What Happened Thereafter {A LotR Fanfiction}

Weddings and Happily Ever Afters

[I dedicate this chapter to @KaitlynBaggins because she has read this story and commented very kindly on it. Thanks so much for your encouragement, KaitlynBaggins! Hope this ending is satisfactory!]

To everyone's surprise, Pippin was the first one to make a move. He grew tired of waiting after one month of courting, and one day simply pulled Thorn aside, kissed her ear, said, "Marry me," and that was that. Of course Thorn couldn't say no, and though she made a big fuss about how he hadn't asked her in the proper way, she was secretly very pleased. She had been showing Beauregard how to skip rocks, but as soon as Pippin kissed her she was all his. 

They were married exactly a week later. The theme was food, and the setting was the Green Dragon. It took place just before dusk, and Thorn wore her hair in two beautiful braids that gently curled around her face and were hung together with two bright green bows. Thorn had allowed Daffodil to do her hair, and was glad to let Nettle and Ivy pick out the flowers for her bouquet, but she picked her dress. She had given her mother a fully detailed list of what the dress was to look like, and was there to make sure it was sewn correctly. 

The dress was blue, not white, and was delicately laced at the bottom. White rimmed each sleeve, and Thorn had splatter-painted four other colors randomly all over the dress. After she was wearing it, her mother had tied a white ribbon across her middle and tied it into a simple bow in the back. She was crying when she did it, but Thorn assured her that even though she was moving out of the house to be with Pippin, she would never be too far away and would visit her mother and Beauregard as often as she could. 

When Thorn walked down the aisle (which was really just the walkway between tables in the pub), Pippin beamed and felt so nervous he tried grabbing the ale Merry was sipping, but his cousin snatched it away at the last second and glared at the younger hobbit. Thorn took Pippin's hand, and when the time came, she grabbed his shirt collar and kissed him with all her might. The crowd whooped, and Nettle smiled and clapped with Daffodil, but laughed when the kiss lingered and Daffodil crossed her arms. The most surprising response, however, was Ivy's. She was sitting, surrounded by family and friends, and crying. It was the first time anyone could remember her ever allowing others to see her cry before.

Peregrin and Thorn Took honeymooned in the home Pippin had provided for them, and lived a happy life next to the Green Dragon alongside their friends and family. Three years after their marriage, Thorn gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Heather, and two years after that to their son, Faramir.

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Frodo and Daffodil married exactly two months after Pippin and Thorn did, and it was held in the party field, the same place Bilbo had held his birthday so long ago. Before he asked her to marry him, Frodo told Daffodil that Gandalf had asked him to sail away with his Uncle on the last ship to the West. He told Daffodil that he was thinking about going, even though he was making a new life in the Shire and starting over from where he had ended after the war with the Ring. Daffodil was relieved when he decided to stay with her because she couldn't imagine what she would do without Frodo Baggins. Her life would never be complete again.

Daffodil wore her hair down, but put flowers in her hair, and wore her prettiest dress in her closet. The dress was about as white as Thorn's, but instead of being blue, it was a beautiful shade of red.her bouquet was mainly tulips and before she walked down the aisle, she fluffed her dress and rearranged the flowers not because she was nervous, but because she had hidden her father's favorite button among them. Since he couldn't be with her to see his daughter's wedding, she had taken a little piece of him close to her instead.

In truth, Frodo was more nervous than Daffodil was. He had never imagined himself getting hitched, especially not after owning the One Ring, and he was starting to understand the effects of self-consciousness. What if he couldn't provide for Daffodil? What if she grew bored with him? What if they had children? What if they didn't have children? What if?--

"Oh, quit worrying, Frodo. Everything will be okay," Daffodil whispered, suddenly next to him. Frodo smiled, took her hand, and when he kissed her, everything was okay. No, it was better than okay. It was perfect.

Daffodil and Frodo Baggins honeymooned in Bree, since Frodo knew his wife had never been there. They lived in Frodo's house under The Hill, and fought very little in their daily life. Daffodil helped Frodo during times when he couldn't bear the weight of old memories, and Frodo wrote stories for Daffodil telling of her beauty. They never did have any children, but their house was merry and bright despite because of their love for one another.

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Nettle and Merry were having a picnic together when Merry proposed. He told her that he thought it was time to take their relationship one step higher. Courtship was very important to hobbits, but he felt that they had been together long enough to get married. Nettle smothered him in kisses and accepted his proposal even before he'd asked her. She chose to hold the wedding in fall, down by The River because she knew that even though they hadn't realized it at the time, The River was when they fell in love with each other that day when they found a frog and splashed in the water together. 

Nettle wore a beautiful green blouse with white frills, and comfortable brown hobbit pants. For many hobbits, it was the strangest attire one had ever worn at a wedding, ever, but it suited Nettle perfectly. In fact, Merry couldn't take his eyes off her. When she flounced down the isle with her dandelion and roses bouquet, his mouth dropped so far to the ground, he had to kneel to pick it up again, which surprisingly reminded of Nettle's first joke the day she wasn't pranked.

The party after the wedding was so fun, nobody ever wanted it to end. And in fact, it took a very long time to do just that. Four days, to be exact. Nettle and Merry Brandybuck decided to call it a honeymoon of friends, and after they moved into Merry's house, they set to work on making a fish pond right in their front yard. It took a long time to complete, but once the job was finished, they went to The River, gathered some fish and a frog, and feel in love with each other all over again.

Two years after their marriage, Nettle gave birth to their son, Folco, so named for the frog they found in The River so long ago. They had three more children before deciding that that was enough, and raised Folco, Pansy and Prisca, and Iris grew up into wonderful hobbits, having been raised by two of the most wonderful parents ever.

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Samwise proposed to Ivy at Nettle's wedding, and, weeping, she said yes. They were married a month later in the afternoon on the outskirts of the forest. Ivy wore a beautiful dress with bows and large, swooping elf-like sleeves. Her hair, which was now just a little below her collar-bone, was wild and free, and her bouquet was what Sam had planted in their secret cove--roses, daffodils and nettles. It was strange, but pretty at the same time. 

Ivy didn't walk down the aisle by herself because there was in fact, no real aisle to walk down. She, Daffodil, Nettle and Thorn walked her through some trees to where Sam was waiting for his bride. When she emerged from the trees, Sam smiled thought that she was the loveliest bride he had ever seen. He took her in his arms, and after their vows had been said, they kissed each other, tears streaming down both their cheeks. 

After the wedding, Frodo gave Sam the book he and his uncle had written. When Sam opened to the first page, he found that it had been dedicated to him. As the two friends embraced, Thorn presented her own gift to Ivy. It was the rock that had started their friendship all those years ago. 

The Gamgees honeymooned in their secret cove, and slept under a blanket of stars every night. Every year that they were married, they loved one another more fiercely. Sam bought them a simple little house, and they planted vegetable gardens and flower gardens, and kissed each other on the nose each morning when they woke up. They had a wonderful life together, and rose twelve adorable children: Elanor, Frodo, From and Daffodil, Nettle and Thorn, Olo, Fosco, Merry and Pippin, Bilbo, and Dimple.