Warnings: SLASH, implied Mpreg, divorce.

Summary: After being in a civil partnership with Merlin for two years Arthur decides to get a divorce as he believes he's in a failed relationship and has fallen out of love with Merlin, it's a long bumpy road ahead when he realizes he never got over Merlin and has to right the wrongs he'd done.

Disclaimer: All Merlin characters are owned by Shine and BBC

Chapter-5

Word had gotten around about the divorce proceedings in Merlin's office and everyone he knew threw him pitying glances which Merlin hated more than anything else in the world. He did not want their pity or sympathy; it wasn't like he had lost a limb in an accident or some such thing. People got divorced every day, why should his predicament be any different to these people. The eyes of all his associates on his back made Merlin feel an unpleasant rolling in his stomach and he entered his cubicle and sat down opening up his laptop choosing to stay behind it and hide for a while until everyone else was busy enough to not pay attention to him.

His plans were thwarted however when his publisher wanted to meet him and he called her that because he was kind as Morgause was a cut throat bitch and the click of her five inch stilettos made every employee in the vicinity cower and hide in fear, she was like Miranda Preisley in Devil Wears Prada, and if anyone was even a day short of their schedule for submitting their scripts she gave them hell.

Merlin knocked and heard the rudely uttered 'Come in' before he opened the door and entered his publisher's office.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Merlin not beating around the bush.

Morgause looked up from the magazine she was reading and raised a single eyebrow, "Yes I did, I hear you have some family troubles Merlin."

Merlin sighed before saying "If you're worried its going to affect my job, it's not..."

Morgause had a pinched expression on her face and when she spoke her tone was cold and punishing "Yet you've already failed to submit the script on time, your deadline was last Tuesday."

Merlin smiled winningly which never ceased to make Morgause frown harder at him, "I'm an artist, not a robot to do everything assigned on time. But I will have it ready before next week."

Morgause threw the magazine down on her great oak desk before she stood up and said in a dangerous tone "Next week?"

Merlin kept smiling like an idiot hoping to gods above that she'd give him some time as he barely had time juggling between taking care of Alexis and doing the drawings for the comic.

Morgause narrowed her eyes and proclaimed "I want the script by Thursday Merlin, I'm not this lenient to anyone else and it's only because Morgana seems to like you that I'm not throwing you out now."

Merlin frowned and asked "Is that why you hired me in the first place? Because of Morgana's recommendation?"

Morgause who had sat back down sighed in an uncharacteristic display of resignation before saying "No Merlin, you know that I don't take recommendations into account no matter if they were from Morgana."

"Good to know."

Merlin turned about to go when Morgause said "And Merlin, I have this friend of mine single and gay and he's looking for someone, name is Cenred King."

Merlin looked back shocked and wondering if the great and fearsome Morgause Ivan was playing matchmaker of all things but Morgause wasn't even looking at him.

Merlin stuttered, "I'm..uh...I'm not really upto relationships at the moment..."

Morgause waved her hand indicating that Merlin should leave and saying "You'll find his details on your computer."

Merlin paused for a second at the sheer nerve of the woman before he walked away, he could only take so many surprises for one day and he still had loads of work to do for the comic.

When Merlin went back home late that evening Alexis was fussy and Elena looked tired but still smiled widely when she saw him, Merlin couldn't decide if it was a relieved smile or just that Elena was happy to see him. He got his answer when Elena said "Oh Merlin, Alexis has been unusually fussy today, I don't know what's wrong with her, she won't sleep or eat."

Merlin frowned and thought 'just what he wanted to deal with today' and although he loved his girl more than anything else on the earth sometimes she just drived him absolutely batty. When Elena looked discomfited by his expression Merlin smiled reassuringly at her and said "I'm here now, I'll take care of it."

Elena looked unsure for a moment and asked "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Nope, I can handle her for now, go home Elena."

Elena then smiled and got her jacket before she left through the front door saying "Goodbye Merlin."

Merlin then removed his work clothes which sadly were a suite and completely uncomfortable to wear since it was not the high quality stuff Arthur insisted on buying all the time. After having removed his coat and shoes he hurried up and opened the door to the nursery and found Alexis staring up at the ceiling in boredom and when she saw him she smiled and lifted her arms up clenching her fists asking to be picked up.

Merlin felt his heart go out to her and berated himself for ever thinking her a burden as she was his angel and lifted her up making her giggle and blow out a spit bubble.

"And how are we today?" he asked as he took her down as she babbled something in her baby tongue.

"Elena says you've been fussy, did you miss daddy?" asked Merlin and Alexis grabbed his nose and let out a peal of laughter which made Merlin chuckled too. "Daddy's here now and he's very disappointed in you for not eating, young lady!"

He went to place Alexis in her high chair but as soon as he put her down her breath hitched and in a minute she was wailing lifting and batting her arms in the air not wanting to sit down but be held up. It was then that Merlin heard the front door open and in the background he saw Arthur's blond hair and turned away, ever since that night at the hospital he always felt unbalanced and edgy around Arthur, the light hearted bantering when Arthur was drugged up with meds made Merlin hope and he wanted to stay away from Arthur because he still remembered how Arthur had declared harshly that he did not love Merlin anymore. However, Arthur made staying away from him extremely difficult as he grew more and more concerned about Alexis and insisted on asking questions about her every damn day. Merlin felt happy but frustrated all the same, Arthur had gone from totally ignoring Alexis to asking about her daily activities though he was content with just asking.

Arthur came into the kitchen where Merlin was holding Alexis in one arm and opening the fridge with the other hoping Arthur would just go upstairs and not ask anything.

Alexis turned when she heard the sudden intrusion and Arthur saw the last of her tears falling down her chubby cheeks and Merlin's less than comfortable way of holding her and snapped "Merlin! You idiot! She's not a damn bag that you can lug around! Hold her properly or sit her down."

Merlin was in equal parts amused and agitated as he turned and ranted "Why don't you try sitting her down? She doesn't want to sit down and she hasn't eaten all day so I have to make her something but she won't let me put her down so I'm going to have to do it with her in my arms anyway, otherwise she'll wail and I'll be forced to pick her up any damn way and don't you dare call me an idiot because you're daughter just likes to get her way and doesn't want to sit!"

Arthur looked flabbergasted and raised his arms in surrender as he said "No need to get your knickers in a twist Merlin…" and then more quietly he said "Maybe she just needs you're…' he gestured at his chest and Merlin thumped his head on the fridge door.

Alexis looked between the two of them with her wide blue eyes sucking on her thumb and Arthur saw Merlin looked worse for wear and decided to help, "I'll hold her while you fix something for her."

Merlin looked grateful for a moment before he looked unsure, he knew Arthur would dump Alexis on him within a few minutes anyway and he really didn't want to be doing the cooking with Alexis in his arms and decided the best way to make Arthur take care of her for a little while longer is to challenge him and said "She'd probably wail anyway, no I'll keep her, she's far more prone to fussing with you than with me" Merlin made sure to keep his tone casual and matter of fact which he knew would only irk Arthur more.

Arthur now looked insulted and Merlin groaned knowing where this was going and pretending along, "Merlin, are you telling me I'm incapable of taking care of my own daughter?"

Merlin honestly didn't know what to say but he could have as well blurted out yes because Arthur looked incredulous for a moment before he came forward in two steps and grabbed Alexis out of Merlin's arms.

Arthur then said "I'll prove you wrong" before he took off up the stairs and Merlin watched in ill concealed amusement and wondered just how long it would take for Alexis to scream Arthur's ears out.

Merlin was finished with Alexis' dinner by the time Arthur brought her down and Merlin hid his surprise at seeing Alexis calm and sleepy in Arthur's arms as he scooped the soup into a bowl and took Alexis from Arthur. He needed to get her fed and get her to sleep after which he had to go work on his latest comic, it was times like these that made him wonder if staying with Morgause was actually beneficial, he had gotten a couple of offers from some companies and he was looking into it but right now he needed to focus on his new book.

The next day Elena called in sick and Merlin nearly burst a blood vessel wondering how he was going to work on his comic with a nine month old to look after when he suddenly an idea struck him. Quickly he got Alexis bathed, dressed and fed before placing her on the pram and took out his sketchbook and pencils, he just needed to figure out the final scene and then he could develop the graphics and get them to Morgause within tomorrow.

He found a nice spot near a tree where he lifted Alexis out and spread a blanket on the grass before placing her on it, he sat leaning against the tree and idly started to draw and as he got into it he got so absorbed in it that when he was almost done and looked up Alexis was nowhere in sight. He felt numb for a minute before panic took over and he dropped the sketches on the ground and started to frantically search for her.

He looked behind the tree, the park benches, the slides, the swings and even in a group of children who were playing catch but Alexis was nowhere to be found and he ran his mind going on overboard with fear, how had Alexis even moved out of his sight, he was a horrible parent, how could he ever be so careless as to loose his baby in a park, what if Alexis crossed some road and some car or the other had hit her, what if someone had decided to kidnap her for ransom, Merlin's mind was springing all kinds of horrible mental images at him and Merlin had ran around the entire skating rink and around the whole park and felt the swell of tears in his eyes and a desperation beyond anything he'd ever felt, in his despair he began to ask the people in the park if they'd seen Alexis and with every negligent shake of heads and every vaguely sympathizing look Merlin felt more and more frustrated and lost, he pulled on his hair looking like a mad man to anyone who saw him when he finally saw them.

Alexis' bright blue frock was what gave it away and he let out a manic laugh in relief before he ran towards the ice cream stall not even bothering to apologize to the people he knocked sideways to get there.

"Oh my God! Oh God! Alexis!" he said out of breath as he snatched his baby out of the man's arms and held on tightly as if his life depended on it.

He heard a rich baritone Irish voice of a man saying "Calm down, she's fine…she just crawled over to the road and I picked her up."

Merlin wasn't listening though too caught up in the fear of almost losing his baby for his mind to really register anything.

When he felt the guys hand on his shoulder was when Merlin snapped out of his stupor to hear the man say "It's alright, she's okay, I was going to bring her to her right away but then I couldn't resist playing with her for a while. I'm sorry I should have brought her to you sooner."

Merlin still holding on tightly to Alexis managed to say "Oh no, no, thankyou for looking after her, I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to her. And it's my fault; I should have looked after her better."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, happens with crawling babies all the time."

"What? Oh, yes, yeah, wait she crawled?" asked Merlin and the surprised expression on Merlin's face made the man quirk his lips up in a grin and Merlin noticed for the first time how huge the man was and despite the muscles and the well defined abs visible through his tight t-shirt Merlin somehow felt he could trust this man.

The hulking man who easily towered over Merlin and look twice the size as him and raging hot to boot nodded his head and said "Sure did, she's a fast one!" All the while the man's smile never left his face and Merlin felt an answering grin stretch his face as he said "Well you've just witnessed another milestone in my baby's life, the first time she crawls and she nearly gives me a heart attack."

The man laughed and Merlin felt himself relax though he didn't yet know why he was blabbering like his usual cheerful self to this man whom he had known just a few minutes ago. He realized he hadn't felt this, like himself in a long time and said "Oh where are my manners, I'm Merlin Emrys." Merlin held out his hand shifting Alexis to one arm and the man took his hand in a firm but gentle grip that spoke of his quiet confidence.

"Percival Watson, pleased to meet you Merlin."

Merlin smiled and had to curb the strange urge to talk more to the man when he heard Alexis squeal as she saw two young boys grabbing a cone ice cream and going off on their merry way, she tapped her hands on Merlin's chest letting out inane baby gibble and Merlin explained "She's a sweet tooth, she gets it from me and she goes all grabby when she sees the color of strawberry ice cream" to Percival's confused look.

Percival looked thoughtful for a minute before he said "I can get little Alexis here a strawberry cone then" with a winning smile and turned to the vendor to buy one before Merlin could voice his protest.

"No, that's really not…I mean she already has enough of that at home." But Alexis kept trashing in Merlin's arms clearly wanting the ice-cream and Merlin had to use both his hands to prevent her from escaping out of his grasp, he was never never letting her out of his arms ever again.

Percival brandished the cone in front of Alexis who giggled and clapped her hands when she saw the pink fuzzy top of the strawberry cone going to grab at it when Percival pulled it out of her reach, she concentrated and a frown appeared on her face before she made a grab for it again and took hold of the ice-cream this time. Percival made a noise in encouragement of her success and Alexis giggled more and squirmed in Merlin's arms before she pulled the ice-cream back to herself and shoved it right into the her face getting both her hands and the better part of her face covered with ice-cream.

"Alexis…" Merlin said in a drawn out manner looking fondly at her though he cringed when she grabbed a hold of his shirt right with her ice cream soiled hands.

"She's a handful" said Merlin with an exasperated look as he pulled out some tissues to wipe her hands and face.

Percival laughed again and said "Oh she's delightful!"

Merlin shot him a mock incredulous look before he said "You wouldn't say that if you saw her antiques every other day, but she's my whole world and I can't thank you enough for taking care of her, I owe you one."

Percival shook his head and said "You owe me nothing, honestly it was my pleasure, I never get to be around kids much but I love them."

"Oh, well maybe you could visit Alexis sometime, I'm sure she'll be thrilled, not if you don't want to of course…" and Merlin shut up wondering when he'd turned into Gwen.

"If you wouldn't mind, she's really grown on me though it's strange I've only know her for a few minutes."

"Alexis has a way of charming everyone and having them wrapped around her little finger, her grand- father is a formidable man and she made him coo at her the day she was born, I almost passed out another time from the shock of it."

Percival smiled and looked at Alexis with a fond look of affection in his eyes and Merlin asked "Do you come to the park often?"

"Once or twice a week to do a few laps"

"Well, you could call or text me when you're around and if we're free I'll bring Alexis here, she loves the park and I'm just about to finish a major project for work so I'll have plenty of time on my hands."

Percival nodded shyly and Merlin wondered how such a hunk could look so bashful and handed over his phone to Percival as Percival did the same. After exchanging their numbers they parted ways and Merlin smiled all the way back home chastising Alexis once or twice when his mind replayed the events of the day again, he didn't realize he'd forgotten the sketch back at the park until he was inside his house and opened up his computer, he groaned then and thunked his head on the table hard.

As Merlin lamented for a whole hour about having to redo everything from scrap he got a call and frowned in confusion when he saw Percy's name flashing on his screen before he accepted, "Hey Percival, what's up?" he asked not letting too much of his frustration tinge his voice.

Percival replied "I am hoping I can put that misery out of your voice, I found you're drawing under the tree and did the math, why did you never tell me you were Emerson Cloud?"

Merlin at first wanted to jump for joy and when he read the faint amazement in Percival's voice he smiled and answered "Well it's not something I shout out to everyone I see, it's the purpose of the alias you know, so you like comics?"

"Yeah!" Percival said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "And I love Riley Hunt! I can't believe I've met the author of my favorite comics and not realized it!"

Merlin chuckled and said "That's a surprise, I never get readers of your age, most of my fans are teenagers."

Percival gave a disbelieving laugh which made Merlin shiver in appreciation and said "Merlin, you really don't bother checking your fan site do you? Besides I know for a fact that you have many fans."

"Mhmm, how's that?"

"Well you work for Morgause and being her main adversary I ought to know about her star writers."

Merlin did a quick mental check before he gasped aloud, "Oh my, Watson as in Watson Publishing, oh my God, you're Percival Watson of Watson publishers?"

Merlin heard another chuckle from the man on the other end before Percival said "Yep…" and after some hesitation he said "Hope this doesn't make you want to not be friendly with me."

Merlin shook his head vigorously then remembered that Percival couldn't see him and said "No,no, are you kidding?" Merlin who was pacing in excitement did not see Arthur coming his way and bumped straight into him making Arthur swear and Merlin squeak "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" to Arthur as he covered the phone with another hand and before Arthur could say anything more to ruin his good mood he walked away saying "I can't believe I met the owner of one of the best publishing company in town and not recognized him!"

Arthur frowned hearing the almost childish exuberance Merlin exhibited, he had not seen Merlin be his usual bubbly self in…quite a long time and this sudden change or reversion made Arthur curious but Arthur knew that Merlin was in a danger to himself and everyone in the vicinity of his flailing spidery arms when he was like this and turned and went the other way, his curiosity forgotten when he got another call from Uther telling him how he was expecting more and why couldn't Arthur close the Mercia deal already.

So, and so it starts, what do you think of this chapter?

And whom should I pair Arthur with if not with Sophia? Mithian? Vivian? And it has to be a woman!

Thankyou so very much for the reviews, I hope you all love this chapter as well.