Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Yuletide Carol's being sung by a choir. And folks all dressed up like Eskimo's. Everyone knows a turkey and some mistletoe. Tiny tots, with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight. They know that Santa's on his way, he's loaded lots of toys and goodies for his sleigh. And every mother's child is gonna try to see if reindeer really know how to fly. And so I'm offering this special phrase, to kids from one to 92, although it's been said many times, many ways. Merry Christmas to you
24th December 2020
Christmas Eve of 2020 was one much unlike those before. While typically everyone would be allowed to meet with family, spending the day travelling up and down the country to meet them, most people had to remain at home instead. Merlin and Morgana planned to start off the day with a nice brisk walk around as usual, even though the pair were exhausted by the end of it, it was rather nice to get out and walk around early in the morning. The weather around the United Kingdom was rather strange, the wind whistling loudly and the incessant blowing of trees, they decided not to cancel their walk even as Storm Bella made her appearance.
"Is it Christmas mummy daddy?" Amhar practically shouted over the baby monitor.
"Not yet" Merlin replied. "I doubt he's going back to sleep".
"Looks like we ought to be up for the day then" Morgana grumbled. "Well soon at least. I'll stay here a bit longer to finish feeding Alfie".
"Okay, I'll start breakfast".
"Good idea" Morgana agreed as she closed her eyes tighter.
"Is it Christmas!" Amhar asked.
"Not yet" Merlin yelled back. "I'll take him down, plonk him in front of CBeebies".
"Good idea" Morgana agreed. "See you soon". Alfie lay in the travel cot downstairs while the family ate their breakfast and got changed afterwards.
"I need to find my troll in the coal" Amhar said as he walked around.
"Remember, troll in the coal goes back to Santa tonight".
"And Santa comes to see me" Amhar added as he walked around the living room. "Let's see the garden" he made his way into the conservatory after Merlin opened the gate, seeing the troll sat at the top of his slide. "Found him!".
"Well done Merlin smiled. "Now he has to go back to Santa, so you have to be extra good".
"Yeah" Amhar agreed.
"Look what's here!" Morgana gasped. Near the fireplace was four boxes, each labelled with everyone's name. They already had presents from all the others—Morgana's mother, Merlin's parents, Morgause, Sefa, Dylan, the twins, Will, Gwaine and their friends under the tree, though Amhar knew not to open them until Christmas Day.
"Ooh, presents!" Amhar said as he opened his Christmas Eve box after it was handed to him. They all had majority of the same things—black and white pyjamas with snowflakes and Christmas trees, hot chocolate sachets for everyone (except Alfie) with a polar bear mug that said 'mummy bear', 'daddy bear' or 'little one', while the baby had a small Tommee Tippee bottle, reindeer slippers for everyone, a stickman book and the Gruffalo for Amhar while Alfie got 'that's not my Santa' and 'that's not my reindeer'. They both got a cuddly toy, Alfie had a tiny white reindeer with a silver nose, paws and antlers while Amhar had a toy gruffalo.
"Aww, look at our matching pyjamas" Morgana smiled. "We can all match tonight".
"Yeah" Amhar agreed. "And Santa can see!".
"Yeah, that's right" Morgana smiled. "Look, there's two books for you to read".
"Stickman!" Amhar grinned.
They quickly layered up and after setting up the double buggy headed outside to begin their walk.
"Oooh! Lights" Amhar said as he pointed at one particular house that had many Christmas lights on it.
"Look Amhar's that's a Santa!" Morgana said as she pointed at a Santa light on someone's roof.
"But Santa only comes at night?" Amhar asked.
"That's not the real Santa, just a light silly" Morgana chuckled.
"Oh, yeah" Amhar facepalmed. They stayed out for about an hour before heading home and taking off their outer clothes, sitting on the sofa with a blanket to defrost, Alfie feeding to sleep while Amhar relaxed. It had begun to rain lightly and was very windy so they arrived home just in time.
"Book?" Amhar asked.
"Sure" Merlin smiled. "Let's do Stickman. Stickman lives in the family tree, with stick lady love and stick children three. One day he wakes early and goes for a jog, Stickman oh Stickman beware of the".
"DOG!" Amhar cut in.
"Shh, baby's going sleep".
"Sowwy baby" Amhar kissed Alfie's head.
"A stick! Barks the dog. An excellent stick. The right kind of stick for my favourite trick" Merlin read. "I'll fetch it and drop it and fetch it and then, I'll drop it and fetch it and drop it again. I'm not a stick, why can't they see! I'm Stickman, I'm Stickman, I'm Stickman".
"That's me!" Amhar squealed.
"You really like this book huh kiddo?" Merlin smiled as he ruffled his hair. "And I want to go home to the family tree! A notice says 'dogs must be kept on a lead' at last the game is over and Stickman is free".
"FREE" Amhar echoed.
"He sets off for home with a hop and a twirl, oh Stickman oh Stickman beware of the".
"GIRL!".
"A stick cries the girl, with a smile on her face. The right kind of Pooh stick for winning the race".
"Poo stick" Amhar giggled.
"Has everyone got one? Get ready to throw. It's one two three into the river you go. I'm not a poo stick, why can't they see I'm Stickman, I'm Stickman I'm Stickman that's me! And I'm heading away from the family tree. Stickman is floating he floats on and on. Oh Stickman oh Stickman beware of the".
"SWAN" Amhar cut in.
"A twig says the swan, this twig is the best. The right kind of twig to weave into my nest. I'm not a twig! Why can't they see? I'm Stickman I'm Stickman".
"I'm Stickman dat's me" Amhar continued. "Go to the family tree".
"You really like this book, huh" Merlin chuckled. "The nest is deserted and Stickman is free. He floats down the river and sails out to sea. He tosses and turns till the frolicking foam, washes him up on a beach far from home".
"We can't go beach" Amhar said. "Too cold. I no like the water".
"That's because you were being very silly" Morgana shook her head. "You went in the water and it was very cold".
"Yeah, Amma silly" Amhar agreed.
"Here comes a dad with a spade in his hand, oh Stickman oh Stickman beware of the sand".
"Amma no like sand" Amhar said. "It too gwitty".
"That's a big word for you to say" Morgana remarked.
"A mast yells the dad, an excellent mast, the right kind of mast, hooray there's a flag on our castle at last".
"I make sandcastles" Amhar said. "I wike sandcastles".
"You just said you hate sand" Merlin shook his head. "I'm not a mast for a silly old flag, or a sword for a knight, or a hook for a bag. I'm not a pen, I'm not a bow, I'm not a bat or a boomerang no".
"My batty" Amhar said as she showed off his toy bat.
"Oh Stickman oh Stickman beware of the snow!" Merlin gasped.
"We no have snow" Amhar said. "We had snow at nursery but it all gone!".
"Here comes a boy in a warm woolly scarf, an arm for my snowman he says with a laugh. I'm not an arm, can nobody see? I'm Stickman I'm Stickman I'm Stickman that's me! Will I ever get back to the family tree?".
"No" Amhar said sadly.
"Stickman is lonely. Stickman is lost. Stickman is frozen and covered in frost. Stickman is weary, his eyes start to close. He stretches and yawns and lies down for a doze. He can't hear the bells or the sweet singing choir, or a voice saying 'here's a good stick for the fire'".
"Stickman die like Arthur and Gwen?" Amhar asked.
"Oh honey" Merlin sighed and pulled Amhar into his lap. "I don't think so"
"The fuck kind of kids book is this?" Morgana muttered under her breath before continued.
"Stickman is lying asleep in the grate, can anyone wake him before it's too late?".
"Yeah" Amhar said.
"He dreams of his kids and his stick lady love. Then suddenly wakes! What's that noise up above".
"It Santa!" Amhar gasped.
"It starts with a chuckle and turns to a shout. Oh Ho Ho Ho Ho I'm stuck, get me out!"
"Santa stuck" Amhar giggled.
"A stuck man a stuck man, now who could that be? Don't worry! Cried Stickman, I'll soon set you free. A scratch and a scrape and a flurry of soot, a wiggle a jiggle and out pokes a foot".
"Santa boot".
"A shove and a nudge, a hop and a jump, and Santa falls into the room with a thud".
"I don't want Santa to come" Amhar pouted.
"Why?" Merlin frowned.
"Cause then Stickman dies and the room gets messy!".
"Stickman won't die" Merlin reassured him while Morgana snorted and hid under the blanket so that he couldn't see her laughing . "And Santa uses his magic to keep everything clean".
"Pwomise?" Amhar checked.
"Promise" Merlin said. "Stickman oh Stickman you excellent friend. Thanks, thanks a million, thanks without end! Then Stickman helped to deliver the toys to fast asleep girls and fast asleep boys. Faster and faster they fly through the snow, till Santa says only one chimney to go".
"My chimney" Amhar gasped.
"Maybe" Merlin replied. "Stick Lady's lonely, the children are sad. It won't feel like Christmas without their stick-dad. They toss and they turn in the family bed, but what is that clattering sound overhead? Someone is tumbling into their house! Is it a bird or a bat or a mouse? Or could it, could it just possibly be?".
"I Stickman that's me, I stay in the family tree" Amhar chanted and closed the book. "The end".
"Right, time for lunch" Morgana decided. After lunch it was time to make cookies for Santa, the usual chocolate chip recipe. Amhar sat on the countertop insisting on mixing everything while Alfie napped in the sling on Morgana, Merlin going around prepping the kitchen, greasing/lining the trays and making sure that he grouped all the ingredients for Christmas dinner together. Rain hammered against the windows and the wind whistled loudly, the trees swaying and the troll falling down the slide into a puddle.
"My twoll!" Amhar wailed.
"Oh dear" Morgana sniggered.
"My troll all wet" he continued wailing.
"Let's watch some CBeebies" Morgana sighed as she plonked Amhar in front of the tv while she prepared some sensory and played with Alfie for a little bit and then Amhar too while Merlin sorted out dinner. By the time they made it to four, Morgana gave up with letting Amhar watch tv and ended up on the news channel, fed up with CBeebies. Many places in Wales had been flooded and the Emrys family were wary of getting flooded albeit prepared. They'd had flood warnings and made sure that everything was together and ready just in case. They decided to eat an early dinner ever since Merlin had been at home for the holidays, eating at half four.
"Family bath?" Amhar asked. "Please".
"Okay, I'm up to it" Morgana shrugged.
"Finish your food first Amhar then we can".
"Yay" Amhar squealed, missing his mouth and sending peas flying across the kitchen. "Sowwy" he said as he picked them up and put them in his mouth.
"Amhar, they're dirty. You don't need to eat them".
"Okay" Amhar said as he fed them to Merlin instead. Morgana went upstairs and sat in the rocking chair feeding Alfie while Merlin set out the Christmas pyjamas on the floor for all of them alongside clean underwear and a nappy for Alfie. Merlin took Alfie so that Morgana could tie her hair up into a messy bun (she hated getting it wet in the bath, and she'd just washed it yesterday anyway) and start running the bath while Amhar sat on the toilet.
"Bit higher than usual maybe?" Morgana said. "We can hold Alfie, though keep it low enough for his support".
"Sure" Merlin agreed as he stripped down and put his clothes in the basket.
"Daddy willy big and hairy" Amhar giggled. "Mummy boobies big".
"Yes Amhar, that's because we're adults" Merlin said as he lowered himself in the bath then took Amhar in. Morgana handed Alfie to Merlin before she got in, it was rather tight with Morgana and Merlin's knees having to be on the edge so that they could fit the bath support for Alfie in the middle, not that they used it just keeping it there as a precaution while Merlin held him.
"Woo!" Amhar squealed as he made his toy boat 'fly' of the side of the bath and into the bath with a big splash.
Alfie looked around for a moment and began to cry.
"It's okay" Merlin reassured him as he held him. "It's okay sweetie". Alfie soon stopped crying, rooting on Merlin's chest and latching onto his nipple while Morgana laughed like a maniac. "Help?" Merlin asked uncertainly.
"So now you know what it's like to breastfeed" Morgana laughed. "Oh my god I'm gonna cry".
"Don't cry mummy" Amhar said.
"It's happy crying" Morgana reassured him as she grabbed her phone of the floor after drying her hands on a towel, making sure to snap several waist-up pictures of Merlin looking horrified while Alfie tried to breastfeed, only getting Merlin's expression and the baby's head turned away in. "That's enough torture for today" Morgana smirked as she took her last photo, though Alfie looked at Merlin with confusion at not having any milk so he gave him to Morgana and he hungrily latched on. "You okay Merlin?".
"Traumatised" Merlin pouted.
"At least he isn't teething" Morgana shrugged. "Right, I think it's time to get out".
"Aw! Not already" Amhar whined as Morgana stood up and stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself and Alfie.
"Look, you're getting wrinkly" Morgana said. "Remember, Santa's watching".
"Oh yeah" Amhar excitedly tried to get out, Merlin dried him off and the family quickly dressed themselves in their matching pyjamas and made their way downstairs, drinking hot chocolate out of their new mugs at the table.
"How many cookies for Santa?" Morgana asked.
"Three" Amhar said as he put up five fingers.
"And carrots for the reindeer?" Merlin asked as he began peeling them.
"Two" Amahr decided.
"Merlin, it's time. Six o'clock" Morgana said standing up with Alfie on her hip.
"What happening?" Amhar asked as Merlin picked him up and followed Morgana to the front door.
"We're ringing bells for Santa!" Merlin said. Morgana opened the door and took the bells that nursery had given Amhar, gave it to Amhar and they began ringing the bells. Most people on their street came out too, wishing each other a merry Christmas before making their way in.
"Dat was fun" Amahr said as Merlin put him down.
"Okay, let's take some photos by the tree" Morgana said.
"Okay" Amhar agreed. He sat down and Morgana put Alfie in his lap taking some photos, then of Morgana with both boys and Merlin too. They weren't the most 'perfect', not all of them were looking at the camera or smiling, but to Morgana and Merlin they were. They propped the phone up and used the timer to take the whole family one's before they put the cookies and carrots under the tree with a glass of milk.
"Santa coming now?" Amhar asked.
"That's right" Morgana confirmed with a smile. "Now, let's go to the toilet, brush your teeth and then we can go to sleep".
"And when you wake up, Santa will have come" Merlin added. Amahr raced up the stairs as quickly as he could, going to the toilet and brushing his teeth before he lay in bed.
"Gruffawo" Amhar said as he lay in bed.
"Okay, we'll do the Gruffalo" Merlin said with a smile as he sat on Amahr's bed while Morgana sat in the nursing chair in the corner feeding Alfie.
"That daddy" Amhar said as he pointed at the Gruffalo.
"That's not me" Merlin scowled. Granted, he had given up with shaving as of late, he would shave for work but hadn't since the holidays began.
"It is" Morgana wheezed. "You're the Gruffalo".
"Yeah, that daddy" Amhar insisted. Merlin sighed, pouted and began to read the book. They left Amhar alone after that, sure that he would fall asleep on his own and made their way downstairs. The stockings were hung by the chimney, all matching with their names on them.
"Right, shall we start now?" Merlin asked.
"Shhh!" Morgana hissed. "Not yet. He's still awake. We need to wrap the stocking presents".
"Oh boy" Merlin muttered. Morgana put Alfie in the basket and went to the cupboard under the stairs, grabbing the bag with the stocking stuffers. Lots of small cars, some chocolate coins, a new toothbrush and toothpaste, new metal cutlery with paw patrol, egg shaped crayons, toot toot drivers, play doh and a satsuma. Alfie had a few Tommee Tippee and BIBS dummies (they were the only ones he would take, though not the old breast-style ones as Morgana hated the hole and insisted on ones that had a plastic shield to cover the mouth part), a sloth toy rattle with tags that was slightly cuddly holding a ring, a hedgehog with tags, Lamaze clip on toys, bath toys, a cuddly toy that could be attached to his dummy, teething gloves and some adorable baby neckerchief's that had a chewing part for teething. Morgana and Merlin wrapped the kids smaller toys and put them in their respective stockings before they went into separate rooms to do the presents for each other alongside the stocking fillers.
They placed them under the tree and then began the task of tiptoeing up the stairs and past sleeping Amhar to get the presents out the bedroom and put them under the tree. He took ages to sleep, walking around the room until almost eight and eventually sleeping just before half eight. Merlin made sure not to step on any floorboard, tiptoeing as quietly as he could and trying his best to not drop the presents, taking them one at a time.
"Look at these!" Merlin whisper-exclaimed as he gazed at a photo-bauble. The photo was from 1994 with Arthur during his emo phase when he dyed his hair black with Morgause having bright purple hair and a fringe. Morgana was only eight months old and seemed absolutely mesmerised by everything. "Baby you!".
"I look just like Alfie" Morgana commented. She was practically a twin to Alfie—the same light brown tufts of hair (though Morgana had more), face shape and eyes. The only difference was that Morgana had her two bottom teeth.
"You do! Like mama like son, absolutely perfect" Merlin smiled as he kissed Morgana's and Alfie's forehead. They continued looking at the photo baubles—lots from Morgana's childhood, one or two with Merlin's family, one of their wedding, from the previous year, Arthur and Gwen with Amhar, Morgause and Morgana on Christmas 2018, a photo of the four of them together, one from when Merlin and Morgana first started dating then the final which was when they saw Santa.
"We evolved" Morgana commented as she chewed on a carrot.
"We did" Merlin commented as he took a carrot. "Ouch! They're harder than I remember". After eating the carrots, cookies and drinking the milk, Merlin and Morgana finally went to bed.
"Well that was ... tense" Merlin remarked.
"I didn't know Christmas could cause so much anxiety" Morgana chuckled. "And over being caught playing Santa!".
"Well, it's over for this year" Merlin shrugged. "Until next year".
"This is never going to get easy is it" Morgana laughed.
"I was generally so scared he's catch us as Santa" Merlin sighed. "Well, it's over for this year. Merry Christmas".
"Merry Christmas" Morgana replied. "Does your jaw hurt from all those carrots?".
"Slightly" Merlin grimaced. "My mouth hasn't done that much work in ages".
"I suppose it could use a workout" Morgana smiled as she grabbed his hand and began leading it towards her nether regions.
"I guess so" Merlin grinned.
25th December 2020
The rain continued throughout the night, though luckily William Jones and Burgage didn't appear to be flooded as Merlin glanced out the window. The sun was gleaming, Amhar was still asleep though Alfie remained awake as he had his morning feed, Morgana still in the land of slumber. He put the blinds up but left the curtains shut. It was finally Christmas. He sat back in bed and went on his phone, many areas of Monmouth were flooded though luckily most were fields that the farmers would flood anyway a lot of the time. Camelot had been much more lucky—while the school was partially flooded in the sports field the rest of the area was fine, Merlin checked Morgana's phone and noticed many urgent texts from Morgause.
'SISTER! We've been flooded :('
'Just checking again, we've been flooded and we're fucked'
'Have you been flooded? :P'
'Can we come stay with you?'
'The flooding rescue people have asked if we have family ... I know you're awake feeding the baby so hurry the fuck up and answer'
Merlin rolled his eyes and answered. 'Morgause, we have barely any room and you know that. Sorry, I think you'll have to go with the insurance people/rescuers. Have a good Christmas :)'.
Morgana groaned and stirred slightly. "Good morning".
"Morning" Merlin greeted as he put her phone down.
"Did we get flooded?" Morgana asked as she rubbed at her eyes.
"They flooded the fields around us so we're good...Morgause, on the other hand" Merlin grimaced.
"Please don't tell me you offered her a place to stay" Morgana groaned.
"I didn't, don't worry".
"Good. Morgause was a total bitch last Christmas so if she thinks she can come along and ruin this Christmas, our first Christmas just us four with our baby she needs to give her head a wobble, make sure it's screwed on properly and take it out her arse".
Merlin chuckled. "Amhar's starting to wake up".
"You do the bed, I'll feed Alfie in the nursery" Morgana said as she got out of bed, ran a brush through her hair and made her way to the Amhar's room.
"Mummy!" Amhar greeted as Morgana walked in.
"Morning" Morgana smiled as she ruffled Amhar's hair. She sat down in the rocking chair and adjusted Alfie in her arms slightly. "Do you know what day it is today?".
"Chwistmas!" Amhar beamed. "Santa come?".
"We'll wait for daddy to come back then we can see".
"Okay" Amhar grinned. By the time Merlin came back, Alfie finished his feed so Morgana changed his nappy while Merlin took Amhar to the toilet before they made their way downstairs. Indeed, there was a large pile of presents under the tree, the stockings were filled and the cookies, carrots and milk had all gone.
"Santa came!" Amhar beamed.
"He did" Merlin grinned.
"Open pwesents?" Amhar asked.
"Stockings first" Morgana said as she put Alfie in the Moses basket and took Amhar and Alfie's stocking down. "Then presents after breakfast".
"Okay" Amhar agreed happily as he began opening his stocking. Morgana sat on the floor with Alfie and opened his while Merlin helped Amhar. "Oooh! Santa got me lots of cars".
"Seems that way" Morgana remarked. "Alfie got some new dummies, a car seat toy, a Lamaze dragon and a dummy steriliser".
"Why I got eggs?" Amhar frowned slightly. "It not Easter".
"Look, they're crayons" Merlin said as he opened them up.
"Ooh" Amhar gasped. He reached in his stocking again and brought out a rather flat rectangle shaped gift. He opened it up and grimaced, a Thomas the tank engine baby mirror. "BLEH! Thomas" he threw it across the room.
"I think that was supposed to be for Alfie" Merlin grimaced.
"Sowwy" Amhar said sheepishly as he picked it up. "I no wike Thomas, baby have it".
"That's so sweet" Morgana pouted. She turned to Merlin and whispered "why was it in Amhar's stocking?".
"There wasn't enough room in Alfie's" Merlin hissed. "Let's see what else you have".
"Paw patrol!" Amhar gasped. "Not a toy. What that?".
"Foam, for the bath" Merlin said.
"Socks" Amhar scowled. "And more toys". Amhar had gotten quite a few toys, a small ball, a lot of vehicles, and dinosaurs. Alfie had a toy sophie la giraffe that could be attached to his car seat handle, a toy sloth with rattles and tags, a cuddly hedgehog with tags, many adorable baby neckerchiefs.
"Big pwesent?" Amhar asked as he shook one of the boxes.
"Amhar!" Merlin protested with a scowl. "Mummy and daddy need to open their stockings too".
"I get them" Amhar said as he unhooked them and surprisingly gave the right stocking to the right parent.
"Merlin go first" Morgana said. "Let's see what santa got you".
"No, mummy go first" Amhar insisted.
"What the Prince said" Merlin smirked. Morgana rolled her eyes and reached in, taking out two boxes of similar size and opening them—two Tommee Tippee silicone pumps.
"A breast pump!" Morgana gasped looking down in disdain. She awkwardly looked at laughing Merlin and then her gift. "Thank you?".
"Oh that's priceless" Merlin laughed. "We'll see what else you have then". Morgana scowled at Merlin as she opened the rest of her stocking—things that Morgana was rather happy with.
"Your turn" Morgana smirked. Merlin looked worried and quickly opened up his stocking—a baked bean plant family, beard cream, condoms and some rather useful things that Merlin was happy with (including a beard comb!).
"Big pwesents?" Amhar asked.
"Breakfast first" Merlin said.
"Aren't you hungry Amhar?" Morgana chuckled. Usually he was extremely hangry in the morning, much like Morgana.
"Oh yeah, I forgot I'm hungry" Amhar facepalmed. Alfie looked over at Amhar and giggled. "He laughed at me!".
"He did" Morgana grinned. "Right, breakfast". The Emrys ate their breakfast and brushed their teeth before they started on presents shortly before ten.
"I open Alfie pwesents for him" Amhar insisted. "I open my pwesents first". He "oohed" and "aah'd" at his presents from Merlin and Morgana, Hey Duggee bedding, a Melissa and Doug builder set, Peter rabbit books and his hey duggee costume. He wasn't as pleased with Alfie's, given that he had a Thomas bag and book set, a foot-muff and a robe which had his name on it, all rather boring to the two year old.
"What next?" Amhar asked.
"Let's see what Dylan, Gideon and Leon, Auntie Mithian and Auntie Morgue got you" Merlin said.
"And gwandma and gwandpa?" Amhar asked.
"Of course" Morgana smiled. Morgause had succeeded at buying the worst present, noisy little tikes drums, also receiving a duggee chair, dump truck, Peppa pig dolls house and a cozy coupe. As expected, Amhar had been spoiled. Alfie was too, while they had a lot of toys from when Amhar was a baby he was given his own array too, a sophie la giraffe musical toy, nightlight, linkimals and (as expected) the most annoying toy named "Alfie bear".
"The fuck is that!" Merlin hissed as he saw Amhar showing it to Alfie. Amhar had unfortunately taken an instant liking to that toy, as did Alfie and it was opened pretty much straight away.
"Alfie bear" Morgana looked at the bear with disdain. Amhar pressed a button and it began to sing.
"I'm a friendly light up bear, I'll teach you 1,2,3 a sleepy hug with happy bear, hey come and hug me".
"It would be Morgause that gets him the most annoying toy, wouldn't it?" Merlin muttered.
"Right, let's see what else we have" Morgana said as she put Alfie bear on a high shelf.
"Alfie bear!" Amhar protested.
"We need to see what Santa got you" Morgana said. Alfie had a giant iggle piggle while Amhar received a huge box of Duplo.
"Mummy present?" Amhar asked.
"Mummy has these two presents" Merlin smiled as he passed them to her.
"Daddy has two presents too" Morgana said as she passed him the presents. Amhar excitedly watched as they opened them up.
"Okay, this Ergo is gorgeous!" Morgana exclaimed, she'd received an Ergobaby Omni mesh in a rather nice pale blue leopard pattern.
"Glad you like it" Merlin smiled as he opened up his presents. "Hunter boots and waterproof over trousers! Oh my god, you knew I wanted these".
"Now you have no excuse to get out of puddle jumping" Morgana smirked. "Holy shit, the Tiffany perfume! I used to wear this all the time when I was younger, thank you Merlin".
"I'm glad you like it" Merlin smiled. "Well, do you want to start the Christmas lunch?".
"Sure, okay. I'm not chopping vegetables though".
"I'll do that then you do the rest?" Merlin checked. "Oh wait Amhar, one present left!" Merlin helped Amhar to bring it out from under the tree, it was rather obvious what it was given that there was no box so they simply covered it in wrapping paper, a dinosaur rocker.
"Cool!" Amhar gasped. "Thank you Santa".
"So, you had a good Christmas kiddo?" Morgana smiled.
"Yeah, I wove Christmas!" Amhar grinned. "Santa is the best! Walkies?".
"No sweetie, not today" Morgana said.
"Why" Amhar pouted.
"It rained too much last night and now there's too much water on the road".
"Okay" Amhar shrugged as he went to play with his toys. Merlin finished chopping up the vegetables and Morgana took over for a while before it was back to Merlin, making winter squash pie, doing the stuffing and gravy, roasting the vegetables and Yorkshire puddings. Lunch was rather good, while they had forgotten to buy Christmas crackers it didn't matter, everyone gorging the food down and then going back to playing with presents. The rain recommenced though the wind stopped so luckily they were able to still do their zoom calls, beginning with Mithian and Leon which tided them over to two followed by the most important one—Vivienne's.
"I don't know why I'm so nervous" Morgana muttered. "I mean, I shouldn't be. She's my mother".
"I'm sure it'll be good, I know it will be" Merlin reassured her. "Amhar will be okay to watch something, Alfie will be okay too. You don't have to do this if you don't want to". Morgana decided to keep her camera turned off as she began the zoom call and waited for Vivienne to join the call. She's strategically timed all the calls around Alfie's feeding times even though with most people she'd be happy to breastfeed on camera with. Her mother on the other hand she was rather uncertain. Fourteen years with not even a single word until the past summer when she was heavily pregnant, followed by a traumatic birth which while started off great escalated rather quickly only to end up with baby in the NICU and being diagnosed with postpartum anxiety and depression. While she was somewhat better now than she was when she was at her lowest, it still hurt and still was hard. Merlin and Morgana both agreed to not put photos of their children on social media, Arthur and Gwen had done so with Amhar and while at first Merlin and Morgana would occasionally post a picture (like the wedding photo), they often wouldn't and preferred to keep their children off social media, posting a picture of their hand or foot instead if they were to upload. She didn't exactly trust zoom that much, and after all that happened she didn't want the baby to go on the zoom call. She needed to reconcile with Vivienne first, and ensure that everything was okay, that her mother was stable. If they were to meet (which Morgana wanted), she'd rather it be in person though it obviously depended on the circumstances at the time seeing as everything was constantly changing with coronavirus.
She could hear Alfie crying in the living room. Amhar was beginning to get restless. Merlin was trying and trying yet Alfie still wouldn't calm down; she hoped that he wouldn't have to bring Alfie in. Vivienne was slightly late though did join the zoom call. She remembered that her mother used to look like, she highly resembled Eva Green and was always poised and controlled. Through the years, Vivienne looked nothing like her former self and was rather unrecognisable, dishevelled greying hair, dark circles around her eyes, pale skin. Though she was still her mother.
"Hello Morgana" Vivienne greeted.
"Mother" Morgana nodded.
"It's good to see you. You look tired".
"As do you" Morgana replied. "How are you?".
"I am doing well. Rather well".
Morgana arched an eyebrow. "Are you really, mum? Morgause told me all about what happened".
"I, I" Vivienne hesitated. "Your father was not an easy person to live with".
"Oh for fuck's sake mother!" Morgana felt like slamming the laptop down. "You can't put the blame on others for your own selfish actions".
"Morgana I'm not. I'm not, I swear. He wasn't easy to live with, hence my taking of drugs and moving to Ireland".
"Well there's plenty of other options" Morgana snorted. "You don't have to yeet yourself out of existence. That and leave two, technically three children behind. I have a child now, did you know? You're a grandma. I would do anything for him, and I can not even fathom ever abandoning him. While my husband and I haven't always gotten on and I doubt we'd ever split given that we're soulmates, I still couldn't even think about doing what you did".
"I'm sorry Morgana. Really, I am".
"Look, I had to go fourteen years without you in my life, from being scarcely a teenager to now having a child of my own. You weren't there, I don't even know you anymore mum".
"I know. I know, though I hope to rectify it".
"I know you do" Morgana sighed. "A part of me wants to. Though would you be up to it? Sticking around this time, through thick and thin" Morgana stopped and glanced over at Merlin standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Alfie screaming his head off. "Excuse me for a moment". She muted herself and went over to Merlin. "Oh sweetie what's the matter?".
"Someone's hungry" Merlin said.
"It's okay sweetie, mummy's here" Morgana said as she pulled her top up opened the flap on her bra and latched him on.
"How's it going?" Merlin asked.
"I've recorded it so I can watch it back if I need to" Morgana sighed. "Can you get me my cover please?".
"Of course" Merlin replied. Morgana put her cover on and then went back to the zoom call.
"I'll try my best to, Morgana" Vivienne said. "I'm not very well, having to take heart medication and with being so far away of course it's going to be hard. Though as of late it has been easier to connect with one another and become together while apart".
"I think so too" Morgana agreed. "I think I'd like to give this a try".
"Me too" Vivienne said with a small smile. "So, you said you got married".
"I did" Morgana said. "My husband and I wed in 2019 after a long relationship together. It was rocky, naturally. Though we didn't run away from each other. Even when things were hard, we managed to find our way back to one another". The rest of the call went rather well. Amhar was distracted by Zog the flying doctor while Morgana and Merlin talked about the call, followed by the Queen's speech. While extremely different to others, Christmas 2020 was a success.
A/N: My brother has a toy Alfie bear (which actually inspired me to name the baby Alfie) which is the most annoying little shit ever ... of course Morgause had to get it for him!