Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Arthur had been hoping for a rainy Monday where the only thing on his desk would be a pile of paperwork and some of the station's terrible coffee. Unfortunately the rain seemed to bring out the stupid in people.

Inspector Pendragon was called out first thing in the morning for a supposedly not-so-accidental car crash. Arthur pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders and tried not to hate the clouds for raining. Wet crime scenes were the worst. They weren’t going to be able to get anything useful off a soggy car and causing a car crash (accidently-on-purpose maybe) was not the way Arthur wanted his day to start.

He hadn’t even had a chance to grab a bad cup of coffee before Gwen had ordered him out of the office on Morgana’s command. Arthur was grumbling about his half-sister’s tendency to abuse her powers to make his life miserable when he arrived at the crash.

The first thing Arthur noticed was that the road was secluded. There wasn’t a high rate of crashes on a simple four way stop sign on the outskirts of town. It was a simple T-bone crash where one car (silver compact) was hit by another (nowhere in sight).

The rain had made Arthur late to the crash because forensics was already on the silver car.

"Oi! Excuse me," Arthur said, knowing and not caring how annoyed he sounded. "Has somebody given you the order to examine this car yet?”

The man turned around, eyes narrowing dangerously "Excuse me,” He mocked, “But this man is still alive so take a step back and let me do my job."

Arthur now noticed that the people he had thought were the forensics crew crouching next to the  car was in fact the paramedics. Arthur blamed his lack of coffee.

"I was told no one survived the crash." Arthur said in a clipped tone. At least he thought he heard Gwen say it was a fatal crash.

The man stood up, giving Arthur a view of an unconscious body which had been out of Arthur’s line of sight. The man crossed his arms, “Look, you overgrown lemon drop. Let us do our job and then you can have your crime scene."

"What did you just call me?" Arthur said, half dumbfounded for a moment at the supposed professional in front of him and half insulted in the oddest way possible. The man stepped closer to Arthur, getting into his face and looking like he was about to call Arthur something much worse than a lemon drop.

" Merlin ” One of the paramedics said in a warning tone. “Would you mind helping me here?” The paramedic was gesturing to the body and the gurney next to it.

The paramedic’s mouth tightened into a line, “Hold on, Lance.”

The other paramedic tugged on the man’s sleeve and gave Arthur an apologetic smile, “Sorry, it’s been a long shift. Come on, Merlin.”

Arthur rolled his eyes as the paramedic seemed to give up his fight with Arthur and the other dragged him back to the body. Arthur watched the paramedics lift the hopefully-alive man into the ambulance and drive away. Then Arthur called over his team and the real forensic crew, ready to start his boring day in the rain.

***

It was late afternoon and Arthur had finally gotten his cup of coffee. He’d shed his coat and rolled up his sleeves, happy to be out of the rain. Mug in hand, he headed towards Gaius’ office in search of the autopsy report.

The coroner’s office thankfully was only down the hall from Arthur’s. He didn’t mind the bodies of Gaius’ basement examination room, but the smell of sterilizers gave him a headache after a while. Arthur barely stepped into the office before he had to dodge a little blur of white and blue, careful not to spill his coffee. Looking behind himself, he now saw the little girl with white-blonde hair in a blue tutu and white tights. She was holding a stuffed lizard and gazing up at Arthur with huge blue eyes.

Before Arthur could ask why there was a child in Gaius’ office, the doctor himself appeared.

“Aithusa, don’t run off. I can’t run after you-” Gaius saw Arthur in the doorway and said, “Hello, Arthur. Give me a moment?”

Gaius herded the little girl back into his office and Arthur followed both of them. In the corner of the office was a pile of things that Arthur assumed were for the little girl: a backpack, blanket, some plushies, and various crayons and coloring sheets.

“Gaius, why do you have a child in your office?” Arthur finally asked. Apparently the doctor wasn’t going to tell him unless he asked an obvious question.

“She’s my great-niece. I’m looking after her until my nephew gets off work.” Gaius said.

“Oh.” Arthur remembered Gaius mentioning his nephew, but he didn’t remember much except that he was a little younger than Arthur.

“He should be here soon actually” Gaius said, looking at his watch.

Aithusa started humming as she colored something with a bright purple crayon. Arthur turned back to Gaius, having almost forgotten why he was here in the first place. “Do you have the autopsy report for last week’s case?”

“Oh, of course. I have it here somewhere.” Gaius said, and Arthur knew immediately that he would be here for a while. For all of his neatness in examinations, Gaius’ office always seemed to be a mess.

A couple minutes later, Gaius was elbows-deep in files and Arthur was leaning against his desk, when Aithusa bounced up onto her feet and ran out the door.

Acting on instinct, Arthur immediately dashed out of the office after her, but she hadn’t gone far. In the hall right outside Gaius’ office was a young man, and when Aithusa saw him she immediately jumped into his arms squealing “Da!”

Picking her up with ease, the man propped her on his hip and kissed her cheek. “Hey there, sweetheart.”

She kissed his cheek in return and instantly started telling him, at rapid speed, about her day.  The man seemed to understand every word of it, though Arthur couldn’t distinguish more than a few phrases.

Gaius popped his head out of the office, “Ah, Merlin. I was wondering when you were going to show up.”

“Sorry Uncle Gaius. I got caught up at work.”

The name sparked Arthur’s memory, and sure enough when he looked back at Gaius’ nephew it was the same man who had gotten into a riff with him that morning.

Merlin looked up from his daughter and noticed Arthur standing in front of the office. He seemed to remember Arthur too, if the slight narrowing of his eyes was anything to go by.

“Merlin, this is Inspector Arthur Pendragon.” Gaius said. “Arthur is my nephew, Merlin Emrys.”

“Yes, I seem to remember meeting him this morning, actually.” Arthur said, raising a brow at Merlin.

Merlin’s lips narrowed, “Yes and you’re the arrogant macaroon that was trying to boss the paramedics around.”

Again the insult threw Arthur off, and every word he had for Merlin at the moment was not appropriate for child ears, so he was left staring at Merlin bewilderedly.

“Good, so you’ve already met.” Gaius said, seeming to either ignore Merlin’s weird insult or he was immune to his nephew’s weird ways. “I still need to find Arthur’s file, so why don’t both you come on in.”

Arthur was about to protest but he really didn’t have a choice. Gaius had known him since birth and defying him would only end in a glare and a raise of The Eyebrow, which everyone in their right minds avoided like the plague.

As soon as Merlin was in the office he set down Aithusa and plopped onto the floor next to the pile of things. “Anything interesting happen today, darling?”

“Uncle Gaius gave me a lizard!” Aithusa said, showing off the plushie to Merlin.

“Wow! Look at that” Merlin took the toy into his hand and started bouncing it around his daughter, making weird hissing noises. Aithusa started giggling and joined in with a cat plushie, making the same noises.

Arthur must have been staring, because it felt like only a second later Gaius was holding the file. “Here you go, Arthur.”

Snapping out of it, Arthur looked over to the coroner and took the file. He tried not to think about how he had just been enthralled with watching this father-daughter duo play around with plushies. If anything, he could blame his lack of childhood experiences, though Arthur could never picture Uther playing with plushies. The thought almost scared him.

“Thanks, Gaius.” Arthur said, taking the file.

“It was nice meeting you.” Arthur said, more to acknowledge that he was leaving than anything else.

Kneeling on the floor and plushies around him, Merlin turned to look at Arthur. He gave a small smile, looking softer than he had that morning.

“I’m sorry about this morning. Rough shift, you know?” Merlin said. He looked apologetic enough to make Arthur feel better about the whole thing. Plus, Arthur could understand rough shifts. He’d been on the bad end of enough cases to understand that.

“Yeah, I can sympathize with that.” Arthur said, holding out his hand.

Merlin seemed to evaluate Arthur for a moment, scanning him up and down. It wasn’t too intimidating coming from a man in a blue sweater with a plushie in one hand.

Eventually Merlin took his hand, “Nice meeting you too, Inspector.”

Back in his office, Arthur went back to his coffee and reports. Only a few minutes later did he hear a knock at his door. Since the door was open and no one on his team ever knocked to announce their presence (especially Gwaine), he looked up to see who it could be.

It was Merlin. “Sorry to bother, but I thought you might want to see this.”

He walked into Arthur’s office and set down a paper bag on his desk. Arthur raised a brow at Merlin before looking into the bag.  There was a wallet and some papers.

“I’m assuming its evidence.” Merlin said. “From the car crash this morning.”

“The man…?” Arthur asked.

“Didn’t make it.” Merlin said shortly, in a soft voice. Arthur watched the small frown on the man’s face and wondered how this kind hearted man had ever looked aggressive that morning. Looking back, Merlin had hardly looked aggressive and more like an angry kitten.

“I’m sorry.” Arthur said. He hated it when these simple cases turned into murder investigations.

“Me too.” Merlin shrugged “But it happens.”

Arthur pulled out the scraps of paper. They seemed to be random phrases. "What are these?"

“Don’t know. The man had them in his coat pocket. I think it's a riddle, all crumpled up.”  Merlin pointed to several phrases on the strips of paper. “This one looks like he went over it a couple times with his pen.”

Arthur pulled out the papers and spreads them across his desk. Merlin came around the desk, not seeming to care that he wasn’t part of the investigation. He starting pushing the scraps of papers together, moving them around to see if they made any sense together.

“Damn” Arthur said. “I was so hoping this was just an accident.”

“You work in the police force.” Merlin said, while looking like he was holding back a laugh.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t hope people aren’t assholes.” Arthur pointed out.

“Good point” Merlin nodded and went back to the scraps of paper.

After a minute of shuffling the papers, Gaius and Aithusa appeared in Arthur’s doorway. “Merlin, I’ve got all of Aithusa’s things. She’s ready to go”

“Thanks, Uncle Gaius.” Merlin said and turned to Arthur, “Good luck.” He held out his hand and Arthur didn’t hesitate in taking it.

“Thanks for dropping them off. You have no idea how long these things normally take to process.” Arthur said, as he looked at the strips of paper on his desk and not liking how long it will take to decipher.

“See you around?” Merlin said

Arthur nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, again”

Merlin smiled and he picked up Aithusa so that her arms wrapped around his neck. As Merlin left, Aithusa faced behind him and watched Arthur with big eyes.  Arthur hadn’t noticed he had waved to her until she waved the lizard plushie in return, just as they turned the corner and left the station. Arthur sighed and went back to the papers on his desk.

***

Sunday night meant Hunith made her famous chicken roast and baked potatoes. Merlin, who had never been good at cooking and had only mastered the art of mac’n’cheese thanks to Aithusa, always loved these nights. Uncle Gaius plus Merlin and his daughter went over to Hunith’s house every Sunday evening, excited for a good meal and happy to relax one last time before the week began again.

Sat across the table from each other, Merlin said, “So Uncle Gaius…” He hadn’t even begun his sentence before the man raised his brow as if Merlin was the three year old in the room.

“Do you know if Arthur has figured out the riddle yet?” Merlin asked, trying and failing not to look like he was interested. Unfortunately, Hunith was like a hawk.

“Who’s Arthur?” she asked, sounding innocent.

“Arthur Pendragon is Uther’s son” Gaius clarified. “He’s an Inspector at the station.”

“Oh. I didn’t know you knew any of the officers, Merlin.”

“I don’t.” Merlin said, “I just dropped off some evidence to him for a case. I wanted to know how it was going.”

“He hasn’t said much about it. He works too hard, if you ask me.” Gaius said. “I’m surprised you got him to talk about a case. He isn’t exactly known for being friendly.”

Merlin had only seen Arthur two other times. Monday-Wednesday Merlin’s schedule at work was off sync with Aithusa’s daycare schedule and Gaius had to pick up and take care of Aithusa before Merlin could come and pick her up. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Merlin had managed to talk with Arthur some more and see if he needed any help with the case.

Merlin shrugged and looked at his food. He remembered how he had first seen Arthur at the car crash and had thought he was an arrogant bastard who thought he owned the world. After seeing Arthur skirt around Aithusa as if she might attack him, he thought of him as more shy than anything else.

“He seemed friendly enough.” He said, as he seamlessly caught Aithusa’s glass of milk from falling. “Hold on with both hands, sweetheart.”

“Yes, Da.” She said as she sipped her milk.

“Must have liked you.” Gaius said with a shrug, referring to Arthur. “I hardly see him. He’s a workaholic, just like his father. Works like a dog.”

Aithusa perked up “What does that mean, Da? Works like a dog?”

“Means you work too much.” Merlin said.

“Is he single?” Hunith asked casually. Merlin nearly choked on his chicken.

“Ma!” Merlin said as he wiped his mouth.

“He is gay.” Gaius replied calmly.

“We are not having this conversation.” Merlin said and tried to block out his mother and uncle. He had thought Inspector Pendragon was straight and that had been the only thing keeping him sane when that dumb lemon drop smiled at him.

“Oh come on, darling. You haven’t dated in three years.”

Merlin rolled his eyes and pointed to the three year old at the table. She smiled up at him, probably not knowing that they were talking about her. He smiled down at her and pushed back her braided hair. “I’m fine, Ma. I don’t need anyone else.”

Hunith only sighed and rolled her eyes. “One day, you’ll listen to me.” Gaius laughed at that, which Merlin resented a little. He hadn’t been that much of a problem child.

“If he’s a dog,” Aithusa said, “Does he pant when he works, like this?” She stuck out her tongue and lifted her hands like paws, making cartoonish dog noises.

Merlin laughed and imitated her, which made her giggle. Then Merlin remembered that he was in charge and that Aithusa had to finish her vegetables. She pouted, but Merlin challenged her, saying he could eat his vegetables faster than her. She won obviously. He didn’t care for broccoli anyway.

***

Monday evening, when Merlin went to pick up Aithusa from Gaius’ office he had not expected to have trouble finding the pair of them.

“Uncle Gaius?” he called into the empty office. Aithusa’s things were still inside, so they couldn’t be too far.

He headed to Inspector Pendragon’s office, hoping he would know where to find them, but even Arthur was out of the office. He heard noise coming from down the hall, so he followed it until he arrived at the break room.

Inside there was probably more people than should probably be on break at the same time. There were a couple officers, including Arthur, plus Gaius and Gwen. Aithusa spotted Merlin easily, as she always did. She jumped from where she was sitting next to Gaius and ran to him. Scooping her up and kissing her cheek, he asked, “What’s this all about?”

“Merlin, my boy.” Gaius said, gesturing for him to come over. “I just made Aithusa some hot cocoa.”

“And I suppose everyone wanted some too?” Merlin asked, looking over at the two officers, who had mugs in their hands. Gwaine and Percival looked like the kind of men who drank whiskey for breakfast, but were actually the kind who drank hot cocoa during their breaks.

Arthur sighed, “Apparently it takes four officers, one coroner, and one assistant to figure out how to make a cup of hot cocoa.” Merlin did not fail to notice that Arthur also had a cup in his hand.

Gwen held up her cup, “We didn’t have any so someone had to go out and buy some.”

“Well, if you went to all that trouble, may I have a cup as well?” Merlin asked. He felt a little guilty that they would put so much effort into getting a cup of hot cocoa for his little girl, but he felt better that they would drink it for themselves too.

“You can have some of mine, Da” Aithusa said, her arms still around his shoulder.

“Thank you, darling.” She kissed her temple. “You can keep yours, I’ll make my own.”

He set her down and walked to the counter, Aithusa right beside him. As he mixed the warm water with the powder, Gwen leaned on the counter next to him.

“We were just talking about you, actually.” She said. “Aithusa mentioned a picnic.”

“Did she?” Merlin looked down to where Aithusa was doing her best octopus impression by hugging his leg tightly. “Wherever did she get that idea?”

Aithusa giggled and Merlin had to roll his eyes. Merlin promised her that they would go on a picnic on Saturday and ever since then she had not stopped talking about it. He set her onto a chair at the break room table next to one of the officers, Leon.

“Sounds nice to me” Gwaine said as he held up his hot cocoa as if it was a pint of lager. “Picnics never grow old, if you ask me. A nice blanket, some food, and a game of footie.”

“She’s a little young for footie games, don’t you think?” Merlin said with a laugh.

“When it comes to Gwaine, you’re never too young for footie” Arthur said with a snort.

“My sister has one of those tiny football goals and set up for my nephew.” Percival said.

“Isn’t everything tiny to you?” Gwaine asked, but was soon shut up by Percival’s hand, which messed up Gwaine’s hair and made him squawk.

“I always enjoyed a game of frisbee at a picnic.” Gwen said. “Though I haven’t done that in a while.”

“What about you, Arthur?” Gwaine elbowed the other officer in the ribs, making Arthur glare at him.

“Footie in the park I suppose.” Arthur shrugged, “Don’t know, I never went on a picnic.”

This caused an uproar. Gwaine demanded that Arthur had to have gone on at least one picnic.

“It’s England, for God’s sake!” Arthur protested as Gwen gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s either rainy or cloudy, why would I go to the park?”

“You’re a grumpy man, you know that?” Merlin said with a raised brow. Merlin also noticed how his cheeks were a little brighter, as if he didn’t like the picnic-sympathy directed towards him.

“Well now you know what we have to do?” Gwaine said. Arthur’s mouth barely got the words, “Gwaine, don’t you dare-” before Gwaine said “We’re just going to have to go on a picnic. The group of us. It has to be done.” He said as he firmly put his fist on the counter, as if he was about to start a revolution.

Merlin watched as everyone loudly agreed (Arthur rolled his eyes, but didn’t appear to be as annoyed about it as he let on). They started talking about what they should bring for food and who should bring what.

“Merlin, you and Aithusa have to come. It will be so much fun.” Gwen said, grabbing onto Merlin’s arm. “You were planning on a picnic this Saturday anyway, right?”

Merlin looked over to Aithusa, where she sat next to Leon, probably talking about picnics too.

He smiled, “Well I guess we have to now.”

“Thank god,” Arthur said, “We won’t look like a bunch of overgrown teenagers if someone brings a child. We’ll just look like a weird family.”

Gwaine tried to smack Arthur’s head, but Arthur slapped it away before he could even get close.

***

“Arthur” Gaius said, popping into Arthur’s office at the end of the day. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Of course. What is it, Gaius?”

“Great.” Gaius smiled, “Watch Aithusa for a minute. I have to take an important call and I can’t watch her while I do that.”

“Wait- What-” Arthur started to protest, but it was too late. Aithusa was being pushed into Arthur’s office, her things dropped on the chair across from him, and Gaius was out the door before Arthur could form a proper sentence.

Aithusa stood in the office, arms behind her back and her big blue eyes staring up at him. His heart probably should not have been beating as fast as it was, but it seemed to think he was in a firefight.

“Hello.” He said.

“Hi.” She smiled and went to her backpack, pulling out her crayons and paper, setting them on the floor and began to color. She didn’t even seem to be bothered that Arthur was there at all.

He tried to pay attention to his work, but if Aithusa wasn’t humming or talking to herself, Arthur would panic and wonder if she had wandered off. He had to keep checking to make sure she was there.

Eventually he got used to her until he heard her shuffle. He looked across his desk, and couldn’t see where she was. Slowly, Arthur leaned forward to where she was right in front of the desk. She leaned onto her tippy toes to look above the desk. There was an awkward moment as she just stared at him and he wondered if he was supposed to do something.

“Um…” He said.

“Want to see what I drew?” she asked.

“Um…” Arthur repeated again. “Sure.”

Before Arthur knew what he had said, she had rushed around the side of the desk and hopped next to Arthur. She leaned on his leg, jumping to get the coloring book onto the desk. Apparently three-year olds didn’t understand personally boundaries, because she crawled into his lap and immediately started talking about her drawings. Quickly, he grabbed her waist before she fell off his knee and cracked her skull.

She was talking quickly and Arthur wasn’t used to listening to three year olds, so he only heard a couple words. “...princess who rules over the land of lizard-cats. They’re mean and run all over the kingdom. Da’s a wizard. He has magic.” She pointed to a stick figure with black hair and a pointy hat. Arthur couldn’t help but laugh, since the stick figure also had a pair of large ears. “I drew you, too.” She pointed to a stick figure with a sword. “You’re a knight because you protect people.”

She looked up at him, her braided hair frized after a long day and her little hands on his desk. He had to clear his throat before looking down to the paper again, “So what’s that?”

“A castle” She said, her finger poking the grey blob.

“And who lives there?” Arthur asked.

Aithusa went on another explanation, which Arthur managed to understand most of. Apparently everyone lived in the castle since it was the only place the Lizard-Cats could not get to the people. Arthur might have been a little concerned about the weird species hybrid thing, but he had to admit that weirder things had been invented by children.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Arthur almost jumped out of his skin.“Merlin!”

“Da!” Aithusa jumped out of Arthur’s lap and ran to him. Like always, he picked her up and kissed her cheek, which she returned. Arthur wondered if that was a practiced routine or if it was natural for the two of them.

“Aithusa was telling me about her drawing.”

“I can see.” Merlin looked to Aithusa who was holding onto Merlin’s neck. “And what did Arthur think of Camelot?”

“I made him a knight!” Aithusa said. Apparently this was an on-going story that Arthur had been added to.

“A knight?” Merlin asked. “Not a King? Remember the story, darling? Arthur is the King of Camelot and Merlin is the wizard.”

“He can be a king too.” Aithusa shrugged, as if that didn’t matter much.

“Congratulations, your majesty.” Merlin bowed to Arthur.

“Thank you, your wizardliness.” Standing up, Arthur bowed in return. He went to Aithusa’s bag and put her things into it. “How was work?” he asked Merlin.

“It was a good day.” Merlin said. “I would ask how your day was, but you seemed to have been knighted.”

“Pretty good day, I would say.” Arthur said.

“You’re coming to the picnic on Saturday, right?” Merlin asked.

Arthur had been tempted to skip the picnic but he knew he would not hear the end of it from Gwaine. If he went he might go just to get Gwaine to be quiet. But then he looked over to Merlin and Aithusa. He knew he would end up going so he could see them too.

“Yeah.” He said,  “I’ll bring my lizard-cat sword.”

Aithusa perked up. “You have one?” She gasped, eyes wide.

“You bet.” Arthur said.

Merlin looked a bit confused and there was something on his face that Arthur didn’t really understand, but looked a little like a Mama Bear evaluating friend or foe. In the end, Merlin only said, “See you then?”

“Definitely.”

***

Arthur knew as soon as Morgana walked into his office that there was going to be trouble. He didn't know what he had done, or hadn't done, but the boss didn't come into his office personally unless she wanted to torture him. It was the beginning of the day he couldn’t think of anything he could have done wrong in the past hour.

"What is it now?" He whined, trying and failing to focus on his work instead of his half-sister.

"Is that how you address your superiors, Inspector Pendragon?" She asked as she closed the door behind herself.

"No," Arthur grinned. “Only to you, Morgs"

"Nice try," She said, knowing he had used the terrible nickname to distract her. "Rumors are flying about the station."

"Not all that surprising." Arthur said, turning back to his papers.

"They're about you." Morgana said as she leaned against his desk, trying to grab his attention.

"Again, not that interesting." Arthur said as he read the same sentence three times.

"And Merlin.” She asked casually.

"What!" Arthur's voice took a surprisingly high tone before he cleared his voice.

"Ah, so it is true.” Morgana grinned, and Arthur knew he had been trapped.

"What is true? Nothing those idiots say is true." Arthur demanded.

"Arthur they're your own team.” Morgana deadpanned. “You picked them out yourself."

"Yes and don't you think I know better than anyone that they're all idiots? It was Gwaine wasn't it?" Arthur narrowed his eyes and tried to think of what to do to torment Gwaine.

"I haven't even told you the rumor yet." She seemed to be trying to hold back a laugh.

"Yes but Gwaine would be the one to spread a rumor." Arthur pointed out.

"True" Morgana coincided. "But unfortunately it was from the most benign source: Gwen."

"Gwen's spreading rumors?" Arthur laughed, "Hell must have frozen over. Tell me, does your office feel a little chilly?"

"Har-har, Arthur you're jokes are just as bad as your social skills.”

"Hey-!" Arthur squawked.

"Anyway.” She said with a wave of her hand. “Rumor is that Gaius' nephew is quite handsome and seems to be hanging around your office."

"That isn't a rumor, Morgana." Arthur said, looking away.

"So you agree he's handsome."

Before Arthur could even think to blush, he said, "Merlin comes to pick up his daughter from Gaius' office. I see him when he stops by. That isn't a rumor that's just a...thing."

"So why haven't you asked him out?" She asked simply.

"What the hell!" Arthur choked out. "I barely know the man. As far as I know he's straight."

"Have you even asked?"

"Morgana” Arthur said, looking up at her and trying to convey to her that he was being completely serious. “He has a daughter, so he's either in a relationship, just broken up with someone, or worse, recently widowed. Not to mention that I am not going to ask him out because I barely know him."

"Yes but how else will you get a date without asking an acquaintance out in the first place?"

Arthur rubbed his temples and closed his eyes, "Did it ever cross your mind that I don't need your help getting a date? Or that I would even want one?"

Morgana seemed to completely ignore this statement because she continued on her task. "He's handsome and his daughter is adorable.”

Arthur let out a frustrated sigh. "We are not having this conversation."

"Oh yes we are." Morgana demanded.

"I hate you." Arthur sighed as he covered his face.

“You’re going on that picnic Gwaine keeps talking about, right?” Morgana said, not waiting for Arthur to answer. “Get to know him. Ask him out."

“I know you’re my boss, Morgana,” Arthur said with a glare, “but you can’t order me to ask someone out.”

She gave him a chilling glare as she said. “Ask him out” and turned on her heel.

"Fuck off" He said weakly, as she left his office. How she always managed to make him feel like he had done something wrong when he clearly hadn’t done a thing, was amazing. Merlin was just a person he knew, who happened to be handsome and clearly very adorable. Morgana needed to get that straight.

***

Saturday afternoon Arthur arrived at the park a couple minutes earlier than everyone else. Fortunately the sun was shining and it was a pleasantly warm. He put on his sunglasses and grabbed his bag of things (plus the crisps he had promised to bring) and closed the car.

Then he heard a loud crash, followed by the sound of someone falling

He heard someone yell,  “FUDGE!” very loudly which sounded like the person wanted to say something a little different.

Arthur followed the noise and found Merlin next to his car’s open boot, lying on the ground and surrounded by a pile of plushies. Aithusa was looking down at her father.

“Dear God, what just happened?” Arthur said as he looked down at Merlin where the pile of fluffy animals seemed to cover the tall man.

Merlin laughed, covering his face with both hands in humiliation. “Why did you have to be here to see this.”

Aithusa seemed to think a pile of stuffed toys was the best thing in the world because she immediately jumped on top of her father, who let out a noise of surprise and another string of deserts. “Chocolate fudge with sprinkles! Aithusa! Watch where you’re landing. You’re going to hurt your Da.”

“Sorry, Da.” She said as she splayed on top of him, not looking very sorry at all.

Arthur walked up to the man lying on the ground, looking down at the little girl who was currently using her father as a pillow.

“Need a hand?” Arthur asked.

“No I’m fine. I’ll just stay here for a while.” Merlin said, his hand still over his eyes. “Aithusa, what do you say to Arthur?”

“Hello, Mr. Arthur.” Aithusa said as she looked up at him.

“Hello, Miss Aithusa.” Arthur smiled, “What happened to your poor Da?”

“He fell and dropped everything.” She said with a nod.

Arthur now saw the basket and bag which must have been in Merlin’s hands before he tripped. Arthur also wasn’t sure this many plushies was required for a picnic.

“Are you the first one here?” Merlin said, finally sitting up and moving Aithusa onto his lap instead of his chest.

“Yes, I just got out of my car when I heard your cry of distress.”

“Oh how knightly of you.” Merlin mumbled as he hefted himself onto his feet.

Aithusa jumped up and down, looking up at Arthur excitedly, “Mr. Arthur, did you bring the lizard-cat sword?”

Merlin looked like he didn’t expect Arthur to remember but Arthur couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course I did. Never leave home without it.”

He set down his bag and pulled out the gold and silver sword.

“ Where on earth did you even get that ?” Merlin asked, his eyes as wide as Aithusa’s.

“My friends thought it would be a funny gift to give me Excalibur for my twentieth birthday.” Arthur said, holding it out for Merlin to see. “Don’t worry it’s made of plastic.”

Merlin looked it over, seeing that the shiny exterior was just well crafted paint. It was hardly heavy at all, even Aithusa could pick it up.

“Well then. I guess you really are a knight.” Merlin said as he handed it back.

“Here to save the day.” Arthur said with a knightly pose.

Merlin laughed, his eyes crinkling. “You really are.” Arthur’s eyes caught on Merlin’s and there was a moment where Arthur couldn’t help but wish Merlin wanted him to be his knight. Pushing that thought aside, Arthur looked over to Aithusa.

“Am I ready to fight the lizard-cats?” he asked.

“Yes!” Aithusa said, grabbing onto Arthur’s leg and squeezing for a second before going back to the pile of toys and gathering them up at a furious pace.

With both Merlin and Arthur’s help, they packed up the plushies again.

Merlin looked to Aithusa, “Ready to go, princess?”

“Onward, knights!” She declared, holding onto her butterfly backpack as she ran to the park.

Merlin sighed, and gestured for Arthur to go first, “After you, Sir Knight.”

Arthur bowed, “Why thank you, Merlin the Wizard.”

***

Merlin and Arthur laid on the blanket, surrounded by empty plates and various plushed animals. Across the grass, Aithusa was climbing on Percival, as Gwaine chased her. Morgana and Gwen were tossing the frisbee back and forth. Leon and Elyan were eating their sandwiches on the other blanket.

Arthur had already killed all the lizard-cats, running around and following every command the princess gave. Merlin had been laughing until his little girl had told him, the Wizard, to fall over and for Sir Arthur to save him. Unfortunately, Arthur had taken too much pride in saving Merlin’s limp form from a fake pack of lizard-cats. Now they were resting as Percival and Gwaine attacked the new foe: tree monsters.

“So let’s see if I have this right” Merlin said.“Morgana is your half-sister, but she doesn’t get on with your Dad. She’s dating her assistant, Gwen, despite that being against the rules.” Merlin said and Arthur nodded. “Gwaine and Percival are the newbies, both with minor criminal records.”

“Minor” Arthur said as if that was normal.

Merlin rolled his eyes and continued. “Leon and Elyan are partners. Leon used to date Gwen, but they’re on good terms now. Elyan is Gwen’s brother, but he ran away when they were young and only recently met up with her again. Is that it?”

“That’s it. Really Merlin, it’s not that hard.” Arthur said as he sipped his juice (specially made by Aithusa with Merlin’s help).

Merlin scoffed. “Not hard, caramel candies . It’s like a soap opera around all of you.”

Arthur gave him a weird look and Merlin raised a brow, “What?”

“Do you always do that?”

“Do what?” Merlin asked.

“The candies and sweets thing.” Arthur said. He waved his hands, “Not like you should stop, it’s quite hilarious.”

Merlin laughed, “Oh that. I used to curse a lot and I had to figure out a way to use exclamations without curse words once Aithusa came around.”

“That’s…” Arthur paused and looked over to where Aithusa was running, Gwaine was on the ground looking like he’d been defeated by a three year old. “...cute.”

“I’ll have you know, Pen dragon, I’m very cute.” Merlin said in a mock serious voice.

Arthur laughed and smacked Merlin’s arm. “I just mean my father never did anything like that. He wasn’t affectionate like that with us.”

Merlin watched the easy way that Arthur talked about his father, not seeming to notice how sad that sentence was. Somehow, that made it sadder. “What’d he do, then?”

“Just made sure we were safe and that we were doing well in school and not getting into trouble.” Arthur shrugged. “He’s not too bad, it could be worse. When I came out it took him a while, but now he doesn’t mind.”

Merlin had to bite his tongue before he could say something. “I’m starting to see why Morgana doesn't really like him. When I came out as bi to my Mum she made me sweets and hugged me for an hour.”

Merlin looked over to Arthur, watching as he comprehended what Merlin had said. Arthur looked to him but nothing on his face indicated he was surprised, “Yeah, well I guess, you don't have to like your father to love him.”

Merlin nodded his head. “I didn’t know my Da growing up. He left my Mum before I was born. Found him when I was seventeen. He hadn’t exactly been a bad man, but he was convinced my life would be better without him. He passed away only a year after that.”

Arthur was looking down at his legs, his brow pulled together. “I’m sorry.” He leaned forward a little, looking sideways at Merlin. "My father wasn't always great but I'm glad I had him."

Merlin rubbed his arm self-consciously, “I don’t know why- Sorry. We’re trying to have a good time.”

“No, I don’t mind. Thanks.” Arthur cleared his throat, “Thanks for telling me.”

Merlin took a tentative drink of his water and hoped the awkward silence would go away eventually.

“You’re a good father, you know that?” Arthur said suddenly. “Aithusa’s lucky to have you.”

Merlin looked to Arthur, then to Aithusa again, where she had both Percival and Gwaine wrapped around her little finger. He smiled, “Somedays I think I’m lucky to have her.”

At that moment Aithusa looked over to them “Mr. Arthur! We need you!”

Arthur laughed and set down his drink. “Hold on, I’m being summoned.”

“Save the day, Sir Knight.” Merlin said with a smile. Arthur stood up and made a bow. As he left, his hand ran over Merlin’s shoulder, a comforting gesture. It left Merlin’s hairs standing on end and his chest warmed.

***

“So tell me again why you can’t date the handsome Inspector who adores you and your daughter?” Lance said as dressed in the hospital.

“ Lance .” Merlin whined.

“ Merlin ” Lance mocked back at him.

“I never said he liked me.”

“People in the middle of the ocean can see that he likes you.” Lance said. Merlin hit him, but that only made him laugh again.

“Look, I made a promise to myself.” Merlin said, and Lance cut him off.

“You wouldn’t date until Aithusa was old enough to understand dating and all that” Lance continued with a wave of his hand, as if pushing it away.

“Yes!” Merlin pulled on his shoes. “Look, Arthur’s nice and he’s definitely handsome-”

“And gay” Lance interjected, “Can’t forget that he’s available too.”

Merlin glared over his shoulder at him. “But what if it doesn’t work out? I don’t want my dates coming in and out of Aithusa’s life. Mum never dated, and I don’t want to be like that, I know that. But I can pause my love life for another couple years.”

“A couple years?” Lance asked. “ Merlin . Let’s say Aithusa is thirteen when you decide to date again. That’s ten years. You want to wait until you’re 36 for one date?”

Merlin clenched his teeth and shut his locker. He had done the math three years ago, and he knew it already. “Lance-” He began, but Lance cut him off again.

“No, Merlin listen.” Lance took his shoulders. “Aithusa is a smart young girl. If you sit her down and explain it, she would get it in an instant. I don’t mean become a serial dater, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying from the way you talk about this bloke, people like Arthur don’t just come around.”

Merlin picked up his bag, “I can’t just- She’s my priority, Lance. You have to know that.”

“I know.” Lance sighed. “I know, Merls. I get it.” He put a hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “Just think about it. You’re allowed to have fun every once and awhile, you know.”

Merlin smiled. He knew Lance just wanted the best for him. “Thanks, Lance.” He really did appreciate the considerate thought, but he had made a promise.

***

“So how about a month?” Gwaine said as soon as he strolled up to Leon. The other officer looked up from his paperwork to the younger officer and wondered if he was supposed to understand what that meant.

“Come on, Leon.” Gwaine waggles an eyebrow. Leon looked to Elyan for help.

Elyan sighed, “Merlin and Arthur.” Elyan didn’t need to explain anymore and no one asked what he meant.

Leon tried to look disapproving of Gwaine, but the man never seemed to care. He sighed. “Two months” he said as he pulled out his wallet and smacked down the money.

“Thank you” Gwaine counted it up and put it in an envelope. It was the most organized he had ever seen Gwaine.

Elyan leaned over the partition of their desks, “Really, two months?”

“I’ve known Arthur since he was seventeen.” Leon said, “He doesn’t know when he likes someone for at least a month.”

Elyan shrugged his shoulders, “Probably right. My money was on a month.” Elyan smirked to himself as he pointed to Gwaine, who was now at Gwen’s desk, receiving a fierce glare. “Gwaine bet four months.”

“Damn, he’s in it for the long haul.” Leon smiled as Gwen added herself to the pool. He knew she looked innocent, but she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity either. Leon watched as Elyan gave his sister a wide smile, which she rolled her eyes at and went back to work.

Everyone wanted to see how long it would take Merlin and Arthur to get together. Normally Leon would have bet a couple months with Arthur, but Merlin was working magic on Arthur’s emotional walls and Aithusa was likely to make Arthur crumble sooner than planned.

Only a few hours later, Merlin arrived to pick up his daughter. Leon, as well as half the other officers, pretended to be doing work as they watched Merlin head down the hallway. Before he headed to Gaius’ office, they watched him stroll into Arthur’s and knock on the doorframe. Unfortunately the office was just too far away for any of them to hear what they were saying, unless any of them were dumb enough to walk by the-

Gwaine walked by the office. He had a cup of coffee in hand, and looked like he was whistling to himself. As if that was going to disguise how he was eavesdropping.  Leon groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “Tell me when Gwaine stops being an idiot.” He said to Elyan, not able to bare the idiocy.

“Might be a while, mate.” Elyan said as he seamlessly worked on his computer and watched Arthur’s office. Leon thought they needed Elyan to be the one to eavesdrop, not Gwaine.

Leon was right, because only a minute later, Gwaine was running in a tip-toe manner (as if everyone couldn’t already see him). Leaving the office, Merlin watched Gwaine run, eyebrow held high and a smirk on his lips. When Merlin was clearly out of sight, Arthur peaked out of his office and glared, not only at Gwaine who was hiding behind his mug of coffee, but the group of officers. He went back inside and to make a point, closed the blinds of his window.

“So what were they talking about?” Percy asked.

“Oh fine, let me do the dirty work, but you still want to know?”

“‘Course.” Elyan said.

Leon waited as it took a minute of Gwaine moaning about before he gave in. “I’ll have you know,” he confided to the group, “Arthur was talking to him about a case.” The officers all gasped. “Yeah, he was using vague terms and fake names, but he was talking about it.” Gwaine leaned in closer and all the officers were on the edge of their seats.. “He even asked Merlin’s opinion on the case.” They all gasped in unison.

Leon remembered when Arthur became a detective, he took his job very seriously. His case, was his case . He would bear the entire burden on his back, even if it killed him with dead-ends and late nights. Arthur never asked for help. The last time Arthur asked for help on a case, Morgana had ordered him under threat.

Elyan tapped his chin, “Arthur must think Merlin would have some insight to his case.”

Leon shook his head. “Maybe. But any of us could have helped him, or he could ask Gaius about a certain question. He has done that before. But he has never explained a case to any of us before.”

Everyone agreed. Arthur might have asked an opinion or two for a certain part of the case, but most of the officers were lucky if they knew the details. Percy was the one to nail it on the head.

“He trusts him.” Percy said. And he was right. Merlin wasn’t some infatuation, because Arthur had had boyfriends before, men that he had not even introduced to his friends, let alone talk about his work. Leon knew Arthur.  Leon knew that Merlin and Arthur weren’t even dating and Arthur was already deep. And he had no clue.

***

“You did what!?” Merlin exclaimed, holding his hand to his heart as if it might pop out of his chest.

Gaius had that look on his face. That look that said he was calm, he was sly, and he was internally grinning.

“I thought it would be nice for Arthur to have a home-cooked meal. He doesn’t get one very often, being a bachelor. Even at his father’s house, a chef makes the food.”

“You damn well know this isn’t about homemade food!”

“Swear jar!” Hunith called from the living room. Merlin heard Aithusa giggle and he had to hold himself from pulling his hair out. He pulled out his wallet, stomped to the front hall, and put a coin into the jar.

“ Uncle Gaius .” Merlin said.

“Arthur already said he would come. He’ll be here in an hour.” Gaius said, with that damned look on his face.

An hour. Merlin had an entire sixty minutes to mentally prepare himself for having Sunday dinner with Arthur and his family. He had sixty minutes to think about everything that could go wrong. A whole hour.

“Darling, want to help me with the chicken?” Hunith asked. She may have conspired against him, but Hunith Emrys knew her son and she knew a pre-freak-out when she saw one. He needed to distract himself. Merlin practically ran to the kitchen, leaving his traitorous uncle to tend to his daughter.

***

“Oh, Arthur they’re absolutely beautiful.” Hunith smiled as she took the bouquet from Arthur. Before he could say anything at all, Hunith wrapped him in a hug. Merlin watched as Arthur’s eyes went wide, before returning the motherly embrace.

Arthur greeted Gaius with a shake of his hand, and Gaius took the bottle of red wine with an appreciative smile. From the raise in his brow, Merlin could tell it was an expensive brand. “A very nice choice, Arthur. You should have saved it for yourself.”

“I’d like to share it instead, if you don’t mind.” Arthur said.

“Mr. Arthur!” Aithusa leaped from where she was on the carpet and dashed to him. In greeting, she wrapped an arm around his leg. “You’ll love Sundays! Sundays are the very best! Gram made chicken. Da helped.”

Merlin watched as Arthur looked up and caught his eye. Arthur’s cheeks were flushed from the cool weather and his smile was easy. “Did he? I could have never guessed.”

Merlin then realized he still had on his mother’s apron, and knowing him, he probably had flour somewhere on his face. He decided to own the apron, and waltzed up to Arthur with a swing in his hips. “It’s been less than a minute and you have already charmed my family.” He crossed his arms.

“Ah, yes. But fortunately, you my dear Merlin, can see right through me.” Arthur grinned.

“Yes, I can.”

“You’re right.” Arthur said, “I’m only here for the food and perhaps a duel with the lizard-cats.”

“Yes!” Aithusa said, jumping up and down.

Merlin narrowed his eyes as Arthur’s smile widened. “I’m watching you, Pendragon.”

“Good.” Arthur said. Merlin’s heart beat quicker.

Before he knew it, Arthur was being dragged past him, down the hall by Hunith and Aithusa.

Gaius had that look on his face before he turned and followed them. His family was conspiring against him.

***

Arthur might have agreed to come to dinner, but he also might have had a brain malfunction at the time. It hadn’t taken him long to realize that he was not only going to see Merlin and Aithusa in a place they considered home, but he would also meet Merlin’s mother. Merlin was very close to his mother, and if Arthur wanted to keep Merlin’s friendship, this dinner would be vital. The thought terrified him. So, like Arthur always did when he was terrified, he fortified himself and made himself as charming as possible.

It seemed to have worked, though Arthur found that there was hardly any charming to do. Gaius had known Arthur since he was born, so they got along like old friends. Merlin’s mother was sweet and friendly, and Arthur could see a lot of Merlin’s sincerity in her.  Arthur found himself wanting to impress her, and not only for the sake of Merlin’s friendship.  

Merlin was as clever and friendly as he always was. Arthur watched Merlin as he had Aithusa by his side and ate broccoli like it was a race. This was the kind of family gathering Arthur never had with Uther, not even on Christmas. Arthur was amazed that every Sunday Merlin would come to his mother’s home and relax like this with his family. Aithusa was right, Sundays were the best.

By the time dinner was over, Hunith ordered that the dishes were to be left alone, leaving them on the counter for later, and demanded that they all play a game. Arthur wasn’t so sure about it, but Aithusa had heard the word ‘game’ and was bouncing off the walls.

They played charades for a while, and somewhere along the way Arthur had given up trying to look dignified. It wasn’t possible to look dignified when playing charades. Everyone also found out that he was particularly good at braying like a donkey, which set Aithusa in a fit of giggles.

“You’re an ass.” Merlin grinned, and thus winning that round.

“Swear jar!” Hunith said, glaring at her son.

“Worth it.” Merlin said as he went to put the coin in the jar. Arthur had a feeling a lot of those were Merlin’s coins.

It was now Merlin’s turn and Arthur went back to his seat on the couch, next to Gaius and Hunith. Merlin rolled his shoulders as he prepared himself for his next animal. “Don’t hurt yourself” Arthur teased.

“I’m getting into character.” Merlin said seriously as he closed his eyes, imitating meditation.

“ Merlin .” Hunith said, somewhere between chastising and laughter.

“Alright, I’m ready.” Merlin took a breath. Then he got on the floor and wiggled, his arms straight by his sides.

“Fish?” Gaius asked.

“Worm!” Hunith called out.

Merlin stuck out his tongue and wiggled some more. “Snake!” Aithusa called out, and Merlin touched his finger to his nose.

“Yes!” Aithusa jumped onto her Da’s body and declared herself the winner.

Arthur crossed his arms, “This game is rigged”

“You’re just saying that because you’re losing.” Merlin grinned as he held Aithusa.

He smiled, “Absolutely.”

“Alright, it’s Aithusa’s turn.” Hunith said. Merlin moved aside and let his daughter take the center stage.

She cleared her throat, looking very earnest for a three year old. She held up her hands, fingers curled in like claws. She bared her tiny teeth, but made no noise. She had figured out halfway through the game that noises weren’t allowed, though that didn’t stop Merlin from granting her points.

“Cat?” Arthur asked.

Aithusa shook her head. She stomped around, sometimes spreading her arms and flapping them like a bird.

“Eagle?” Gaius asked.

Aithusa ran about, her tiny claws out and trying to suppress little giggles. Arthur would have said lizard-cat, or one of Aithusa’s other creations, but he wasn’t sure.

“Dragon?” Merlin asked. Aithusa squealed and started to roar like a dragon and hissing like she was breathing fire. She was a little too energetic though, because she ended up running straight into the edge of the coffee table. She tripped and tumbled to the floor. There was a pause of complete silence.

“Oh dear” Hunith said instantly. And she was right. Only a moment later, there was a high pitched wail and Aithusa was crying. Merlin immediately dashed to her, picking her up and checking her head.

"Oh, darling. Shhh" Merlin cradled her in his arms and Arthur watched with wide eyes. Everything had been so calm and then it seemed to have snapped. He hadn’t been around many three year olds, but from everyone’s reactions, this was normal.

"She’s fine.” Merlin said to his mother with a worried brow. “There was just too much excitement.” Merlin held Aithusa close and pet her hair. "Are you okay, sweet pea?”

Aithusa nodded her head minutely, wiping her eyes with small fists.

“Come on, let’s put you to bed.” Merlin stood up with Aithusa’s arms around his neck. “I’ll be right back.”

“No wonder, look at the time.” Hunith pointed to the clock on the bookshelf, which read nine o’clock. It was far past Aithusa’s bedtime.

“Yes,” Gaius said, “We got caught up in the fun. I really should be going.” He said goodbye to his sister and shook Arthur’s hand before heading out.

Arthur heard Merlin and Aithusa somewhere in the back of the house. From what Arthur could tell Aithusa wasn’t crying anymore, and Arthur was grateful. He didn’t think he could bear to see a little girl cry anymore. He offered to help with the dishes and Hunith readily accepted.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself tonight." Hunith said.

"I did, very much. Thank you for having me" Arthur said as he dried a plate.

"You're very welcome to come back." Hunith said, "Merlin and Aithusa seem to enjoy your company."

Arthur knew his face was red. "Well. Merlin's very- I mean. Aithusa could make anyone feel welcome, couldn't she?" Arthur stumbled, hoping his sentiment came across.

Hunith seemed to understand, perhaps too well. "She gets that from her Da. He's always been friendly."

"Yeah." Arthur focused drying the underside of the pan, instead of thinking of the way Merlin always smiled at him.

They heard footsteps and they turned to see Merlin holding Aithusa. She had her pajamas on and her hair was braided neatly. Now she looked more sleepy than upset.

"She wanted to say goodnight." Merlin said.

"I'll put her to bed." Hunith said. "You can help Arthur with the dishes."

"Is that okay, darling?" Merlin asked and Aithusa nodded, her eyes half open.

He shifted Aithusa on his hip, and Hunith took her. "Say good night." Hunith said.

Merlin kissed Aithusa's forehead "Love you."

"Love you too, Da." Aithusa kissed his cheek.

"I'll be off to bed too." Hunith said. She pulled Merlin in and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright, love you."

Hunith turned to Arthur. "It was nice meeting you, Arthur." Arthur held out his hand, but Hunith pulled him into a hug, managing to still hold Aithusa in the other. She kissed his cheek. "Have a safe drive home. I hope to see you again."

"I hope so." Arthur replied and truly meaning it. Aithusa was watching him with her eyes drooped and her hand wrapped around her Gram's shoulder.

"Goodnight, Aithusa." He said, wondering if she was sleeping with her eyes open.

She held out her hands and Hunith leaned in so that Aithusa could lean over to Arthur and kiss his cheek. "Night Mr. Arthur."

"Sleep well, little dragon." Arthur said, watching Aithusa smile before she laid her head on Hunith’s shoulder.

Arthur might have come to charm Merlin's family, but as Hunith walked down the hall with Aithusa, he thought his plan might have flipped on its side.

When he turned back around, Merlin was watching him. Arthur had the urge to step forward and softly kiss him. But then he cleared his throat and went back to drying the dishes. Merlin looked away and picked up another dish to be washed.

“Your family is very nice.”

“Nice?” Merlin asked, sounding curious.

“I only ever had my father, remember? And I don’t think I would ever call Morgana nice.”

Merlin snorted a small laugh before his eyes turned down. “You can stop by and have all the terrible family dinner conversation you want.”

It was supposed to be a joke, but Arthur took it to heart. "I think I will."

There was a long silence as Arthur dried the last dish and Merlin fiddled with the sponge.

“Tea?” Merlin asked.

“Sure.” Arthur laid the dish on the counter.

Merlin made the tea and Arthur watched silently. Once finished, Merlin handed Arthur his cup with a nod, placing his own on the counter.

“May I ask you a question?” Arthur said, running his finger over the edge of his tea.

“Sure.” Merlin said.

“It’s...” Arthur cleared his throat. “It’s a personal question.”

Merlin's brows raised. “You’re full of surprises tonight.” Arthur wondered what else he had done that had been surprising, but didn’t dwell on it. Merlin nodded. “Go ahead.”

Arthur leaned against the counter, looking at Merlin’s socked feet on the kitchen tile. “May I ask about Aithusa’s mother?”

Arthur couldn’t look up to meet Merlin’s face, but he saw Merlin shift and heard the sigh release from his chest.

The pause was too much for Arthur to bear. “It’s really none of my business-”

“No, it’s fine. I just thought you knew.” Merlin cut him off before he could retract the question entirely. “I thought Gaius had told you already.”

Arthur shook his head.

Merlin leaned against the opposite counter. “I don’t know Aithusa’s mother. Or her father for that matter. She’s adopted.”

Arthur looked up, knowing his eyes must be wide. He had thought Aithusa was Merlin’s biological daughter. Arthur had thought that there wasn’t much resemblance between them, besides some of their mannerisms, but he had thought Aithusa might look like her mother.

“You adopted young.” Arthur said. Wondering why on earth a single man in his twenties would adopt a child. Arthur was glad Aithusa had a family, of course, but it wasn’t common for someone so young to adopt.

Merlin was watching him carefully, his head cocked to the side. “It wasn't a normal situation." Arthur felt his curiously grow. Merlin tapped his fingers on the counter, looking down at the floor. "I was working at a homeless shelter.” He started. “I was doing the normal routine of checkups. One day, a woman came up to me with a bundle in her arms. She didn’t speak much English but it wasn’t hard to figure out what was being thrust into my hands.”

Merlin wrapped his arms around his middle, as if he needed to hold onto something to steady himself. “She was so little, Arthur. You have no idea. She was so pink and so small. I’d worked with kids before, but hardly any newborn babies. And from what I could tell this woman had found her crying in a dumpster.” Merlin covered his face for a moment. “Damn it.”

Arthur felt his hair rise on end. He wasn’t sure what he felt more: the need to track down and pummel the person who abandoned Aithusa, or take Merlin in his arms and promise to keep his family safe.

“I was a mess, you know?” Merlin said. “I ran to the hospital. I had no idea how long she had been in there and no idea what possessed someone to throw away a child ” Merlin growled, “I was so angry. Still am. I’ll never forgive whoever did that to her.”

Merlin looked back at Arthur, a small frown on his lips. “This tiny life was put into my hands and I couldn’t let her out of my sight for the rest of the day. Not until I knew she was going to be okay. They told me to go home but when I went home I couldn’t sleep a wink. I went back to the hospital at three in the morning begging the nurse to let me see her, just to make sure she was okay.”

Merlin sighed and then shrugged his shoulders, “The rest was a lot of arguing over adoption papers and filling out mountains of paper work.”

It was silent for a long while as Arthur tried to think of something to say. He couldn’t think of what was proper for this situation, if there was even a proper thing to say when confronted with such a story.

“You are...” Arthur watched Merlin, with his socked feet and his hands wrapped around himself. "There's something about you Merlin. I'm not sure what it is, but it's quite brilliant."  Arthur said earnestly.

Merlin looked down, tucking his shoulders in. Arthur saw his small smile anyways. “Anyone would have done the same thing.”

“Maybe” Arthur shrugged. “But most people would have taken her to the hospital and called it a day. They would have prided themselves on saving a child’s life.”

“Maybe” Merlin admitted. He didn’t look like he regretted it for a second. “But someone needed to take care of her.”

Arthur watched the way Merlin smiled, his eyes soft as he thought of his daughter. Arthur figured out very fast that he was already in over his head, and had been for a while now.

“I’ll walk you out?” Merlin said.

Arthur blindly followed him to the front door. Merlin opened it and Arthur stepped out.

“Thanks.” Arthur had meant to say say thanks for the dinner, but in the cool night air with the porch light glowing orange behind him, it sounded different.

“See you around?” Merlin said, one hand wrapped around himself.

Arthur leaned in, pressing a small kiss to Merlin’s cheek. “Night, Merlin.”

He turned and got into his car, his heart pounding in his chest.

***

Like always, Merlin dropped by Arthur’s office before heading to Gaius’ office to pick up Aithusa. Merlin was barely into Arthur’s office when he was dragged into the office.

“Merlin!” Arthur exclaimed, quickly grabbing Merlin’s arms and pulling him over. “Perfect. Stand here.”

“What?” Merlin was spun around and placed in a taped off square on the ground.

“Sh.” Arthur had barely even looked at him, lost in a haze of thought. He had a pen in his hand and he had at least five files opened and spread out on his desk.

“Working on a case?” Merlin asked.

Arthur seemed to jump right into it, easily discussing the case with Merlin.

“There's a woman, let’s call her Jane for the time being,” Arthur said, at least he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to tell Merlin confidential information about a case. “She walks into a hotel room at midnight, the room is empty as far as the footage shows, and the next morning she’s found dead, stab wounds and bruising around her neck. Cause of death: blood loss. There is blood splatter, but not a sign of struggle, despite the bruising."

Arthur points to where Merlin is standing in the box. “She was probably standing about there, if the blood splatter is correct.” Arthur moved closer to Merlin, tapping Merlin’s arms with his pen. “No bruises on her arms. Now where would the murderer be?”

“She didn’t struggle against the attack?” Merlin repeated. “She knew the person.”

Arthur nodded, “She knew someone was going to be in her hotel room or just that she knew who it was?”

“Can’t tell with what we have.” Merlin said.

“Right” Arthur threw his pen onto the desk and ran a hand threw his hair. He looked like he’d been at it all day.

“So did the murderer just go in and stab?” Arthur asked.

“But what about the bruises on her neck?” Merlin asked.

Arthur’s brow pinched together.

“Maybe the murdered needed to incapacitate her.” Merlin pointed out. “Maybe she was strangled.”

“Cause of death wasn’t strangulation.” Arthur said.

“Not to kill her, but knock her out.” Merlin said, “Then kill her while she’s out.”

Arthur looked up, like a light bulb went off. “That would explain the weird blood splatter.” Arthur stood directly in front of Merlin.

“Let’s say the murderer- let’s call them John- Let’s say John knows Jane. She walks into the hotel room.”

Merlin continued easily, looking into Arthur’s eyes and seeing the story unfold. “She doesn’t expect to see him,” Merlin said, “But she talks with him.”

Arthur took a step forward, closer to the taped box. “He comes up to her, face to face. Okay, now how would she not know he was going to strangle her?”

“Maybe he was greeting her?” Merlin said, holding out his hand.

Arthur shook his head. “He needs to get closer.” Arthur stepped again, pushing Merlin’s hand aside so he could step into his space. “Not arm's distance away, but closer.”

“Maybe she didn’t just know him, maybe she was very comfortable around him.” Merlin said.

“So John gets closer, affectionate,” Arthur raised his hand, placing a hand on Merlin’s shoulder, his eyes still focused on the scene. “She has no idea.” Arthur said lightly, still looking at Merlin’s eyes and then to his neck. “If she knew him personally, she would never see it coming. He has her right where he wants her." Arthur placed his fingertips on Merlin's neck, grazing the skin. "She wouldn’t struggle and she would be unconscious within a minute.”

Arthur’s hands rested on Merlin’s neck, more a caress than an intent to strangle. Merlin hoped Arthur couldn’t feel his pulse rising beneath his throat. Merlin looked across to Arthur’s eyes, which were focused on his neck instead of his eyes. He thought he should say something funny or maybe fake dying and fall to the floor, but Arthur’s hands were tender on him and he had been craving this affection from Arthur, despite telling himself to stop.

Merlin looked up and he caught Arthur’s eyes which were a little wide, finally out of the haze of figuring out the case. Merlin thought they we’re both going to lean in and kiss, but neither moved.

“It’s the boyfriend.” Arthur said, his voice a little rough.

“What?” Merlin said, his throat working, and he knew Arthur could feel it under his hands.

“The murderer.” Arthur didn’t look like he knew exactly what he was saying either. “It’s the boyfriend.”

“Right.” Merlin barely said the word, feeling Arthur lean in closer. Merlin thought about the kiss Arthur had laid on his cheek last Sunday. Then he thought about how he told himself he wouldn’t date until Aithusa was older. He couldn’t help but think of his daughter who was down the hall waiting for her Da. Merlin stepped away, surprising Arthur.

Arthur’s hands jumped off him, and he jolted away.

Merlin cleared his throat. “I should go pick up, Aithusa.” Neither of them could look at each other, and Merlin was fine with that. He knew his face was red. “Good luck on the case.”

“Yes. Thank you.” Arthur said, his voice seemed strained. Merlin felt bad, and he wanted to explain that it wasn’t that he didn’t like Arthur, because he really did. He needed to think about Aithusa first, that was all.

“Yeah” Merlin barely made it out of the office without running into the door frame.

***

Aithusa Emerson liked many things. She liked jello and caramels. She liked coloring and going to preschool. She liked picnics and playing games. She also loved lots of things, like her friends and her Gram and grand uncle. But she loved her Da most of all. He made her food, and brushed her hair, and played with her and fixed her boo-boos.

After a long day at preschool, Uncle Gaius picked her up and she went to his office. She liked Uncle Gaius because he let her color and drink hot cocoa while he worked. Sometime though Uncle Gaius would let her go and see Mr. Arthur.

Mr. Arthur was very tall and very big.  His hair was very shiny, like the sun. He didn’t talk much, but he was nice. Aithusa thought he was probably shy, so she always made sure to talk to him.

Da had said that Mr. Arthur was a detective, which meant that he protected people by making sure bad people were punished. Aithusa thought that he would make a good knight, since good knights would protect princes and princesses.

Aithusa ran out when she heard her Da in the hall. He was talking to Mr. Arthur and Aithusa quickly jumped into her Da’s arms. She kissed his cheek, telling him about her day (the finger painting and feeding the turtles and having a muffin for a snack.)

Now she was sitting with her Da in his big bed, with lots of pillows and her pink and blue blanket. They watched Finding Nemo . Aithusa watched Finding Nemo a lot. She liked the Da clownfish. He was silly.

Her Da’s eyes were drooping and Aithusa wondered if he was tired. She tapped his arm. “Da?”

“Hm?” Da hummed and looked down at her.

“Are you tired?” She asked.

“A little.” He said. He pulled her closer and she curled close to his chest. She liked it because she could hear his heartbeat.

“Did you work really hard?” She asked.

Da smiled down at her. “Yeah.”

“Did you work like a dog?” She asked. That meant he worked hard.

Da laughed, “Yeah, I worked like a dog today.”

“Did Mr. Arthur work like a dog today?” She asked. Uncle Gaius had said Mr. Arthur worked hard a lot.

“I don’t know, darling.”

“I like Mr. Arthur.” Aithusa concluded.

“Yeah?” Da asked. “Why do you like him?”

Aithusa had to think about that for a moment. “Well. . . He played pretend with me and he made me hot cocoa.  He keeps people safe, so he must be good. He’s funny and can make you smile really big. Plus he can make donkey noises.” She shrugged as if it was obvious.

“Want to know a secret?” Da said. Aithusa nodded, she liked secrets. They were special because you couldn’t tell anyone.

“Pinky swear.” Da held out his finger and Aithusa interlocked it with her small one.

“Pinky swear.” She nodded.

Da lowered his head and whispered, “I like Mr. Arthur too.”

Aithusa giggled. “ Da! That’s not a secret!”

“Yes it is!” Da said.

“Secrets are things you can’t tell anyone! Like where you hid your special rocks or secret passwords to secret clubs.”

Da shook his head and laughed. Aithusa didn’t know why he found it funny. “I’m afraid you’re right, little one. It’s not a very good secret. But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Why not?” Aithusa asked.

“Because. . . ” Da paused and she watched him think about it. He sighed. “Just because.”

“Is it a grown-up thing?” She asked. She hated it when it was a grown-up thing.

“Sort of.” Da pulled her closer and she rested her head back on his chest so she could hear his heart beat again. “I’ll tell you about it one day.”

“Okay.” She promised. Da’s secret wasn’t a very good secret. Da and Mr. Arthur were friends so they must like each other. But she would keep his secret anyway.

***

Lance and Merlin had just finished restocking the ambulance with new supplies when the radio crackled and a voice called in an emergency. Lance turned up the volume as Merlin dropped into the passenger seat next to him, buckling up his seat belt. “- the east side of town. Robbery. Unknown injuries on the scene.”

Merlin picked up the radio and answered back, flicking on the ambulance sirens as Lance pulled out of the hospital drive.

They rode in silence as Lance navigated the streets, until they found the scene which was marked off with police tape. Even though they had arrived in less than five minutes, whatever had happened at the scene had already ended. The small convenience shop was taped off and two police cars were parked in front with a few people lingering around to watch what was going on.

A policeman that Merlin recognized jogged up to the ambulance as Merlin and Lance jumped out.

“Well what a coincidence seeing you here, Merlin.” Gwaine said with a grin. From his casual tone, Merlin assumed no one was too injured from the robbery.

“What a coincidence I’m doing my job.” Merlin joked as he pulled out his medical bag. “What happened? Injuries?” Merlin and Lance followed Gwaine through the police tape, and Merlin caught a glance of Percival talking to someone who looked like the owner of the shop.

“The suspect who robbed the store is a bit banged up. But it’s mostly Arthur. He’s being a right git about it too.”

“Arthur?” Merlin asked, halting momentarily before picking up the pace. “What happened? Where is he-?” Merlin’s question was cut off as he walked into the shop which was a bit of a mess. A couple of the racks of food were knocked over and standing in the center was Arthur, who was talking the person behind the register.

“-we’ll keep you in the loop, Thank you for your information.”

“Mate. I told you to let Percival talk to the witnesses.” Gwaine said, snatching away Arthur’s notebook and Arthur tried to grab at it. Merlin who was used to narrowing down injuries in a split second, noticed Arthur’s left arm was hanging by his side, unmoving.

Arthur was about to grab the notebook from Gwaine, but he caught sight of Merlin and his eyes narrowed in on him. “What are you doing here?”

“Do none of you police officers remember that I have a job as a paramedic?” Merlin asked, already pulling at Arthur so that he could get a look at him.

“Ah- Oi!” Arthur winced as Merlin jostled his arm. “Stop that!”

Merlin raised a brow. “What did you do?”

“ What did I do ?” Arthur asked incredulously in a high pitched voice.

Merlin ignored him and looked over to Gwaine, who was being surprisingly professional.

Gwaine answered the unasked question with a smile, “Poor princess over here was on his break when someone tried to rob the store. You would think thieves would at least try to steal when a copper isn’t inside the shop.”

The person behind the counter piped in, “Inspector Pendragon tackled him when he tried to threaten me. I hate dealing with those twats. I really appreciate it.”

Merlin looked to Arthur who was avoiding Merlin’s gaze. “Shoulder?” He asked simply.

“I may have hurt  my shoulder. Yes.” Arthur replied tersely.

“Come on, let’s get you back to the ambulance.” Merlin said.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital.” Arthur rolled his eyes, to which Merlin jostled his arm again and he let out a high pitched whine. Arthur glared at Merlin and Merlin gave him a wide eyed innocent look.

“Fine.” Arthur conceded.

“Fine.” Merlin smiled at his victory.

Lance opened up the the back of the ambulance, allowing Arthur to sit on the back as Merlin rifled around the supplies. Lance gave Merlin a quick look, his bright brown eyes flashing with mirth, and  Merlin chose to ignore his teasing. Merlin didn’t need Lance’s jokes about Arthur while Arthur was in earshot.

Merlin stripped Arthur of his jacket carefully, watching Arthur’s jaw tighten and his face paled.

“So tell me about this leap of fate where you saved the cashier in distress.” Merlin asked to distract him from the pain as he looked over Arthur’s shoulder, which was definitely not in his socket.

Arthur let out a huff of laughter. “When I’m working on a case sometimes I appreciate the subtlety of criminals. And then there’s idiots like this one who try to rob a store while I’m standing in the aisle behind him.”

Merlin snorted out a laugh, looking over to where Lance was cleaning up the thief, who needed nothing more than a band-aid. Arthur on the other hand was going to have to deal with a bit more than a bandage.

“So you fell on him? Was that a successful tactic?”

“I didn’t fall on him, I was disarming him” Arthur said with his nose raised high. “And it depends on your definition of success.” Arthur winced as Merlin touched his shoulder. Merlin looked up to see Lance climbing into the front of the ambulance. Lance was smiling at him and Merlin gave him a warning glare before looking back to Arthur.

“Well, apparently your success includes a dislocated shoulder. It’s going to be fairly easy to pop back in, but it’s not going to be fun.”

Arthur rolled his eyes, “Really, Merlin I would have never guessed.”

“Arthur , I’m serious. This is going to hurt.” Merlin warned.

“It’s fine.” Arthur said with a wave of his hand. “Just do it.”

“Arthur” Merlin said, trying to catch the Inspector’s attention. “It’s not that easy, you’re going to-”

“Yeah, alright. Stop wasting time, and just do it.” Arthur said.

“Cheese and crackers.” Merlin ground out, “Arthur I’m going to have to-”

“Look, I would rather you just do it and get this over with-”

“Fine!” Merlin said, pushing Arthur’s shoulder back into place.

Arthur froze, eyes wide with the shock of pain.

“Oh.”

Then he passed out.

Merlin caught him before he got a concussion from banging his head against the side of the ambulance. “You dumb snickerdoodle. I told you it would hurt.” Merlin readjusted Arthur onto the floor of the ambulance, checking his pulse and then his shoulder. “Lance, get me a ice pack, would you?”

Lance tossed him a pack, and Merlin cracked it so that he felt the cold against his hands. He placed it to Arthur’s shoulder. The cold must have roused Arthur because he grunted and opened his eyes.

“Welcome back to the living, you dumb lemondrop.” Merlin smiled at Arthur’s confused expression, brows pulled together and lips tight. Arthur tried to sit up, but Merlin held him down. “Don’t agitate your shoulder more than you need to.”

Arthur grunted as he laid back down and slowly closed his eyes. “I passed out.” He said, sounding humiliated.

“It’s a lot of pain to stand. You should see some people. They scream.” Merlin pushed back Arthur’s hair and felt his forehead. He seemed weak and tired, but he wasn’t breaking out into a sweat. “I’m going to strap it in place so it doesn’t move too much. Then we need to go to the hospital for an x-ray. Alright?”

Arthur nodded, apparently a lot more accommodating after passing out. Merlin wrapped his shoulder, and Arthur must have been in pain but he didn’t show much on his face.

“Come on” Merlin helped Arthur sit back up and settled him in the back of the ambulance. Merlin waved to Gwaine, signalling they were all done.

“See you later, Merlin!” Gwaine shouted back with a wave.

Merlin shut the back of the ambulance and Lance drove away from the shop, leaving the sirens off for the quick drive to the hospital.

“How are you feeling? Merlin asked as he checked the bruising on Arthur’s shoulder. He knew he was hovering over Arthur. He knew he was concerned for personal reasons over professional medical reasons. He also noticed that Arthur didn’t seem to mind having him close.

Arthur leaned his head back against the wall of the ambulance and glared at Merlin. “Honestly, I could be better.”

“Fair enough.” Merlin said, and sat the rest of the ride next to Arthur.

When they got to the hospital Merlin directed Arthur to the right place and he only had a spare moment to wish Arthur well before he was ushered back to the ambulance.

When Merlin came by the police station after his shift to pick up Aithusa, he was surprised to see Arthur there. Merlin leaned against the doorframe of Arthur’s office, “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

Arthur looked up in surprise. Standing by his filing cabinet, he was in jeans and a t-shirt, out of his usual police uniform. “Just picking up some files for a case. And before you ask, Morgana is making me take tomorrow off.”

Merlin laughed at Arthur’s annoyed tone. “What a good sister.”

Arthur snorted in derision. “I need to work on this case.”

“I know you do.” Merlin said, having learned that Arthur was as dedicated as he was stubborn. “But you need to rest. How is it?” Merlin asked, nodding to Arthur’s arm which was strapped tightly to his torso.

“I’m on a stupid amount of painkillers. But other than that- not too bad.” Arthur said. “Not sure even if I came in tomorrow if I could do more than just stare at my papers in a medicated daze.”

Merlin smiled and noticed for the first time that Arthur looked a bit wobbly and his eyes were a bit bright with the painkillers.

“Should I pull out a camera?” Merlin asked.

Arthur stuck out his tongue, and Merlin started laughing. The camera might have been a good idea afterall.

Arthur groaned. “A month, Merlin. I have to be in this thing for a month.”

“Give it a month and you can go back to falling on bad guys to your heart content.”

Arthur opened his mouth as if to argue, but he was cut off by the sound of small footsteps down the hall. Merlin turned to see Aithusa running towards him and Gaius waving at him from down the hall.

“Da!” Aithusa jumped into Merlin’s arms and swung her legs around his middle. Merlin had dressed her in a pink fluffy skirt this morning, and now it puffed around hip as she clung onto his side.

“Hello, little one.” Merlin kissed her cheek. “How are you?”

“Good.” Aithusa nodded and looked to Arthur. “Uncle Gaius said that you fixed Mr. Arthur today.”

Merlin couldn’t help the grin, “Well I don’t know about fix .”

“ Hey .” Arthur said half-heartedly.

“He hurt his shoulder.” Merlin explained to her. “I just bandaged it up.”

Aithusa looked up at Merlin with wide blue eyes, “Would the boo-boo-bunny help?”

Merlin had to bite his lips from smiling. “I think it would.”

“ The what bunny ?” Arthur asked.

“It’s an ice pack.” Merlin said.

“Noooo. It’s a magic pink bunny.” Aithusa elaborated. “It helps boo-boos.”

Merlin couldn’t help but kiss her head in response, remembering all the little scraps the bunny had helped. Merlin nodded to Arthur’s shoulder. “Ice really would help. Do you have some ice packs?”

Arthur nodded. “I don’t think it will help as much as a bunny though.”

“Nothing is as good as a bunny ice pack.” Merlin nodded solemnly.

“Da.” Aithusa tugged on Merlin’s shirt repeatedly, “Da, can we have mac n cheese tonight? Please .” Aithusa whined, obviously having held in her request for the full minute she had seen him.

Merlin looked up to the ceiling for a moment, trying to reign in a grin. “Alright, mac n cheese it is then.”

“Yay!” Aithusa wiggled and Merlin had to hold on tighter to make sure she didn’t fall. She was always excitable- and in this case- a literal handful.

Merlin looked to Arthur, who was watching them dazedly. Merlin wasn’t sure if he was entirely there thanks to the painkillers.

“We better get going.” Merlin said with a nod toward the door.

“I’ll follow you out. I’m on my way back home to get some sleep.” Arthur said as he slotted his files into his bag and slung it over his good shoulder. He ushered Merlin and Aithusa out before locking his office door.

“Will you get a cast? At day care, Freya has a cast on her arm.” Aithusa said. “It’s green.”

Arthur shook his head as they stepped out of the police station. “No cast. How did Freya get her cast?”

“She fell off her bike.” Aithusa said.

Merlin clarified. “Freya is one of the teachers at daycare. Aithusa’s fond of her.”

“She let’s me feed the turtles.” Aithusa said.

Arthur walked them to Merlin’s car and waited as Merlin opened the car door and set Aithusa in her carseat.

“Tell Mr. Arthur I hope he feels better soon.” Aithusa whispered in his ear as he strapped her in. She always thought once she was in the car that no one outside could hear her. It was a bit endearing, even if it was wrong.

Merlin whispered back “Okay, I will.” Merlin closed the door and looked up to find Arthur watching Aithusa through the window with a smile on his face, having heard her.

“Aithusa likes you.” Merlin said. Aithusa made an outraged noise that was heard through the window and then buried her face in her plush dragon. Merlin grinned evilly at her and Arthur laughed at the pair of them, father and daughter.

“I’m glad.” Arthur said, watching Merlin for a long time. The medication was working its wonders because Arthur was giving him a dazed smile for a long moment, only broken when Merlin tore his eyes away.

“Get some rest, Arthur.” Merlin said, touching Arthur’s good shoulder. “I’ll see you later?”

Arthur nodded, “I’ll see you soon.”

Merlin slipped into the car and before Merlin even closed the door Aithusa burst out “I didn’t say that!”

Merlin had to cover his laugh with his hand as he started the car.

***

Two weeks later, Merlin’s day ended with mandatory socialization. Not only had Morgana and Gwen all but forced him to come out for drinks with them on Friday night, Lance had encouraged it and offered to babysit Aithusa. Then the hopes of having Arthur tag along as a buffer died when he found out that Arthur was spending Friday night at home because his medication didn’t mix with alcohol. He was doomed to being the third wheel to the police power couple.

“Go out and have a good time.” Lance said on Friday evening.

Merlin had his arms tight around himself as he looked around his apartment and then at the door.

“Lance! Lance! Lance!” Aithusa was chanting happily as she clung onto Lance’s leg. It wasn’t like Aithusa would mind a night without him. And he could do with a night out. And he wanted to get to know Morgana and Gwen better…

“Alright.” Merlin sighed, giving himself up to peer pressure. He knelt down to Aithusa’s height, kissing her head and looking her over, “Be good for Uncle Lance? Remember your manners?”

“Yes, Da.” She nodded, her head bobbing wildly as if to emphasize her point. She was far too excited for a night with Lance and Merlin had a feeling it was an innocent case of Disneyland Uncle, where Da and his pesky rules were flung out the window and Uncle Lance reigned over fun-filled anarchy.

Merlin looked up to Lance with a raised brow, “In bed by eight” was all he said. Lance gave him an innocent doe eyed expression as if Merlin didn't know that Lance was planning on giving Aithusa too many sweets and letting her watch a film until late. Merlin was well aware, and he didn't mind, but he still had to enforce the rules at least out loud.

“We’ll be fine. Right Aithusa?” Lance asked down to the little girl around his ankles.

“Yes!” She yelled.

Lance shrugged, “See?”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. I see I’m not needed. I’ll have fun without you.”

“You better.” Lance said, and knowing his best friend, he probably meant it.

***

The best thing about babysitting Aithusa was that she was a little ball of light. She was happy and full of energy. She thought everything was a bright gift and loved the little things that had worn dull to Lance’s adult-eyes.

They started off building a castle with block legos. Lance played The Bad Guy with the stuffed lion and the eagle as Aithusa saved the day with her stuffed dragon and the make-believe lizard-cats. A few blocks stacked on top of each other turned into an elegant fortress and the worn dragon became a fire breathing hero.

For dinner Lance made soft tacos, an Uncle Lance special. He must have used a smaller tortilla then Aithusa was used to because she called them mini-tacos, and pretended she was a giant. For dessert Lance let her have more chocolate pudding than Merlin did- but he did have to keep up his reputation as The Best Uncle Ever after all.

By the time eight o’clock rolled around they were halfway through How to Train Your Dragon, and Aithusa hadn’t yet fallen asleep but Lance knew she would knock out before the movie ended. After only a couple hours with Aithusa he was exhausted, and he didn’t know how Merlin did it. To be fair, Merlin probably didn’t play with her all the time. Lance was beginning to regret carrying Aithusa around on his back for the first part of the evening as he sat stiffly in bed.

Aithusa had been asleep for a few hours when Merlin came home at midnight.

“Hi.” Merlin whispered softly as he locked the door behind himself. He stumbled a bit as he pulled off his coat and sat down on the couch next to him. Lance was happy to see his friend a bit tipsy. Merlin was a happy drunk, and usually got loose and affectionate after a couple drinks.

“How was Aithusa?” Merlin asked, his voice soft.

“She was an angel as always. She wore me out though. I’m surprised I’m still awake.” Lance admitted, looking at the time.

Merlin’s smile spread across his face slowly, his eyes closing. “She’s a little whirlwind, isn’t she?”

“How was your night?” Lance asked, nudging Merlin’s shoulder. “Next time I’ll convince you to come have drinks with me.”

“I’s good.” Merlin slurred a bit. “Morgana and Gwen teased me about my lack of social life. They made me dance.”

Lance had to hold in a laugh, thinking of those horribly fun nights in uni when he and Merlin had gone dancing. “See? I told you that you would have a good time.”

Merlin made a mocking face at him. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right I should have fun. I get it. I’m workin’ on it.”

“So you’ll ask Arthur out?”

Merlin jabbed a finger at him, “Don’t push me, Lance Griffin.”

Lance laughed, “Alright. Fair’s fair. Are you sober enough to get yourself to bed?” Lance asked, standing up and picking up his coat.

Merlin stood on wobbly legs, but he nodded his head. “I’m fine. Thanks for watching, Aithusa.” He paused. “Or thanks for forcibly kicking me out of the apartment and watching Aithusa.”

Lance pulled him into a hug. “Anytime, Merlin.”

***

This case was driving Arthur mad. The homicide of a young woman in an apartment of someone she had apparently not known. With only the victim’s roommate as a witness to where she had been the whole night- ‘she left in a hurry after a phone call’- the case was leading Arthur in a maze of dead ends. The witness had just left his office, and he knew she was hiding something but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what that was. He banged his head against his desk, wondering if another mug of coffee would help him solve the case or would just hinder him by giving him a caffeine buzz.

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

Arthur looked up to see Morgana standing in his doorway. She smiled, “Wouldn’t want to call an ambulance to patch you up.”

Arthur groaned and dropped his head back onto the desk with a dull thud. He had been trying not to think about Merlin for the past couple weeks, despite the fact that he saw him and his daughter every week. He had become a scheduled part of his life to the point that Arthur expected to see Merlin at his door when his shift ended and the sound of Aithusa’s cheer when she saw her Da after a long day. Thinking too much about them made something ache inside Arthur’s chest.

“What do you want?” Arthur asked. “I don’t have the report for you.”

“Really, you should get your head checked.” She said with a devious grin.

Arthur glared at her, “You just want to win the bet.”

“What bet?” She said with wide innocent eyes.

“Oh don’t play coy with me.” Arthur said. “I know one of you started a bet. You might as well drop it. Merlin and I- It’s not happening.” Arthur didn’t want to even give a name to whatever relationship Morgana had been suggesting since Arthur had met Merlin. At this point, Arthur had come to accept that Merlin wasn’t prioritizing a relationship and Arthur wasn’t going to make the assumption that Merlin would even want to date him.

“You could try?” Morgana offered. “He makes you happy, dear.” She said. “His little girl makes you happy. God, Arthur, if I had thought you a family man I would have tried this ages ago.”

“Why do you care if I’m single or not?” Arthur said with a sigh, ignoring her statement about families all together. That was jumping head first into a can of worms.

“I care if you’re happy or not. I hate being sentimental, don’t make me express emotions with a Pendragon. It pains both of us.” She said in a tone as if strained.

Arthur smiled, not able to suppress it enough for Morgana’s liking. She saw the smile and sneered at him, “Look at that. It disgusts me.” She pointed at the file on his desk, “I want that report by tonight.”

And that was the end of it, she turned on her heel and left.

“I don’t have the report!” He called after her.

“Tonight!” She shouted back.

“Ugh” Arthur dropped his head to the desk again.

***

Arthur hadn’t thought going over to Merlin’s home for Sunday dinner was a bad idea until he remembered the date.

“Oh fudging snickerdoodle.” Arthur cursed and then actually cursed as he realized that he had picked up Merlin’s form of cursing.

Ticked off on the right hand corner of Arthur’s calendar was a little note, ‘Mother’s Day: Lilies @ Avalon Nursery.’ He stared at the note for a long time, thinking over canceling Sunday because he didn’t want to intrude on a family holiday and desperately wanting to spend time with Merlin and his family again.

He decided that if Merlin had invited him, assuming Merlin had remembered the date correctly, then he must have wanted Arthur there.

That Sunday he picked up a bundle of lilies at Avalon Nursery, and before leaving he spotted a bouquet of wildflowers tied with purple ribbons. He stared at it for a second before deciding that he wasn’t going to think too hard about it and bought them.

Although he drove into the cemetery like he did every Mother’s Day, this time felt different. He walked the wet grass fields until he came across Igraine Pendragon’s grave, a large headstone with an engraved angel. Arthur dusted off the grave with his hand before he set down the lilies at the base.

His mother was a woman he had barely known, but he dedicated this day to remember her. He stood at the grave and thought of his childhood, his thoughts drifting. He thought of Aithusa and Merlin, a man who had taken in a child with all his heart. He thought of Merlin’s mother who acted as Aithusa’s maternal figure, who greeted Arthur with warm arms. When Arthur was younger he had thought his family was broken for lack of a mother, but now he understood it differently because Merlin’s family was anything but broken.

Pressing his hand to the grave for a moment,  Arthur turned away from Igraine’s grave to drive to Merlin’s home.

When he arrived, Arthur heard the commotion in the house before he even entered. He knocked on the door and it was opened a second later by a frazzled looking Merlin.

“Okay. Tell me honestly.” Merlin said with wide eyes. “How much paint do I have on my face?”

Arthur looked over Merlin’s high cheekbones and straight nose. There was a surprising amount of pink and purple paint on his face.

“It could be worse?” He offered.

“ Popsicles .” Merlin cursed. “Aithusa’s been painting something for mum. It’s been a mess.” He ushered Arthur inside and he eyed Arthur curiously as he spotted the flowers in Arthur’s hand.

“For your mother.” Arthur explained.

Merlin smiled at him, his hand going up to the paint streak across his cheek and smearing it.

“Merlin, is that Arthur at the door?” Hunith’s voice carried from the kitchen and her head stuck out from the hall. “Oh hello dear. Look at you! Merlin said you were in a sling?”

“It just came off a couple days ago.” Arthur answered, rolling his still sore shoulder. Arthur walked up to her, flowers in hand, “Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Oh, you.” Hunith said as she picked up the flowers. “I’m going to get used to this with you around.”

Merlin grumbled, “Making me look bad, Pendragon.”

Hunith laughed, “Nonsense. Now come here.” She tugged on Arthur’s arm and kissed his forehead. “Thank you. Now come help poor Merlin with the paint. I have to finish dinner.”

Arthur looked over to Merlin, who was indeed in need of help. Not only was his face smeared with paint, but so were his clothes and arms. Down the hall he heard Aithusa, and soon enough the paint-covered little girl was running towards him. She went to grab at Arthur’s leg in a greeting but Merlin dramatically lunged forward and scoped her up.  “You can say hello to Arthur after we get you cleaned up.” Merlin said, taking the metaphorical paint bullet for Arthur’s trousers.

“What have you been up to Aithusa?” Arthur asked.

“I made Gram a vase!” Aithusa announced, still held back in Merlin’s arms.

Merlin held up a purple paint covered finger, “Give us a minute?” Then he dragged Aithusa down the hall and to the bathroom. There was commotion behind the door and then Aithusa was bounding out in fresh clothes, completely clean of paint. She bounced over to Arthur and wrapped around his leg. “Hello, Mr. Arthur.”

“Hello, little dragon.” Arthur said, looking up to find Merlin inexplicably covered in more paint than when he entered the bathroom.

“Can I show you the vase?” Aithusa asked excitedly.

“How about we let it dry? You can show me later.” Arthur looked over to Merlin and said, “Let me help your Da out with the paint first.”

“Aithusa!” Hunith called from across the house.

“Coming!” Aithusa released Arthur’s leg and ran across the house.

“Paint was a bad idea.” Merlin said, looking over his ruined shirt and paint-covered hands.

“Live and learn.” Arthur said, stepping into the bathroom next to him. He leaned against the sink, facing Merlin. “Let me help you.”

“I got it-” Merlin tried to protest, but Arthur cut him off.

“You’ll smear the paint everywhere. Just hold still.” Arthur ran a cloth under the water, wringing it out before scrubbing at Merlin’s wrists and up his arms.

It was quiet as Arthur continued his work, wringing out the paint in the cloth and scrubbing at Merlin’s forearms. He accidentally wetted Merlin’s shirt, but it was already a lost cause that he didn’t matter. Arthur lifted the hands to Merlin’s face, dragging the warm cloth across Merlin’s cheek. Watered down, the paint trailed along his face in a light color before it washed away. Arthur avoided Merlin’s eyes as he continued his work, until Merlin closed his eyes- if to avoid paint in his eyes or avoid Arthur’s gaze, he didn’t know.

“There.” Arthur said once he finished and Merlin’s eyes fluttered open. Arthur held out a dry towel. “Only you, Merlin. Only you would get paint all over yourself.”

“Aithusa started it.” Merlin countered with a lilt of a joke.

Arthur watched him, and the ache in his chest was there again. He cleared his throat and said,  “Might want to change your shirt” as he fled the bathroom.

Dinner was delightful as Arthur listened to the Emerson family stories. Hunith recalled hilarious stories of Merlin as a child, all of which made Merlin’s face bright red and hide behind his plate. Gaius and Hunith remembered their own mother. Arthur loved the idea of a young Hunith and Gaius playing around as children, although it was hard to picture Gaius as anything other than an adult in Arthur’s mind.

“Do you have any memory of your mother, Arthur?” Hunith asked. Arthur gave a quick glance to Merlin, knowing that he must have mentioned that his mother had died when he was only a toddler.

Arthur shook his head, “Not much. A few snapshots.” Arthur shrugged, “I had my father and Morgana. She’s five years older- truthfully, she’s the one that looked after me.”

“Oh, I’m telling her you said that.” Merlin said with a devious smile, his hand under his chin.

“Don’t you dare.” Arthur said, suddenly terrified Morgana would find out he had gone soft.

“Nah” Merlin said, “I’ll save it for blackmail.”

From across the table Hunith flicked water at her son, “Tsk, what kind of son did I raise?”

“Apparently a very clever one, ma’am.” Arthur said. “Shall he use his powers for good or for evil, we shall never know.”

Merlin copied his mother and flicked water at Arthur’s face.

They finished off dinner and then spent the early spring evening outside, drinking tea and eating homemade cake. Hunith showed Arthur the small vase that Aithusa had painted for her, a startling pink and purple mix, which Hunith had filled with some of the flowers from Arthur’s bouquet. Aithusa was put to bed, and Merlin threw away the paint as Arthur tried to hold in his laughter at Merlin’s complete exasperation.

At the end of the evening Merlin walked Arthur to his car in only his socks. Arthur had the urge to bring him back into the warm house and lay with him on the couch to make sure his feet were warm.

“Thanks for inviting me.” Arthur said as he stepped off the porch. “When I accepted I hadn’t realized it was Mother’s Day.”

“It’s why I invited you.” Merlin said. He kicked at the ground, looking sheepish for a moment. “Mum would tell you these stories of how I brought in strays when I was little. I brought home my friend Will because he didn’t have a mum and I was willing to share.”

“You calling me a stray?” Arthur asked.

“Maybe.” Merlin teased back.

Arthur nudged Merlin’s shoulder with his own and Merlin pushed back. There was a pause and then Merlin pulled Arthur into a hug. It was too obvious the way he held Merlin close, but maybe spending the evening with Merlin’s family was enough of a clue as to how Arthur felt about him.

“Have a safe drive home, Arthur.”

“I’ll see you later.” Arthur said as he slipped into his car.

***

The ambulance radio crackled loudly in Merlin’s ears, “- north street -body on the scene- ambulance requested-”

Lance was already turning on the sirens and driving down the street. Merlin answered back, giving their location and asking for details and receiving none.

When they arrived on the scene, Merlin recognized Arthur’s bright blond hair as he leaned against his police car. Another police car was parked next to him, blocking off the alleyway from the street, and Merlin saw Elyan and Leon standing nearby. Police tape surrounded the entrance and Lance had to quickly park the ambulance on the sidewalk so that it wasn’t in the street.

Merlin rushed up to Arthur, “What’s happened?”

Arthur startled when he saw Merlin but his confusion turned to resignation quickly. His lips were down turned and his arms crossed.

Arthur sighed. “Suspected homicide. A young woman- the witness I spoke to only last week.” Arthur said with a tight jaw. “That damned case I can’t crack.”

Merlin looked over to the body in the middle of the alleyway. The ambulance would have to wait until the crime scene was cleared and the body bag would be taken to Gaius’ office.

“Arthur, there’s no way you could have known.” He touched Arthur’s arm lightly. Arthur’s jaw clenched and Merlin knew that he was tearing himself up about it.

“I should have known he’d come back for her.” Arthur said, not looking at Merlin. “She was a loose end. The only witness-” Arthur cut himself off and ran a hand over his face.

“You’ll find him.” Merlin said. “You’re close, I know it.”

Arthur finally looked over to Merlin and gave him a half smile. He took out his notebook and clicked his pen, already working on the next steps.

To give Arthur some space, Merlin decided to take a look at the crime scene. Merlin wasn’t a coroner like Gaius but he had seen enough for some insight. She had appeared to struggle, and there was enough blood to indicate that she was murdered in the alleyway and not dumped there. Merlin looked at the pool of blood and noticed some blood a few feet away near a dumpster. He walked toward the dumpster, worried there might be more evidence the team would miss. He turned to look behind the dumpster.

A shot rang out before Merlin could react.

Merlin fell back in surprise and he hit the cement hard and all the air knocked out of him.

“ Merlin! ”

Merlin looked up as he regained his breath to see someone running out from behind the dumpster and down the alley.

“Merlin!” Arthur skidded to a stop and knelt by Merlin’s side. He held onto Merlin’s shoulders with a tight grip, his eyes wide.

“He’s still here.” Merlin said, looking up at Arthur. “We have to-” Merlin tried to stand up but Arthur held him down.

“Are you alright?” Arthur said, his voice stern.

“Me?” Merlin realized the shot, just a warning bullet into the sky, probably hadn’t looked that way to Arthur as Merlin had crashed to the ground. “I’m fine. Not hurt- Come on we have to-” Merlin watched as the man rushed down the alley and turned left into the warehouse next door.

Arthur looked up and then back at Merlin. “Stay here.”

“Wait” Merlin grabbed his arm.

Arthur gripped Merlin’s shoulder, squeezing it for a moment. He ran into the warehouse before Merlin could protest a second time. All he could do was watch Arthur run down the alley.

Leon and Elyan rushed up to Merlin, glancing quickly at where Arthur had run. Leon’s eyes were wide as he said, “What-?”

“There was a man behind the dumpster- Arthur-” Merlin tried to explain, but the officers didn’t wait. They ran off after Arthur and the suspect, not wasting any time.

Merlin picked himself just as Lance ran to his side, grabbing him and looking him over worriedly, “Are you alright? What the hell was that?”

“I think whoever killed her is still here.” Merlin explained. “Arthur-”

Then another shot rang out from somewhere inside the warehouse and Merlin felt his heart race even faster. He knew his eyes were wide and he felt the blood drain from his face, but Lance’s hands were firm on him.

“Better grab some supplies.” Merlin said, and Lance gave him an overwhelmed look as he nodded in agreement.

They ran back to the ambulance and grabbed their bags and opened the back of the ambulance. Merlin focused on the task at hand, letting his mind shift into professionalism instead of thinking about what Arthur was doing in the warehouse.

Waiting was the bane of Merlin’s existence. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes, but as soon as Merlin heard the first shouts, he was rushing down the alleyway with his medical bag. Elyan was holding a man with his hands cuffed behind his back, his face bruised and a nasty snarl on his lips. Behind them was Leon and Arthur. Leon had an arm under Arthur’s shoulder and was helping him walk forward.

Merlin rushed forward, thanking his lucky stars that there wasn’t any visible blood. Wherever the bullet that had been shot of in the warehouse, it hadn’t gone into Arthur.

“Hey” Arthur gave a hesitant smile, looking over at Merlin’s worried face. His cheek was red, fresh with a bruise, and he appeared dazed.

Merlin’s hands instantly went to Arthur’s face, “Oh, what did you do, lemon drop?” Merlin said with a sigh, his heart fluttering in his chest.

“He banged his head hard on the concrete.” Leon explained worriedly and Merlin reminded himself to test Arthur for a concussion. Leon helped Arthur walk to the ambulance, where Merlin instructed him on sitting still as he looked him over.

As Merlin checked his head, asking him basic questions and watching his pupils carefully, Merlin noticed that Arthur’s arm was reddening and beginning to swell. He pressed down on Arthur’s wrist and Arthur hissed.

“ Fuck .” Merlin cursed fervently. “Arthur, we have to take you to the hospital.” Merlin said as his injuries began to add up. A concussion was one thing, but Arthur needed a proper examination.

Arthur groaned out his annoyance, but he didn’t protest. Merlin helped him move from the floor of the ambulance to the gurney in the back. Merlin climbed in after him, and Lance was only a second behind him, jumping into the driver’s seat. He flicked  on the sirens and Merlin held on as Lance drove off the sidewalk and back onto the street.

Arthur closed his eyes as the ambulance jostled him, and Merlin watched as he swallowed thickly.

“Never heard you curse like that before.” Arthur said, his tone trying for light but fell flat as he winced halfway through his sentence.

Merlin pushed back Arthur’s hair, feeling his forehead and giving himself an excuse to comfort Arthur. “I guess you just bring it out in me.”

Arthur smiled, his eyes opening just enough to look at Merlin through the side of his eyes.

Merlin wanted to reprimand Arthur- yell at him for worrying Merlin so much- but he knew that Arthur wouldn’t be Arthur if he didn’t run after The Bad Guys. He wouldn’t be the man who fought pretend evil with Aithusa, nor the man who tackled a thief in a local shop. Watching the man in front of him, Merlin wanted to gather him in his arms and take care of him. It brought out something new in Merlin,  something he hadn’t felt since he had taken in Aithusa three years ago, and it felt like another new beginning.

***

Hours later, Arthur was sitting up on a hospital bed and Merlin was standing nearby as the doctor explained Arthur’s healing process. The worry had faded and now he watched with amusement as Arthur groaned out his annoyance at his injuries, a mild concussion, a broken wrist, and a few bruised ribs.

The doctor left and Arthur fell back into the pillows with a huff.

“I hate being injured.” Arthur said.

“Yeah, well I hate patching you up.” When Merlin looked over at him, Arthur was watching him carefully. Merlin had to look away when he said, “Don’t scare me like that.”

“I’m not usually running after suspects like that.” Arthur said, “I’m an Inspector, remember?”

“Really? Because it looks to me like you tackle suspects all the time.” Merlin said before he deflated. He sat down in the chair next to Arthur’s bed and wrapped his hand around Arthur’s.

Arthur turned his hand over and interlaced his fingers with Merlin’s. He opened his mouth, but he was cut off as a nurse came in. Behind her, there was a line of all their friends. Merlin pulled his hand out of Arthur’s quickly, not sure how they would see the comforting gesture. Morgana was the first to descend, yelling at her younger brother in a fit of familial affection. Arthur, in true sibling fashion, yelled back at her. “Oh- So I should have just let him get away-? No, don’t yell at me-!”

It was Percival that came up to Merlin and said, “Gaius and Aithusa are out in the waiting room.”

Merlin looked to Arthur, who was surrounded by loud, but well meaning, friends. He smiled before he let himself out of the room and walked toward the waiting room. As soon as he saw Aithusa, Merlin picked her up in his arms, feeling her warmth against his chest and kissed her cheeks.

“Da? Is Arthur alright?” Aithusa asked.

“Yes, sweetheart. He’s just fine.” Merlin said, realizing that Arthur was just fine and would heal with time. It gave Merlin a breath of air, that he had been holding throughout the day.

“Can I see him?” She asked.

Merlin looked over to Gaius and his Uncle gave a nod, “I don’t see why not. I want to see him myself as well.”

Merlin led them to Arthur’s hospital room and knocked on the doorframe to announce his entrance. Luckily Morgana had ended her rant and was now sitting in the chair Merlin had been sitting in. The officers looked up at him, and Merlin saw their smiles break out at the sight of Aithusa.

“May we come in?” Merlin asked, as the officers parted way for the pair. Merlin stood on the other side of the bed from where Morgana sat and let Aithusa greet Arthur.

“Hi” Aithusa said, suddenly shy and buried her face in Merlin’s neck. Merlin held her tight, giving her some reassurance.

“She just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Merlin said. “You know, those lizard-cats aren’t going to fight themselves.”

Arthur smiled up at them, “Of course. The princess has a kingdom to run after all.”

Aithusa looked up now, eyeing Arthur’s arm. “You have a cast.”

“I have a cast now.” Arthur said with a crooked smile. “I’ll let you color on it, once we get some markers. How about that?”

Aithusa nodded. “I’d like that.”

Morgana chirped in, “That sounds perfect. But I think Arthur needs some rest, and all you rough housers” she glared at her group of officers, “are not going to help with that.” She started shooing everyone out, but when Merlin tried to leave, she stopped him.

“Not you.” She said. “Gaius, would you like to take Aithusa?”

Gaius had a smile on his face as he took his grand-niece from Merlin.

Morgana said, “Make sure he gets some rest” but Merlin had a feeling she meant something different entirely.

Merlin turned around and found Arthur glaring at Morgana as she closed the door behind herself.

“Look, I should explain” Arthur said with a deep sigh. “Morgana has this idea in her head-” Merlin settled in the chair next to Arthur and rested his hand on Arthur’s forearm. Arthur paused and looked down at it. He tried to continue. “I-I know that you don’t want- Or what I mean to say is that I’m not going to-”

Merlin had hardly ever seen Arthur so flustered. Perhaps when he wasn’t used to Aithusa yet he had been flustered, but this was a new type of nervousness Merlin had never seen in him before.

Merlin smiled fondly, “You’re a big dumb lemon drop.”

“Hey!” Arthur protested. “I’m trying to explain-”

Merlin leaned forward suddenly, looking up at Arthur only a breath away. “I’m going to kiss you now.” Merlin heard Arthur’s breath hitch right before Merlin leaned the rest of the way, pressing his lips to Arthur’s and finally giving in. When he pulled away, Arthur dove back in for a quick peck and then leaned his forehead against Merlin’s. His nose was cold against Merlin’s but his lips had been heated.

Arthur’s eyes were still closed and Merlin whispered his name.

“Hm?” Arthur asked, his eyes fluttering open.

“Was that okay?” Merlin asked.

“Yeah. That was okay.” An understatement if Arthur’s smile was anything to go by. Arthur curled his fingers around Merlin’s, “I’d like to take you out.”

“Okay.” Merlin paused. “But first you have to ask for permission.”

Arthur’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Why would I even-?” He said with a laugh, “Your mother loves me. You really think she isn’t going to let me go out with you?”

“Oh no, not my mother.” Merlin grinned.

Arthur paused. Then it must have clicked.  “Oh no, hold on a second.”

Merlin started laughing, burying his face in Arthur’s shoulder to hide his amusement.

“Oh, come on.” Arthur whined. “No, please.”

“I promised I would put her first.” Merlin said as he looked up at Arthur, his head still resting on his shoulder. “If she doesn’t want to share me, then…” Merlin shrugged.

Arthur paused for a moment, his lips tight as he thought it over. “Alright.”

“Oh don’t sound so-” Merlin’s tease was cut off by a quick kiss from Arthur, which made heat rise in Merlin’s face. “Oh, you are a handful.” Merlin said.

Arthur gave him a cheeky grin in response.

There was a knock at the door, and Gaius peaked his head inside. He didn’t appear in the least surprised by their closeness to one another. “Sorry to interrupt, but the doctor has your release papers ready.”

“Thank you, Gaius.” Arthur said.

Gaius nodded and was about to leave, but stopped in the doorway. “Oh, and I do believe this means Gwen won the bet.”

“What bet?” Merlin asked.

Arthur whined. “She always wins.”

***

The next Friday, Arthur ate dinner at Merlin and Aithusa’s apartment. Merlin made sure he was properly hydrated and rested, all the while Aithusa was making sure he was well supplied with stuffed animals. Before dinner even started the couch was filled with stuffed toys and barely enough room for Arthur.

After dinner, Arthur pulled out a pack of markers and lowered himself to the living room floor and let Aithusa color his cast anyway she wanted. Merlin sat on the couch, watching them silently.

“Aithusa, I have a question for you.” Arthur said as she scribbled on his cast.

“Yes?” She said, her serious tone humorous in her three-year old voice.

“I…” He looked over his shoulder to where Merlin was sitting, who gave him an encouraging smile. “I have a secret for you.”

“A secret?” Aithusa perked up.

“Yeah. You see, I really like your Da.”

Aithusa looked behind her to where her Da was trying not to laugh. “Da?”

“Go ahead, sweetheart.” Merlin said.

“Da told me a secret too.” Aithusa said. “He told me that he likes you.”

“Did he really?” Arthur asked, watching as Aithusa drew a flower on his cast, carefully coloring over the bumps in the cast.

“Well… Aithusa.  I’d like to date your Da.”

Aithusa paused and looked up at Arthur. “Like a boyfriend?”

Arthur nodded, knowing that this three year old was making him blush. “Like a boyfriend.” Arthur cleared his throat. “But that would mean I would have to share him with you. Would you be okay with that?”

She must have heard the seriousness in his voice because Aithusa looked up to her Da. Merlin stepped forward and sat on the floor next to his daughter. He brushed back the bits of hair that had come out of her braid as he said, “Aithusa, sweetheart. That means Mr. Arthur would spend more time with you and me. Then sometimes I would spend time away from home, only with Mr. Arthur. Would you be okay with that?”

There was a pause. She looked at Arthur, still with her hands on his cast.  It was a long time for a three year old to think on one topic, but Arthur hoped that meant she was taking it seriously.

Aithusa nodded. “Okay. I’d like that.”

Arthur let out a breath. “Thanks, Aithusa.”

She smiled, “You’re welcome. Can I draw another flower?”

Arthur laughed, “Yes, you can. But it has to be purple” Arthur said, passing her the purple marker.

Merlin laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of Aithusa’s head. She quickly took the marker and started the third flower.

“Can I help, little one?” Merlin asked. Aithusa nodded, scribbling around what appeared to be a blue dog. Merlin picked up a red marker and drew a little heart near Arthur’s palm.

Arthur ran his thumb over Merlin’s fingers, their eyes locking over Aithusa’s head. With Merlin across from him and Aithusa in front of him, things slotted into place, and he felt whole.

Chapter Text

The first year of their relationship, Merlin and Arthur went at a glacier’s pace. It wasn’t just Merlin’s caution after breaking his ‘no relationships’ rule, but between their respective careers and taking care of Aithusa, they didn’t have time for a date night every week. Altogether, their routine hadn’t changed that much. Gaius still picked up Aithusa from school on Mondays and Wednesdays, so Merlin still stopped to talk with Arthur on those days. The only difference was, if Arthur didn’t have to work a case in the evening, he would often take Merlin and Aithusa out to eat (or bring food back home, if Aithusa was bouncing off the walls with too much energy for a restaurant.)

When they did manage to get date nights, especially ones without Aithusa, they felt like teenagers who had finally gotten away from their parents’ watchful eyes. Most of those nights involved any film with at least one swear because the last ten films Merlin saw were intended for ages five and younger.  Merlin seemed to favor films with some fantastical element or whimsical spin.  Arthur never cared much for fantasy or sci-fi films, but he spent the next few dates watching some new ones (within the last few years) with Merlin.  Mostly he spent the night engrossed in how in love Merlin was with the entire genre.

Early in their relationship there had been a memorable exception to their usual date night, where Merlin had paused the film, shouted “Fudge it!” and pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Arthur had asked.

“Setting a timer,” Merlin had replied, without looking up.

“What? Why?” Arthur’s words ended in a gasp as Merlin dropped the phone onto the table and straddled Arthur’s lap.

“We have an hour,” Merlin said, before snogging Arthur senseless. Arthur did not need much more clarification after that.

***

Three years into their relationship it almost felt silly that they weren’t living together. Arthur often stayed the weekend at Merlin’s flat (he would make pancakes in the morning.) Aithusa didn’t seem to mind this situation. In fact, Arthur would spend afternoons taking her to the park to teach her footie tricks and evenings watching a film with her and Merlin, all three of them cuddled up on the couch. On occasions when Aithusa was staying with Hunith, Merlin spent the weekend at Arthur’s.  That typically meant Aithusa was spending time with her Gram or with Uncle Lance, both of whom spoiled her terribly. Overall, she didn’t mind Arthur being in their lives at all.

In fact, it had gotten to the point that if Arthur spent the weekend at his own flat, Aithusa would repeatedly ask Merlin why Mr. Arthur wasn’t there.

Merlin brought this up to Arthur. This was not something Merlin had anticipated three years ago. He had thought that his six year old would be concerned by her Da seeing someone so much, but in fact, she was confused why that someone wasn’t there more often.

For the Aithusa’s sake, Arthur offered moving in together. For stability, he said. Maybe they could get a bigger flat. Maybe with a yard for Aithusa. Maybe they could get a dog.

Merlin one-upped Arthur and told him to make that a house, a cat, and a ring. Then they would have a deal. (Arthur said yes, of course. Though he was a little miffed Merlin hadn’t gotten down on bended knee.)

Aithusa was the flower girl at their wedding. She looked rather adorable in her forget-me-not-blue dress and crown of white roses.

***

Aithusa was seven when the three of them moved into a house. She would always remember running through the house’s rooms at top speed, while Da yelled at her to calm down while Mr. Arthur tried to catch her (only making her laugh harder and run faster). Da and Mr. Arthur had only been married a few months, but the three of them were adjusting just fine.

Aithusa felt odd calling him, ‘Mr. Arthur.’ She kept at it for a while, out of habit, but it hadn’t sat right in her seven-year-old mind. One day when Mr. Arthur was picking her up from school, she said in a very matter-of-fact way (a tone that always reminded Arthur of Merlin), “I can’t keep calling you ‘Mr. Arthur.’ No one at school knows who that is and then I have to say ‘my new dad’ which no one understands. So I need a new name for you that isn’t Da, because I already call Da that.”

“Oh,” he had said. From the back seat of his car, she watched him open and close his mouth for a moment. Arthur would always remember trying not to feel overwhelmed in that moment. He cleared his throat loudly, and looked at her through the rearview mirror, “You could try Pa?”

“Pa,” She considered it for a moment, “Alright.”

“Al-alright,” she hadn’t noticed Arthur’s voice crack, and this interaction would likely not make it to her long-term memories. But Arthur would always remember it, as clear as anything. Later that night, Arthur would have a proper cry about it. Merlin would laugh at him as he pet his hair and told him he was being ridiculous.

“I’m a Pa,” Arthur would sniffle.

“Congrats,” Merlin snorted, petting back the blond fringe from his forehead.

“Shut up,” Arthur said, his voice muffled because he had buried his face into Merlin’s chest.

***

When Aithusa was seven, her grades in school dropped. When Merlin tried to help her, she only became irritated and wouldn’t listen to him. It caused a few temper tantrums, to say the least.

Merlin sat in bed after a particularly bad night.  Aithusa’s teacher had sent home a note asking to speak with Merlin, and that evening Aithusa had refused to even look at her homework. Dressed in loose joggers and one of Arthur’s old footie shirts, Merlin stared at the note with a glare that would likely kill the teacher if she were there. Arthur was in the en suite bathroom, brushing his teeth while he listened to Merlin.

“I just don’t know what happened. She was doing so well.” Merlin said.

Arthur wiped his mouth and turned off the bathroom light, before sitting on the bed next to Merlin, who leaned on his shoulder with an exhausted huff. Merlin never slept well after fighting with Aithusa, and in the last few weeks that had happened more and more.

“Let me see that,” Arthur took the note out of Merlin’s hand and carefully started reading it. It listened Aithusa’s grade and some of the teacher’s concerns with Aithusa’s focus in class. He scanned it a few times. “Hm, she seems alright in her maths. She acts up before lunch, but I doubt it’s the food. What did Aithusa say they do before lunch? Wait, a second… Oh.”

“What?” Merlin grumbled, his face still squished against Arthur’s shoulder.

“Merlin,” Arthur laughed with relief, “She’s dyslexic.”

“What?” Merlin snatched the paper back and reread it, as if there was a secret code he had missed.

“She gets frustrated and doesn’t want to admit that the assignments are hard, so she just says she doesn’t want to do it and throws a fit.  The same thing happened to me as a kid.  Uther was never much help, as I’m sure you could have figured out. But I figured it out on my own, and looked up some tricks to help me. But she’s only really struggling in reading and vocabulary. Her spelling has always been a bit bad. I’m not saying I’m right but it could be…”

“Oh my god, you’re brilliant,” Merlin grabbed Arthur’s face and smacked a kiss on his lips. Merlin hated not knowing what was bothering his little one and he wasn’t sure how long it would have taken him to figure it out. Thank the stars for Arthur.

The next day, Arthur ate his breakfast with Aithusa before school and explained that when he read, the letters didn’t want to stay still and it took him a couple times to understand what he was reading.

She was silent for a while, looking at her toast. “Do the letters move for you too?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, they do, princess,” Arthur nodded, “They do for a lot of kids. I’ll show you some of my tricks, alright, sweetheart?”

She nodded.

Every night after that they read together.  Arthur would read a paragraph and then hand the book to Aithusa and help her read through the next. (The first full novel they finished was The BFG. It would stay one of Aithusa’s favorite books.)

***

At one point, Aithusa had asked about her birth parents. It was bound to happen, and Merlin had been expecting it for years. Ever since she was able to speak Merlin explained to her what adoption was and that he had chosen her. That he had named her. That he had deliberately chosen to love her. She knew all this, but as she got older, especially when she hit the age where there were more questions filling her brain than actual statements, she had asked more and more about her birth parents. Merlin had told her simply that he didn’t know who her birth parents were, but that they were unable to take care of her. He had found her and taken her in.

None of it was a lie, and Merlin would never lie to her about something so important. Eventually, when she was older, he would sit her down and tell her how he found her in more detail. She deserved that, but perhaps later, when she was old enough to cope with it.  Either way, she wasn’t lacking in family. She had her Da and Pa, and her Gram and Uncle Gaius, and not to mention her Aunt Morgana and Aunt Gwen.

(Many years later, she would read a story in the news about a baby who had been abandoned on the street. It had led her down a few more articles about child abandonment, and she had this deep feeling in her chest that only a teenager could have, that told her this was her story too.

She later built up the nerve to ask her Da about her adoption, one more time.

There was a pained look in his eye, one that she hadn’t noticed when she was a little kid. “We choose you, little one. I want you to always, always know that.” Da had said before he said anything else.

She had cried when he explained that fateful day at the homeless shelter. She mostly blamed that on hormones, because she wasn’t truly sad and she had never felt abandoned. She felt angry, but not abandoned. Pa had run into the sitting room to see what was going on. When he saw her in tears, he had hauled her into his arms as if she was still a toddler and not an awkward young teen.

“You’re allowed free use of the swear jar right now, if you like.” Pa had offered.

Merlin had glared at him.

A laugh hiccupped out of her as she wiped away a tear, “Fuck!” she giggled. It had made her feel much better.

Da, despite himself, laughed loudly, “I think he meant to let out your angry, but that’s much funnier, sweetheart.”)

***

When she was nine, Aithusa asked Arthur to come in for her class’ career day.

Initially, he had been worried because Merlin had gone the year before, and surely some of the kids knew that Aithusa had two dads.  It had been a while since he was in school and back when he was her age, gay parents were not a common enough occurrence for it to go unnoted. He need not have worried though because when Arthur introduced himself to the teacher before class, she just said, “Oh, you must be the other Mr. Emrys. Here’s your name tag. Go on ahead and sit with the other parents.”

He had not corrected her that he had not taken Merlin’s surname. He did not mind. He put on the “Mr. Emrys, Detective Inspector” badge over his uniform, and waved at Aithusa as she sat down in her seat.

None of the kids even blinked when Aithusa introduced Arthur.

“I thought your Da was a paramedic?” One kid asked loudly.

“This is my other dad, Jacob.” Aithusa said with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, right, forgot.” Jacob said, and the teacher told him to stop interrupting. (Arthur got the impression talking out of turn was common for Jacob.)

Arthur was lucky that he had to focus on talking about his career, otherwise he might have been overwhelmed by the apathy on the kids’ faces at this information.

***

When Aithusa was ten, Merlin grew a beard. 

This was not the most notable part of that year, but it was what would always stick in Aithusa’s mind when she thought about that age. It wasn’t unruly, Merlin always kept it trim, but it was one of those defining moments in a child’s life where she realized her Da was a person, with the possibility to change as much as anything else in the world.

In reality, what had happened was that Merlin had decided, that although he loved his job as a paramedic, he wanted a little better pay and he needed hours where he didn’t have to be away from home for so long. So he took a year off from working to get his nursing degree.  Merlin considered it for a long time, but eventually it was Arthur who pushed him. He promised Merlin that he could carry them through a year on just his salary. He reminded Merlin that they were married and what was his, was Merlin and Aithusa’s too. This was a decision for the three of them.

As a paramedic he hadn’t been allowed any facial hair, but in that year, between classes and parenting, he let himself grow a beard. Little did he know that it would act as a time marker in Aithusa’s mind. Arthur rather liked it on Merlin, but Aithusa wouldn’t remember that part.

***

When Aithusa was eleven (and a half, she reminded everyone), she begged to have her ears pierced.

Pa, who had no idea why this was something she needed to plead for, had said, “Uh, sure?”

Da on the other hand, had said, with his hands on his hips, “Arthur. I told her not until she was thirteen.”

Arthur put up his hands defensively, “What, and I was just supposed to know that?” (Of course not, Aithusa had deliberately asked Pa knowing that he didn’t know about Da’s rule).

Aithusa had run up to Da, now that she knew she had secured Pa into saying yes.

“But, Daaa look at these earrings, pleaseeeeee.” She had elongated the last word as she held up an image of some small stud dragon earrings. “Please! I’ll take care of them and be really careful!”

Merlin had grumbled for a while about keeping his rules in place. (From past experience, both Aithusa and Arthur knew that he would crumble when given puppy-dog eyes and this time was no exception.)

As predicted, Merlin did allow Aithusa to get her ears pierced (he had dragged it out until she turned twelve, but despite being a year earlier than his rule, he felt vindicated that he had held out for six months). When the time came, Arthur took her to the shop to get her ears pierced. As they walked into the shop Arthur watched her hesitate. She looked at the earrings and tugged on her ear nervously.

“You don’t have to, princess, if you’d rather not.” Arthur had whispered to her.

“But I want earrings…” Aithusa murmured.

“We can get you clip-ons,” Arthur offered.

“But shops barely have any clip-ons and they’re all so boring,” She whined.

Somehow, all of this accumulated with Arthur sitting in the chair, while Aithusa nervously held his hand. When the needle pierced his ear, he felt it, but he made sure not to even blink. When the woman pulled away he said, “Did you do it yet?”

The woman, who had a fair few amount of piercings, smiled as if she knew exactly what Arthur was doing. “All done. Have a look,” She held up a mirror for him, showing him a small black stud in his ear. Merlin was going to lose his mind, but it didn’t matter because Aithusa was finally smiling and bouncing on her toes, eager to get into the chair.

“My turn!”

Arthur held her hand and she winced a bit when the needle went in, but she was practically vibrating with excitement when she saw the small crystal stud in her ear.

“You’ll have to let it heal for a bit, alright? But let’s get you some earrings for when you can take them out. Sterling silver, remember what your Da said about nickel.”

“Thank you, Pa!”

“You’re welcome, princess. Your Da is going to have a fit when he sees this, but you’re welcome.”

(Merlin did in fact have a bit of a fit, but it was a fit of laughter. He wasn’t the only one either. Arthur’s team at the station had a field day when they saw the stud. Then they cooed over him when they heard the story.)

***

A few years later, puberty hit hard, as it always does. Despite the rough patches (the yelling and the crying, on everyone’s part) the three of them were still a tight-knit family. Morgana would never let Arthur live down being such a ‘family man.’

When she was fourteen, she got her wisdom teeth removed. This wouldn’t seem like such an important event, as far as father-daughter events, but in this case it sparked something in young Aithusa’s mind.

The night before the surgery, she had been a bit nervous and couldn’t fall asleep. She went downstairs to grab some milk, when she heard her dads talking in the kitchen. As any young teen was wont to do, she immediately leaned against the wall and strained her ear to listen in. Unfortunately they were just talking about their schedules. Boring.

Pa was huffing, “Well if you got called to work tomorrow, I’ll just take her to the oral surgeon tomorrow.”

“You can’t, remember? Legal guardians only.” Da said with a sigh.

“Snickerdoodles. I keep forgetting I can’t do that.” Pa groaned, “Alright, you go with Aithusa and just tell Gwaine to get over it and he will have to work tomorrow. I’ll go to the shop and pick up the groceries. Do we have any more soup, Aithusa is going to need it-”

Aithusa stopped paying attention after that. She went back to her room and pulled out her phone, where she quickly learned that Arthur, as her step-dad, wouldn’t be allowed to do a lot of things for her. For a fourteen year old who barely remembered a time when Arthur wasn’t in her life, it felt like the biggest injustice in the world.

The next month, after her surgery and finally being able to eat normally again, she came up with a plan.

In the midst of her planning though, she realized she needed help. One night, when Pa was at a work seminar, she found her Da sitting in the sitting room with a book.

“Da, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, little one, what is it?” Her Da pulled off his reading glasses and ran a hand through his scruffy end-of-the-day hair. He was graying at his temples.

(Merlin had complained about it. Once. He had said it made him look old and had mentioned dying the gray bits. Pa wouldn’t stand for it, and had insisted for the next week that Da looked ‘refined’ and ‘handsome’ and ‘Aithusa, tell your father he looks nice, he won’t listen to me.’ Eventually Da conceded and said, ‘Alright, would you shut up, I’m sorry I ever mentioned it.’)

“I printed these off. I should give him some time to think about it first before I get too deep, but I need to know if this is the right thing because I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“What?” Merlin took the papers, but his eyes were on his daughter, evaluating her. (Arthur called it Merlin’s Mama-Bear-Vision. It had been the same look Merlin had given Arthur when he had offered to bring his ‘lizard-cat sword’ on that first fateful picnic. It was also used to scan his daughter for any signs of stress or illness).  After a moment’s look, Merlin concluded that Aithusa was nervous. She was trying to be nonchalant but her shoulders were tight and she wouldn’t really meet his eyes.

“Is it for school?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I heard you talking about how Pa can’t take me to hospital and I looked it up and it’s just not fair. He’s been my Pa basically forever.”

Merlin, surprised by this change of topic, looked down at the papers. His eyes landed on the top line. “FAQ on Adopting a Step Child,” He read out loud, the words not processing fully. Then it hit him, “Oh, little one.” Merlin covered his mouth, tears pooling in his eyes at the sudden strike of emotions. “Oh little one, come here.”  He pulled her forward until she was on the couch next to him and he hugged her, pressing a kiss to her white-blonde hair, “All you need to do is ask and he would say yes in an instance.”

“No he won’t, he always has to think about things forever before he decides.” She said with a roll of her eyes, “But I need to know if I these are the right things, before I ask.”

Merlin wiped his eyes, “Oh sugar snaps, sure. Yeah let me actually look it.” Merlin shuffled through the papers for a bit, reading through the website pages she had printed out to see if they were the right ones for step-parent adoption. While he read, Aithusa nervously fiddled with the fringe on Merlin’s blanket. “Well, we will have to get the actual papers from the council office, but you’ll need me to do that and there are a couple more steps. But we can do that together. When do you want to ask him-?”

There was the distinct sound of Arthur’s car pulling into the drive, followed by the sound of a car door slamming.

“Oh, I’ll just do it now,” Aithusa grabbed the papers, and shuffled them back into order.

When Arthur came through the door, he didn’t initially notice his family waiting for him. He struggled with his coat for a moment before slipping off his shoes. Then he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

When Arthur did notice Aithusa, who was leaning against the kitchen counter, his first words were, “Why aren’t you in bed?”

Aithusa rolled her eyes, “Oh my god you’re such a nag, can you not for one day?”

Merlin tried not to laugh. Arthur had gotten on a kick about Aithusa’s sleep after he found her finishing an assignment at three in the morning last month. Merlin found it precious. Aithusa found it infuriating.

“Sleep is-”

“Very important. Got it,” Aithusa nodded.

“Where’s your Da?” Arthur asked, changing to a neutral topic.

“I’m here,” Merlin stood up from the sofa to greet his husband.

Arthur kissed him hello. “How was your night?” He paused. “Are you alright?” He touched Merlin’s cheek, eyes intent on Merlin’s which were a little red.

Merlin gave a weak smile. He should have known Arthur would notice his teary eyes.

“Fine. You know me, one sad part in my book and I’m in a puddle.” Merlin said quickly, “Aithusa, show your Pa what you showed me.”

Arthur gave him a funny look before looking at his step-daughter expectantly. “Did you pass that French exam, like I said you would?”

Aithusa rolled her eyes, “Yes, but that’s not what I was going to ask.” She pulled out the papers, “It’s just really unfair how you can’t take me to hospital or that you aren’t actually my father, even though I don’t even really remember all that much about living with just Da.” She slid the papers across the kitchen counter. “Da thinks you won’t have to think about it, but we both know you lectured me about reading contracts before signing them for like an hour.”

“Am I signing a contract?” Arthur asked confused, picking up the papers. He read one line. Then he reread the line again. He looked up at Aithusa and connected what she had been talking about with the papers in his hands.

Arthur didn’t cry often. In fact, Aithusa remembers him crying only twice. The first time was a few tears at his wedding, and the second was once when he thought he was alone with just her Da. Other than that, Aithusa has never seen her Pa cry. Until now.

In fact, it was rare for even Merlin to see his husband cry. He recalled a few rough nights after a case went pear shaped, but on the whole, Arthur rarely cried.

This was such a sudden assault of emotion, surprise overlapping with joy, gratitude, humility, and wonder. The only way to process so much emotion in such a short amount of time was to burst into tears. And he did.

All of a sudden her Pa, stoic and steadfast, was losing his composure. His lips pulled back in that distinct way that meant tears were only a few seconds away from falling, a smile that turns into a grimace. Embarrassed, he covered his face, his wedding ring gleaming in the dim kitchen lights. He tried to take in a calming breath but it didn’t help.

“Oh, Arthur,” he heard Merlin whisper affectionately, but all of Arthur’s thought was overtaken by his focus on Aithusa. Tears slipped down his cheeks and he couldn’t seem to breathe properly.

“Pa, don’t cry,” Aithusa said, distressed. She pulled Arthur’s hands away from his face. She had seen Da cry plenty of times. He cried at the drop of a hat. But never Pa. He could stand through it all with just a few blinks and a frown. But confronted with this simple stack of papers, he was sobbing.

Arthur wiped his eyes, “I’m not sad, I’m not sad. You just surprised me, princess.” Arthur leaned down and pulled her into a hug, engulfing her completely in his arms. He held his breath, trying desperately to stop crying.

“You don’t have to,” Aithusa said casually. Or tried to. It was hard with her Pa hugging her so tightly.

“Yes I do. You’re my daughter,” At the last word, the sobs came back ever harder. He pulled away and tried to wipe away the tears, covering his face again. “Shit.”

Merlin, who predictably shed a few tears, laughed as he said, “Swear jar, Arthur.”

“Merlin!” Arthur snapped before he looked at his grinning husband. With a wet laugh, Arthur pulled Merlin close, kissing his cheek wrapping one arm around him while pulling Aithusa close with his other arm.

“Where do I sign? Do you already have the papers?” Arthur asked.

“No, we have to go to the council office, but it shouldn’t be too hard. Since you’re her step-father and you’ve lived with her for years at this point, they should process the request fairly quickly.”

“You don’t want to read it, though?” Aithusa waved the print-outs, as if to remind him about all the information he needed to know. “What happened to reading all the legal fine print?”

Arthur smiled, “Oh, Aithusa. No terms and conditions matter if I get to be your father, officially.”

As he spoke the words, a whole new wave of tears hit him.

Arthur would later wonder why he couldn’t stop crying, why it felt endless. The first reason that Arthur could fathom was that Aithusa had been abandoned as a child and she may not remember it, but Merlin certainly did. Arthur would never forget the first time Merlin told Arthur the long and detailed story about the day he found Aithusa and how those first forty-eight hours had been pure hell. The second reason was that, despite all Merlin and Arthur’s efforts to consider Aithusa’s feelings when it came to their relationship, that never meant Aithusa had any right to like Arthur.  Plenty of children hated their step parents. But despite being a teenager who was currently railing against society as a whole, she had decided that this was an injustice to fight for. Arthur not being her father was an injustice. She had chosen him and she had presented it so casually because she felt as if it was obvious.

Arthur tried to stop the crying. The decision was over now, damn it. But the tears wouldn’t stop. Merlin, who was trying to soothe Arthur gently, kissed his cheek but somehow that made it worse.

Arthur pulled away from his loving family and walked into the sitting room, in a desperate attempt to stop crying. But nothing helped. He kept cursing hoping that would stop it.

From the hall, Merlin and Aithusa watched as Arthur frantically paced. Smiling, Merlin dropped a bill into the swear jar (it was the same one from eleven years ago, it had been transferred from Merlin’s small apartment into their house with loving care).

“Da…” Aithusa tugged on Merlin’s sleeve, “I think I broke Pa.”

“It’ll take him a while,” Merlin was smiling from ear to ear. “You know he doesn’t know how to process these things. Go hug him.”

“That’s not going to help,” Aithusa insisted.

Merlin nudged her forward, “No back-talk. Go hug your father.”

Aithusa huffed, but did as told. She poked at Arthur’s side, and in his surprise he opened his arms. She ducked under his arms and hugged his middle. He slumped down, and they collapsed onto the sofa together. She tucked up her feet and leaned against his chest. His badge was poking her, but she laid her head on his shoulder anyways. Like that, his tears subsided. He pressed a kiss to her hair.

“Better?” She asked, pulling the sofa’s throw over him, like he always did when she was sick or pouting. “I’ll never let you live this down, you know that?”

He laughed, tugging the blanket over both of them. He looked up at Merlin who was certainly the reason for Aithusa developing such an attitude.

“You can’t hold this over me. You’re the one that wanted me as your father.” Arthur said, and this time he was able to choke back the tears, although it was a close one.

Merlin sat on Aithusa’s other side. He caught Arthur’s eye over the top of her head.

Arthur looked down at his daughter, “Thank you, Aithusa.”

She shrugged, feeling awkward at his red-eyed earnestness. “It’s just stupid that you aren’t my father.”

“Well, now I am,” He teased.

“Oh joy,” Aithusa said with an eye roll but Arthur caught sight of her smile as she leaned into his side.