Thought it best to add a warning that there's slightly graphic talks of pregnancy symptoms ;)
When tomorrow comes, I'll be on my own. Feeling frightened of the things that I don't know, when tomorrow comes, when tomorrow comes, when tomorrow comes. And though the road is long, I look up to the sky and in the dark I found lost hope that I will fly and I sing along, I sing along, sing along. I got all I need when I'm with you and I, look around me and see a sweet life. I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight, you're getting me getting me through the night
1st August 2020
Four days had passed since Morgana's due date, meaning that officially she was overdue. Surprisingly though, she wasn't that fed up with being overdue and instead enjoyed the last moments with Amhar as an only child. They'd decided that it was a good idea to do something just them three and Amhar seeing as once the baby came they'd be rather busy, so booked a day out to Noah's ark zoo farm, coinciding with the day that shielding had been paused.
"We'll take the car pushchair from my car so we can keep the double clean for when baby gets here" Morgana decided. "A picnic too we'll somehow squeeze it all in the pushchair". Given it was an hour away, Merlin and Morgana arrived just after ten in time for their time slot. Due to covid and to allow social distancing, they were only letting a certain amount of people in at a time and operating at forty percent capacity.
"Okay, what animals do you want to see Amhar?" Merlin asked.
"Da wions! And tigers!".
"Lions and tigers it is then" Morgana agreed with a chuckle.
"And chickens!" Amhar added.
"Okay, we can see those too if they have them" Merlin smiled.
"I want see ebrey ting" Amahr declared.
"Everything?".
"Yeah! Wets go!".
"We need to get our tickets first baby" Morgana chuckled.
"Why" Amhar pouted.
"Cause we do" Merlin shrugged. After using the hand gel and masking up, getting their maps and reading it Amhar looked around the zoo in absolute wonder.
"Woah!" Amhar gasped.
"Let's check the map" Morgana smiled. "If we go straight on and see the farm animals and some others first, there's a play area where we can stop for lunch".
"That sounds good" Merlin remarked.
"Then we can see the maze and the bigger animals".
"ROARRR!" Amhar exclaimed.
"Ahhh" Morgana fake screamed. "That's so scary". Amhar grinned at Morgana and giggled, kicking his legs up and down.
"Amhar look, there's a" Merlin paused for a second to look at the map. "A siamang gibbon?".
"Merlin, it's a swimming pool" Morgana shook her head. "I think you read the map wrong".
"Probably" Merlin agreed.
"Look at that sweetie" Morgana said. She unbuckled Amhar and sat him on her hip as she walked towards some other animals. "It's a stork, they bring the baby".
"Morgana!" Merlin spluttered as he was crushed by the falling buggy. They'd hung a lot of bags on the handles and Amhar was the only thing balancing the weight.
"Meh, you're fine" Morgana shrugged it off. Many onlookers sniggered as they walked past Merlin and he moved the bags around to make it not fall again.
"Oh look, there's a little birdie house!" Morgana squealed.
"That is going to be so cute!" Merlin said as he walked into it. Morgana held the doors open while Merlin went through, both holding Amhar's hands as he walked.
"Mummy" Amhar said quietly. He held his hands up for her to carry him. "That scawy" he put his face on her chest and held on tightly.
"It's okay sweetie, it's a bird look".
"Amhar no wike birds. Mummy" he cried.
"Oh dear" Merlin grimaced. Making sure to adhere to social distancing, they got out as soon as they could given Amhar's hatred of the birds, going to the meerkat's instead.
"Cuddle dat?" Amhar asked.
"It's very cute" Merlin agreed with a chuckle.
"You can't cuddle it, that isn't a cat" Morgana said. "I think we ought to avoid the crocodiles for now, let's see that other path".
"Aww! Those wallabies are absolutely adorable!" Merlin gushed.
"I know" Morgana agreed.
"I want one!" Amhar said as he waved his arms up and down. "Cuddle it?".
"No Amhar, they're not pets and you can't cuddle them" Morgana chuckled. "And you can't cuddle them". Amhar pouted his usual pout yet was soon distracted by whatever other animal that Merlin and Morgana walked towards.
"What that?" Amhar asked as they looked at some emus. "Dat ugly. Bleh!".
"That's an emu" Merlin said.
"Pee poo" Amhar said with a grin.
"You're so cheeky" Morgana shook her head. "That's not very nice, Amhar".
"Yeah" Amhar agreed. "Sowwwyyy mummy and daddy".
"Thank you Amhar" Merlin said.
"Well he's a splendid little boy, isn't he!" Someone remarked. "Perfect manners. How old is he?".
"I two!" Amhar said as he showed two fingers.
"You're not two yet baby" Merlin chuckled.
"I not baby" Amhar said. "Mummy having baby. My baby bruvverrr".
"You're going to have a baby brother!" she remarked. "That's nice".
"Tank ooooo" Amhar said. "I want a monkey".
"You are a monkey" Merlin corrected with a chuckle.
"No!" Amhar pouted.
"Silly baby" Morgana chuckled and kissed his head.
"Bye bye!".
"Bye" Amhar waved. "Mummy I walk" Amhar insisted.
"If you must" Morgana muttered as she put him down.
"Tank ooo" Amhar smiled as he held Morgana's hand. They ended up going at snail speed with Amhar walking, social distancing being harder to maintain so Amhar ended up being back in the pushchair and pushed along. He pouted as he was pushed along the path, Merlin and Morgana chuckling at the audacity of the one year old.
"He's certainly Arthur's kid" Morgana shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"He sure is" Merlin agreed. "And your nephew. To be fair he probably inherited your stubbornness".
"I am not stubborn!" Morgana protested. "I am pregnant with your son. There's a difference".
"Sorry, sorry" Merlin apologised while Morgana scowled as they walked towards the porcupine, Siamg gibbons and lemurs.
"That so fluffy!" Amhar declared. "Stwoke it?".
"We cant stroke it sweetie" Morgana chuckled. "Look, its moving around". Amhar had shown quite an interest in the tortoises, he would've fallen into the pen if it wasn't for Merlin being there to catch him.
"A owl!" Amhar said as they watched the owls. "Hoo. Hoo".
"That's right! Owls make that sound!" Morgana exclaimed.
"Y'know, I think CBeebies is actually good for him" Merlin remarked as they began to walk back. The one way system was virtually useless at that part of the zoo, given that there wasn't a ramp and Merlin was not about to bump the buggy down a bunch of stairs.
"I told you so" Morgana smirked. After seeing the other animals—crocodiles, other lemurs and some of the farm animals, Amhar was getting tired and both Merlin and Morgana were starting to get hangry, deciding to stop for lunch. Amhar fell asleep shortly after and instead of going around to see the animals, the couple decided to rest instead.
"I thought that I'd finally go into labour after walking around here, yet I don't even have a twinge" Morgana dramatically sighed.
"Speak for yourself, my back aches like mad" Merlin commented.
"Aww, poor you" Morgana taunted. "My ankles are swollen and have been for the past six weeks, my back's been aching for the past nine months, there's a baby on my bladder and I think I pissed myself".
"Do you want to go check?" Merlin asked.
"Probably vagina sweat" Morgana shrugged. "I can't believe that today is one of the last days with Amhar as an only child!".
"I can't believe that we're actually having a baby!" Merlin exclaimed. "This time last year we were going through the motions, trying to make our way through this shitty time".
"I mean it's still a shitty time" Morgana cut in. "Coronavirus. I mean, lockdown and all was great, I somewhat liked it but I feel bad for saying that cause of everything else".
"Well, I guess we lived life on the highway and needed things to slow down, which they did".
"I guess so" Morgana smiled as she kissed Merlin. Even though Amhar was still asleep, Merlin and Morgana walked around looking at the animals. Amhar woke up halfway through so they went back to the start and began walking around again to see all the animals—the sheep, goats, alpaca's, llamas were Amhar's favourite in the farm area before they went to the wild animals area. Amjar was in love with everything; the bears, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, reindeer and his personal favourites the lions, tigers and elephants.
"No twinges or anything yet" Morgana pouted as they walked up to the house. "Oh look, we've got a parcel".
"My pwesent for baby?" Amahr asked excitedly. Morgana opened it up—a jellycat fawn and pale blue bunny. Amhar's was exactly the same, albeit in a dusky blue instead of pale blue.
"My bunny and baby bunny!" Amhar beamed as he grabbed his bunny of the sofa and put it next to the baby's one.
"Yeah, that's for you and that's for the baby" Merlin smiled as he ruffled Amhar's hair.
"I can't believe I'm saying this" Morgana huffed. "But I am trying anything to get labour at this point".
"Meaning?" Merlin raised an eyebrow.
"I am doing the baby mama dance and filming it" Morgana deadpanned.
"Okay, let's do it then" Merlin laughed. "In the kitchen?".
"My phone for filming, yours for the music" Morgana grinned as she went into the kitchen. Morgana strutted into view on the camera while lipsyncing. "When the song come on lemme see ya get gone, baby mama this yo song been pregnant for way to long, to long now tell the DJ turn it on".
Merlin walked in carrying Amhar after that, throwing him in the air like simba and then dancing together. Morgana squatted rather well, holding onto the kitchen table as did Merlin with Amhar in tow.
After they stopped the video Merlin and Morgana glanced at each other and laughed.
"Well, let's hope that worked" Morgana remarked.
"Aww, we cute" Merlin said as he watched the video.
"I never would've done this if it wasn't for the heat and lockdown" Morgana chuckled. "Bloody hell, we've changed".
"I know" Merlin agreed. "You even did the baby mama dance!".
"Oh my god!" Morgana bent down slightly and held her bump. "I think".
"Did your water break?!" Merlin asked excitedly as he followed her to the bathroom. They'd long given up locking the door, pregnancy was proving to be the least glamorous thing ever.
"Oh look, my mucus plug went" Morgana grinned as she held it up for Merlin to see.
"So it's go time?".
"Not yet, but it should be soon".