Disclaimer: Colin Morgan does not currently act as my personal butler, therefore, I must not own Merlin
Certainty
'It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog. It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleepin' like a log…'
"Do you find it necessary to blast your music so loudly? You're going to break the speakers on my poor car."
"Maybe Merlin, but you're the one who wants to get a new diesel engine thingie to replace it." Morgana said, fondly patting the seat of the poor car in question.
"Yes, and I don't because my girlfriend happens to love this hunk of junk." Merlin sent Morgana a pointed, almost Gaius-like look.
"Of course I do, it has personality; and memories. Do you remember that time we-"
"I am going to stop you right there to remind you that we will be around my mother within the next forty-five minutes. I swear she has a built in momdar that can sense whenever you're thinking something even slightly perverted. Don't you remember the last time we were there, when you wanted to-"
"Merlin! Yes. Yes, I remember you mother's uncanny knack for interrupting my more explicit thoughts; usually with stories and pictures of you as a baby. You were so cute then…" Morgana's hand absentmindedly drifted to her imperceivably growing stomach, a habit that she had only recently developed but felt so natural.
"As opposed to now?" Merlin wondered, grinning at his girlfriend.
"Now you're sexy." Morgana winked and turned up the volume louder, causing Merlin to roll his eyes as she began to sing along, ever so slightly off-key.
Turning the car down the road that would eventually lead to his childhood home, Merlin's grip tightened on the steering wheel, making his knuckles white.
"Hey love, are you okay?" Morgana reached over and rubbed his shoulder, wishing she could see into his mind and figure out what he was thinking.
"Yeah, just anxious to get there is all."
"Alright then," Morgana let the matter slide, knowing this was not the time to bring up whatever was troubling Merlin.
"Here we are; home sweet home."
And indeed it was; the beautiful house that faced the sea seemed to ooze warmth, safety, and love. Pulling into the drive, Merlin parked his hunk-o'-junk and ran around the side to help Morgana out of the car.
"I'm fine Merlin; you know you don't have to help me out of cars. I am perfectly capable of-"
"Merlin! Oh, I wasn't expecting you until later, yet here you are. Let me look at you." Hunith, Merlin's mother, had come out of the house and was now holding Merlin's face in her hands. "You haven't been skipping meals again, have you? You're as skinny as a twig. And Morgana, darling, how wonderful it is to see you again!"
"Hello, Mrs. Emrys. It's wonderful to see you too. How have you been?" Morgana was pulled into a bone crushing hug that reminded her of her own mother.
"Quite well, thank you for asking. And it's Hunith, dear, remember? Mrs. Emrys is much too formal for family." Hunith finally paused to breathe, and smiled at her son and his girlfriend. "Well, come along inside. We have some catching up to do, I imagine."
"You have no idea." Merlin muttered as he followed his mother into the house.
Morgana had always loved Ealdor; it was a fairly small lodging place, but it was homey, warm, and a world away from anything Morgana had ever grown up with.
Hunith kept everything spic-and-span, but the clean was never uncomfortable. There was The Store downstairs in the living room area, right by the kitchen, which was always cooking up something delicious to eat. Next to that was the eating parlor, where the guests would eat, and a bathroom with a shower. Two of the guest rooms were also downstairs, while three more were upstairs, along with the living quarters of the family.
As of now, there were only two guests; Mrs. Liven, from Bath and Mr. Janet, from Texas, but there were three more people expected to arrive on Sunday. This was a fact that had worried Hunith ever since the reservations had been made, as it would mean that she had nowhere to put Morgana, as all of the rooms would need to be free before the guests' arrival.
She was telling Merlin and Morgana of this problem when Merlin finally said,
"You know mum, Morgana can just stay with me in my room. It's no problem really."
Hunith pondered over this proposition, "But, then you would have to sleep in the same bed. Not that I don't know you already do," she said, holding up her hand to combat the couple's arguments, "but Morgana, what would your parents say if they knew I allowed their daughter to sleep in the same bed as my son before you were married?"
Morgana considered laughing before deciding that it might be considered rude. "I don't think my father would mind."
"He hates me either way, so what you do or don't stop is probably a moot point to him." Merlin added, smiling at Morgana and squeezing her hand.
"Well, as long as you're sure about it. Merlin, why don't you help me take these suitcases upstairs? Morgana, would you please pull that kettle off of the stove? The tea bags are in that cupboard to the right, if you wanted to make us some tea." And with that, Hunith took hold of a suitcase and headed upstairs, Merlin following behind.
Clomping up the steps to his childhood bedroom, Merlin wondered how he was going to tell his mother about her future grandchild.
'This is scarier than I thought it would be' he realized, not that Merlin thought that it would be easy, but still…
"Merlin," Hunith set down the bag she was carrying on the twin sized bed and sat down "I was hoping to postpone this, but we need you back here in Ealdor. Not right now, but sometime soon. I can't do everything all by myself; not anymore. I wouldn't ask, but we can't afford to hire someone to help me without going broke. I know it was my idea to have you go to London, and it breaks my heart to do this to you. I just can't-"
"She's pregnant, mum." Merlin blurted out, sitting next to Hunith on the bed. "Morgana is pregnant, and I don't know what we're going to do."
Hunith looked at her son; he was everything to her. Yes, Ealdor was important; she wouldn't have sacrificed so much if it wasn't. But Merlin was her world, and whatever made him happy would take precedence over what she wanted. She took a breath.
"You'll go back to London then, and live with Morgana there."
"What! Mum, no! I wouldn't do that to you. I couldn't. Perhaps Morgana and I can work something out. Maybe let her have weekdays, and I-"
"No," Hunith cut Merlin off sharply, "absolutely not. I will not have my grandchild shipped back and forth across the United Kingdom for my sake."
"But mum," Merlin objected, reaching for her hands, "you said you needed me back, and I can come back. Really; Morgana and I can work something out don't-"
"I will be just fine, Merlin; for a time, at least." Hunith sighed and ran a hand over her face.
"If you say so, mum. How about this then?" Merlin squeezed Hunith's hands, "After the baby is born, we'll see where we stand, both here and in London. Maybe we will be able to work something out."
"Maybe… Enough of this talk, why don't we go downstairs and see what Morgana has done with the tea?"
"Sure, mum. Give me just a minute." Merlin lay down in his bed, closing his eyes and kneading them with the palms of his hands.
He heard his mother leave, shutting the door behind her. Not five minutes later, he heard another set of footsteps outside of his door.
The feet walked into the room, closing his door with a creak and a click.
"Merlin," Morgana's voice sounded, sitting in Hunith's vacated spot on the bed. "What's the matter? Don't say 'nothing', again. You know how I hate when you do that."
"It's just… I don't know!" Merlin ran a hand through his already unruly hair. "I'm worried about Ealdor, my mother needs me to come back; I can't take care of it and be with you in London."
Morgana shifted on the bed, lying down next to Merlin. "When?"
"Sometime within the next few months; I figure that after the baby is born then we can… I don't know"
"I'm sure there's something we could do…"
Merlin shook his head, "If we want our child to grow up with both of its parents close by, either we give up our jobs in London and move here, or my mother has to sell Ealdor."
"There has to be some other alternative, perhaps a compromise?" Morgana blinked away the tears that had come way too easily, damn pregnancy hormones, "I- I'm sure we can think of something…"
"No, don't you understand Morgana?" Merlin stood up, agitated, and began pacing. "There can be no middle ground in this. I have to choose between the woman I love and my mother; don't you realize how hard this is?"
"Of course I do, Merlin. But this isn't your decision to make alone, is it?" Now Morgana was the agitated one.
"No, but this isn't like your father's business where a person can easily be replaced; Ealdor has always been run by people who value it with their life, and I intend to follow in their footsteps."
"What about me, then? Our baby?" Morgana felt the hot tears running down her face, smearing her mascara. "Do we mean nothing to you?"
"Morgana no, of course not." All of the fight left Merlin as he sat back down, "You both mean so much to me, and it's terrifying. Given the chance, I would marry you, right now. Screw the consequences. But you have your entire life in London; all of your family, all of your friends. I could never take that away from you."
"Just like I could never take Ealdor away from you." Morgana said quietly, sitting up to stroke Merlin's hair. "We will work something out eventually. Until then, I think we should take a break from worrying; our tea is getting cold, and did you see those biscuits on the way in? They look absolutely heavenly."
At this, Merlin had to smile. One could always trust Morgana to sniff out the location of the nearest biscuit, especially now with her heightened sense of smell due to the pregnancy.
"Procrastination always does seem to be the best way to deal with things, I guess." Merlin muttered as he lead Morgana to the kitchen; knowing nothing was on stable and sure footing, but remembering his favorite Benjamin Franklin quote, "In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes."
A/N: So tell me, what should happen next? Do Merlin and Morgana move to Ealdor? Does it get sold? Or do they break up, and never want anything to do with each other again? I want your opinions, so comment and tell me! As always, sorry this took so long; the cheese really hit the fan this past week, and everything since then has been total chaos.
A/N 2: I am also looking for a Beta for this story and my other one, A Most Interesting Tale. So if you're interested, please shoot me a PM. Good time of day to you all!
