A/N: Well, this is it. We've come to the last chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who read this story. You guys are the reason I write. I'd also like to give a special thanks to all of you who reviewed. It means a lot to me to hear what you think. Now, without further ado, please enjoy the last chapter!

Disclaimer: I only own Emily.

/

Arthur didn't know what time it was when he woke up. He'd fallen asleep leaning against the wall in his room. With a quick glance at the clock he saw that it was nearly three in the morning. When he opened his door Emily fell back against his legs. She was asleep and he bent down to pick her up.

"Neither of us should be sleeping on the floor." he whispered as he kissed her forehead. She snuggled against his chest but still didn't wake. Arthur carried her into her room and put her back in bed. He gently shut her door and then made his way to the kitchen. After pouring himself a glass of scotch he collapsed onto the couch and turned on the TV. It wasn't like he was going to get anymore sleep tonight.

/

The second time Arthur woke up it was to the phone ringing.

"Guess I fell asleep after all." he murmured as he reached for it.

"'Lo?"

"Arthur?"

"Merlin!" Arthur shot off the couch. He was awake now.

"Look, I've been doing some thinking and I think we should talk. We owe Emily and ourselves that much."

"Yeah. Yeah, we should talk. When?"

"I'm free all day, so just come by sometime."

"I will. I'll drop Emily with my father and then I'll head over."

"Fine."

The line went dead before Arthur could say anything else. He put the phone back on its dock and then ran to grab a quick shower. Once he was ready he went in to wake up Emily. He shook her shoulder and after a moment she blinked up at him.

"Time to wake up. You're going to stay with Grandfather today."

"Why?" she asked as she crawled out of bed.

"Because I'm going over to Merlin's so that we can talk."

Emily smiled and ran to brush her teeth while Arthur set out some clothes for her. Fifteen minutes later they were on their way. When they reached Arthur's childhood home he rang the bell.

"It's rather early." Ulysses said when he opened the door.

"I know, and I know this is last minute, but I need you to watch Emily for me today. I've got something to take care of."

Ulysses bent down to pick up his granddaughter and raised his eyebrow at his son.

"He's going to talk to Merlin." Emily told him.

"Did something happen?"

Arthur nodded.

"I was an idiot and we had a huge fight and he ended things between us, but he called this morning and asked me to come and talk to him so I'm going. Hopefully I can make this right."

Ulysses squeezed Arthur's shoulder.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

He leant in to place a kiss on Emily's cheek and then he was gone.

/

Merlin buzzed him up as soon as he rang his apartment. When he got to the door Merlin was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and his eyes downcast.

"I need you to promise me something before you come in." he said.

"Anything."

Merlin met his gaze and Arthur could see that his eyes were red and swollen. He looked like he'd been crying all night.

"Promise me that you won't yell and I'll promise you the same."

"I won't, I promise."

Merlin nodded and then walked into the apartment. Arthur followed him and took a seat.

"To be honest, I was really surprised when you called this morning. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Merlin sat next to him but still maintained some distance between them.

"I wasn't going to call you and I didn't want to see you, but two very important people convinced me otherwise."

"Really?"

Merlin nodded.

"These last two weeks have been hell, Arthur. All we've done is fight and I felt like what we had was slipping away. I thought, maybe it was never real in the first place, and that hurt. What I felt, what I feel is real, but I was starting to wonder if you felt the same. I honestly didn't think you cared for me at all. I called my mom and told her everything that's been happening. She told me that we needed to talk to each other because she believes that we belong together. Then Emily called me and told me how upset you were; she begged me to give you a second chance, and I couldn't deny that I wanted to. I want to be with you, Arthur. I want that more than anything because I love you, but I can't stay with you if you don't feel the same. It's not fair."

Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Finally, he said, "There are some things that I am terrible at. Talking about my feelings and knowing what to say to someone I care about is one of them, but Merlin, you have to know that I love you. You drive me crazy and you're an idiot most of the time and you can make me so mad I want to hit something, but I love you. I love you so much that when you left last night I didn't know what to do. I cried, Merlin, like a baby. Do you know how long it's been since I've cried? Years, Merlin, it's been years. I don't want to be without you. I don't think I know how to be without you anymore."

They were both silent for a few minutes. Merlin was thinking over everything that Arthur said, and Arthur was praying that Merlin would forgive him. When Merlin still hadn't said anything five minutes later he said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. I don't know why we started fighting, but the why isn't important. What's important is that it was stupid. I'll do my absolute best from now on not to fight with you. If we have a disagreement then we'll talk it out and come to a decision together. As for making you feel like I didn't care about you, I'll never be able to apologize enough for that. I swear to you that what we had was real, that it's still real, or at least I want it to be. I never want you to have to question my feelings for you again. I'll tell you every day how special you are and how much you mean to me if that's what it takes. I'll…"

"Arthur, shut up." Merlin said as he placed a hand on his arm. Arthur closed his mouth and took Merlin's hand so that he could lace their fingers together.

"I accept your apology, and I offer one of my own. I'm sorry for the hand I had in our fights. I know that it wasn't just you; I started my fair share of them. People fight, it's kind of inevitable, especially when one of them is a prat and the other is an idiot."

Arthur chuckled.

"But, I do like your idea about talking instead of fighting. I think that will work much better than us just yelling over one another. And, I don't need you to tell me you love me every day. I just need to feel like you do, and actually saying the words once in a while wouldn't be so bad."

"I can do that. So, does this mean it's not over?" Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded and Arthur pulled him in for a kiss. He tried to pull Merlin into his lap, but Merlin wouldn't let him.

"What's the matter?" Arthur asked against his lips.

"I think it would be a good idea to take things a little slower from now on. We kind of rushed into everything before, and I think that may have had something to do with all our fights."

Arthur sighed. He didn't really want to go slow, but he would if that's what Merlin wanted.

"Alright. We'll take things slow."

He pressed a chaste kiss to Merlin's lips and then drew back. They spent the rest of the day just enjoying each other's company and being close.

/

Emily was, needless to say, thrilled to hear that Arthur and Merlin had worked things out. That was no surprise to anyone. The surprise came when Ulysses took his son to the side and gave him a smile.

"I'm happy for you."

Arthur's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Of course. I could tell that this young man was very important to you. I don't think I've ever seen you so happy. I'm proud that you didn't let him go."

"You're proud of me? I always thought I was a bit of a disappointment to you."

Ulysses shook his head and placed his hand on the back of Arthur's neck and drew him close.

"Then that is my fault. You are my son, precious to me, and I am more proud of you than you could ever know."

Arthur allowed himself to be drawn into a hug. He could count on one hand the number of times his father had hugged him, and he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity.

"Thanks." he said when he stepped away. His father just nodded and walked away.

Merlin's mother was similarly pleased to hear the good news. She told Merlin to hang on to Arthur with both hands because they obviously needed each other. Gwen and Lance, who hadn't even known there was a problem, were just glad that there was no longer a problem.

"It's good to hear that you two got everything sorted out. It would have been a nightmare if you didn't. What with Merlin being Gwen's best friend and you being mine, the awkwardness would have been unbearable." Lance said.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm your best friend?"

"Of course you are. How did you not know that?"

Arthur smiled.

"I don't know, but I feel the same about you."

Lance nodded.

"Well, now that we've established that we're best friends, let's go get some beers before we turn into women."

Arthur laughed and followed him into the kitchen.

Things weren't the same between Arthur and Merlin, but they were better. They did take things slower and took more time to really get to know each other. Arthur was surprised how much he didn't know about Merlin even having been with him for months. It was nice to uncover all the things he'd been missing. Three weeks after their reconciliation they were on the edge of having another fight, but Arthur took a step back and so did Merlin. They gave each other time to cool off and then they came back together to talk about it without yelling. After they'd worked it out they both had to agree that this way of doing things was infinitely better than their old way.

The months passed in a happy blur. Merlin spent as much time with Arthur and Emily as possible, and they'd started having family nights with Gwen, Lance, and Tommy once a week. Things were getting pretty domestic, especially with Emily refusing to call Merlin anything other than "Dad." On her fourth birthday, Arthur decided that if she was going to call him that then they might as well make it official.

"How would you feel about Merlin adopting you?" he asked Emily after her party was over. Merlin was helping Gwen clean up while Lance and Ulysses were waiting with the kids for their parents to arrive.

"What would that mean?" she asked.

"It would mean that he'd be your dad for real."

She smiled and threw her arms around his neck.

"I'd love it!"

"Would you also love it if he and I got married?"

She nodded and squeezed him tighter. He hugged her back and then watched her run to her friends as he made his way over to Merlin.

"So, I have a question for you." he said after he'd pulled him away.

"Okay, shoot."

Arthur took his hand and Merlin automatically laced their fingers.

"I was wondering how you'd feel about really becoming Emily's dad."

Merlin gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

Arthur shrugged.

"She thinks of you as her second dad, it's how she introduces you to people, and I can't say I object to the idea, so I was wondering if you'd like to go ahead and make it official by adopting her."

Merlin's mouth dropped open and he stared at Arthur for a minute.

"Are you serious? You want me to adopt her?"

Arthur nodded.

"You might as well. And if you do then it only makes sense for you to move in with us. And if you're going to move in then we should probably get married."

Merlin took a step back as Arthur got down on one knee and pulled a silver band from his pocket.

"I called your mother this morning to ask her for permission, and after she stopped screaming and laughing she gave me her blessing. So, Colin James Emrys, Merlin, will you marry me?"

Merlin started to laugh, but he nodded.

"Of course I will, prat. Now get up before you get your pants dirty!"

Arthur stood and slipped the ring onto Merlin's finger. It was a perfect fit. When he kissed Merlin he became vaguely aware of applause all around them. When he pulled away and looked over Merlin's shoulder he could see that everyone around them in the park was clapping and Gwen was crying. His father gave him a smile and a nod and Emily was jumping up and down in excitement.

/

The ceremony was small and took place in a quaint church in Massachusetts. After they got back to New York Arthur and Merlin met with a lawyer to finalize the adoption making Merlin Emily's legal parent. Once that was done Emily went to her grandfather's and Merlin and Arthur went on a honeymoon to the Mediterranean.

"So, Mr. Penn, how does it feel to be a married man?" Arthur asked as they lied in the sand together. Merlin looked over at him and smiled.

"It feels pretty good. Although, I still can't believe you convinced me to change my name."

"It's what people do when they get married." Arthur stated and Merlin scoffed.

"You could have changed your name to Emrys."

"Then I would have had to change Emily's name too, and that was more complicated than just changing yours. Is it so wrong of me to want our last names to all be the same?"

Merlin reached over kissed his hand.

"No. It's sweet. Although, since it was my name that we changed people are going to think that I'm the girl in this relationship, and that's just not true."

Arthur huffed.

"I do believe that that comment was rather lewd. Besides, you spend some time on the bottom, so there's really no basis for your argument."

Merlin smiled and leaned over so that he could whisper in Arthur's ear.

"Maybe, but it's still true that you like having me inside you more than you like being inside me."

Arthur blushed but he didn't deny Merlin's words, which just made Merlin laugh.

/

The next several years were punctuated with major changes in Emily's life. Of course, both Merlin and Arthur went through their own changes like Arthur steadily working his way up the ladder in his family's company to become Vice President and Merlin being offered a teaching job at Juilliard, which he gladly took. But most everything was about Emily. On her first day of school she was proudly holding both Merlin and Arthur's hands. When she was seven she had her appendix removed, which was a source of stress and relief that she was going to be okay for both men. Middle school and the start of her teenage years were a cause for rebellion in the form of dying her blonde hair blue. Arthur yelled at her for almost an hour, but Merlin thought it really made her eyes pop. When he voiced his opinion Emily laughed and kissed his cheek and Arthur just glared and told him he wasn't helping. It wasn't until Emily was sixteen that Arthur really thought he was going to lose his mind.

"What do you mean you want to go out with this boy?"

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Daddy, you know what I mean. He asked me out on a date and I want to go."

Arthur shook his head.

"No. No way. You're too young to date."

"Daddy, I'm sixteen! All my friends have boyfriends already. I just want to go on a date with him. I really like him, and he likes me. Please?"

"What's his name?"

"Derek Jones. He's in my math class and he's really smart, not to mention cute, and he asked me to go to the movies with him this Saturday."

Arthur still didn't look convinced, but Merlin stepped in.

"You can go if he comes to pick you up and we get to meet him. But, you still have to be home by nine."

Emily smiled and hugged him.

"Thanks, Dad! You'll love him, he's very nice."

She ran away to her room to no doubt call her friends. Arthur looked at Merlin and shook his head.

"She's growing up, Arthur. You can't fight it. She just wants to start dating, it's not like she's having sex, doing drugs, or drinking."

Arthur groaned and ran a hand over his face.

"Don't say things like that! It just makes me want to lock her away so that she can't ever be hurt."

Merlin smiled and pulled him into a hug.

"We have no reason to worry. She's a smart girl."

Derek was a nice boy, but he didn't last long. Three weeks into their relationship Emily was over him and had set her sights on a new boy. His name was Zach and he was a senior. When Merlin and Arthur met him he seemed very nice, but he left a bad taste in Merlin's mouth. Emily had been dating him for just over a month when Merlin caught them in a compromising position. He'd come home after his classes and heard noises coming from Emily's room. When he walked in he saw Zach on top of her and neither of them were wearing anything but their underwear.

"What the hell is going on here?" he yelled. Emily froze but Zach just gave him an annoyed look.

"I think you can figure it out, Pops. Why don't you shut the door now, yeah?"

Emily looked up at him like he'd grown another head and Merlin clenched his fists together.

"Why don't you get out of my house? Now."

Zach sighed and moved off of Emily so that he could stand in front of Merlin.

"I don't see what the big deal is. There's no reason to get mad."

Merlin gave a mirthless laugh.

"Right. Finding my sixteen-year-old daughter in bed with her eighteen-year-old boyfriend isn't reason to get mad. Just be glad it was me that found you, otherwise you'd already be on the street and probably sporting a black eye or split lip. Now, get out."

Zach looked back at Emily and she nodded toward the door.

"This is bullshit!" he yelled as he grabbed his clothes and straightened himself out. He pushed past Merlin and slammed the front door on his way out. Emily just looked down and twisted the sheets between her hands. Merlin sighed and stepped into her room.

"Dad, I…"

"Emily, I really don't want to hear it. I just want to know what you were thinking."

She looked up at him and then back down at the sheets. Merlin took a seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I don't know. I've never done anything like this, but Zach said that it would be fun. He said that it would make him love me more, and I just, I don't know."

Merlin took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.

"Sex is a big deal, Emily, especially the first time. It can be a great experience, or it can be a really damaging one. You have to be sure about it. If not then you'll regret it, and trust me, that's not something you want. Your first time should be with someone you really love and trust, and if that boy told you that he wouldn't love you if you didn't sleep with him, then he's obviously not the guy for you. The guy who really loves you will never push you to do anything you're not absolutely ready for and won't mind waiting for you."

Emily leaned into him and said, "I'm not ready. I know that, I just didn't want Zach to leave me."

Merlin kissed the top of her head.

"As far as I'm concerned, he can drop off the face of the planet. I don't want you to be with him if that's how he's going to act and treat you."

"Yeah. I don't think I want to be with him anymore either. Thanks, Dad."

Merlin pulled her closer.

"You're welcome. Just, when you do have sex, which I hope won't be for a very long time, be sure that you're safe. Always make sure you use a condom. I know you're on birth control because of how terrible your periods were, but you still need to make sure to use a condom every time."

Emily pulled away and made a disgusted face.

"I don't think I ever want to hear you say that again."

"Well, just do what I told you and I won't have to say it again."

Emily nodded.

"Okay. Dad, do you think we could keep this between us? Daddy would go crazy if he found out."

Merlin laughed.

"Yes, I think it's best that we do. We don't need your father to go to jail for killing some poor kid."

Emily nodded and gave him another hug. By the time Arthur got home she was dressed and watching a movie with Merlin. He was none the wiser.

/

When Emily graduated from high school it was with full honors and an acceptance to Yale. Arthur couldn't have been more proud. When she left for Connecticut it was with tears in her eyes.

"Promise you'll call at least once a week. If you don't I'll have to come over there and find you to make sure that you're all right." Arthur said as he hugged her tight.

"I promise, Daddy."

She stepped away and threw her arms around Merlin. He held her close and kissed her forehead.

"Have fun, but make sure to keep up with your school work."

"I will, Dad."

She reached for Arthur and she took both his and Merlin's hand in hers.

"You guys are the best parents anyone could have ever asked for. I'm going to miss you both very much."

She started to cry and Merlin joined her, but Arthur fought back his tears. They came together for a group hug and then she walked away to get on the plane. When she was out of sight Merlin took Arthur's hand and led him towards the exit. When they got home Merlin started dinner while Arthur went to sit in Emily's mostly empty room. When Merlin came to get him a half hour later it was to find Arthur sitting in the rocking chair holding a picture of their little girl.

"She's all grown up now." he said.

"Yep. I'd say we did a pretty good job."

Arthur laughed.

"Yeah. I guess we did."

/

The apartment was quiet ever since Emily moved out, but Merlin and Arthur filled the silence with lots of loud sex.

"I had no idea we were holding back so much." Arthur panted after their latest go.

Merlin laughed.

"Me either. I guess it's a good thing we did, otherwise Emily would have been scarred for life."

Arthur laughed until he was near tears.

"She probably would have!" he finally managed to say. When he calmed down he ran his fingers down Merlin's chest and grinned.

"You can't be serious! Again?"

Arthur arched an eyebrow.

"If you're too tired then I can take the lead this time."

Merlin sighed like it was going to be a great imposition, but then he smirked and pulled Arthur on top of him.

"We might as well milk it for all it's worth. When Emily comes home for Christmas we'll wish we had so many opportunities."

Arthur kissed him and ground his hips down against Merlin's.

"Very true, and I'm not one to pass up an opportunity."