Beginning of March 2020

Ever since the birth of their son Mordred, Freya had continued to have an array of health problems. They begun when she found out she was pregnant—Freya had bad morning sickness to the point of hospitalisation, bleeding and placenta problems, followed by a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia which led to her being induced, only for the induction to fail which ultimately resulted in an emergency c-section which during Freya and Mordred both almost died. While Mordred was overall fine; having to go to the NICU as he was premature and now at two years old being small for his age, Freya's health problems seemed never ending; having being diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2019.

Merlin smiled sympathetically at his wife Freya as she coughed once more. Merlin made his way over to her bedside with a bowl. "Spit" he ordered her, wincing as she spat blood into the bowl once more.

"Thank you, Merlin" Freya smiled hoarsely.

"It's okay" Merlin smiled. "I just want you to get better".

The little pitter patter of feet was heard from behind them, Merlin turned around as he saw their toddler toddling into the bedroom.

"Mummy" he smiled as he raised his arms to be picked up. Merlin looked over to the bed. Even though Mordred was rather small, Freya was simply too weak to hold him as she gently shook her head.

"No MorMor" Merlin said. "Mummy needs to rest".

"I want mummy" Mordred pouted.

"It's okay, Merlin" Freya said gently. "Just bring him over". She briefly held her son until she was overcome by another coughing fit, so Merlin had to take Mordred.

"Medicine time" Merlin smiled gently. He knew how Freya hated her medicine and tried to make it as pleasant as possible. He gently pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. Warm. Strange. He took one of the disposable thermometers out of the draw and told her to open her mouth—not that she needed to given that she already knew the "drill".

"Sorry babe" Merlin apologised. "Calpol or tablets?".

"Calpol, please" Freya decided with a smile. "It's not long now until Mordred can start school, isn't it?".

"Preschool" Merlin corrected. "But yes. The nurse will be heading over tomorrow and we're starting his settling in sessions".

"That's nice" Freya smiled. "Which one is it again?".

"Kilgharrah primary school" Merlin replied. "They have the nursery attached too, Aithusa's preschool which is where Mordred can start soon. I think it's in September as he doesn't turn two until June so we have to apply and he has to already have turned two".

"Can I come?" Freya asked weakly.

"Sorry love" Merlin apologised. "You can't. Not with all this coronavirus thing going on".

"That's okay" Freya smiled. Merlin could see that she was holding back a cough again, as she soon began spluttering and coughing up more blood.

"Freya" Merlin said gently. "I think I'm going to have to phone the doctor. You're not well".

"Merlin please—" she stopped to cough. "I'm fine. It's just a little cold".

"Yes, a 'little cold' for anyone could be fatal for you. Especially with everything happening".

"You mean coronavirus?" Freya checked. Merlin nodded. "It's not possible, I've never left the bloody house".

"I'll phone the doctor and see what he says" Merlin sighed. After consulting a doctor on the coronavirus helpline and giving them Freya's health history, they were advised to take her to the coronavirus hub for testing, although was likely to be moved to hospital seeing as she had severe underlying health conditions.

Merlin had to wait in the car with Mordred while Freya went in to have her testing done. Merlin looked at his son in the mirror attached to the headrest and moved into the backseat. At two years old, Mordred was still rear facing in a 'Merlin' car seat—Freya liked the name while Merlin liked that it was extended rearwards facing and swivelled. He wanted to do everything in his power to protect his son as much as he could—especially given Freya's illnesses.

After a few hours, Freya was blue lighted to the nearest hospital given that the coronavirus hub was at minor injuries and her breathing had worsened during her time there.

"I'm sorry. Your wife has tested positive for coronavirus" the doctor said. "We are going to move her to the ICU on a ventilator. I'm sorry".

"No" Merlin gasped as he fell to the floor. Mordred had almost fell in the process yet the doctor had managed to catch him, the toddler giggling at (what seemed to him) the fun game.

"If you wish, you may see your wife" the doctor offered.

Merlin silently nodded and strapped Mordred into his pushchair before he followed the doctor to the ICU. Freya passed away on the 7th of March 2020. Sixteen days later, Boris Johnson announced a national lockdown. As a result, Merlin had to attend the funeral alone with his son.

18th March 2020

Morgause was sat at one of the tables with her iPad ready to watch Boris Johnson's latest announcement. Being the leader of Aithusa preschool, she knew it was inevitable that schools would close at some point. She smiled as she saw Morgana walking over with her water bottle. Morgana had just joined earlier that year, after completing childcare at college, and even if there was a lot of shit happening lately, Morgana absolutely loved her job. Nimeuh soon joined her thus all of the preschool teachers were ready to watch the video.

"Looking at the curve of the disease, looking at where we are now. We think now that we must apply downward pressure, further downward pressure on that upward curve by closing the school".

"Well that's great" Nimeuh muttered.

"Whoopee!" Morgause cheered. "No work!".

"Shoot, there goes my first year" Morgana cursed.

"Well I assume there'll be a staff meeting at some point". Morgause paused to squeal. "But for now, we're free!".

A/N: I know, this chapter's pretty short but I wanted to get everything 'established' first. This probably won't be updated as much as my other fics as this isn't at the top of my priorities but anyway, hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think! :)