HELLO FELLOW READERS! I am so so SO sorry that I haven't updated until now, it's just that I didn't have any inspiration until now but it's not a good enough excuse.
Oh and another thing this story will now be chapters of different situations of Arthur Morgana and Merlin being kids with Uther and Gaius still being the adults. No character changes just a few plot changes as my original plot just had too many flaws.
So I hope you like this chapter and the many more to come I promise as I would never give up on a story.
Since the events of less than a week ago Gaius had begun to fear the worst for Merlin's future. Sure enough, he and Uther had been allowed to be Merlin's permanent guardians as a result of a successful inspection, however, it didn't mean the problems between him and Arthur were going to become any easier to deal with.
Although Gaius was more than aware that it was never going to be easy for Merlin to settle into the Pendragon family, but step by step things seemed to be moving in the right direction.
Today of all days was a bank holiday Monday which also happened to be Morgana's seventh birthday. As there was no school nor did they have anything to do in regards to work, Uther and Gaius had organised a special treat for all three kids.
The day had gone off to a slow start as whenever it was one of the kids birthdays the opening presents time seemed to take forever, especially as Morgana hated ripping the wrapping paper.
"Ooo" I wonder what you've got me, daddy!" Morgana squealed, carefully unwrapping the wrapping paper without making a single tear.
Holding up the Frozen leggings Morgana threw herself into a hug with her father. Embracing her in his arms he chuckled before putting her down to let her open her other presents.
In a matter of minutes, Morgana rushed over to thank Gaius for the brown teddy bear which smelt like chocolate.
"You are very welcome," Gaius responded lightheartedly .
Arthur then moodily handed over the small gift he had 'got for her',even if he hadn't gone with his dad to pick something out. Morgana smile towards her younger brother as she saw the Inside out DVD she had wanted for quite some time.
"Thanks, Arthur," Morgana said, leaning over to give him a little kiss before getting lightly smacked on the hand in response.
"Hey, that's not nice!" Morgana crossly stated.
Having to distract the two kids from arguing Gaius called Merlin over to give his gift to Morgana, he stood on the spot shaking a little and whimpering.
"How stupid," Arthur muttered which Gaius and Uther tried to ignore.
"Come on Merlin." Gaius tried again, this time being successful with Morgana's help as her smile drew him closer to her.
"Here's your gift, I hope you like it," Merlin said timidly before silently handing it over.
Morgana unwrapped the paper to squeal at the lovely gift Merlin had picked out, she waved the Frozen tattoos at Gaius , her father and even Arthur who blew a raspberry.
Without warning Morgana grabbed Merlin's hand and raced over to the downstairs toilet sink where she wet the tattoo of Anna that was to go on Merlin's arm, while putting the Elsa one on her own arm. Soon enough both were giggling at their arms, Uther and Gaius couldn't help but release a small chuckle of their own.
Arthur scowled at their joy.
After clearing up all the wrapping paper the two adults sorted out the kids stuff before leading them towards the car, not telling them where they were going.
Setting off onto their journey the three kids were at first quiet as they watched themselves leave their much-loved village. Once they were on the motor way the previously quiet atmosphere irrupted with volume. Starting with Arthur deciding to kick Morgana multiple times, laughing as he continued much to Morgana's dismay.
"Arthur don't kick me!" Morgana exclaimed, trying to shuffle away from him.
"Arthur!" Uther warned as he drove, but Arthur ignored his warning.
But this time, he had moved on from kicking Morgana to kicking Merlin who only whimpered in response.
"You're such a girl Merlin" Arthur sneered, his laugh scaring the timid brown haired boy.
"Don't be mean" Morgana retorted, standing up for Merlin.
Arthur rolled his eyes, then turning his attention to the window which he soon opened and began spitting out of.
"Ew, uncle Gaius Arthur is spitting out the car window!" Morgana snitched, earning a dark glare from her younger brother.
At this point, Gaius had to intervene. "Arthur you have already been told once to behave, if we have to tell you again there will be no treats for you later."
Gaius's sentence had made a difference to Arthur's behaviour for a certain amount of time, then he began to get restless.
"Dad are we there yet!" Arthur yelled out in frustration as he fidgeted in his seat.
"Soon" Uther replied calmly despite the earlier tension.
"Where are we going daddy?" Morgana asked curiously, forgetting what her father had told her earlier.
"I said it was a surprise sweetie,better" Uther said before cheerfully adding, "but you will like it I promise."
"It better not be anything girly!" Arthur spat in response to his father which he tried to ignore.
When the journey was finally over everyone including the adults were relieved to get out. Helping the kids out the car, Morgana shrieked gleefully once she realised where she was.
Meanwhile the two boys at first looked clueless as to what Morgana was getting so excited about, however their joint question was soon to be answered as Uther announced they were at the aquarium.
"Stop squealing!" Arthur shouted across to Morgana who took pride in ignoring his snide comment.
Merlin tugged at Gaius's trouser leg before softly whispering,"what's an aquarium?"
Before he could answer Morgana got there first.
"An aquarium is where all those fish and other sea creatures live, I've wanted to go for ages!" Morgana explained cheerfully, wrapping herself up in the moment before rushing over to grab Merlin's hand.
Merlin soon found himself running hand in hand with Morgana to the front doors of the aquarium, Uther who had Arthur's hand and Gaius with all their stuff walking behind them as they struggled to catch up with them.
"Slow down you two!" Gaius called, having now caught up with the two racing children.
Morgana turned around to face Gaius, her green eyes glittering in delight. Merlin who had since let go of Morgana's hand looked around as if the building was to swallow him up, however unlike many times before he didn't feel an urge to run away. If anything the last time he had chosen to do so had put him off the idea completely.
Although he could only remember little bits of that day Gaius hadn't been so fortunate. He too had been thinking of the exact same incident of Merlin running away from the swimming pool, it had taken hours to find him curled up in a ball beside their car in the busy car park. They had decided to take the kids home there and then, leading to tantrums from both Morgana and Arthur along with non stop arguments as to why Merlin was receiving lots of attention, despite the fact he had been naughty.
Since that day Uther and Gaius had to become more aware of what was going on at all times.
Shaking the unwanted memory from his mind, Gaius went over to pay for the tickets just before being whisked away by Morgana to look at the fish.
The room was at a reasonable temperature and the walls were lined with tanks of tropical fish, it had made both the adults laugh to see Morgana and Arthur grinning as they watched the fish swim around in their tank.
"Oh look it's Nemo, see I told you he was real!" Morgana exclaimed happily to her father, pointing a finger to the orange and white striped clownfish. Merlin watched Morgana with a confused look on his face that made Gaius suspect he had never seen the film to understand the reference.
"Poor kid," Uther said to Gaius when certain the kids were occupied enough not to overhear their conversation.
"We can watch the film when we get home" Gaius offered before he and Uther's attention was required by the kids.
As they moved along they were soon joined by another family, creating a rush of anxiety for Gaius. Even if he and Uther weren't always keen on socialising with others it had never been such a big concern for them before. Gaius's heart raced as the family gradually moved closer, especially since this was the first time they had taken Merlin anywhere since the swimming fiasco. The main reason they had decided to come here out of all places wasn't just for Morgana, it was for all the kids benefits. Even if their plan to go on a day when less people were to be there backfired slightly.
The urge to run across the room and scoop Merlin into his arms before anything could happen was almost too much for Gaius to fight against. Uther's soft pat on his shoulder assured him that he wasn't the only one feeling that way.
It took all his self-control, and the support of Uther to just stand and watch the kids chat to themselves. Grateful for the fact that for once no one was arguing or irritating each other, sent a never ending feeling of serenity to Gaius's mind.
After five minutes or so Uther went over to his two children and crouched down between them. "Don't they look tasty?" Uther teased as he pointed towards a group of fish.
"Daddy!" Morgana giggled before adding more seriously, " anyway I don't eat fish."
"Your weird" Arthur accused, looking over towards Morgana then back at the fish. Morgana stuck her tongue out in revenge.
Merlin who was now stood next to Gaius, was fascinated by how gracefully the fish swam in their tanks. He reached his hand so his palm was facing the front of the tank as if he was gently luring the fish into his hand.
Gaius smiled to himself as he watched Merlin in his moment of tranquillity.
"There beautiful aren't they Merlin?" Morgana asked from behind, startling him a little before asking her to join him.
"Daddy, come on I'm bored, let's go see something else!" Arthur wined as he tightly gripped his father's hand, refusing to let go until he had accomplished his mission.
"Ok, ok" Uther gave in before leading him and the other two kids to the next room, where they were welcomed to the sight of an octopus in a larger tank.
"Wow it's huge, come over here Merlin!" Morgana said as she lightly grabbed his arm and walked him closer to the octopus tank. At first he shivered at how big it looked, but after being reassured that it was safe his concerns gradually left him.
After seeing the octopus Morgana and Arthur were both desperate to go see the seals outdoors, while Uther and Gaius didn't see the harm Merlin wasn't quite keen on the idea.
"Hmm Gaius, are the seals friendly?" Merlin asked in a small voice, hiding behind Gaius's leg.
Before Gaius could answer Arthur interrupted with, "no, they are seals that only eats boys called Merlin." Arthur grinned evilly when seeing Merlin cower in fright.
"That's not true, don't listen to him" Uther added , giving Arthur a stern look who scowled at Merlin.
"It's just Arthur being silly," Morgana said with pride, offering her hand which Merlin happily accepted.
"Sissy's" Arthur snarled at them once they were beyond hearing distance.
The pendragon family got to the seals just in time for a lady who was about to show them how they fed the seals. Morgana and Arthur choose to get close while Merlin stood behind Morgana, not wanting to get wet. The two adults supervised the children to make sure they didnt get too close for their own safety.
As they watched the seals jump to catch their food all three kids squealed with enjoyment whenever a seal caught a fish, laughing when getting splashed by the water even if Merlin wasn't particularly fond of that part. Once the show had finished their enjoyment of being wet soon evaporated very quickly.
"I'm wet and hungry!" Arthur complained as he trudged up to his father.
"Me too" Morgana joined in but more polity.
Merlin nodded his head in agreement.
"Ok, then let's go have some lunch then we can carry on with our trip," Gaius said, him and Uther leading the kids to the nearest cafe. Watching as the kids had a race to see who could get inside first, Arthur had got there first, then closely followed by Morgana leaving Merlin the last one who trailed beside the two adults.
Looking around the cafe Merlin noticed that the walls were brightly painted in each colour of the rainbow along with the nice temperature as it wasn't the coolest of days.
"Loser!" Arthur shouted towards Merlin so loudly that a few other people turned to look at him as if he was an odd creature.
Ignoring their stares he then spotted a climbing frame outside the cafe garden, he and Morgana rushed off to play while Merlin stayed with Gaius and Uther.
As they were deciding what they wanted to eat Gaius asked Merlin if he had so far enjoyed their day out, being careful not to bring back any memories to do with swimming.
"Yes Gaius" Merlin replied, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Good, were glad" Uther added kindly as he noticed Gaius struggle for words.
Each adult was cut off from their thoughts when they saw a waitress approach them. In the end they had ordered salads for themselves, a chicken burger and chips for the two boys as Merlin had trouble deciding for himself and a margarita pizza for Morgana.
The two adults and Merlin sat in silence as they watched Morgana and Arthur on the climbing frame, pretending to be monkeys.
When their food had arrived the two kids who had previously been on the climbing frames sat down together, Arthur next to his father and Morgana next to Merlin. As each plate was handed out to each person they began eating, only to be disturbed a few minutes later.
At that moment a kid no older than ten decided to rush around the cafe while the floor was being cleaned, then all of a sudden the kid slipped. His arm knocking onto the Pendragon's table, sending half of Arthur's chips and his whole burger flying across onto the floor. Arthur's face was a deep red colour from the impact of his anger.
But before he could scream and yell Merlin shyly pushed his half eaten chips towards Arthur, gesturing him to take them. Gaius and Uther watched in amazement as Arthur eventually accepted the chips without any rudeness or even the slightest bit of cheek. Morgana smiled happily at the lovely heartwarming feeling the moment had brought to them all.
As the kids mother frantically apologised to the two adults the kids had all eaten what they could and waited patiently to continue exploring the aquarium. Having accepted the woman's apology on behalf of her son, Uther, Gaius and the kids spent the rest of the day without any bickering or arguments, which benefited them all as the day drew to a peaceful close.
Sorry if this did turn out to be lame, but hopefully not.