500 Days of Freya (Merlin)

Memory II

Chapter 45

Warning/s: none?

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: idk what's going on downstairs but i can hear drilling and my dad swearing at my dog so

Prompt: The Forrest of Fanfic requested for a continuation of 'Memory' a year on.

It hadn't taken long for Morgana to run excitedly to Gwen to announce Merlin and Freya's relationship, and then of course Gwen had told Arthur, and then when Arthur went to tell the knights, everyone else found out.

Merlin had taken the most sensible course of action and, along with Freya, hidden for the entire day. Eventually, he realised he was going to have to face people, and reluctantly he subjected himself to days of questioning (weeks in Gwaine's case) and one very socially-stunted king sticking his nose in where it shouldn't be stuck.

Now, a year later, Merlin was no longer being interrogated every second of the day, Freya was free to do her work without any of the maids staring at her, and Arthur had learnt his boundaries. (Admittedly, it had taken several lectures from Gwen and quite a few exasperated yells of 'Arthur! Get out!' from Merlin and/or Freya, usually with one of them cowering behind a changing screen, but he had improved and that was of course what mattered.)

However, he was still subject to Arthur asking him how Freya was every day ('Arthur, you could go and ask her yourself') and Gwen offering him various items from before she was Queen ('I don't know what shade of purple suits Freya best, Gwen, I really don't.'). It was sweet how much his friends cared for him and his partner, but at the same time it was immensely annoying.

Which was why Merlin decided, with Freya's solid agreement, not to tell anyone when he and Freya became betrothed. There would be tears from Gwen and Morgana, persuasions to go out to the tavern from Gwaine, awkward sentiments from Arthur and strangely personal congratulations from the knights. Merlin wasn't entirely comfortable with any of those things, and Freya looked like she was about to pass out when Merlin told her of the consequences.

Everything was going surprisingly well. Nobody had spotted everything, it wasn't considered unusual when Arthur decided to give Merlin and Freya some chambers in the castle befitting two servants of nobles (which technically didn't exist and Arthur had just made up because he was fond – uh, definitely not fond of Merlin) and both Merlin and Freya managed to keep their mouths shut.

The problem came five months later, when Freya threw up for eighteen mornings in a row, didn't have her monthly cycle for two months, and started gaining weight very quickly. At first, Merlin identified it as rich food. Then as an infection. Then as a deficiency, in something that he wasn't quite sure of. At that point, Freya snapped and yelled, "Merlin, I'm pregnant!"

Merlin, rather flushed, replied quietly, "Yes, I know. I just didn't want to say it."

Freya had to walk around the castle a few times to calm down after that.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, someone was passing by their doors at the exact moment that Freya chose to shout out her pregnancy. That someone was the worst someone it could be: Gwaine. It was fairly obvious what was going to happen next.

Gwaine told Arthur and Percival. Arthur told Gwen who told Morgana, and Percival told Elyan who told Leon who told Arthur who already knew and excitedly gossiped about it with his most senior knight. Um, no, wait a minute – he definitely did not because that would be very unkingly and unknightly.

Freya, blissfully unaware that her condition had spread to hers and Merlin's friends, went into work the next morning in a loose dress (that could now be qualified as just a dress) and went around her work with cheerful caution, not bending down too often and being careful not to put too much pressure on her stomach.

Merlin, in much the same manner, went to Arthurs chambers the next morning in a state of jittery anxiety. He barely focused on his chores, doing them automatically, his mind running a mile a second with questions about Freya and pregnancy. As such, he didn't notice any of the stares that the King and Queen were directing at him, and didn't even seem to notice when Arthur dropped a piece of cheese on his lap and then catapulted a spoon towards Gwen in his hurry to clean himself up.

"Morgana's been looking at me weirdly all day," Freya confessed when she got back to their chambers that day. "I think she's noticed the weight gain."

"Arthur and Gwen haven't said anything." Merlin flopped on the bed next to his betrothed. "So maybe she just thinks you look different."

"Probably," Freya agreed, and began to drift off into a light doze. Pregnancy was tiring. She didn't even want to think about childbirth. Merlin got up to start making their dinner, and she could hear his clanging and muttering as she catnapped. (No pun intended. Well, maybe a little one.)

Their peace was interrupted by a loud knock at the door which was shortly followed by Gwaine, clearly drunk, staggering in.

"Gwaine," Merlin reprimanded without looking up from the stew. "What have I said about knocking?"

"It's not just the thought that counts."

"Very good. Now, what is it?"

"I was just wondering," Gwaine said with surprising dignity, considering how much mead he had consumed, "why you didn't tell us." He drew himself up and arranged his face into what he hoped was a hurt expression. Freya, only half-listening from her slumber, opened her eyes at this point and wondered if Gwaine was constipated.

"Tell you what?" Merlin said dully, expecting a drunken ramble. Last time Gwaine had come in intoxicated he had announced to Merlin that he was hurt, because Merlin had never told him his true identity of a sheep clothed in human skin.

"That Freya—" a drunken gesture interrupted his sentence – "has a child!" His voice dropped to a dramatic whisper. "In her belly!"

Freya yelped and rolled off the bed at this point. "How did you know?" she yelled, throwing a pillow at Merlin. "He knows!"

"I know," Merlin replied, standing stock still in shock. The stew began to burn onto the bottom of the pot.

"I do know," Gwaine confirmed. "And the others know now as well."

"The castle knows?" Freya said weakly, one hand at her stomach.

"No, the castle doesn't know. The king and queen and knights know."

"How do you know?"

"Because you know."

"Enough!" Merlin finally yelled. "How did you...find out?"

"I heard you talking," Gwaine said happily, smiling at them.

Freya rested her head against the bed frame. Merlin took the stew off the heat and eventually told Gwaine to get out.

"I think we need to make a formal announcement," he said weakly, after two minutes of pure silence. Freya looked at him and sighed, then nodded.

"Do you think we'll ever have secrets?" she asked suddenly, five minutes later.

"No," Merlin decided after a couple of minutes' thought.

A/N: wow this was terrible lmao

any prompts?