I Have No Other Star
May. 20th, 2010 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
casualtheatrics2Another fic for the Neruda ‘Verse. Lots of people commented on how much they loved the Uther/Vivian relationship, so here’s a little insight into them for everyone who enjoyed it!
Probably should warn for minor character deaths, evil step-children and wicked aunts. Angst, too. Swearing. Quite a bit of swearing, actually. And the worst marriage proposal in the history of the world. EVER. (I’m so sorry. My romance-o-meter has taken a vacation without asking permission first. I wouldn’t know romance if it asked me to marry it, against a background of red roses, large solitaire diamonds and a internationally famous string quartet.)
(I also do not own ‘Merlin’) (Title taken from another Pablo Neruda Poem, which can be found over here.)
--
When Arthur Pendragon asks Vivian Aubrey out for the thirty-second time, (once a month for the past two and a bit years), Vivian’s just at the point when preparations for her cousin’s wedding are driving her mad, and she needs a date to accompany her. Urgently.
So she accepts Arthur with enthusiasm and tells him he’ll be accompanying her to said wedding.
He beams at her, like she’s just lit up the whole world for him, and agrees. (And then Vivian wonders if growing up without a mother has actually made Arthur a bit special, because does he even know how mental weddings are? You should run, run far away, from weddings, because they’re horrible, soul-destroying things. And no seventeen-year-old boy should smile like that – it does funny things to her insides.)
--
To Vivian’s relief, Arthur scrubs up well, and when he turns up on her doorstep at the appointed time, he’s wearing a navy-blue suit and carrying a white rose for her to pin in her hair.
She’s touched by his thoughtfulness, especially when he tells her she looks beautiful in her pink, fluffy bridesmaid’s dress. She’s also proud of her choice of man, when he talks football with her father for twenty minutes.
As they head off to the church, her father pulls Arthur off to one side and says, “You seem like a nice boy, but I’m warning you, touch my daughter inappropriately, and I’ll cut your fingers off.”
Arthur gulps and nods, “No, that’s OK, sir. I have a sister, I know about treating girls properly.”
Vivian’s father, a gruff Welshman known for some inexplicable reason as Olaf, barks out a laugh, and claps Arthur on the shoulder. “Good lad.”
--
Arthur and Vivian date for a few more weeks. They hold hands, kiss chastely, but Arthur’s been a bit freaked out by Olaf’s words, so he never tries anything on with her.
One day, Vivian is invited back to Arthur’s house for dinner, to meet his father.
As they head back to the mansion she knows Arthur lives in, Arthur’s surprisingly quiet. She expects him to chatter away, tell her about his father and sister (mother dead for thirteen years now), to talk about his house.
Instead, he just scuffles his feet on the carpet of the car and shrugs his shoulder when she asks a question.
When they arrive at his house, Arthur helps Vivian out of the car, arm around her waist, and walks her to the house and through to the kitchen.
A dark-haired girl is sat at the kitchen table, reading a book. She meets Vivian’s eyes and her lip curls. Vivian recognises her as Morgana, the rebellious troublemaker from the year below them. She opens her mouth to make some comment about ‘stalkers’ and ‘breaking and entering’, when Arthur introduces them.
“Morgana, this is Vivian. Vivian, this is my sister, Morgana.”
Vivian’s jaw drops. “Morgana’s your sister?”
Morgana smirks. “Yes, Vivian, I’m his sister. Who are you?”
Vivian blushes. “I’m, well, his girlfriend.”
“And excellent taste my son has,” says a deep voice behind her. Vivian turns and comes face-to-face with Uther Pendragon.
“Mr Pendragon,” she says, slightly breathlessly.
“You must be Vivian,” Uther says, holding out a hand. Vivian takes it and nods, and Uther lifts her hand to his mouth to brush a kiss over her knuckles.
His blue eyes meet Vivian’s, and for the first time in her life, Vivian feels the bottom drop out of her stomach. “It’s nice to meet you,” she says, glancing up through her lashes.
Uther Pendragon might be thirty years older than her, but Vivian, in a few short minutes, is certain that he is the man she wants.
--
Over dinner, Uther finds out that Vivian plans to go into HR when she graduates from university. He offers her work experience in his company, three days a week, during the holidays, with a proper salary.
The following Monday, Vivian breaks things off with Arthur. She’d like to presume he’s upset, but he just shrugs. “That’s OK.”
(A week later, he’s going out on a date with a guy named Gareth, who goes to the state school down the road, and has an earring.)
--
A month later, Vivian begins work at Pendragon Ltd over the Easter break. On her first day, she drops a mug of coffee on a cream rug, accidentally shreds the wrong set of figures and breaks the heel on her brand-new shoes.
She’s just about to give up and go home, back to working in the crummy corner shop, when Uther Pendragon appears in front of her. (She might have been curled up in the corner of the little-used stairwell, crying, OK? But don’t tell anyone.)
“Vivian?” Uther says gently, leaning forward to touch her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Vivian blurts out that her day has been terrible, and she’s ruined a rug and, and, and…
Uther chuckles. “That dreadful cream thing in Catrina’s office?”
Vivian nods.
Uther pats her shoulder. “I’m impressed. I’ve been trying to destroy it for years. You’ll go down in Camelot history.”
Vivian laughs, despite her misery.
Uther glances down at her ruined shoes. “Come on,” he says, holding out a hand to help her up. “Let’s go get you some replacement shoes.”
With Uther’s hand at her elbow, Vivian feels invincible as she’s propelled through the corridors to Uther’s waiting town car.
--
Vivian and Uther end up having lunch together as well, because it’s that time of day, and he’s hungry.
Vivian feels slightly out-of-place as Uther guides her, hand at her elbow, through the tables of the fancy hotel dining room to his “usual table, please, Dennis.”
She sits at the table, and tries hard not to sneak peeks at the new Jimmy Choos she’s wearing on her feet. She fails, but doesn’t realise until Uther chuckles at her over the menu.
“Like them?”
Vivian glances up and blushes. “I’ve never…”
“Owned a pair of Choos? No, I suppose you haven’t. I hope you don’t mind? I’m used to buying them for Morgana.”
Vivian hears his daughter’s name (and the implicit comparison) and feels all her insecurities return, like a wave of cold water, drenching her. She shakes her head ‘No’, and studies the menu.
After a few minutes of trying to decipher the complicated menu, she eventually decides on a house salad (it’s the only thing she can work out). But it turns out, she needn’t have bothered, because when the waiter turns up to take their order, Uther gives brisk, convoluted instructions that Vivian can’t follow. It turns out, when the waiter whisks the menu out of her hands without taking her order, that Uther’s ordered for her.
She knows that her feminist tendencies should rise, she should be annoyed that Uther took any decisions out of her hands, but she just can’t bring herself to be riled by it.
She actually finds it quite charming.
Lunch consists of a rather good Chateaubriand and half a bottle of red wine.
Vivian’s not used to such heady alcohol, and the excitement of being at lunch with Uther Pendragon, number twenty-four on the Forbes Rich List, and most eligible bachelor of the Noughties, rather goes to her head.
She falls asleep in the car on the way back to the office, and wakes, abruptly, a few hours later, with a splitting headache, on a sofa in Uther’s office.
“Oh God,” she moans, trying not to open her eyes.
“Here,” says Uther’s voice, whilst one strong hand helps her to sit up. “Take the paracetamol, it’ll help with the headache.”
Wordlessly, and with embarrassment scorching her cheeks again, Vivian sits up and obediently swallows the tablets and the proffered glass of water. Uther’s hand rubs soothing circles across her upper back. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“No, it’s my fault,” Uther says gently. “I forgot you’re only young, not used to red wine at lunch, and I thought it would cheer you up. Of course, you were exhausted from your trying morning.”
Vivian wants to weep a little bit. Uther’s being so kind and understanding. She leans forward and rests her head on his shoulder. His arms are warm, solid around her, and he gently rocks her back and forth whilst she sniffles quietly.
“Hey,” he says gently. “Hey.” When her sniffles stop, he continues, “You know, I don’t want you to be put off your chosen career by Catrina.”
Here it comes, thinks Vivian with misery. I’m going to be fired and I’ve only been here a morning.
“Why don’t you shadow my team of PAs? You’ll still get an insight into business, but you won’t be with Catrina. My senior assistant is a lovely man named Owain. He’ll take care of you.”
Vivian nods. Uther pats her back. “Good girl,” he says, standing and helping her to her feet. “I’ll take you home now.”
--
Two days later, Vivian begins her part-time job under the guidance of Owain, a sensible, kindly man with a large grey beard who reminds Vivian of God.
That day, Vivian doesn’t spill a single drop of coffee, files things in the right place and walks proudly through the halls of Camelot in her Jimmy Choos.
Uther doesn’t speak to her, but he does smile when he catches sight of the shoes.
--
On her last day at Camelot until the summer holidays, Uther takes Vivian out to lunch again.
Over another dinner of steak and wine (which Vivian can handle this time), Uther ‘reviews her performance’ and talks about her summer plans.
She makes him laugh five times, and his eyes twinkle at her as they eat. She smiles coyly at him over the coffees, and his fingers twitch as though they’d lean forward to take her hand.
At the end of the meal, Uther hails a taxi for her, kisses her cheek and hands her into the back seat of the taxi. He stands on the street corner and waves her off.
--
Once Vivian is back at school, she quickly forgets the minutiae of working at Camelot, and settles back into class readings of ‘Othello’ and debates over politics in her philosophy class, and the application of Pure Mathematics. The memory of Uther’s lips against her cheek does not fade, nor does the sound of his laughter stop echoing in her ears.
The moments she shared with Uther are her own, precious, secret: cards played close to her chest in case of cheating.
It takes her completely by surprise, therefore, when Morgana accosts her in the corridor one day, wild-eyed and waving a newspaper in Vivian’s face.
“What are you playing at?!”
Vivian’s completely confused, and says as much.
Morgana thrusts the paper into Vivian’s hands, and storms off, shrieking things about cheap tarts and conniving little bitches.
Vivian stares down at the crumpled newspaper. It’s the business section of a broadsheet newspaper, with a large picture of Uther on the front page. The headline reads Camelot Industies In Crisis!.
Vivian scans the article. The long and the short of it is that Uther missed an important deadline, and as such, a merger and acquisition he was working on had fallen through. At the bottom of the page are two pictures of Uther and her eating lunch together. Her face is clearly visible in the second picture.
Vivian feels sick to her stomach. A Business Commentator has inserted the two pictures and written a brief note:
Uther Pendragon has been single since the death of his beloved wife, Ygraine, in 1987. He has been, since then, a dedicated single father to his two children and a cutthroat businessman. In business, Pendragon has been the one to watch. But this recent business deal appears to have fallen through, because of the attention he has been paying to a young intern at his company. Perhaps Pendragon is having a mid-life crisis? Let’s hope his dippy blonde intern is enough to console him through the loss of his latest acquisition.
Vivian feels shame burn behind her eyes, as well as anger. Uther was just being kind to her! There was nothing sordid about it! And as for her being a dippy blonde…!
Nevertheless, Vivian hides in the library for the rest of the day, hoping neither Arthur nor Morgana will track her down.
--
When Vivian arrives home that evening, her father calls her into the kitchen. To her surprise, Uther is sat at the kitchen table, clutching a bag of frozen peas to his eye.
Vivian glares at her father. “What did you do?!”
Olaf shrugs. “I saw the paper, and when he turned up here, I punched him.”
Vivian’s completely horrified. “Uther’s my boss and Arthur’s father! HOW COULD YOU?!”
Uther cuts off her rant. “Vivian, I quite understand your father’s position. As the father of a daughter of a similar age, I understand that the photographs in the paper today do seem rather suspicious. However, I have explained to your father, and will do so later to the press, that the first meal we ate together was an opportunity for us to discuss Arthur’s birthday,” his eyes plead with Vivian to agree. “And the second one was to discuss further arrangements for the party. As one of his closest friends, I took the opportunity of not having him around to pick your brains.”
Vivian glares at her father again. “So I hope you’ve apologised, Father?”
Olaf shrugs again. “When he’s cleared your name.”
Vivian throws up her hands. “You’re a stubborn arse!” she wails at her father, and storms out of the room.
--
That evening, on the six o’clock news, Vivian watches as Uther addresses a crowd of paparazzi.
His voice is strongly disapproving as he announces, “I am disappointed that the photographer and reporter in today’s edition of the newspaper did not take the time to substantiate his facts before printing such scurrilous lies. The ‘young intern’ I was seen dining with is a close friend of my son Arthur. Having offered her work experience in my company, I took advantage of Arthur’s absence to pick her brains on plans for a surprise party for my son’s eighteenth birthday. On both occasions, we were discussing my son and his interests, and the young lady in question was advising me on the best people to invite and the most appropriate entertainment to book.
“I am further disappointed that the media did not see fit to blur the face of the young lady I was dining with in order to protect her privacy. She has been nothing but helpful to my company, and assisted most ably with the plans for Arthur’s birthday. I will offer her the assistance of my legal team if she wishes to take action for defamatory remarks relating to her hair and her intelligence. Quite unnecessary and uncalled for.”
Uther shuffles his papers, refuses to answer questions and walks from the platform.
Olaf switches off the TV and smirks. “What a sleazebag.”
Vivian throws up her hands and storms out of the room. Again.
--
Over the half term break, Vivian works at Camelot Industries as before. Her father tries to argue, but Vivian, for once in her life, beats him down.
Whilst she’s at work, Arthur pops up by her desk one day. “Hi Viv,” he says with a friendly grin across his face. “Wanna come to this really boring party on Thursday?”
Vivian agrees, because, after all, although she doesn’t fancy Arthur much, she does like him. He’s nice to her and he listens when she talks. And spending time with people who don’t think you’re trying to shag their dad is quite refreshing (Morgana still shrieks “Slut!” when she passes Vivian in the corridor.) Arthur, by contrast, has bought Uther’s story hook, line and sinker and laughs in the face of anyone who tries to argue otherwise.
--
The party is boring: some fundraiser hosted by Arthur’s uncle. Of course, because it’s Arthur Pendragon, his uncle is the well-known philanthropist Tristan Dubois, a man famous for both negotiating with terrorists and adopting small Cambodian children in the middle of the coup d’état.
Of course, Vivian uses the opportunity (because, after all, she may as well benefit from the friendship she shares with Arthur) to talk to people about the business world, and demonstrate that she is not the ‘dippy blonde’ the media crudely dismissed her as.
After dinner and speeches, Uther takes the opportunity to ask Vivian to dance.
She stumbles over her feet on the way to the dance floor, unsteady after a glass of wine (or three). Uther’s hold is, responsibly, a little tighter than is appropriate, because, after all, he wouldn’t want Vivian to hurt herself.
They waltz around the room, Uther’s large hand warm between Vivian’s shoulder blades. The lights are dim, and the music loud, and Vivian wants to lean her cheek against the lapel of Uther’s tuxedo jacket and never move.
Uther is surprisingly charming, seemingly interested in Vivian’s plans and ideas, and replying consideringly to her questions about various people and charities.
When they leave the dance floor, both Arthur and Morgana have disappeared, so Uther keeps a firm grip on Vivian’s elbow as they walk around the room, talking to people.
Several young men ask her to dance, and Vivian politely takes a turn around the dance floor with each of them. None of them dance as well as Uther. They all return her to Uther’s side, even when Arthur emerges from a dark corner, tie askew and lips red and swollen. Vivian watches with amusement as shortly afterwards, a girl with long, red hair emerges from the same dark corner, lipstick smeared and eyes glazed with lust.
Finally, Uther asks her to dance again, and Vivian takes to the floor with him, steps in sync and movements mirroring each other. They dance so well together, that Vivian’s mind drifts slightly, and she comes back to full consciousness with a slight jolt.
Uther has danced her out of the hall and onto the terrace. The moon is bright overhead, and the stars twinkle in the velvet blue of the night sky. She smiles up at Uther.
He is vaguely distracted, muttering, “Sorry, but Morgana snuck out here with a boy…”
Vivian lays a hand on Uther’s arm. “I’m sure she’s fine,” she said gently, but firmly.
Uther turns his head to look at her properly. His breath catches in his throat. Vivian smiles at him, suddenly taken aback at the desire in his eyes. “Shall we dance?” she stammers nervously.
Uther nods, but then catches her hand and brushes his lips over her knuckles. He lingers, lips pressing against the smooth skin of her pale-skinned knuckles.
Vivian flexes her fingers and strokes the side of his face.
With a groan, Uther leans up and captures her lips with his own. The kiss is sweet, chaste and almost innocent. It lasts barely three seconds, but Vivian knows she is spoiled for other men forever.
--
Arthur drops Vivian at home, and as she turns to get out of the car, he wraps a firm hand around her wrist.
“Viv…” he hestitates.
Vivian nods encouragingly. “What, Arthur?”
“I saw…in the garden…you…with my father.”
Vivian is horrified. She opens her mouth to apologise. “Arthur…”
“He won’t treat you well,” Arthur says abruptly. “He’s never loved anyone since my mum, and you should know that, so you don’t get hurt.”
Vivian knows Arthur means well, but she’s afraid that if she opens her mouth, her inner thoughts will come spilling out, and if that happens, she might as well rip her own heart out of her chest. Instead, she just nods sharply, and scrambles from the car.
--
Vivian goes to work the next morning, determined to put the previous night’s drunken mistake behind her. She smiles coolly at Uther when he walks through the office, and keeps her mind on her work throughout the morning.
She’s engrossed in a report about advertising, when the phone rings, making her jump.
“Hello?”
“Miss Aubrey, would you come through to my office, please?” Uther’s voice is silky-smooth, velvet over steel, and Vivian feels a thrill of panic.
“Certainly, Mr Pendragon.” She hangs up the phone, and stands. With shaking hands, she smoothes down her skirt and straightens her jacket. She’s almost certain that she’s going to be fired.
She knocks on Uther’s door, and is summoned into the room by a curt “Enter!”
When she pushes the door open, Uther glances up from his paperwork. “Close the door.”
“Sit down,” Uther’s eyes never lift from his paperwork as she makes unsteady progress across his office, door firmly closed behind her.
Vivian twists her fingers together; her palms feel sweaty, and if she unclenches her jaw, she almost certain her teeth will chatter.
Uther keeps her sat there for a fraction of a hair longer than she can stand. Just as she’s going to open her mouth to blurt out something about being really sorry, and never wanting to cause trouble, Uther replaces the cap on his pen and sits back in his chair.
“I understand Arthur had something to say to you last night.”
Vivian colours. She had presumed that Arthur thought better of her than this, but obviously he felt the need to warn his father that Vivian might just be on the make. “Yes, sir,” she replies, through thinned lips.
“He has no business interfering in that way, and I have told him so.”
Vivian doesn’t understand.
“What happened last night was certainly inappropriate, but I cannot deny the pleasure it gave me. However, Arthur has no right to censure my behaviour, nor to chastise you for my fault.”
Vivian catches on. She glances up at Uther through her lashes. “No fault, sir,” she murmurs, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Uther frowns. “Vivian, I’m sure you feel that way, but you’re very young. I was wrong to take advantage of you like that.”
Vivian rolls her eyes at Uther. “So, because I’m young, I don’t know what I want?”
Uther rubs at the bridge of his nose. “Vivian, you are very beautiful. But I’m your father’s age. It’s inappropriate.”
Vivian stands, and stalks around the edge of Uther’s desk.
“Vivian, what are you…?”
Vivian straddles Uther’s lap. “Shut up,” she said resolutely, and leans forward to kiss Uther.
Her lips are warm and soft against Uther’s own, moving softly, gentle breath washing over his mouth. Uther bites at Vivian’s lower lip, and soothes it with a lave of his tongue. She presses forward against him, and Uther drags his hands up to cup her hips.
Vivian sighs into his mouth, and strokes her tongue along the roof of Uther’s mouth. He groans and rocks his hips up to brush between her legs. Her gasp turns into a moan.
Uther suddenly grasps Vivian’s shoulders and pushes her back. “No!”
Vivian finds herself sat back on his desk. She pouts, “Yes!” and leans in to kiss him again.
Uther springs to his feet. “Vivian, you’re the same age as my son. I’m sorry. This is not happening. It can’t.”
He moves to stand by the window, blood still boiling in his veins.
A soft noise of distress behind him, followed by the squeak and click of the door opening and closing, lets him know he is alone again.
--
Back at school, Vivian avoids Arthur as much as she can. He seems curiously determined to seek her out, so Vivian spends a lot of her lunchtimes hiding in the girls changing rooms.
She forgets about Morgana completely, until one day, curled up in the corner of the sports hall, she lifts her eyes from her book and finds the dark haired girl staring down at her.
“Um, hi,” Vivian says, wondering if she should jump up and run away.
“So. You and my father.”
Vivian shrugs. “Don’t know what you’re on about.”
“He’s been in a foul mood since the night of Uncle Tristan’s party. We all saw him kiss you.”
Vivian flushes with embarrassment. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh, don’t lie,” Morgana snaps, and plonks down on to the bench next to Vivian. “You were in full view of the French doors, and you kissed him.”
Vivian can’t make the red in her cheeks go down. “Is it any of your business?” she eventually chokes out.
Morgana shrugs. “I think he likes you.”
“Who?”
“Father. Who else?” Morgana gives her a strange look. “So, since he was happy before that, and now he’s miserable, you should probably come round and, I dunno, kiss him again or something.” She stands up, swinging her school bag from her shoulder. “Arthur and I will go out tonight. From, like, 6 to midnight. Maybe…I dunno.”
Morgana wanders off, and Vivian stares after her. Not two months ago, Morgana was howling ‘Slut’ at her in the corridors, and now she’s suggesting…?
Vivian doesn’t want to think about what Morgana has just implied she should do to Uther.
--
Despite Vivian’s discomfort at Morgana’s suggestion, she still finds herself standing on the doorstep of the Pendragon mansion at 6.15 that evening.
It takes nearly five minutes for Vivian to pluck up the courage to knock on the door, and a count of twenty-nine and fifteen-sixteenths before the door opens (she planned to leave at 30).
Uther is barefoot, in casual clothes, hands wrapped around a bowling ball-sized glass of red wine. “Vivian? I’m afraid Arthur’s out,” he says, and makes to close the door.
Vivian stops it with the flat of her hand, and steps inside. “I’m here to see you, actually, Uther,” she says sternly, “We’ve got a problem.”
Uther is surprised at her tone of voice and releases the door. Vivian pushes it shut and wanders through to the lounge.
“A glass of red wine would be most welcome, thank you,” she smiles pointedly at Uther, who galvanises into action and pours her a smaller glass than his own.
Vivian sips it delicately, before addressing Uther directly. “Both your children saw you kiss me at Tristan Dubois’ party.”
Uther pales. “They haven’t mentioned it to me.”
“Morgana seems to think you’ve been in rather a foul mood lately.”
“Again, they haven’t mentioned it to me. I really don’t know what time Arthur and Morgana will be back, do you really want to wait?” Uther desperately tries to change the subject.
“I’m here to see you,” Vivian repeats simply.
Uther groans and rubs at his face with his hands. “Vivian, I can’t…I can’t…”
“Can’t what? Take me out for dinner? Talk to me? Stand the sight of me?” Her voice cracks on the last syllables, and Uther dashes across the room to kneel in front of her. He cradles her face between his hands.
“My darling girl, that’s not it at all,” he presses a kiss to her forehead.
“Then what exactly is the problem?” Vivian sobbed.
“You’re so young, and I’m so old, and this is…this is…how can I explain this? All this will look like is a dirty old man and a poor, seduced innocent girl. No-one would understand.”
Vivian brushes tears away with her fingers. “Do you really care what people think?”
Uther draws her head down to his shoulder. “No, my darling, darling girl, of course I don’t. I’m thinking of you. To be with me, to be seen with me, will do you no favours at all.”
Vivian lifts her head. “What do you mean?”
“People will assume you are the ‘dippy blonde’ the media dismissed you as. They will assume I have finally lost it, and taken up with someone young enough to be my daughter, and they will mock our relationship.”
Vivian presses a kiss to the corner of Uther’s mouth. “I don’t care what they think of me,” she vowed. “I want YOU.”
Uther gathers her into his arms, against his chest. “My darling girl, then you shall have me. I hate myself for my selfishness, but I’m going to keep you.”
--
Vivian awakes the next morning, with sunlight dripping across her face. She stretches and opens her eyes, to find Uther smiling down at her.
“Good morning,” he says softly.
Vivian loops a hand around the back of his neck and drags him down for a kiss. “Good morning,” she murmurs when she finally releases him.
Uther’s hand strokes down her side as he says, “I want to tell Arthur and Morgana.”
Vivian nods, biting her lip. “Tell them what?”
“That I am seeing you.”
Vivian smiles brightly. “They’ll understand.”
--
They don’t.
--
Vivian finds out the hard way that loving a man so much one’s senior brings unpleasant side effects.
No matter how much she loves Uther, she still finds herself persona non grata at school again: Arthur and Morgana’s anger at her taking up with their father has exiled her from her friends.
No longer Queen Bee, Vivian spends most of her lunchtimes hiding in the library, completing extra assignments and revising for her exams. She thanks her lucky stars that she only has a few weeks of school left.
--
The estrangement between Arthur, Morgana and their father continues well into the summer holidays.
It’s not helped by Uther insisting Vivian move in with him, when her father tries to lock her in a cupboard, and then, puce with fury, keels over with a heart attack.
Vivian wants time to grieve her father, and Uther’s insistence on ‘sorting things out’ is a welcome relief after the stress she thought faced her. She spends the first three weeks of the summer holiday curled up on a sofa in the room Uther insists is now her sitting-room.
Vivian thinks she’s probably got a lot to learn.
Her days are filled with quiet, painful contemplation, her evenings with bright socialising at Uther’s side. Her nights are spent enfolded in Uther’s arms, her cheek resting on his chest, their fingers interlaced.
Uther never asks Vivian where their relationship is going, never forces her to make a decision, and only once does he raise his voice about it.
He walks in to the kitchen one day, to find Morgana sniping at Vivian, insults spilling across her lips, Vivian nearly in tears, trying desperately to defend herself, her relationship, her decisions.
“Morgana!” Uther’s voice cracks through the room like a bullwhip.
Morgana turns a mulish face towards Uther. “Yes, Daddy?”
“How dare you speak to Vivian like that?”
Morgana pushes out her lower lip. “It’s all true.”
Uther almost can’t bring himself to speak. He is so incensed at his daughter’s bitter fury, her inconsideration, her plain selfishness that he has to pause, to make sure he’s not about to punch a wall. “Get out of my house,” he finally manages, quietly, furious, to Morgana. “Get out of my house. How dare you speak to my…to Vivian like that? How dare you?! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
Morgana bursts into tears and runs from the room. The front door slams a moment later, and Uther leans heavily on the back of a chair, gasping for breath.
Vivian’s slim arms enfold him, her chest pressing into his back. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she weeps.
Uther can’t imagine what she has to be sorry for.
“For dividing your family, for making Morgana hate you,” she rubs at her eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears.
Uther is horrified to think Vivian feels this is her fault, but promises he will go and find Morgana, and bring her home.
When he returns with Morgana, Vivian and her things are gone.
--
Vivian’s aunt is a hard-nosed woman, with bitter blue eyes, and a sour tilt to her mouth. If Vivian had anywhere else to go, she would have avoid Nimueh’s place at all costs.
She explains briefly about her father’s death, her dissolved relationship, begs for a place to stay until she can sort herself out.
Nimueh frowns, sucks her teeth, eventually agrees.
Vivian is shown to a small boxroom, a room under the eaves, with sloping ceilings. The narrow single bed has a lumpy mattress, and the room smells like wet dog. The window doesn’t open, and Vivian wonders, not for the first time, if she should have just ridden out Morgana’s hatred.
--
It’s Arthur that finds Vivian in the end.
She turns up at the school to collect her A-Level results and finds Arthur waiting for her, sat on the wall at the bottom of the school drive.
“Hi, Viv,” he says solemnly.
“Hi, Arthur.”
“Dad’s miserable without you.”
Vivian grits her teeth against the onslaught of tears that threaten. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Morgana’s gone to stay with our cousin. You could come and see Dad, you won’t run into her.”
Vivian shakes her head. Arthur means well, but really, it was a foolish pipe-dream anyway. It would never have worked. She brushes past Arthur and heads for the office to collect her results.
To her joy, she achieves the three A’s she needs to go and do her Business Management degree. She leaves the school, walking on air, but comes down to earth with a bump, when she sees Uther’s car pull up in the road.
He gets out of the car, and walks towards her. She’s startled to see he looks old. His steps are heavy, his shoulders hunched. I need to take care of him, Vivian thinks, and scolds herself for the thought. He’s not hers now, not her responsibility.
Uther comes to a halt in front of her. “Vivian, I…” He’s uncertain of what to say.
“Hello, Uther,” Vivian manages calmly. “Nice to see you. Do excuse me.” She steps around him and begins to walk down the road.
“Vivian!” Uther’s pleading cry echoes in her ears and she stumbles. His hands are around her shoulders, hauling her against him, before she can right herself. “Oh, Vivian, Vivian, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Whatever I did, I’m sorry.”
Vivian chokes back tears. “You didn’t do anything.”
“Why did you leave?” Uther sounds genuinely confused.
Vivian pulls her head away from his chest and looks him in the eye. “Because Morgana was so unhappy. If this,” she gestured between her and Uther, “made her so unhappy, it couldn’t be right.”
Uther dragged her back against him. “To hell with my spoilt, selfish daughter. For the first time since Ygraine, I’m in love. With you. I want to marry you, grow old with you. It’s you I want.”
Releasing her, Uther drops down onto one knee. “Vivian, I love you. Marry me. Do whatever you need to do with your life, take as long as you need, but say that one day, you will be my wife.”
Vivian hurls herself back into his arms, sobbing her heart out. “Yes, yes, I will, I will marry you!”
--
Uther insists that Vivian returns home with him straight away. He calls a family meeting, but Morgana doesn’t show up.
Arthur’s understandably freaked out by his ex-girlfriend marrying his father, but he’s off to university in September, so it won’t affect him too badly.
Morgana, on the other hand, still has twelve months of school left.
She is understandably distressed about Uther and Vivian’s imminent marriage. Uther takes her out of lunch two days later, and they discuss options.
When they return home, Morgana has decided that she would like to go to a boarding school near London, and during the holidays, she will live with her cousin Morgause. She’ll visit, obviously, for Christmas and birthdays, but all in all, she doesn’t want to still be here when her father marries a girl from the year above her at school.
Vivian completely understands. Morgana won’t talk to her, though, so she has no opportunity to sympathise and explain that.
--
Uther and Vivian run off to Gretna Green in the end. Uther starts talking about wedding dresses and guest lists and table decorations, and Vivian can’t cope.
“Let’s just elope,” she pleads, and although Uther would like to show the world how happy he is to be marrying Vivian, he understands her loathing to be publicly viewed again.
They fly up to Edinburgh and drive along to Gretna Green. The marriage takes twenty minutes to turn Miss Vivian Aubrey into Mrs Vivian Pendragon.
When they fly home, they find that Arthur has arranged a surprise celebratory party for them, two days before he leaves for university.
Vivian is overly-emotional, and a bit drunk, and makes the mistake of telling Arthur that he’s the best step-son she could ask for.
He leaves for university without saying goodbye to Vivian.
--
Whilst Arthur’s away, he emails Uther with updates, which Vivian reads eagerly. She eschewed the usual university experience when she married Uther, turning down her place at the university two hundred miles away and instead applying to the nearest university instead, so every word of Arthur’s emails takes her to a normal, ‘young-person’ place.
She reads with glee the emails about Gwen and Lancelot, Arthur’s girlfriend and best friend. She giggles over the passages where Arthur describes Lance’s boyfriend Will, she winces when she reads that Morgana met Gwen, and Arthur’s now single again.
When Arthur comes home for Christmas, she talks lightly, cheerfully about superficial things like the lights on the tree, and the brand of prosecco she found at the supermarket, desperate to reclaim their friendship.
Arthur rolls his eyes at her, behind her back, when he thinks she can’t see.
--
On Uther’s fiftieth birthday, Vivian asks Arthur and Morgana to come to Sunday lunch. She scrawls them brief notes, ending each one with, “Regardless of how you feel about me, please don’t upset your father by refusing to celebrate this milestone with us.”
Arthur rings her, to talk about her note. He puts an extra shot of kindness into his voice as he talks to her about the meal – they eventually agree to go to Uther’s favourite restaurant – although he doesn’t explicitly say that he’s sorry if it seems like he doesn’t like her.
Morgana sends back a brief note, which reads:
Vivian,
Gwen and I will be there. Don’t be such an arse. I wouldn’t miss Dad’s birthday if he was dining with the PM.
Morgana.
When the day finally rolls around, Morgana even manages to kiss Vivian’s cheek politely, and introduces Gwen as “my girlfriend” and Vivian as “my step-mother” without flinching.
--
Vivian and Morgana never really achieve an entente cordiale until the following year.
Morgana drops by one afternoon to ask Uther’s advice on proposing to Gwen, and finds Vivian curled up on the sofa, crying. She wants to ignore her step-mother, but Vivian hasn’t noticed Morgana hovering in the doorway, and continues to weep pitifully.
“Vivian?” Morgana steps into the room.
Vivian jumps, and hastily wipes her face on her sleeve. “Morgana!” she cries, pushing fake cheer in her voice. “How lovely to see you! Cup of tea?”
Vivian makes to push past Morgana and head for the kitchen, when Morgana rests a hand on her arm. “Is everything alright?” Morgana asks awkwardly.
Vivian feels tears well up again. “It’s fine, I’m fine,” she assures Morgana and carries on to the kitchen. She’s pouring out mugs of tea when Morgana joins her.
Vivian proffers the mug of tea and Morgana takes it with a quiet “Thank you.”
They sip their tea in silence for a minute or two, before Morgana asks, “Is it Dad?”
Vivian glances up. “Sorry?”
“Why you’re crying. Is it Dad?”
Vivian shakes her head. “No, your father’s wonderful. As ever.”
Morgana frowns. “Then what’s wrong?”
Vivian shrugs. “It’s not important.”
Morgana has never given Vivian any credit for emotional depth, but the sorrow on her face whilst she sobbed has changed that opinion forever. “Tell me,” she insists.
Vivian sighs, and says, “It’s nothing, it’s silly.”
“Come on, tell me,” Morgana coaxes, draping an arm around Vivian’s shoulders.
Vivian jumps again at the unexpected contact, but after a moment’s hesitation, leans into the touch as she confesses, “I thought I was pregnant. Uther was really uncertain about another child, especially as you and Arthur are grown-up now. This morning, my period came. I’m not pregnant. Your father seemed so relieved.”
The pain in Vivian’s voice prompts Morgana to wrap both arms around Vivian and rock her gently. “Sssh,” she whispers as Vivian clutches Morgana’s waist and cries gently.
Morgana rests her cheek against the top of Vivian’s head. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs.
They stand, embracing for a while longer, whilst Vivian sobs out her despair. Eventually, Morgana takes Vivian by the shoulders. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Morgana hedges, “but why don’t we go out for coffee? You need to take your mind off this.”
“You’re busy,” Vivian sniffles.
“Nope,” Morgana shakes her head. “Day off. Come on, get your handbag. Let’s go blow your credit cards on Jimmy Choos.”
Vivian laughs.
--
Morgana drops Vivian off home late that night. As Vivian scrambles from the car, Morgana leans over to call out to her. “Vivian!”
“Yes?” Vivian turns back to see Morgana.
“I still hate you, obviously, because you’re my wicked step-mother, but I had a really nice day today. We should do this more often.”
Vivian giggles, and agrees, before heading inside, hands full of shopping bags.
To her surprise, Uther is panicked and angry. “Where have you been?!”
Vivian raises an eyebrow at him. “I was out with Morgana.”
Uther’s jaw drops. “Morgana?”
Vivian smiles. “Yes, we went shopping.”
“You went shopping. With Morgana.”
“Yep. I’m going to have a bath,” and with that, Vivian skips up the stairs.
--
When Uther comes to bed, a half an hour later than he usually does, he finds Vivian curled up, asleep, on her side of their bed.
Reluctant to wake her, and knowing his crawling into bed would do so, Uther grabs his pyjamas and goes to sleep in the guest room.
--
Vivian awakes alone the next morning. Horror seeps through her bones. Jumping from bed, she barrels through the house, until she reaches Uther’s study. His computer is still switched off, the curtains still drawn.
“Uther!” she cries.
“Yes, dear?” says a voice behind her, and she turns to see her husband ascending the stairs, brandishing a mug of tea. “I’ve brought you a cup of tea,” he says, and looks confused when Vivian bursts into tears. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought you’d gone. I thought…”
Uther plonks the mug down on a nearby table and gathers her into his arms. “Oh, Viv,” he whispers. “Oh, Viv.”
That afternoon, Vivian finds Uther in his study and asks for a minute of his time.
Uther smiles and sets aside his papers.
Taking a deep breath, Vivian explains, “I want to talk about yesterday. I had hoped I was pregnant, because it would be a wonderful thing to carry our child. But your reaction when I found out I wasn’t pregnant was so hurtful. I realise you’ve done the child-rearing thing before, and therefore, you’re not bothered, but I haven’t. And I think we ought to talk about what we want for the rest of our relationship, because I think we might want different things.”
Uther purses his lips. “I’m sorry for hurting you,” he says gently, “I didn’t realise it was so important to you. I mean, we have Arthur and Morgana.”
Vivian laughs harshly. “Hardly! Uther, they’re my age. Maybe you missed the memo? I was at school with Arthur. Remember? That’s how we met. You look at Arthur and Morgana and see your children – I look at them and see my school friends.”
Uther looks taken aback. It’s almost as if this has never occurred to him before, and in that instance, Vivian realises it hasn’t.
“I’m sorry,” she says softly. “I know we’ve never made a big deal out of our ages, the age difference. But it became so obvious to me yesterday, when I was out with Morgana. We’re the same age. My step-daughter is the same age as me. I can’t pretend that doesn’t bother me.”
Uther sighs. “I’m sorry, too. You’re right, we’ve never talked about the age difference.” He stands and walks around to embrace Vivian. “I love you,” he begins, “but I don’t think I want any more children. I’m old, Viv. I’ll be fifty-two on my next birthday. That’s just too old to start with the kids again.”
Vivian nods against Uther’s chest, swallows down the lump in her throat. “I understand,” she says quietly, extracting herself from Uther’s arms. “I’m going to see a friend for a few days,” she asserts, backing out of the room. “Next week.”
Uther watches her go.
--
In time, Vivian gets over the shock of Uther’s declaration, and goes on with her life. Now she knows there’s no chance of a baby in her future, she works hard at her job, eventually rising to the Head of HR position.
Morgana announces her engagement to Gwen by turning up at Vivian’s office and insisting on taking her for lunch.
Vivian is touched that they finally seem to be bonding, and a solitary tear slips down her cheek when Morgana asks her to be a witness during the ceremony.
--
The wedding is beautiful: Morgana and Gwen are radiant with happiness.
At the reception, Uther asks Vivian to dance and leads her onto the dance floor. Arthur is dancing with Gwen, who’s a bit giggly.
Vivian suggests that Uther should take a turn around the dance floor with his new daughter-in-law, so he waltzes them over to Arthur and Gwen.
“Dance with your stepmother,” he commands Arthur, handing Vivian over. “I want to dance with my new and beautiful daughter-in-law.”
Uther and Gwen glide away, and Arthur obediently takes Vivian in a dance hold. His eyes keep drifting away to a point over Vivian’s head, and when he turns Vivian, she sees that he’s been glancing over at the skinny, dark-haired man who arrived with Will and Lance. Martin? Mervin? Vivian can’t remember his actual name, but she decides there and then, that as a loving step-mother, she ought to prompt Arthur.
“Your father’s worried about you, you know,” Vivian says after several minutes of silence.
Arthur looks down at her. “Sorry?”
“Your father? He’s worried about you?”
“Why?”
“You don’t date anymore, Arthur.” Vivian tries not to be exasperated with her step-son.
“That’s not true! What about Eloise?”
“That was two years ago!” Vivian fails at holding in her exasperation.
Arthur shrugs. “So what?”
“So, it’s not healthy, a fine young man like yourself.”
Arthur rolls his eyes. “Viv, need I remind you that I am the same age as you?”
Vivian laughs, and says, with fake innocence, “Yes, but I’ve found a man who loves me and makes me happy.” Not completely happy, her traitorous little heart pipes up, you’ll never be a mother with Uther.
Swallowing the lump that bobs up in her throat, Vivian goes for the kill. “You know, Arthur,” she says gently, “you father would be happy whoever you date. He’s delighted about Gwen. He just wants you to be happy.” It’s not a total lie. Vivian could talk Uther round, though, if he got really shirty about it.
Arthur laughs and pauses before saying, “Well, if my family members would stop stealing my girlfriends, I’d be a lot happier.” The undercurrent of pain in his voice doesn’t escape Vivian.
Vivian laughs and bats his arm, deliberately trying to lighten his mood. “Stop choosing girls, then,” she says wickedly, and before Arthur can respond, Uther’s swung back into their orbit and swept his wife out of Arthur’s arms.
As they continue round the dance floor, Vivian sees Arthur approach Mervin (she’s sure it’s Mervin), and smiles to herself. Step-mothers are good for something, after all.
--
Uther finds Vivian the next day, mixing up pastry in the kitchen for a pie.
“Can I talk to you?” he asks quietly.
Vivian looks up at him and smiles. “Course, darling. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Uther says, hesitantly. “It’s just…Morgana, my baby, got married yesterday.”
Vivian smiles. “Yes, she did. It was wonderful to see her so happy.”
Uther nods. “Yes, wonderful. But it got me thinking.”
Vivian’s brow crumples with suspicion. “Thinking? About what?”
“About our discussion about children.”
Vivian suddenly senses where this is going, and slams the mixing bowl down onto the table. “Are you about to tell me that watching Morgana getting married has made you feel old, really old, and now you think you want a baby, so you’re not old anymore, because you can’t be old if you’ve got a small child?”
Uther pauses and then nods.
Vivian howls with fury. “You utter pig!! How DARE you!! I’ve been mentally adjusting to the idea I’ll never have children, and now you’ve moved the bloody, fucking goalposts! Again! What do you imagine I’m going to say?!”
Uther holds up his hands in supplication, and backs out of the kitchen. “Sorry, sorry to have bothered you, sorry…”
In a furious temper, Vivian beats the filling for the pie by hand, and it’s testament to her anger that, by hand, she makes the mixture smoother than she can with an electric whisk.
After ten minutes, Vivian stares down at her the bowl in her arms, and sighs, before shoving it in the fridge. Wiping her hands on a cloth, she walks up to Uther’s study, undressing as she goes. When she reaches the door, she pauses. Uther looks up, and his eyes darken with lust.
“Come on,” Vivian says, mock-wearily. “You’d better fuck me stupid and get me pregnant then.”
Uther’s never moved so fast.
--
A month later, Vivian’s clutching the toilet bowl as she throws up at least once a day. Keeping the secret from her step-children is surprisingly easy. Arthur’s horrendously preoccupied with a merger and his newest housemate, and Morgana’s horrendously preoccupied being a newly-wed and shagging her wife on every surface in their house.
Eventually, Vivian passes the three-months-pregnant mark, and decides now is the time to tell her step-children.
Morgana is, surprisingly, extremely excited about it. Vivian can’t help but be grateful to Gwen for softening Morgana’s loathing of her. Vivian knows that she and Morgana can be friends when, two days after Vivian tells her, Morgana shows up with a catalogue of baby gear and a book of baby names.
Vivian swears Morgana to secrecy, wanting to tell Arthur herself. She’s still not entirely sure that Arthur won’t freak out. Eventually, she persuades Arthur to commit to lunch the weekend after his merger is finished, and sets about making Arthur’s favourite food to soften him up.
When the phone rings, on the Friday before Arthur’s visit, Vivian expects Arthur to be enquiring as to the wine he should bring.
“I can’t make it this weekend. Merlin bumped his head last night, he’s got a concussion and Will and Lance are away. I can’t leave him.”
“But, you promised!” she wails into the phone, and tries not to cry. She can sense Arthur’s exasperation all the way from London, and blames her hormones on her sudden, unstoppable tears.
“Vivian, I’m sorry, but Merlin’s concussion is bad and I can’t leave him.”
Uther takes the phone from Vivian’s limp hand, and draws her into his side, whilst speaking into the phone. “Arthur?” A pause. “Bring Merlin with you. Vivian’s been looking forward to this visit all week, and I’ll not have you disappointing her.”
Uther’s tone brooks no argument, and eventually, he hangs up the phone and kisses Vivian’s forehead. “He’s coming. Bringing Merlin.”
Vivian feels herself sag with relief.
--
“They’re late!” she wails the next day. “They’re not coming! I knew Arthur wouldn’t turn up! And Morgana couldn’t make it!” Vivian wanted Morgana there, because, for once, she thought her step-daughter would support her. Having to face Arthur alone…
Uther tries to sooth her, to kiss away her fears, but Vivian just resumes pacing the room.
When the boys finally turn up, Uther speaks sternly to Arthur in the hallway, whilst Merlin hovers in the doorway. Lunch has to be served immediately, as it’s nearly ruined anyway, and Vivian doesn’t get a chance to speak until dessert.
When she does reveal her big news, Arthur goes white and drops his fork. He manages to congratulate them, but Vivian feels his horror like salt in a wound, and it’s clear that Uther is also disappointed.
Merlin, by contrast, looks almost jealous of Vivian’s announcement, and wishes her well sweetly and sincerely.
--
The first time Vivian feels the baby move, she’s out for lunch with Morgana.
“Oh God,” Vivian whispers, and Morgana looks alarmed.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s this weird fluttering…I can feel a hand…” Vivian rubs her stomach.
Morgana laughs. “I expect the baby’s moving around.”
Vivian looks relieved, but still slightly anxious. “I can’t get used to this,” she admits.
Morgana smiles and takes her hand. “Viv, it’s weird. Child-bearing. Pregnancy.” Morgana waves her hand. “That’s why you have nine months to get used to it.”
Vivian nods. “I just…your father was so against it, when I first wanted a baby,” she says slowly. “And now, he’s all excited about it. He came home the other day with a toy dragon.”
Morgana laughs. “He’s done this before, though, hasn’t he?”
Vivian grimaces. “Yeah. And that’s freaking me out a bit too.”
Morgana squeezes her hand. “Which bit? The dying after giving birth bit? Or the fact that my mother was the first person he did this with?”
Vivian shrugs, trying not to cry. “All of it. It all worries me. I sometimes…”
“Sometimes what?”
“I sometimes think that Uther only married me because I love him, that he’s not really sure about me. Or this baby,” Vivian whispers. Finally giving voice to her fears only makes them more real.
Morgana rolls her eyes. “Viv, he sent me to boarding school because I was being so horrible to you. He let me go live with Morgause. Not being funny, but Morgause and Dad never got on. To let me, his daughter, go live with his arch nemesis, so he could keep you around: Viv, trust me. He loves you.”
Vivian sees how ridiculous she’s being, and admits she know this, but it doesn’t make the fear any less strong.
Morgana pats her hand. “I know. I know.”
--
When Vivian gets home, Uther greets her with a Shirley Temple cocktail and a kiss that lingers.
Any doubts that Vivian had, they’re gone when Uther draws her down on to the sofa with him, and pulls out the book of baby names Morgana bought Vivian.
“OK,” Uther says, a great big grin on his face. “I know there’s four months to go, but I want to start thinking about names for our little one.”
--
The next three days are spent discussing names. Vivian finds post-it notes stuck to her mirror, with Uther’s bold cursive spelling out names he thinks she might like (or names he knows she definitely won’t go for, just to wind her up.)
Andrew, reads the first one.
Mildred, reads the second.
And they go on. Amelia, Nicholas, Stephen, William, Benedict (“HELL NO!”), Loholt (“ARE YOU MAD?”), Elizabeth, Nimueh (“You are. You’re mad.”), Alice, Fiona, Genevieve, Belinda, Harry, Darren, Stuart, Denise, Wilfred (“What part of HELL NO don’t you understand?”), Isobel, Owen, Trevor (“One more like that and I’m leaving you.”), Olaf (“Right, that’s it…”), Anna…
Anna.
Vivian tests it out, croons it in the shower, works it into her pastry as she bakes and bakes and bakes, whispers it into her pillow, imagines it as her bump grows. Yes, Anna could work.
Vivian hopes it is a girl, otherwise their son’s going to have a tough life.
--
A great crash echoes down the hall from the kitchen.
Uther dashes in to see Vivian clutching the table with one hand, and cradling her bump in the other, saucepans spinning on the floor around her.
“Viv?”
“I think…I think this is a contraction.”
“You’re not due for another fortnight!”
“Try telling my…ooh…..uterus that!”
Uther flaps for a minute, before shaking the panic off. He only just remembers to turn off the hob, before they dash to the hospital.
--
“OK, Mrs Pendragon, push down, that’s it, push down. One more, that’s lovely, one more great big push…”
A tiny cry rends the air.
Uther and Vivian stare shell-shocked at the bundle of baby the nurse plops onto Vivian’s chest.
“Congratulations,” the nurse says, curtly. “It’s a girl.”
She swoops out of the room, and Uther stares down at his newest daughter.
“Actually,” he says to the nurse’s retreating back. “It’s our daughter, Anna.”
“Anna Pendragon,” Vivian smiles. “I like it.”
--
Vivian sleeps whilst Uther makes phone calls, sharing their good news. Morgana won’t make it to the hospital until later, and Vivian almost expects that Arthur won’t visit at all.
She’s pleasantly surprised when he walks into her hospital room, mid-morning with a bunch of flowers and Merlin in tow.
She can’t help but summon Arthur over to meet her baby. She wonders for a split-second if Arthur will refuse, but then he takes the baby and his face melts. He strokes the baby’s cheek and croons to her.
Merlin looks over Arthur’s shoulder at the baby, and the expression of longing on his face makes Vivian want to cry.
She manages to hold herself in, and join in with the conversation when Arthur asks what they’ve chosen as a name.
Uther’s pride as he introduces their baby as Anna makes Vivian smile. As does Merlin’s face a moment later, when Arthur hands Anna over to him and leans forward to hug and kiss his father and Vivian.
--
“Look at him,” Arthur said affectionately to Vivian. “You’d think she was his own baby the way he’s cooing over her.”
They are watching Merlin and Anna, as he talks to her and introduces her to people. Anna is starting to look bored, and rests her head against Merlin’s shoulder, before gathering up a handful of christening gown to suck on.
“I made the right choice though,” Vivian smirks. “He’ll be the best godfather a girl could ask for.”
Arthur nudges her with his elbow. “Hey! What about me?”
“You’re Anna’s best and favourite brother. You don’t get to be her favourite godfather as well.”
Arthur throws his head back and laughs. “I guess the same goes for Morgana and Gwen? Gwen’s the favourite godmother, cos Morgana’s the favourite sister?”
Vivian’s grin grows wider. “Of course.”
Arthur watches his boyfriend walk around the room with his sister. “I’m going to ask him to marry me,” he says softly.
Vivian looks at him in surprise. “You don’t believe in marriage.”
“I believe in marrying Merlin.”
“What do you think he’ll say?”
Arthur shrugs. “I hope he’ll say yes.”
“What makes you think he won’t?”
“Freya.”
“Ah,” Vivian nods in sympathy. “If it’s any consolation, I thought your father would never propose to me. I thought the best I could hope for was being his mistress. He seemed pretty devoted to your mother.”
Arthur looks at her. “What are you trying to say?”
“The people we love surprise us sometimes. In a good way.”
Arthur smiles and flings an arm around Vivian in a warm hug. “You’re right,” he chuckles. “They do, step-mummy.”
“Call me that again, and I’ll remove your tongue.”
“Harsh, Viv, harsh!”
-le fin-
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-20 11:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-21 06:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-20 11:59 pm (UTC)This made an utterly shite day a bit brighter. Thanks for sharing, sweets.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-21 06:47 am (UTC)On which note, I should probably say, I wanted to hate Vivian in canon, but the more I see that episode, the more I love her. She's just so...wicked. And selfish. Gloriously so, in a way that makes her subsequent adoration for Arthur even more hilarious. Couldn't help but make her lovely here!!
The next bit about A/M will follow, but probably not till I finish my Masters assignments. Probably a fortnight or so? And then we'll get to the A/M engagement.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 01:24 pm (UTC)I loved this series it was so very interesting
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Date: 2010-06-07 04:59 pm (UTC)When RL calms down, I'll probably add another couple of installments!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 02:29 pm (UTC)After realising that you've written some of my very favourite KMM fics, it seemed only fitting that I read everything else I could find in the 'Verse. Damn good idea, that was. I absolutely loved Vivian throughout, and Uther! ♥ The progression of their relationship, as well as their interactions with the others was fantastic. To put it another way:
SDAKFDHFRFBSD♥♥♥♥♥♥
That pretty much sums it up :)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 04:24 pm (UTC)Thank you for your lovely and kind words: I'm so glad you enjoyed this 'verse enough to read everything! *squishes*
no subject
Date: 2010-07-22 05:20 pm (UTC)Their differences of opinions about having children was a realistic stumbling block that Morgana's marriage believably pushed aside. I loved that scene of Vivian and the pastry crust, fuming over Uther changing his mind and then finally getting Uther's changed his mind!
I enjoyed seeing events we'd already read through Vivian's eyes and I loved the expanded scene at the hospital. The longing for children in Merlin's eyes is an interesting, unexplored new facet to the character.
This was another fascinating, well written look into this world. I love the characters you've created and I'm enjoying seeing them through one another's eyes. It made for another stellar read.