"Ahem." The housekeeper's insistent throat clearing caused Merlin to sneer in a way that would have made Arthur proud.
"No, Harri. I will not take my wife's bum off of the counter and you can just deal with it." He kissed Martha gently. "Doing alright?"
Martha went still and gripped Merlin's shoulders. Her forehead pressed to his and her face contorted in pain.
Harri smiled knowingly. She understood that for today at least, the usual banter between her and Lord Emyrs would have to wait, and she exited the kitchen quietly.
"Just breathe." He reminded her softly. His hands moved down and massaged her lower back until the tightness passed. "You sure you don't want to go to the hospital, yet?"
"I don't know." Martha moaned softly. "The doctor in me says I should have gone already and opted for the c-section since we're having twins, but I want something simpler. I just can't seem to think straight today."
"We can stay home. Our room is already set to go, if you like. It's totally up to you. If something happens, I can teleport us to the hospital."
"Are you saying something is going to happen?" Her dark eyes widened in fear.
Merlin placed a hand on her abdomen. He made soothing, shushing sounds to comfort her. It was so unusual to see Martha so out of control.
He felt the babies inside and smiled. Both were healthy and ready to enter the world. "I have been helping to deliver babies for centuries. Gwen had assisted my mentor, Gaius, on many births as well. Plus, there's my mother."
"...Who utterly hates me." Martha whined.
"She doesn't hate you."
She groaned, as another contraction began squeezing her pelvic region.
Frowning, Hunith stood outside the kitchen door, listening to her son and his wife. She felt a pang of regret at Martha's words. Hunith didn't hate the young woman whom her son was obviously so fond of, but the shock of being pulled from the medieval ages and into the madness of the modern world had sent her reeling.
At first, she had despised Martha for virtually abducting her. Her home, and everything she had known, was gone. Merlin had told her the story of how it had been completely wiped out by the warlord, and then forgotten in the passage of time.
Now, even though she understood that nothing could have been done to save her home, Hunith felt extremely guilty that she alone had survived that day.
Gwen and her son had been her only connection to the world she had once known, and in her mind, they had both perished long before. They had tried to explain the situation to her, in hopes of getting Hunith to realize that what she was experiencing was indeed real.
It wasn't until the day that Merlin had finally arrived home that meaning of their words had become clear. She could see in her son's eyes how much he had aged, how much heartache and joy he had experienced. His eyes reminded her of her own lost love.
Her heart was filled with regret for the way she had treated Martha.
Merlin loved his wife, just as much as he had loved Mithian. From the moment he had entered the house and taken Martha into his arms, Hunith had seen that. By then, however, she wasn't sure how to approach her new daughter-in-law.
The idea that Martha now felt that Hunith hated her weighed heavily in her soul.
She shook her head and wiped away a few small tears as she heard Martha groan from the pain of another contraction. She had missed the births of her grandchildren with Merlin's first wife because of distance and her own stubbornness at not wanting to leave Ealdor.
A ghost had held her prisoner in the small village. Part of her had always believed that once Uther was dead, her love would have returned to her. She had waited for decades and had never known the truth about her handsome man, with his fanciful tales of stars and dragons.
Merlin had tried to tell her once, long ago, of Balinor's fate. While she had listened and understood, her heart had refused to believe it. Hunith had wasted too much time on wistful dreams of his return.
After Merlin's return from Celestis, he had taken her to the Crystal Cave and shown her the recordings of Balinor's memories. She had shut herself in her room and cried for days afterward; overwhelmed and overburdened by everything, Merlin had brought her food and tried to speak with her, but she just wasn't ready to deal with it all.
Percival had finally pushed his way into the room and didn't emerged for hours.
When he left, her tears had ceased and she finally felt ready to accept her fate. Whatever he had said, had helped ease her back into life, and she was more open to the modern world than she had been. He was the only one who seemed to truly appreciate her position.
It didn't fill the rift that had formed between her and Martha, however. The young woman still led a busy life and had left Hunith to her own devices. Meanwhile, Hunith's guilt held her tongue.
They lived in the house together, but despite Merlin's efforts, they remained separated by their differences. Hunith often wondered if she was so stubborn that she would allow herself to miss out on the lives of her twin grandbabies - who were now demanding to see the light of day.
Taking a breath, she forced herself to finally push aside her endless grief and sorrow.
She walked into the kitchen with her head held high. A soft smile tugged at her lips at the sight of her son trying to comfort his new wife.
"Martha, you need to get off that counter and stand up. Walk around if you can. I've helped bring many other children into the world and yours will not be born if you sit up there, folded over your belly like that."
She had heard Merlin tell his wife something similar when the first of the contractions had started, but like any independent woman who had never experienced childbirth for herself, Martha hadn't been ready to listen.
Glancing up and hearing her mother-in-law's wisened voice, Martha finally complied.
Merlin carefully held her, while she steadied herself, bracing against him for support.
"I would like to midwife for you, if you do want to have these children here. Although I don't quite understand the alternative that you've spoken of, I have faith that between my son and I, your children would be perfectly fine and well by being born in your own bedchamber."
Martha gave the woman a pained smile. "I would like nothing more." Suddenly, she gasped and cringed as the loose pants she wore became drenched. "Well, I think the boys have decided. It's probably too late to get to the hospital now. Oh, Harri is going to make me suffer for this mess on her floor."
Laughing, Merlin pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. He met his mother's eyes and mouthed a thank you.
Hunith smiled as an invisible weight lifted off her shoulders. "Merlin, get her up to your room. I'll go find Gwen to assist and we'll be up shortly."
His heart raced as the wide expanse of stars stretched out into unfathomable depths of space. Ahead of him, floating in the zero gravity atmosphere, was a Stargate. He'd read the Atlantis reports about the Gate orbiting the planet where the city was located, but seeing it was something completely different.
For a moment, he wondered how he was going to navigate through the ring of chevrons. A tug at his consciousness told him that he had the easy job of just hanging on.
Almost a month prior, Mitchell and the other members of SG-1 had come through to Celestis. Jackson had found more Ancient texts on a device that Moros had called The Ark of Truth. When opened, it had shone a brilliant light on the Priors who still controlled the followers of the Ori and showed them the truth of who the Ori had been.
Priors across the galaxy had been fed the knowledge from the collective mindset and each had been horrified at the revelations.
While checking out the stories, Gwaine had met up with his old friend once again.
Mitchell had recounted the story of how Ganos Lal, the Ancient known as Morgan Le Fey, had broken the laws of the Ancients and came through in the end to fight Adria.
Gwaine had laughed at the total irony of it all.
With the Orici defeated, the last hold of the eons long war with the Ori had broken. People of both galaxies were free once and for all.
"I'm gonna see you at your sister's wedding, right?" Mitchell had asked before heading out through the Stargate.
Gwaine had grinned like an idiot and brushed his lengthening hair out of his face. "I'll be there with bells on!"
Things had been different for him since the gene had been activated. He felt complete for the first time in his life, when he hadn't even realized something had been missing.
He also finally realized the thrill of flying, and the adrenaline rush that both Mitchell and Merlin had raved about when they soared through the air. Although, he had to admit being on the back of a living, breathing dragon was better than any aircraft in existence.
The bond he had gained with Aithusa had been mind-blowing in a way he had never even begun to imagine. Their initial days together had been fraught with setbacks, mostly due to the Aithusa's health.
With Sebryn's guidance, Gwaine had finally been able to help Aithusa after so many others had failed her. Her scales practically glowed in the starlight. She would never gain the full size that many of the other drakkon her age achieved, but the muscles had filled out and AIthusa was now the picture of health.
Life was good. He missed his old life and the people he'd left behind, but overall, he couldn't complain.
Gilgamesh had finally given his reluctant blessing to his daughter, and now she sat behind Gwaine on Aithusa's back as he continued to stare at the floating Stargate.
Their journey to Earth wasn't going to be a complete pleasure trip of weddings and new babies. They also had a job to do; dealing with a baby of another variety.
Aithusa admitted to Gwaine that during her centuries of solitude on Earth, she had laid an egg and hidden it in the ice caves of the Arctic.
It was the least he could do to help the other half of his bond find it. A creature like her, flying over the Earth would be dangerous, so they had opted for a different landing point for their initial jump.
"Are we going to do this today, or would you rather wait for the stars to move around us?" Sebryn asked him in a teasing voice.
Gwaine smirked and leaned back against her. "Yeah, I suppose it's time. Alright, Aithusa. Do your thing."
He felt the drakkon smile in his mind as she filled herself with a massive breath.
He doubted he would ever get over the thrill of cascading through a wormhole, but when she exhaled onto the Stargate that was suspended in orbit above the home planet, his pulse jumped.
The Gate flared to life and Aithusa tucked her wings, while her riders crouched over her neck. "Next stop, the Nox Homeworld."
The afternoon shadows lengthened and Merlin watched as the light played across the lawns. In the evening light, he could see the soul of Old Camelot in the silhouetted outlines. Everything was peaceful and right.
Colonel Mitchell had called him a couple of weeks before and informed him that Gwaine would be coming by for a visit soon. It will be nice to have everyone together again, Merlin thought to himself.
Martha laid dozing in the bed with one of her newborn sons curled up next to her. Merlin held the other and rocked the sleeping babe in his arms.
Percival opened the door, careful to be as quiet as possible. He smiled at Merlin and held it open as his friend came to greet him.
"Percival, could you do me a favor?"
The large man nodded, "Of course!"
"Martha's doctor is at the hospital today. She has some medicine she wants Martha to take to help with any pain and such from the birth. Would you mind driving into town to retrieve it?"
Reaching over, Percival gently tickled the cheek of the newborn. "I'd be happy to. He is a cutie. They both are."
"Thanks." Merlin beamed at his friend. "I'll call and let her know you're on your way."
An hour later and Percival was walking down the corridor of the hospital with a bag from the doctor. It not only held the medicine, but a variety of other goods and essentials for the new mother, all wrapped in a package with a big blue bow.
He looked up as he passed a hallway that led to a small, secluded outdoor garden that had been set up for long-term patients of the hospital.
Outside, a man sat alone, enjoying the brief bout of sunshine that graced the region. His face was turned away from the glass door, looking up into the sky. Something about him peaked Percival's curiosity and he decided to make a detour.
As he pushed open the door, the man turned to look at him and Percival nearly dropped the bag. "Lancelot?"
"Hello. Do you know me?"
Percival was stunned by the question and he took an unconscious step back. He briefly recalled overhearing someone speaking about Daniel Jackson having returned from Ascension with no memory of who he was.
It was hard for Percival to comprehend how anyone could lose their memory like that, but then again, not much about this world made sense some days. He was just happy to see his best friend from so many years ago, sitting in front of him. "Yes, my friend. I do. Don't you remember?"
Lancelot smiled and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember much of anything, but you do seem sort of familiar to me. Perhaps you can sit with me and help me."
"I'd be happy to." The large man sat down next to his old friend on the bench.
"I'm sorry, sir. You can't be here. This garden is authorized for patients and registered guests only." A young nurse said, coming through the door like she was on a mission.
"He said he knows me, Ally!" The dark-haired man beamed.
"Is that so? Well, the doctors would like to speak with you, then. If you could just follow me. We have a lot of questions about our friend John here."
Percival's face fell. He wasn't sure how to respond. He would certainly be able to answer their questions, but he knew the answers would make him look like a loon, or worse. Then, he paused and grin began to form.
"Sorry, but I can't answer your questions. I need to take him into custody."
"On whose authority?"
Reaching into his pocket for his identification, he held it out authoritatively. "Torchwood."
The End
AN: Wow, what a ride this has been! I want to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, reviewed, read, pmed, recommended this story. I am so blessed to have had such a wonderful audience who shared in this journey with me.
There were many time I'd start down a path, only to find it didn't fit where the characters wanted to go. Or had to completely revamp everything I'd plotted because I couldn't find an explanation that satisfied my own need to keep as few plot holes as possible in such a complex story. I'm sure there are a few plot holes still, as well as some loose ends that should have or could have been tied up. However, after 84 chapters and almost 330,000 words over the course of a year - I'm exhausted! LOL (There are a few oneshot ideas that might pop up from time to time in this universe. However, I'm not sure when or what form they might take.)
This story would not have been nearly as good with the tireless work of Nance helping to correct my punctuation (Commas will be my doom, I swear!), tweaking my grammar even after the chapters are posted, and suggesting words or phrasing when my own mind couldn't come up with a better way to say what I wanted. Also, IcarusLSU for helping me jumpstart this whole idea to mesh Stargate and Merlin in the first place. Matthew1972(Matthew72 at HoC), and Aerist for their wonderful work on bookcovers and graphics which can be seen on my story index at HoC. Matt (again), as well as Sarajm, IsisAthenaArtimis, Just Crucio It, and others in the HeartofCamelot chat room for their support and encouragement when I needed to bounce ideas and figure out the obvious.
I hope you all have enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Now, with this finished I should be getting back to my Coins series and all the backlog of edits from before I had my personal puffin of proofreading. Once that is caught up I will resume writing Lord of Beasts. I will keep my ffnet profile updated with the current status of that and my other stories. After a final tweeking these final chapters will be added to the Archive Of Our Own website and available for download to ereaders.
Thank you again! LOVE YOU ALL! *hugs and smooches*