The next month Gwen told Merlin she was expecting again, the baby was due in the following April. Gwen and Lance were over the moon. Merlin jokingly said he wondered if the other two sets of parents would follow their example. Mithian told him that Gwaine already wanted another, so he would have to wait for news. But it was another six months before Gwaine told Merlin he was to be an Uncle again.
A couple of months later and Gwen and Mithian asked for meeting with Arthur. Now they were both expecting their second babies they wanted to discuss the housekeepers post. Arthur was concerned that they wanted to stop working. It worried him, Merlin got on well with both the girls and he wasn't sure how Merlin would cope with the change. Arthur was the first to admit how much he relied on his team. Without them he wouldn't be able to keep on working. And while financially he didn't need to he needed the time away from his husband. Arthur knew he couldn't cope otherwise, he felt guilty about it but he knew it was true.
"Look Arthur, we both think it might be difficult bringing two little ones to work. So we wondered if you would be happy if we split the job between us. That way one of us could look after all the little ones, while the other works. We would still cover the shifts, and we've spoken to Freya who is still happy to cook on the weekends we both want the off." Gwen hoped that Arthur would agree.
"That sound fine, I've no problem with that, what I'll do is pay the same hourly rate and you can let me know who has worked what. Don't worry I'll just leave you to sort in between you." Arthur was relieved he had thought they wanted to stop working.
"As long as you're both happy and can cope I'm happy. Any problems just let me know." He smiled at the two women."I couldn't have managed without you both, you do know that don't you?"
"Thank you Arthur, I'm not going to continue with my nursing much now, I need to work a hundred hours a year or I'll lose my registration but the local nursing home has said I do some there." Mithian was pleased with how things were working out.
"Well if it's any help when Merlin when needs a nurse I'm happy for you to look after him, perhaps when he needs extra support? Would that help?" Arthur would do anything to keep the two women happy.
"That would be great, but you know I will always look after Merlin without being paid don't you?" Mithian had developed a close friendship with Merlin.
"I know but that's not fair and if you have to do a hundred hours it makes sense, after all Merlin probably needs that over a year."
The two women went off feeling much better. They both wanted to continue to work but didn't want to make their children suffer or be left with strangers. Other than when they were in playgroup.
When the toddlers came to the bungalow they took up quite a bit of Merlin's time. He loved playing with them, and now they were walking the long corridor often rang out with laughter as children and dog ran up and down chasing each other. Gwaine also had a dog but he left him at home. Mithian loved spaniels and unfortunately Isolde and Elena didn't get on. Elena loved Merlin and this made Isolde jealous. So Merlin made do with visiting Elena when he went to Gwaine's. Freya had two cats called Mordred and Kara, Mordred was a large tabby cat and both dogs were frightened of him. Kara was a smaller ginger cat. Mordred didn't like many people and kept himself to himself mostly. Merlin had an ongoing battle with the large tom as the cat kept killing birds in the garden.
Miranda stayed with her parents, in Buckinghamshire, most weekends and had formed a very close bond with both the men. Unlike the other children she seemed to prefer her Uncle Arthur to Merlin. She would spend most of the time following him around. Merlin loved to see them sitting on the floor playing with their toys. Arthur seemed to completely relax at these times. But it made Merlin sad to think they wouldn't have children of their own.
Morgana and Leon loved their daughter but told the others that they had decided not to have more children. This was one of the reasons they visited most weekends, as they liked their daughter to play with other children. Morgana said she wanted her daughter to mix with other children as she had hired a weekday nanny. Morgana didn't wish to give up her job on the magazine. She intended to enrol Miranda in a private prep school when she reached three but she also wanted her to have other friends.
Merlin had recently taken up photography. Mainly to take photos of his beloved Isolde and Arthur, but he also liked to take photos of the garden birds. He had taken lots of the children and all the parents were happy as he gave them copies.
Lance and Percy had started to go with Arthur and Gwaine down to the pub once a week. They tried to get Merlin to go with them but he wouldn't. Freya started to come to the bungalow and visit Merlin when the other men went out. They would sit and talk for hours or watch films together. They both enjoyed watching the same things so they enjoyed themselves, Merlin even started to make popcorn for the occasion. Merlin was finding his days so full that it seemed for a while he was gradually leaving behind his bad memories and building new happier ones.
One Thursday when Arthur was at work he had a surprise visitor to his London office. It was his late mother's brother, Agravaine de Bois. He had been living in Australia for the past twenty years and they had lost touch. Uther wasn't keen on his brother in law and hadn't encouraged the other man to keep in touch. Now Agravaine was back in England to stay. He had traced Arthur down and wanted to get to know his nephew.
Over lunch they had a long chat, it seemed Agravaine had been divorced for several years and had decided to come back to the UK to start afresh. It soon became clear that he hadn't even known his nephew had got married, or about Merlin's kidnap. Although Arthur didn't go into too much detail about the two year ordeal they had been through. Arthur agreed phone Merlin and talk to him, and ask about Agravaine staying with them for awhile. He explained that Merlin had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was nervous of meeting new people. He promised to contact his uncle after speaking to his husband.
So later he called Merlin and asked him if he minded someone staying for a few days, Merlin said yes straight way. He was upset that Arthur had such a strained relationship with his father and hoped that this uncle might be able to fill that gap. Arthur phoned his uncle and arranged for the other man to arrive the following day
Arthur had taken Gwen and Hunith, to the supermarket in the nearest town, for the big monthly shop. They were expecting Agravaine just before lunch. Percy was on duty with Pallinor when Agravaine arrived. Merlin stood up as the man entered and held out his hand. He was surprised he had been expected to see a trace of Arthur in the man but he couldn't.
"Hello I'm Arthur's husband Merlin." As Agravaine took Merlin's hand Isolde growled. He immediately noticed Merlin's damaged hand but said nothing. He was surprised at what he saw. Agravaine had been surprised when Arthur had told him he had married a man, not something he had expected from Uther's. But he could see the attraction his nephew had; even through the young man had a very guarded look in his eyes.
"Please to meet you, I'm Arthur's Uncle Agravaine." he bent down to stroke Isolde who growled once more.
"Stop that Isolde." Merlin was surprised Isolde seldom growled at people without reason. "Sorry about that, she doesn't normally growl at people. I'm afraid Arthur is out at the moment he shouldn't be long would you like a cup of tea or coffee while we're waiting?"
Merlin looked at the visitor; he didn't look anything like Arthur and for some reason the other man made him feel uneasy.
"That would be nice, a coffee if you don't mind. Thank you for letting me stay, I lost contact with Arthur years ago I'm afraid. I've been living in Australia and have just decided to return. It took me a time to track him down." he explained.
"Please take a seat, if you could sit in a chair to my right side, I'm deaf in my left ear." Merlin explained.
Agravaine walked to the nearest chair and sat down. At that point Mithian came in with a cup of coffee for Merlin; seeing Agravaine had arrived she went to fetch a second cup.
"I know Arthur is looking forward to seeing you again, you're from his mother's side of the family I understand." Merlin was curious.
"Yes his mother was my sister. When she died Uther wasn't keen to keep relationships going and I emigrated when Arthur was eight. But I'm back now and wanted to renew contact with my family." The man sounded sincere.
Merlin could tell Isolde was unhappy and it made him uneasy. He looked around and was relieved to see Percy stood in his usual place just inside the door. Agravaine saw Merlin look at Percy. He had been surprised by the presence of both the man who had let him in and the silent figure stood in the lounge and wondered what and who they were. He decided to ask Arthur when he had the chance.
"I was sorry to hear of your troubles, I didn't know anything about it until Arthur told me. If I had known I would have come and supported Arthur earlier. It must have been awful for you both" The man gave a small smile.
"That's ok, I'm sure Arthur understood." Merlin didn't want the conversation to continue down that route. He was trying to change the subject when he heard the front door open.
"That will be Arthur now; I'll go and get him." Merlin stood up and limped off to the kitchen. Arthur was surprised to hear Agravaine had arrived he had hoped to be there when the man arrived. After giving Merlin a kiss he went straight into the lounge to see his uncle. They sat talking for ages, Merlin left when Agravaine asked for further details about the kidnap. He didn't want to listen.
"I'm just going to see Mum for a bit I'll leave you two talking." Merlin left the room without waiting for a reply.
After he left Arthur looked at his visitor: "Uncle, Can you not mention the kidnap in front of Merlin please. I don't want to trigger any panic attacks. He was kept for two years and treated appallingly, both physically and mentally. It has taken him a long time to get where he is now." As before Arthur also didn't want to go into details.
"Sorry my boy, I didn't think. I'm just sorry I didn't know, I would have come and supported you. At least you had your father here with you." Agravaine leant forward at patted his nephews knee.
"Father doesn't approve of our marriage uncle, so I think it best we close this topic of conversation." Arthur took a deep breath and changed the subject.
The two men continued to chat and Arthur told his uncle they were both happy for him to stay for awhile if he wanted. Agravaine noticed the Percy had followed Merlin out so took the opportunity to ask about the extra staff. He was amazed when Arthur told him they were bodyguards for Merlin. Arthur explained that Merlin had been kidnapped in revenge for a trail he had been involved in and didn't want to risk a repeat. Agravaine didn't comment but Arthur could see he thought it was an overreaction but didn't care. Both Merlin and Isolde continued to feel uneasy when Agravaine was about.
On the Saturday morning Morgana, Leon and Miranda arrived. As usual Miranda shouted out the minute she came through the door:
"Uncle Afer! Where are ow?"She ran into the lounge and grabbed her uncle round the legs. Arthur picked her up gave her a kiss and then the little girl spotted a different man in the room. She immediately went shy and hid her face in his shoulder.
"Miranda this is Uncle Agravaine, he's staying with us." Miranda peered at him through her fringe but said nothing. Arthur put her down and she went to Merlin.
Merlin held out his arms and she gave him a cuddle and stroked Isolde before running into her mother's arms. Morgana and Leon had just come through the door after putting their bags in their normal rooms.
"Agravaine this is my half sister Morgana, her husband Leon and their daughter Miranda." He then turned to Morgana "and this is my Uncle Agravaine who is staying with us for a while." The group shook hands and then all settled down to talk.