A/N: Okay, so...I'm back! I know it's been FOREVER since this fic was updated and I just want to say thank you so much for not giving up on me; your guys' support (and well-intentioned nagging to update xD) has meant the world to me, thank you. I apologize again for my long absence from the site; hopefully I won't ever be gone like that again. :)

Anyhoo, moving right along. This is the last chapter I had ready to upload before I went on hiatus (meaning that everything from the next chapter onwards will be all new material). It's a little shorter than I remember, but I guess that's okay. In any case, I hope you guys like it. Reviews at the end would be much appreciated! ;D

Merlin sat with Marlet in the bleachers, both of them fidgeting nervously.

"I heard there's a bunch of people betting on who the winner will be," Marlet said, after their nervous silence had stretched on too long.

Merlin, focused on Arthur warming up his horse, was only half-listening. "Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm." Marlet nodded. "A lot of people think Lance is going to beat Arthur."

"What?" Merlin looked surprised. "You're not serious."
"Well, they're not so wrong, are they?" Marlet gave a nervous smile. "I mean, Lance is doing very well. I wouldn't be surprised if he beat Arthur."

As it turned out, the match was a draw. After half an hour of back-and-forth jousting, the judges decided that the two competitors were evenly matched, and declared them co-champions.

Neither Arthur nor Lancelot were particularly pleased with this announcement.

The next few days after the jousting tournament passed very slowly and in the opinions of Lancelot and Marlet, very awkwardly. While Arthur and Lancelot eventually got past their stalemate and patched up their friendship, Arthur and Merlin went to mind-boggling lengths to avoid each other. Which was difficult at the best of times since they had most of their classes together.

The situation came to a head on a Thursday afternoon, when a mysterious young man around their age appeared on campus, an orphaned infant in tow.

"Who is that?" Marlet asked, peering down the hallway where the other boy was talking in a low voice to Gaius and the school headmaster.

"How should I know?" Arthur asked, irritated. "I've never seen him before."

Gaius seemed to hear them and waved a hand at them. "Marlet, Prince Arthur. Good day to you."

They hesitated, but went over to Gaius and the stranger.

"Good day, Gaius," Marlet said politely, bowing his head to the physician.

Arthur just stood there, looking over the newcomer.

Ruggedly handsome, he had soft dark brown hair that fell almost to his shoulders in slight waves, with dark eyes to match; he also had a slight dusting of stubble, indicating that he either didn't care to shave or had been out in the country without an opportunity to do so.

And then there was the baby in his arms.

Small and pink, the baby had a small fluff of white-blond hair and soft green eyes. It looked nothing like the young man holding it.

"My lord Arthur," Gaius said clearing his throat. "Might I introduce Gwaine? He is considering transferring to this school."

"With that?" Arthur asked, eying the baby.

Gwaine gave him a look. "It's a baby. Not a diseased sewer rat."

Arthur looked at him cooly. "Is it yours? Because I'm pretty sure the school has a pretty strict policy on teen fathers lugging their kids to classes."

Gwaine flushed slightly but glared at him severely in spite of it. "She's not mine. I found her in the woods on my way here."

Arthur was unconvined. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Gwaine gave him a once-over, seemed to decide the prince wasn't worth his time, and turned back to Gaius. "Sir?"

"Ah, yes." Gaius nodded. "I'm sure I can arrange something while you go collect your things."

Arthur frowned, confused.

"Gwaine must return to where his found the baby," Gaius explained. "He had to leave his belongings in he woods in order to bring the child here."

Huh. "Okay."

Gaius beamed. "Splendid."

Arthur blinked. Splendid?

"Prince Arthur will look after the child while you go gather your things."

Wait, what?! He opened his mouth to object but saw the smirk on Gwaine's face. Like the other boy knew he'd fail temporary childcare spectacularly. He shut his mouth, grimacing, but not complaining.

Gwaine's smirk widened. This should be interesting. "I'll be off then. I should be back by tomorrow afternoon. Early evening at the latest."

Gaius nodded, smiling amicably. "Take your time. There's no hurry."

It took all of Arthur's restraint not to glare at Merlin's uncle. Like hell there isn't! He really had no idea what to do with a baby. As a warrior, he knew all the ins and outs of sword work and battle tactics. Feeding, diaper changing, lullabies? Zilch.

He watched with mounting dread as Gwaine handed the baby over to Gaius so the older man could do a general check-up before she was turned over to Arthur. He watched Gwaine walk away down the hall as Gaius disappeared inside his clinic room.

This is going to go horribly.

A/N: So, that was Chapter 8. Short, I know, but not too terrible, right? Anyway, let me know what you think of it, okay? I know you were all probably hoping for some Merlin-uses-magic-to-help-Arthur-win for the jousting tournament, but I just don't think he'd do that when Arthur's going up against Lance, y'know? Also, the person who this story is a present for really wanted some Merther-looks-after-child action. And I have to admit, I did too. XD.

In any case, I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. I'm going to try to keep to a twice-monthly/every two weeks updating schedule for this fic for now, so the next update should be in about...2 weeks. :D You can keep track of my update schedule on my profile page, under the 'announcements' section.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review, please!