to his face, he knew just as well what she likely must have said, when his back was turned.

Then she laughed, sharp and bright, and he looked at her with wonder in his eyes, and wished somehow to make amends for all the ill he'd ever done – and he'd done so much, hadn't he? There was no denying that, and he'd gone beyond that, anyhow, and he stood there, holding Elanor, felt his age and more – but he felt hope as well, and it took his breath away

Was there any way he could make it all better? It seemed strange, that he would worry, after all else – but he thought himself a new hobbit, or at least a changed one. No, he wasn't the hobbit he'd been two years before, and he knew who to thank for that.

'You need to support her head, yes, like that,' Rose said, guiding his hands, and he did as she said, and he felt a smile on his lips. Then Frodo spoke up, 'I've come to understand that it's best to do as Mistress Rose commands,' and that startled Lotho from his thoughts.

Lotho turned and saw Frodo, standing in the shadow of the door – and Frodo, almost a shadow there. How long had he stood there, watching? Lotho couldn't tell.

No matter what it was, or how they had come to it, Lotho looked down at Elanor and felt new and almost whole – he'd wondered if they would ever come accustomed to him, being about, and it seemed they had.