Who: Zelda and Sam Gamgee When: Backdated: Friday, April 5th. Afternoon Where: Zelda’s home What: Gardening! Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly Status: Complete
Zelda owned a relatively modest home for someone who came from her background. It was only about five thousand square feet, and sat on a half acre of land. The yard had been tended by gardeners, and she was still planning on having them come once a week to help her with upkeep and everything. But after hanging around with Navi a little and buying some plants and things, she was pretty excited to get started building her garden.
Around the front of the house, inside the large fence, was a large area she’d portioned off for a vegetable garden. She was there today, to the left of the circular driveway, turning the soil and looking at the wide spread of plants and seeds she’d collected. It was going to be a crapshoot, really, to see which fruits and veggies liked the conditions near her home, but she was willing to put in the time and effort to see which would work best.
Under normal circumstances, when a visitor arrived to the front gate, he’d have to buzz the intercom. Arnold, a full-time employee of the Hyrule Family, would likely answer the buzz and let the visitor in. He could park next to Zelda’s car in the drive, and then walk the short distance to the garden by the front of the house. Today, however, since Zelda knew Sam was coming, she left the gate open for him.
Sam had spent the morning at the Lombardis’, trimming the bushes and mowing the lawn and had run over a little, so he hadn’t had time to go home and clean up before heading over to Zelda’s. Normally he didn’t really care how he looked when on a job, but this wasn’t really a job. This was giving a girl some help with her garden and he would have preferred to not show up covered in grass clippings and sweat, but he had no choice unless he wanted to make her wait any longer.
Reaching the address she’d given him, Sam noticed that the gate was open, so he assumed that she’d left it open for him and drove through and down the driveway until he reached the house at which point, he turned off the car and got out, “Hey. Sorry I’m a little late. Last job ran a little over.” He said when he spotted her.
“Hey!” Zelda was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, covered in dust and dirt from the work she’d been doing. She’d been out in the sun and shade for almost an hour now, tilling the earth and moving plants around. “Please! Don’t be sorry! I should be kissing the ground you walk on for all the help you’re giving me.” She climbed up from where she’d been kneeling and tugged her gardening gloves off to shake his hand. There was a smear of dirt across her forehead that she hadn’t noticed.
There were at least a dozen or so plants in pots all around them, vaguely placed where she thought they would be best suited to be planted. She had some rearranging to do, since Navi had given her an amazing sketch plan of what her garden could look like this morning when she went to visit her. Then there were sacks of gardening soil, and a handful of seed packets on a table nearby. She also had gardening tools scattered about, some new and some old.
“You definitely don’t have to kiss the ground,” Sam chuckled and went around to the back of his truck, “Do you have fertilizer and all that?” Sam knew that Navi was usually really good at making sure that people who came into the nursery had everything they would possibly need in order to grow a successful garden. “You did go to Navi’s nursery, right? That’s the only place I go for seedlings and plants and just about whatever we need.” Sam couldn’t remember just how long they’d been getting their supplies from Navi’s nursery, but as far as he could remember, hers was the only one they’d ever used for the gardening business.
“I’ve got it over here, along with everything else.” Navi had really loaded her up with stuff. It’d come out of Zelda’s yard budget, which was considerable. She could probably single-handedly keep Navi’s shop up and running, really, with all the things she was excited about doing in her yard, and all the money she had to spend. There was a bag of fertilizer next to an even bigger bag of topsoil leaning against the house not too far away.
“I don’t think there’s anywhere else I would go besides Navi’s!” Zelda said, breaking into a grin and moving over to look at the bags leaning against the house there. “She helped me design the garden, too, you want to see the plan?”
Zelda appeared to have everything she’d need, but Sam still grabbed a few things out of the back of the truck, including a work belt that he kept his personal gardening tools in, “Sure. I’d love to see what she came up with.” He closed the back of the truck and joined Zelda as he secured the belt around his hips.
Zelda nodded, then moved to grab the plan off of a table nearby. There was also a cooler with water bottles on ice. Well, it was mostly water by now, but still chilly. “Here.” She said, holding out the design to Sam. It was simple and modern, with mostly local plants that wouldn’t need a whole lot of tending. Best thing for a woman whose schedule kept expanding. “Think we can get some of these plants in the ground in the right places and order?”
Sam took the plan from Zelda and looked it over. Navi really did know what she was doing and had done a good job designing the plan for Zelda, “Yeah, I think we can get this done. I’ve worked with some of Navi’s plans before and they’re pretty easy to follow.” He handed the plan back to Zelda then turned to survey the plot that she’d designated for the garden, “Lets get to work.” He smiled at the blond girl then pulled a tool from his belt and knelt in the dirt then got to work.
It was fairly slow progress, since Zelda kept asking questions and learning new things. But after an hour or two of hard labor, they had almost half of the garden done. Zelda was covered in sweat and possibly slightly sunburnt, dirty from head to foot, and exhilarated. See? She could get her hands dirty just like the best of them. “Man! Can I get you some water or something? I’m parched! Glad we got those Tomatoes planted, though.” She was beaming.
Sam didn't mind the questions and answered them all, happy to be able to help her. He loved doing things like this and actually enjoyed it more when he didn't have time constraints or when he had to deal with difficult clients who knew next to nothing about plants or gardening, but tried to tell him how he should be doing his job. Sam was also covered in dirt and sweat and figured he would be spending quite a while in the shower when he got home. "Sure, that'd be great. Thanks." He sat back on his heels, looking over what they'd done so far, "As long as you tend them like I told you, you should have some really plump tomatoes once they start coming in."
“I’m excited about that!” Zelda called out from where she was picking up a couple of water bottles out of the cooler. They were still sorta cold, even though all the ice melted. She brought one over for him and kept one to herself. “I love a Caprese salad. With the Basil plants and the Tomatoes, maybe I can make my own by mid-summer!” She grinned, then gulped from her bottle. “The gardeners are coming back tomorrow to help with whatever we don’t finish today. Thank you so much for all your help.”
Sam smiled and thanked her for the water, “I might have to try some of that out. Have to make sure everything turned out alright.” He uncapped the bottle and took a long swallow then tipped his head back and poured the rest of it over his head. It wasn’t as hot as it would be, in say August, but being outside in the sun most of the day did take its toll, “It was no problem at all. I’m happy to help any time.”
“You’re very welcome! When the tomatoes start coming in, you’re the first person I’ll call! Okay, second. Navi will be first, obviously. Let’s just hope that the baby makes her crave tomatoes. Or, at least, not hate them? How long does Morning Sickness last?” Zelda didn’t know anything about pregnancy or babies. In all honesty, they frightened her.
Sam laughed and ran a hand through his wet curls, “Um, I think it usually only lasts the first few months. At least that’s what I’ve gotten from all the movies and TV shows.” Sam knew the basics of pregnancy, but he certainly wasn’t an expert in the least.
“Well, I’m not sure how far in it she is.” Zelda said. That sentence came out funny, and she had a look on her face like the words tasted sour in her mouth. “Anyway, I hope she’ll be able to come over and enjoy the fruits of our labor! Who doesn’t like tomatoes and fresh mozzarella? It’s downright un-American, I tell you!” She was kidding now. Playfully. She gulped again from her bottle.
“I think she’s past the morning sickness stage.” Sam said, getting to his feet and wiping dirt and grass off the front of his jeans, “You’ll have to have us both over then when the time comes and mozzarella is one of the best cheeses by far.” He grinned at her, making a note to go see Navi again soon.
“Well, that’s good to hear!” Morning sickness didn’t sound like much fun at all. Zelda gave him a bright smile. “It definitely is. We’ll have a mozzarella party when the time comes!” Her garden was going to be so beautiful!! Maybe she should get a fountain. Ah, but that’s a job for another time!