"Hurry, Elladan, you have to finish!" Tallasinde had her hands atop her head and was impatiently awaiting her nephew to finish opening the final present.
Elladan grinned, glancing at his younger brother, whose presents remained untouched. "Maybe I should save this one until Elrohir's birthday," he replied.
Tallasinde made a bit of a hopping motion, though her feet never left the ground. "You hafta open it now!" she half commanded, half whined. Next to her, Vilya remained perfectly calm, watching the celebration. They were already up well past their bedtime, but there was a good reason for it.
"Look, it is a new scarf, for when I go hiking up in the mountains," announced Elladan, holding up the blue and grey item. "Thank you, Nana," he said, blowing his mother a kiss.
"Is it warm enough?" Celebrian worried. "Put it on, let me see."
"No time!" said Tallasinde, impatiently watching the window. Elrond, leaning against the window sill, motioned for her to calm down.
"I am watching the moon, I will give you enough time, do not fret," he said with a wave of his hand. Tallasinde bit her lip and did the impatient hopping again.
Stacking all of his presents aside, Elladan leaned back on the couch. "A lovely birthday, thank you everyone."
"Now?" asked Tallasinde.
Elrond sighed and looked at the sky. "Just a moment…yes, now."
"Happy Birthday Elladan…and…Elrohir!" the girls finished as Elrond pointed to them, signaling that night had eased into day.
The twins grinned. "That had to be the best gift ever," remarked Elladan, getting up to hug the elflings. Elrohir was already on the floor amid his presents.
"My turn!" he announced.
"How many minutes apart are they?" Legolas asked to no one in particular.
Glorcheniel leaned over and said, "Officially, six. Elladan born just as the night was ending, and Elrohir right after."
"They tried to hold onto one another," added Celebrian, "but I was not about to let them be born that way!" There was much laughter, and Elrohir held up the first of his presents.
"A new set of quills and a blank journal. Thank you very much, Ada," Elrohir said, nodding to Elrond. "I shall give out my hugs later, I had to wait all day for my presents, and I am not accustomed to that!"
"Everyone is getting hugs from me right now!" announced Elladan. "Twice, if you ask nicely."
"And from me!" shouted Tallasinde. When Vilya did not respond, Tallasinde shouted, "And Villy, too!"
The three went around the room, hugging those present while Elrohir concentrated on his present opening.
"Two bows tonight, Vilya. Very lovely," said Glorcheniel. Vilya nodded.
"Two for twins," she said simply, giving her future sister-in-law a hug.
Tallasinde did a bit of jumping again, and said, "My hair is up like Nana used to have hers!" She bowed her head to show off the golden braids that crowned her head.
"I think both of you are very lovely," Glorcheniel said, hugging Tallasinde. There was a rustle of papers near the center of the room, and Elrohir pulled a small box from the mess.
"What is this now, from Glorcheniel?" he looked across the room and grinned. "Is it safe to open in the presence of elflings?"
"Gosh, I am not sure," she answered with a shrug.
Elrohir tore off the paper of the gift, and quickly took the lid from the box. And stared, mouth open, into the box. He looked up at Glorcheniel, then to his brother, then into the box. "I need to see the two of you in the hallway," he squeaked in a voice that had not come from him in many years. Elladan walked into the hall, confused, and Glorcheniel followed them out, completely calm.
"What is going on?" asked Elrond with some concern after his sons had left the room. A few moments later, there were joyous sounds from the hall, with no one really knowing who was doing or saying what. Elrond looked around the room for answers, the only clue coming from his smirking daughter.
Without much convincing, Vilya whispered slyly in a singsong voice, "Somebody is getting married."
