Some truth's over time can learn to play nice. Some truths are sharper than knives. Some truths we only see in the corner of our eyes. Some truths we wish we could hide. Some truths can save us, some take our lives. Some truth's are fire and some truth's are ice. No matter what category you fit into, truth's got its sights set on you
12th March 2021
Luckily despite the fact that schools were open, coronavirus rates had continued to decline meaning that soon enough the next step could be taken. Step two in wales meant that people no longer had to stay at home and could travel within their local area, as well as meet people. Two families in England were allowed to meet in a garden, though in wales it was only up to four people, Merlin and Morgana weren't too impacted as children under 11 were not included in that and decided to have Morgause and Cenred come over for a socially distanced meet up. Morgause had never met Alfie as of yet, though Morgana and Morgause had begun their reconciliation and decided to meet in Merlin and Morgana's garden on the 31st of March.
Even though Morgana had imagined that going to collect Merlin each day from work would be a pain, it was surprisingly good. It meant that she had a fixed routine every day and was leaving the house more than for just a daily walk, that she was sleeping normally and also that she could drive around a lot which she rather enjoyed. Alfie's first tooth had fully erupted and luckily Morgana had not been bitten yet, though it did ensure for a quite a few tired nights in the Emrys household as the baby was up a lot to comfort feed as he began to get used to his new tooth.
Merlin and Morgana had also put down an offer on the house, awaiting a response from the estate agents. It was a rather exciting time though also somewhat nerve wracking, as Merlin and Morgana really wanted the house. Nonetheless, they wouldn't go down without a fight and opted to put down an offer of £180,000. Merlin and Morgana both were going up on the pay scales, so would get £30,000 per year each as opposed to their previous £28,000. That meant it'd be easier for them to afford the house and sort out the mortgage, though fortunately no one else was interested in buying the house. As expected, the first offer was rejected though they managed to soon compromise on a good deal and were currently awaiting a response from the estate agents.
Amhar would be at nursery all day on Monday and Friday (8-4:20pm) and then for a morning only (8am-1pm) on Wednesday, and Morgana was hoping to start some sort of toddler group with him too now that things were slowly beginning to open. Though shops would remain closed until April, it was still a big relief to be back at school/nursery in person. All schools required secondary school and above pupils to wear masks in the class which while at first were protested against weren't that bad (after finding the right mask!). Merlin didn't mind wearing a face mask full time, and it was a huge improvement from online classes. He hadn't realised how good in-person teaching was while it did have it downs, he was back on track with life and loving it. He had to do coronavirus tests twice a week on a lateral flow test which he had to measure out some fluid into a vial and then use a small device that looked an awful lot like a cheap pregnancy test to put the snot and saliva mixture into, waiting half an hour to find out if there was one or two lines. Those with children in education in England could order those for themselves though not in Wales which Morgana was not happy about and loudly voiced her displeasure, and another reason that she was glad to move back to England for.
Mother's Day was also right around the corner and as it was still technically lockdown and Wales and officially lockdown in England (with everything except schools and takeaways remaining closed) Merlin had intended to make it special, though up to six people could meet in a garden so they invited Hunith and Balinor over. It would be the second Mother's Day in lockdown and second birthday for Morgana too, though luckily the kids weren't due to have their birthdays until summer and autumn time, which hopefully would be in things back to normal if Boris' plan of face masks and social distancing being gone by 21st June was to come true (highly unlikely). Merlin had admittedly spent a lot on his wife, buying an adorable expensive necklace that would have Amhar and Alfie's names on a round golf pendant with a heart next to it with M (for Merlin), he'd also added two little boy stick figures to represent Amhar and Alfie. Merlin had also ordered the new Bugaboo Bee6 that Morgana had been rattling on about though had never gotten around to buying, choosing a new colour of a black frame with matching fabric and a rather expensive organiser that could also double up as a bag and attach to the handle. As he didn't want it delivered to their home and therefore risking that Morgana would open it and see the surprise, he had it delivered to school instead (which was rather funny to the students when the receptionist came over with a massive pram box).
"Hi" Merlin greeted as he hopped in the passenger seat and kissed his wife as he took his mask off.
"Hey" Morgana greeted back after they kissed. "Ready to go or heading back in? I didn't see you go in the boot and you said it needed clearing for your marking books".
"I'm heading to get them now, I'll be back soon" Merlin kissed his wife and the kids before he headed back inside and grabbed the box, carefully placing it in the boot. With Merlin back in the passenger seat they headed to Camelot Day nursery to pick up Amhar and Merlin strapped him in while Morgana got out.
"Where you going?" Merlin frowned. "We signing Alfie up? I thought he was going to go to Bluebell House Nursery?".
"No, no" Morgana chuckled. "We're having pizza for dinner".
"Ooh!" Merlin squealed. "Home made?".
"Only for Alfie" Morgana smirked. "Not ruining his virgin gut and now he's getting his second tooth in I don't have enough time to cook".
"We're getting dominoes!" Merlin's eyes widened. He loves dominoes though unfortunately it was rather pricy so they didn't tend to get it often as well as going on a bit of a health kick.
"I'll be back in five" Morgana chuckled as she put her mask on and crossed the road. As expected, Morgana returned five minutes later carrying three pizza boxes, she deposited them on Merlin's lap and drove them home. Merlin immediately gave Morgana the pizza and took the buggy box out the boot and went straight into the house, hiding it under a blanket under his desk in the conservatory.
"What's in the box?" Morgana asked with a frown as she lugged the car seat with Alfie in, Amhar's nursery bag and the baby bag.
"Doesn't matter" Merlin said and smiled sweetly. "Well, pizza time".
"I hope it isn't anything bad" Morgana warned.
"It isn't, don't worry" Merlin reassured his wife. "Do you trust me?".
Morgana paused for a second and then nodded. "I do. I do, I want to. Though it's hard, I love you, I do trust you".
"All will be revealed soon" Merlin vowed. "I promise".
"I believe you" Morgana smiled as she put her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.
14th March 2021
It was slightly awkward for Merlin to get the presents wrapped up in the end. While the necklace was easy enough in that it was rather small so could be done easily, the bugaboo box was rather big so harder to do. And naturally Morgana was slightly suspicious though she did trust him so didn't pry. She had to put Amhar to bed and Merlin had marking to do (again, rather suspicious as that was his excuse when he relapsed). Though Mother's Day had come around and Morgana yawned and stretched, smiling as she saw her sleeping baby and then rolled over to see her husband's side of the bed empty. She quickly got out of bed and went to the loo then brushed her teeth, hating the morning breath more than anything and then heading back into bed with the baby. It was around eight, a definite lie-in and it was only a matter of time before the baby woke up as he gently began stirring. As usual, Morgana gave him his morning feed and lay down as she stroked his soft hair and took in the moment with a smile on her face.
She could hear Merlin whispering to Amhar "Shh, don't wake mummy!" She smiled as she waited for the door to open, followed by Amhar coming inside and crawling into bed next to her.
"Happy mummy's day" Amhar said as he planted a slobbery kiss on Morgana's cheek.
"Aww, thank you sweetheart" Morgana said as she lifted up Alfie and went onto her back.
"We got you cards and big big presents" Amhar said. "And daddy got you breakfast in bed".
"Good morning" Merlin greeted as he entered the room with a tray, balancing pancakes and a cup of coffee, Amhar's cup of milk and Merlin's mug too.
"Aww, this is nice" Morgana smiled as she sat up. She waited for Alfie to finish his feed before she tucked in to the pancakes (though didn't bother waiting for her coffee).
"Mummy, card" Amhar said as he gave her the two cards.
"Wait til mummy's finished eating Kiddo" Merlin chuckled. Amhar patiently waited though did fidget a lot, bouncing up and down in bed after he finished his milk then having several toilet trips.
"Finally, mummy finished" Amhar dramatically sighed. "Now open the cards" he peered around for the envelope with drawings (scribbles) on it and then handed it to Morgana. "This from me, Alfie can't draw yet".
"Gagaga" Alfie said as he gave a slight scowl in Amhar's direction.
"Open it mummy!" Amhar persisted.
"I am, I am" Morgana chuckled as she opened it up. A blue card with a flower badge in the middle, reading
'Hey Mumee
You've earned your...
Mother's Day badge!'
"I should've known it'd be a hey duggee card" Morgana grinned.
"Like it mummy?" Amhar beamed.
"I love it" Morgana smiled as she hugged the toddler.
"This is from Alfie" Amhar announced as he passed a grey envelope with "mama" written on it.
"Thank you Alfie" Morgana smiled as she kissed his forehead as he leant up against the wall of his Next2Me. He grinned and babbled something, putting his hands in his mouth as he had a slightly shy look on his face. As expected, it was slightly different reading 'so most of my life we've been in lockdown, but at least we had so much time getting to know each other! You are the best mummy. Happy 1st Mothers Day'.
"That's so cute" Morgana pouted. "No presents?".
"I couldn't bring it upstairs" Merlin chuckled. "So let's head down". Morgana carried Alfie as the Emrys family headed downstairs and into the living room. As usual there was the sofa facing away from the door at the fireplace with the tv above it, the coffee table in the centre and a desk in the corner that was not being used. Behind the sofa and all around the room were several toys, duplo pieces, the jumperoo and things that the kids liked to play with though things were somewhat tidy in a basket near the window. On the coffee table was three boxes, one that was huge and two smaller ones.
"Oh, my god!" Morgana gasped.
"Surprise?" Merlin shrugged as he put Alfie in the jumperoo, he quickly began jumping up and down.
"So is this what it was with the massive box?" Morgana smirked as she ripped at the wrapping paper.
"Maybe" Merlin teased. Morgana ripped off the rest of the wrapping paper and opened it.
"Oh my god! You actually got me this when you knew I've been rattling on about it" Morgana babbled away as she stared at the bugaboo bee6 box. "I went from being a killing addict to a pushchair addict ... oh how the tides turned".
"You could say the tides turned" Merlin remarked.
"In all seriousness ... we've got the cam, the bee now, the silver cross and the double ... that is quite a few".
"Shall we get on with building it?" Merlin asked.
"I need to open my other things first" Morgana chuckled as Amhar brought them over, the bugaboo organiser and a lovely necklace. As morgana had said, afterwards they had indeed managed to put the buggy together with some help from videos as it was slightly difficult then they got changed for the day, dressing Amhar in a tractor polo shirt with shorts, Merlin also wore a polo shirt and jeans while Morgana opted to go with her nautical heart jumper and Alfie naturally wore the matching baby one (which he still fitted into and probably would for a long time, though wasn't drowning in it unlike the last few times).
Hunith and Balinor arrived in time for lunch, eating outside with a nice hot cup of tea though it was slightly cold. Arthur and Gwen had lots of garden furniture (two sofas, a table and a parasol) and alongside the toys it did make for a rather squashed garden though no one cared—happy to be reunited. After lunch Amhar mainly played around and Alfie happily played in his high-chair as the adults talked.
"We've put down our second offer on the house and now we're just waiting to hear back from the estate agents" Merlin explained with a smile.
"I'm really happy for you, truly happy" Hunith smiled.
"Oh, just remembered!" Morgana gasped. "It's Mother's Day, us and the kids got you some presents".
"You didn't have to!" Hunith insisted.
"I come too" Amhar insisted as he went inside with Morgana and they headed upstairs together.
"You seem well" Balinor remarked.
"I am" Merlin smiled. "You know, life's almost back to normal with work and that. The R rate is dropping and it's looking promising for lockdown to end soon hopefully. Technically here in Wales it is over. We're moving house soon hopefully and Amhar's in nursery. You know, life is great. Alfie's growing into his little personality and granted he isn't sleeping through yet but it's becoming manageable. You know, everything is falling into place".
A loud thud followed by crying sounded from indoors.
"Watch the baby, I'll go see" Merlin said with a frown. He went to the front of the house, Hunith's Mother's Day gift was abandoned on the stairs and Morgana was carrying a crying Amhar, with carpet burned knees and hands as he sobbed.
"What happened?" Merlin asked.
"He had a little fall down the stairs" Morgana said as she rocked from side to side. "Amhar go to daddy, it's okay".
"No, want mummy" Amhar insisted.
"Could you grab the gift please?" Morgana said as she carried Amhar outside and sat down on hers and Merlin's sofa.
"As you were saying, everything has fallen into place".
"Amhar just fell down the stairs too" Morgana tried her hardest not to snigger at the irony.
"Should we give grandma her gifts?" Merlin asked. Amhar sniffed pitifully and handed Hunith her card while Morgana gave her the gift.
"Hey Grannee! You've earned your Mother's Day badge" Hunith read. "Aww, I love it, thank you Amhar".
"You welcome" Amhar said sweetly though kept his head on Morgana's chest and sniffed pitifully.
"And this is from Alfie!" Merlin said in a baby voice as he handed Hunith the second card.
"Happy first Mother's Day as my grandma" Hunith read. "Aww, that's the sweetest. Thank you Alfie".
Alfie put his hands together and brought them to his face, looking slightly shy with a grin.
"And now for the present" Morgana said as she passed it to Hunith and she opened it. It was a photo of her holding a newborn Alfie with Amhar when he was five days old, donning a face mask, a sad yet funny reality of the year 2020.
"We have some news" Balinor announced.
"Go on, let's hear" Morgana said as she raised an eyebrow.
"This whole pandemic thing has made us realise that being far away from you, our family has been difficult. Therefore we have decided that we're moving to Camelot, and keeping our Edale home as a holiday home".
"Oh my gosh" Merlin and Morgana grinned. Everything was indeed falling in to place.
A/N: Today (07.05.21) is actually the official two year date since Arthur and Gwen died in this story