"Wow," Nine months is still a blink of an eye to Merlin, but he couldn't imagine being without Duck for that long. Would he have lost hope of ever returning or continue his life as though being here was just a dream? He pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the here and now.
"I'm better now that you're back and the kids are good. You were only gone a short time for us, but you were missed greatly." He held Duck and kissed him again. "Do you want to talk about what happened back home?"