Arthur stared at the mess in the kitchen. Apple mash was spilled on the counter. The bowl that used to contain it on the floor and the spoon was probably somewhere under the refrigerator. On the stove, the pot no longer contained water and a burnt smell wafted from it.

The cause of the disaster grinned, her cheeks dimpling, as she waved one hand while simultaneously stuffing the other into her mouth.

How did she even manage to get her whole fist into her mouth?

"Ok." Arthur wiped his hand down his expensive trousers. "Stay calm. You can do this." he said out loud even though Sarah probably didn't understand a word he said. Not that it mattered because Sarah was calm. It was him whose heart was beating out of his chest. Reaching out, he quickly switched off the flame under the empty pot. It might catch fire, although Arthur wasn't really sure if that was a possibility. Metals didn't catch fire, did they?

Sarah took her fist out of her mouth and banged the both of them on the table. She gurgled excitedly.

At least she wasn't crying.

Now where did Merlin keep all the clean cloth?

The moment Arthur turned his back on Sarah, she started crying. Oh, it was a tiny whimper at first so Arthur ignored it in favour of pulling open various drawers in the hopes of locating some clean cloth. But within seconds, the whimper had morphed into a full blown cry. Swearing, then stopping quickly, Arthur spun around and lifted Sarah from her baby chair.

"It's alright, sweetie." He bounced her the way he'd seen Morgana do and whispered into her damp hair. "It's alright. Mommy will be home soon."

The crying continued, even as she fisted his hair, tugging almost painfully at it. Gently, Arthur rubbed her back, murmuring nonsense to her. Then he caught sight of the window.

"Look, Sarah, look at the cat."

Normally, Arthur thought the stray cat that Merlin kept as a pseudo-pet was little more than a minor irritation. Now, as Sarah's cries softened into sniffles as she stared at the cat, Arthur found himself harbouring a more generous view of it.

"Isn't the cat cute?"

Sarah leaned dangerously towards the cat who stared back at them from outside. Placing her sticky hands on the window, Sarah giggled. For good measure, she smacked the window a few times and Arthur watched with horror as the window became coated with the leftovers of the apple mash. Then in her excitement, Sarah turned back to Arthur and patted his cheeks, leaving a sticky residue that Arthur suspected was part saliva and part apple mash. Then she swung to the window again.

"Ah. Ah."

Arthur wasn't sure if she was calling him or the cat. But he smiled anyway, and kissed the top of her head. For a while, he carried her and they watched the cat who'd gotten bored of looking and them and was now lounging on the grass.

When he felt she wasn't about to burst into tears again, Arthur left the window and balancing her in one arm, looked around the kitchen for a clean cloth. Finally, he found Merlin's stash of cloth, helped himself to one, and wiped Sarah down, a difficult task as she seemed to think it was a game and wriggled violently in his arm.

"I'm going to put you in your chair so I can clean you up ok?"

She screamed the moment he put her down. Sighing, Arthur cuddled her to him again.

"Alright. We won't sit on the chair."

With Sarah in his arms, Arthur paced in the kitchen. A glance at the clock told him that it was soon seven. Merlin was late home, which was annoying because Arthur really didn't want to eat apple mash for dinner.

The knock woke him up. For a moment, Arthur glanced around, unsure of where he was. Then he remembered, he was at Merlin's house looking after Sarah. Sarah. Clearly, he'd fallen asleep on the sofa. Arthur jumped up and dashed to where her cot was in a corner of the living room and peered in. Aside from the occasional jerking of her limbs, she looked fast asleep. Arthur bent over the cot and touched her cheek, then her soft hair. She was so tiny.

The person knocked again, dragging Arthur's attention from Sarah. Arthur was half tempted to ignore the door. It was probably some annoying sales person. Or worse, some so-called journalists who had managed to track him down. But, whoever it was, was persistent and Arthur moved away from the cot. Letting them knock would only wake Sarah.

"What do you want?"

A young lady, dressed in a simple sweater and jeans, stood on the steps. Her hair was messily pulled up into a pony tail and her face was scrubbed clean of any make up. He looked behind her. The paparazzi he'd run into didn't look like her but one could never be too sure. Unfazed by his unfriendly greeting, her eyes drifted over him. Suddenly, he was very aware of the fact that he probably looked a mess. At the very least, he had apple mash all over him.

"Have you finished staring?" Arthur crossed his arms and glared at her. It felt like she was judging him and he didn't like it one bit.

A slight smile crossed her face. "I have. I'm Gwen, Merlin's neighbour."

"Ok." She was the one intruding so Arthur didn't think there was need for him to be friendly.

One eyebrow lifted and she regarded him again. He wished she would stop staring at him.

"I came to help."

"Help?"

She shrugged lightly. "Merlin had to work late and he asked if I could bring you dinner."

It was then Arthur noticed the plate she held in her hands. Reluctant to apologise for his behavior, Arthur opened the door wider and stepped aside. Unsurprisingly, she hesitated. Then she tilted her head up, slanted him a look that was both amused and annoyed, and stepped into the house and made her way to the kitchen. It was obvious that she knew Merlin's house well. It occurred to him that perhaps she and Merlin were more than neighbours.

He could hear cupboards being opened and closed. Worried that Sarah would hear and wake, he closed the door and went over to check on her again. She was still asleep, her tiny chest moving with every breath she took. As usual, a swell of emotion threatened to overwhelm him. So much for telling everybody he had no plans to be tied down to a family. Right now, he suspected that he was tied to this little kid forever, no matter what his father said.

"Sarah is the cutest baby I've met."

Arthur jumped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Gwen stood beside him. "I've laid out your dinner."

"Oh right." Arthur took one last look at Sarah before following Gwen into the kitchen. The delicious smell of pie wafted into his nose and on cue, his stomach rumbled. The pie sat on the small table looking every bit as tempting as it smelled. He turned to Gwen. "Smells divine."

Not the least impressed by his praise, Gwen didn't even crack a smile. "Just something I popped into the oven. If there's nothing else, I'm going to go home."

Arthur sat at the table and looked up at where she hovered at the entrance of the kitchen. "Sure."

Just as she nodded and turned, Sarah started to cry. Arthur stood immediately but Gwen raised her hand. "I'll get her. Eat the pie while it's still warm." When he hesitated, she finally smiled. "Don't worry. I practically raised my brother. I can deal with a screaming kid."

Arthur was halfway through his pie when Gwen walked into the kitchen, Sarah in her arms. The smile on Sarah's face suggested that Gwen's claim of being able to deal with her was true. Putting his spoon down, Arthur stood.

"She just needed a diaper change." Gwen jiggled Sarah a little, causing her to giggle. "Finish the pie. I can hold her for a while more."

"Thank you. The pie is very nice."

A scoff escaped from Gwen. "So you do know how to say thank you."

"What?" He frowned up at her.

"Seeing that I brought you dinner, laid it out and washed up the mess in the kitchen and you still didn't even bother to thank me."

Her clipped tones annoyed him, even as he acknowledged she had a point. As a result, his apology came out stilted and insincere. The look that Gwen gave him could cut glass but she said nothing, buried her nose into Sarah and walked out of the kitchen.

Arthur dropped his plate into the sink then walked out to see Gwen on the sofa, bouncing a very happy Sarah on her knee. He owed her a proper apology. He wasn't used to apologizing. When you were the son of the most powerful man in town, it wasn't usually necessary.

"Gwen," Arthur started quietly. She lifted her eyes to him and for a moment, the guard she had on all the time seemed to have dropped. But with a blink, it was up again. "I am sorry that I was so unappreciative of all you did."

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. "Ok."

"Ok?" That was all she had to say?

Gwen stood and handed Sarah over. "I hope you weren't expecting me to fall all over you just because you apologized."

Sarah pulled at his hair again. "No, of course not."

"I'll be off then."

And then, it was just him and Sarah alone again. She patted his face and he kissed her.

AN: Modern AU is my weakness. I love them. Ha.