He had his fingers running through his hair, elbows on his knees. He looked down at the ground of his bedroom, still in shock of what Gaius had just diagnosed him with. How could this be happening? What was Merlin going to do?

/

Ever since his last encounter with Morgana, the incident of the Fomorroh, Merlin hadn't been feeling quite himself. First, he was just tired and not as enthusiastic as he used to be. Then, he began to lose his appetite and started to get headaches. Gaius, the father-figure in his life, definitely noticed all the changes.

By then, Gaius, and even Arthur a bit, was already getting quite concerned. That was before Merlin started vomiting. He also started feeling that something was deeply wrong with him. It felt like the throwing up was progressively getting worse. Of course, Gaius was worried and gave him some medicine to calm his stomach.

Unfortunately, the medication hadn't been very much help. Arthur was wondering why his usually bright servant was becoming less and less healthy and friendly as he used to be. Merlin couldn't help but make a few hilarious snide remarks, but Arthur thought they felt forced. He wasn't stupid. Merlin knew he was sick, but wouldn't acknowledge it, at least to Arthur.

After the charade went on for around a month, Gaius had had enough. Merlin was lying in his room, reading his spellbook. Gaius opened the door, walking to stand right where Merlin was. Merlin looked up from the book and said, "What?"

Gaius cleared his throat, a bit nervous to be the first to point out Merlin's changes.

"You've been sick for a few weeks now. Don't you think I should check on you?"

Merlin's eyes veered to the side, mouth open. "I guess."

Merlin sat up and took his shirt off, as Gaius had told just him to do.

"Does your stomach hurt other than throwing up?"

Merlin shook his head slowly. "Nothing except cramps every now and then and I feel pretty nauseous lately."

"Hmmm," Gaius said while nodding. "Lay down on your back. I need to see if it could be a cancerous tumor."

Merlin's eyes widened, but he did as told. "What are chances that it's cancer?"

Gaius inhaled sharply while pursing his lips and rocked backward a small bit. "It's the only possibility I can think of. Have you been feeling sad or numb from emotion lately?"

Merlin shook his head 'no'.

"Then it can't be depression. I'd say the chance of cancer is about 90%."

Gaius placed both of his hands on Merlin's stomach, feeling for a tumor. Merlin would find the situation awkward if he wasn't so frightened, and he was well aware that Gaius was an experienced physician.

"There isn't a tumor but-" Gaius frowned, which ended the small feeling of relief that flowed over Merlin.

"What is it, Gaius?"

Gaius pressed a hand harder into Merlin's stomach, causing him to scrunch up his nose for a moment.

"There's something there," he answered, still frowning. Suddenly, Gaius pulled back, a look of surprise pasted on his face.

"What? Gaius, what's wrong?" He was terrified of Gaius's next words.

"Merlin, you're pregnant."

/

Merlin looked down at his stomach, where a small bump was present. Because of how slender he was, it wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone, including Gaius. Merlin, however, knew his shape at normal, and this wasn't it. He, and probably Gaius as well, knew this was most likely the work of Morgana.

'Man, Arthur is going to laugh in hysterics when he found out.' Merlin smiled at the thought.

Arthur

How was he supposed to tell the king, his best friend, that he was with child? Maybe… Maybe he shouldn't. Merlin knew Arthur cared about him, even if he was only a servant. If Arthur found out, he would release Merlin from his job immediately, and he'd be unemployed. Merlin made his decision.

When it was almost noticeable, Merlin would tell Arthur the truth, but he'd say he had only just found out. He wanted to keep his job for as long as he could. To Merlin, his job was an escape. It had nothing to do with pride of being the king's servant. Arthur was his only true friend, aside from Gaius and Gwen. Merlin put his shirt back on.

According to the old physician, he was only about a month and a half along. 7 ½ months of hell were ahead.

"Gaius?" Merlin shouted.

"Yes, Merlin? Is there something you need?"

Merlin frowned at the phrase. It was foreign to him, a servant. "Can we keep this between just us, for now?"

"Of course." Gaius began to leave the room. He stopped at the doorway. "You know, you ought to tell Arthur. He'll find out eventually." Gaius walked the rest of the way out of the room.

'Not yet…' Merling thought.

/

Arthur lay in his bed, thinking about important things, among unimportant things. There was one object that most would consider on the left side, but was much more meaningful to the king. Merlin.

Merlin had been loyal to him since they met. Arthur loved him, not romantically, but they were bonded. If they had been in the same status, he was sure they would be the best of friends. He normally wouldn't think about Merlin very much, only when he was being the person that astonished him. He had come to notice, though, that Merlin had been acting different. Arthur's only hope was that there was nothing horribly wrong.

The only reason he hadn't said anything was because Merlin had never been very open about his feelings. He decided it had been long enough. Arthur decided it was time to ask. 'Tomorrow' he thought as he drifted to sleep.

/

Merlin woke to the extreme need to vomit. He ran to a bucket in the main room. Merlin emptied the contents of his stomach into that unfortunate bucket. For the first time since Merlin began to feel ill, Gaius was at his side. It was early in the morning, but Merlin was aware he had to wake Arthur in a matter of minutes.

"Damn," he said in between throwing up. Merlin tried to swallow down the bile and stand up, already making his way to the door.

"Merlin, wait. You can't just go walking around!" Gaius objected. Merlin ignored.

Still struggling to avoid throwing up, Merlin ran down the corridor and into Arthur's room. He pulled back the curtains, unable to say anything cheerful to get Arthur to wake, but alas, he woke anyway. "Merlin?" He thought about what he was thinking about as he fell asleep. "No 'Rise and shine.'?"

Merlin normally would've smiled, but instead, he just looked to the ground and shook his head. He was trying to temporarily suppress the morning sickness until he was able to speak and excuse himself.

Arthur stopped moving and trying to get out of bed. "Merlin? Anything wrong?"

Merlin made a face and cleared his throat. "May I be excused for a moment, sire?" he politely asked before promptly running out.

"Merlin?" Arthur called after, jumping out of bed after him. He found Merlin puking into an old bucket in the armory. "Merlin?" he said again. Merlin turned his head toward Arthur for a moment before having to puke again. Arthur wasn't sure exactly what to do. He figure Gaius would be a good resource, so he was off to Gaius's chambers.

In a matter of minutes, Gaius was once again by Merlin's side. He leaned to Merlin's ear, ignoring the smell. "Stupid boy. You shouldn't even be working."

Arthur dressed himself that day. He never did get a chance to ask Merlin what exactly was wrong. 'There was always tomorrow,' he thought.

/

"Tomorrow" never happened. There was always an excuse as to why the two couldn't talk, he realized. No wonder they didn't get along as well as they could.

Today, however, the morning sickness came later than it should've once again. Merlin awoke even before it started, Gaius already sitting at the table. They smiled at eachother, Merlin's brighter. "I think it might be over," Merlin beamed.

Gaius frowned. "That can't be. If that's true, this might be an accelerated pregnancy."

"Come on, Gaius. Can't I just be happy for the moment?"

Gaius sighed. "Merlin, it's about time you tell Arthur. You're 3 ½ months pregnant now. Do you really want him to find out from someone else?"

Merlin's smile faded. "Do I really have to? Would Arthur really want to find out his manservant is pregnant because of magic? He could fire me!"

Gaius scoffed. "He'd never fire you! Even if he did, you shouldn't even be working anyways."

Merlin threw his hands up in frustration, about to say something when, low and behold, he ran for the bucket once again. Man, that poor bucket.

/

Merlin had learned from his mistake. It would be better to be late for work than to throw up while around Arthur, whom he still didn't plan to tell.

"Rise and shine, clotpole," Merlin said loud and proud as he opened the curtains.

Arthur covered his eyes, but smiled. "Someone's feeling cheerful."

Merlin returned the smile and shrugged.

Arthur was glad Merlin was feeling back to normal. There was still something unoriginal, but this cheer was a start. Maybe there would never have to be a "tomorrow".

/

Haha I'm absorbed in this fic already. There was a sentence about how Arthur loved Merlin but not romantically, but don't let that fool you! I already know what's happening in the next chapter, but I have to do some homework before I start it. Please leave some (constructive) criticism here! there be some Morgana in the future (I hope). I personally would rather just focus on Merlin's pregnancy, but I figure some sort of plot makes more sense? I don't know, but some reader's opinions would be nice!