Archive of Our Own

“Do you want me to carry that, Cat?”

“No, Ned!” his wife replied, stifling a yawn as the two of them walked through the terminal, neither moving very quickly. “You’re already loaded down like a pack mule. I can carry one bag, my love!” She yawned once more as she finished the sentence.

“But you’re tired, my love.”

“Well, yes. A million hours in airplanes and airports will do that to a person. Especially when something like 12 hours just magically disappear. But I promise I’m not about to drop, regardless of how dead I look.”

“You look gorgeous,” he assured her. She did look exhausted, but that couldn’t keep her from looking beautiful whatever she may think. “And it’s only six hours.”

“What?” she asked, apparently not following his train of thought.

“The time difference, Cat. We’ve lost six hours. Not twelve.”

She shrugged. “Feels like twelve. Are you sure Lyanna will be here to pick us up?” She had stopped walking, and Ned realized they had reached the reception area outside security where friends and family could greet arriving passengers. He didn’t see his sister anywhere.

“You know I spoke to her from LAX. I admit she sounded half asleep, but she confirmed our flight number and arrival time and promised to be right on time. We’ve actually arrived fifteen minutes early, and knowing Lya . . .”

“Right on time doesn’t mean one minute early,” Catelyn laughed. “Shall we go on to baggage claim?”

“No, we’d better wait for her here. It’s where she’ll be expecting us.”

“Then let’s see if we can at least find some seats,” Catelyn said, turning to walk toward their left. “I said I wasn’t about to drop, but . . . oh, fuck . . .”

The last two words came out more as an exhalation of air rather than actually voiced, and Ned turned toward his wife in alarm. She rarely swore except when extremely agitated. He didn’t think he’d heard her say so much as ‘damn’ during their entire honeymoon. Her face had gone pale, and she looked both a bit angry and apprehensive. He followed her gaze, and swore under his own breath.

“Ned,” she whispered in a cautioning tone, putting her hand on his arm.

“Welcome home, lovebirds!” Brandon Stark called out boisterously, walking toward them with long energetic strides. “You look great, Red!” he said with a grin. For a moment, Ned thought Brandon was actually going to reach out and embrace Catelyn, and he wasn’t certain he was prepared for that. Not after what Catelyn had told him the morning after their wedding. Brandon seemed to think better of it, though, and instead turned to greet him. “You look like grim death, I’m afraid, Eddard. The tropics do you in? Or was it too much bedroom exertion?”

“What the hell are you doing here, Brandon?” Ned asked between gritted teeth. He did not want to do this here. Not in an airport. Not with Catelyn standing right there ready to drop from exhaustion. Not with the memory of the best three weeks of his life still fresh and warm in his mind. “Where’s Lya?”

“Well, I’m here so that you two aren’t stranded in an airport, little brother. Lyanna called me an hour ago and asked if I could fetch you. As for where she is . . . I have no idea. Probably off somewhere fucking Robert Baratheon.”

“Brandon, honestly!” Catelyn said in exasperation just as Ned said, “How dare you talk about your own sister like that?”

“Oh, as if you both don’t know Lyanna does whatever the hell she wants,” Brandon said, and Ned heard an edge to his brother’s voice that wasn’t normally there when he spoke of their sister.

“Has something happened with Lyanna?” he asked sharply.

“No. I guess I’m just in a foul mood because she called and woke me up and said she needed me to come get you with no real explanation.”

Brandon’s hesitation before responding had been scarcely discernible, but Ned knew his brother well and thought that he was holding something back. Ned frowned, but before he could say anymore, Brandon said, “Of course, you’re even crabbier than I am. I guess I’ll blame it on the jet lag in your case.”

“The jet lag,” Ned repeated somewhat incredulously. “You honestly think my attitude toward you has anything to do with jet leg.”

“Ned, please.” There was a pleading note in Catelyn’s voice, and she gripped his arm more tightly. He turned to look at her. “Let’s just go get our bags, okay? I’m ready to go home.”

Ned nodded wordlessly, turning toward baggage claim.

“What the fuck is his problem, Red?” he heard Brandon ask Catelyn behind him.

He didn’t turn back to look at his brother, fearful that if he did, he might just let him know precisely what his problem was in no uncertain terms. But he stopped walking. He couldn’t leave Catelyn with him. He just couldn’t.

“You really are an ass, Brandon,” she said.

“So you’ve told me any number of times. But I’m still here to get you, Red.”

“Us, Brandon,” she said coldly. “You’re here to get both of us. Wherever you’ve stashed the car, why don’t you go pull it around to the baggage claim exit and we’ll meet you there.”

“Yes ma’am, Mrs. Stark. Right away, Mrs. Stark,” Brandon replied with mock subservience, and Ned wheeled back around to face him. Only Cat’s hand once again on his arm kept him from grabbing his brother.

“You will never disrespect my wife again,” Ned growled, his voice low but filled with suppressed rage. “Or I will kill you.”

“I . . .” Brandon started to say something angrily himself, but then Ned saw the realization dawn on his face. “Oh. She told you,” he said quietly.

“Did you think she wouldn’t?”

“I didn’t think she’d want to piss you off on your honeymoon. And Ned, I am sorry. I had too much to drink and I was acting a fool, and . . . it was nothing, really, but I know I shouldn’t have . . .”

“It was nothing really,” Ned repeated slowly, his blood pounding in his head as he recalled the purple bruises on Catelyn’s wrist; the bruises so clearly made by fingers and thumb pressed tightly into her flesh, the bruises that had only completely faded in the past few days. “God damn you, Brandon,” he said quietly through clenched teeth. “You assault my wife mere hours after standing up with us at our wedding, leaving her bruised for a good two weeks, and you have the nerve to look me in the face and say, ‘it was nothing’? So help me God, I could kill you for that. I wanted to kill you when I saw those bruises, and if Catelyn weren’t here . . .”

“Well, I am here,” she said almost sharply, her nails almost digging into him as she held onto his arm. “And I’d prefer both of you to stop speaking of me as if I weren’t.”

Ned continued to glare at his brother, but spoke no further, and Brandon met his gaze. They all stood there silently for several tense heartbeats, and then Catelyn said, “Go get the damn car, Brandon. Ned, the bags should definitely be there by now.”

Ned turned away from Brandon without a glance back, and nodded to Catelyn. As they walked together toward baggage claim, she laid her head against his shoulder briefly. “I’m sorry,” she murmured softly.

“Why?” he asked her, sounding angry. He hated that. He wasn’t angry at her. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No,” she said softly, but I’m sorry that had to be your homecoming. I know you’re angry at him, Ned, and I don’t blame you, but please. Please don’t have it out with him in the car. I just want to be home. With you. I want it to be just us again for just a little while.”

He took a deep breath. “I want that, too. I’ll let it go for now, Cat. If he does. But he will listen to everything I have to say at some point. Whether he wants to or not.”

“Yes, my love. But not in an airport lobby, all right?”

He made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, and he felt at least a bit of the tension go out of him. “I promise.” Then something occurred to him. Catelyn had said she wanted go home, but which home? They intended get a place together, but they hadn’t decided on renting or buying, and the wedding had become such a huge production thanks to their fathers that it had eaten up all of their time, especially Cat’s. So they had simply continued staying at either her place or his at various times. “Where are we going, Cat?”

She stopped walking and looked up at him with an odd expression on her face. In light of his tense conversation with Brandon, he supposed he couldn’t blaming her for worrying that he meant that in some philosophical sense. “I mean, what apartment should we head toward, my love?” he said with a smile. “I don’t particularly want to hash that out once we’re in the car with Brandon.”

She laughed then. “No, I’d imagine not. And we’ll go to yours.”

“You’re certain? You don’t want to go back to your own place after being so long away?”

She shook her head. “I’m content wherever you are, Ned. And you’re the one who has to go right back to the office tomorrow. Your place is much closer to Arryn and Associates than mine. Besides, my car is there.”

He nodded. She was right, of course, his ever practical wife. He dreaded returning to what would likely be an almost incomprehensible amount of work, but Jon Arryn had given him a month leave for his wedding and honeymoon which was generous in the extreme. Ned could hardly object to the man’s wanting him right back in the office upon his return. His dad would likely be summoning him to Stark in a matter of days as well, he thought wearily. It would be at least a bit better to have only a fifteen minute commute tomorrow morning when he’d no doubt still feel like it was the middle of the night.

“My place, it is. I believe you have enough of your things there to get by on for a day or so.”

She laughed again. “Half my wardrobe. And even if the bag with my make-up case is sitting in LAX again, I’ve got my own shampoo and face stuff there, at least.”

His stomach tightened a bit at the reminder of the green case which had somehow missed the plane in LAX and finally reached them by plane and then boat over two weeks into their honeymoon. Cat’s birth control pills had been in that case, and the two of them had made the somewhat reckless decision to throw caution to the wind, enjoy their honeymoon to the fullest, and let nature take its course.

He looked carefully at his wife who’d stepped ahead of him toward the baggage carousel. If the thought of all the sex they’d had without benefit of any contraception over the past three weeks had her the least bit stressed, she wasn’t showing it at the moment. He knew she’d been nervous about it, though. He’d coaxed her into perhaps four tiny glasses of wine the entire honeymoon once they’d realized her pills weren’t there because she wasn’t taking any chances of harming a potential embryo that neither of them could decide if they really wanted or not. It was an odd feeling to be both excited by and completely terrified of a particular prospect at the same time. Her almost complete refusal to partake of the excellent wine selection in the island house had made him smile, though. He’d never doubted that Cat would be a loving and protective mother, but to watch her become so protective of a child that likely didn’t even exist yet made him love her even more. Which he hadn’t thought possible.

“There’s one of them, Ned!” she said, pointing to one of their larger bags as it came around the carousel. Ordinarily, she’d go try and grab it herself regardless of his telling her not to and the fact that she could barely lift it. That she didn’t even offer to get it spoke to how exhausted she truly was.

Their second large bag appeared moments later followed by the smaller one which held an alarming number of ladies’ shoes and the green case whose earlier missed connection had prompted all this concern about potential offspring. Cat had told him they should know something one way or the other soon after returning home. Apparently, she’d done something with the timing of those pills in the months before their wedding to make certain she wouldn’t get her period during their honeymoon, but it was due any day now. Once it arrived, they would know. And then she could go back on her pills. Or not. Intentionally trying to have a baby when they’d been married less than a month was insane. He knew that. And yet, having been forced by circumstances to contemplate the possibility, he now had to admit that some part of him would be disappointed if her period arrived as it always did. And that he might even be disappointed if she wanted to go back on the pill. But that was her choice, not his.

“Ned? Are you with me?”

“What? Oh, sorry.” He’d been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even realized he was just standing there between the two big bags while she stood there looking up at him, a puzzled expression on her face. “I’m afraid I’m more jetlagged than I thought,” he apologized. “Let me get a baggage cart.”

She tiptoed up and kissed his cheek. “I think we’re both ready to be home, my love. Please don’t let Brandon goad you into an argument in the car. I just want to get to your place, curl up in bed with you, and sleep for at least twelve hours.”

He smiled. “We need food at some point, too, but otherwise I’m in favor of that plan.”

He got their bags loaded up on a cart and they made their way out to the waiting cars. After only a few moments, they spotted Ned’s silver Mercedes coming toward them with Brandon at the wheel.

“Bastard’s driving my car,” he muttered under his breath.

“You told Lya to bring your car,” she reminded him. “That’s why you left it at your dad’s.”

“Bags wouldn’t fit in that ridiculous little thing she drives.”

“They probably wouldn’t fit in Brandon’s car, either, Ned,” Catelyn said sensibly. You’re the only one of your siblings who drives anything remotely practical.”

At that, Ned laughed. “I suppose that’s true. I didn’t even consider asking Ben to pick us up because the two of us and all our bags certainly couldn’t fit on his bike, and no way was I giving that kid the keys to my car!”

She laughed as well, and Brandon pulled up beside the curb where they stood. He stopped the car and jumped out to help Ned get the bags in the trunk and then asked if Ned wanted to drive.

Wearily, Ned shook his head. “I’m so out of it, I’d probably kill us. You drive, Brandon. To my place.”

“Oh, I’m dropping you off first then?” Brandon said with a smirk. “And then taking Cat home?”

Ned felt Cat’s fingers digging into his arm once more and heard her say. “Just give it a rest, Brandon. No one is in the mood for your poor attempts at comedy.”

Brandon shrugged. “Well, get a place together and you won’t have to put up with the teasing. It’s what married people do, you know—live together.”

“Like you’d know the first thing about marriage,” Catelyn retorted. Ned almost laughed at the expression on her face as he recalled her warning him not to let Brandon goad him into an argument.

“Get in the car, my love,” he said, kissing her briefly. “As you have told me often enough, Brandon frequently speaks simply to hear the sound of his own voice.”

He opened the door to let Cat into the back seat, and then turned to glare at his brother. Brandon looked for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but apparently he thought better of it. He simply got back into driver’s seat, and Ned climbed into the back seat beside Catelyn.

No one spoke on the way to Ned’s apartment, and Ned thought Catelyn actually drowsed a bit with her head on his shoulder. When they arrived, he shook her gently. “We’re home, Cat.”

“Mmm,” she said. “Wonderful.” Yawning, she reached for the door once Brandon had pulled to a stop. “Thank you for picking us up, Brandon,” she said.

“You’re welcome, Red,” came the reply, but Ned noted the cocky, flirtatious tone Brandon normally took with Catelyn was absent from his brother’s voice.

“Help me with the bags, Brandon?” he asked.

“Sure.” Brandon popped the trunk and was out of the car before Ned could move.

Ned reached out and stopped Catelyn from getting out. “Wait here.”

“Ned. Please don’t have it out with him now. You’re too tired. I’m too tired. Let’s just . . .”

“I have no intention of having it out with him,” Ned interrupted. “I promise. I’d just like you to wait for me until we get the bags in. Okay?”

She looked at him suspiciously, but yawned again and nodded, leaning back against the back of the seat. He smiled at her and then joined his brother at the trunk.

“So is the part where you hit me? Or are you going to wait until after I carry in your bags?” Brandon sounded somewhat bitter, but not particularly arrogant.

Ned sighed. “I’m not going to hit you, Brandon. I’m too damn tired to throw a decent punch.”

Brandon gave him a half smile. “Then maybe I’d prefer you hit me now. You hit pretty hard when you’re well rested.”

Ned shook his head. “Let’s get these bags in so I can come back and get Cat.”

Once they’d carried in all the luggage, leaving it scattered in the entryway of Ned’s apartment, Brandon looked at him. “How do you plan to get your car back?”

“I’ll be taking Cat’s car to work tomorrow, but she’ll be here. Do you think you and Lya could drop it off?”

“I can bring it whether Lya can come or not. Then Cat can drive me home. Unless you’re afraid to leave her alone with me.”

“Fuck you, Brandon,” Ned said. “I do not want to do this right now.”

“Do what, Ned? Admit that you’re jealous of what I had with Cat? That it bothers you when she’s with me?”

He was jealous, but that was own problem. Not Cat’s and certainly not Brandon’s. And his own feelings had no bearing on the fact that what Brandon had done to Catelyn after the wedding was inexcusable. “This isn’t about me, Brandon,” he said quietly. He took a deep breath, willing himself not to lose his temper. He’d promised Cat he wouldn’t fight with Brandon and he intended to keep that promise. “It’s about your assault on my wife.”

“It wasn’t an assault!”

“It was. You frightened her. You injured her.”

“It was a bruise, Ned! Just a little bruise, and I swear I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“No,” Ned said. “You never mean to hurt her. But you always do. And I won’t let that continue. She doesn’t want you, Brandon. She told you that a long time ago, and she meant it. Stop behaving as if you have some sort of claim on her. It upsets her, and now that you’ve physically assaulted her . . .”

“It wasn’t an assault, dammit!”

“Now that you’ve physically assaulted her,” Ned repeated, “it frightens her.”

Brandon looked stunned. “Red isn’t afraid of me,” he said. “She knows that I’d never, ever hurt her.”

“But you did.”

“I . . .” Brandon went silent and looked down.

Ned sighed. He was tired, and he wanted Brandon out of his apartment. He wanted to stretch out in his bed with his wife in his arms. “Brandon,” he said, and his brother looked up at him. “Thank you for coming to pick us up. You are my brother, and you are important to me. I don’t want to lose my brother.”

Brandon managed a half-hearted grin. “Good to know, little brother.”

“But,” Ned continued, and he watched Brandon’s grin fade as he heard the ice in Ned’s voice. “Catelyn is my wife. And if you ever lay a hand on her to harm her again . . . if you ever cause her to be afraid at all, you will answer to me. And you will no longer be my brother.”

Brandon continued to meet his gaze, and they simply looked at each other for a long while. “Fair enough,” he finally said. Then he turned to leave the apartment, and Ned followed him out.

The sight of Catelyn, leaning back in the car with her eyes closed, did a great deal to lift his mood. He reached into the car and took her hand to help her out. Once she stood beside him smiling sleepily, he put one arm around her back and the other beneath her hips and lifted her off the ground.

“Ned! What are you doing?”

“Carrying my bride over the threshold. I believe it’s customary.”

She threw her head back and laughed, but then wound her arms around his neck. “Then carry me home, Mr. Stark! Before you drop me from pure exhaustion.”

“Have a little faith, Mrs. Stark!” he said. “I will never drop you.”

“Bye, Brandon!” she called out as Ned began to carry her toward the door. “Thanks again for the ride!”

“Any time, Red!” Brandon called back.

Ned turned just enough to see his brother watching them from beside the car and was surprised to see an almost wistful expression on Brandon’s handsome face. He nodded in farewell and then turned back toward the door with his wife in his arms, putting his brother out of his mind entirely.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Thank God you’re back, man!”

Robert Baratheon’s booming voice greeted Ned as he entered the office the two of them shared. Before he even had a chance to be surprised that Robert was actually in the office an hour early, he found himself wrapped in a bear hug by his much larger friend. “I didn’t think I’d make it, Ned! Don’t you ever go away that long again,” Robert said as he released him.

Ned eyed him with amusement. “I’ve only been gone three weeks, Robert. Surely you couldn’t have missed me all that much.”

“You have no idea,” Robert said with feeling, and Ned laughed.

“If this is the part where you declare that you’ve realized you’re passionately in love with me, save it. I’m married. And you’re really not my type.”

Robert made a face at him. “Aw, fuck you, Stark.” Then he grinned. “You look pretty good for a man who hates the heat and just spent a month on a tropical island! Cat keep you busy indoors all the time?” He waggled his eyebrows, and Ned laughed again.

“We had a wonderful time,” he assured his friend. “I’m afraid I didn’t miss you, or anybody else, at all. But you are not getting details, so don’t ask.”

“You are no fun at all,” Robert muttered as both men walked to their desks. “But I am awfully glad to see you. Old Man Arryn has been working my ass off in your absence. Ten hour days don’t agree with me, Ned. And early mornings are meant to be spent in bed!”

“You’ve been coming in this early every morning?” Ned asked him with a smile. “I came in early today to get a jump on my catch-up work, but I admit I’m surprised to see you here at this hour.”

Robert scowled at him. “Well someone’s absence seriously added to my workload. Someone had to pick up the slack while you were having endless sex in the sun!”

Ned laughed. “Well, for any work that your extra industriousness has saved me from having to make up now, I thank you my friend.”

“Yeah. You’d better,” Robert grumbled. “Wait til you see your emails! Without me, that inbox would look a whole lot worse now, Stark!”

Having logged onto his work account, Ned was already in the process of scrolling through the largest number of messages he’d ever seen in an inbox. “I may never dig out from under this,” he groaned. “Any more might’ve killed me!”

Robert laughed. “You can buy me a drink. Or ten. And you can keep the early hours from now on. I’m more than happy to go back to showing up closer to nine o’clock.”

Ned looked at his watch and yawned. “Hopefully, I get myself back on DC time soon. It currently feels like 1:45 a.m. to me.”

“Ouch! That’s not even bedtime on a good night.” Robert looked at him rather seriously for a moment. “Was it worth it, though?”

Ned regarded his friend carefully and got the distinct impression he wasn’t referring only to the three week honeymoon. Yes,” he said firmly. “It’s worth it. It’s worth more than anything I’ve ever known.”

Robert nodded slowly. “Good.” Then he lowered his head to resume working on whatever he’d been doing when Ned walked in.

As Ned pondered how to even begin his own work, he suddenly recalled Brandon’s words at the airport. “Speaking of your aversion to early mornings,” he said, looking across his desk at Robert once more. “What on earth did you and Lyanna get up to yesterday morning that caused my sister to flake out on picking Catelyn and me up from the airport?”

“Lyanna? I didn’t see Lya at all yesterday, Ned.”

“Brandon said . . .”

“Brandon doesn’t know shit!” Robert interrupted emphatically. “I know he’s told Lyanna I’m not good enough for her, but he can fuck off. He doesn’t know the first thing about the two of us.”

The vehemence of Robert’s response took Ned by surprise. Given Robert’s history with women, he and Brandon had both been a little wary when their sister had started dating him, but as far as he knew, it had been a very casual sort of thing. He wondered what had changed over the course of three weeks.

“He just said she was with you, Robert. Or actually he said she was probably with you. But she wasn’t?”

“I already told you she wasn’t,” Robert said irritably. “As far as I knew, she was picking you up in the morning and she said she might call me later. She never did.” He shrugged. “I figured she was busy.”

Something in Robert’s voice made Ned wonder what his friend wasn’t saying. “You didn’t call her?” he asked.

Robert sighed. “No, Ned, I didn’t call her.” He ran a hand through his thick black hair and sighed again. “Look, I realize you’re her brother, but what goes on between Lya and me is none of your business, Ned. Like it or not, she’s an adult.”

“Of course, she’s an adult, Robert! But if the two of you are dating and she just disappears for a day, I’d think that you’d . . .”

“She didn’t disappear, Ned! She just didn’t call.” He paused a moment as if trying to figure out how much he wanted to say. “She’d said she might call. When Lyanna says ‘might,’ that’s what she means. She absolutely will call if she wants to see me, and if she doesn’t . . . well, then something else came up. Hell, you know Lya!”

“And you’re okay with that?” Ned asked somewhat incredulously. Robert was more inclined to be the one not calling rather than the one waiting for a call that might not come.

“Well, okay is probably not the word I’d use, but I’m learning to deal with it.” He paused again. “I like Lyanna, Ned. I like her more than I’ve ever liked a girl. And I mean that.”

Ned didn’t say anything. He’d never heard Robert talk like this. And to have him talk this way about Lyanna unnerved Ned a bit.

“But she’s nothing like any girl I’ve ever gone out with,” Robert continued. “She’s honest, for starters.”

Considering the numerous lies Robert had told women over the years, Ned hardly thought it fair of him to judge women in general as dishonest, but he continued to hold his tongue, waiting to see what his friend would say next.

“She told me on one of our very first dates that she knew I’d like to fuck her because I can’t have more than a five minute conversation with a woman without wanting to fuck them.” He laughed. “I didn’t know whether I was more pissed off or turned on. Then she went on to tell me that if she ever decided she wanted to fuck me, she’d let me know.”

“Robert, I really don’t need to hear . . .”

“But if I pushed the issue before she wanted it, she’d be outta there!” Robert continued as if Ned hadn’t spoken. “And that as long as we were having a good time together, she wouldn’t ask me what I did when we were apart and she expected the same courtesy of me.” He shook his head. “No girl ever gave me a speech like that. There’s no one like her, Ned.”

“That’s probably true,” Ned sighed. “And you’re okay with this?” He felt like was repeating himself, but he couldn’t help it.

“Well I don’t have much of a choice, do I? Lyanna’s known me a long time, and Brandon knows nearly as much about me as you do. While you’re not one for telling tales, Brandon has no such compunction. I guarantee the asshole has given his baby sister an earful about me even if it makes him a damn hypocrite! But I won’t be a hypocrite, Ned. Not with Lyanna. I can’t fucking condemn her for being like me and then tell her I want her, can I?”

Ned was struck speechless. After a long moment, he said, “I never thought I’d hear you talk like this, Robert.”

“Yeah . . . well, neither did I,” Robert said gruffly. “But I like her, Ned. And I know she likes me. We have a hell of a good time together.” He shook his head. “I just can’t get over the feeling that she’s seeing someone else, too. And I can’t ask her about it because it’s none of my damn business. We’re not in some sort of committed relationship.” He made air quotes for the words ‘committed relationship’. “We’re just . . . having fun.” He sighed. “And the damned irony of it is that I’ve said that very thing to too many girls to count, and now I fucking hate it.”

“You hate being able to enjoy my sister’s company and still go out and fuck whom you please?” Ned said rather disbelievingly.

Robert looked angry for a moment, but then he sighed. “Ned, I haven’t so much as had dinner with another girl since at least a week before your wedding.”

Ned knew Robert well enough to see that this unlikely statement was the absolute truth. “Have you told her that?”

“And scare her the hell away? No.” He shook his head. “You can’t breathe a word of this, Stark, but I was kind of worried about her after your wedding.”

“What? Why? Did something happen to Lyanna after Cat and I left?” Did Brandon find some reason to brutalize our sister, too?he thought bitterly, even though he knew that was unfair.

“No, not that night,” Robert said, shaking his head. “I didn’t even see her again after you and Cat left. I hadn’t seen her for a while before that because I was babysitting your dumbass drunk baby brother, actually. I handed him off to Brandon, but it seems he drafted Lyanna to help. Doesn’t surprise me, really. Brandon was pretty shitfaced himself. Anyway, she texted me that Ben had puked on her dress so she’d gone up to her room and decided she was too tired to bother finding something else to wear and coming back down. So I went home.”

“But you said you were worried about her.”

“She wouldn’t go out with me all the next week, and I was racking my brain as to what I did wrong. Then out of the blue, she called and said she wanted to see me. And so we went out to dinner, and she told me that she wasn’t the person I thought she was or some bullshit, and that she’d done something really shitty or whatever, and I told her I didn’t give a fuck. That I’ve done more shitty things than anyone I know. And that considering her rules were that we didn’t ask each other to share secrets, I didn’t need to hear anymore.”

“So what happened after that?”

“That’s none of your damn business, Stark. But she started acting more like herself again. And I honestly think we’re almost sort of dating for real now. But I’m not gonna mess it all up by questioning her. I don’t know where she was yesterday. If you wanna know, you can ask her. As for me, since you’re back, I am definitely leaving this place at 5 p.m. sharp and seeing if she wants to grab dinner.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Ned definitely didn’t get out of the office at 5 p.m. It was well after seven before he found himself in Catelyn’s car, driving out of the parking structure. He wanted desperately to go home to Cat. Tired as he was, he found himself wanting to pull her into bed for something more than sleep. They’d spent most of yesterday completely unconscious, rising only to order in Chinese in the late afternoon before passing out again. He hadn’t made love to his wife since they’d left the island house, and he wanted her.

Yet, he couldn’t help worrying about Lyanna. Robert could talk about giving her all the space he wanted, but it wasn’t like her to just blow off picking them up like that. Frowning, he grabbed his cell phone. “Call Cat,” he ordered Siri.

“Calling Cat,” came the automated reply.

She picked up almost immediately. “Have you finally escaped, Ned?” she asked hopefully. He had called her a couple times from the office to let her know that he missed her and that he was probably going to be very late.

“Yeah, I’m on my way now. Hey, did Brandon and Lyanna ever bring my car over?”

“No. I haven’t heard from either of them. Daddy came over a bit ago to make certain I actually got home in one piece. And I called Lysa. Other than that, I haven’t so much as spoken to anyone except you.”

“Are you up for a brief excursion? We could run over to my dad’s and get my car, and go out to eat unless you ate with your dad.”

“I haven’t eaten,” she said. “He offered to take me out, but I said I wanted to wait for you. And I’m all for getting your car back because that means I get to keep mine tomorrow! We desperately need some groceries here, and I want to stop by my apartment, and I need to go see my boss and find out if they even want me back after so many months away.”

“All right,” he laughed. “We’re on the same page. Only good thing about leaving the office so late is that rush hour is over. I’ll be there in a few minutes!”

Having had the opportunity to sleep a good bit more during the day while Ned was at the office, Catelyn looked wonderful when he walked into the apartment, particularly since she was standing there naked. Apparently, as her exhaustion had resolved, her thoughts had been running along the same lines as his so that their departure was delayed. By that point they were both starving, so they stopped for a quick bite on the way to his father’s house, and ended up not arriving there until just after ten o’clock.

“Looks like she said yes to dinner,” Catelyn said as they pulled into the drive.

Ned didn’t know what she meant until he saw Robert’s car parked there. He’d told Catelyn about his conversation with Robert while they ate.

“Looks like it,” he said. While he was glad to know Lya was home, he’d have preferred a chance to speak to her without Robert there.

He walked into the house holding Catelyn’s hand and called out softly, “Hello! Anybody awake?”

He was answered by an excited shout from somewhere down the hall, and his sister appeared in a doorway. “Ned! Cat!” she squealed, nearly sprinting over to grab them both into a hug. “Tell me everything! Was it wonderful?”

“It was better than wonderful, Lya! I’ve never seen any place so beautiful!” Catelyn gushed.

“I know, right? I was like nine or something when we went, and I still haven’t seen any place more beautiful!”

“The two of you look great! I swear it looks like even Ned got a bit of sun!” Lyanna said, standing back to look Ned up and down. “Does that mean you didn’t keep in her bed the entire time, Ned?” she asked, winking at him.

“You sound like Brandon,” Ned told her. “He said something very similar. At the airport. When he picked us up.”

She definitely looked guilty, but she brushed off his words as if she didn’t know he was waiting for an explanation. “Well, I certainly don’t want to sound like Brandon, so I won’t ask for any details about your sexcapades in paradise.” Then she leaned in to Catelyn and spoke in a stage whisper, “But you’ll give me at least some details later, right?”

“Lya!” Ned said.

“Robert! Come look who’s here!” Lyanna shouted down the hall.

“Isn’t Dad asleep, Lyanna?” Ned asked pointedly.

“Oh, you can’t wake him with bombs. I swear he’s going deaf. And before you ask, Ben went to a concert and is staying over somewhere. Probably so he can get drunk. Dad’s on him about finding a summer job, but I’m afraid our little brother’s social life is keeping him too busy for work.”

At that point, Robert Baratheon appeared from the same doorway Lyanna had come through, and Ned almost laughed out loud at the way his friend looked at Lya like the sun shone out her ass. He wondered if he looked that ridiculous himself when he looked at Cat.

“Hello, Cat!” Robert boomed. “You’re not sick of this stick-in-the-mud yet? I spent one day with him in the office, and I was ready for a break.” He hugged Catelyn and grinned at Ned.

“You were singing a different tune earlier, Robert,” Ned said, smiling, “when you grabbed me in a passionate embrace, begged me never to leave you again, and declared your love for me.”

“Oh, this I’ve got to hear,” Lyanna teased.

“He’s full of shit, Lya. Pay him no mind,” Robert told her.

“Did Brandon leave my car here?” Ned asked.

Lyanna nodded. “He had to bring it here to get his back.”

“Did he even ask you about bringing it to my place today?”

“No. I haven’t seen Brandon. I . . . wasn’t here when he brought it back.”

Ned didn’t think he imagined the hesitation in her voice when she said that.

“Well, are the keys in it?” he asked her. “And is it in the garage? I didn’t see it out on the driveway.”

“Yeah, I think so.” She shrugged. “You can go check.”

“Why don’t you come with me?” he said. “That way, if our shithead brother didn’t leave the keys in the car, you can help me brainstorm where they might be.” Without waiting for her to respond, he turned to Robert. “Do you mind entertaining my bride while Lyanna and I check on the car?”

“Not at all,” Robert said. “I like talking to beautiful women.”

Catelyn laughed when he offered her his arm as if they were at a dress ball, but she allowed him to lead her into the nearby parlor to sit down. “Just don’t take me into the garage sale room,” Ned heard her say as they walked away. “I am not ready to face all of that stuff again yet!”

“Where were you yesterday, Lyanna?” Ned asked mildly as he took his sister’s arm and guided her toward the garage.

“None of your damn business, Ned,” she snapped. “And thanks for grilling Robert on my whereabouts, by the way.”

“I didn’t grill Robert about anything. Brandon said you were with him, and I mentioned it, that’s all. And it is my damn business when you don’t show up at the airport after telling me you’d be there five hours earlier.”

“I didn’t leave you hanging. I sent Brandon. He wasn’t horribly late or something was he?”

“No,” Ned admitted. “He was right on time.” And the last person I wanted to see. “That isn’t the point, Lyanna. We were expecting you. I know you were home when I called from LAX because I could tell I got you out of bed.”

“Of course you got me out of bed, Ned! It was 4 a.m. here when you made that little call! Did you not think I’d remember to get you without being rousted out of bed in the wee hours?”

“You didn’t come get us even with being rousted out of bed in the wee hours,” Ned countered.

“I sent Brandon!”

Ned just looked at her and waited.

“Something came up, all right? I didn’t intend to ditch you, but . . . something came up.”

“And you aren’t going to tell me what.”

“No. I’m not. It really isn’t any of your concern, Ned.”

She sounded defensive and even a bit guilty, which was unusual. Lyanna rarely felt guilty about much of anything. And while she definitely walked on the wild side a bit more than Ned would have liked, he had to admit that his sister had her own code of honor and lived by it. Robert was right about her almost brutal honesty, and she rarely kept secrets. Ned couldn’t help but worry about whatever had put that hint of guilt in her voice and eyes now.

“You are my concern, Lya,” he said softly. “Are you all right?”

She seemed to have trouble meeting his eyes for a moment, but then she nodded. “I’m all right,” she said. “I have some things to work out, that’s all. I’ll figure it out.”

“Does this have anything to do with Robert?”

She shook her head. “No . . . sort of. Not really.”

He looked at her, his expression clearly showing that her words made no sense to him.

“Robert’s great, Ned. He really is. And I know this is hard to believe, but he’s treated me better than at least 90% of the guys I’ve ever dated. And he’s a hell of a lot of fun.” She sighed. “But I think he’s actually falling in love with me. And I’m . . . not.” She looked sad. “I’m not in love, Ned. Not with Robert. And I don’t know how fair it is of me to keep running around with him just because I enjoy it when I know he wants something I can’t give him.”

Her words hit him hard because he could hear the same honesty he’d heard in Robert’s earlier. These two people he loved were going to end up hurting each other, and it broke his heart. “Tell him, Lya,” he said softly. “If you’re sure you’ll never love him, tell him.”

She swallowed. “Maybe I don’t want to be sure,” she said softly. “Everything would be so much easier if I could just love him.”

“I don’t think that’s something you can control, Lyanna. God knows I tried like hell not to love Catelyn when she was Brandon’s fiancée. I don’t think you can force love or stop love. It’s only our actions we control.”

“And you never reached for Cat when she was Brandon’s? Not once?”

He shook his head. “Not once. Of course, she never looked at me then which made it a bit easier.” He smiled. “Try not to worry so much about what you do or don’t feel for Robert, Lya. Be honest with him. But if he knows how you feel now and is still willing to wait around and see what may happen between you in the future, you aren’t doing anything wrong. Hell, you’re only twenty-two. You’re supposed to be confused. Everyone’s confused at twenty-two.”

She smiled up at him. “Maybe. And everything did work out for you and Cat in the end, didn’t it? Maybe that’s because you were meant to be together, and nothing could prevent it.”

He laughed. “I’m not one to talk about destiny, Lya, but what Catelyn and I have is definitely special. And I know that you can find something like that someday. Whether it’s with Robert or not.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, “Come on, Ned. Let’s go get your car before Robert says a thousand and one inappropriate things to your wife!”

It was only much later as he reflected upon their conversation while lying in bed with his arms around a sleeping Catelyn that Ned recalled how Lyanna had specifically said she wasn’t in love with Robert. And when she’d proclaimed that everything would be much easier if she could just love him, she’d placed the emphasis on the word him. Ned began to realize that his sister might just be in love right now. And not with Robert Baratheon.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Four days later, Ned sat in his office grateful it was Friday even if he already knew he’d be working on at least a couple briefs over the weekend. He’d promised himself no more than two or three hours of work time on Saturday, and he was beginning to dig out of the hole he’d been in since returning from his honeymoon. He and Catelyn had survived an official welcome home dinner at his father’s with all his family in attendance the previous night, and in Rickard Stark’s presence, Brandon hadn’t once acted like an ass. He’d even referred to Catelyn by her name all evening instead of calling her ‘Red’. Lyanna had seemed a bit preoccupied, but not the least bit defensive or anxious, and Benjen had announced he’d decided to take the summer internship at Stark after all which had put his father in such a good mood that he ordered up a bottle of wine from his private collection to celebrate. That caused the only uneasy moment of the dinner because Catelyn, still uncertain about whether or not she could be pregnant, declined a glass. She and Ned had no intention of telling anyone anything about any potential pregnancies, and Rickard did not accept her polite refusal easily, expounding on the value and quality of the vintage until she allowed Ned to pour her about half a glass from which she took very tiny sips and Ned finally poured into his own wine glass when Rickard left the table to ask his cook why dessert was taking so long to be served. If any of his siblings had noticed what he did, they didn’t say anything about it.

Back at home, Catelyn had gotten nearly hysterical over the stupid wine, of which she couldn’t have drunk more than a tablespoon. “I’m officially late, Ned!” she’d cried. “I could be carrying our baby right now, and I drank alcohol!”

He’d put his arms around her and assured her that no harm would come to a baby from a few tiny sips of wine, silently cursing whoever had decided upon the terrifying wording in all the pregnancy alcohol warning labels. Finally, she’d calmed down and apologized for being so ridiculous. It had been rather out of character for her get quite so upset. She wasn’t given to hysterics, and Ned had found himself recalling all the tales about pregnancy making women more emotional.

“How late are you, exactly?” he’d asked her.

“Only two days. But I’m never late! Not even one day.”

“Well, you’ve been on the pill a long time, and this month you haven’t been. Couldn’t that mess up your period even if you aren’t pregnant?”

“I guess so,” she’d said uncertainly.

“Why don’t you get one of those tests now?” he’d suggested.

“I have one,” she’d admitted. “I bought it two days ago on my way back from my old apartment.”

He’d grinned at her use of the term ‘her old apartment.’ As his was slightly larger and more centrally located, they’d decided to let hers go and live in his until they decided what to do about finding a place of their own. Without explicitly discussing it, he knew part of their reluctance to start looking now was this baby question hanging over them. A baby on the way would certainly impact any housing decisions. But simply acknowledging that they both truly lived here now—together—felt good to Ned.

“Want to take it now?” he’d asked gently.

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t believe it if it were negative. It’s still so early that false negatives can happen. I read about it. I thought I’d take it once I’m a week late.”

“Whatever you want,” he’d said, kissing her.

As usual, kissing when they were entirely alone had led to other enjoyable activities and no more pregnancy discussions took place. This morning, however, as they’d been getting out of bed, she’d asked him, “What do you want the result to be?”

He knew instantly what she was talking about it. “I’m okay either way, Cat. I’ve told you that.”

“I know you have,” she said. “And you will be okay either way. We both will. But what do you want, Ned? What do you really want?”

He’d stood there like a deer in the headlights because he hadn’t known how to answer her.

“Ned?”

“I don’t know, Cat,” he’d finally said. “And I realize that isn’t what you want me to say, but I swear to God I just don’t know. One minute I’m certain I just want you all to myself for a while longer and the next minute, I’m just as certain that nothing could possibly be better than sharing a child with you—actually making a little human being who’s part of both of us.” He’d shaken his head. “I don’t know, Cat. I’m sorry, but I just can’t answer that question.”

Surprisingly, she’d smiled. “I don’t know either,” she’d said. Then her smile had wavered and disappeared. “I’m scared, Ned. And I don’t know whether I’m more afraid that I’m pregnant or that I’m not.”

“If it’s positive, it’s pretty much accurate even now, right? You could always take it now, and we might have our answer. If it’s negative you can take it next week.”

She’d looked at him a moment, biting her lip. “I’d rather know for sure either way,” she’d finally responded. “I just . . . it’s hard enough not being sure. To take the test and hope for an answer . . . and still not really know . . . I’m not sure I can take that, Ned.”

“Okay, my love. Just remember, we’re in this together, and whatever happens, we’ll both be okay.”

She’d nodded, and he’d kissed her goodbye. They were going out of town to Riverrun for the weekend to spend some time with her family at her father’s house on the river. Hopefully, they could both keep their minds off pregnancy tests there if her period still didn’t arrive and she still wasn’t ready to pee on the little stick.

“Ned?” Robert’s voice penetrated his thoughts, and he looked up.

“Where the hell are you this morning, man?” Robert asked. “That’s the third time I said your name.”

“Just preoccupied, I guess.”

“With Cat’s lovely tits? Or her ridiculously long legs? Or maybe that damn fine ass she’s got?”

“Quit ogling my wife, Robert,” Ned groused, shaking his head.

“Hey! I’m not ogling. Cat’s not even here.”

“No, but you’ve obviously been ogling since you just gave an alarmingly accurate rundown of a few of her many attributes,” he laughed.

“Uh oh,” Robert pouted. “If you’re actually learning to accept comments about your wife’s hot bod with a sense of humor, you won’t be nearly as much fun to harass.”

Ned just shook his head. “Well, I can’t spend the rest of my life threatening to punch you. That would get old pretty quick.” He shrugged. “And I do have a gorgeous wife. I may as well accept that it’s my burden to bear, and simply try to make the best of it.”

“Ass,” Robert muttered, and Ned laughed at him. “Anyway, you poor slob who’s stuck with the hot redhead for life, it’s after noon. Do you wanna grab lunch?”

“Sure,” Ned said, mentally running through all that he hoped to accomplish today. “I’m actually running a bit ahead of schedule so . . .” He was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. “Hang on, Robert. It’s Catelyn.”

“Hello, my love,” he said into the phone. “What does my beautiful wife need?”

Robert rolled his eyes, and Ned flipped his middle finger up which made Robert say “Fuck me, Stark? Wouldn’t you rather fuck her?”

Suppressing laughter at his idiot friend, Ned almost missed Catelyn’s words. “Ned? Did you hear me?”

“Yes, Cat, of course I heard you.” He swiveled his chair around to put his back to Robert and replayed her words in his head. She’d asked him to come home. “Are you all right?” he asked her.

“Yes, I’m fine. We just haven’t had lunch together since we got back, and I know you’ll stay at the office until the last minute tonight so that we’ll have to get on the road almost as soon as you come in.”

“I have to get some things finished before we leave, Cat, even if I am taking work to Riverrun. I don’t want to spend hours and hours on work there.”

“I know. I understand, Ned. Really I do. It’s just that once we get to Riverrun, we’ll have my father and Edmure and Lysa, and . . . possibly even Petyr . . . to contend with.”

“Baelish will be there?” Ned almost growled.

“I don’t like it any better than you do, Ned, but apparently my sister’s still dating him. Anyway, before we have to share all our time with other people, I thought maybe we could steal one little lunch for just ourselves.”

He looked at his watch. “Yeah. I’d like that. I can take about an hour, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes, Cat, but that includes drive time.”

“Well, quit wasting that time and get in your car and get here, my love.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

After he told her goodbye and ended the call, he swiveled around to look at Robert. “Sorry, Robert, but you’ll have to find another lunch date. I just got a much better offer.”

“I see how you are,” Robert said. “Just tossing me aside for the first pretty girl that turns your head.”

Ned was still grinning at Robert’s antics and even more at the prospect of seeing Cat when he walked into his apartment a little while later. Our apartment, he thought to himself. He’d barely closed the door when Catelyn all but launched himself into his arms. She didn’t kiss him, though. She just held onto him and pressed her face into his neck as if she would never let him go. He held onto her tightly.

“What’s this about?” he asked her, suddenly concerned. “Cat? Are you all right?”

Slowly she raised her head up and looked at him. “I think so.”

“You think so? What’s wrong?”

She looked agitated somehow. Not exactly frightened, but anxious maybe. “Nothing’s wrong,” she said, and then she pulled out of his arms and went to retrieve something lying on a paper towel on the counter. “I couldn’t stand it anymore,” she said almost breathlessly. “I took the test.”

She came back to him and held up a white stick sort of thing with a little window in which a blue plus sign was plainly visible.

Ned’s throat felt dry as he swallowed. “Does that mean . . . are you . . . are we . . .”

“I’m pregnant,” she said, and then she bit her lip and looked up at him expectantly, tears glistening in her eyes.

“You’re pregnant,” he repeated softly.

She nodded.

He looked again at the little blue plus sign and then back at the blue eyes he loved so much.

“Say something, Ned,” she said, and he heard the tremble in her voice.

“We’re having a baby,” he said incredulously. “You and I made a baby.”

“We did,” she said with a laugh that was almost a sob. Then she was smiling at him even as tears fell down her cheeks and he found himself smiling back at her.

“Wow,” he said, looking at her beautiful face which somehow looked even more beautiful than it normally did. “Just . . . wow.” He laughed. “God, I sound like a five year old, but it’s the only word I seem to have right now.”

She turned away just long enough to set the white stick down and then took his hands. “Are you happy, Ned?” she asked softly.

He looked at his wife, at this woman he loved more than life, and saw both hope and fear in those blue eyes. But underneath both of those, and shining through even more clearly, he saw joy. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, Cat, I’m happy.”

And just like that, he realized that he was. She’d asked him this morning what he wanted, and the answer was that he wanted this. His beloved wife was now carrying his child, and Ned Stark was the happiest man on earth.

________________________________________________________________________________

The next three months seemed to pass both incredibly quickly and impossibly slowly. Ned and Catelyn had decided to keep the baby news all to themselves for awhile. Knowing the sensation it would cause in both their families, they simply wanted time to cherish this new little life just between the two of them, and Ned thrilled at the way their shared secret seemed to bring them even closer every day.

Ned remained busy both at Arryn and Associates and at Stark Enterprises because his father persisted in finding things that he wanted legal advice on. Catelyn had returned to her old job at Don’t Look Away, a non-profit children’s rights group that supported programs which took on issues from child abuse to child pornography to child hunger. Catelyn’s area of endeavor was increasing awareness of and combating educational barriers in at-risk children. She’d majored in elementary education and taught briefly before being recruited by DLA. She wasn’t certain she wanted to work there forever, and she talked about returning to the classroom, but she believed in the work she was doing and was good at it. Now, of course, she was also struggling with whether or not she wanted to continue working at all once the baby came in February. They spent most of their free time looking at houses. They’d decided they definitely wanted to buy a house—an actual home for the family they were making.

They knew they couldn’t keep their secret much longer, however. Catelyn’s pregnancy certainly didn’t show yet, not when she was dressed anyway, but her breasts were undeniably fuller and when Ned laid his hand on her naked belly, there was a firm little swelling he could feel well below her belly button. She’d never had much nausea or other complaints, and now she swore she felt better than she ever had in her life. They’d make love nearly every night and then lie awake and talk about their baby, suggest names both to seriously consider and to make each other laugh, imagine a daughter or a son and speculate who he or she might look like. Catelyn categorically refused to find out the baby’s sex before birth, and Ned decided he rather liked the anticipation of not knowing as well. Right now, their child was nothing but endless possibilities, and whatever possibility became reality, Ned knew this baby would be loved like no other ever had.

When Rickard Stark decreed a September family trip up to Winterfell to enjoy the turning leaves before the first snowfall, Ned asked Catelyn about using that occasion to announce the new Stark on the way. She was a little concerned about hurting her father’s feelings by telling the Starks first, but Ned promised they’d wait until the last night at Winterfell to share the happy news and then drive directly to see Hoster Tully upon their return which she decided would do fine.

The long weekend at Winterfell went very well. Lyanna had brought Robert Baratheon, and the two of them seemed closer than ever. Ned couldn’t escape the feeling that his sister was anxious about something all weekend, but at least she seemed herself. He and Catelyn had been so busy and absorbed in their newly married life and impending parenthood that he honestly hadn’t seen much of his family, but he knew Lyanna had seemed to go off the rails a bit in July to the point that it even alarmed Benjen. He’d called Ned wanting him to ask Robert if he knew what was wrong with her. Honestly, Robert hadn’t seemed to spend nearly as much time with Lyanna in July, but he’d continued to profess to Ned his continued devotion to her, promising that if it was within his power to make her happy, he’d do so. Robert himself had seemed rather miserable during that time, though. Since mid-August, he seemed much happier most of the time—a state of affairs Ned attributed to a renewed romantic relationship with Lyanna that seemed closer than ever. But the usually garrulous Robert had become very tight-lipped about anything regarding Lya, and Ned refused to pry. People were entitled to their privacy. Even younger sisters. At Winterfell, Lyanna and Robert both talked and laughed and drank (although Robert didn’t get nearly as drunk as he normally did) with everyone else at meals and when they’d gather together to play games or watch movies at night, but they spent the majority of their time taking walks together or just sitting and talking with each other. As Ned and Catelyn did a lot of the same, Ned considered that a positive sign for his sister and his best friend.

Benjen had stunned everyone, himself included, by thoroughly enjoying working at Stark. After years of insisting he would not spend his life working at Stark Enterprises because there were a million other things to do, it seemed that Ben had the makings of a fine entrepreneur—much like his eldest brother. And he loved it. Now, of course, he had started his freshman year of college, but he obviously missed being in the office every day because he spent the weekend grilling their father and Brandon and sometimes even Ned about various deals and projects that had been in the works when he left for school.

Brandon was cordial to everyone, but his and Ned’s relationship remained a bit strained even though they worked together again on certain projects for Stark. And he was very careful of Catelyn. She thought he was overly careful, but Ned preferred that to the alternative. Interestingly enough, there seemed to be some sort of tension between him and Lyanna as well, but Ned could never quite put a finger on it. He decided simply to be grateful that he had any relationship at all with his older brother after all that had occurred and remain hopeful that things would continue to slowly improve between them.

Ned had no doubt that Rickard Stark was aware of the subtle emotional currents that ran through various relationships, but as everyone truly did seem to be enjoying themselves, he made no comment on it. Ned knew his father simply wanted a chance to enjoy having all of them together. Family was important to Rickard Stark, and he’d taken great pains to keep them all close especially since Ned’s mother had died so long ago. Rickard would be over the moon at the news his first grandchild was on the way, and Ned could barely contain his excitement as the last dinner of the weekend approached.

“You look very handsome,” Catelyn said, coming up behind him as he surveyed his reflection in the mirror of his old childhood room. His old bed had been replaced by a larger queen sized bed, but otherwise it looked very much the same as it had when he was little, and Catelyn had enjoyed looking every picture, plaque and trophy in detail during their stay.

He frowned. “I don’t know why my father thinks dressing up just to have dinner with family should still be a thing in the twenty-first century, but at least this dinner jacket still fits.”

“I’m the one getting fatter, my love,” Catelyn laughed. “Not you.”

He turned around to look at her properly. “Fat is not a word that applies to you, Cat. Beautiful. Sexy. Breathtaking. Not fat.”

“It will soon enough,” she said, patting her belly which still showed no visible rounding in the dark green dress she wore.

He kissed her. “If you say so,” he said. “But however fat you get, you’ll remain beautiful, sexy, and breathtaking. You simply can’t be any other way. Of course, I might have a harder time putting my arms around you if it turns out there are triplets in there.”

She smacked the arm he had around her now. “Bite your tongue! And you know perfectly well there’s only one. The ultrasound confirmed it.”

He laughed at the memory of her holding her hands over her eyes at the ultrasound and making him do the same until the technician promised nothing was visible that might give away the secret of their child’s sex. Of course, when they had looked and seen the perfectly round curve of the head and the rapid flutter of a tiny heart, Ned’s own heart had nearly burst open with an emotion he never knew himself capable of.

“Well, maybe the other two were hiding,” he teased her now, trying to keep the flood of emotion from overwhelming once more. He was close enough to losing his composure over announcing his child to his family. “Anyway, you look gorgeous and I look as good as I’m going to. Let’s go introduce the newest Stark to his disreputable relations, shall we?”

She laughed. “Is it is silly that I’m nervous?”

“God, I hope not because I never think of myself as particularly silly, and I’m shaking in my shoes.”

She laughed again and kissed him. “You don’t look silly. You look amazing. And I know you hate it, but I kind of like that our baby’s introduction to your family will be sort of a formal occasion. Little Pup deserves it!”

They’d taken to calling the baby Little Pup after one of their late night name games during which they’d spent some time laughing in bed over names inspired by the Stark Enterprises logo. They’d come up with Wolfgang, Romulus, Remus, and Wolfman pretty quickly, and through her giggles, she’d been frowning over the lack of good female wolf names.

“Howla?” Ned had suggested, making it up on the spot.

Catelyn had pretty much howled herself, laughing so hard. “Oh God, that’s awful,” she’d said, and he’d laughed at her.

“Because ‘Wolfman’ is a perfectly wonderful name?” he’d asked, raising a brow.

She’d kept laughing. “They’re all awful, really, but then we haven’t really come up with anything both of us are in love with even when we try to be serious.” She’d yawned then and curled against him to sleep. “I’m afraid this little wolf pup may be nameless until he’s ten year old at this rate!”

“Or she,” Ned had added automatically.

“Or she,” Catelyn had agreed, yawning again.

“Go to sleep, Mama Wolf,” Ned had told her. “Our little pup will have name on his or her birthday. I promise.” Then he’d held on to her as they’d both fallen asleep.

“Little Pup deserves the world, Cat. Just like his mother does,” Ned said seriously, looking at her now.

Her eyes sparkled, and he realized she was tearing up a bit. “We already have the world,” she whispered. “We have you.”

On that note, he led her down to the formal dining room where the family was gathering. Robert already had a cocktail of some sort in his hand, and Ned watched him hand one to Lyanna. She’d gotten into the habit of drinking whatever Robert did rather than the wine her father preferred to serve or her old personal favorite which was beer. He tried not to worry about that. He loved Robert, but had to acknowledge that the man drank more than was good for anyone. He never drank at work, but the social drinking had steadily increased since college, and Ned was concerned by the fact that Robert never saw that as a problem. He didn’t want Lya to go along that same path.

“Stop scowling, Ned,” Catelyn whispered. “It’s a happy occasion, remember?”

He pulled his thoughts away from his sister and Robert, and smiled at her. “It is, indeed, my love.”

Dinner passed by pleasantly. Everyone was smiling and laughing. Brandon had Catelyn and Robert nearly falling out of their chairs with the tales of childhood antics at Winterfell. He was a good storyteller, and even though Ned had heard all of them before, and been a participant in many of the events featured, he found himself laughing pretty hard. He was pleased to see that his father was positively beaming. Rickard Stark had been in some ways a hard father, but he’d always wanted the best for them. And Ned had never once doubted his love for them, even if the man didn’t always know how to show it.

As dessert was brought out, he cleared his throat and reached for Catelyn’s hand under the table. “Cat and I would like to say something,” he said.

“Oh god, Ned,” Brandon said, rolling his eyes. “No speeches, please. You’re a good man, but you aren’t much of a public speaker.”

Ned actually laughed rather than taking offense because that particular type of insult was a normal one for Brandon to give him, and it harked back to a time when so much anger and resentment hadn’t come between them. Before he could answer, though, Robert Baratheon spoke up.

“You’ve obviously never seen him in a courtroom, Brandon! The boy’s been holding out on us for years, I swear! He can get a jury to hang on his every word.”

“Seriously?” Brandon asked. “Ned?”

“Ned,” Robert confirmed, nodding. Then he lifted his glass. “The Honorable Eddard Stark, Attorney at Law!”

“Why don’t both of you shut up about his oratorical skills and let Ned talk,” Lya said then, rolling her eyes. “Some of us here would like to hear what he actually wants to say.”

“Thank you, Lya,” Ned said, raising his own glass in her direction. Then he met Catelyn’s eyes and she smiled, and he turned toward his father. “Dad, Catelyn and I simply want to congratulate you on becoming a grandfather. Your first grandchild will be arriving in February.”

This pronouncement was met with silence that was broken after a few heartbeats by Benjen’s exclamation of “Holy shit! That’s awesome, you two!”

Ned barely heard him because he was focused only on his father’s face. Rickard Stark pressed his lips tightly together and his jaw muscle tightened as it did when he was angry or trying to suppress some other strong emotion. Then all of a sudden his entire face seemed to soften and he broke into the widest smile Ned had ever seen on the man. “I . . . I am very happy for you son,” he said, almost stammering through the words. Ned had never heard him stammer in his life. “You have made me very happy, indeed.”

Ned couldn’t speak. He wasn’t even certain he could move. Fortunately, Catelyn didn’t suffer from Stark emotional reserve, and she nearly vaulted out of her seat to rush to the head of the table and throw her arms around Rickard. He was obviously surprised, but not displeased and he beamed up at her.

“You are well, my dear?” he asked her.

“Better than I’ve ever been in my life,” she assured him. “And happier. I’m so glad you’re pleased.”

“Pleased? I’ve never been more pleased in my life. You and Ned have made me very proud.” he said firmly. He picked up his wine glass and looked at everyone around the table. “To a new generation of Starks!” he proclaimed.

Ned felt the smile growing on his own face as he heard Ben echo the same words and then Robert say, “Congratulations, Ned.” His smile faltered a bit, however when he looked at Robert and did not see the big grin he’d expected. No bawdy remarks, either.

“To Ned and Cat,” Lyanna said then, lifting her cocktail glass and then draining its contents. When she set it down, Ned thought she looked a bit pale.

He looked toward Catelyn who still stood by his father and saw that she, too, was looking at his sister with concern on her face. Then the sound of a slow clap caused everyone to look at Brandon. He had a bitter expression on his face as he looked toward Ned and continued the slow clap a couple more beats before stopping to lift his own glass. “Yes,” he said. “To Ned and Cat. You fucked and made Dad proud. Here’s to broken condoms and faulty pills! Congratulations all around!”

Ned saw the shock and hurt on Catelyn’s face and felt the blood rushing in his head. He was on his feet before he knew it, and was only vaguely aware of Ben and Lyanna both saying something to Brandon. He was halfway around the table when Catelyn grabbed him by both arms and made him look at her. “Don’t, Ned, please. He isn’t worth it.”

Ned tried to understand her words, but all he could attend to was the pain on her face. Moments ago, she had been the happiest he’d ever seen her, and goddamn Brandon had to hurt her again. “Let me go, Cat,” he said between clenched teeth.

“Let him go, Cat,” Brandon echoed. “If he wants to hit me for being honest, let him. It’s idiotic to want a kid when you’re hardly even married. You’re both smart enough to know that, so you obviously fucked up at some point. Maybe you got too drunk to remember a condom one night. It happens.”

Ned felt Catelyn tense in front of him. Then she let go of his arms and whirled around to face Brandon. “You bastard!”

“I’m not talking about us, Red. We were always lucky, thank God. I’m talking about the millions of kids who come into this world because everybody loves to fuck and sometimes shit happens. You’ll make the best of this. You two always do. But I’m not gonna cheer and pretend that Ned knocking you up is some major achievement. Hell, it happens to horny kids in back seats every damn day.”

Catelyn was crying, and Ned was moving around her to get to Brandon, to kill Brandon, when his father stood up and got in his way. “Stop, Ned. Be still,” he said in the hard, steel voice that had commanded instant compliance from all four Stark children from the moment they learned to understand speech. Almost involuntarily, Ned stopped, his fists still clenched, meeting his father’s gaze—two pairs of angry grey eyes squared off at the head of the table while everyone else looked on. Brandon had shut up when Rickard stood, and all was silent now except for Catelyn’s muffled sobs.

Once he seemed certain that Ned wouldn’t move, Rickard turned slowly to face his eldest son. “Leave,” he said coldly. “Leave the table. Leave Winterfell. I shall speak with you in the office Monday. Until then, I have no wish to see or hear from you. Do you understand me?”

Ned watched his brother’s fire slowly cool under his father’s gaze. The bitterness was still there in his eyes, but more resignation and even sadness now than defiance. “Yes, Father,” he said formally. Brandon stood up then and looked around at all the silent faces looking back at him. “I didn’t mean to ruin the party,” he said. “Enjoy the dessert.”

Ned honestly couldn’t tell whether he was making some poor attempt at an apology or continuing to mock them.

“Enough, Brandon. Go,” their father said, and Brandon, looking more like a scolded five year old boy than the twenty-eight year old up-and-coming power at a multinational corporation, walked from the room.

He stopped at the doorway though, and turned back briefly to look only at Catelyn. “I’m sorry, Red,” he said. “I’m always sorry.” Then he left the room before anyone could say anything else.

“Sit down,” Rickard said then to Ned and Catelyn.

“I’m sorry,” Catelyn mumbled. “I’m so sorry.”

Without Brandon’s physical presence in the room, Ned found he could think a bit more clearly. “Don’t you dare apologize, Cat. You’ve nothing to apologize for.” He put his arm around her and said, “Dad, I don’t think that . . .”

“Sit down, Ned,” Rickard said again. “Your brother was way out of line, and I must apologize to you and your wife for his inexcusable behavior. But your child is a cause for celebration, and I won’t have him steal that from you or from me.”

“But . . . Cat is . . .”

“Fine,” came a voice beside him. She still sniffed a bit, but the tears had stopped. “Cat is fine,” she said stubbornly. “And your father is right. Our baby deserves to be celebrated, and that’s what I want to do.” Having made that pronouncement, she went back to her seat and looked up at Ned expectantly.

He swallowed hard, but then followed her. “Dessert it is, then,” he said.

“February,” Lyanna said as he took his seat. “You’ve known for a bit then, haven’t you?” She’d addressed the question to Catelyn so Ned remained silent.

“Yes,” Catelyn admitted. She was still a bit shaky after Brandon’s unexpected outburst, but she was rapidly regaining her composure. Not for the first time, Ned thought that his wife was a far stronger person than he was. “I do apologize for keeping it a secret for so long,” she said, looking at Rickard before back to Lyanna. “It’s just that it was all so new and special, and we knew that Little Pup would have so many people to love, and we just wanted . . . to be selfish with him for a bit, I suppose. Or her.”

“You don’t know which it is yet?” Ben asked, leaning forward.

“Nope,” Catelyn told him. “We’ll find out in February. Not before!”

“Aw, come on. Everybody finds out early,” Benjen cajoled.

“Not us,” Ned told him, and he smiled at Catelyn.

“Little Pup?” Robert asked, an amused look on his face. “You think it’s a German shepherd in there, Cat? Or a poodle, maybe?”

“A wolf,” Ned said with a grin almost at the same time as Catelyn said, “Oh, god, did I actually say Little Pup just then? It’s sort of a joke from when we were making up outrageous names based on the Stark logo. I’m afraid it’s stuck.”

“I like it!” Ben said, smiling. “I’m not gonna call the kid anything else til it’s born. Maybe even after that.”

“Oh, wonderful, Cat. Look what we’ve done to our child,” Ned said in mock exasperation. Catelyn’s smile then was genuine and he silently thanked God that Brandon hadn’t completely ruined her joy in sharing the baby with the family.

“You’ve been celebrating,” Lyanna said quietly all of a sudden. “Keeping it secret, making up stupid names. It’s all been a celebration, hasn’t it? You’re both really happy about this.”

“Of course, we are, Lya.” Ned looked at his sister carefully. “Not that our child’s conception is any of your business, but Brandon is full of shit. Nothing broke and we aren’t ‘dealing with consequences.’ The two of us made a conscious decision and whatever anyone else thinks about it, we are very happy.” He looked at Catelyn then, and she squeezed his hand and smiled at him. They had made a conscious decision, after all, and the details of it belonged to them alone. Their child was wanted, welcomed, and created from love, and that was all that mattered.

“As you should be,” Rickard pronounced. “And we are all happy for you, aren’t we?”

The agreement from everyone still around the table was much more enthusiastic this time, although Lyanna still looked a bit preoccupied. “That is how it should be,” she said after a moment. “Babies deserve to be wanted and loved by both their parents.”

Dessert was served just then, and Ned found that his appetite hadn’t left him entirely after all, as the rich chocolate cake with custard was simply too delicious not to eat. Conversation never recovered to its previous lively levels, but he was glad his father had forced the dinner to continue. They were at least in a much better place than they would have been had he taken Cat and fled the dining room at Brandon’s departure.

As everyone sat around the table sipping coffee or after dinner drinks and arguing over who would get which Monopoly piece in tonight’s final game, Lyanna suddenly cleared her throat.”

“Well,” she said sort of hesitantly. “It seems Ned and Cat sort of stole my thunder . . . .Oh, it’s okay!” she said hurriedly as Catelyn seemed prepared to apologize for yet something else which wasn’t her fault. “The first Stark grandchild is really big news!” She made a face. “And then Brandon acted like a fucking asshole and . . .”

“Lyanna!” Rickard said severely.

Lyanna rolled her eyes. “Sorry, Dad. But there really aren’t any polite words for Brandon sometimes.”

Robert and Benjen laughed, Ned snorted in agreement, and Catelyn simply looked down which caused Ned to take her hand.

“So? Go on, Lya!” Benjen prompted. “Hell, you’re worse at this than Ned is!”

Everyone laughed a bit at that, and as the laughter died down, Lyanna said, “Okay, here goes. Robert and I are getting married.”

____________________________________________________________

“Lyanna, I want to be happy for you. I do. And if you can tell me that this is really what you want, then I will be. I promise.”

Ned looked at his sister in the moonlight as she stood in the woods behind the manor house with her back to him. She hadn’t been happy to see that he’d followed her out here and had shouted at him to go back to the house. When he’d refused, she’d demanded, “Can’t you just be happy for me for once?” before turning her back on him. Now she stood there, silent and still for a moment after his words before sighing deeply and turning back to face him.

“Has it ever occurred to you, Ned, that you and Cat are the exception and not the rule? That most of us don’t really know what we really want?”

He wasn’t certain he understood her. “Lya, I just want you to be happy.”

“Well, hell, Ned. I want me to be happy, too. Everyone wants to be happy. Not everybody gets to be. But why shouldn’t Robert and I try?”

“You told me three months ago you didn’t love him. Are you telling me that’s changed?”

“I never said that!” she insisted. “I said I wasn’t in love with him. That’s different.”

“And has that changed?”

“Robert is in love with me, Ned. He loves me more than he’s ever loved anybody. I believe that.”

“But, Lya that isn’t what I asked you. Are you in love with him?”

“No! Maybe! I don’t fucking know anymore, okay? I don’t know if I’m capable of being in love, because the only time I ever thought I was, it was all shit! And if that’s being in love, I don’t want it, Ned. I don’t need it!”

He’d never heard Lyanna sound like this. She was nearly crying even as she yelled at him.

“Lyanna,” he said softly.

She held up her hand. “No. Don’t say anymore. Robert loves me, and he’s proven that more than you could possibly know. Maybe I just want to be with someone who loves me like that. Is that so terrible?”

“If he loves you like that, it isn’t fair to make him worry for you. Come back in, Lya.”

She laughed. “He knows you’re here, right?” When Ned nodded, she smiled. “Then he isn’t worried about me. He knows I’m okay with you. And he knows me well enough to know that sometimes I have to run off.” She shrugged. “Is he drinking?” she asked quietly.

“After Dad called him a drunk? No. He’s with Cat. She’ll keep him in line.”

Lyanna laughed. “It’s hardly fair to make Cat deal with my messes after the shitty way Brandon treated the two of you.” She shook her head. “I knew we’d shock Dad, but I swear, Ned, I didn’t think he’d react that badly. He’s always liked Robert!”

Ned sighed. “As my friend. As an entertaining guest around the house. He only tolerated him as your casual boyfriend—he never really liked it. And as your husband? Well, no one will ever be good enough to marry you in Dad’s eyes, Lya. And having known Robert as long as he has, Dad knows all of his flaws.”

“I can’t believe he threw Mya in his face,” Lyanna sighed. “I didn’t even know Dad knew about Mya.”

“I didn’t know you knew about Mya,” he countered.

“I don’t tell you all my business, Ned,” she snapped. “Of course, I know about Mya. I’ve been with the two of them on Robert’s last three Sundays.”

Robert’s four year old daughter was the result of a one night stand not long before college graduation. Rickard Stark knew about it because Robert had come to Ned and Ned had gone to his father when Robert needed advice on child support and visitation rights when he’d gotten the shocking request for a DNA test when the little girl was three months old. Rickard had lectured Robert severely on taking responsibilities for his actions, telling Ned that since his own father was dead, Robert needed to hear it from someone. But he'd referred him to an excellent child custody lawyer who’d actually helped hammer out the agreement between Robert and his daughter’s mother without ever going to court. Robert had no desire to raise Mya but he wanted to know her, so he dutifully paid monthly support for her, and he got to pick her up every other Sunday for four hours. He’d missed a few Sundays over the years, but had been more dedicated to it than Ned ever thought he would. The girl’s mother now trusted him enough that she’d let him take her longer than four hours for special occasions and once he’d even taken her overnight on a camping trip in a nearby park.

“You’ve met her,” he said to Lyanna now. He’d met Mya, too, but it had been over a year since he’d seen her.

“Well, it would hardly do to marry someone without introducing her to your kid,” Lyanna said, making a face. “And Mya should be mark in Robert’s favor, not the other way around. You heard Brandon’s tirade in there about horny kids and broken condoms. How many kids like Mya don’t even know who their dad is? Hell! Brandon might have three or four kids no one knows about, considering the way he screws around! And Dad’s going to judge Robert over Mya? Dad doesn’t know shit! About any of us!”

“Robert does have a drinking problem, Lyanna,” Ned said cautiously. “I hate to say it, but . . .”

“You think I don’t know that? I sleep with the man, Ned! I’m with him when he drinks more often than you are any more.” She shook her head. “We’ve talked about it. He doesn’t think it’s a problem, but he is willing to drink less.” She looked up at Ned with a pleading look in her eyes. “He’s trying, Ned. He loves me, and he’s trying.”

Ned couldn’t help but think he was missing something here. His sister was defending Robert’s character vigorously, and he obviously meant a lot to her—more than he had in June. But she still spoke only of his love for her, not hers for him. And she still hinted at some other man she had loved. Or still loved.

“I don’t want you to leave Robert, Lyanna. Not if you care about each other. I love both of you, you know. And to see you happy together . . . well, that would be a fine thing. But as much as I love Robert, you are my sister. And I will always put your wellbeing ahead of any man’s, including Robert’s. I don’t understand why you want to get married all of a sudden. To Robert or anybody. Help me understand, Lya.”

She put her head down, and her shoulders slumped. The wind stirred her dark hair, and Ned realized it had gotten quite chilly, not that cold bothered Lyanna or himself. They’d grown up in these woods and the northern autumn air didn’t faze them. Still, she shivered, and she looked smaller than normal so that Ned went to her and put his arm around her. She didn’t move away.

“I don’t have a choice,” she said softly.

“You always have a choice, Lya.”

She shook her head. “No. I really don’t. Because it’s not about me, Ned. Not anymore.” She swallowed hard. “I wish I was Cat. But I’m not.”

“What?” Ned asked, confuses about what his wife had to do with any of this. “Why would you wish that?”

She pulled out from his protective arm then and stood back to look him in the face. “Because if I was Cat, my baby would have a good mother who doesn’t do one stupid thing after another. And a father who cared, and a life that two parents were planning with happiness and excitement instead of fucking terror and regrets and . . .” She shook her head. “I’m not Cat, Ned. And I’m not you. And I’ve fucked a lot of things up, but I will not fuck up my kid. I’m going to do the best I can and . . .”

“Lyanna,” Ned interrupted, feeling a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the weather. “Are you telling me you’re pregnant?”

Wordlessly, she nodded, tears streaming down her face.

Ned felt a blinding anger boil up within him for the second time that evening. “That goddamn son of a bitch!” he growled. “I will fucking kill him. How could he be so careless, so stupid, so . . .”

“And thank you, Brandon Stark, for your opinion!” Lya shouted almost hysterically.

“I am not Brandon!”

“Well, you sound a hell of a lot like him. Old Robert was probably drunk, huh? Not too drunk to get it up, just drunk enough to forget the condom! And he knocked up our poor, slutty sister so I’d better go beat his face in, and . . .”

“Stop it, Lya! And however it happened, I’m not naïve enough to believe it’s all on Robert. But he is four years older than you. He does have a child. I expect him to think of such things more than you. And then to refuse to admit it . . .”

“Refuse to admit what, Ned? Have you been in there asking him if I’m pregnant?”

“No! I came out after you as soon as I made sure no one was going to kill anyone else. I simply meant that he’s behaved as if nothing . . .” Ned stopped speaking as one particular aspect of Robert’s behavior over the weekend came to his mind. “Jesus Christ, Lya! He’s been handing you booze every time I’ve turned around this weekend . . . and both of you knowing you’re pregnant? How could you be so reckless?”

She laughed again, and ugly, bitter sound. “God it’s nice to know you think so highly of me, Eddard. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol all weekend, you asshole. Whatever, I may be, I don’t abuse babies. Robert keeps making me drinks so that no one else will—a lot of different sodas and different juices or tonic water and an awful lot of ice. No booze!”

Ned looked at her incredulously.

“Look, Ned, your good little wife can decline wine at dinner and nobody bats an eye, although I admit I’ve had suspicions since she acted like Dad’s $400 bottle of red was poison this summer. But if beer-swilling Lyanna suddenly became a teetotaler, don’t you think alarm bells would have gone off all over the place? And I’m the one who didn’t want to spill the beans just yet. I thought we should get everyone used to the idea of us getting married first. So Robert helped me. Like he always helps me.”

Ned nodded, struggling just to take in all that she had said. “All right,” he said. “I understand. At least I think I do. But are you sure about this marriage, Lya?”

She pressed her lips together and tightened her jaw the same way Dad did, the same way Catelyn told him he did. “I don’t know, Ned. I honestly don’t know. But Robert wants to marry me, and it’s the best thing I can come up with. My baby deserves the best that I can do, don’t you think?”

Ned recalled how he’d told Catelyn that their baby deserved the world only hours before, but looking at his sister’s tearstained face, he found himself struggling to put the needs of an unborn, unknown child ahead of hers. Still, he did know how she felt about her child. How could he not, when he’d already give his life for his. “I have no doubt you will give your baby all your best, Lyanna. But I want to be certain that Robert intends to do the same. I won’t hit him. I won’t even shout. But I am going to talk with him, Lyanna.”

She nodded, and he turned to walk away, knowing that she’d likely want to stay out here to gather herself before coming inside. Before he’d taken three steps, her voice called him back. “Ned!” He turned around, and she stood there looking absolutely terrified, but looking him in the eyes. “Before you speak with Robert, there’s one more thing you should know,” she said softly. “The baby isn’t his.”

Ned felt the earth somehow tilt beneath him, and he wasn’t certain how he kept from falling. He walked back and put his hands on her arms. “What? Lyanna what are you saying?”

“He knows!” she said quickly. “I would never . . . I don’t lie to Robert, Ned. I keep secrets, but I don’t lie.”

“The father . . .”

“Wants nothing to do with me. He told me I should have an abortion and . . . he thinks I did. I never want to see him again.”

“Oh, Lya.” Ned crushed his sister into a hug, wanting simultaneously to keep her wrapped up and safe forever and to murder whatever bastard had used her so.

She let him hold onto her for a moment, but then pushed away. “Before you decide that I’m a blameless victim in all this, Ned, you should know that he’s married. And I knew he was married the first time I slept with him. I knew he was married when I continued to sleep with him, too. I brought this on myself.”

“Who . . .”

“Don’t ask me for his name. I won’t give it. I won’t tell Robert, either. I don’t need either of you in jail. I just want to forget he ever existed. Robert wants to marry me anyway. He says he’ll love my baby like his own.”

“And you think he can do that?”

Lyanna hesitated. “He loves me,” she said stubbornly. “I know that’s true, so I have to believe he can love my baby as well. Maybe . . . if no one ever knows the man’s name, Robert can look at the baby and just see me. I hope the baby looks like me. I may not be much to look at, but Robert would like that, I think. Don’t you?”

Ned didn’t know what to say. He loved Robert Baratheon like a brother. The man would walk into a fire for him, and he knew it. He’d do a damn sight more than that for Lyanna—hell, her words here proved that. But could he honestly love another man’s child? He barely had a relationship with his own child for all he did the responsible thing monetarily. Ned honestly didn’t know, but that wasn’t going to help Lyanna now. “He does love you, Lyanna. I do know that.”

She smiled at him.

“Are you coming in with me now?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “Tell him I’ll be there in a bit. And tell him he can answer anything you ask him. If he wants to. I don’t want anyone else to know any of it, Ned. Not even Cat.”

Ned looked at her gravely. “That’s a lot to ask, Lyanna. I’ve never lied to Catelyn about anything.”

“Don’t lie then. Just don’t tell her.”

“We’ve been out here for a long time. She won’t believe we’ve been discussing the weather.”

“It isn’t your secret to tell, Ned Stark. And I don’t want her to know.”

He nodded slowly.

“I need you to promise,” she said, just as she always had when she was a little girl and needed to know he’d do something for her.

“I won’t say anything, Lya.”

“Promise me, Ned.”

He sighed heavily and hoped that Catelyn would understand. “I promise.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

“Is she all right?” Catelyn had jumped up from her seat and run into his arms as soon as he appeared in the doorway of the parlor where she and Robert were sitting.

“As well as can be expected after my father’s less than stellar reaction to her engagement,” Ned sighed, pulling her out in the hallway to talk. “How’s the groom?”

Catelyn frowned slightly at his sarcasm. “Worried about Lyanna. Said he knows she’s fine out there with you, but he’s worried about how she’ll do if Rickard doesn’t come around.”

“Dad’ll come around. I think it would have been better had he not already had to basically throw Brandon out of the house. If Lyanna’s happy, Dad will be happy for her. Did Ben go up?”

She nodded. “He talked with your dad a long while. Rickard tends to treat Ben with a bit more respect since this summer. Not just as a kid. And Ben likes Robert. Since he and Lyanna are the only two living at home, he knows a lot more about how Lyanna’s been recently than you or Brandon, and he’s convinced Robert has been good for her.”

“Well that’s something.”

Catelyn lowered her voice to a whisper. “Do you honestly think he’s good for her?”

Ned sighed. “I don’t know, Cat. I honestly don’t. But she’s going to marry him. I do know that. And the best we can do is support them both however we can.”

“Of course we will.”

“I need to talk to Robert, my love. Will you be in our room?”

She smiled. “You’ll find me browsing your high school yearbooks and drawing mustaches on any pretty girls you’re pictured with.”

He laughed. His beautiful, wonderful wife had actually made him laugh. “I am sorry this dinner didn’t turn out like we hoped, Cat.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Little Pup has you and me, and we have each other, and we will always be fine. So take care of the rest of your family, my love, and then come to my bed.”

Her words about their child echoed Lyanna’s impossible wishes for her own child so much that it was almost physically painful to hear them. He kissed her gently and smiled. “There is nowhere I’d rather be. I won’t be long.”

He walked in and sat down on a chair across from Robert who seemed to be studying the fireplace very intently as he sipped on black coffee. “She okay?” he asked after a few minutes. “Well, of course, she’s not okay, but . . . you know what I mean.”

“I do,” Ned said softly. “And she’s okay. She’ll be in here in a little bit. I told her I wanted to talk to you.”

Robert looked at him then. “So talk.” Ned had never seen his friend look desolate.

“Are you okay?” he felt compelled to ask when he saw the pain in Robert’s eyes.

Robert laughed, but it sounded no happier than Lya’s laughter had. “I guess I’m just a big fucking idiot, Ned. I never realized just how much your father truly despises me.” He shook his head. “All these years, I actually thought the man respected me for what I’ve made of my life since my dad died.”

“He does, Robert.”

“Yeah,” Robert said blackly. “That was evident when he called me a lecherous drunk who foisted bastards on college girls and wasn’t fit to lick his daughter’s boots, much less share her bed or her home.” He shook his head. “Foisted,” he snorted. “Who the hell even uses that word?”

“He was shocked, Robert, and more than likely pissed off that Lya sprung it like that. Especially after Brandon’s little performance.”

“Yeah. That was special, wasn’t it? What the hell got into him anyway? Is your brother seriously still hung up on your wife?”

Ned sighed. He did not want to discuss Brandon's feelings for Catelyn, whatever the hell they were. “Maybe most people don’t know what they really want,” he said, borrowing Lyanna’s words from the woods. “I sure as hell don’t think Brandon has a clue.”

“You know. You’ve always known,” Robert said.

“I don’t know that I’ve always known. But yes. I know what I want.”

“So do I,” Robert said forcefully. “I want Lyanna. And I don’t give a damn what your father has to say, Ned. I don’t. I’d like it to be different for Lya’s sake, but I won’t give her up.”

“What about what Lyanna wants?”

“She wants to marry me. You said you talked to her so you know that.”

“She was very emphatic about her desire to marry you,” Ned acknowledged. Whether she truly wants to or not.

“You don’t sound convinced,” Robert said. “Jesus Christ, Ned! You’re like a brother to me. Do you really think I’d ever hurt Lyanna?”

“No,” Ned said softly. “I think the last thing in the world you’d ever want to do is hurt Lyanna.” Brandon swears over and over he’d never hurt Cat. How many times has he hurt her now? He sighed. “She told me everything, Robert. I know about the baby. I know it isn’t yours.”

Robert looked surprised for only a fleeting moment. “I figured if she told anyone, she’d tell you.”

“She told me to tell you that you have her permission to answer my questions. But only if you want to.”

Robert actually laughed at that, and it sounded almost like his normal laugh. “Good old Ned,” he said. “You’re the only person in the world who could be trusted to deliver that message exactly as stated. Every damn time. Did she tell you about the father?”

Ned nodded. “I know he’s married.”

Robert cursed. “I’d like to kill him, Ned, for what he did to her. I swear I would. Did she tell you the bastard’s name?”

Ned shook his head, and Robert laughed again with less mirth.

“I suppose she doesn’t want you in jail, either. But it’s criminal, what he did to her, Ned. He’s the one who ought to be in jail.”

Ned took a deep breath before speaking the next sentence, but he needed to know if his friend truly understood Lyanna or if he was deluding himself. “She assures me that she is as much to blame, Robert. That she started an affair with a married man of her own free will.”

“Bullshit! She’s twenty-two, for Christ’s sake! He’s older than we are, married, and has kids! You call that even? I don’t!”

“Kids?” Ned said, taken aback. Lyanna hadn’t mentioned the man having children.

“Yeah,” Robert said darkly. “He told her those kids were the reason he had to end it with her and stay with his wife. Talked all about how important children are, and then when she went back and told him she was pregnant, he told her to toss her kid in the trash. If you don’t think that messed her up, you’re wrong, Ned. That fucking prick used her and threw her away and never gave a damn what happened after.”

“Lyanna told you all this?” Ned asked incredulously. Robert was his friend. He relied upon him and knew he had his back. But he’d never considered him a source of comfort and advice for serious problems. That just seemed a bit outside of Robert’s skill set.

“Well, not all at once.” He set the coffee mug down and ran his hand through his thick black hair. “Look, Ned, you cannot tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. And I do mean not anyone.”

“Lyanna already has my promise.”

Robert nodded. “That’s good enough for me. The easiest is to start at the beginning, although that’s not how I heard it. She met this guy sometime right after your wedding, I think. He told her he was married, but they were pretty hot and bothered over each other, and they hooked up. And she felt like shit about it. She thought she was a horrible person and never intended to see him again. That was when she came to me, telling me how horrible she was, but not why, and that's when we . . . well, took it to the next level so to speak. But we’d only been together a couple of times when she started pulling back again, and I didn’t want to chase her off, so I just let it be. He’d started calling her. Telling her he couldn’t get her out of his head and he had to see her. Finally, he called her at the crack of dawn one day and told her he was in a hotel near her house and that he didn’t think he could live without her. She thought he was threatening suicide or something. And so she went.”

“The day she was supposed to pick up Cat and me at the airport.”

Robert nodded. “Well, they ended up in bed, of course. He swore all kinds of undying love and shit and told her to be patient and that they were meant to be together, and they started meeting up more and more. He really got into her head, Ned. It’s sick.”

“But she was dating you this whole time?”

“She never lied to me,” he insisted, and Ned didn’t know whether to be comforted or worried by his friend’s almost blind faith in Lyanna’s innocence in all things. “She was always telling me to do whatever I wanted with whomever when she wasn’t with me because she wasn’t ready to be with one person.”

“Robert,” Ned said softly. “If Lya was . . . with . . . both of you, are you certain this child is not yours?”

Robert nodded sadly. “We weren’t together . . . I mean physically . . . after the first week of July. She told me there was another man, just one other man, and that she didn’t feel right about it.”

“I never knew you broke up.”

Robert shrugged. “It’s more that we went back to the way it was before you got married, Ned. We liked to do things together. No sex. She always thought I wouldn’t want her around if I couldn’t sleep with her, but I could never not want her around. I’m crazy about her. I’d wait forever, Ned. I swear I would.”

“You don’t strike me as the celibate type, Robert,” Ned said dryly.

“Well, I wasn’t,” Robert said bluntly. “She never asked it of me. But it was only a couple of times, and it didn't mean anything. It was just sex.”

Just sex. Ned wondered how many people had used that phrase to excuse all manner of behavior that ended up hurting someone else.

“But then she called me really late one night, around the beginning of August. She was obviously drunk and crying so hard I could barely understand her, but I finally figured out where she was, and I went to get her, and she kept saying she was sorry and it wasn’t fair to call me, but she just couldn’t let anyone else know stupid she was.” Robert clenched his jaw. “She was broken, Ned. Just broken.”

“That’s when he ended it? Her married lover?”

“Yeah. Gave her the speech about wife and kids and family and told her never to contact him again. I told her to forget him. He could go fuck himself for an idiot, and then I brought her home.”

“To your place, I suppose?”

“Yes, dammit, and don’t go all judgmental on me, Ned. She wouldn’t go home! She didn’t want her dad or even Ben to see her like that. And I didn’t sleep with her that night.”

“But I take it you started up again soon after?” Ned tried to keep the judgment out of his voice, but he couldn’t really consider jumping right back into a sexual relationship with an emotionally battered young woman any kind of heroics.

“Maybe a week later,” he said. “And it was her idea. I knew perfectly well she was just trying to fuck him out of her system. I didn’t care. Neither did she. But a week after that, she realized she was pregnant. She didn’t tell me until after she went to see the prick. She’d gotten pregnant in July so it couldn’t be mine. She didn’t intend to ask the asshole for anything. Just thought he had a right to know. And he freaked out. Told her to go away and never come around again. That she could ruin his life. Told her to get an abortion and shoved some money in her hands.”

Robert sighed. “That was when I finally heard a lot of this stuff. She’d been very vague up until then. She asked if I’d go with her to get the abortion, and I said I’d stay right with her the whole time. And we went to the clinic. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t kill her kid. It would have been easier for her if she’d done it, I know. But she couldn’t. So we left.”

“When was that?” Ned asked.

“About three weeks ago. We went back to my place, and she told me she’d decided she was not only having her baby. She was keeping it. And if I wanted out, she’d understand.”

“And what did you say to her?”

“I asked her to marry me.”

“And she said yes?”

“Fuck no! Those were her words, actually. Fuck no. I told her I’d keep asking, and I did. And last week, she finally said yes.”

“Robert,” Ned said, “Do you honestly think you can love this child? That you can let this child and the entire world believe you are the father?”

“I promised her I would.”

“That isn’t what I asked, Robert. If you and Lya get married, you’ll likely have other children someday. Will you be able to treat this child the same as those that you actually father? Because not every man could.”

“Fuck, Ned! How am I supposed to know how I’m going to feel about kids that don’t even exist yet! Nobody knows that. Hell, half the time, it doesn’t feel like Mya’s mine, and I know she is. She even looks just like me! You’re no relation to me at all, but you’re more my brother than either of my two brothers by birth. So how the hell can I know what I’ll feel about this baby before I even meet it? If you’re asking me if I’ll be the world’s greatest dad, probably not. I don’t know the first thing about being a dad, and I’m scared shitless at the thought. But I love Lyanna. So I’ll do this. And I won’t go back on it.”

“No,” Ned said softly. “You won’t go back on it. I know you better than that.” But will Lyanna go back on it if it isn’t what she hoped? He couldn’t help but worry that Lyanna was not made to simply be the object of someone’s love and care. Could she focus all of her love into her children and would that make up for whatever she didn’t feel for Robert? And would Robert someday find himself resenting the unequal nature of their relationship? This entire situation seemed perilous to everyone involved, including Lyanna’s unborn babe.

“I’m glad you believe that, Ned,” Robert said sincerely.

“I know you. I know you both.” And that gives me both hope and fear for this marriage. “We’re here for you and Lyanna, Robert. Cat and I, both. We’ll support you. Ben’s already in your corner, and eventually Dad will come around, too.”

“What about Brandon?”

Ned’s jaw tightened reflexively as he was reminded once more of Brandon’s reaction to Catelyn’s pregnancy. “God knows what Brandon will say. To be honest, at the moment, I don’t give a fuck what he has to say about anything.”

“Can’t say I blame you.”

Ned smiled. “Find Lyanna. Let her know I didn’t shout at you, and then both of you should get some sleep. It’s been a hell of an evening, and we’ve all got a long way to travel tomorrow.”

“Good night, Ned. And thank you.”

Ned nodded and then left to make his way up to his room. Catelyn was sitting up in the bed when he walked in. She took one look at his face and reached out her arms to him.

“Oh, my love! You look terrible! Come and tell me all of it.”

He went eagerly into her arms and buried his face in her hair, inhaling its scent.

“She doesn’t love him, does she?” she said quietly.

“No,” he replied. “Not the way he loves her.”

“Robert’s a possessive man, Ned. Of anything he loves. He’s even jealous of me over you. I swear it. Marriage won’t make her heart any more his than it is now, and I don’t think he’ll handle that well.”

He sighed, and raised his head to look at her. “No, he won’t. But he knows how things stand. Or at least he says he does. And he still wants her.”

“But why does she want to marry him?”

Her blue eyes looked at him in obvious puzzlement, and he longed to tell her all of it just as she had asked. He wanted to hear her thoughts on everything Lyanna and Robert had told him. But he had given his promise.

“I can’t tell you.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell you, Cat. She has her reasons, but she does not want them shared with anyone.”

“I’m your wife, Ned.”

“I know that.”

“You don’t trust me to keep your secrets?” she asked, sounding both hurt and irritated with him.

“Of course, I do. But these are not my secrets.”

“But . . .”

“Please, Cat. Don’t. I gave Lyanna my promise, and I won’t go back on that. I can’t. Can you understand?”

“No, Ned. I can’t really. Because I would never promise to keep anything from you. And I can see that you’re hurting, and I can’t help you because I don’t know why you’re hurt.” Her eyes filled with tears, and Ned wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know how.

“She’s my sister, Cat.”

“And I am your wife.”

“I know that, Catelyn. No one is as important to me as you are. You must believe me. I told Lyanna I did not wish to keep things from you.”

“And yet you will.”

“For her sake, yes. I will. Will you forgive me?”

She looked at him a long time. “Will you make me a promise?”

“Anything within my power, Cat. You know that.”

“All right. Promise me that whatever these secrets are, if they could ever pose harm to you or me or our baby, you will tell me.”

“They do not concern you, Cat.”

“Anything that hurts you concerns me, and you are obviously hurt," she snapped. Then she took a deep breath and continued in a softer voice. "But I didn’t say anything about it concerning me. I said ‘harm.’ Ned, I’ve seen secrets destroy people. My father’s worked for the government for nearly all my life, for God’s sake. I know more about what secrets and lies do to people than I’d like. And, of course, Brandon taught me far too much about secrets and lies within a relationship. It’s poison. And I won’t have it between us. I can’t.”

“Cat, I promise you that I will never hide a secret from you. If there is something I can’t tell you, I’ll tell you that I can’t. And I promise I will never, ever keep a secret that could harm you or Little Pup. You are the world to me. You are my family.”

She sighed and ran her hand down the side of his face before leaning in to kiss him. “All right then. You’re my family, too. Now go brush your teeth and undress so you can get some sleep. I’m afraid we won’t have an easy week ahead of us, and we still have to go see my father tomorrow.”

Ned groaned and got out of the bed to prepare to get back in it for the night. “Hopefully, things with your family will go more smoothly than they have with mine.”

When he finally lay beside her with an arm wrapped around her to put his hand over their unborn baby, he thought about family. His family was in absolute turmoil at the moment. Her family seemed a bit more settled although her sister was a fairly frequent source of worry for her. But lying here in the dark, all those concerns faded away because he held their family in his arms. Not his. Not hers. Theirs. The one he and Catelyn had made. Lying there in the dark, Ned Stark made yet another promise although he spoke nothing out loud. This was the family he would love and protect with every breath in his body. Whatever happened around them, this family would be kept safe and loved.