Like I promised, new chapter! I don't think I've gotten so many reviews on one chapter as on that last one, and they were generally positive, so thank you so much for all of that. Without further ado:

Morgana didn't even have time to be shocked before Merlin started rambling on about baby names and the color of the nursery and so many things that were meaningless because he stood before her. Alive. His face was flushed with color, and his grin was young and wide, while his blue eyes gleamed and twinkled with quiet wisdom brought to him by age. His ears were still just a little too big in the cutest way, and his cheekbones remained dangerously sharp. He was here. In front of her. Alive.

"What?" She asked, unsure how to finish that question. What are you doing here? What brought you back? What kept you so long? What sort of timing is this? "What the hell were you thinking Merlin, sacrificing yourself like that? I didn't need a martyr. I just needed you!"

She felt a tear run down her face and then a second, but she did nothing to brush them away. They weren't tears of sadness anymore, and that felt better than she'd ever imagined.

"I'm so sorry," Merlin apologized. The nurse was already gone from the room, and Merlin leaned into the door to keep it shut. Now was not a time for interruptions. "I couldn't let you die. It was stupid."

"It was."

Silence.

"Morgana, I love you," Merlin finally said, his voice soft.

"I love you too." She smiled wider than she could remember smiling for the last nine months. "Do you want to hold our baby?"

Merlin thought about it then shook his head. "I don't want to break it," he said.

Morgana couldn't help but laugh at that. "How do you break a baby?" She asked.

"Dropping it or something. I don't know."

"You're not going to break it!" She exclaimed. "Now come over here, you dork."

He shuffled over, eyes shifting between Morgana and the baby that she held. He was nearly made breathless by the beauty of both of them. Sitting on the chair by Morgana's bed for precautionary purposes, he carefully took the baby into his arms.

"He already has hair," Merlin said in surprise. "I didn't think babies came with it."

"Turns out some do," Morgana said. "Have you thought of any names in all your time in Avalon?"

"I actually have," he said, exchanging a knowing look with the baby. Well as knowing of a look as a baby can give. Really, Merlin was the one knowing, and the baby was just babying.

"And….." She prompted.

"I was thinking Mordred," he said, trying to keep his smile to himself.

"But you hate Mordred. He killed Arthur." Morgana's confusion did not quite mask her joy. She'd loved Mordred like a son, and so it seemed more than appropriate to name her first son after him.

"I got to know him a little better while we were dead," Merlin began, clearly ready to tell his long story when Arthur and Gwen burst into the room.

"Morgana, we couldn't wait to see the baby!" Gwen exclaimed, rushing in. They both stopped when they saw Merlin in the chair with baby Mordred.

"I think I'm missing something," Arthur said with his usual mix of arrogance and confusion.

"Yeah, I think I have to agree," Gwen said.

"Surprise, I'm back!" Merlin exclaimed.

"I could see that," Arthur began their typical banter, but Merlin was in too good of a mood to keep it up. Handing Mordred to Morgana, he stood to give them a proper greeting.

"I've missed you two so much," he said, wrapping each of them in a hug. Arthur stood uncomfortably while Merlin wrapped his arms around him, but it was clear that he'd missed his former servant too. And Gwen nearly refused to let go, as if Merlin might disappear again any second.

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you," Arthur tried to act indifferent.

Gwen was already onto the topic she'd come to talk about.

"Do you have a name yet?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we were thinking Mordred," Merlin replied, watching Arthur to gauge his response.

The blonde's face fell into its typical expression of not understanding.

"He killed me. Just thought I'd remind you."

"He apologized to you," Gwen reminded.

"Yeah, but he killed me!" Arthur insisted.

"To be fair, you killed him too," Morgana said from her bed, to which Arthur shot his best attempt at a glare. That is until his eyes latched on to the beautiful baby in her arms and his gaze melted. It's impossible to be angry while looking at a baby. That is a scientifically proven fact.

Gwen's eyes followed Arthur's, and soon, she too was completely absorbed by the baby's pale blue eyes that almost perfectly matched his father's. Mordred didn't make any cries or squeals, resting peacefully in his mother's arms.

"Would you like to meet him?" She asked as Gwen drew nearer.

Gwen nodded, taking the baby into her arms. He looked so much like Merlin and so much like Morgana that it would be scary if it weren't so cute. And he was so calm, a type of calm that Gwen wasn't sure she'd ever seen in baby. And she'd had a baby once. It had cried and screamed for the first 6 months of its life.

Arthur looked over his wife's shoulder. "We should have a baby," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear. And it sounded like the best idea she'd ever heard.

Merlin had been pretty much ignored as soon as the baby was noticed, but he was remembered once more when Mordred was placed back into his mother's arms.

"So how did you get back here?" Morgana asked. "It's not actually easy coming back from the dead. You didn't have to kill anyone did you?"

"Nope. But it's a long story, so I'll start from the beginning."

Make sure to review and follow if you're new. That sort of rhymed. Hope you enjoyed. More to come.