I see trees of green and red roses too. I see them bloom, for me and for you. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white, the bright blessed day and the dark sacred night and I think to myself what a wonderful world. The colours of the rainbow look so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of the people going by. I see friends shaking hands, saying 'how do you do'. They're really saying 'I love you'. I hear babies crying, I watch them grow. They'll know much more than I'll ever know. And I think to myself (self), what a wonderful world
7th March 2021
The last few weeks of February were difficult though passed quickly. With Merlin on sick leave and not having to worry about all his marking and online lessons, stress levels in the Emrys household had dropped significantly. Instead of having to wake up and go to online classes, Merlin could instead spend time with his family at a leisurely pace. Granted, the toddler was rather annoying at times though they opted to bubble up with Uncle Gaius as their childcare bubble, so that he could take Amhar a few days a week to allow Merlin and Morgana some time off. This had proven to be rather good, as Morgana wasn't yet ready to leave Alfie as unlike Amhar he didn't need that much entertainment and was happy with the walks that they would go on just them three, enjoying the attention from his mum and dad. While they did love Amhar so much, at times having a toddler could be a pain so they were happy to have the free time.
Hunith had stayed there for the week and her help had been invaluable, helping the couple to get back to their normality and ground them more. Her generosity hadn't ended there, after the stroller fiasco she insisted on buying them a new one despite their protests so they were rather surprised at a black Silver Cross Pop stroller arriving at their house (especially given the slightly hefty price tag!), as well as offering to book them a holiday for the summer (which Merlin and Morgana politely declined). On the first day of spring, Merlin's flat had officially been sold leaving Merlin and Morgana with £210,000 which meant that they had enough money to buy the house and get a decent mortgage. They had visited it many times and decided that they loved it on their first visit, adamant on buying it as soon as they could. Though naturally with the house buying process it would take a while, usually up to a month so they wouldn't be likely to move in until April.
It was still uncertain as to whether foreign holidays would be allowed to go ahead that year, and while Merlin and Morgana were certainly more prepared with the prospect of taking a baby on a plane (unlike two years prior), they had decided that they'd wait and see as to whether they could go abroad. Though across the UK, holiday break prices were wracking up with it looking more and more unlikely that they'd go abroad, so Merlin and Morgana found themselves on their laptop scouring the Internet for a perfect family holiday.
"Great Yarmouth?" Merlin suggested.
"Shit-hole" Morgana replied.
"Skegness? They have Butlins so it's good for tots and kids".
"Skegness is also a shit-hole" Morgana deadpanned. "At least the Butlins there is from what I've heard. Maybe one of the other locations?".
"Bognor Regis" Merlin suggested. "They have hotels there and it's okay priced".
"Okay, we can look there then". Merlin and Morgana ended up spending £600 on their holiday to Butlins Bognor Regis, rather well priced given that it included lots of toddler activities and as they were going at the beginning of July they would see Peppa Pig and Thomas the Tank Engine. Amhar still hated Thomas though whenever Alfie saw it when it came on the TV he was absolutely mesmerised by the little blue tank engine, though Morgana didn't let him watch TV as he was too little he did read the books a lot and play with some of Amhar's old Thomas toys he had from babyhood. Morgana set Alfie down in bed and fed him, reading a book as Merlin went about his nightly routine and then did hers after Alfie had fallen asleep. By 9:30 Merlin and Morgana were lying in their beds with the light off and lamp on.
"Ready for tomorrow?" Morgana checked.
"As I'll ever be" Merlin sighed. "I was thinking".
"That's dangerous" Morgana joked.
"Why don't we do Disneyland Paris with the kids?" Merlin suggested. "While they're still under three. Both are free that way, it could be the holiday mum and dad pay for seeing as they insist..".
"Hmm... maybe" Morgana mused. "I've been to Disneyland Paris as a kid, it opened in 1992 so it's older than us. I remember we went when the disney studios opened in 2002, I loved it. Amhar at that age where he'd like it, so ... though the price".
"Yes, there's that" Merlin sighed. "Though if we did took the Euro-star shuttle, the one you can take cars on".
"It's be nice to see Paris" Morgana commented. "On the other hand, I have been wishful searching for holidays, I stumbled across a gorgeous one in Turkey and I might've fallen in love".
"With a holiday resort?" Merlin smirked.
"We're in lockdown!" Morgana protested. "I love the look of sensatori, though ... I don't know. We may not even be able to go abroad".
"Exactly" Merlin agreed. "We've got so much planned already ... in the night garden live, Thomas land for Alfie's birthday, Legoland for Amhar's".
"I guess we ought to play it by ear" Morgana said and kissed Merlin. "Then again ... we may not even be able to leave the country, so".
"Exactly" Merlin agreed. "Good night".
"Night".
8th March 2021
Exactly as he had expected, Merlin felt tired when he woke up. Insomnia was the worse curse, and it had been rather prominent during lockdown. Even though he'd changed his routine, his sleep schedule remained that way—absolutely fucked. It was crazy how much energy he would burn off by going into school. He rolled over and smiled at Morgana, leant on her side in a C shape around Alfie as he had his morning feed, Morgana remaining asleep and Alfie semi-awake. Merlin slipped out of bed and headed downstairs, putting a couple spoons of coffee in his and Morgana's favourite mug, getting some bowls out and filling the kettle and beginning to boil it before he headed back upstairs. He went to the bathroom and relieved himself, washed his hands and face then shaved the beard he had grown over the last week off and went back to bed. Morgana was stirring slightly, groaning as she usually did when awakening and holding Alfie close to her, still feeding. He knew that the baby hadn't been teething the last few weeks as despite his fussiness he was still rather happy, though as of late he was constantly gnawing on something with unbelievable amounts of drool and spit up. Merlin knew it was almost time for her alarm to go off, deciding to be proactive he closed the door behind him and headed over to Amhar's room. He went to his bed and knelt down on the floor gently ruffling his hair and singing "good morning, good morning to you".
Amhar stretched and grinned with a sleepy yawn. "Good morning daddy".
"Did you sleep well?" Merlin asked. Amhar happily nodded. "Today, you're going back to nursery. You excited?".
"Yeah!" Amhar excitedly jumped out of bed and Merlin quickly made it up before they headed to the bathroom so Amhar could go to the toilet and brush his teeth before heading down.
"Mummy!" Amhar greeted as he ran up to her. Alfie was sat in the highchair eating toast slices and Morgana was stood up as she drank her coffee.
"Morning kiddo" Morgana smiled as she hoisted him onto her hip. "You excited for today?".
"Yeah!" Amhar enthusiastically nodded. As usual for the first day, they'd finished their breakfast early and were able to get ready at a leisurely pace. While usually Morgana would stay at home while Merlin took Amhar to nursery, instead as Merlin wasn't allowed to drive for at least six months the whole Emrys family would go into Camelot. On the first day they'd set the alarm nice and early so they had plenty of time to get ready, while also knowing that soon enough as the term went on that they'd take longer and longer to get ready and need more alarms in order to get out of bed, strategically planning it to ensure that they could remain on time for work. Amhar was dressed in a pair of jogging bottoms with a paw patrol t-shirt, zip up hoodie and his coat while Merlin wore what he'd usually wear for work. Due to his sick leave he'd have to have a brief meeting with Nimueh where she'd double check that he was fit to work (even though his doctor had already said so) and to go over the risk assessment with their newer covid procedures. Nimueh had also requested for Morgana to join, she had claimed that it was so she could catch up with her for keeping in touch days and when she'd be returning though both Merlin and Morgana knew it was because she wanted to see the baby.
The first stop in Camelot was Camelot Day Nursery. They'd parked up and then all gotten out, Alfie remaining in his car seat and put their masks on—the adults did anyway. Amhar and Alfie were too young to wear masks, though Morgana had seen a COVID-19 pushchair visor that could stop the baby getting splashed with germs she just didn't think it necessary, the risk in babies wasn't high and it'd be a faff to move around. Merlin put Amhar's George pig backpack on his back and they all walked up to the nursery. Usually Morgana didn't tend to drop him off and only pick him up, so it was rather nice that the first time of the year included all of them going to drop him off.
Amhar smiled as he saw his key-person stood at the door with her face mask and visor.
"Okay Amhar, time to say bye to mummy and daddy" she said as she came out.
"No" Amhar insisted as he gripped onto Morgana leg. Both she and Merlin pulled their masks down and kissed him on the head, telling him that he'd have a great day like he always did though he shook his head and clung to Morgana's leg.
"Time to go Amhar" Morgana said as Merlin pried him of her leg.
"Nooooooo" Amhar wailed. "I want mummy! Mummy stay!". Handover was rather heartbreaking, as Amhar was handed over to one of the workers and headed into the nursery. Merlin and Morgana left immediately, clicking Alfie's car seat into the isofix base and twisting it to rear facing.
"Freedom!" Morgana cheered as she sat in the drivers seat. She shivered as despite being March it was still freezing and she had somewhat underdressed (though at the same time she hadn't!) with a t-shirt, hoodie, coat and a pair of jeans.
"At last" Merlin sighed as he threw his head against the headrest. "Peace".
Alfie had no idea that they wanted peace, instead letting out an ear-piercing cry. Morgana smiled sympathetically at Merlin and he took the baby out his car seat, giving him to Morgana for a feed.
"What was that you were saying about peace?" Morgana chuckled.
"Never a dull moment with us, is there?" Merlin smiled and shook his head. Even though they were in Merlin's car (VW golf) as opposed to Morgana's (VW Polo) it still felt somewhat cramped. "Is it just me or do you think we're outgrowing this car? Well, your one for sure".
"I have been thinking about changing my car" Morgana said. "After we move. Well, shops open 12th April so we can start looking then. Ideally a proper family car instead of our tiny ones".
"That'd be nice" Merlin agreed.
"What's the matter, huh?" Morgana said as she switched Alfie onto her other boob. They waited until he had finished his feed before Merlin burped him and they waited in the car a little longer.
"Merlin, hold on!" Morgana grinned. She opened Alfie's mouth and he cried in protest as she shone her phone torch in his mouth. His gums were extremely red and sore looking, though there was a tiny bit of white on his bottom gum that the torch reflected.
"First tooth!" Merlin gasped. Eighth of March 2021, first tooth".
"I guess spring is in the air" Morgana grinned. "Now, let's go to that meeting". They arrived in the school car park and put their masks on, heading to the reception just after the bell to signal period one beginning went off. Nimeuh agreed with them that it'd be best to wait until all pupils were in classes to reduce the risk of coronavirus from the children and themselves as well as the baby, as Morgana lugged the car seat with Merlin laden with his work bag and the baby bag to Nimeuh's office. They walked past many classrooms and saw the pupils sat with their face masks on, hugging and sitting close not caring about the risk but more about the fact that they were reunited with their friends for the first time in three hard months.
The meeting began at nine, halfway through period one during which Merlin's class would be covered by a supply teacher. He spoke to Nimueh and they were all happy for Merlin to return full-time as he was doing much better. As expected, Nimeuh wanted to see the baby (though socially distanced) and talk about Morgana's return date, which would be the first day of the summer holidays so that she could get payed over summer, though officially she wouldn't be starting until September. She decided to decline the keeping in touch days and would have to begin to look at nurseries for Alfie. While she loved Camelot Day in that it was easy as Amhar was there, she wanted to keep her options open.
Morgana and Alfie drove over to Essetir Road which is where the house they were looking at buying was located. They parked up and with Alfie in the pram took a walk around the area, finding Camelot's second nursery Bluebell House which was actually down the road from their house. Morgana had to resist everything in her to not sign up there and then, instead agreeing to take home an application form and prospectus to discuss it over with Merlin. Morgana headed home for lunch with Alfie then went back into Camelot at four to collect Merlin then Amhar. While for Amhar there had been tears, the return to school and normality was a success.
A/N: I forgot to post on Monday! We had a bank holiday and I completely forgot that it was a Monday as usually have work. I skipped over some of the detoxing as I have never drink alcohol so don't even know what a hangover is like and there's only so much that research can come up with! Lockdown was rather tough especially the last few weeks so it was easier for me to focus on the back to school day for the chapter as not much happens in lockdown! I actually watch a show called new Amsterdam and when schools went back season three premiered with the same song at the start so it truly felt fitting