Thank you for your continued interest. I appreciate it.
I do not own Merlin or the characters, neither do I own Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell.
Two more chapters.
Three months later...
"You spoil him," Mrs. Barker pointed out with a smile, as she carefully placed another apple pie on the table to cool.
"He deserves to be spoiled," Gwen said, easily returning the older woman's smile, as she looked over the pies she'd made to surprise her husband.
For the past four months, Arthur had been working day and night, taking any job that he could get his hands on, to make sure that they were well prepared for the coming winter.
They'd heard that winters in New England could be especially harsh, so he was making sure that they were well prepared.
And when he wasn't working on a job, trying to earn more money for the coming winter, he was chopping wood, building a shed, fixing the barn for their horses, checking the roof, windows and fireplaces, to make sure that they were properly secured.
He even built shelves in the root cellar, to make sure that they had plenty of space for their food.
He was making sure, that she and the baby had everything they were going to need. But he was working himself into exhaustion.
Every time Gwen pointed that out, he smiled and gave her a kiss, and told her that she was well worth it.
But he did promised her that things would slow down in the winter and he would rest then...though she knew he was lying.
He already had enough orders for furniture, chests and a hundred other things, to keep him busy during the winter.
"He's going to be upset when he finds out that you were working," Mrs. Barker said, as she pulled another pie out of the oven.
"He's not going to be upset," Gwen said, knowing that was true.
Arthur wouldn't be upset, when he found out that she hadn't stayed in bed like the doctor had ordered, he would be furious, which was why she also made him some apple pastries, so that he would be too busy eating to yell at her.
'He's such a hypocrite,' she thought, as she loaded a small tray with pastries, hoping that they would be enough to soften him up, enough to take her for a walk.
It was okay for him to work himself to death, but it wasn't okay for her to do anything more strenuous, than to turn over in bed.
She appreciated that he was concerned for her, she really did, but if she had to stay in that bed for one more day, she was pretty sure that she was going to scream.
She needed to move around, to work, to go for walks...anything that would take her mind off her huge stomach, the cramps that had started yesterday and wouldn't leave her alone and the fact that she was bored out of her mind.
Taking a deep breath and praying that the walk would help ease her cramps, she picked up the tray, and waddled to the doors.
It took her longer than she would've liked, but she eventually made it to the door and with Mrs. Barker's help, managed to step outside.
Murmuring her thanks to the older woman, Gwen started the long process of walking to the barn, where her husband was hard at work building a chest for the Fairmont family.
It really was a beautiful day.
The weather had cooled considerably over the past couple of weeks, making it the perfect weather for enjoying the outdoors. And she hoped to be able to enjoy it before the baby came along, with the snow that was sure to keep them trapped inside for most of the winter.
A few steps later, Gwen was forced to stop, as a cramp tore through her back and stomach, proving her point, that lying around for the past month, had done her absolutely no good.
She needed fresh air, sunshine and a bit of exercise.
Once the cramp had dulled down enough for her to move, she took a deep breath and continued towards the barn.
But she didn't make it five steps, before another cramp tore through her back and stomach, robbing her of the ability to breathe.
"Gwen?" a familiar voice said, drawing her attention to a very handsome man walking towards her, appearing surprised and pleased to see her. "Is that really you?" Henry asked, placing his satchel on a bench by the rose bushes, as he walked passed it on his way to her.
She opened her mouth to answer him, but a choked sob escaped her, as she lost her grip on the tray.
She bit back a cry as she cradled her arms around her stomach and leaned forward, praying that she wasn't about to lose the baby.
It was too early for the baby.
"Gwen?" Henry called, sounding worried, as he rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her as best as he could.
But she was rather large now, making the job nearly impossible.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
But she didn't get a chance to answer him, before she felt a rush of liquid pour down her legs.
It was quickly followed by another one of those vicious cramps, that left her barely able to breathe.
She reached up and grabbed onto Henry's arms, as cramp after cramp tore through her body, until all she could do was scream...the one thing that she knew, would make it all better.
"Arthur!"
"It's beautiful," Mr. Fairmont said in a reverent whisper, as he ran his fingertips over the intricate design of the bassinet. "How much do you want for it?"
Arthur chuckled, as he placed the sheet back over the bassinet to keep it protected.
"Thank you, but it's not for sale."
Mr. Fairmont smiled.
"Fair enough. For your child?"
"Yes," Arthur said proudly, as his gaze shifted to the other covered furniture that he'd built for their baby.
"The baby will be here soon enough," Mr, Fairmont said with a chuckle, as he moved to kneel in front of the chest that Arthur made for the man's future daughter-in-law.
"Not soon enough," Arthur said, leaning back to give the man some space to look over the chest.
Only one month more to go, before he was holding their baby in his arms...their miracle child and he couldn't wait.
There were no words to describe how he felt about this child.
They were getting a second chance to be parents to this child and he wasn't going to waste it.
He was going to...
"Arthur!"
...have a heart attack, he realized, as Gwen's blood-curdling scream reached his ears.
Before he realized what he was doing, he was running out the door, barely aware of Mr. Fairmont following him or demanding to know what was wrong.
The only thing that he cared about at that moment, was getting to his wife and killing whoever was hurting her.
When Arthur ran out of the barn and into the yard, terror shot through him, as he watched a man hover over Gwen, as she curled up on her side and screamed his name over and over, until he found himself running towards her and tackling the bastard.
"What the hell did you do to my wife?" he demanded, as he shoved the smaller man to the ground and raised his fist, ready to kill him with his bare hands, when recognition hit hard.
"Henry? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Besides getting my ass kicked and having your wife scare the living hell out of me?" his brother demanded, as he shoved Arthur away and got to his feet. "I came to talk to you."
Gwen's screams brought his attention back to where it belonged.
And as happy as he was to see his brother again and that he was talking to him again, he was going to have to wait.
"Guinevere?" Arthur called, as he crawled over to where his wife lay, curled up into a ball and panting. "What's wrong?"
Instead of answering him, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
"Is it the baby?" he asked, praying that the answer was no. It was too soon for the baby. They had another month before the baby was supposed to be born.
Reluctantly, she nodded as a sob escaped her.
'Please don't let us lose the baby,' he silently prayed, as he carefully picked her up and carried her into the house, because he didn't think that either one of them would be able to survive the loss this time.
"He's coming to," Arthur vaguely heard his brother Henry say.
"Huh?" was his only response, as he struggled to figure out how he ended up lying face down on his bedroom floor.
"I did tell him not to come in here," Henry said, sounding amused, as he helped roll Arthur over onto his back.
"This is why men don't belong in the labour room," Mrs. Barker said, sounding put out, as she tossed a wet cloth at him.
It hit him in the face before falling off and landing on the floor, leaving him even more confused.
"What happened?" Arthur asked numbly, as he struggled to sit up, but a wave of dizziness had him lying right back down.
His answer was the beautiful cry of a baby. But to him, it sounded more like...
"Twins!" Henry exclaimed, with a huge grin as he helped Arthur sit up.
"Twins? Arthur repeated, not understanding what his brother was saying.
"Twin boys!" Henry said, chuckling, as he reached down and dragged Arthur to his feet. "That's why your wife was so huge."
"I was not huge!" Gwen said, not sounding very mad at all, as she drew Arthur's attention towards the bed, where she was curled up onto her side, smiling down at two wiggling, but healthy looking, babies.
"W-what happened?" he asked, struggling to remember what the hell really happened.
"What do you remember?" Henry asked, dragging him over to the bed, where his family was waiting for him and helping him to carefully lie down next to the most beautiful babies that he'd ever seen.
"Not much," he admitted, trying to shake his head clear.
"Well, after you carried Gwen in here and sent for the doctor, your formidable maid Mrs. Barker kicked us both out. While we waited for the doctor, you and I had a long overdue discussion, where you apologized profusely for being a selfish bastard and begged my forgiveness," Henry said, sounding amused and drawing Arthur's glare.
With a roll of his eyes and a few muttered words, Henry carefully sat down at the end of the bed and reached over, so that the baby nearest him could grab onto his finger.
"Fine. I apologized for being a bastard and not saying goodbye to you."
"That's all?" Arthur asked with a frown, as he reached down and softly caressed his son's head.
"Well, you did apologize for everything," Henry said, sending him a smile. "I'm sorry for not realizing that you were in love with her, Arthur. Our parents are sorry as well. They should be here in a few weeks to tell you themselves. I should have realized that something was going on."
"There's nothing to apologize for," Arthur said, giving him a reassuring smile, before he returned his attention to the baby, who was pulling his finger to his mouth.
"Oh, yes there is!" Mrs. Barker said, stepping up the side of the bed to smile down at the babies. "You gave the doctor and me heart failure, when you came running in here like that!"
"I ran in here?" Arthur asked, wracking his brain, trying to remember, but it was all a bit fuzzy.
Henry chuckled.
"As soon as Gwen started screaming, you broke free, ran into the room, caught one look at your wife giving birth and promptly passed out."
"I don't remember any of that."
"And I doubt that any of us will ever forget," Henry said with a wink, that had Gwen laughing softly, as she leaned down and pressed a kiss against the squirming baby's foot that kept lightly kicking at her.
Arthur looked at his wife, noting the exhaustion and pure joy in her eyes, as she looked down at their boys.
She looked so damn beautiful, he couldn't help losing his heart to her all over again.
"Twins, minx," he said, gently pulling his hand away from his son, so that he could push a damp strand of hair behind his wife's ear.
"Twins," she repeated with a pleased smile.
He leaned in, careful of the baby now trying to grab onto his shirt, and brushed a kiss against his beautiful wife's lips.
"I love you, Guinevere," he said, teasing another smile out of her, both remembering, how she used to hate him calling her that.
"And I love you, Lemonade Arthur."
Aww...so sweet. Twins! Spain88, you had it and yes, I'm trying to stay safe. I'm still in lockdown until the 17th, but I have to work, so my original stories are slow going.
Stay safe everyone!
