No Emergency Exit; Merlin Modern AU
Title: No Emergency Exit (14/21)
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: Previous chapters make it NC17
Summary: Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
Author Notes: For the lovely noodlesishere; this is a modern AU based loosely off of the Abby/Luka storyline in ER series 12/13. Some medical info I have taken from ER, so it's totally their fault if it's wrong! Other stuff I researched myself, which may not be 100% correct but I tried my hardest =]
Also; totally OUT of my comfort zone with this, so I worked extra hard. Hope it pays off.
Thanks to mustbethursday3 for reading over it for me (and suggesting Costa should sponser me for mentioning it so much XD) and purely_distel for the name =]
My Merlin Prompts Table
| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
Part Fourteen
The weather held out on the sad day in September when a small collection of people gathered in Kensal Green Cemetery. It had been a simple service, with lush white lilies arranged on the coffin as it was lowered into the ground.
Mr Benjamin Simmons only family had left him alone in the world, a man with few friends; it was left to those neighbours who cared enough, to organise a ceremony to commemorate such a wonderful man,, “I’ve lived in the same building as Ben for many years. He was the one constant person in my life who would smile and wish me a good day without even knowing my name. One morning not long ago I got talking to him, I found him to be the most interesting man I’d ever met.
“He spent time in Africa as an artist. His home was full of the most exquisite paintings I’d ever seen. I’m glad to have known him. I’m glad I finally invited him into my home because now adorning my walls is one thing that will never fade away. His memory will live on in the nursery he helped to decorate. For the last few weeks, Ben Simmons made our lives a brighter place, and helped make our babies’ first memories one too. Thank you all for coming. I’m sure Mr Simmons and Mitten here would like you to raise your glasses in loving memory of a loving man.”
Gwen clasped Arthur’s hand as he finished his speech, a glass of orange juice in the other. The small gathering all raised their glasses, most of them people who had lived in the building with them. Some had been people Arthur had found the contact details of in Mr Simmons’ flat. It saddened him that some of those who appeared to be his closest friends had already passed on. Arthur had never been a religious man, but he liked to think that you passed over to somewhere and got to spend the rest of time with loved ones. It gave him hope that one day he’d get to meet his mother.
“To Benjamin Simmons. One of a kind.”
“Ben,” the congregation raised their glasses, small smiles playing on their faces.
Gwen had wanted him to meet ‘Blobby’; it was he or she that Mr Simmons had treated to his final work. She had already had the picture printed that they had taken of the three of them in the nursery by his finished painting as a memento of the man. She planned on keeping it on the windowsill that was opposite the giraffes so he could live on watching him or her grow up in the environment he had created.
They had a small buffet prepared by the staff of the local pub. Arthur had spoken to them about hosting the event and they too had shared good times with him, knowing exactly what food it would be he would want - having always ordered the same thing when he came in.
“One final thing. Ben was a fan of mixing strange combination of drinks together, according to these blokes,” he looked over to the barman and noticed the younger barman smirking, “So, in his honour, they have prepared us with some of his favourite concoctions,” he finished sceptically. The three barman came over with an array of assorted coloured liquids in taste tester glasses and rested them on the table.
Each person lifted a drink to their lips, “Bottoms up,” one of the residents laughed downing his drink in one. He grimaced, “I think Ben lost it a while ago.”
“I think you may be right,” Arthur confirmed, placing down his glass and gagging slightly, “Enjoy the food guys.”
Gwen sat at their usual table in the corner, soon joined by Arthur who had finished his hosting duties. He bought over the cat that Mr Simmons had loved so dearly and placed him down on the bench seat.
“You can’t keep him,” Gwen laughed reaching over to pet the small animal on the head.
“Damn. Actually, I was thinking of giving him to Merlin. He said something about wanting a cat, and well, with Blobby on the way, we don’t really have the room.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it,” she settled herself into his side, leaning her head against his shoulder, ”What about Benjamin?” she asked quietly with one hand resting over her black shirt.
“What was it you said about traditional names?” Arthur teased, knowing full well why she as suggesting the name in the first place. He had thought about it himself and he imagined it would be the best way to commemorate Old Man Simmons, as well as being a good name.
“I was thinking though; Benjamin doesn’t have to be shortened to Ben. We could shorted it the other way; to Jamie.”
“Jamie?” Arthur asked, he hadn’t really thought about it like that, he’d accepted Ben as a name in his head for his little boy, but Jamie worked too.
“No?” Gwen asked looking up at him with a sideways glance, she didn’t want him to deny the name, but - at the same time - if he wasn’t happy with it she didn’t want him to agree.
“I like it,” he nodded taking a sip from his pint to rid himself of the foulness of Ben’s invention.
“Yeah?”
“I think Ben would too,” Arthur smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead and smiling. It was the perfect solution, “Benjamin Ewan?”
“So you’re allowing Ewan now?” Gwen jibbed laughing into his shirt.
Arthur looped his arm around her shoulders resting his hand on her waist, allowing his fingers to gently rub over her bump, “I guess I am, yeah.”
x
When Merlin looked back at the last year of his life he couldn’t think of anything he could do differently. Living with Gwen had been a fun experience. It was like she was a second mother. She’d cook for him and do his laundry when it piled up too high and she nagged him endlessly about the state of his room.
Now she was stood at his and Morgana’s front door with a pet basket in one hand and a Tesco bag in the other.
“Hi?” he greeted and stood aside to let her in. She passed him the shopping bag and walked down the short corridor into the kitchen-lounge area. She disposed the box on the coffee table and undid the tabs that held it shut, “Gwen?”
“I have a present for you,” Merlin comically looked into the plastic bag and raised in eyebrow.
“Tinned cat food and a collar? Thanks Gwen.”
“Don’t forget the toy mouse full of cat nip.”
“Just what I always wanted,” he looked up from the bag to see Gwen now holding a grey cat against her.
“This is Mitten. He belonged to Ben,” she started to explain; “I spoke to Morgana. And we know you wanted a cat, and this little star needs a home. We all thought you might want him,” she passed the small cat to Merlin. Though fully grown the cat was still relatively small in comparison to the big tom that lived on the third floor of Merlin’s building.
“Thank you,” he said, a little bewildered as he took the cat from her. Used to being handled the cat settled in his grasp straight away, “I feel like should have something to give you in return.”
“Just look after him.”
Merlin set the cat down on the wooden floor so he could explore his new surroundings.
“Do you want a cup of tea?”
“Depends, have you got Galaxy?”
“Would I offer otherwise?” a grin cracked over Gwen’s face, reflected on Merlin’s as he set about filling the kettle.
x
Gwen giggled as she dipped her chocolate bar into the hot liquid. She had her cup of tea resting on the top of her bump, able to drink from it without lifting the cup.
“Okay, okay! Flying or telepathy?” Merlin asked her. They hadn’t played a good game of ‘Would You Rather?’ since they had lived together and he as finding it hard to come up with new questions.
“Telepathy because I’d always know what people were thinking.”
“I’d rather fly, more freedom and I like being ignorant to people’s opinions of me.”
“Like anybody dislikes you.”
“Some things you don’t need to know.”
“Diaz or Jolie?”
“Diaz.”
“I’m telling Morgana.”
“What did I do now?”
“You chose the blonde.”
“Because she’s the only brunette I want.”
“Nice cover.”
“Ten or Eleven?” his eye glinted in mischief.
Gwen whined and looked at him with wide eyes, “I can’t make that decision.”
“You have to. It’s the rules!” Gwen made a noise that could only be described as strangled desperation, “Five! Four!”
“Ah, no. That’s not fair!”
“Three! Two!”
“Ten. No Eleven. I don’t know!”
“One.”
“Ten.”
“And Smith loses to Tennant as I knew he would,” Gwen raised an eyebrow at him and licked te melted chocolate from the bar, “If you look at Arthur from a certain angle and when he has a certain expression on his face he looks like him,” Gwen’s eyebrow went higher, “He does!”
“No he doesn’t.”
“Sure he does,” Gwen laughed again, taking a sip from her cup only to have it dibble down her chin slightly because Blobby had taken that moment to kick the heated patch. She lifted her mug and rubbed her hand over the spot. Merlin shifted and placed his hand under Gwen’s.
“Once upon a time Mum was convinced that this would be us. Even when I was with Morgana,” he grinned as Blobby kicked his hand like it was the first time he’d felt it.
“You live with someone and they all think there is something going on.”
Merlin laughed, “Wouldn’t want you anyway,” Gwen’s jaw dropped, she looked offend (very over-the-top so) and she batted him around the back of the head, “Hey, Arthur would kill me, it’s nothing personal!”
x
Arthur Pendragon had found it increasingly harder to sleep since he’d learnt that he was to become a father. The closer December came the more worried he became. He knew the chances of complications in childbirth was a lot less than when he was born, and he knew all the complications and possibilities of things going wrong, but I didn’t stop him from panicking.
Tonight was a blissful night in which the young doctor found himself rendered able to sleep and he very much approved of the needed rest. What he disapproved of, however, was the light now shining in his eyes from Gwen turning on the bedside lamp and shifting purposefully beside him.
“Arthur, wake up,” she poked him in the arm repetitively until he showed signs of life. He shifted, laying an arm across his eyes.
“Mmm?” he managed sleepily, trying to ignore his pending chore which no doubt would have him leaving the house for some reason or another.
“I’m hungry,” she pestered shaking his arm in order to bring him back to reality, “I’m going over to Martyn’s.”
“We have food in the fridge,” he mumbled turning over to face away from the light and to let sleep take him. She could have left him sleeping and left him a note in case he woke up, but she had to tell him. Like she had the last few nights.
“But I want one of Martyn’s pasta bakes,” again. They were going to get tired of them going in pretty much every night. They were already finding it amusing.
“It’s gone eleven, they’re closed,” he mumbled trying his hardest to catch the sleep train that was about the leave the station, as it were.
“But it’s Saturday night, they stay open until one,” She pushed her feet into her flats and grabbed out for her jumper against the late night chill.
He sighed, “Fine. I’ll be back,” he pushed himself up and out of bed, pulling on his old trainers over sockless feet and headed for the door only grabbing a hoodie to put on over his bare top half.
“It’s fine I can go myself,” she said checking her purse for money and stepping off towards the door. Arthur rolled his eyes and stepped in front of her path. He took a hold of her shoulders and turned her back towards the bed.
“Anything else?” he asked before legging it.
“One of their chocolate milkshakes, with extra cream?” she smiled to herself and settled back into her pillows and kicked off her shoes.
“Right. Give me ten minutes,” he left their bedroom and grabbed his door keys on his way out of the flat. This was the third time he had been sent on the same errand in the last week. Only this time it was later than the last two. He didn’t mind treating her and he didn’t mind doing things for her, but for the first time in near five months since finding out he was going to be a father he had been sleeping soundly and she had interrupted. He told himself he loved her. He reminded himself of what he had bought that very morning and he jogged down the street to the pub on the corner.
Paul was behind the bar when he entered the otherwise empty pub. He looked positively bored but brightened considerably at the thought of company. He chuckled heartily when he noticed the putout look on Arthur’s face.
“She can’t be that bad, mate,” he laughed readying himself for action knowing exactly what it was he was going to ask for.
“It’s alright for her; she can sleep soundly once she’s had this. I’ll be tossing and turning all night now,” Arthur complained as he approached the bar.
“Well that’s love for you, ain’t it?” he chortled, unfailing smile on his face. He scooped the ice cream for the shake into the blender and poured in some milk along with a few squares of a chocolate bar before he turned on the power, “I’ll just go grab you a dish.”
“Thanks,” Arthur slumped onto one of the bar stools fiddling with his keys as the small machine whirled with the milk, mixing it with the chocolate ice cream and other ridiculously chocolatey items that the barman had thrown in. How Gwen could drink it he would never know; the thought of it made him feel a bit sick. He watched the liquid violently dance around the container constantly mixing and shuddered.
“You look like you could do with a pint, mate,” the blonde barman remarked as he handed over a dish with a portion of the vegetarian bake in it for Arthur to heat up when he got back to the flat. Pressing two buttons he could just about manage on his own without burning the flat down and the pub had already given him the cling film.
“Better not, she’s expecting me,” he sighed as he eyed the pump of his favourite drink. No, he’d better not. She’d know and then she’d get annoyed because he’d not hurried. Even though Paul looked positively pitiful sat on his own; the excuse would never fly.
“Here you go,” he offered him a take away cup, ones they had gotten in the last few days just for Arthur, full of the chocolate milkshake.
“Cheers, can you add it to the tab? I forgot my wallet,” he said as he reached into the front pocket of his hoodie with a slight grimace. Luckily he knew the guys at the bar trusted him, and if all else failed they did know where he lived.
“Sure, we’ll be seeing you tomorrow, I bet,” the barman laughed again, how he could continue to be happy all the time Arthur had no idea, but it certainly helped.
“Oh, you can count on it,” both men laughed as Arthur prised himself from the stool and headed for the exit, “Thanks again.”
“Any time,” the barman smiled grabbing the remote for the CD player and hitting the volume up button. At least Arthur could see how he was going to pass some of the time. Still it wasn’t like he had long left before closing and he only lived upstairs once he was finished anyway.
x
Arthur ran back up the few flights of stairs and into the flat. Gwen hadn’t gotten back out of bed. Knowing his luck in the ten minutes he had been gone she’d have fallen back to sleep and when he nudged her awake to eat she’d not be hungry anymore. At least he’d then had the meal to present her with later on.
He popped the ceramic dish into the microwave, whacked the few buttons and left it to heat up before he approached the bedroom door with the take away cup.
To his surprise she was still awake, just led back against the head board with a book in her hands. Not something she had been reading before so he assumed she’d foraged about on the bookcase whilst he’d be gone.
“Here you go: one chocolate milkshake. Bake is in the micro.”
“Thank you,” she beamed, discarding the book immediately and reaching out to accept the shake from him. He collapsed down into his side of the bed and toed off his shoes, leaving himself in his hoodie and sleeping joggers.
“You’re lucky,” he mumbled as he buried his head into his pillow not wanting to get up again.
“Why?”
“Because, if I didn’t love you so much, I could just make you sod off to Martyn’s on your own,” he laughed pulling the duvet cover over himself wanting sleep to take him before the microwave sounded.
“That would be mean, making me go on my own,” she pouted, but he had his eyes shut so was blind to her complaints.
“All the way to the corner,” he mumbled sleepily.
“Exactly,” she laughed. She sucked on her straw and watched as Arthur cuddled into his pillows. The microwave beeped. She frowned, she was warm, and cosy and she really didn’t want to move, and Arthur still had his jumper on, “Arthur,” she poked him again. He grunted, “Arthur.”
“Mhmm?”
“Can you get me the bake from the microwave?” he groaned and buried his head into his pillow further, “Please?” he opened one eye to look up at her and her innocent expression.
“Fine,” he closed his eye again and remained stationary. Gwen prodded him violently in the ribs, “Okay, okay. Christ alive, I’m going!” he rolled off of their bed and headed for the door at a sluggish pace.
“Love you,” Gwen called out with an impish grin on her face, straw still between her lips.
“Yeah, yeah.”
x
Lavender candles burned at the other end of the tub filling the room with the relaxing scent, enough to make Gwen want to fall asleep in the water. She was warm, with the hot water working at the muscles in her aching feet and soothing them. With Arthur as a human pillow she was more than comfortable. The bath was big enough to comfortably fit two people in; a luxury that came with having a little money to spare.
She sighed, letting the tension from the days work leave her. Her tense muscles steadily relaxed.
Arthur cupped his hand in the bubbling water, emptying the contents over his girlfriends protruding stomach. He ran his other hand over the exposed bump, tracing his fingers over her skin.
Gwen took his hand, moving it to hold it over a particular spot. Arthur felt it. The baby, be it a boy or a girl was kicking and hard at that. Arthur grinned, though he had felt it so many times before, it never stopped making him feel like the happiest person in the world, feeling that under his hand gave him such joy.
“I think we’ve got a footie player right there,” Arthur said into the nape of Gwen’s neck before placing a kiss to the wet skin.
“Rugby,” she argued, turned her head so she could look him in the face.
“Both?”
“That’s more like it,” she pressed a swift kiss to his lips before relaxing into the water once again, “The sooner this child of yours is born, the sooner I can see my feet and the sooner I can walk for more than five minutes without getting backache the better,” she complained, though her tone was tranquil.
“Sit up a sec,” Gwen frowned, following his orders and budging forwards in the water. She tensed when she felt Arthur’s hands reach her shoulders, gently massaging his thumbs into her muscles, “Just relax.”
She dropped her shoulders and allowed him to work at the knots in her muscles for a few minutes, gently splashing the water over the skin of her upper arms to keep them warm.
When he was done, he pressed a kiss to the base of her neck and slipped back into the water, gently guiding Gwen to lie against his torso, “Better?”
“Much,” she closed her eyes in contentment, lolling her head to rest her cheek on his water slick skin. She felt his arm shift, reaching out of the bath but she didn’t open her eyes. The warmth of the water relaxing her enough to lull her to sleep gently as the bubbles gently worked against her skin.
Arthur shifted his shirt and reached into the pocket of his jeans pulling out a small velvet box; one that he had kept on his person for the last couple of weeks.
Arthur pressed a tender kiss to her temple, Gwen leant into the touch with a smile on her face, “Marry me,” Arthur said quietly into her ear. She opened her eyes at his words. She shot him down in the past but now was different, “I know you only want one life changing thing at a time, but I love you. What happened with Ben, with my own mother, it made me realise I could lose you, both of you, at any time. I don’t want to lose you without you knowing that you’re everything to me.
“We don’t have to get married right away. I don’t care how long we wait, just as long as you’re mine,” Now they weren’t inhaling paint fumes. Now they were blissfully laying in a bath being the most relaxed they’d been in over seven months. Now he was holding out the most intricate piece of jewellery Gwen had ever seen.
In the month since Arthur had last posed the question to her life had moved on. Everything he’d said were things she couldn’t deny. She’d witnessed friendship be taken away faster than they were made. She knew she didn’t want to lose what she had. Arthur had never known his mother, and although he felt at a loss, Gwen had experienced losing her own mother first hand. She could remember exactly how she’d felt and she never wanted to feel it again.
“Arthur,” she managed as her jaw dropped, speechless. She turned her body as much as her bump would allow and looked him in the face. There, in that one look, she knew her answer. She’d known that he loved her, and Alexandria Jamie Amelia Ewan, more than anything but never had seen the serenity on his face. The sincerity of his actions and his words was enough to overwhelm anyone. She’d always been so good at throwing off his over-the-top advances in the past but somehow this time she couldn’t.
She couldn’t shift the grin from her face and she didn’t want to. She leant forwards capturing his lips for an answer. Arthur pulled the ring from the velvet box, dropping the container by the side of the bath. Gwen slipped back around in his embrace, her left hand in mid air. Arthur slipped the band over her wet finger, lifting the appendage to his mouth and kissing it gently.
“I love you,” he said into her hair, gently resting his right hand over hers where the Baby had kicked earlier.
“I love you too,” he kissed her on cheek, holding her tightly, smile on his face and his family within his embrace. This was it; this was the life he had envisaged since he was seventeen years old.
It was so much more than he had ever imagined. He’d never known then what love felt like, but now he did. It was all consuming and although his job left him with a satisfaction having saved people’s lives, knowing he would come home to the one girl in the world he had always wanted added a bounce to his step.
END NOTE: So please don't kill me... I'm hoping the end makes up for the beginning...
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: Previous chapters make it NC17
Summary: Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
Author Notes: For the lovely noodlesishere; this is a modern AU based loosely off of the Abby/Luka storyline in ER series 12/13. Some medical info I have taken from ER, so it's totally their fault if it's wrong! Other stuff I researched myself, which may not be 100% correct but I tried my hardest =]
Also; totally OUT of my comfort zone with this, so I worked extra hard. Hope it pays off.
Thanks to mustbethursday3 for reading over it for me (and suggesting Costa should sponser me for mentioning it so much XD) and purely_distel for the name =]
My Merlin Prompts Table
| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
Part Fourteen
The weather held out on the sad day in September when a small collection of people gathered in Kensal Green Cemetery. It had been a simple service, with lush white lilies arranged on the coffin as it was lowered into the ground.
Mr Benjamin Simmons only family had left him alone in the world, a man with few friends; it was left to those neighbours who cared enough, to organise a ceremony to commemorate such a wonderful man,, “I’ve lived in the same building as Ben for many years. He was the one constant person in my life who would smile and wish me a good day without even knowing my name. One morning not long ago I got talking to him, I found him to be the most interesting man I’d ever met.
“He spent time in Africa as an artist. His home was full of the most exquisite paintings I’d ever seen. I’m glad to have known him. I’m glad I finally invited him into my home because now adorning my walls is one thing that will never fade away. His memory will live on in the nursery he helped to decorate. For the last few weeks, Ben Simmons made our lives a brighter place, and helped make our babies’ first memories one too. Thank you all for coming. I’m sure Mr Simmons and Mitten here would like you to raise your glasses in loving memory of a loving man.”
Gwen clasped Arthur’s hand as he finished his speech, a glass of orange juice in the other. The small gathering all raised their glasses, most of them people who had lived in the building with them. Some had been people Arthur had found the contact details of in Mr Simmons’ flat. It saddened him that some of those who appeared to be his closest friends had already passed on. Arthur had never been a religious man, but he liked to think that you passed over to somewhere and got to spend the rest of time with loved ones. It gave him hope that one day he’d get to meet his mother.
“To Benjamin Simmons. One of a kind.”
“Ben,” the congregation raised their glasses, small smiles playing on their faces.
Gwen had wanted him to meet ‘Blobby’; it was he or she that Mr Simmons had treated to his final work. She had already had the picture printed that they had taken of the three of them in the nursery by his finished painting as a memento of the man. She planned on keeping it on the windowsill that was opposite the giraffes so he could live on watching him or her grow up in the environment he had created.
They had a small buffet prepared by the staff of the local pub. Arthur had spoken to them about hosting the event and they too had shared good times with him, knowing exactly what food it would be he would want - having always ordered the same thing when he came in.
“One final thing. Ben was a fan of mixing strange combination of drinks together, according to these blokes,” he looked over to the barman and noticed the younger barman smirking, “So, in his honour, they have prepared us with some of his favourite concoctions,” he finished sceptically. The three barman came over with an array of assorted coloured liquids in taste tester glasses and rested them on the table.
Each person lifted a drink to their lips, “Bottoms up,” one of the residents laughed downing his drink in one. He grimaced, “I think Ben lost it a while ago.”
“I think you may be right,” Arthur confirmed, placing down his glass and gagging slightly, “Enjoy the food guys.”
Gwen sat at their usual table in the corner, soon joined by Arthur who had finished his hosting duties. He bought over the cat that Mr Simmons had loved so dearly and placed him down on the bench seat.
“You can’t keep him,” Gwen laughed reaching over to pet the small animal on the head.
“Damn. Actually, I was thinking of giving him to Merlin. He said something about wanting a cat, and well, with Blobby on the way, we don’t really have the room.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it,” she settled herself into his side, leaning her head against his shoulder, ”What about Benjamin?” she asked quietly with one hand resting over her black shirt.
“What was it you said about traditional names?” Arthur teased, knowing full well why she as suggesting the name in the first place. He had thought about it himself and he imagined it would be the best way to commemorate Old Man Simmons, as well as being a good name.
“I was thinking though; Benjamin doesn’t have to be shortened to Ben. We could shorted it the other way; to Jamie.”
“Jamie?” Arthur asked, he hadn’t really thought about it like that, he’d accepted Ben as a name in his head for his little boy, but Jamie worked too.
“No?” Gwen asked looking up at him with a sideways glance, she didn’t want him to deny the name, but - at the same time - if he wasn’t happy with it she didn’t want him to agree.
“I like it,” he nodded taking a sip from his pint to rid himself of the foulness of Ben’s invention.
“Yeah?”
“I think Ben would too,” Arthur smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead and smiling. It was the perfect solution, “Benjamin Ewan?”
“So you’re allowing Ewan now?” Gwen jibbed laughing into his shirt.
Arthur looped his arm around her shoulders resting his hand on her waist, allowing his fingers to gently rub over her bump, “I guess I am, yeah.”
x
When Merlin looked back at the last year of his life he couldn’t think of anything he could do differently. Living with Gwen had been a fun experience. It was like she was a second mother. She’d cook for him and do his laundry when it piled up too high and she nagged him endlessly about the state of his room.
Now she was stood at his and Morgana’s front door with a pet basket in one hand and a Tesco bag in the other.
“Hi?” he greeted and stood aside to let her in. She passed him the shopping bag and walked down the short corridor into the kitchen-lounge area. She disposed the box on the coffee table and undid the tabs that held it shut, “Gwen?”
“I have a present for you,” Merlin comically looked into the plastic bag and raised in eyebrow.
“Tinned cat food and a collar? Thanks Gwen.”
“Don’t forget the toy mouse full of cat nip.”
“Just what I always wanted,” he looked up from the bag to see Gwen now holding a grey cat against her.
“This is Mitten. He belonged to Ben,” she started to explain; “I spoke to Morgana. And we know you wanted a cat, and this little star needs a home. We all thought you might want him,” she passed the small cat to Merlin. Though fully grown the cat was still relatively small in comparison to the big tom that lived on the third floor of Merlin’s building.
“Thank you,” he said, a little bewildered as he took the cat from her. Used to being handled the cat settled in his grasp straight away, “I feel like should have something to give you in return.”
“Just look after him.”
Merlin set the cat down on the wooden floor so he could explore his new surroundings.
“Do you want a cup of tea?”
“Depends, have you got Galaxy?”
“Would I offer otherwise?” a grin cracked over Gwen’s face, reflected on Merlin’s as he set about filling the kettle.
x
Gwen giggled as she dipped her chocolate bar into the hot liquid. She had her cup of tea resting on the top of her bump, able to drink from it without lifting the cup.
“Okay, okay! Flying or telepathy?” Merlin asked her. They hadn’t played a good game of ‘Would You Rather?’ since they had lived together and he as finding it hard to come up with new questions.
“Telepathy because I’d always know what people were thinking.”
“I’d rather fly, more freedom and I like being ignorant to people’s opinions of me.”
“Like anybody dislikes you.”
“Some things you don’t need to know.”
“Diaz or Jolie?”
“Diaz.”
“I’m telling Morgana.”
“What did I do now?”
“You chose the blonde.”
“Because she’s the only brunette I want.”
“Nice cover.”
“Ten or Eleven?” his eye glinted in mischief.
Gwen whined and looked at him with wide eyes, “I can’t make that decision.”
“You have to. It’s the rules!” Gwen made a noise that could only be described as strangled desperation, “Five! Four!”
“Ah, no. That’s not fair!”
“Three! Two!”
“Ten. No Eleven. I don’t know!”
“One.”
“Ten.”
“And Smith loses to Tennant as I knew he would,” Gwen raised an eyebrow at him and licked te melted chocolate from the bar, “If you look at Arthur from a certain angle and when he has a certain expression on his face he looks like him,” Gwen’s eyebrow went higher, “He does!”
“No he doesn’t.”
“Sure he does,” Gwen laughed again, taking a sip from her cup only to have it dibble down her chin slightly because Blobby had taken that moment to kick the heated patch. She lifted her mug and rubbed her hand over the spot. Merlin shifted and placed his hand under Gwen’s.
“Once upon a time Mum was convinced that this would be us. Even when I was with Morgana,” he grinned as Blobby kicked his hand like it was the first time he’d felt it.
“You live with someone and they all think there is something going on.”
Merlin laughed, “Wouldn’t want you anyway,” Gwen’s jaw dropped, she looked offend (very over-the-top so) and she batted him around the back of the head, “Hey, Arthur would kill me, it’s nothing personal!”
x
Arthur Pendragon had found it increasingly harder to sleep since he’d learnt that he was to become a father. The closer December came the more worried he became. He knew the chances of complications in childbirth was a lot less than when he was born, and he knew all the complications and possibilities of things going wrong, but I didn’t stop him from panicking.
Tonight was a blissful night in which the young doctor found himself rendered able to sleep and he very much approved of the needed rest. What he disapproved of, however, was the light now shining in his eyes from Gwen turning on the bedside lamp and shifting purposefully beside him.
“Arthur, wake up,” she poked him in the arm repetitively until he showed signs of life. He shifted, laying an arm across his eyes.
“Mmm?” he managed sleepily, trying to ignore his pending chore which no doubt would have him leaving the house for some reason or another.
“I’m hungry,” she pestered shaking his arm in order to bring him back to reality, “I’m going over to Martyn’s.”
“We have food in the fridge,” he mumbled turning over to face away from the light and to let sleep take him. She could have left him sleeping and left him a note in case he woke up, but she had to tell him. Like she had the last few nights.
“But I want one of Martyn’s pasta bakes,” again. They were going to get tired of them going in pretty much every night. They were already finding it amusing.
“It’s gone eleven, they’re closed,” he mumbled trying his hardest to catch the sleep train that was about the leave the station, as it were.
“But it’s Saturday night, they stay open until one,” She pushed her feet into her flats and grabbed out for her jumper against the late night chill.
He sighed, “Fine. I’ll be back,” he pushed himself up and out of bed, pulling on his old trainers over sockless feet and headed for the door only grabbing a hoodie to put on over his bare top half.
“It’s fine I can go myself,” she said checking her purse for money and stepping off towards the door. Arthur rolled his eyes and stepped in front of her path. He took a hold of her shoulders and turned her back towards the bed.
“Anything else?” he asked before legging it.
“One of their chocolate milkshakes, with extra cream?” she smiled to herself and settled back into her pillows and kicked off her shoes.
“Right. Give me ten minutes,” he left their bedroom and grabbed his door keys on his way out of the flat. This was the third time he had been sent on the same errand in the last week. Only this time it was later than the last two. He didn’t mind treating her and he didn’t mind doing things for her, but for the first time in near five months since finding out he was going to be a father he had been sleeping soundly and she had interrupted. He told himself he loved her. He reminded himself of what he had bought that very morning and he jogged down the street to the pub on the corner.
Paul was behind the bar when he entered the otherwise empty pub. He looked positively bored but brightened considerably at the thought of company. He chuckled heartily when he noticed the putout look on Arthur’s face.
“She can’t be that bad, mate,” he laughed readying himself for action knowing exactly what it was he was going to ask for.
“It’s alright for her; she can sleep soundly once she’s had this. I’ll be tossing and turning all night now,” Arthur complained as he approached the bar.
“Well that’s love for you, ain’t it?” he chortled, unfailing smile on his face. He scooped the ice cream for the shake into the blender and poured in some milk along with a few squares of a chocolate bar before he turned on the power, “I’ll just go grab you a dish.”
“Thanks,” Arthur slumped onto one of the bar stools fiddling with his keys as the small machine whirled with the milk, mixing it with the chocolate ice cream and other ridiculously chocolatey items that the barman had thrown in. How Gwen could drink it he would never know; the thought of it made him feel a bit sick. He watched the liquid violently dance around the container constantly mixing and shuddered.
“You look like you could do with a pint, mate,” the blonde barman remarked as he handed over a dish with a portion of the vegetarian bake in it for Arthur to heat up when he got back to the flat. Pressing two buttons he could just about manage on his own without burning the flat down and the pub had already given him the cling film.
“Better not, she’s expecting me,” he sighed as he eyed the pump of his favourite drink. No, he’d better not. She’d know and then she’d get annoyed because he’d not hurried. Even though Paul looked positively pitiful sat on his own; the excuse would never fly.
“Here you go,” he offered him a take away cup, ones they had gotten in the last few days just for Arthur, full of the chocolate milkshake.
“Cheers, can you add it to the tab? I forgot my wallet,” he said as he reached into the front pocket of his hoodie with a slight grimace. Luckily he knew the guys at the bar trusted him, and if all else failed they did know where he lived.
“Sure, we’ll be seeing you tomorrow, I bet,” the barman laughed again, how he could continue to be happy all the time Arthur had no idea, but it certainly helped.
“Oh, you can count on it,” both men laughed as Arthur prised himself from the stool and headed for the exit, “Thanks again.”
“Any time,” the barman smiled grabbing the remote for the CD player and hitting the volume up button. At least Arthur could see how he was going to pass some of the time. Still it wasn’t like he had long left before closing and he only lived upstairs once he was finished anyway.
x
Arthur ran back up the few flights of stairs and into the flat. Gwen hadn’t gotten back out of bed. Knowing his luck in the ten minutes he had been gone she’d have fallen back to sleep and when he nudged her awake to eat she’d not be hungry anymore. At least he’d then had the meal to present her with later on.
He popped the ceramic dish into the microwave, whacked the few buttons and left it to heat up before he approached the bedroom door with the take away cup.
To his surprise she was still awake, just led back against the head board with a book in her hands. Not something she had been reading before so he assumed she’d foraged about on the bookcase whilst he’d be gone.
“Here you go: one chocolate milkshake. Bake is in the micro.”
“Thank you,” she beamed, discarding the book immediately and reaching out to accept the shake from him. He collapsed down into his side of the bed and toed off his shoes, leaving himself in his hoodie and sleeping joggers.
“You’re lucky,” he mumbled as he buried his head into his pillow not wanting to get up again.
“Why?”
“Because, if I didn’t love you so much, I could just make you sod off to Martyn’s on your own,” he laughed pulling the duvet cover over himself wanting sleep to take him before the microwave sounded.
“That would be mean, making me go on my own,” she pouted, but he had his eyes shut so was blind to her complaints.
“All the way to the corner,” he mumbled sleepily.
“Exactly,” she laughed. She sucked on her straw and watched as Arthur cuddled into his pillows. The microwave beeped. She frowned, she was warm, and cosy and she really didn’t want to move, and Arthur still had his jumper on, “Arthur,” she poked him again. He grunted, “Arthur.”
“Mhmm?”
“Can you get me the bake from the microwave?” he groaned and buried his head into his pillow further, “Please?” he opened one eye to look up at her and her innocent expression.
“Fine,” he closed his eye again and remained stationary. Gwen prodded him violently in the ribs, “Okay, okay. Christ alive, I’m going!” he rolled off of their bed and headed for the door at a sluggish pace.
“Love you,” Gwen called out with an impish grin on her face, straw still between her lips.
“Yeah, yeah.”
x
Lavender candles burned at the other end of the tub filling the room with the relaxing scent, enough to make Gwen want to fall asleep in the water. She was warm, with the hot water working at the muscles in her aching feet and soothing them. With Arthur as a human pillow she was more than comfortable. The bath was big enough to comfortably fit two people in; a luxury that came with having a little money to spare.
She sighed, letting the tension from the days work leave her. Her tense muscles steadily relaxed.
Arthur cupped his hand in the bubbling water, emptying the contents over his girlfriends protruding stomach. He ran his other hand over the exposed bump, tracing his fingers over her skin.
Gwen took his hand, moving it to hold it over a particular spot. Arthur felt it. The baby, be it a boy or a girl was kicking and hard at that. Arthur grinned, though he had felt it so many times before, it never stopped making him feel like the happiest person in the world, feeling that under his hand gave him such joy.
“I think we’ve got a footie player right there,” Arthur said into the nape of Gwen’s neck before placing a kiss to the wet skin.
“Rugby,” she argued, turned her head so she could look him in the face.
“Both?”
“That’s more like it,” she pressed a swift kiss to his lips before relaxing into the water once again, “The sooner this child of yours is born, the sooner I can see my feet and the sooner I can walk for more than five minutes without getting backache the better,” she complained, though her tone was tranquil.
“Sit up a sec,” Gwen frowned, following his orders and budging forwards in the water. She tensed when she felt Arthur’s hands reach her shoulders, gently massaging his thumbs into her muscles, “Just relax.”
She dropped her shoulders and allowed him to work at the knots in her muscles for a few minutes, gently splashing the water over the skin of her upper arms to keep them warm.
When he was done, he pressed a kiss to the base of her neck and slipped back into the water, gently guiding Gwen to lie against his torso, “Better?”
“Much,” she closed her eyes in contentment, lolling her head to rest her cheek on his water slick skin. She felt his arm shift, reaching out of the bath but she didn’t open her eyes. The warmth of the water relaxing her enough to lull her to sleep gently as the bubbles gently worked against her skin.
Arthur shifted his shirt and reached into the pocket of his jeans pulling out a small velvet box; one that he had kept on his person for the last couple of weeks.
Arthur pressed a tender kiss to her temple, Gwen leant into the touch with a smile on her face, “Marry me,” Arthur said quietly into her ear. She opened her eyes at his words. She shot him down in the past but now was different, “I know you only want one life changing thing at a time, but I love you. What happened with Ben, with my own mother, it made me realise I could lose you, both of you, at any time. I don’t want to lose you without you knowing that you’re everything to me.
“We don’t have to get married right away. I don’t care how long we wait, just as long as you’re mine,” Now they weren’t inhaling paint fumes. Now they were blissfully laying in a bath being the most relaxed they’d been in over seven months. Now he was holding out the most intricate piece of jewellery Gwen had ever seen.
In the month since Arthur had last posed the question to her life had moved on. Everything he’d said were things she couldn’t deny. She’d witnessed friendship be taken away faster than they were made. She knew she didn’t want to lose what she had. Arthur had never known his mother, and although he felt at a loss, Gwen had experienced losing her own mother first hand. She could remember exactly how she’d felt and she never wanted to feel it again.
“Arthur,” she managed as her jaw dropped, speechless. She turned her body as much as her bump would allow and looked him in the face. There, in that one look, she knew her answer. She’d known that he loved her, and Alexandria Jamie Amelia Ewan, more than anything but never had seen the serenity on his face. The sincerity of his actions and his words was enough to overwhelm anyone. She’d always been so good at throwing off his over-the-top advances in the past but somehow this time she couldn’t.
She couldn’t shift the grin from her face and she didn’t want to. She leant forwards capturing his lips for an answer. Arthur pulled the ring from the velvet box, dropping the container by the side of the bath. Gwen slipped back around in his embrace, her left hand in mid air. Arthur slipped the band over her wet finger, lifting the appendage to his mouth and kissing it gently.
“I love you,” he said into her hair, gently resting his right hand over hers where the Baby had kicked earlier.
“I love you too,” he kissed her on cheek, holding her tightly, smile on his face and his family within his embrace. This was it; this was the life he had envisaged since he was seventeen years old.
It was so much more than he had ever imagined. He’d never known then what love felt like, but now he did. It was all consuming and although his job left him with a satisfaction having saved people’s lives, knowing he would come home to the one girl in the world he had always wanted added a bounce to his step.
END NOTE: So please don't kill me... I'm hoping the end makes up for the beginning...