Frodo Baggins (![]() ![]() @ 2012-10-01 14:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, frodo baggins, merrill |
Jellyfish don’t bite
Who: Frodo, Merrill, and NPC!Merrill's Family
What: Meeting the Parents! Dun Dun DUN! Frodo is nervous.
When: Friday Night
Where: Merrill's Parents' House
Rating: PG-13 for glossed car sexytimes en route
Status: Complete
Frodo wasn’t the only one who was nervous about the dinner with Merrill’s parents. She was excited to introduce them—she’d certainly mentioned him several times!—but perhaps Frodo’s apprehension was catching. Her parents were a bit old-fashioned, and their marriage had actually been an arranged one. Her younger brother’s recent marriage hadn’t been arranged, of course, but Merrill was the first daughter to be engaged, and she knew that was different.
“Maybe you should ask for their permission tonight,” Merrill suggested as they were driven to her family’s home. “And then we can tell them later!” It was unusual for Merrill to advocate for deception. “Is that silly?” Surely they would celebrate either way! Her parents had always been wonderful to her, and only ever wanted her to be happy.
Frodo and anxiety had a long history together, and they were not old friends. Right now, he felt like he was encountering an insufferable party guest, someone he would give anything to avoid. He felt dizzy and his head was full of fog. Merrill did not know much about it, because had been years since his last real panic -- long enough to lull Frodo into a false sense of security. This afternoon, however, he had seriously considered taking a Klonopin.
But this anxiety was not unreasonable. Any man could and likely would feel the same as he, in his situation. Here he was, a middle-aged man, putting on a brave face for the sake of his much younger bride-to-be, the mother of his unborn child, about to meet his future in-laws for the first time; and by the end of the night, everything -- their engagement, the baby -- was meant to come out in the open. Frodo was no fan of secrets, but he also wanted to avoid having a heart attack. He did not believe that would make an optimal first impression.
"Well, what about the ring," he asked. "Do you want to go in wearing it?"
Merrill frowned. Taking off the ring felt.. wrong, somehow. “Maybe we shouldn’t hide things. We could just.. ask them together, maybe?” She wasn’t sure how it would look, but she couldn’t imagine her parents not liking Frodo. “We don’t have to tell them everything at once--we can wait to tell them about the baby, maybe--but I don’t want to lie.” Lying would probably only make them both more nervous.
She reached over, sliding her hand over his inner thigh. “Anything I can do to make you feel more confident?” she asked, her tone less than innocent.
Frodo was in such a state that he started at her touch rather than melted into it, as he usually did. He was so nervous right now that he was sure anything Merrill might do wouldn’t make him react much. His focus was so internal, but she did manage to bring him out just a bit. Enough for him to realize he was being rude by being so quiet.
“I don’t want to lie either, so maybe we should tell them right away, about the engagement. Let’s get that out and... I’d like to talk with your father, still. I’m sure he’ll want to.” It wouldn’t be the same as asking for permission, but it was good for fathers- and sons-in-law to have a good chat. Frodo’s money spoke for itself, so hopefully there wouldn’t be any arguments there.
As for Merrill’s hand, he let it linger where it was.
Merrill nodded. “They’ll like you, Frodo, I know they will.” She kissed his shoulder lightly. “You can talk about cars with Papa. Pete may try to seem tough at first, but I’m sure he’d love to show you his drawings if you showed interest.”
Merrill leaned in and kissed his neck, squeezing his thigh lightly. “It’ll be good.”
Frodo nodded and forced himself to believe her. He released a sigh as her lips touched his neck. His hand moved toward the button that would raise a partition between them and the chauffeur. “Shall I?”
Merrill giggled. “We have plenty of time,” she assured him. The benefits of getting an early start.
[A half hour later...]
Merrill was leaning against Frodo, feeling much more relaxed now. “My hair is a mess, isn’t it?” she asked, smiling up at him.
“A bit,” Frodo said. There was finally a smile on his face. He searched the car for his pants as he started to button his shirt, which was hanging loosely on him. “Let’s not let your parents wonder about that, too, shall we?” He gave her another kiss.
Merrill was wearing a dress, and hadn’t needed to take it off. She had lost track of her underwear, however. She reached for her purse, glad she’d remembered to slip her lipstick inside. She freshened up her makeup, using the reflection from the dark partition. There wasn’t much she could do about her hair. She combed her fingers through it, trying to fix it. It didn’t look too bad, she didn’t think.
There was something incredibly sexy about her applying lipstick that way. Frodo watched her out of the corner of his eye as he dressed, and nearly put his boxers on inside-out.
The car began to turn a slow corner, signalling their imminent arrival. This was it. He took a long, deep breath. Hopefully Merrill’s presence would be enough to keep him calm.
When the car stopped, Merrill realized her underwear was attached to Frodo’s pant leg. She grabbed it, pulling it on quickly before they got out of the car. She grinned, reaching out for his hand as they walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
He let out a short gasp, forever in her debt for finding that before they walked to the door. On the step, Frodo brushed his hands through his curls to bring them back to life. Then he reached for Merrill’s hand to squeeze. With a final cleansing breath, he released all the tension he could manage to dispel.
The door opened and a woman about Frodo’s age greeted them. “Welcome, welcome! Come inside!” Her accent was heavier than Merrill’s had been, but her English was good. Once they were inside, Mrs. Sokolov gave Merrill a hug.
Dinner must have been close to done, because delicious smells were wafting through the living room. The home was a bit bigger than Merrill’s, and was seemed a bit more chaotic, despite being quite clean.
Frodo was caught up in the smell of dinner immediately, which was something he could not help. He realized he was very hungry. He was welcomed inside in a whirlwind. “Hello,” he greeted, sounding much more relaxed and like himself than he was willing to take credit for. “Mrs. Sokolov, I’m Frodo.”
“Please, call me Ivana,” the woman said, perhaps recognizing Frodo couldn’t be much younger than her. She slipped the oven mitt off and reached out to shake Frodo’s hand. “Pete!” she called, and a teenaged boy appeared. “Your father is in the study. Tell him Merrill is here.” The teen tried to look petulant, but he couldn’t hide a smile when he saw his sister.
There was a lot of energy in the room. Merrill’s mother was already ushering them into the dining room.
Frodo suddenly felt rather emotional. It had been a very long time since he had been the midst of true family chaos. It was wonderful. And disarming. Already, he could see that Merrill’s effortless control was an inherited trait. Ivana herself looked much like Merrill, too. It made Frodo think of what she would look like, were they closer in age.
Merrill’s father was a good deal older than her mother; about fifteen or twenty years. He was still quite sharp, and in good health. His hair was white, and he kept a short beard. Even though her mother had invited them to sit down, Merrill had remained on her feet, knowing that the first thing her father would want was to give her a hug. After giving her a kiss and welcoming her home, he released Merrill and offered a firm handshake to Frodo.
Frodo had in fact sat down, and he popped back up on his feet when Merrill’s father appeared. His chest tightened a little, too, though he was relieved to see that he was considerably older. The white hair made Frodo feel almost young. “Mr. Sokolov.” He sounded a little like a teenager hoping to take Merrill to the prom. Hopefully, once the greetings were out of the way, things would calm again.
“Frodo, isn’t it?” Mr. Sokolov asked, his speech heavily accented. “Merrill has told us much about you.”
“Nikolai, sit down,” Merrill’s mother said as she put down two serving dishes on the table. The men could size each other up later, it was time to eat! Merrill and Pete took their seats, exchanging an amused glance.
Frodo settled back into his chair. The smell of the food was quite strong, but Merrill seemed to be faring well enough keeping the nausea at bay. He himself could to wait to begin eating. His smile moved from person to person, as he awaited some signal for when to start.
The smells weren’t bothering Merrill today. She’d been staying hydrated and snacking on crackers throughout the day, so she wasn’t too hungry. Things seemed to be much worse when she was starving (It was a good thing Merrill was pregnant instead of Frodo!).
Pete started to reach for the food, but Nikolai began addressing the table and Pete’s hand retreated. “Merrill, Frodo. We are very pleased you could join us tonight for this meal. It is always good to see my little devochka. And Frodo. It is easy for us to see you are an important part of Merrill’s life. We are honored to have you in our home.” He had a broad, easy smile.
“Well, what are you waiting for this old man to stop talking?” Nikolai asked, laughing. “You will go hungry waiting for that. Eat!”
Frodo had taken classes in etiquette, and so he knew better than to serve himself first, even though he was the guest. He passed the first bowl to Merrill and waited for her to decide where it should go next. His eyes landed on Peter while he waited. “I saw the painting you did of the sunflowers in Merrill’s kitchen, Peter. Do you have any plans to go to school for art?”
Merrill poured herself a bowl of the stew. It seemed like everyone was taking the serving dish in front of them, serving themselves, and passing it along. There didn’t seem to be a particular order to it, aside from ‘Pass to the left’. Merrill’s mother passed the bread to Frodo.
“Oh, I don’t really know,” Pete said. “I’ve been applying to some schools. I want to take art classes, but I’m not sure what I’ll major in. Trying to keep my options open, I guess.”
“Well, you have some time before you have to declare anything,” Frodo replied, placing a serving of everything that was passed to him on his plate. He knew better than to turn any food down, as a guest for the first time, even though some of the dishes were foreign to him. He assumed those were Russian fare.
Some of the dishes were more traditional Russian cuisine. There was something that looked like dumplings, and another meat dish with onions and sauces. But Merrill’s mother had been conscientious to include foods that Frodo would recognize, too. There was, for example, a dish of green beans, one of macaroni and cheese, and a plate of french fries. They had all been made from scratch.
Pete nodded, smiling to Frodo. “Yeah.” It was nice to hear an adult telling him it was okay to take a breath and enjoy himself. His teachers all seemed to be freaking out about application deadlines and tests he needed to take, and everything needed to be RIGHT NOW.
Merrill poured herself a glass of amber liquid from a large jar before passing it across the table to Pete. Nikolai had a different bottle, and offered it to Frodo after pouring himself a glass. “Medovukha,” he explained, though perhaps not satisfactorily. “Or wine,” he said, gesturing to the bottle on Ivana’s side of the table.
“Ah,” Frodo breathed as he accepted the bottle from him. Whatever it was, he was going to drink it, by the very fact that it was Nikolai offering. “Thank you.” It smelled strong, but he was very certain he could handle whatever it was. And he addressed Ivana next, “This is surely the best meal I’ve been invited to in a long time. Either Merrill already told you I have a big appetite or you eat like this every night!”
He looked sideways at Merrill, just to catch a glimpse of her, and calm himself knowing she was near. Her left hand was hidden beneath the table, hiding the ring as well as she could. It was bound to be noticed soon.
Frodo took a sip of the drink and was thankful for the immediate warmth it gave him. His shoulders loosened. “Did Merrill tell you how we met?”
Merrill wasn’t consciously hiding the ring, but her hand did stay under the table, resting on Frodo’s leg. “You should try a sip of this, too,” Merrill said, sliding her glass toward Frodo. “It’s not like anything you can get here.” Kvass was fermented, but was classified as non-alcoholic since the alcohol content was very, very low. Ivana had flavored this particular brew with strawberries.
Pete laughed a little at the question. Ivana smiled. “It is a special occasion. We like having guests,” she said. “We want to make sure they eat well!” She was glad to see the man sampling everything. Merrill had told her that he enjoyed food in general, and she was glad to see he wasn’t a picky eater. It was a good sign, she thought. “She hasn’t!”
“She told me,” Pete said, grinning. Merrill had told her brother the parts she knew he would find amusing. He liked monster stories. “She got bit by a jellyfish,” he blurted.
“Stung,” Merrill corrected. “Jellyfish don’t bite.”
“Whatever,” Pete said, still smiling. Merrill responded by sticking out her tongue at him. Very mature when she was around her little brother, yes.
Frodo took a sip of Merrill's drink, thinking that it had a somewhat familiar smell and taste, and wondered how she knew he would find that so pleasant. The answer, of course, was because she loved him. He smiled at her playful antics with her brother. He'd grown up with no other children around on a regular basis. The smile on his face no doubt had a lot to do with the family he and Merrill were already starting.
"I own this little beach and I suppose Merrill didn't see the sign that said private property," he began. Most certainly, she had not seen it. She was not a rule breaker by nature. "She walked right up to the water and started to swim. And I... Well, I was in this very bad mood and I marched on over to ask her to leave, when the jellyfish Peter was talking about stung her. Well, then I was just trying to keep her from drowning. And we started talking... And, it wasn't very much longer that I realized I had to see her again."
Frodo's face had flushed a little. For the first time, he felt a little self-conscious talking about his money. Really, how often did Merrill's family meet people who owned beaches? Not very often, he expected. He felt... Embarrassed. Embarrassed by something he could not help.
Merrill giggled, blushing a little herself, at the way he talked about her. That he had to see her again. Of course she knew the story, and now they were quite inseparable, but she must not have realized how soon that started.
Ivana and Nikolai stole a glance at each other across the table, likely remembering how they themselves had met. Ivana turned back to Frodo, smiled at him. “It sounds very sweet,” she assured him, and Nikolai thanked the man for making sure his daughter didn’t drown. Neither of them made mention of money.
The teenager did, though. “So you have a beach?” Pete asked. “Can I come swim?”
Frodo was still blushing a bit when he nodded in the affirmative. "Of course you can."
Ivana looked a bit embarrassed at her son inviting himself over for a swim, but Frodo didn’t seem upset. “That’s kind of you,” she said, smiling to him.
Merrill was enjoying seeing Frodo interact with her family. He was doing well, she thought, and she continued to eat, letting them talk.
Frodo pushed on, somewhat awkwardly. “No, it’s nothing really. It’s sort of lonely, having a big empty beach all to myself. Peter, or any of you, are quite welcome. Just... uh, beware of the jellyfish.” He looked down at his food and wished he was someone else for a moment. Merry, perhaps. He was a much better speaker.
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I asked Merrill if she wanted to come for tea and I suppose that was the beginning of the end for me.” His smile was more charming than he felt.
Merrill giggled at his jellyfish joke, and her family seemed amused as well. He really was making a better impression than he must have thought. Merrill nudged him in what she hoped was a comforting way. She kissed his cheek.
Was he building up to something? She twisted the ring on her finger under the table.
Frodo felt her hand move and he reached for it. He held it tightly. His own hand shook something terrible. “And I... Well, you see... Last week I asked Merrill if she would do me the honor of marrying me.” *BIG GULP*
Merrill had almost stopped him, almost asked if they wanted to split up after dinner so she could tell her mother and he could talk to her father. She wasn’t sure if that would help his anxiety, but it didn’t seem fair to make him take the brunt of telling everyone.
But he didn’t need her help! She squeezed his hand, feeling some of the nerves but still smiling broadly. This was brilliant news, and her family seemed to agree.
“Merrill, Frodo, that’s wonderful!” Ivana cried, clapping a hand to her heart in surprise and delight.
Nikolai stood up, raising his glass in toast to them. “Well, congratulations!” He gave Frodo a firm pat on the back. “It seems we are welcoming you to more than just the dinner table then, yes?” he said, laughing heartily.
With a tremendous sigh, Frodo fell back against the support of his chair. He placed a hand on his stomach and chuckled in relief. “Oh my... I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous.” And they weren’t even bringing up the baby, yet.
He kissed Merrill’s temple and lifted the hand he was so tightly holding so they could see the ring.
Merrill laughed, holding out her ring for her parents to see. "We're planning something small and soon. There's a nice, historic inn in Tustin, we've booked the last weekend in October, for the leaves." Her parents knew how much she loved fall. "I'm going to call Sonya. I want her there too."
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, as you can see,” Frodo added, still nervous they would object to a wedding that was only a few weeks away. They were being so kind to him, but they still hardly knew him. (And he feared the word shotgun would be uttered at any moment.)
Ivana took Merrill’s hand, admiring the ring. “It’s beautiful,” she told her daughter. “That is soon,” she agreed, but she didn’t object. Merrill wasn’t a young girl anymore--she was ten years older than Ivana had been when she married Nikolai--and a long engagement didn’t seem necessary to either of her parents. “You must be very busy! Is there anything we can do?” her mother asked.
Frodo nodded eagerly. “I’m sure there are going to be a hundred things we won’t think of. I’ve never been married before--” He chuckled a bit at his age. “--And Merrill and I are both want to have thing slip our minds, so I think we’ll need a lot of reminders along the way.”
"Don't look at me!" Nikolai said, laughing and holding up his hands. Ivana laughed. Her husband certainly wasn't the wedding planning type. "We'll get you one of those books with a checklist," she assured Merrill.
Merrill smiled, nodding. "That would help, I think! Maybe you and Hawke can help me find a dress, too." Her mother's smile at that just warmed her heart.
Frodo looked sideways at his now officially-official bride to be. His had genuinely feared that the evening could go horribly wrong, but now he realized those thoughts had been silly. How could this woman he loved come from anything other than such a lovely family? If only his uncle could have lived to be a part of this. His memory burned in Frodo’s heart.
He kissed Merrill’s hand before finally letting her have it back. “Well, now that we’ve thoroughly interrupted your dinner...” he laughed.