SC4 || Entry 1: The Best Laid Plans
Title: The Best Laid Plans
Themes and/or Prompt/s: Time
Rating: PG-13 due to warning
Word count: 2197
Characters/Pairings: Arthur, Gwen, minor OCs
Spoilers/Warnings: Mention of possible abortion
Disclaimer: We do not own Merlin.
Summary: When an otherwise good thing happens at the worst time, Arthur and Gwen have to rethink their future.
It was positive. That was all Gwen saw.
At first she thought she’d caught the stomach bug that was going around, but when she missed her period, taking a pregnancy test was foremost in her mind. She bought it without telling Arthur. She remembered standing there with the home test in her hand and the feeling of panic washing over her.
She could pinpoint the moment it happened. They were drunk. It was Arthur’s fault really, he was always so amorous when drinking. That’s what she really wanted to believe but she knew better. Celebrating with Morgana and Merlin was never a good idea, those two could drink an elephant under the table.
Birth control was one thing they had discussed in detail. They had agreed to use condoms and not the pill after she had a bad reaction. They had always been diligent except for that one time. It only took one time.
They needed to wait just a while. With Arthur’s new job and her school there was no time have a child. There wasn’t any money either. Arthur’s new job paid a lot less than what he earned working with Uther. They just couldn’t do this not now…but they were doing it.
She was in her last year of nursing school. If she didn’t graduate, their income would stay low and they would continue to struggle. She feared that she wouldn’t make it to her finals; at best, she was going to be cutting it close.
This was not the future they planned but it was the future they were getting. Why was it that nothing ever happened at just the right time…
Arthur walked into their small apartment, discarding his briefcase and undoing his tie before he walked over to the sofa. He sat down, closing his eyes as he laid back; another hard day hard at work, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.
He opened his eyes when he sensed Gwen sitting down on the couch next to him. “Hi.” He turned to face her, his lips curving into an automatic smile. “You okay?”
She looked tired, her eyes a little frazzled around the edges. “I’m fine. How was your day?”
Arthur let out a loud sigh. “Corrina came out of the hospital today. I was there when they discharged her and I pleaded with her not to go back to Jeffrey, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I don’t know what to do to get her to realize that he’s never going to change.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Arthur. The decision has to come from her. She has to realize it on her own. She will do it for her children.” Gwen rubbed his hand softly.
“I know, but still…I feel sorry for them, to be growing up in the middle of all that violence.” He stroked his thumb back and forth across her hand. “How was school?”
“Oh, it was fine. I think I did okay on the anatomy test. I came straight home after that.” And then I took a pregnancy test, which turned out to be positive, Gwen thought to herself. She knew she would have no choice but to tell him eventually, but she was working up her way up to it. “Dinner?” She proposed, changing the subject.
“Sure, I’m starving.” He leaned into her, pecking her lips lightly before going to the kitchen to forage for food.
She joined him a moment later and they worked together to make something quick and easy. After dinner they settled onto the sofa to watch ‘The Dark Knight’. When she realized they were both dozing off, she turned off the TV and they went to bed. Arthur fell asleep immediately, but she was thinking too much to follow suit.
She didn’t know how she was going to tell him. She was sure there would be a scene. A baby would change so much. As she listened to him breathe, she realized that she wanted this. She just wasn’t sure he would, at least not right away. She snuggled closer to him and let her troubled mind rest for the night.
----
The alarm clock woke him up at half past six, as usual. Arthur shut it off, yawning as he made his way to the bathroom. The toothpaste tube was empty, so he tossed it into the trash and opened the medicine cabinet to fetch another. His eyes fell upon the pregnancy test and he lifted it up. He stopped breathing when he took in the plus sign, the sight jolting him awake better than any cup of coffee could.
“Gwen?” He walked to her side of the bed. “Gwen. Gwen, wake up.” He shook her gently.
“What?” She whined softly.
“What is this?” He brandished the test in front of her face and if the situation wasn’t so dire, he would have laughed at the way her eyes rounded. Now she was as awake as he was.
“I was going to tell you but I didn’t know how to.” She started. She sat up and faced him; faced the reality of the situation was more like it. “I know this isn’t the time for it, but Arthur I want this. I think I realized it last night.”
He threw the test on the bed next to her. “Do you also realize that between paying for your school and my income we can’t afford a baby right now?” He racked his hands through his hair. “I’m not making the kind of money I was when I worked for my father and a baby just cannot happen right now, Gwen. We are barely making ends meets as is, we cannot be financially responsible for a child! Do you get that?”
“Yes, I know that! Logically I know that. But emotionally….” Her words trailed as her hand settled across her stomach.
“Can you stop being selfish for one second? It isn’t about you, Gwen or me, it’s about what the baby will need! I work twelve-hour days and you have school to finish in eight months! If you don’t graduate, we will never be able to move, buy a house, to do what we had planned to do! You know a baby doesn’t fit into the plan, not yet!”
She knew he was right, she had been having the same thoughts and yet…
Arthur waited for her response, which wasn’t forthcoming. “Dammit Gwen!” He walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
----
The tension between them was palpable now. Arthur left earlier and came home later and they weren’t talking much. Every time she broached the subject he shut down. It was unbearable and it wasn’t the way she’d imagined her marriage to be.
So she made a decision. She waited for him to get home that night.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” Even his greeting was stilted. He closed the door, tossing his briefcase by the coffee table and heading to the kitchen.
“Wait. I have to tell you something.” He paused in the doorway. "I made an appointment with an obstetrician for Thursday; can you come with me?” She saw his jaw clenching. “Please? If….if you still think that having the baby’s a bad idea, we’ll talk about our options.” Just considering thinking about it made her sick and doing it would kill her, but she would.
“Okay.”
Up until the moment her name was called, she’d wavered between hope and despair. She sighed, as she stood up and walked towards the nurse.
“I’m here!” Arthur burst into the waiting room just as she was leaving it. “I’m here.” That was a good sign already, she smiled to herself. He followed her into the examination room and she sat down onto the table, her hands falling onto her lap.
“I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I wasn’t sure I would, but I couldn’t let you do this alone.” He sighed and he walked over to her. “We really need to talk, Gwen.”
“I know, either way we do. I’m aware of that.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “I think so long as we’re together, we’ll be okay.”
Arthur didn’t reply, he just squeezed her hand back.
There was a knock on the door and the doctor walked in. “Hello, Mrs. Penn?” She read off the clipboard.
“Hi, I’m Gwen, this is my husband Arthur.”
“Nice to meet you both, I’m Dr Geller”. After shaking their hands, she sat down on the stool by the machine. “You came in because you think you’re pregnant?”
“Yes, the test I took at home was positive. I’ve narrowed down the date when I conceived, but I’d rather make sure.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place for that.” Dr Geller smiled reassuringly. “Let’s take a look shall we? Could you please lay back and lift up your shirt?” She brought the ultrasound machine closer to the table, punching in a few buttons and it whirred to life. “This is going to…”
“Feel cold, I know.” Gwen completed, as the doctor spread the clear gel on her lower stomach.
Arthur sat down by Gwen's head, his eyes fixated on the screen despite himself. “What are we looking at?”
“Nothing yet, Mr. Penn.” The doctor teased as she rolled the wand around. “Now, here it is. Say hi to your baby.”
“Hi.” Gwen automatically repeated, frowning to decipher exactly what was on the screen. When she did, her face faded into wonder. “That’s our, that’s our baby?”
“Yes. He appears to be developing normally and his heartbeat is strong." Dr Geller stated as she pointed out a tiny spot that was flashing. "Everything appears to be progressing normally. From the size of the fetus, I would venture that he is around 6 weeks old."
"Yes, that sounds about right with the date I had in mind." Gwen discreetly wiped a tear from her right eye.
"Do you have any questions?” Gwen shook her head no, as did Arthur. “Okay then. I will be back in a minute with two copies of the ultrasound. I’d like to see you in a month for a few tests and to check that everything is fine.”
“Um, we haven’t made up our mind yet.” Gwen answered, wiping down her stomach and pulling down her shirt.
To her credit, Dr Geller didn’t appear to be taken aback or if she was, she didn’t show it. “I understand. Well, you don’t have to make the decision now, but keep in mind that the window of time is short. Do you still want the ultrasound pictures?”
“Yes, please.” Arthur replied, clearing his throat.
“Then I will leave the copies with the nurse at the reception and I will leave you two to talk.” Dr Geller gave them a final smile as she exited the room.
The screen was frozen on the picture of their baby and Gwen stared at the monitor, as Arthur walked the length of the table to face her. She finally chanced a look at him.
“I didn’t think it would be like that.” His voice betrayed a tremor of emotion and he reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers.
She remained silent, letting him reach the conclusion she knew he would.
“It’s crazy. It’s nuts. We can’t have a baby, not now. Yet I can’t…I can’t deny that I want to see the person he grows into. That I want to see if he will have your eyes, your hair.” He tucked a curl behind her ear with his other hand.
“It could be a she.” She mused.
“It could be,” Arthur conceded, a half-smile forming on his lips and Gwen returned it.
“It will be hard, but I know we can do this, Arthur. We have Merlin and Morgana and Gwaine and Leon to help out, and we have my dad. We may even have Elyan if I tell him.” Her brother was on another one of his exploring-the-world kicks, but she didn’t doubt that he would come home if she needed him to.
“We may even have my father too, if I tell him.” Arthur sighed heavily. “It’s just, we had plans.”
She shook her head gently. “Plans change, Arthur. I wasn’t looking for love after what happened with Lance and you weren’t looking to get involved with anyone during your senior year of college. Yet here we are, five years later, married and happy.” She smiled brightly, encasing his hand between hers.
"That's true, love, but ... how we will manage with all that's on our plate?"
She framed his face in her hands. “We’ll make it work Arthur, if anybody can, we can.”
She sounded so certain that it was hard to deny that he wanted to believe her. Of course he knew it would be hard, harder than anything they’d done at that point, but the tiny heartbeat would make it worth it. “So we’re having a baby.”
“We are having a baby.” Gwen granted him a glorious smile and he wrapped his hands around her, slanting his lips over hers. Like she’d said, they would be okay in the end, so long as they were together.
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