Six year old Merlin woke up bright and early on Easter morning. He rolled out of bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and went to wake his bother. Well, his step brother. His mom had married Arthur's dad a year earlier and he had gotten a new brother and a sister. "Arthur," He whispered loudly, shaking the blonde boy roughly. "Wake up, it's Easter!" Arthur's eyes fluttered open and he stared sleepily at his messy haired brother.
"Merlin," Arthur mumbled. "Go back to bed." He rolled over and shut his eyes. The eight year old wasn't someone who normally woke up early, and he was still too asleep to care that it was a holiday.
"But I want to see if the Easter Bunny came!" Little Merlin protested. "Come with me, please, Arthur!" He pleaded anxiously, shaking his brother some more. Arthur groaned loudly and sat up. He glared at Merlin, but not very convincingly.
"Fine," He sighed, hanging his feet over the side of the bed and poking his brother in the stomach.
"Ow!" Merlin touched the offended spot tenderly and his lip stuck out in the beginning of a pout.
"Aw, don't be such a girl, Merlin," Arthur grinned. "Come on, let's go get Morgana!" He was fully awake and excited now. He wondered what the Easter Bunny had brought them. He grabbed his younger brother's hand and they hurried into their sister's room. "Wake up, Morgana!" Arthur called loudly.
"Morgana!" Merlin piped. "It's Easter!" He walked to Morgana's grand bed and placed his face inches from hers. "Morgana!" He exclaimed. Her eyes shot open and her head came up, crashing into Merlin. He cried out and stumbled backwards into Arthur, and they toppled over. Morgana slipped out of bed and came over to stand by where her brothers lay sprawled on the floor.
"Idiots," She stuck her tongue out at them. Her curly dark hair bounced wildly as she skipped out of the room and into the room where their parents slept. Arthur stood up and reached down to help Merlin. He poked his brother hard in the chest.
"You ARE an idiot." He told him.
"And you're a prat," Merlin shot back. They grinned and ran after Morgana. She was already waking their parents.
"Mom, Dad, wake up," She poked her dad in the back. He yawned and turned to see them.
"What is it, Morgana?" He asked in a tired voice.
"We want to see what the Easter Bunny brought us," She told him, pulling on his arm. "Can we, dad?"
"Please?" Arthur and Merlin added with huge smiles. Uther rolled his eyes and turned to his wife.
"Love, the children want to see what the Easter Bunny left them," He whispered in her ear. Always the light sleeper, she wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded.
"Let's get it started then," She opened her eyes and she and Uther climbed out of bed. They followed the over-excited children into the family room. On the couch sat three Easter baskets, each colorfully decorated and adorned with a name. The kids ran to their baskets and began digging through them. Merlin pulled out a toy magic wand and began waving it at his brother. Arthur came after him with his new toy sword and Merlin cowered behind his mother.
"Be nice, Arthur," Uther scolded good naturedly.
"He started it," Arthur frowned, but then he went back to his basket. Morgana held in her hands a large dream catcher with purple feathers and beads.
"Oh," She said almost reverently. "It's beautiful!" She ran to hug her parents.
"It's supposed to keep away bad dreams," Hunith smiled at Morgana's enthusiasm.
"I love it." She said emphatically. She skipped back to her Easter basket. Merlin and Arthur had dumped all their candy on the floor and were in the process of trading. Uther shook his head.
"Did you even look at the shirts we got you?" He asked his sons. The looked up and smiled sheepishly. They jumped up and grabbed the shirts out of their baskets. Merlin held his up to read it while Arthur was already pulling his pajama shirt off. He pulled his new red shirt on and looked down at the gold lion on it.
"Awesome," The blonde grinned. Merlin was still struggling to read his shirt.
"Sor-s-so-" He sounded out.
"Sorcerer," Morgana told him.
"Thanks," He smiled. He turned to his mom and dad. "It's perfect." His eyes sparkled with happiness. He loved anything to do with magic. Meanwhile, Morgana was admiring her new, dark purple dress. It shimmered when it moved, and her face was luminous.
"This has been the best Easter ever!" She exclaimed. Her brothers nodded heartily.
"You haven't even hunted for Easter eggs yet," Hunith cut in.
"Easter eggs!" Merlin hopped up from where he was sitting on the floor. "I'm going to find the most!"
"No way!" Arthur pushed ahead of Merlin and ran out the back door. Merlin glared at his brother's back and ran out after him Morgana followed close behind. Once their parents provided wicker baskets to collect eggs, they were off. They began searching high and low for the brightly colored eggs, each child giving an excited shout when they found one. Arthur was the only one skilled enough to get the eggs high in trees, he could scale one with ease. Merlin was the best at finding the ones hidden low and well in bushes, and Morgana was great at finding even the most cleverly hidden eggs. They raced each other to see who could collect the most. Soon all their baskets were full and all the eggs had been found. They sat on the porch and began eagerly counting their eggs. Arthur finished first. "I got twenty," He said smugly. Merlin frowned and counted his eggs again. Nineteen. His frown deepened. When he and Arthur both weren't looking, Morgana slipped a extra egg into his wicker basket. He turned back and began to count his eggs a third time. This time he counted twenty, and he grinned, one that lit up his whole face.
"Twenty," Merlin announced.
"No way," Arthur said disbelievingly.
"I guess you both win," Morgana stood and laughed.
"I guess," Arthur sighed, rising as well.
"Yes!" Merlin jumped up, punching the air. He ran to his parents. "I won!" He told them proudly.
"Wonderful, baby," Hunith tousled his hair. Uther clapped him on the back.
"Great job, son," He told him. "You'll beat Arthur yet!"
"This really is the best Easter ever!" Merlin grinned.