Me again! This is just a little idea that flew into my head and I just can't seem to shake it, so I decided to give it a go. I'm hoping to keep it relatively short, but as always, I really don't know. Anyway here goes…..
I do not own Merlin or the characters.
"Alex! Lexi! Get a move on, it's time to go. I have to be on time today guys," Guinevere Peters said, as she zipped her kids' school bags.
She looked towards the doorway of the kitchen, as she heard the sound of little feet coming in her direction.
"Ready mum," two voices said in unison, and for the umpteenth time, she smiled at the regularity at which it happens.
She stood before them, doing her routine check of teeth, ears and hair, before kissing them on their foreheads saying,
"You both did a good job. I'm very proud of you. Now take your bags, and let's go meet the bus," she said happily.
The kids did as they were told, and headed to the door, to wait for their mother.
A few seconds later, Gwen as she is familiarly known, picked up her lunch, put it in her bag and followed her kids to the door.
As they exited and walked the short distance to the bus stop, they saw the bus approaching.
"Good, we've made it just in time," she cheerfully said.
The bus came to a stop beside them, and the friendly driver bid them good morning.
"And how are you today, Dave?" she asked kindly.
"I'm fine thanks," he replied. Smiling, she said,
"Very good." She kissed her children goodbye and said to them,
"You guys have a great day at school. I love you both." The kids replied,
'We will. We love you mum." At that, they disappeared into the school bus, and just as the driver was closing the door, he waved to her and said,
"Have a nice day Gwen."
After putting the kids on the bus, she turned in the opposite direction, and started her twenty minute walk to work.
On the way, she began to think about her life thus far. It wasn't perfect, but things were surely looking up.
For the first time in five years she believes that there is every possibility that she can be happy and find love again.
'Dare I hope,' she thought to herself, as the image of a certain blonde haired blue-eye man she'd recently met and interacted with, swam before her.
Sighing wearily, she continued on her way and her thoughts drifted to a time when things were much simpler, also less hectic, but alas ending in heartbreak.
She remembers the happy, vivacious, carefree girl that she was, and a feeling of sadness washed over her. Back then, as a kid growing up, she was always happy.
Her parents loved and cared for her, and as she was an only child, they doted on her.
Around the age of eighteen, her life changed significantly. In the same year, she lost her loving parents to a bad accident, and found out she was pregnant, with twins.
She had met her then boyfriend Lance Wallenza, when she was sixteen years old. He had recently been transferred from his old school to the one she attended, as he now lived in the area.
They hit it off immediately, and as she only had one friend at that time, Merlin O'Malley, who incidentally was a transfer student from Ireland, Lance was a welcomed addition.
They began hanging out together, all three of them, and after a while, she and Lance started dating. They would spend almost all of their free time together, and Merlin gave them as much space as he could.
About two months before her eighteenth birthday, she and Lance were parked out in his car. He was drinking beer, and she was drinking soda.
Curiosity got the better of her, she took up one of the beers, opened it and began to drink it. A while later, between the two of them, they finished two six-packs and was deeply engrossed in a make out session. One thing led to another, and they ended up having sex.
Next day, Gwen was disgusted with herself.
She was normally a level-headed person with good judgement, and she just couldn't understand why she had let her defenses down that night. She wasn't even a drinker, and it upset her to know that the one time she decided to drink, she got drunk, and ended up in a careless situation.
Although she didn't blame Lance, she avoided him and wouldn't take his calls.
One day at school, she found herself cornered by him.
He had apparently couldn't take it anymore and decided to enlist the help of Merlin. Deciding that it was time to clear the air, he got straight to the point.
"Why have you been avoiding me Gwen?" he asked. Gwen kept her head to the ground as she answered him.
"I...I didn't mean to," she stammered. Lance stepped closer and she looked up into his confused face, feeling guilty. She continued.
"It's just…I can't believe I let myself go and we ended up…I feel so ashamed of myself," she whispered sadly. A frown marred Lance's handsome face, as he listened to his girlfriend.
"You're ashamed…of what happened…or of doing it with me?" he asked, hurt clear in his voice. Gwen lifted her head then, and she suddenly felt sorry when she saw the look on his face.
"I don't know. I mean…I wouldn't normally act that way, and I always try to keep my head on, no matter the situation. For goodness sake Lance! I never drink. What am I going to do if I end up…" She was cut off by an upset Lance saying,
"Listen to me Gwen, I know what we did wasn't planned, and it was a bit irresponsible of us, but I would never take advantage of you. I love you, and if the un-expected should happen, then I will stand by you. I would never abandon you," he said honestly.
A sense of relief flooded Gwen in that moment.
She looked directly into his eyes, reading his face to see if there was anything less than honesty, but she found none. They embraced then and thus ended the stalemate.
As she neared her place of work, she recalled how loving and attentive Lance was, when they found out she was actually pregnant.
She remembers the love her parents showed her, when she told them the news, and the relief she felt, after being scared to tell them.
By the next week, she was thrown into deep sadness, when she learnt that her parents had perished in an accident. One thought remained with her throughout that ordeal, her parents would never get to see their first grand-child or grand-children.
True to his words, Lance stuck by her. He attended every doctor's appointment, and was elated when they received the news that she was carrying twins, a girl and a boy.
He found himself a job, and like her, decided to put off college for two years, so that he could help her with the kids, especially in the financial department.
Right up until the twins were born, he was there and took his role and responsibilities very serious.
When it was time for Gwen and the twins to be released from the hospital, he was there to bring them home, and get them settled. Within a few weeks of the twins' arrival, he decided to move in with her, and that brought joy to her heart.
Although they were young, they were excellent parents, and it pleased them to take great care of their twins.
Their only friend Merlin, who was named God-father to both kids, was very impressed with their parenting, and he also pitched in where he could to help them, as it was a constant job.
The twins, who were named, Alex Antonio Wallenza, and Alexandria Anna Wallenza, were beautiful contented kids, who resembled Lance more than they did Gwen. They both had brown eyes, soft brown curly hair and tan skin.
Gwen kept up a steady pace, as she continued on her way to work.
Her heart missed a beat, and tears pooled in her eyes as she recalled when her happy home with Lance and the kids, started to fall apart.
It was about five months after the twins were born.
Lance had met new friends at work and they were constantly inviting him out with them. He of course always declined, and it was only after one of the guys told him that he was young, and shouldn't be tied down, but instead out having a bit of fun, that he started to act differently.
Normally, he would be home around five in the afternoons, but he started to come in closer to ten and sometimes after.
Gwen didn't see any harm in it, because she knew that he worked hard and helped her with the kids, so he deserved some down time.
After a couple of weeks, Lance not only decided to stay out late on weeknights, but weekends also, only staying in occasionally on Sundays.
He started helping less with the kids and sleeping longer in the mornings, around the time he should be up and getting ready for work.
She paused her recollection to concentrate on crossing the road, just as her workplace appeared in the distance.
Her thoughts drifted to the many arguments she and Lance had. One such occasion was when he had decided to come home early from work.
The kids were approaching the age of seven months, and on that day in question, Gwen was tired, frustrated and covered in food.
On seeing Lance at home so early, relief flooded her, so she left the kids with him, to take a much needed bathroom break and a quick shower.
Whilst in the bathroom, Gwen could hear the kids babbling happily along with Lance, as he spoke to them, so smiling to herself, she continued her activities.
A minute later, abrupt silence greeted her ears. Thinking that Lance had probably gone to the kitchen, she relaxed, until she heard the sound of crying.
She tuned out the sound of the water, and as she listened to her kids crying, she sped up her activities.
Within seconds, the crying escalated to a piercing wail, and at that she wasted no time. Moving as if her life depended on it, she fled the bathroom.
On reaching the living room, the sight that greeted her, made her weak at the knees and she almost collapsed.
Lance was nowhere in sight, the twins were covered in blood and screaming their hearts out.
Sensing there was no time to panic, she went into 'mummy mode'.
She immediately went to the child with the most blood on it, Alex, and ran to the bathroom, stripping him as she went.
Her heart felt as though it would escape her chest, but she focused on the task at hand, and placed her screaming child under the shower.
Within seconds, he was washed clean, with all traces of blood removed from his little body. She made a quick examination, all the while thinking of her sweet little girl on the outside wailing, and hoping she was fine.
She found two small cuts, one on his right thumb and one on his right foot. She wrapped him in a towel, and placed him on the floor, as she raced to her little girl.
Seconds later, she returned and did the same thing she did with her son.
After her daughter was cleaned, she perused her little body, and to her relief, she didn't find any cuts.
She wrapped her in a towel also, and placed her beside her brother, who at this time, was watching his mother's every move with big droopy brown eyes.
She placed herself on the floor after that, looking at her twins leaning against each other, as sleep slowly began to claim them, and in that moment, the tears came. She broke down and sobbed her heart out.
Eventually, her sobs turned to sniffles, so she stood, placed her arms around her twins, lifting them in the process, and took them to their room. Inside, she re-dressed them in clean clothes, attended to Alex's cuts, and placed them in the double crib, to finish sleep.
Afterwards, she sat for a few minutes, just watching the kids sleep, and silently thanking the heavens that they were alright.
She moved to her room, where she had composed herself significantly, and got dressed.
Her next mission was to head to the living room and clean up the mess. Although the thought made her nervous, she steeled herself, and diligently went about her task.
She took a small pan with water and some cleaning supplies, along with a bag to place the bloody clothes in. The sight of the blood and the bloody clothing belonging to the twins, almost derailed her, but she was determined.
The first thing she did, was to pick up the clothes belonging to the twins and placed them in the bag. After that, she went to the spot where the twins were, and started to clean.
Looking closely, she spied a piece of broken glass, and on further inspection, she noticed a broken beer bottle with the pieces in the area where Alex was sitting. Her thoughts immediately flew to Lance, who was still missing.
'That was an act of carelessness. Alex must have seen the beer bottle and took it up. I don't know how it became broken, but somehow it did, and that is what cut him and caused the blood.
I wonder how it got on Lexi? She probably went to her brother when he started crying. Oh God! My babies, they could have been seriously hurt. I'm not going to let Lance get away with this,' she thought to herself.
She swept the room with her eyes, and started calling for him.
"Lance! Lance!" she cried.
"Where are you?" she continued. She could hear him talking, and she followed the sound of his voice. It led her to the door, so she opened it as quietly as she could, and found Lance on his phone, speaking in semi-hushed tones.
Her feet refused to carry her any further, when she heard him saying,
"What do you want me to do? Leave my kids and Gwen for you? I don't know...I used to… I promised her…No, no, of course I want to be with you…" Gwen didn't listen to anymore.
Tears formed in her beautiful brown eyes. As the first tear dropped, she closed the door and returned to her task.
With grit determination on her lovely face, she arduously went about her task, whilst the conversation that she had overheard loomed in her thoughts.
Lance entered the flat, after he had finished his 'secret' conversation and the smell of disinfectant assaulted his nostrils.
He looked at where he had left the kids, thinking that they might have had an 'accident' namely spilling the contents of their diaper, and was probably with Gwen.
He headed to the kitchen, in search of a snack, and as soon as he entered, his heart almost gave out.
There in front of him, on the kitchen counter-top, were the bloody clothes belonging to his two kids.
He rushed forwards, touching them ever so slightly, his heart beating as though it want to escape his chest, and right beside them in a small plate, were the broken pieces of the beer bottle he was drinking from earlier.
Leaving the kitchen, he raced to the kids' room.
Gwen was calmly sitting, actually thinking about all that had happened, and how she purposely left the evidence for Lance to find. She looked over at her two kids sleeping soundly in their crib, and in that moment, she wasn't sorry for what she had done.
The quiet atmosphere in the room was shattered by his pounding feet, as he skidded to a stop in front of the crib.
She knew he would come to the kids' room as soon as he found the clothes, and so, she had sat quietly, waiting patiently until he showed.
His eyes flew to the kids and then to her.
"The twins…are they okay…I saw blood…lots of blood...all over their clothes," he stammered, his eyes wild and darting between the kids and Gwen.
When she didn't answer, he stilled his actions, focusing on her face.
Her eyes were cold, and he could see she was trying to control the anger that simmered behind them.
He instinctively knew what was coming, but he turned his brown eyes to the sleeping kids, scanning to see if they were in fact alright.
After his brief perusal, he looked back to see that Gwen had left the room. He knew she would never air her concerns in front of the kids, although they were sleeping, it's just not who she is, so he hung his head and exited the room, to go in search of her.
What do you think? I hope it was good enough.