Arthur could hear it before he even opened the door, an incessant wailing and Merlin's feeble attempts at stopping it. Arthur opened the door slowly against the sound, as if the wailing provided resistance. It was the downfall of having small children, the ultimate language barrier.

"What do you want Mordred?" Merlin demanded.

Mordred's face only screwed down tighter as he let out another wail. The baby's face was turning red with the frustration of not being understood.

" I'll deal with him." Arthur took the baby from Merlin and started to sway. It slowed the onslaught of high-pitched screams that sounded more like wounded animals than a human until Mordred was silently scrutinizing Arthur's face.

Merlin watched the interaction closely " You're good with him sometimes." Merlin said.

" Sometimes? " Arthur snorted.

"I'm sure you try your best."Merlin retorted.

Arthur didn't respond, he only swayed more and murmured something to the baby Merlin couldn't hear. Mordred was fully asleep when Arthur put him into the crib.

Merlin's eyes were circled in a dark almost bruise like color. His hair was a mess but for once he was wearing his own t-shirt. "He's been fussing all afternoon." Merlin sighed.

"Like that?" Arthur asked. Merlin sent a glare that clearly stated, 'yes like that'. "You don't think he's sick do you?"

"I hope not." Merlin moved closer to Arthur.

"Is his doctor's number on the board?" Arthur asked.

Merlin buried his face in Arthur's chest, a muffled "yeah," escaped.

"Do you want me to schedule something?" Arthur asked. Merlin nodded. "Tired?"

Merlin looked up, "very." He sighed. "But I have to be down at the library in an hour so coffee is my best bet. Speaking of which, how much do I owe you for groceries?" Merlin stepped away from Arthur.

"You don't." Arthur said.

"Oh. Did I already pay you?" Merlin asked, preparing the coffee maker.

"No, just, don't worry about it Merlin." Arthur dismissed.

"I will worry about it at work, surrounded by dusty boxes of public records," Merlin stated.

"I don't care if you pay me back." Arthur said.

Merlin ignored that, his sleep-deprived state did not contribute to his filter and a rant was in order. "And my boss is the most parsimonious woman I have ever met. She hasn't given anyone a raise in three years." He went back to his bedroom and changed into slacks and a shirt that was business appropriate. "And my co-workers are positively vapid, you would think that by surrounding them with books they'd pick something up." Merlin complained. He drowned a cup of coffee and turned to leave. He paused at the door, "Arthur," Arthur turned towards Merlin, "Thank you."

Arthur nodded and Merlin left. "He's going to be the end of me Mordred," Arthur sighed. The baby didn't stir. Arthur looked over the cork board for the doctor's number.

It was a white business card with blue ink reading, "Dr. Guias, pediatrician. Office open 8-6" With the phone number in bold text. That eliminated Arthur being able to take Mordred.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The receptionist asked, voice drenched in the honey sweet tone of customer service.

"Hi, yes, I'd like to book an appointment for Mordred Emrys." Arthur said.

"Alright, we have a 10:45 this Tuesday," The receptionist offered.

"Uh," Arthur looked over the calendar, "That should work."

"Okay, and one more question, what are his symptoms?" The receptionist asked.

"He's been a restless sleeper lately, fussier than normal," Mordred cut him off with another wail. "Sorry." Arthur picked Mordred up, swaying again. "Uh, Merlin checked his temperature earlier and he was 39.45 degrees [C] then.

"Well if that's all, we'll see you at 10:45 on Tuesday." The receptionist said.

"Thank you." Arthur hung up the phone and focused on Mordred. "What's going on little guy?" He asked. Mordred stared at Arthur. His face progressively turned pinker until it was firetruck red. Mordred opened his mouth to scream. "Ah! Don't do that." Arthur yelped. Mordred flailed , shaking his head from side to side. Arthur steadied his hold on Mordred and sat down. "Don't do that baby." Mordred still sounded like an air raid siren. He frantically pulled on his ear. Tugging and yanking and screaming.

"Your Daddy loves you very much Mordred." Arthur whispered below the shrieks. Mordred's face dropped the red to a refined rose color. His shouting stopped. "Yeah, and I do too." Arthur added. His voice was still soft. It worked most of the liked hearing that he was loved, and Arthur couldn't blame him. If anyone told him that Merlin loved him, he'd stop crying too.

Arthur knew about the betting pool in his office and refused to mention the drunken kiss. Or the close to fifty subsequent ones that were the product of sobriety and opportunity. Those weren't for office gossip and they'd figure it out eventually. Well, they might already know, as Morgana pointed out, Arthur had a picture of Merlin and Mordred on his desk. To quote her, "You're married, even if you aren't dating, you're married." They weren't dating and that wasn't likely to change.

Arthur sat on the couch with Mordred on his lap. Mordred wasn't going to sleep anytime soon so late night news and infomercials it was. Halfway through a bedazzler commercial Mordred started rocking.

"What is it baby?" Arthur asked. It was the hour of the night that those commercials began to make sense and Mordred wasn't the least bit drowsy.

"Whaaa?" He frantically pointed at the screen.

"I know, it makes things sparkly and tacky, what an invention." Merlin had instilled in Arthur the knowledge that babbling back was the 8th deadly sin but Arthur really had no issue talking to Mordred with real words and occasionally used him to practice his openings and closings.

Mordred clapped his hands. "Waan."

"No." Arthur said. He was better at that than Merlin. Mordred pouted. "Keep that up and I'm buying us all snuggies." That wasn't the worst idea Arthur had ever had at midnight. "They're tacky too but soft." Arthur explained. Mordred didn't reply and he was unfocused. "No you can't bedazzle a snuggie."

"Do you always talk to Mordred like that?" Arthur jumped at the voice.

"Dadadda!" Mordred cheered.

"Merlin! I didn't hear you come in," Arthur said. "Is your shift over?" He asked. He held onto a now hyper Mordred.

"Yeah, I'm done for the night," Merlin sighed. "Did you set up an appointment?"

"Yeah 10:45 Tuesday." Arthur said.

"Has he fussed?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, but you got most of it." Arthur moved and Merlin slumped down on the couch.

"I'm tired." Merlin complained.

"I am too. It's just Mordred." Arthur agreed.

"Mmm, wake me up when you leave." Melin rested his head on Arthur's shoulder.

"Dadadda." Mordred complained.

"What baby?" Merlin asked. Mordred crawled to Merlin's lap. "I'm not replacing you with an athletic blond either."

Arthur chuckled and shifted away from the pair. "Do you want to put him in his crib?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, and I should go to actual bed too." Merlin handed Mordred over. Arthur laid Mordred down only to be greeted with shrieks.

Arthur picked Mordred back up. "Oh no, you're okay." Arthur soothed. Mordred was still crying but he didn't appear to be in pain.

"Dadadda," Mordred wailed.

Merlin took Mordred from Arthur. "It's going to be a long night." Merlin sighed.

Every time they tried to put Mordred down he screamed. Merlin and Arthur were doomed to another night on the couch, taking shifts holding Mordred, trying to make sure he's okay. Neither got very much sleep.

Arthur went to the office with dark circles under his eyes and ringing in his ears.

"Woah, late night there Arthur?" Gwaine teased.

"You could say that." Arthur forced a smile.

"So you and Merlin are together then?" Gwaine asked. "Because if not Leon is single and needs to mingle."

"I resent that." Leon called through the cubicle hallways.

"Yeah but you still tolerate me." Gwaine called back. "Anyways I need an answer princess." Gwaine turned his attention back towards Arthur.

"It's Mordred, he's sick and wouldn't lay down without screaming." Arthur explained.

"Is that a yes or a no Pendragon?" Gwaine taunted.

"Don't cross examine me." Arthur grumbled. He opened his laptop and went to WebMD.

"Hostile witness!" Gwaine pointed at Arthur, while bouncing in the hallway. This gained a few spectators namely Gwen and Morgana.

"Last night was Mordred's fault not whatever your twisted mind came to." Arthur said.

"Is he okay?" Gwen asked.

Arthur looked over the results. "I hope so, Merlin is taking him to the doctor. According to this it's either an ear infection or brain cancer."

"Was Merlin there?" Morgana asked.

"For part of the night." Arthur said. He texted Merlin, Make sure they look at his ears-A.

"Part of the night?" Gwaine asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes." Arthur ignored the implications.

"Anything exciting?" Gwaine taunted.

"Have you two kissed yet?" Gwen asked.

"Better yet, who are your bridesmaids going to be?" Morgana teased. The trio fired off a few more questions.

"Objection, badgering the witness," Arthur shut their questions down.

"They're probably planning on eloping." Gwaine said. "And witnesses can't make objections." He added with a wide grin. They returned to their questioning only stopping when their case partners showed. Arthur had to work on a closing for one of his cases and practice the delivery. Pendragon law firm was the best firm in the city, anything less than perfect was unacceptable.

Arthur returned to a much quieter apartment that day. "Hey," He greeted.

"Mordred is asleep." Merlin said from the table. "He has an ear infection. He's on antibiotics."

"When does your shift start?" Arthur asked. He sat across from Merlin.

"Soon," Merlin said. "And I might need some overtime."

"I'll cover it." Arthur offered.

"You don't even know what it is." Merlin pointed out.

"That's not the point Merlin." Arthur said. "Believe it or not I actually care about you, and Mordred."

"I believe it." Merlin said immediately. "Nobody is that tolerant of his screaming unless they care."

"He's a good baby." Arthur sighed.

Merlin looked away, "How are the repairs going?"

"They'll be done at the end of the month." Arthur said.

"Then you'll move back upstairs?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know yet," Arthur admitted.

"Well, there's time to figure it out I guess." Merlin stood up. "I have to get going." He left.

Arthur walked over to Mordred's crib. There, Mordred lied awake but kept quiet. Merlin had dressed him in a dinosaur onesie. "Go to sleep baby." Arthur said. "I'm not staying up watching commercials two nights in a row." Mordred's eyelids closed. Arthur took that as a good sign and went to bed.