No Emergency Exit; Merlin Modern AU
Title: No Emergency Exit (6/21)
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: Previous chapters make it NC17
Summary: Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
Author Notes: For the lovely noodlesishere; this is a modern AU based loosely off of the Abby/Luka storyline in ER series 12/13. Some medical info I have taken from ER, so it's totally their fault if it's wrong! Other stuff I researched myself, which may not be 100% correct but I tried my hardest =]
Also; totally OUT of my comfort zone with this, so I worked extra hard. Hope it pays off.
Thanks to mustbethursday3 for reading over it for me (and suggesting Costa should sponser me for mentioning it so much XD) and purely_distel for the name =]
My Merlin Prompts Table
| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Part Six
"This is preposterous," Uther stated sat at his desk wildly flailing his arms around in front of him. Gaius stood by the door looking over to the elder Pendragon, "Arthur should have told me. He's let everybody down. He has embarrassed himself, what sort of secret is that to keep from your family?"
"Perhaps he was looking out for his family," Gaius reasoned, they had been discussing this for the best part of two hours. Gaius couldn't see if he was even getting anywhere with him, reason had never been much of a strong point of Uther, "I'm sure he was planning on telling you by more appropriate means."
"And telling everybody else before his own father? Does he not think that I could be of some assistance?"
"You may mean well, Uther, but you don't make yourself the most accessible to him. You need to open up to him. You need to let him know that it's okay to make mistakes. That not everything he does isn't what you want. From what Merlin tells me he's been happy recently, more than he or Morgana has seen him in years," Gaius disclosed, not expecting it to have any affect on Uther.
"Is this what he thinks? That he lets me down?" Uther asked, looking over his clasped hands at the man he trusted to advise him.
"I suppose that is a part of it, yes," Gaius admitted, "You've driven him hard his entire life; perhaps he just needs you to show your support. Let him know that you support his decisions."
"And if I don't?"
"Then it's about time you let go," the older man reasoned, looking at Uther with the deepest concern, "he's not your little boy anymore, he's grown up into a man who is starting a life and a family of his own. No matter how much you do or don't accept his choices, maybe you need to start trusting them," Gaius bowed his head and left the room.
Uther sat behind his desk, leaning on his elbow, hand rubbing his day-old-stubble-ed chin. Gaius was right. He drove Arthur hard, he always had. Ever since he was a child he had drilled it into him that he needed to do his best. He needed to aim for the stars and never settle for anything below exceptional. Nothing below an A. If it wasn't 100% it wasn't worth it.
And now? Now Uther was paying for it by having a son who wasn't willing to open up to him, who was living a life without him in it.
He didn't want to lose him completely and he knew now to accept that Arthur's life was deviating from his own. There was only so long he could keep his son on a lead rein, and now seemed to be the time to let it go.
-
"And then!" Arthur continued, "He had the cheek to say it was my fault!"
"That's Merlin for you, Arthur," she said, passing him the jar for him to open after trying for the last minute and struggling to succeed. Arthur, on the other hand, took a firm grip on the lid and turned it until it opened with ease.
"It wasn't my fault though," he handed the jar back to her. She poured the sauce into the frying pan. It hissed before it calmed.
"Merlin doesn't see it like that. He never does," she admitted, stirring the Bolognese, "I lived with him for two years and somehow I managed to do all the washing up. Organised the paying of the bills. I tidied up. I did the cooking. I-"
"Okay," Arthur interrupted, "Okay, I get it," he said, nudging her out of the way and taking the wooden spoon from her hand, "You're absolutely amazingly wonderful and I should never forget how much work you do."
"Precisely," she smirked, kissing him on the cheek, "Never forget it," she grinned biting her tongue between her teeth. She brushed past him towards the fridge, running her fingers over the back of his shoulders, "Do you want a glass of wine, water oooooor," she clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth, searching for options, "Milk?"
"I'll have some milk," Arthur replied, smiling at her over his shoulder.
"Sure? There's an Australian White in here," she commented, pulling it out and shaking it by the neck.
"I don't feel right drinking on my own," he admitted, scooping the contents of the pan around, "And the milk will go off otherwise."
"I guess," she replaced the alcohol in the door and grabbed the milk from the top shelf. She felt a strange twinge in her stomach. A short repetitive movement in one place. Arthur was waffling on about something behind her; she dropped her head down, looking at the spot. Standing in front of the open fridge she held the milk at her side. She traced her hand over her ever-growing bump, resting her palm over the point she could feel it.
A smile crept over her face.
"Are you gunna stand there all day?" Arthur joked, he turned around to see her looking amused and clutching the side of her stomach, "What?" She beckoned him over, grabbing at his hand and yanking it towards her.
She could feel the baby moving, kicking out. She laid his hand over the spot, holding it down with her own smaller hands.
"Don't you feel that?" she asked, looking at him intently. The disheartened look on his face told her he didn't. The corner of his mouth twinged, trying to not to disappoint her. She looked so happy, but it wasn't something he could share in.
"Blob's probably too small," the doctor in him reasoned. His disappointment already logged in her mind; she removed her hands from over his and cupped his face. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes and pressed a firm kiss to the corner of his lips.
"You're probably right; and you know what? For a tiny baby, it's certainly making me huge!"
"And you're not even half way yet," Arthur teased, Gwen mock glared at him as she tried to suppress a grin, "Pretty soon you won't fit in any of your clothes."
"Thanks honey, you're such a charmer," she turned her attention from him to the bubbling pan on the hob, "I was going to suggest something else, but now I'm hungry. Might as well help with filling out my baggiest clothes," she said, faux injured by his words.
"Well I'm hungry anyway," he replied, pouting. He wrapped his arms around her expanded waistline and pressed a soft kiss to the bare skin of her neck.
"I need the colander."
"The what?" Gwen couldn't help but smile at the lost expression on his face.
"The silver round thing with holes in that isn't a sieve."
"Right. And it is... where?"
"Bottom left cupboard, top shelf next to the cheese grater," Gwen instructed, lifting the pasta pot from the heat and carrying it over towards the sink.
"Ah-ha!" Arthur cheered triumphantly as he produced the silver holed product, "My lady," he said as he presented it to her. She pointed into the sink and he abandoned it over the plug hole.
"Good sir," she replied with a small smirk on her face. Arthur picked up the pasta pot and followed Gwen's instructions to pour the content into the colander.
-
Arthur sat silently as they ate their dinner. Luckily for him Gwen had turned the television on as she'd been cooking and was now distractedly watching Relocation Relocation. He barely touched his food, pushing it around the plate and only eating a small portion of it.
When Gwen finished she looked over at him. She saw his solemn face looking down into his food just fiddling with it, "Arthur?"
"Hmm?" He looked up from his daze.
"You feeling okay?" she said eyeing the over half full pasta bowl in his hands.
"Yeah," he replied dejectedly, making a point of eating a mouthful.
"I'm bound to feel it before you are," she murmured, she shifted on the sofa, reaching over to put her bowl on the coffee table. She pulled her knees onto the sofa, leaning against the arm of the sofa to give herself more space. She reached out to put her hand on his knee only serving to make him pull away, "Arthur, come on. Use your doctor brain. You knew this was going to happen."
"It's not that."
"Then what is it?" She probed, taking his abandoned meal out of his hands and placing it with her own on the table, "Talk to me," she sat back again. She hugged her arms around her bump, one hand rested on Arthur's own.
"I dunno. I guess that's part of it, but it's just, your Dad accepted everything. Mine? He tutted. I'm telling you; he fucking tutted at me. He still thinks I'm the eighteen year old jerk he left at Oxford," he crossed his arms defensively across his chest.
"Maybe it's time to prove him wrong? You're not your father," she gently massaged the bare skin of his lower arm. A small knowing smile crept across her face though it went unseen by Arthur, "You're going to be fantastic."
"I just- Every time I do something it is never good enough," he revealed, he pouted for a second before his expression fell again, "I can see it now. I fall in love with a nurse and it won't be good enough because you're not a doctor. Or we have a little girl and that's not good enough because she won't carry on the family name. Or she'll want to be anything that isn't a Doctor and he'll feel let down."
"Has anybody else ever told you that you don't have to live up his expectations?" Gwen asked, edging herself across the sofa closer to him, "You can make him proud in other ways."
"I know that, you know that, but it's never the same for him. Everything has to be done his way."
"I know it's easier to say but breakaway from him. Do things your way and he'll have to deal with it. Hate it or love it, he'll get over it eventually."
"It's not bloody Marmite," Arthur retorted with the first trace of a smile since they'd been cooking.
"I never said it was. Unless you want him to win, you don't have to do what he wants you to do. Make a stand; I think you might find that he'll respect you more for it," Arthur couldn't see how talking it out with his father would help. He would only shove it down Arthur's throat that he was wrong and that was that. It was 'do nothing' or 'go all out war on the situation'. Showing did more than telling when it came to Uther Pendragon.
"Yeah, maybe," he took her hand from his arm and pulled her towards him. She shifted so she was sat on his knees. He traced her fringe away from her face, cupping her chin.
"You'll be surprised," she smiled, leaning towards him.
"You're really heavy," Arthur stated jokily, cheeky grin on his lips as he went slightly cross eyed to look at her lips.
"Shut up," she whispered into his lips as she kissed him.
"No need to be rude," he pushed forwards, running his tongue along her lip. She gently returned the gestured, catching his tongue with her own, "I don't think you deserve it. Punishment."
"Whilst punishing yourself," she said against his mouth, "I don't think s-" she was cut off by his lips on hers. His hand slowly edged up her thigh, making her smile into his kiss. Two could play at that game. She shifted to stand, causing a frustrated groan to escape from Arthur lips. She stood in front of him, settling herself to sit back down one knee either side of his lap.
He smirked, he slid his hands over her legs and to her waist. Gwen studied his face, the blue of his eyes, the arch of his cocked eyebrow. The way his mouth curved and the way it moved when she kissed him.
She did so again now.
There was a heavy knock on the front door.
Through a brief groan, "Ignore it," Arthur mumbled, an arm moving around her a hand resting on the small of her back to keep her there.
"Arthur?" an aged voice called through the front door.
"Oh god, ignore him," Arthur complained as Gwen moved away from him at the sound of his father's voice.
"Ignoring him won't make him go away," Gwen reasoned as the knocking on the door became more insistent. She stood up, correcting her clothing and heading over to the door.
"Gwen-"
"Arthur," she said, punctuating with a stern glare, "I'm not having sex with you whilst your Dad is at the door," she said, voice barely above a whisper as she approached the wood that separated her and her baby's grandfather.
She reached the door, undid the latch and pulled the door open.
"Dr Pendragon," she greeted, trying her hardest to smile at him. Then again, she could see his looking at her midriff with a distained glance before he moved past her towards Arthur, "Nice to see you too," she said under her breath when he was out of ear shot.
"We need to talk," Uther ordered, blanking Gwen completely. She rolled her eyes, like father like son, ignore the problem and hope it goes away. Well, one of the problems, the easier to deal with problem.
Gwen shook her head, and headed over to the kettle. If they were remotely alike both of them would want a cup of tea.
"I think you made your feelings pretty clear before," Arthur replied, standing from the sofa, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"What exactly did I make clear before?"
"That I'm pretty much a thorn in your side. That everything I do will never be good enough for you. Every choice I make is wrong," Arthur said staring his father down. Wanting the power, being right and never letting down were all common Pendragon states, ones that they shared and Arthur hoped he never passed on because they made the pair of them unreasonable and incredibly irritating at times.
"And you got that from what, exactly?" Uther asked calmly narrowing his eyes, "I don't know if you realise how much of a shock finding out your son has a pregnant girlfriend is, do you? You assumed that I was going to be angry, that I was going to shoot you down. Did you even contemplate talking to me about it?" The pair of them stood their ground, Arthur not willing moving as Uther did the same. Gwen ignored them as she poured the boiling water into her cup and the tea pot so she could run away and abandon the argument she didn't want to be a part of, "Does he do this to you?" Uther turned around to look at Gwen who had just shut the fridge door having replaced the milk.
She looked at him stunned. She'd stayed in the room too long and actually been noticed. Oh dear, god.
She turned to Arthur who was looking at her expectantly, waiting for back up, "I'm not going to take sides," she raised her free hand innocently, "He should have told you,” she pointed at Arthur, "And you should have made it easier for him to do so,” she pointed at Uther, "Tea is in the pot," she whipped her finger around to point at the navy blue ceramic. Done with their feud, she stepped from behind the central counter and towards Arthur's- their bedroom.
"Gwen?"
"If you two are going to fight it out I don't want to hear it," the pleading look on Arthur's face was nearly enough to make her stay. Nearly, "You don't need me. You need to talk to your Dad. Explain and wait for him to reply before you walk off."
"I want you to hear what I have to say," Uther said. Arthur looked over his shoulder at his father, Gwen gawped slightly, "Please?"
"Oh, urm yeah, if that's what you want," Gwen replied, speech resembling that of a mumble. Uther gestured towards the sofa, Arthur stayed standing. He knew sitting around his father meant giving him the power and right now he wasn't in the right frame of mind to do so.
Gwen, on the other hand, sat back on the faithful sofa. She kept her hot tea in her hands taking a short sip from it and looking over the rim to Uther. He didn't look as fierce or commanding as he did usually.
"I know I was slightly rash the other day, but I was processing. Not being told until after you'd made your little display, it- I would have handled it better if you had told me yourself."
"I was going to. I'd phoned you to tell you, but then it got left to answer phone and it all just went downhill from there," Arthur defended, his arms folded across his chest. He'd give anything to go back to five minutes ago; life was so much simpler then.
"I hate that I have made you feel like you cannot be honest with me, Arthur. I'm your father, I should be there for you. You shouldn't feel a need to hide things from me."
"You've never accepted any choice I made myself," Arthur stated truthfully. Gwen watched them through the exchange, this was Uther Pendragon telling them that he wasn't about to put a stopper in anything they were doing. If anything, he was supporting them. Was that what this was? This was Uther rational and having thought it through and not demanding all the things that Arthur had said he would.
"Well consider this the first," his father retorted.
"And what if it's a little girl who doesn't want to keep her name to carry on your precious line, who doesn't want to be a doctor and wants to travel the world for charity?"
"Then I'd say you'd done a great job as a father breaking the mould I've created. I wouldn't expect anything less from any child of yours, Arthur. If you are anything to go by, they should tell me, and you, to go to hell if we ever try and make them do something they don't want to."
-
"So what you're saying is that Uther came over, didn't kick up a fuss and willingly accepted that Baby Arthur has finally flown the nest?" Gwen's Irish friend laughed as the pair of them walked into the ER with take away coffee cups in their hands.
"Basically, then he had a cup of tea, and was asking me questions about anything and everything and suggested not so subtly that 'Uther' was a really good name," Gwen mentioned, trying not to laugh.
"I hope you shot him down."
"In a heartbeat," the pair of them laughed abandoning the extra cups on the desk. Gwen grabbed a marker and scribbled names on the sides of them, "I dunno, wouldn't seem right giving the child somebody else's name."
"And, of all people, a person like Uther to live up to being," Morgana concluded.
"He's not that bad, not really."
Morgana raised a sceptical eyebrow at her friend, looking at her over her thick rimmed glasses, "We are talking about the same guy right?" Gwen laughed, heading towards the Doctor's lounge, "Remind me to go to the opticians later, down to my last pair of contacts."
"Go to the opticians later," Gwen said, smile on her face biting her tongue between her teeth, "A lot of people exceed your expectations when you give them a chance, you know."
"Yeah?" Morgana chided a knowing grin on her face.
"Yeah," Gwen could feel the baby move. The little being kicking out harder than it had a few days before, "Where's Arthur?" she asked Morgana as she spotted him through the glass of one of the exam rooms. She quickly handed her friend her coffee cup and briskly walked past a man in a wheelchair and another nurse who had their arms full of supplies.
She dodged into the exam room, one hand on the top of her bump.
"You'll need to take one every four hours, no more than four in twenty-four hours. Okay?" The patient smiled and nodded at him taking the paper packet Arthur handed her.
"You have company," the patient pointed at Gwen who moved as swiftly as she could manage across the room.
Arthur turned confusion on his face. She grabbed his hand and replaced her hand with it, holding it to the spot where she could feel it. He frowned slightly, and then there it was.
Kick. Kick. Kick.
The dopiest of smiles spread like quick fire across Arthur's face. He ran his thumb over her bump with a massive grin. He lifted his other hand to the side of her cheek drawing her towards him and pressing his lips to hers.
"I'll just... uh, go," the patient slipped away, prescription in hand and arm wrapped in a new cast, hung in a sling, "Yeah... thanks," she closed the door behind her. Morgana caught her eye and laughed. She looked through the window, still clutching the two cups of coffee. She smiled at the sight of her brother and her best friend stood with sickly sweet, cute smiles on their faces.
"A hard beginning maketh a good end," Morgana sighed to herself, taking a sip from Gwen's cup and pulling a face, "Urgh decaf. What is the point? Needs sugar."
"Who needs sugar?" Merlin asked coming up behind her.
"You do," she answered handing him Gwen's coffee. She kissed him quickly on the lips, "Good shift?"
"Busy," he admitted, stealing a sip of Gwen's coffee and like Morgana cringed at it, "You were right. Needs sugar."
Next Part
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: Previous chapters make it NC17
Summary: Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
Author Notes: For the lovely noodlesishere; this is a modern AU based loosely off of the Abby/Luka storyline in ER series 12/13. Some medical info I have taken from ER, so it's totally their fault if it's wrong! Other stuff I researched myself, which may not be 100% correct but I tried my hardest =]
Also; totally OUT of my comfort zone with this, so I worked extra hard. Hope it pays off.
Thanks to mustbethursday3 for reading over it for me (and suggesting Costa should sponser me for mentioning it so much XD) and purely_distel for the name =]
My Merlin Prompts Table
| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Part Six
"This is preposterous," Uther stated sat at his desk wildly flailing his arms around in front of him. Gaius stood by the door looking over to the elder Pendragon, "Arthur should have told me. He's let everybody down. He has embarrassed himself, what sort of secret is that to keep from your family?"
"Perhaps he was looking out for his family," Gaius reasoned, they had been discussing this for the best part of two hours. Gaius couldn't see if he was even getting anywhere with him, reason had never been much of a strong point of Uther, "I'm sure he was planning on telling you by more appropriate means."
"And telling everybody else before his own father? Does he not think that I could be of some assistance?"
"You may mean well, Uther, but you don't make yourself the most accessible to him. You need to open up to him. You need to let him know that it's okay to make mistakes. That not everything he does isn't what you want. From what Merlin tells me he's been happy recently, more than he or Morgana has seen him in years," Gaius disclosed, not expecting it to have any affect on Uther.
"Is this what he thinks? That he lets me down?" Uther asked, looking over his clasped hands at the man he trusted to advise him.
"I suppose that is a part of it, yes," Gaius admitted, "You've driven him hard his entire life; perhaps he just needs you to show your support. Let him know that you support his decisions."
"And if I don't?"
"Then it's about time you let go," the older man reasoned, looking at Uther with the deepest concern, "he's not your little boy anymore, he's grown up into a man who is starting a life and a family of his own. No matter how much you do or don't accept his choices, maybe you need to start trusting them," Gaius bowed his head and left the room.
Uther sat behind his desk, leaning on his elbow, hand rubbing his day-old-stubble-ed chin. Gaius was right. He drove Arthur hard, he always had. Ever since he was a child he had drilled it into him that he needed to do his best. He needed to aim for the stars and never settle for anything below exceptional. Nothing below an A. If it wasn't 100% it wasn't worth it.
And now? Now Uther was paying for it by having a son who wasn't willing to open up to him, who was living a life without him in it.
He didn't want to lose him completely and he knew now to accept that Arthur's life was deviating from his own. There was only so long he could keep his son on a lead rein, and now seemed to be the time to let it go.
-
"And then!" Arthur continued, "He had the cheek to say it was my fault!"
"That's Merlin for you, Arthur," she said, passing him the jar for him to open after trying for the last minute and struggling to succeed. Arthur, on the other hand, took a firm grip on the lid and turned it until it opened with ease.
"It wasn't my fault though," he handed the jar back to her. She poured the sauce into the frying pan. It hissed before it calmed.
"Merlin doesn't see it like that. He never does," she admitted, stirring the Bolognese, "I lived with him for two years and somehow I managed to do all the washing up. Organised the paying of the bills. I tidied up. I did the cooking. I-"
"Okay," Arthur interrupted, "Okay, I get it," he said, nudging her out of the way and taking the wooden spoon from her hand, "You're absolutely amazingly wonderful and I should never forget how much work you do."
"Precisely," she smirked, kissing him on the cheek, "Never forget it," she grinned biting her tongue between her teeth. She brushed past him towards the fridge, running her fingers over the back of his shoulders, "Do you want a glass of wine, water oooooor," she clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth, searching for options, "Milk?"
"I'll have some milk," Arthur replied, smiling at her over his shoulder.
"Sure? There's an Australian White in here," she commented, pulling it out and shaking it by the neck.
"I don't feel right drinking on my own," he admitted, scooping the contents of the pan around, "And the milk will go off otherwise."
"I guess," she replaced the alcohol in the door and grabbed the milk from the top shelf. She felt a strange twinge in her stomach. A short repetitive movement in one place. Arthur was waffling on about something behind her; she dropped her head down, looking at the spot. Standing in front of the open fridge she held the milk at her side. She traced her hand over her ever-growing bump, resting her palm over the point she could feel it.
A smile crept over her face.
"Are you gunna stand there all day?" Arthur joked, he turned around to see her looking amused and clutching the side of her stomach, "What?" She beckoned him over, grabbing at his hand and yanking it towards her.
She could feel the baby moving, kicking out. She laid his hand over the spot, holding it down with her own smaller hands.
"Don't you feel that?" she asked, looking at him intently. The disheartened look on his face told her he didn't. The corner of his mouth twinged, trying to not to disappoint her. She looked so happy, but it wasn't something he could share in.
"Blob's probably too small," the doctor in him reasoned. His disappointment already logged in her mind; she removed her hands from over his and cupped his face. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes and pressed a firm kiss to the corner of his lips.
"You're probably right; and you know what? For a tiny baby, it's certainly making me huge!"
"And you're not even half way yet," Arthur teased, Gwen mock glared at him as she tried to suppress a grin, "Pretty soon you won't fit in any of your clothes."
"Thanks honey, you're such a charmer," she turned her attention from him to the bubbling pan on the hob, "I was going to suggest something else, but now I'm hungry. Might as well help with filling out my baggiest clothes," she said, faux injured by his words.
"Well I'm hungry anyway," he replied, pouting. He wrapped his arms around her expanded waistline and pressed a soft kiss to the bare skin of her neck.
"I need the colander."
"The what?" Gwen couldn't help but smile at the lost expression on his face.
"The silver round thing with holes in that isn't a sieve."
"Right. And it is... where?"
"Bottom left cupboard, top shelf next to the cheese grater," Gwen instructed, lifting the pasta pot from the heat and carrying it over towards the sink.
"Ah-ha!" Arthur cheered triumphantly as he produced the silver holed product, "My lady," he said as he presented it to her. She pointed into the sink and he abandoned it over the plug hole.
"Good sir," she replied with a small smirk on her face. Arthur picked up the pasta pot and followed Gwen's instructions to pour the content into the colander.
-
Arthur sat silently as they ate their dinner. Luckily for him Gwen had turned the television on as she'd been cooking and was now distractedly watching Relocation Relocation. He barely touched his food, pushing it around the plate and only eating a small portion of it.
When Gwen finished she looked over at him. She saw his solemn face looking down into his food just fiddling with it, "Arthur?"
"Hmm?" He looked up from his daze.
"You feeling okay?" she said eyeing the over half full pasta bowl in his hands.
"Yeah," he replied dejectedly, making a point of eating a mouthful.
"I'm bound to feel it before you are," she murmured, she shifted on the sofa, reaching over to put her bowl on the coffee table. She pulled her knees onto the sofa, leaning against the arm of the sofa to give herself more space. She reached out to put her hand on his knee only serving to make him pull away, "Arthur, come on. Use your doctor brain. You knew this was going to happen."
"It's not that."
"Then what is it?" She probed, taking his abandoned meal out of his hands and placing it with her own on the table, "Talk to me," she sat back again. She hugged her arms around her bump, one hand rested on Arthur's own.
"I dunno. I guess that's part of it, but it's just, your Dad accepted everything. Mine? He tutted. I'm telling you; he fucking tutted at me. He still thinks I'm the eighteen year old jerk he left at Oxford," he crossed his arms defensively across his chest.
"Maybe it's time to prove him wrong? You're not your father," she gently massaged the bare skin of his lower arm. A small knowing smile crept across her face though it went unseen by Arthur, "You're going to be fantastic."
"I just- Every time I do something it is never good enough," he revealed, he pouted for a second before his expression fell again, "I can see it now. I fall in love with a nurse and it won't be good enough because you're not a doctor. Or we have a little girl and that's not good enough because she won't carry on the family name. Or she'll want to be anything that isn't a Doctor and he'll feel let down."
"Has anybody else ever told you that you don't have to live up his expectations?" Gwen asked, edging herself across the sofa closer to him, "You can make him proud in other ways."
"I know that, you know that, but it's never the same for him. Everything has to be done his way."
"I know it's easier to say but breakaway from him. Do things your way and he'll have to deal with it. Hate it or love it, he'll get over it eventually."
"It's not bloody Marmite," Arthur retorted with the first trace of a smile since they'd been cooking.
"I never said it was. Unless you want him to win, you don't have to do what he wants you to do. Make a stand; I think you might find that he'll respect you more for it," Arthur couldn't see how talking it out with his father would help. He would only shove it down Arthur's throat that he was wrong and that was that. It was 'do nothing' or 'go all out war on the situation'. Showing did more than telling when it came to Uther Pendragon.
"Yeah, maybe," he took her hand from his arm and pulled her towards him. She shifted so she was sat on his knees. He traced her fringe away from her face, cupping her chin.
"You'll be surprised," she smiled, leaning towards him.
"You're really heavy," Arthur stated jokily, cheeky grin on his lips as he went slightly cross eyed to look at her lips.
"Shut up," she whispered into his lips as she kissed him.
"No need to be rude," he pushed forwards, running his tongue along her lip. She gently returned the gestured, catching his tongue with her own, "I don't think you deserve it. Punishment."
"Whilst punishing yourself," she said against his mouth, "I don't think s-" she was cut off by his lips on hers. His hand slowly edged up her thigh, making her smile into his kiss. Two could play at that game. She shifted to stand, causing a frustrated groan to escape from Arthur lips. She stood in front of him, settling herself to sit back down one knee either side of his lap.
He smirked, he slid his hands over her legs and to her waist. Gwen studied his face, the blue of his eyes, the arch of his cocked eyebrow. The way his mouth curved and the way it moved when she kissed him.
She did so again now.
There was a heavy knock on the front door.
Through a brief groan, "Ignore it," Arthur mumbled, an arm moving around her a hand resting on the small of her back to keep her there.
"Arthur?" an aged voice called through the front door.
"Oh god, ignore him," Arthur complained as Gwen moved away from him at the sound of his father's voice.
"Ignoring him won't make him go away," Gwen reasoned as the knocking on the door became more insistent. She stood up, correcting her clothing and heading over to the door.
"Gwen-"
"Arthur," she said, punctuating with a stern glare, "I'm not having sex with you whilst your Dad is at the door," she said, voice barely above a whisper as she approached the wood that separated her and her baby's grandfather.
She reached the door, undid the latch and pulled the door open.
"Dr Pendragon," she greeted, trying her hardest to smile at him. Then again, she could see his looking at her midriff with a distained glance before he moved past her towards Arthur, "Nice to see you too," she said under her breath when he was out of ear shot.
"We need to talk," Uther ordered, blanking Gwen completely. She rolled her eyes, like father like son, ignore the problem and hope it goes away. Well, one of the problems, the easier to deal with problem.
Gwen shook her head, and headed over to the kettle. If they were remotely alike both of them would want a cup of tea.
"I think you made your feelings pretty clear before," Arthur replied, standing from the sofa, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"What exactly did I make clear before?"
"That I'm pretty much a thorn in your side. That everything I do will never be good enough for you. Every choice I make is wrong," Arthur said staring his father down. Wanting the power, being right and never letting down were all common Pendragon states, ones that they shared and Arthur hoped he never passed on because they made the pair of them unreasonable and incredibly irritating at times.
"And you got that from what, exactly?" Uther asked calmly narrowing his eyes, "I don't know if you realise how much of a shock finding out your son has a pregnant girlfriend is, do you? You assumed that I was going to be angry, that I was going to shoot you down. Did you even contemplate talking to me about it?" The pair of them stood their ground, Arthur not willing moving as Uther did the same. Gwen ignored them as she poured the boiling water into her cup and the tea pot so she could run away and abandon the argument she didn't want to be a part of, "Does he do this to you?" Uther turned around to look at Gwen who had just shut the fridge door having replaced the milk.
She looked at him stunned. She'd stayed in the room too long and actually been noticed. Oh dear, god.
She turned to Arthur who was looking at her expectantly, waiting for back up, "I'm not going to take sides," she raised her free hand innocently, "He should have told you,” she pointed at Arthur, "And you should have made it easier for him to do so,” she pointed at Uther, "Tea is in the pot," she whipped her finger around to point at the navy blue ceramic. Done with their feud, she stepped from behind the central counter and towards Arthur's- their bedroom.
"Gwen?"
"If you two are going to fight it out I don't want to hear it," the pleading look on Arthur's face was nearly enough to make her stay. Nearly, "You don't need me. You need to talk to your Dad. Explain and wait for him to reply before you walk off."
"I want you to hear what I have to say," Uther said. Arthur looked over his shoulder at his father, Gwen gawped slightly, "Please?"
"Oh, urm yeah, if that's what you want," Gwen replied, speech resembling that of a mumble. Uther gestured towards the sofa, Arthur stayed standing. He knew sitting around his father meant giving him the power and right now he wasn't in the right frame of mind to do so.
Gwen, on the other hand, sat back on the faithful sofa. She kept her hot tea in her hands taking a short sip from it and looking over the rim to Uther. He didn't look as fierce or commanding as he did usually.
"I know I was slightly rash the other day, but I was processing. Not being told until after you'd made your little display, it- I would have handled it better if you had told me yourself."
"I was going to. I'd phoned you to tell you, but then it got left to answer phone and it all just went downhill from there," Arthur defended, his arms folded across his chest. He'd give anything to go back to five minutes ago; life was so much simpler then.
"I hate that I have made you feel like you cannot be honest with me, Arthur. I'm your father, I should be there for you. You shouldn't feel a need to hide things from me."
"You've never accepted any choice I made myself," Arthur stated truthfully. Gwen watched them through the exchange, this was Uther Pendragon telling them that he wasn't about to put a stopper in anything they were doing. If anything, he was supporting them. Was that what this was? This was Uther rational and having thought it through and not demanding all the things that Arthur had said he would.
"Well consider this the first," his father retorted.
"And what if it's a little girl who doesn't want to keep her name to carry on your precious line, who doesn't want to be a doctor and wants to travel the world for charity?"
"Then I'd say you'd done a great job as a father breaking the mould I've created. I wouldn't expect anything less from any child of yours, Arthur. If you are anything to go by, they should tell me, and you, to go to hell if we ever try and make them do something they don't want to."
-
"So what you're saying is that Uther came over, didn't kick up a fuss and willingly accepted that Baby Arthur has finally flown the nest?" Gwen's Irish friend laughed as the pair of them walked into the ER with take away coffee cups in their hands.
"Basically, then he had a cup of tea, and was asking me questions about anything and everything and suggested not so subtly that 'Uther' was a really good name," Gwen mentioned, trying not to laugh.
"I hope you shot him down."
"In a heartbeat," the pair of them laughed abandoning the extra cups on the desk. Gwen grabbed a marker and scribbled names on the sides of them, "I dunno, wouldn't seem right giving the child somebody else's name."
"And, of all people, a person like Uther to live up to being," Morgana concluded.
"He's not that bad, not really."
Morgana raised a sceptical eyebrow at her friend, looking at her over her thick rimmed glasses, "We are talking about the same guy right?" Gwen laughed, heading towards the Doctor's lounge, "Remind me to go to the opticians later, down to my last pair of contacts."
"Go to the opticians later," Gwen said, smile on her face biting her tongue between her teeth, "A lot of people exceed your expectations when you give them a chance, you know."
"Yeah?" Morgana chided a knowing grin on her face.
"Yeah," Gwen could feel the baby move. The little being kicking out harder than it had a few days before, "Where's Arthur?" she asked Morgana as she spotted him through the glass of one of the exam rooms. She quickly handed her friend her coffee cup and briskly walked past a man in a wheelchair and another nurse who had their arms full of supplies.
She dodged into the exam room, one hand on the top of her bump.
"You'll need to take one every four hours, no more than four in twenty-four hours. Okay?" The patient smiled and nodded at him taking the paper packet Arthur handed her.
"You have company," the patient pointed at Gwen who moved as swiftly as she could manage across the room.
Arthur turned confusion on his face. She grabbed his hand and replaced her hand with it, holding it to the spot where she could feel it. He frowned slightly, and then there it was.
Kick. Kick. Kick.
The dopiest of smiles spread like quick fire across Arthur's face. He ran his thumb over her bump with a massive grin. He lifted his other hand to the side of her cheek drawing her towards him and pressing his lips to hers.
"I'll just... uh, go," the patient slipped away, prescription in hand and arm wrapped in a new cast, hung in a sling, "Yeah... thanks," she closed the door behind her. Morgana caught her eye and laughed. She looked through the window, still clutching the two cups of coffee. She smiled at the sight of her brother and her best friend stood with sickly sweet, cute smiles on their faces.
"A hard beginning maketh a good end," Morgana sighed to herself, taking a sip from Gwen's cup and pulling a face, "Urgh decaf. What is the point? Needs sugar."
"Who needs sugar?" Merlin asked coming up behind her.
"You do," she answered handing him Gwen's coffee. She kissed him quickly on the lips, "Good shift?"
"Busy," he admitted, stealing a sip of Gwen's coffee and like Morgana cringed at it, "You were right. Needs sugar."
Next Part