Fanfic: Up The Duff
Fiction Summary: Prince Arthur of England and Duke Gwaine of Essex are on the brink of an imminent divorce when Gwaine falls pregnant and pandemonium breaks loose.
CHAPTER - 1
"Well what is it that was so important that I had to interrupt a very important meeting with the King of Spain to speak with you?" Arthur placed an unpleasant emphasis on the you and looked at Gwaine like he always did these days, like Gwaine was something stuck at the bottom of his shoe that he had no wish to see or deal with.
Merlin who was Arthur's personal assistant, magical bodyguard and brother in law all at once gave Gwaine a sympathetic glance as Gwaine actively tried to not let his nerves show and run out of the place, Arthur had not even invited him to sit.
He hated how Arthur could still make him feel this way, make him doubt his worth, he'd allowed no one else so close to have the power to break him completely.
Gwaine crossed his arms in front of himself blew out a deep breath and said plainly "I'm pregnant."
Someone gasped and Gwaine didn't know if it was Merlin or Arthur.
When he deigned to look up both Merlin and Arthur were looking at him with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
Arthur's face soon crumpled into anger however and his tone was biting when he asked "Was it Percy?"
Merlin chastised "Arthur!"
"Unfortunately no" Gwaine said equally biting.
Arthur leaned back in his chair then and seemed to be calculating the months, the last time they'd slept together was two months ago when they'd both gotten too drunk to forget that they were on the verge of a nasty divorce at Morgana and Merlin's boy's christening.
"Gwaine, sit down" Merlin said as he came around the desk and shot Arthur a quelling look when he made a noise of protest.
"Thankyou Merlin but there's no need. I was about to leave anyway" Gwaine gave Merlin a small smile which under the circumstances came out looking like more of a grimace.
"I want to know for sure it's mine" Arthur said and Gwaine shot him a glare that could've burned a hole into Arthur's smarmy head if he had Merlin's power.
"I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep it so you can rest easy" Gwaine said out loud even though he hadn't wanted to reveal that quite so soon to Arthur.
"If it's mine you have to keep it…it's the Royal Heir…you can't just terminate without my permission" Arthur commanded narrowing his eyes, promising retribution if Gwaine put a toe out of line.
Gwaine bristled at Arthur's tone, "I'm not one of your dog bodies you can just order about, this is my body, my problem and if I don't want it you can't force me to have it!"
This was the first time they'd seen each other in almost a month and they were already fighting and Gwaine could feel all his emotions tearing at the seams making him want to cry out loud at how unfair it all was.
"As your lawfully wedded husband you'll find that I have more than a say in whether you can get an abortion or not" Arthur informed nonchalantly.
Gwaine could feel tears prickling at his eyes and he cursed 'damn hormones' before he decided to turn and walk as quickly as he could to the door when he found he couldn't really stop the tears and didn't want to give Arthur the satisfaction of letting him see how much this was truly affecting him.
As soon as Gwaine was out of the door Merlin turned to Arthur and smacked him upside the head hard, never mind that a bodily attack to the Prince of England meant certain death.
"OWW Merlin! What was that for?"
"Like you don't bloody know you prat!"
Arthur had the grace to look atleast a little contrite but Merlin was not going to let him off the hook that easily this time.
"How can you be such a callous arsehole? He's pregnant with your baby! If nothing else that should make you a little more considerate!"
"We don't know if it's my baby for sure Merlin" Arthur said tightly and then, "And this doesn't change the fact that we were on the brink of a divorce for a long time now."
"You're still going to go through with it?" Merlin asked his tone cautious now, Arthur had the tendency to get barking mad whenever Gwaine was brought up these days. Merlin couldn't help but feel a tentative hope that the baby might bring them together again, he was little sap like that.
"I'm not sure it's in my hands anymore, he's carrying the heir to the throne Merlin…."
And Merlin knew that had a lot of implications, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Gwaine though, Merlin could only imagine how much it must suck to be in his shoes right now. And looking at Arthur whose mouth was drawn in a thin unhappy line Merlin couldn't help but feel sorry for Arthur too for he remembered how happier Arthur was once Gwaine came stumbling into his life with his ill manners and rogue charms literally.
From the first meeting their relationship was explosive and Merlin and the whole of Great Britain had watched from the sidelines at their mating dance before they finally tied the knot after two years of pretending they didn't want each other badly and madly.
And it had been…interesting so to say, to see Arthur as a married man, before Gwaine Arthur had the notorious reputation of being a bed hopper and one of those people who got cold feet the minute someone uttered the phrase settle.
Only Gwaine had always been different, always been a challenge and their marriage had yielded a lot of public scandals as people got used to seeing the Prince of England get all snarly and angry with his husband one moment and then the next they were seen snogging the hell out of each other much to the disapproval of Prince Uther Pendragon.
Amidst jealous Princess' that Arthur had offended by marrying a duke, amidst all the people disappointed that their Prince turned out to be gay and married Gwaine, amidst the thick disapproval of both of their parents, amidst the constant glare of the paparazzi Arthur and Gwaine had survived and they'd made it as unlikely as they'd all thought it would.
All of their friends had always held the opinion that they weren't going to last, they were too similar, too competitive, too stubborn and too alpha male-ish for it to work.
Morgana had said at the time to Merlin that they weren't going to last a month before they drove each other crazy or killed one another in a fit of anger.
But they'd not only made the marriage work but they were genuinely happy for five long years and after the first two years everybody had thought that they were a solid match, that they were going to be together through thick and thin and prove them all wrong till the end of time.
And then Arthur had gone to the war against Nimueh and came back only a year later and everything had changed. They'd nearly died in that war against Nimueh and her army of sorcerers but they'd survived and people changed when they went through things like that, Merlin knew for he was right by Arthur's side throughout that war missing Morgana's pregnancy and even the birth of his son for which Morgana still gave him a hard time but they'd survived and Merlin had rushed back to his wife and his new born son sure in the knowledge that they were safe now, he couldn't understand then why Arthur wasn't feeling the same mad rush to see Gwaine after a yearlong absence.
They'd both been pathetic and moping the entire time they'd been stationed at Germany, then France and then Iraq holed together in military uniforms and bunk beds and slumming together for a whole year, he'd missed Morgana like a severed limb and Arthur was no better.
It was confounding to him then that Arthur chose to return later than the others and he could still remember the abject horror on Gwaine's face at the airport when he realized Arthur wasn't with them. He'd thought Arthur was dead and everyone had chosen to keep it from him.
When Arthur finally deigned to return two months after the rest of them Gwaine understandably was none too pleased with him and everything went downhill from there.
And for the last year Gwaine and Arthur had been drifting apart so much that even the press had gotten wind of it even though both Gwaine and Arthur's PR teams tried to actively work against people finding out just how fractured their relationship was.
Merlin knew not to hope for too much but he couldn't help but think that Gwaine falling pregnant now could just about be the only thing that could salvage their broken relationship. He left Arthur who was still radiating tension off of every pore in his body.
CHAPTER - 1
"Well what is it that was so important that I had to interrupt a very important meeting with the King of Spain to speak with you?" Arthur placed an unpleasant emphasis on the you and looked at Gwaine like he always did these days, like Gwaine was something stuck at the bottom of his shoe that he had no wish to see or deal with.
Merlin who was Arthur's personal assistant, magical bodyguard and brother in law all at once gave Gwaine a sympathetic glance as Gwaine actively tried to not let his nerves show and run out of the place, Arthur had not even invited him to sit.
He hated how Arthur could still make him feel this way, make him doubt his worth, he'd allowed no one else so close to have the power to break him completely.
Gwaine crossed his arms in front of himself blew out a deep breath and said plainly "I'm pregnant."
Someone gasped and Gwaine didn't know if it was Merlin or Arthur.
When he deigned to look up both Merlin and Arthur were looking at him with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
Arthur's face soon crumpled into anger however and his tone was biting when he asked "Was it Percy?"
Merlin chastised "Arthur!"
"Unfortunately no" Gwaine said equally biting.
Arthur leaned back in his chair then and seemed to be calculating the months, the last time they'd slept together was two months ago when they'd both gotten too drunk to forget that they were on the verge of a nasty divorce at Morgana and Merlin's boy's christening.
"Gwaine, sit down" Merlin said as he came around the desk and shot Arthur a quelling look when he made a noise of protest.
"Thankyou Merlin but there's no need. I was about to leave anyway" Gwaine gave Merlin a small smile which under the circumstances came out looking like more of a grimace.
"I want to know for sure it's mine" Arthur said and Gwaine shot him a glare that could've burned a hole into Arthur's smarmy head if he had Merlin's power.
"I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep it so you can rest easy" Gwaine said out loud even though he hadn't wanted to reveal that quite so soon to Arthur.
"If it's mine you have to keep it…it's the Royal Heir…you can't just terminate without my permission" Arthur commanded narrowing his eyes, promising retribution if Gwaine put a toe out of line.
Gwaine bristled at Arthur's tone, "I'm not one of your dog bodies you can just order about, this is my body, my problem and if I don't want it you can't force me to have it!"
This was the first time they'd seen each other in almost a month and they were already fighting and Gwaine could feel all his emotions tearing at the seams making him want to cry out loud at how unfair it all was.
"As your lawfully wedded husband you'll find that I have more than a say in whether you can get an abortion or not" Arthur informed nonchalantly.
Gwaine could feel tears prickling at his eyes and he cursed 'damn hormones' before he decided to turn and walk as quickly as he could to the door when he found he couldn't really stop the tears and didn't want to give Arthur the satisfaction of letting him see how much this was truly affecting him.
As soon as Gwaine was out of the door Merlin turned to Arthur and smacked him upside the head hard, never mind that a bodily attack to the Prince of England meant certain death.
"OWW Merlin! What was that for?"
"Like you don't bloody know you prat!"
Arthur had the grace to look atleast a little contrite but Merlin was not going to let him off the hook that easily this time.
"How can you be such a callous arsehole? He's pregnant with your baby! If nothing else that should make you a little more considerate!"
"We don't know if it's my baby for sure Merlin" Arthur said tightly and then, "And this doesn't change the fact that we were on the brink of a divorce for a long time now."
"You're still going to go through with it?" Merlin asked his tone cautious now, Arthur had the tendency to get barking mad whenever Gwaine was brought up these days. Merlin couldn't help but feel a tentative hope that the baby might bring them together again, he was little sap like that.
"I'm not sure it's in my hands anymore, he's carrying the heir to the throne Merlin…."
And Merlin knew that had a lot of implications, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Gwaine though, Merlin could only imagine how much it must suck to be in his shoes right now. And looking at Arthur whose mouth was drawn in a thin unhappy line Merlin couldn't help but feel sorry for Arthur too for he remembered how happier Arthur was once Gwaine came stumbling into his life with his ill manners and rogue charms literally.
From the first meeting their relationship was explosive and Merlin and the whole of Great Britain had watched from the sidelines at their mating dance before they finally tied the knot after two years of pretending they didn't want each other badly and madly.
And it had been…interesting so to say, to see Arthur as a married man, before Gwaine Arthur had the notorious reputation of being a bed hopper and one of those people who got cold feet the minute someone uttered the phrase settle.
Only Gwaine had always been different, always been a challenge and their marriage had yielded a lot of public scandals as people got used to seeing the Prince of England get all snarly and angry with his husband one moment and then the next they were seen snogging the hell out of each other much to the disapproval of Prince Uther Pendragon.
Amidst jealous Princess' that Arthur had offended by marrying a duke, amidst all the people disappointed that their Prince turned out to be gay and married Gwaine, amidst the thick disapproval of both of their parents, amidst the constant glare of the paparazzi Arthur and Gwaine had survived and they'd made it as unlikely as they'd all thought it would.
All of their friends had always held the opinion that they weren't going to last, they were too similar, too competitive, too stubborn and too alpha male-ish for it to work.
Morgana had said at the time to Merlin that they weren't going to last a month before they drove each other crazy or killed one another in a fit of anger.
But they'd not only made the marriage work but they were genuinely happy for five long years and after the first two years everybody had thought that they were a solid match, that they were going to be together through thick and thin and prove them all wrong till the end of time.
And then Arthur had gone to the war against Nimueh and came back only a year later and everything had changed. They'd nearly died in that war against Nimueh and her army of sorcerers but they'd survived and people changed when they went through things like that, Merlin knew for he was right by Arthur's side throughout that war missing Morgana's pregnancy and even the birth of his son for which Morgana still gave him a hard time but they'd survived and Merlin had rushed back to his wife and his new born son sure in the knowledge that they were safe now, he couldn't understand then why Arthur wasn't feeling the same mad rush to see Gwaine after a yearlong absence.
They'd both been pathetic and moping the entire time they'd been stationed at Germany, then France and then Iraq holed together in military uniforms and bunk beds and slumming together for a whole year, he'd missed Morgana like a severed limb and Arthur was no better.
It was confounding to him then that Arthur chose to return later than the others and he could still remember the abject horror on Gwaine's face at the airport when he realized Arthur wasn't with them. He'd thought Arthur was dead and everyone had chosen to keep it from him.
When Arthur finally deigned to return two months after the rest of them Gwaine understandably was none too pleased with him and everything went downhill from there.
And for the last year Gwaine and Arthur had been drifting apart so much that even the press had gotten wind of it even though both Gwaine and Arthur's PR teams tried to actively work against people finding out just how fractured their relationship was.
Merlin knew not to hope for too much but he couldn't help but think that Gwaine falling pregnant now could just about be the only thing that could salvage their broken relationship. He left Arthur who was still radiating tension off of every pore in his body.