The day arrived for Merlin to go home and was sat in his new wheelchair waiting when Arthur arrived to collect him. The two men couldn't believe how much they had to take home with them. Arthur had to make several journeys down to the car, with all the carrier bags and other bits and pieces. He was just thankful he had a big car. As Merlin finally left the ward he gave the nurses a hamper full of goodies as a thank you. They were sorry to see him go; he had been a favourite with many of them. Merlin was soon settled in the car and was on his way home. Arthur noticed Merlin was fidgety and asked his husband if he was alright.
"It's the first time in a car since the accident; I suppose I'll get over it in time." Merlin replied.
Arthur slowed down to try to make his husband feel safer. "Just let me know if you want to stop at all. Otherwise I'll keep going it's only another half an hour."
Merlin nodded and then turned on the radio to take his mind of things until they pulled up outside the house. Merlin was surprised to see several people waiting for them. Not only Gaius and Alice, but all the neighbours had turned out as well as Morgana and Percy. Merlin turned to Morgana as soon as he was out of the car:
"I'm surprised your boss gave you the time off. I heard he was a bit of a tyrant." As he finished speaking he got a cuff round the ear.
"You can't do that I've only just got home!" he turned and scowled at Arthur.
"Then don't call me a tyrant, anyway I didn't know she would be here." Arthur protested.
"As if I'd stay away, don't worry brother dear, I'll go back to work later." Morgana grinned and went forward to hug her brother in law. "Welcome home."
Over the next few days Merlin felt so much better, he was so glad he was home. It was difficult with his arm being out of action, but at least it was his left arm. He had a half cast to make sure he didn't put too much pressure on the pins and plates, but it was light weight. He soon got fairly independent and his grandmother came and helped him with the cooking. They ate a lot of casseroles that could go in the slow cooker and stay there until Arthur got home. Either that or Arthur would pick up a take away. Sunday lunches were at Alice's. They had a cleaning lady who came in twice a week and Merlin was able to load the dishwasher and do other small chores.
As the due date for the baby got near the men, especially Merlin, started to get nervous. Now he was even more handicapped, he was worried he wouldn't be able to bond properly with the baby. Having Isolde would be great but he wanted to do most of the care and now he wouldn't.
It was three days before the due date when Arthur got the call at the office to say Isobel had gone into labour. Arthur immediately called Gaius who picked up Merlin and took him to the hospital. Arthur was there fifteen minutes after Merlin. Arthur paced up and down until the midwife allowed the two men into the delivery suite. Isobel's labour had been quick and both the fathers were there to see the birth. It was an amazing experience for the men and as soon as they could they held their new son. They couldn't thank Isobel enough for allowing them both in.
Isobel had said she wanted to hand over the baby immediately after birth, and she did not wish to see the baby at all, she wanted to reduce the risk of bonding with it. As Isobel was a single woman and Arthur was to go on the birth certificate, he would be the legal father. This had all been agreed beforehand. In fact Isobel had put in the surrogacy agreement that she would not be in contact with the men or baby after the birth. At first Merlin had found this strange, but after spending some time thinking about it he could understand and was only to grateful to her for helping them. Isobel had agreed that if the child wished to contact her when he/she was an adult then her details would be kept with the agency. Isobel had been a surrogate before and seemed to be well able to make the correct decision for herself.
When they first held their baby they were both terrified as well as very happy. Within minutes photos had been taken. Baby James Balinor Pendragon had arrived. The baby stayed in hospital until that evening, and then went home with the men. Isolde was with them as soon as they left the post natal ward. Arthur had never driven as carefully as he did on that first trip home. The men had asked that no one but Merlin's grandparents and Morgana visit in the first week as they wanted time alone together. Arthur had taken just the first week of work.
Merlin had a special frame that fitted to the front of his wheelchair, which allowed James to lie down in front of him, when he wanted to interact, it had a nice padded edge that would stop James rolling off. He also had a baby carrier that he could wear in the wheelchair. He did as much as he could for James even with his bad arm. Arthur, to Merlin's surprise, even changed nappies. Although he doubted if he would once solid food was being taken. The baby made their lives complete. They had never been so happy. Isolde kept out of the way as much as possible, but was there if they had concerns and to help Merlin work out the best way of doing things.
When Merlin's six weeks was up, and he could use his arm more, it was one step nearer to him being able to cope alone. Although it would be another six weeks before his arm would be strong enough to do everything. Christmas came and Merlin was astounded by the pile of presents James had. There was an obscene amount, far more than he would ever play with. So after the holidays he sorted them out, and arranged for Gaius to take a lot of them to a children's charity. He knew a lot of the toys came from Arthur and his sister and hoped they wouldn't notice. After Christmas Isolde moved out but was still going to be there during the day to support Merlin for a bit longer.
In January Arthur received some disturbing news. He was at his office when the police came to visit him. Uther had been found dead in the cells. This time it hadn't been made to look like a suicide, but rather as a warning. He had been beaten to death. As the police had arrested several members of one of the gangs in connection with the attempted murder, it was believed that the gang bosses had believed Uther had implicated them, in some sort of plea bargaining. So he had been killed as a warning to others.
Arthur was shocked but also relieved; at least now the danger to Merlin was over. Although he thought he ought to be upset he wasn't. He would have preferred his father have had a more peaceful end to his life. When Arthur told Morgana she didn't appear to have his scruples, and thought he had got what he had deserved. Merlin however was a different case entirely. He blamed his self for Uther death. When he was told he broke down saying Arthur was an orphan because of them meeting. Arthur couldn't understand what Merlin was so upset about, Uther had tried to have him killed twice yet Merlin was still upset. He was just to kind hearted.
Gaius and Alice tried to talk to Merlin and Gaius said if it was anyone's fault other than Uther's, it was his, as he had told the police of Uther's underworlds connections. Eventually Merlin settled down, but only after Arthur pointed out he was upsetting James. The baby had been picking up Merlin's mood and crying as a result. Merlin would do anything for James so tried to block it out of his mind.
Arthur was surprised to find that Uther had left nearly everything to him, with enough shares going to Morgana to take her share in the company to twenty percent. It seemed Uther had never changed his will. Nimueh contested the will but with his usual attention to detail Uther had specified everything down to the smallest detail. Even the possibility he might remarry. Nimueh got the house they lived in and no more. Arthur refused to feel sorry for her; the house was worth over four million pounds so she wasn't destitute and had only been married to him for a short while.
In order to try to give Merlin something else to think about Arthur had arranged for a replacement car. But it took Merlin ages before he would drive it. He kept remembering the accident and being trapped. But with some careful planning, Arthur managed to calm Merlin's nerves. A phone was attached to the dashboard, so it couldn't be shaken loose in an accident and another tracking system was installed, this time with Merlin's knowledge. But Merlin would never drive down that road again, but at least he was mobile once more.
Isolde had left them in February once Merlin was able to cope on his own. But she would be available as James got older to help identify ways round new challenges. Merlin had managed to sort out all sorts of different coping strategies. When summer came he loved to go out for walks with James. The pushchair fitted into the front of his wheelchair and the two of them went to the village at least once a day. One day Merlin surprised everyone by driving to London, and turning up pushchair and all at the office to take Arthur out to lunch.
Arthur was astounded at how well Merlin coped with being the main carer. He was so good with James, and clearly loved him. James was nine months old when Merlin asked Arthur if they could have another child.