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Here’s the thing about Merlin, he has to give his kids what they want. He obviously uses common sense and doesn’t reward them with everything they would ever want, but if it was a simple wish, he can’t help but give them that. Because he loves them with all his heart.
So, when his angelic children, Sam (aka. Samantha) and the youngest Mordred came to Merlin about a very important subject, how could he ever refuse them?
“Dad,” Sam inquired timidly, shuffling from foot to foot. She was growing into a beautiful young girl. At the pure age of 12, she was already radiating beauty. Her hazel eyes were magnificent and jet black hair made them pop out more.
Merlin turned towards Sam, and was also met with Mordred who looked even more timid than Sam, which was surprising since he was usually the more… excited and confident one of the two. “What’s up?” Merlin asked, a smile graced his face, his mind completely discarding finding out who killed the butler.
“So, Mordry and I were thinking, it would be really cool if we could, you know, have a puppy,” Sam said this all while looking at the floor, shuffling her feet and her hands fidgeting.
Merlin looked at them both curiously, and smiled slightly, “Have you talked to your Papa about this?”
They both looked down nervously, that was when Mordred spoke up, “We were hoping that, um, you could tell him. He doesn’t really like pets.” His face turned sad and he looked even further down at the ground, if that was possible, and he put his small hands in his pockets. Although Mordred was 9, he was intelligent. Highest in his class, absolutely loved by everyone and seemed to get everything his way. His golden brown hair and blue eyes seemed to help that aspect.
Merlin sighed, “Well, I don’t know if I can convince your Papa without you two there. What do you say we go visit him in his office, maybe we can convince him together?”
One other thing about Merlin, he could be very convincing when he wanted to be.
Sam and Mordred both looked at each other, face to face, and seemed to communicate through wavelengths that Merlin couldn’t see.
Mordred was the one to look up and nod, a small smile of reassurance was sent to Mordred, courtesy of Sam. Merlin stood and put his hands behind their backs, leading them out of the living and rooms and towards Arthur’s office.
Merlin walked in without knocking, as he does, and said, “Arthur, our wonderful children have a brilliant request that I really think you should listen to.”
Arthur looked up from a piece of paper with ridiculous tiny font. His face was contorted into confusion and amusement, he put his pen down and stood up, walking over to Merlin and kissing him on the cheek. He then kneeled down and squatted in front of Sam and Mordred, a smile on his face, “Now, what is this brilliant request?”
Both Sam and Mordred glanced at one another, then Sam spoke up, “We really, really, really, reaaaalllyyyyyyy want a puppy, Papa.”
Arthur’s smile turned softer than it was before, if that was possible, and he put one hand on each of their shoulders. His face then turned very serious and both Sam and Mordred’s faces fell and their heads turned towards the ground. They didn’t see Arthur’s lips turn up and his mouth part open, “Of course we can get a puppy!”
Arthur practically yelled, but he wouldn’t beat the children's screams. They screamed for joy and excitement, their faces split into huge grins, and they were jumping up and down. They then hugged both their Dad and Papa, and thanked both over and over.
“We’ll go pick a puppy tomorrow.” The screams only grew.
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The pet store can be such a magical place for a child. Full of animals, big and small, all different yet alike in their own respects. But, of course, they were there for one thing and one thing only. A puppy.
They looked through what felt like thousands of dogs, but was really just around ten. They petted every single one and played with them, but not one felt like the dog for them, until they came across a beautiful and slightly majestic golden retriever. The kids were hooked the first time they saw her, and they couldn’t stay away. It wasn’t long before they agreed on a puppy and were going home with their very own puppy.
“So, what are you two going to name her?” Merlin asked, hand intertwined with Arthur’s, a content smile on both of their faces.
“We already talked about it, before we asked. We said that if we got a girl we would call her Lena and if we got a boy puppy we’d call him Tian.” This was all said by Sam, who was currently watching Mordred walk, Lena it seems, around their feet.
Lena was energetic, always wanting to play, so she was a perfect fit for the two of them.
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Both Sam and Mordred adored Lena, and she seemed to too. The three were inseparable and did almost everything together. Going to school was an even bigger nightmare for Sam and Mordred. And Lena seemed to suffer as well.
Overall, though, everything seemed fantastic for them. Until disaster struck and everything went spiraling down in all of their worlds.
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Lena was sick, it seemed. What was worse was that she just a puppy and already in dire need of surgery.
Sam and Mordred both seemed to break when they were given the news. Merlin and Arthur weren't sure if they understood how serious this was, that she could die from the surgery. They couldn’t tell them that.
Lena had a cancerous tumour in her left eye, and it was beginning to bother her that she would be up at night, howling. They weren’t sure what was in her eye, they thought it was just a small infection and bought some over the counter medicine for her, but it wasn’t enough.
When they finally took her to the vet they were given the bad news, and the two choices. Surgery or putting her down. They went for the surgery road.
The money wasn’t a problem, the problem was how to explain to the kids that their dog, companion, was going to receive surgery. That she could die.
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It was a Friday night, both Merlin and Arthur lay in bed, talking. Arthur’s arm was wrapped around Merlin, and Merlin was curled up next to Arthur.
The feelings were more for comfort, the atmosphere wasn’t something they were huge fans of.
“How are we going to explain this to the kids? They’re not young enough that they won’t understand that something’s wrong. We have to give them some kind of explanation,” Merlin said all this with a worried tone to his voice.
Arthur nodded, “You’re right, we need to. It’ll be tough, but we can’t hide this from them, even if our excuse is to protect them. They need to know, and we need to be the ones to tell them.”
It was tough. At first the children didn't understand, and then it struck Sam first and she had to explain to Mordred what was occurring.
But all poor Mordred understood was 'Lena was going to die.'
It took them hours to get him out of his room and fully explain face to face. At first Mordred was convinced that they were lying, and that Lena was fine and he would have his puppy forever and he would never lose her. It broke Merlin and Arthur’s hearts, watching their sons heartbreak over a companion that had seemed to change him and make him happier in such a short amount of time. What was worse was that they couldn’t do anything about it.
The day of the surgery cam faster than either Arthur or Merlin anticipated. It was a school day for both Sam and Mordred but they insisted that they should come to the vets office and stay through the surgery. Although they didn’t want the children missing a day of school, they felt they wouldn’t benefit from school today.
The surgery took an hour. An hour in which gave Merlin and Arthur plenty of time to pace and Sam and Mordred to send worried looks at their parents, each other and to look around with a look of wonder at the office they were sitting in.
Soon Merlin and Arthur sat, and not long after the Doctor came out of the surgery room and walked over to them seated. She smiled, her crisp white teeth seeming to brighten the room, “The surgery was a success, and Lena is doing fine. If you could just follow me to my office to do some paperwork, you can take her home tomorrow towards the end of the day.”
Merlin and Arthur nodded, standing up, “Stay here,” Merlin said seriously to Sam and Mordred, and they listened, “We’ll be back in no time.” Merlin put his hand on their shoulders and hugged them, Arthur ruffled their hair, and they followed the Doctor to her office.
When the paper work was complete they all left for home after a few small fights with the kids of not being able to bring Lena home today. They all drove quietly, each in their own thoughts.
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Picking Lena up was an exciting affair. For both Sam and Mordred and Merlin and Arthur. When they arrived at the vets Lena was already outside, a nurse watching over her and playing with her as they waited.
When Lena saw them walk in she started to bark and became excited, and it caused the Pendragon family to have huge splitting smiles on their faces.
It was almost like a scene out of a movie. Lena ran at the family and into Mordred’s arms, which caused them all to laugh, Mordred wearing a happy content smile on his pale face.
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Lena wasn’t the same after the surgery, but she wasn’t all that different either. She still played with them and was as energetic as ever. Even if she had to take breaks here and there since her energy depleted quickly.
Overall, life was how it always had been, sometimes better.
Lena grew and grew, as did Mordred and Sam and Merlin and Arthur had the pleasure of watching them grow together.
It truly was an amazing thing to experience.