AN: I don't own Merlin. I am definitely grateful that the writers managed to make such a great and popular series, which I just fell in love with! I only own William!
Warning: English is not my mother tongue, so it is entirely possible there are spelling or grammar mistakes in my story. Do not hesitate to point them out to me.

Summary: Arthur found out Gwen is pregnant. Seven and a half months later, she's ready to give birth. In the timeline, this comes before chapter 2 in this series.

Written after prompts from one of the guest reviewers and ABVM. So, thank you for your support and ideas/inspiration.

Merlin found Arthur in the throne room, sitting bent over, leaning his elbows on his thighs and head in his hands. A few parchment scrolls that had been on the table after the council meeting were scattered all around. Something was wrong, Merlin could see that, but he didn't know what. Everything had been going alright since they came back from Camlann only three months ago. He hadn't heard about any trouble with the harvest or about an army trying to invade the kingdom. Their friendship had been rocky, but they were getting through the rough patch. Still, Merlin was hesitant when he spoke.

"Something wrong?"

Arthur's answer was short. "No."

"Come on, Arthur. I know you well enough to know something is bothering you."

"Right, but apparently I didn't know you well enough to know when something was bothering you, or even that you had magic." The King's tone was bitter. Merlin felt hurt. He knew Arthur had the right to be angry, but he didn't think this had anything to do with him, which meant his friend was just using him to work out his anger. He decided to let it slide for now.

"You're trying to deflect. Are you going to tell me what's wrong? Does it have something to do with Gwen? Did you have a fight? I saw her on my way here, and she looked upset."

Apparently, he just said the wrong thing. Or the right thing, depending on how you wanted to look at it. Arthur stood up and crossed the space between them before Merlin could blink.

"Don't… I don't want to talk about it. It's nothing. Just… Leave it, Merlin."

"Okaay, I'm sorry I mentioned it?" Merlin was confused and his eyes must have shown it, together with betraying he was feeling hurt, because Arthur closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The warlock stepped back to leave the room.

"Merlin, just… wait. I didn't mean… It's just, Gwen surprised me. And I didn't expect it at all. And God, you said she was upset? I reacted all wrong. I should have… I don't know, kissed her and hugged her or something? I…" Merlin interrupted him.

"Okay, slow down. I don't even know what you are talking about."

"Gwen's pregnant."

Merlin made a sound of disbelief, but then laughed joyously. "That's great! Congratulations!" He stopped speaking after that though, seeing the guilty look on Arthur's face.

"Yeah, that's how I should have reacted, right?"

"You didn't? I thought you wanted a family of your own?"

"I froze. I didn't know what to say. And then I asked her to leave me alone. I do want a family. But, Merlin, what if something happens to Gwen? I can't lose her. And I'm scared." He sat down on one of the chairs around the table. Merlin took one of the other chairs and turned it so he was facing his friend.

"This is different, Arthur. And maybe you should tell Gwen what you're telling me now. She needs to know how you feel about it. And she needs to know that, really, you are happy. Because I know you are. You're just a little slow in processing your feelings, so you didn't get there yet."

Arthur cuffed the back of his head for the last remark. "You're right. Uhm, any idea where I could find her?"

"She's your wife, how should I know? But you could try your chambers. Just, make sure you're ready to defend yourself. I wouldn't want you to die only a few months after I saved you."

The King rolled his eyes and stood up. When he reached the door, he turned back to his Merlin. "Thank you." The only answer he received was a smile and a nod.

AxG

Arthur followed Merlin's advice and found his wife in their chambers. She was lying on the bed with her back to the door.

"Gwen." When she didn't answer, he tried again. Still no answer. "Guinevere."

"Leave me alone, Arthur."

Arthur ignored what she said and laid down behind her, putting his arm around his wife. She tried to shake him off.

"I'm sorry. I reacted poorly."

Gwen huffed.

"I thought you wanted this. That you would be excited… I guess I was wrong."

Arthur sighed and shook his head.

"You weren't wrong. I do want children, Guinevere. I just… I didn't expect anything like this, not anytime soon at least. You surprised me. I know there's no excuse for me reacting like that. But can we talk about it?"

"Would you leave me alone if I said no?"

Arthur huffed a short, self-depreciating laugh. "No. I talked to Merlin and…"

Guinevere interrupted him. She turned around and pushed him away, all the while glaring at him. "Oh, so you can talk to Merlin, but not to me?"

"And, he told me I should talk to you instead of him. I agree with him. I didn't tell him everything, you know?"

"But you did tell him I'm expecting."

"Yes, well, he kind of annoyed me until I told him… You know how he is." The Queen tried to hold back a smile, but didn't quite manage.

"So, I want you to know that I love you, Guinevere, and I do want a family. With you, only with you. But I'm afraid of losing you. My mother died giving birth to me. And I don't want that to happen to you. I don't know how I would go on. I'm afraid of becoming like my father, of not being there for my child. And when you told me, that was the only thing I could think of at that moment. And the happiness you were expecting, it got stuck behind those thoughts. It was only after you left, that I could think about the happy things. And then I got angry at myself for hurting you."

Sometime during his speech, Gwen had taken his hand. Arthur was looking down, not meeting her eyes.

"Arthur, look at me." When he looked up, she continued. "It will be alright. I'll be alright. We didn't use magic to create a life, we created a life by loving each other."

"But a lot of women die giving birth. I can't lose you, Guinevere, I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"I can't promise you to stay alive. But I'm still young, and healthy. Gaius said there should be no problem. And, love? You would go on, loving our child. You have friends who would help you. I have no doubt that you will be an amazing father, with or without me. You will always be there for our child, or children, helping them grow into amazing people. You will teach them about right and wrong, about truth and honor, about fighting, but also about loving. You will be there, every step of the way. Because I know you. You are not your father. He loved you, but too often you doubted that. Our child will never be able to have any doubts about your love."

Arthur smiled at the passion in his wife's voice. This was why he loved her so much. The quiet strength, the wisdom of her words, the way she believed in him even when he didn't believe in himself, the love she gave so freely. Because, even though she had only known about this baby for a few hours, he could see how fiercely she loved it already.

"Okay. So we're really having a baby?"

"Yes, really. You're going to be a father."

"Wow," Arthur was still amazed when she put it like that. "I am. And you're going to be a mother. A fantastic mother, the best any child could ever hope for."

"Thank you for these kind words, love. But it doesn't mean you're entirely forgiven. I just haven't figured out a way to properly punish you yet… that will have to come later." So for now, she just put her head on his shoulder and made herself comfortable enough to fall asleep.

AxG

Over the next few months, Arthur's punishment became clear. He was forced to serve his wife and was woken up more than once at night to run down to the kitchen because she was hungry. He supposed all men who were going to be a father had to go through this, so he didn't complain. Well, except for that first week. He'd tried to make Merlin do some of the serving, but Gwen had quickly nipped that in the bud.

Now, seven and a half months after their talk, Gwen was huge and ready to give birth. Not that Arthur would tell her she was huge, of course. He had an excellent sense of survival, after all. He didn't mind the way her belly bulged either, because she looked radiant to him. Every time he looked at her, a smile appeared on his face. It didn't mean he was happy to be woken up by her at night however. Especially since it was the fourth time this week, and most of the time she just complained about not finding a comfortable position. He groaned.

"Gwen? What's wrong now?"

"Arthur?" There was something in Guinevere's tone that made Arthur more alert. He sat up and turned to look at her.

"Uhm, I think my water broke."

That was enough to get Arthur out of the bed and in some clothes in ten seconds flat.

"Right. The baby's coming? Now? What do I do? Oh! I need to get you to Gaius…"

"Arthur," Gwen called.

"Do you need help getting up?" He went to her side of the bed. "Do you need anything?"

With some more urgency "Arthur."

"Can I get you anything?" Before he could go on, Gwen grabbed his arm and almost shouted. "Arthur! You need to calm down. And Gaius needs to come here, I can't give birth in his chambers, there's not enough light. So go get Gaius."

"I can't leave you here alone! What if something happens?"

"Oh, for God's sake, there are guards in front of the door, order one of them to get Gaius. You are hopeless in crisis situations. How did you ever survive all of the attacks?"

Arthur was already running in the direction of the doors, thinking about a thousand things. He was so distracted that he didn't even think about his words.

"Merlin."

Gwen laughed slightly behind him. When Arthur was ordering the guards to get Gaius, and to get Merlin while they were at it, he heard his wife groan behind him. He didn't hesitate to go to her.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"Arthur, stop panicking. What did you think? Childbirth hurts, love."

"Right, right… Can I do anything to help?"

Gwen lifted her eyebrows. "If you want to take my place, please do."

The King paled. And then started pacing. The Queen observed him in the time between contractions.

"And where is Gaius? I sent for him five minutes ago!" He was not a patient man.

"Arthur, Gaius is an old man. You can't expect him to run up all of these stairs. I'm not going to give birth in the next few minutes."

He continued pacing, even though Gwen tried to tell him to calm down. When Gaius arrived ten minutes later, the Queen was ready to kick her husband out of the room. As if he could read her mind, the physician ordered the two guards to take Arthur outside. The soon-to-be father objected of course, so the two men hesitated, but followed Gaius' order when they saw the Queen give the okay. Once they had wrestled Arthur out of the room, Gaius turned the key in the lock. Outside, Arthur started knocking and later pounding on the door.

"You can't do this! Gaius! It's my room, you can't just lock me out!" Behind him he heard someone tell the guards to leave them, but he paid it no attention. "That's my wife and child in there, Gaius! Let me in!" When he first felt the hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off and continued yelling. Only when the hand grabbed his arm to turn him around did he look at the person with him. Merlin. Of course it would be Merlin.

"You need to unlock the door. Gaius locked me out."

Merlin shook his head. "No. He locked you out for a reason, Arthur. You're panicking. You need to calm down."

"I'll calm down once I see Guinevere is alright!"

"No you won't. Arthur, calm down. Nothing's going to happen to Gwen. But you standing out here, pounding on the door and yelling will only stress her out. So just, relax, and wait with me out here. I sent someone to get Leon and Percival. We'll wait out here with you."

Arthur glared at Merlin, but seeing that the warlock wouldn't back down, he closed his eyes and sighed. Ordering Merlin around wouldn't be effective, since the man never listened to him if he thought it was for the best. "Fine, just… fine. I'm calm, see?"

His best friend snorted. "Hardly. But I suppose you're calmer than a few minutes ago at least. You scared the guards away."

"I did not! I heard you send them away."

"Alright, I did. They saw enough. Wouldn't want them to witness their King breaking down, would we?"

"Merlin?"

Merlin knew that tone. "Shut up?"

"Exactly."

They stayed to wait in front of the doors to the royal chambers. Leon and Percival joined them a few minutes later. Together, they settled down to await the birth of the first prince or princess in Camelot.

AN: So, that was it. I tried to make it compatible with chapter 2 of this series and I hope I succeeded. Thank you for reading!