We're setting our clocks for the summer. We're spilled out like foam on the sand. And it's all that we asked for and more, well it's all that we asked for and more
13th June 2021
"It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming, football's coming home" Merlin sang to himself.
"Oh for goodness sake" Morgana muttered. "It's a football match". After being cancelled in 2020, the Euro's had been postponed to 2021 and fortunately seemed to be going ahead, with the third night of matches rolling around—England vs Croatia. Even though they (England) were promised to be released on the 21st of June from all social distancing and face mask rules, there was due to be an announcement tomorrow on whether they'd get set free. Tomorrow was also the day that Merlin and Morgana were due to get vaccinated, having finally being able to book their vaccines earlier on in June. Things were truly looking onwards and upwards, lovely weather as of late that would hopefully last, finally being on the vaccination list, school and nursery so far not having had any bubble closures (at least those that Amhar and Merlin were in) and there was only two weeks left. After spending the majority of the week stressed out and marking the end of year exams, Merlin alongside all the other teachers were finally free and ready to enjoy the euro's.
For the first match, they'd booked a table with themselves and the Hunter-Nemeth family, with Morgause, Cenred, Gwaine, Will, Sefa on another table (complying with the rule of six/two household rules). They were at the rising sun making their way through their snacks and late dinner, baby Alfie, Athena and Amhar asleep in the prams (fortunately Amhar was a heavy sleeper so hopefully wouldn't be woken up) as they waited for the match to start, either sipping away at their coke (Merlin, Morgana and Mithian) or beer (all the others) waiting for the match to begin. It was a Sunday and they all (except of course Morgana, still on maternity leave) had work in the morning so had restricted themselves to two beers as to not be hungover (it was getting to that time of year where it was so tiring and everyone was fed up). They'd all crowded around one another as they waited for the match to start, staring eagerly at the TV.
"Nice top" Morgana commented, she and Mithian had stayed slightly back with the sleeping kids.
"Thank you" Mithian smiled.
"Is that a Seraphine nursing and maternity top? It looks like the one I have though I thought it was only released last summer and didn't you wean Athena too?".
"Uhhh…".
"You're pregnant, aren't you Mithian?" Morgana asked quietly. Among the hustle and bustle of the football about to begin and 'god save the queen' being played it was rather hard to hear. Mithian smiled and nodded. Morgana congratulated the older women as they shuffled more to the TV, kickoff beginning.
14th June 2021
England had won the match 1-0, a great start to the delayed 2020 Euro's. Everybody was extremely happy, singing "it's coming home" even though it was only the first match. It ended very late and by the time everybody went home it was rather close to midnight. As a result (as expected) many people ended up oversleeping slightly therefore Morgana had to drive Merlin and Amhar to work and nursery (as expected, Merlin was very tired and ended up having more coffee than usual). Morgana ended up driving back home after dropping them off, Monday was a rather quiet day as they would have baby sensory later on after the baby's first nap, followed by Morgana's covid vaccine.
She started to batch cook while the baby was asleep for the next few days, both she and Merlin would get theirs today and she'd heard that it could cause a rather sore arm and made some people feel rather unwell so opted to batch cook some food for the next few days and freeze it. Hunith and Balinor were also in the area, having bought the bungalow recently. Though they were not a fan of the carpets that came with it and were repainting it before they'd move in during July. Morgana walked over to the children's centre with Alfie slightly earlier than usual to stop at a local park given that she hadn't had her usual morning walk and was feeling slightly down as a result, though her mood had uplifted afterwards. Alfie loved baby sensory and they headed home for lunch before walking to the GP surgery.
Outside the surgery was a long socially distanced queue, the majority of people were alone though a couple of teenagers had their parents waiting with them, everyone happily cooing over the baby, Alfie was thrilled at the attention after the initial anxiety, being a lockdown baby and the usual age for separation anxiety as he grinned around his pacifier. The queue moved along at a steady pace and once inside the building face masks were required as they then booked themselves in and received a leaflet on the side effects. Morgana was told to go straight ahead into a room and was then taken to a curtained-off corner.
"Could you please confirm your name and date of birth please?" The nurse asked.
"Morgana Emrys, tenth April 1994".
"What's the first line of your address?".
"150 Essetir road".
"Any allergies?".
"Peanuts".
"Do you take any blood thinning medication?".
"No".
"Are you on any medication?".
"No".
"Has a doctor ever told you you have a condition that affects your heart?".
"I used to get tachycardia though I don't think I currently have it, this was around two years ago".
"Your ethnicity?".
"White British".
"And are you currently pregnant or breastfeeding?".
"Highly doubt I'm pregnant" Morgana chuckled. "But yes I am breastfeeding".
"You'll be getting Pfizer today" the nurse smiled. "How old's the little one?".
"He's nine months" Morgana smiled.
"Ah so a lockdown baby! How you getting on mama?".
"Oh it was tough at first but now we have a semblance of normality. Especially with the vaccines now and hopefully we'll be free nineteenth July".
"Small scratch coming up, do you mind lifting your sleeve a bit?". Morgana quickly grabbed her phone and began filming as she was injected with her vaccine. It didn't hurt that much, the initial part of having the needle go in did slightly and when they pushed the vaccine in too.
"Would you like a sticker?" The nurse asked as she stamped Morgana's vaccine card.
"Yes please" Morgana smiled, sticking it to her top.
"You'll be contacted about your second dosage in the next eight to twelve weeks. As it's Pfizer you're required to stay here for fifteen minutes so here's your timer and you'll need to go sit down".
"Thank you" Morgana smiled as she followed another worker into a room full of socially distanced chairs. She put the brake on and took Alfie out the pushchair and lifted him into the air.
"Mummy's vaccinated!" She exclaimed as she briefly pulled her mask down and kissed him then replaced it. Alfie pouted and whinged slightly. "I know baby, it's nap time". Morgana lifted her top up and fed the baby, more and more people coming into the room.
"Oh baby's already getting the antibodies" One of the nurses smiled as she walked into the room.
"Nap time for him" Morgana smiled as she patted the feeding baby's back. "Might take one myself before I have to pick up the toddler from nursery".
"How you feeling?".
"Rather good, I'm purposely moving my arm as my sister said hers aches so hoping to avoid that. My husband is due to have his after work today so I'm glad I'm on maternity leave, though arm's a bit sore".
"Yeah, I had that too. Fortunately only that. Would you like some water?".
"Yes please" Morgana answered.
"They've got it in cans which is rather strange at first but you get used to it" she chuckled.
"And it's nice and cold too". After the fifteen minute timer went off Morgana put Alfie back in the pushchair and laid it back to let him sleep then began walking home, her vaccine card safely in her bag with her airpods connected, mouthing along to the music. It didn't hurt too much at first, though within an hour of getting home and running some errands it did. At the first sign of pain, Morgana took a paracetamol and slowed down a bit, the things that needed doing could wait. By the time Morgana went to pick up Amhar from nursery, her arm absolutely ached. She was going to meet Merlin at the nursery and take some of his things as he'd have to go get his vaccine while Morgana took the children home.
"Mummy!" Amhar beamed as he ran out of nursery up to Morgana.
"Careful sweetie" Morgana said. "Mummy's arm hurts".
"Why?" Amhar asked as he climbed into his buggy seat and Morgana put his bag in the basket.
"Mummy had to have an injection" she explained as she strapped him in. "So it stops mummy getting sick. Like Alfie had his ones, and you had some when you were a baby and then you'll get one when you're three and a half".
"Does it hurt?" Amhar asked.
"A little bit. Though mummy got a sticker from the nurse for being brave".
"Mummy's very brave" Amhar agreed with a smile as he saw Merlin walking over to them.
"How was it?" Merlin asked.
"Didn't hurt going in at first, though now it hurts a bit. Want me to take anything?".
"I'll leave these under the buggy then should head off. Appointments at half past so".
"Good luck" Morgana said as she kissed her husband. "I had Pfizer so hopefully you'll get it too".
"Hopefully" Merlin agreed. Morgana walked home with the children while Merlin walked to the doctor surgery, standing in the socially distanced queue outside. He only had to wait around ten minutes before he was let in, having to say his name and date of birth at the desk then queue some more. Like with morgana, he was taken into a room with a cornered off area.
"Name and date of birth?".
"Sixteenth January 1994, Merlin Emrys".
"First line of address?"
"150 Essetir Road".
"Any allergies?".
"No".
"Do you take any blood thinning medication?".
"No".
"Are you on any medication?".
"No".
"Has a doctor ever told you you have a condition that affects your heart?".
"No".
"Your ethnicity?".
"White British".
"That's all for now. You'll be getting Moderna".
"Moderna?" Merlin raised his eyebrows. "My wife was here this morning and she had the Pfizer".
"We offer all three vaccines depending on the time of day" the nurse explained. "Small scratch coming up". As with his wife, Merlin's didn't hurt as much as he expected and had to wait for fifteen minutes before he could walk home too.
"How was it?" Morgana asked as Merlin walked into the living room. Amhar was playing on the floor and she held an ice pack to her injection site.
"Quite good actually. No sticker for me" he pouted.
"How sad" Morgana chuckled. "Pfizer too?".
"No, actually" Merlin replied. "Moderna".
"Wow" Morgana raised her eyebrows. "How you feeling? Arm sore?".
"A little but it's bearable" Merlin shrugged.
"Take a prophylactic paracetamol" Morgana said. "Trust me, it helps".
"Not doing too bad for now though".
"Anyway, so I've decided that we're going to look into swimming lessons for Amhar. Hoping to start next year and it'll be a weekday afternoon probably".
"That'd be good for him. What about the baby?".
"I'm going to take him to the one here in Camelot. Once he's three they go in the pool by themselves so I don't need to worry about the baby".
"I can't believe he's going to be three" Merlin smiled.
"Also know what else I can't believe?" Morgana smirked.
"Go on then".
"Harriet friend requested me on Facebook, I accepted".
"Harriet? Harriet Parkinson? Mordred Harriet? Your favourite student that you still have the card and gift from Harriet?".
"Yes, that Harriet" Morgana smiled.
"No way! How's she doing?".
"Really well actually. Said that she'd finished college for the summer, working full time and doing really well".
"Good" Merlin smiled. "I'm glad. She deserves it, after all that's happened".
"She does" Morgana agreed. "She really does".
"So do you. And me, you know. We deserve it too".
"I know" Morgana agreed with a smile. "And after all this time I've stopped beating myself up about. Stopped feeling guilty for it, feeling happier. I mean, it's in the past, we can't change it. That was the past and that was then, this is the present and this is now. It's the happiest I've been in a long time".
"Here's to summer 2020" Merlin toasted with his lemonade. "Man, I'm exhausted".
"Just three more weeks until the holiday" Morgana smiled sympathetically. Teacher tired was a complete other level, and it had been a long year.
20th June 2021
For once, Merlin lay in while morgana got up early with the children, taking Alfie over to Amhar's room for his morning feed. Today was Father's Day, and like Merlin had with her on Mother's Day she'd decided to do breakfast in bed for Father's Day.
"I got daddy a card" Amhar beamed.
"I know" Morgana smiled.
"Yeah and presents" Amhar said.
"Yes" Morgana smiled as she kissed his forehead. "Now that the baby has finished eating, shall we go downstairs and make daddy some breakfast?".
"Yeah!" Amhar beamed. "Purple pancakes?".
"Of course we can" Morgana smiled as she headed down to the kitchen with Amhar. She popped Alfie in the highchair and then got to work on the pancakes with Amhar managing to get quite a few ones (and some adorable baby sized ones too).
"I carry daddy's present up" Amhar insisted.
"Why don't you take the cards and his chocolate" Morgana suggested. "Cause it's a bit big for even mummy to carry, I'm going to put Alfie in the ergo then head up". Merlin awoke to the sounds of Amhar talking to morgana and Alfie's babbling, followed by the door opening and the pitter patter of little feet.
"Happy fatter day" Amhar screeched as he climbed into bed.
"Fatter day!" Merlin laughed.
"We made breakfast and got you cards and got you presents" Amhar beamed as he kissed Merlin's face.
"Happy Father's Day" Morgana smiled as she put the tray in the middle of the bed, getting in bed with Alfie on her side.
"Aww, thank you" Merlin smiled.
"Open your cards" Amhar said. "And I helped make special coffee for you".
"Okay, I will" Merlin smiled as he grabbed the one nearest to him. It had a basic drawing of a baby face and an adults face, reading 'Happy 1st Father's Day from your biggest fan'.
"Thank you Alfie" Merlin smiled as he kissed his son and then tickled him.
"Now mine!" Amhar insisted. He had a different one, with gaps that had to be filled in reading:
'My daddy's name is Martin
He is a hundred years old
He has black hair
And dragon eyes
His favourite colour is blue
I like to go to the park with him
He makes me laugh when he gets pushed by a wave in the sea
He likes it when I am nice to everyone'.
"So you like it when dad gets pushed over by a wave" Merlin fake scowled.
"It's funny" Amhar giggled.
"It is not" Merlin insisted. "I think it's a bit too cold for the beach today".
"It is" Morgana agreed with a sigh. "Happy Father's Day love".
A/N: I was the first out of all my friends to get my vaccine and they've all been messaging me for advice on what to do after. It's been an emotional few days, I got pinged and had to isolate which was surprisingly okay but also boring as hell (plus, might've messed my sleep schedule up) so didn't get much done but I'm almost finished with this story. Plus my college return is imminent and some of my friends are leaving so that's been rather emotional!