AN:/ A little dream that doesn't fit quite anywhere now, but felt like a cute idea. A sort of good luck thing to myself with a job trial in… 12 hours of getting started. I'm a bit too nervous to sleep. So it's not fantastic, but it's something short to try and calm my nerves down a bit.

Yeah Dadalot is my personal cheer for myself. Whether it works or not is anyone's guess haha.

Keeping it all in italics to make it known it's one of Lancelot's dreams, and not going on during the active timeline.

"It is odd, though- you of all people are rarely so uneasy about girls."

Fretting was not something commonly seen with Lancelot, by all means his hesitant and stressed motions made no attempt to mask his anxiousness of the situation. Several minutes earlier both Bedivere and Agravain had given up pointing out (in mild annoyance from the latter) that the man was tapping his foot incessantly. Either one was seated beside him, so it was not a sound easy to ignore.

In retrospect it was probably a far better reaction of his than the pacing, halted a number of times only after he'd been pushed back to sitting by one or the other. He had rung his hands so often and so tightly that his skin threatened to bruise if he did not find some other way to work through this.

Eventually it was the high-strung man himself that spoke, his voice momentarily lacking the usual confidence it boasted. "And what if she hates me?"

A snort from the black-haired knight- "If she has any sense, she will."

"Agravain!" Bedivere's scolding was met with only a dismissive grunt. His smile was sympathetic, the blonde male patting Lancelot's shoulder. "It will be fine, if you keep worrying like this you may simply drop—"

Cutting off the knights words was a loud, shrill cry- it was something very distinct, the recognition of it essentially built into humans and could not be mistaken for anything else. The source could only come from the one cause of Lancelot's panic; a newborn.

He immediately jumped up, but both of his companions had already grabbed a respective side of him and forced him back to his seat- and so his stress continued ten fold, his body slouched forward with his head in his hands doing his damnedest not to rush in there. The wait had shifted from frustrating to agonizing.

It was only minutes before the sound finally quietened, leaving nothing to drown the sound of the door opening. All three heads whipped up expectantly, wary of any news. The doorway remained occupied by Merlin, chipper than ever pointing out for Lancelot to follow.

Finally, not stopped from getting to his feet he didn't miss a beat catching up to the other as the door shut, the two remaining knights slouching back in their chairs.

For the most part Lancelot was indifferent towards the mage- Merlin was the sort far too good at pushing everyone else's buttons for a laugh, but he had to admit that he usually got a chuckle out of half the fiascos, so it certainly wasn't a relationship of disdain between them.

This was not something that prevented him from saying anything negative to Lancelot, of course.

"Best to let you know there is… a slight problem."

Not anything anyone wished to hear in this situation. A majority of men would fall into further panic at those words, but perhaps due to the tight ball of emotions already bound up in his chest the knight's response was far more fierce, grabbing hold of the mage's front and his anger flaring. "What the hell did you do?! You were in charge of looking after them!"

The enchanter raised his hand, no signs of being intimidated as he scolded him with a fairly entertained smile. "Now now, calm down papa wolf! Such a mean face won't be a good thing." He eased Lancelot's fingers off of his robes, although it was difficult. "Everyone's quite fine and dandy! Fatigued as anything, but I'd give everyone a clear bill of health. Besides, this whole mess is your fault."

The knight's shoulders slouched, aggression still worked up in his tense body. "Then what is wrong…?"

"I'm sure you'll be smart enough to put two and two together," The mage turned his body, humming cheerfully as he opened the door at the end of the short hall. "I don't want to keep everyone separated much longer, anyway. I'm not one to impeach on bonding time!"

Admittedly the tinge of annoyance was more welcome than everything else had been, Lancelot pushing past before the nervousness had the chance to overcome him.

Most was taken care of- the room had never been crowded, given how secretive the entire situation was. If it didn't feel as if they were backed into a corner about the whole thing, Lancelot may have been a tad more against having had Merlin basically be a midwife.

Arturia was of course worn out, half-awake but thankfully comfortable on one of the few beds in the maternity area, her blonde hair dishevelled and face still flushed from the effort of it all. The tearstains on her cheeks were finally beginning to dry, her composure having returned some time earlier. She was entirely unaware of the two entering; her attention more preoccupied with admiring the tiny being nestled against her chest, deafened to sounds other than the light cooing of her child suckling.

Seeing Arturia, Lancelot hadn't spared a second moving to her side, completely uncaring about anything else but the two- it was only the scrapping of the chair he pulled up that finally tugged Arturia from her own thoughts, raising her eyes to him with obvious relief.

Arturia's smile was weak, most of the energy she had remaining was reserved for fighting off sleep. Even as tired as she was, she wasn't ready to close her eyes yet- it was far too soon to be separated from the small bundle, and her knight's appearance instilled some well needed pep back into her. As Lancelot sat beside her, she rested her head against his shoulder, savouring the support.

He rested an arm around her, the other hovering hesitantly above the pink blanket. Earlier thoughts re-emerged. 'What if she hates me?' He lowered his hand, Arturia tilting her head slightly in confusion as he paused, contemplating something else to ask.

"Oh? Where is Guin?"

Arturia laughed softly, glancing to the other side of the room that had the spare bed- occupied. "She, understandably, passed out."

"Oh." Sure enough, the poor queen was certainly not awake at that moment in time, one arm and leg hanging over the side of the bed making it clear she'd sat down herself 'just to catch my breath' before promptly losing consciousness. Poor lass.

"That being said, it is a good thing you were not here earlier…"

"That horrific? You and I both know Guinevere has her dramatic moments."

"I distinctly remember yelling how I was going to violently butcher you for 'doing this to me'." Hearing this Lancelot leaned back slightly, half expecting that venom to remain despite Arturia's calmed tone. "I officially do not wish child birth upon my worst enemies."

"Personally I would save that threat for after… Hmm, the third, maybe our forth."

"You will be lucky if I ever allow you to touch me again-" She winced slightly, body still just as sore as she was tired. Trying to relax, she gently shifted the bundle in her arms- who in turn gave a disgruntled whimper at being pulled away- and just as softly shifting the blankets. "But this is not about me right now."

The small child fussed, little arms stretching and showing just how uncoordinated a newborn was. Eyes fully alert, if she was a bit older the accusatory look could have been mistaken as asking 'Why would you do this to me, mother?' If earlier proved anything she had a very good set of lungs- but, there was no hiding the 'problem'.

He had thought it to just be a shade from the blanket covering the small babe, but the light tuff of hair made it very obvious what Merlin had mentioned.

"Pink?" There was a good deal of surprise in both his tone and his eyes, although as the shock wore down it was difficult not to melt at the sight of his daughter, as grumpy as she looked right now. His hesitation disappeared, free hand taking hold of her small one- instinctively the girl's tiny fingers curled around one of his, eyes glancing up and now taking in all the features of the new person that appeared.

"Lancelot," Arturia's voice was serious, Lancelot meeting her gaze as he tried to listen to both the child's light babbling as well as the concerned words of the king. "That colour is not from me- Nor Guinevere. That lie is not going to hold up, and… I am a little scared."

His eyes fell, mind swimming with conflicted emotions. If only all of this wasn't as complicated as it was…

He just wanted to be selfish for that moment, allow the pride he felt to become stronger, sit blissfully in that moment. To kiss Arturia, tell her how he loved her- that it was his job to sort this entire problem out. That the three… Now four of them, could be, and damn well would be, happy.

His hand shifted to lightly stroke the girl's light hair, her small hands now fighting to grab hold of his palm once more. "Merlin, can you not simply change the colour of her hair? Even if just an illusion of some sort…"

"I could!" Both parents pepped up at this, but that smile the mage wore was always a give away about his intentions. "What do you suggest, purple to match the father's?"

Lancelot's jaw clenched. "Arturia, I am going to stab him."

"Just not in front of the baby, please." Arturia sighed, exasperated.

"Are you sure? She may find it entertaining. Perhaps it would be better to wait for Guinevere to weigh in on it."

Merlin cleared his throat, arms crossed and for a second he appeared serious as well- only a second, unfortunately. "Well it's all simple, we can either say 'Hey everyone so turns out Lancelot slept with the queen and it's not Arthur's' or 'So turns out the king's a woman and slept with a knight, who knew?'."

"Those are both dreadful ideas." Arturia groaned.

"Running away isn't an option, is it?" There was a degree of hopefulness in Lancelot's voice, even if it was an entirely hopeless suggestion. His turn to sigh, placing his arms carefully around his two girls and holding them close. "We will figure something out, when you are rested Arturia."

His eyes again turned to his child, nuzzling up against her mother once again and making what she wanted fairly obvious. "I suppose I can't nickname her piglet just yet. Dear, did you have a name in mind?"

There was a stirring from the other bed, the pretty brunette rubbing the dust from her vibrant hazel eyes as she managed to push herself up slightly, a moment passing as she gained her bearings. Those bright eyes focused more as she smiled softly despite her grogginess- "Mm, well if you two are indecisive, I've had something in mind…"

AN:/ M'kay ArturiaxLancelotxGuinevere might also be the other thing to cheer me up haha. So pardon for any typos and odd wording, had fun working on this regardless of how silly the whole thing probably is.