A/N: Hey guys! Well here it is, another new fanfiction for me to keep up with. This was inspired by an absolutely beautiful fanart I saw with Merlin reading a book and conjuring butterflies for Arthur and Gwen's children. I fell in love with it. It was gorgeously done and happiness just seemed to kind of radiate from it. And I was so broken hearted that according to the show, it never happened. So! Fanfiction here we come. Hope you guys enjoy, and as always, please review!

"Uncle Merlin! Uncle Merlin!" two voices clamored. A tall, raven haired man in a blue tunic, black breeches, and black, fur lined jacket turned around and smiled broadly. A silver medallion hung on a chain around his neck, bearing the mark of Court Sorcerer. His oceanic eyes lit up with love as two little olive skinned, curly black haired children burst into his study and pounced on him.

"Whoa, whoa, now!" Merlin smiled, wrapping his arms around the two. The boy and girl giggled and pulled him to the floor despite his protests.

"Ah you have defeated me! You have conquered the mighty Emrys!" Merlin gasped, falling to the floor dramatically.

"No one can defeat you, Uncle Merlin," the little boy said firmly. Merlin grinned.

"Why thank you, Sir Rowan," he bowed his head.

"'Cept maybe Daddy," the little girl laughed.

"I had to dress your daddy for ten years, Pippa," Merlin frowned at her teasingly. "He would be helpless without me."

"That's not what he says," the little girl grinned, poking fun at her loving uncle.

"Oh really? Well maybe he doesn't know about my secret weapon," Merlin retorted.

"What secret weapon?" Rowan asked eagerly. Merlin motioned them closer as if telling them a secret.

"I am an expert," Merlin whispered, looking at the two seriously, "in tickling." And with that he pounced, pulling the two into his lap and tickling them mercilessly. The two screamed with laughter. Suddenly, a pillow flew across the room and clonked Merlin on the side of the head. Surprised, he loosened his hold on the two and they wriggled out of his grip.

"Oh no you don't, little sorceress!" Merlin caught Pippa and drew her back into his lap. He was secretly pleased that she had thought to levitate the pillow and distract him. His little niece and pupil was learning.

"Ahh! Save me, brother!" she cried out, laughing.

"I will save you, sister!" Rowan glared at Merlin in a way that reminded the warlock strongly of the boy's father. "For Camelot!" He charged at Merlin. In the tumble that ensued, Merlin somehow ended up without his jacket, with Pippa clutching him around his neck from behind and Rowan squirming under a magic hold on the floor, glaring up at Merlin.

"No fair! I don't have magic!" Rowan whined.

"But I do!" Pippa cried out, still clinging to Merlin. He smiled as he felt her poke at his magical hold on her brother. Had he been teaching her, he would have let her struggle longer before letting her break his grip. But now was not the time for lessons, now was the time for playing with his beloved niece and nephew. He let Pippa break his grip and Rowan struggled free.

"Ha! You had to be saved by a girl!" Pippa stuck out her tongue at Rowan.

"Now, now, none of that!" Merlin scolded lightly. Rowan scowled at her, but Merlin noticed his ears were turning red.

"Did I ever tell you," Merlin began, pulling Pippa off his back and around so he could see both of them, "that your mother saved me once?"

"Really?" Pippa gasped. Rowan looked up at him in surprise; his mother had saved the powerful Emrys?

"Yep," Merlin nodded. "She saved me from a horrible creature called a Lamia. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

"Wow," Pippa breathed. "I want to grow up to be just like Mommy." Merlin smiled at the seven year old. He turned to her twin brother.

"So you see," he said, chucking the boy under the chin lightly, "it's no shame to be saved by a girl, or need saving at all. You two are meant to help each other, with each of your different gifts."

"Just like you and Daddy?" Rowan asked. Merlin smiled.

"Just like that," he nodded.

"Somebody say my name?" a new voice asked above them. Merlin looked up in time to seeArthur's eyes soften as he took in the scene of his little brother with his two children.

"Daddy ! Daddy!" Rowan and Pippa cried out, running into his arms. Their father swept them both up with a muffled groan.

"You two are getting heavy," he complained as they wrapped their arms around his neck. "Did you have a nice ride this afternoon with mother?"

"It was great! We took food to the people in the lower town, then we rode in the meadow behind the city," Pippa told him eagerly.

"We raced too! I beat Pippa," Rowan grinned at his sister. Arthur sat down heavily in one of Merlin's leather armchairs he had before the fireplace, listening to his children babble on. Merlin got to his feet, watching them with a slight smile.

"And now you're here being tormented by Uncle Merlin, eh?" he asked, eyes flicking up to his surrogate brother.

"I think it was the other way around, sire," Merlin replied, flopping into another armchair across from them.

"He tickled us!" Pippa told her father indignantly.

"Yeah, and he used magic!" Rowan added.

"Oh really?" Arthur mock-growled. "How dare he do such a thing to my little prince and princess?"

"Yeah!" Pippa stuck out her tongue at her uncle.

"After all, that is only a king's right," Arthur finished before launching an all-out tickle war on his two children. They squealed with laughter and Merlin chuckled quietly to himself. Arthur never looked quite so happy as when he was with his son and daughter. It reminded Merlin of how close his dear friend and king had come to never seeing his children born. His eyes darkened and his smile slipped.

"Save us, Uncle Merlin!" Rowan cried out, laughing. Merlin shook himself and grinned at his nephew.

"Now you want my help, young prince?" he teased.

"Yes! Yes, please! We're sorry!" Pippa gasped out.

"I don't know," Merlin tsked, his eyes dancing with laughter.

"Please, Uncle!" Rowan begged. "We'll…." CRASH! Arthur stopped tickling his children and turned towards the noise. A large red vase had flown off a bookshelf behind them and into the opposite wall. Merlin knew immediately what had caused it. He looked down to see Pippa's eyes filling with tears and a look of horror on her face.

"I...I'm…," she stuttered. Arthur let his son and daughter slip from his lap. Pippa looked at the floor, too ashamed to look up at her father and uncle. She was still learning to control her magic, and sometimes when she got too excited or scared things would begin to fly around the room. Merlin remembered Hunith telling him that he did the same thing as a child.

"It's alright, Pippa," Arthur soothed. "It was an accident. Just calm down. Breathe in and out through your nose." Merlin smiled. Arthur and Gwen had grown accustomed to their daughter's magic with remarkable ease, and both were practiced at calming and soothing the budding sorceress.

"I'll clean it up, Pippa," Rowan tried to help. "It's okay." Merlin put a hand on the prince's shoulder. Together, they cleaned up the broken pieces of the vase and with a wave of his hand, Merlin had mended the piece. Rowan looked up at his uncle in concern.

"She'll be alright," Merlin reassured him softly. "We just have to be patient with her, remember?" Rowan nodded. Merlin smiled broadly at him. He carried the vase back over to show Pippa.

"Look, little one," Arthur gently tilted his daughter's face up. "Uncle Merlin fixed it. See, it's alright." He put his arm around the little girl's shoulder and drew her to him. Merlin replaced the vase and moved back to the group by the fireplace.

"I...I'm sorry, Uncle," Pippa whispered, tears running down her cheeks. "I didn't mean...I'm trying…"

"Shh, shh, I know," Merlin crouched beside her, laying a hand on her arm. "It was an accident. No harm done. Your father should have known better than to tickle you so much." Merlin mock-frowned at Arthur.

"You started it," Arthur retorted.

"Prat."

"Idiot."

"Daddy," Rowan interrupted the banter. "Why do you call each other those names? Mommy says they're not nice." Merlin and Arthur both smiled at each other; they could hear Gwen scolding them right now for saying such things around the twins.

"Well, I think that calls for a story," Arthur glanced at Merlin. His former manservant nodded at him.

"Come here, my little carissima*," Merlin motioned to his niece. Pippa slowly made her way to her uncle. Merlin smiled at her gently and sat down. He pulled her into his lap, seeing that Arthur was doing the same with Rowan.

"I really am sorry, Uncle," Pippa whispered.

"Shh, I know, carissima," Merlin soothed. He felt her relax a little at the endearment. Pippa tried so hard at her magic lessons, determined to be like Merlin and protect Camelot. She knew that Rowan would one day be king, and she wanted to protect her brother like her uncle protected her daddy. Merlin knew that she was always afraid she would disappoint him, or her parents, especially when her magic went a little haywire. But Arthur and Gwen were nothing but patient with their little girl, and Rowan was learning to help in his own ways. Merlin cuddled his niece closer.

"It was an accident, little sorceress. It's alright, no one is angry with you. All is forgiven, carissima," he spoke directly into her mind. He felt her curl into the comfort the touch of his magic brought.

"Now!" Merlin's eyes glowed for a moment as he lit the fire in the fireplace. "It's time for a story."

"Right!" Arthur nodded, "and I shall be narrating so that you don't put your own spin on things."

"I would never," Merlin said innocently. Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. Merlin shrugged. In a manner well practiced by both of them, Merlin began to make the fire morph into the characters of Arthur's tale. The tale of how a young pratish prince met an idiotic warlock…

A/N: Cut! That's a wrap. Hope you guys enjoyed! I really liked writing this, and I'm hoping to continue this. More adventure with Pippa and Rowan, as well as Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin in the new Albion. Please review, and let me know if you have any suggestions for future scenes or ideas! Thanks guys! God bless.

*Carissima - Dearest, or dear one