Epilogue- Six years later

Merlin paced the length of the room, waiting for the news. Arthur watched him, fully understanding what his cousin was going through; although he was sure that Merlin was worrying a bit too much.

"I think you may want to calm down Merlin, you look as if you're about to mentally explode."

The warlock shot him a pained look and continued to pace.

"This is what you were doing when Amir was born. For me and Gwen it's just a bit worse; Mother says it's twins and I know for a fact she's not wrong. Morgana saw it to."

"Well Lara's mother survived having twins twice and so have many other mothers. You don't need to worry, if anyone can survive something like giving birth, it's Gwen."

Merlin raised his eyebrows at Arthur's reassuring tone. The prince turned to the bed where a boy of about two years was lying fast asleep. Like his father, he had blonde hair. Arthur carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, watching his son sleep.

"Where's Lybra? " Arthur asked, casually, trying to keep conversation as the minutes crawled by.

"She's circling above the castle," Merlin replied, bluntly, still walking back and forth.

A small crying noise suddenly sounded from the other room. Merlin stopped in his tracks and looked at Arthur, his face fearful. Minutes later another cry joined the other.

"It looks like Lara and Morgana were right after all," Arthur said.

Merlin however had sprinted out of the room and skidded around the door.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted. He wished he hadn't as Amir stirred and opened his pale blue eyes. "Sorry Amir." As the boy blinked his eyes blearily, Arthur picked him up and went after Merlin.

He found the warlock frozen in the doorway to the room next door. Looking past the stiff form of his friend, he saw Lara and Gaius standing away from the bed, both smiling widely. Morgana was next to Gwen, passing her two bundles wrapped in blankets. The crying noise was coming from both of the bundles but it soon stopped.

Gaius smiled at his son.

Arthur nudged Merlin with the arm that wasn't carrying Amir, before walking to Morgana, and Merlin stumbled into the room. When he reached the bed, Gwen shuffled closer to him and held the bundles in a position so that he could look. Peering at the blankets Merlin's gaze was met by two pairs of eyes, both a deep brown like Gwen's. Studying the children, the warlock noted that both of them had pasty skin, like he did, and they already had hair, one's slightly darker than the other.

Gwen was looking at Merlin's face, smiling at his look of shock and joy. When he gave her a look she shuffled to the side to allow him room to sit on the edge of the bed, passing the bundles to him.

When the babies were in his arms, Merlin rocked them from side to side, smiling at his children. But his smile turned to a grimace when they both started to cry again and he handed them back to Gwen, who immediately succeeded in hushing them. Everybody was laughing. Merlin's cheeks were a flushed red colour.

"Were Morgana and Mother right about the other thing? " he asked his wife.

"What the one girl, one boy thing? " Arthur asked, trying to contain his laughter whilst setting Amir down and allowing him to waddle next to Morgana.

"Yes they were," Gwen told Merlin.

"Have you thought about names? " Lara asked.

Merlin and Gwen looked at each other.

"Not really," Merlin said.

"Oh joy, this could be fun to see what they come up with," Arthur muttered.

"Arthur!" Morgana scolded, swiping at him with one hand.

Merlin turned to Gwen again.

"How about you name one and I name the other," he suggested. Gwen nodded, still smiling.

"Ok..." she looked at one of her children. "How about Leo after your grandfather? "

Merlin smiled at her and glanced at Lara and Gaius. The sorceress was beaming and the physician was watching her with a smile, and then hugged her.

"That's perfect," Merlin said.

The warlock then began to think of a name for his and Gwen's daughter.

"Might I make a suggestion? " Lybra said, mentally.

"For crying out loud! When the universe was created, didn't someone think to come up with some mental door, which everybody has to knock before they barge into someone's head? "

"Alright then, the next time I need to speak to you like this, I'll try and knock but I bet you I'd give you one hell of a headache."

"OK, sorry. You were saying? "

"Well, Gwen named your son after a member of your side of the family, so why don't you name your daughter after a member of her side."

"But I don't know any female names from her family."

"Don't you? Remember what Eleanor told you several years ago."

It clicked. Merlin felt as if the name was perfect.

"What do you think about it? "

"I think it would suit and that Gwen would be touched. But prepare for some waterworks. Apparently human woman's emotions can be a bit unstable due to hormones and the fact that they've had a baby, or two in your case."

"Thanks Lybra."

"No problem. Just make sure you introduce me to the new little ones later on, though they might start crying. I'm not exactly small anymore am I? "

"I love you."

"Same here. Now go and tell everyone what you think she should be called."

Lybra retreated from Merlin's mind but the warlock could still feel her watching through his eyes.

"What about Melissa? " he asked, out loud.

Gwen smiled again, as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh well done, Merlin," Arthur said. "You made her cry."

"Oh shut up Arthur," Morgana and Merlin hissed simultaneously.

"Not in front of young ears," Arthur joked, briefly placing his hands over Amir's ears.

"It'll be your turn to name another one in a few months," Merlin said, looking at Morgana's pregnant belly whilst gently hugging Gwen.

"It's a girl, so there are only so many options in the world," Morgana replied.

"Like what? " Arthur asked.

"I'll tell you when she's here," Morgana teased, turning back to Merlin and Gwen.

"Are you alright? " Merlin asked Gwen.

"I think Melissa's perfect," she whispered. "Do you want to have another go? "

"I'll need the practice." Merlin lifted Leo and Melissa out of Gwen's arms and cradled them in his arms again. To his delight, neither of them began to cry.

Morgana and Lara's eyes both suddenly flashed gold and there's faces lit up with astonishment and excitement.

"Brace yourselves," Lara said. The four young adults and Gaius stared at her.

The next second, two different things happened at the same time. A box slid off its own accord onto the floor, when it had been nowhere near the edge, and the window by the bed flew open. Merlin stared at his children just in time to see their eyes flash gold.

"No," Arthur muttered, staring at the two children in his cousin's arms. "I'm not being stupid when I say that was them, am I? "

"It wasn't about to stop," Gaius explained. "Magic has been passed down the generations on Lara's mother's side of the family."

"I don't see Amir moving things without touching them," Arthur said, confused.

"Mostly, the men don't inherit the magical powers," Lara told him. "I think that since Merlin, it's both genders in this family in the family will have magic."

Someone suddenly knocked at the door and when it opened, Ælfreda was standing there.

"Can I come in? " she asked.

"Of course you can. You don't need to ask," Gwen said, smiling at her.

Ælfreda walked in and leant slightly over Merlin's shoulder to stare at the twins.

"Oh, they're adorable," she sighed. "Have you thought of names yet? "

"Yep, Leo and Melissa," Merlin replied. "Where's your father? "

"He's trying to convince Uther to come and have a look. You should have been with him for the last few hours; he's been as excited as anything. Bedivere looked as if he wanted to give him a good kick."

Merlin and the others laughed.

Arthur thought that it was nice that Bedivere was included in the family. When Bedivere had first met Ælfreda, he had immediately liked her and they had ended up together. Rufus had been ecstatic when he had found out and his delight had increased when Ælfreda had found out that she too was expecting a baby. Arthur remembered when he and Merlin had watched him sing something jolly in Italian for what may have been an hour.

"Uther doesn't need to come," Gwen said, flushing slightly.

"You know what my father's like, he'll keep going on about it for the whole world to hear until they all come looking," Ælfreda joked.

"He could go on about something like this until the cows came home," Merlin murmured, to which they all laughed.

Minutes later, Uther and Rufus came into the room. Uther stayed near the edge of the room but congratulated Merlin and Gwen nonetheless. Rufus, meanwhile, produced something from his pocket.

"Rufus? " Lara gasped.

"That isn't what I think it is, is it? " Gaius asked, staring at the object in Rufus' hand.

A small brooch was sitting in the palm of the man's hand, sparkling in the sunlight coming through the open window. It appeared to be made from gold and had rubies embedded into it.

"That's not mother's brooch, is it? " Lara asked.

"The very same, I had it transported here when Morgana told me that Gwen and Merlin were expecting a girl as well as a boy."

"Could someone please explain? " Morgana asked.

"Father gave Aunt Naevia your grandmother's brooch when we last went to Italia. It's meant to be past down from mother to daughter but not Nimueh, Igraine or I could bring ourselves to keep it."

"And I thought it was time it was given to its next owner," Rufus concluded handing the brooch to Gwen. "Give it to Melissa when she's older. We wouldn't want her to hurt herself with the pin."

"Thank you," Gwen whispered, in awe.

Just then Leo and Melissa began to cry again. Merlin tried to quieten them but failed. Lara then walked up to him and began to sing her lullaby. The two babies fell asleep quiet quickly.

"I guess this is the next great adventure," Arthur said.

"What would that be? " Morgana asked.

"Parenthood," Arthur and Merlin said in unison.

Everybody laughed; even Uther allowed himself a smirk. Lara then hugged Gaius; Arthur lifted Amir off the floor and hugged him and Morgana; Ælfreda hugged her father, who then went to shake Uther's hand and try to drag him into the family huddle. Gwen took the twins out of Merlin's arms allowing him to hug her.

Merlin felt a wave of peace flow through him as he watched his family. He felt safe. He was home.

Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, especially those who've done each chapter. Like I said at the start, this is my friend's story and not mine, but we both really appreciate all the feedback. Hope you've enjoyed it!