My Dear Frodo: It's Time I Told You The Truth

Chapter One

"Hey, Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Where did I come from?"

"I beg your pardon?" Bilbo looked up from his writing and turned to the young tween standing in the doorway of his study. "What brought this up all of a sudden?"

"Well... I overheard Lobelia talking to some relatives while visiting Brandy Hall the other day, and... Well, she said some...things...."

"What about?"

"...About me...."

"Frodo, you know better than to listen to a single word that comes out of that dreadful woman's mouth," the older hobbit huffed. "She speaks nothing but lies. If she were an animal, she'd be a snake."

"I suppose so...."

The tone of the tween's voice stopped the hobbit in his tracks. He could tell that whatever the boy heard greatly bothered him. With a sigh, he stood up and walked to the door where his son stood.

"Tell me, what did that disgrace of a Baggins say?"

When Frodo didn't respond, he reached up with one hand, gently cupped the boy's chin, and tilted his head upwards to make eye contact. Big blue eyes met his darker ones, and the older hobbit could tell the boy was suppressing tears. It took all of his strength to keep them from escaping.

The sight broke his heart, causing him to immediately pull the tween into a tight hug. He held Frodo close, and when he pressed a loving kiss on top of his son's beautiful dark curls, the boy could no longer hold back his tears. He began to cry and clung to his father for dear life.

"Shh, shh, shh, my love," the older hobbit soothed as he rubbed his son's back. "It's alright. I'm here. I'm here."

"L-Lobelia..." Frodo choked out in between sobs. "She... She said I don't belong in the family...."

"What? Why on earth would she say such a thing?"

"She... She said that I'm different...." Frodo explained through tears. "That I should 'go back to my own people'.... Papa, what does that even mean? I'm with my people. I'm a hobbit, right?"

"Oh, my darling boy...." He continued to hold the boy close and placed tender kisses wherever his lips could reach. "Yes. Yes, you are a hobbit and a Baggins of Bag End. There is no question about that. You are my child, and I love you more than life itself."

"But why would she say such a thing?" Frodo sniffed as he looked up at his father in search of answers. "Why would she think I'm not a member of this family?"

Bilbo sighed, scolding himself for the predicament he found himself in. He knew this day would come but had hoped it would have been under better circumstances. He should have told Frodo the truth sooner, which he would have done had he not been afraid.

The memories still haunted his dreams and caused his heart to ache every time he looked back on them, but he knew the boy had the right to know his family history. He was not just a Baggins or Took, after all. He was much more than that.

"Frodo, darling, there is something I've been meaning to tell you," Bilbo admitted. "Something I should have brought up years ago."

Frodo blinked and stared at his father with big eyes upon hearing his confession. "Why didn't you?"

"I was afraid," Bilbo admitted after a few moments of silence.

"Afraid?" The boy's tear-filled eyes widened as he looked up at his father. "You? Afraid?"