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Corlys really enjoyed being a father.
A lot of men didn’t like it, they saw their children as a nuisance, as a sad obligation, but not Corlys. He adored his children, all of them - all of his sons.
But there was something special about Laena.
She was like the sea, beautiful and indomitable. She was like that as a child, then as a teenager, and then as an adult. So much so that she impulsively flew to Bravos the day after Laenor’s engagement party because she was interested in Daemon, and married him three months later.
Laena always knew what she wanted and always managed to get it.
Corlys missed her dearly every day, and he remembered her every day, but now that he was seeing her daughters running through his yard with Laenor’s boys, playing tag, there was one very special day running through his mind.
Laena was ten when Laenor first had to spend his week at school. Dragonstone Institute functioned as boarding school for students who wanted or needed it to be so, and Corlys believed his son would do well with some structure. But Laena… Laena was heartbroken when she came home from her school. She cried and cried about wanting to show Laenor what she had done in class, tell him about her day and just be with him. His daughter adored her older brother.
And she was so upset with Corlys when she heard it was his idea. She was inconsolable, the whole week she was so sad.
It was why he had the initial idea of giving her a good little memory to be happy about.
So after work he went to a nearby store and bought a bag of seashells, and made his way right down to the stretch of the beach by the shadow of the old castle they called home, and walked down the stretch of the beach they had access to.
Corlys made little holes in which to put some big ones, peeking just out, and put a little one by it to get attention. He spread the seashells all along the shore until his pockets were empty, and then he went back home.
When Laena arrived from school, she was still pouting, but he brought her out to go hunt to seashells. At the end of their adventure, she was smiling ear to ear and very excited to show her new treasures to Laenor once he came back – which would happen on the next day.
Corlys exhaled, and stepped away from the yard, smiling a bit to Rhaenys.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he told her. “I’ll go spread some seashells.”
She smiled, knowing it all too well, and watched him go before moving to replace him on his previous seat.
Since Laena’s death, Corlys and Rhaenys had made an agreement with Daemon – something he had offered, actually. When the kids were off of school for more than a week, they would come to Driftmark. Baela and Rhaena would stay with them, and Jacaerys and Lucerys would be with their father – as Laenor and Rhaenyra’s custody agreement had established when they divorced. Of course, there would be days in which all four would be in one of the houses, so they could have their time together, but it was something that assured their grandkids would have close contact with the family.
It was was so good to have them home, really.
The sun was softer when he stepped out, the two bags of seashells in his sash as he walked down, and he started dropping the little shells right by the door, trying to make them random in their spread.
His eyes were wet as he put a bigger shell into the sand, making just a little bit of it visible.
Oh, the moment Laena had seen one of those big ones, she had squealed with joy and run back to him so excitedly, wavering it triumphantly in the air like it was the most precious thing her little hands had ever touched.
He put another one of those a few steps away, so two kids could have them, and continued his way. The children would love to find them.
Corlys walked all the stretch of the shore, until he reached the second line of gates that kept their property isolated, distantly waving to security before making his way back, spreading more seashells. He stopped in front of a stone seat and put more big seashells down, enough that all of the kids would have at least two, and a few closer to the beach, and the thought brought a smile to his face.
He couldn’t resist taking a his shoes off and walking down to the moving water, exhaling when the waves hit the shore and the water touched his feet, and he closed his eyes, digging his toes into the sand and enjoying the feeling of it against his skin.
Corlys missed her so much.
It had been a long year.
He exhaled and walked back to where he had come from, his bags empty and his feet a little caked with sand.
Corlys took his time, going back to his room to hide the bags, washing his feet and drying them, and drying his tears. Just then he moved down to the kitchen, where the children were happily munching on snacks, and stopped by Rhaenys’ side.
“They had fun putting on sunscreen,” his wife told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
He smiled, giving her lips a peck.
“I can see,” he hummed.
The kids were wearing colourful streaks of sunscreen on their faces, something far too modern for his generation, but useful.
“Grandma said you’re gonna take us to the beach!” Luke rushed to him, very excited.
Corlys reached for him, petting his curly hair.
Maybe Lucerys didn’t look like Laenor – reasonably, he was a result of their use of a sperm donor – but he resembled him the most, compared to his brother. He was easily excitable and so sweet it sometimes made Corlys worry about how the world was going to treat him.
The Gods knew he still worried about how the world was going to treat Laenor, and his oldest son was in his mid-thirties. He was… different. He’d always been different.
“I thought we would have fun hunting for seashells,” Colys told them. “After you finish your snacks.”
Oh, the way Luke’s eyes widened and all of the kids squealed together made him laugh aloud.
“We must finish eating!” he declared to the rest of the group. “Jace, Baela, Rhaena!”
“Calm down,” Rhaenys called them. “Eat calmly. The beach was here long before the Velaryons existed, and it will be here long after us. It can wait for your snack.”
Well, Luke ate very quick anyway. He was the most excited of all of them, but he was young. Before Joffrey came, he was the youngest among their four grandchildren, and he certainly enjoyed it very much.
He took a seat as they finished their little snack, baby carrots and cucumbers with hummus and cookies, and Rhaenys came to stand between his legs, petting his beard with her fingers, smiling at him, and Corlys raised his chin to steal a little kiss from her lips.
“Have I mentioned how beautiful you look today?” he teased his wife.
Rhaenys chuckled.
“Not today.”
He turned his head and gave her palm a kiss.
“Well, you look absolutely radiant, wife,” he affirmed.
“Grandpa, come on,” Rhaena interrupted them. “We are ready. Let’s go!”
His wife grinned and stepped back, patting his shoulders with a knowing look on her face.
“Go on, grandpa.”
Corlys shook his head, standing up from his seat.
"Alright, alright," he chuckled, gesturing forward. “Lead the way.”
And they did, running out of the house as he followed them a little slower.
“No getting into the sea,” Rhaenys called out, following him.
The ocean was beautiful but it was also dangerous and tricky.
But the kids didn’t even look at the water – a small miracle, yes.
Corlys watched them run all around near them, bending down and kneeling on the sand, looking and picking up the shells he had dropped down in a chorus of excitement, he could see Rhaenys followed after Jace and Luke when they drift to a different spot.
Baela and Rhaena knelt right where he remembered setting the first big shell, and he stayed near them.
The girls didn’t have Laena’s face, per say, but they had her eyes and her easy excitement. Baela herself had her personality, strong-willed and unbending, like the sea. And, of course, they adored each other as much as they adored their cousins – or stepbrothers, now – like his girl adored her older brother.
Corlys watched with a smile Rhaena knelt a few feet away from him and he sat on a large stone as Baela dug into the sand and pulled the bigger seashell he’d placed there, gasping in surprise as she tried to clean up the sand from it.
"Look what I found, Grandpa!" Baela exclaimed, her voice completely filled with awe as she raised herself to her feet, showing her finding to Corlys. Her joy was so infectious, he couldn't help but grin largely with her.
His granddaughter placed the shell in his hand, and he held it carefully.
“It’s so beautiful, Baela,” he praised her, reaching for her face and giving her cheek an affectionate pet. “It’s a true treasure.”
Rhaena ran back to them, with wide eyes and already covered with sand from her dress to her hands.
“Wow!” she gasped. “It is huge!”
“It is a treasure!” Baela exclaimed, filled with pleasure. “Grandpa said himself.”
He watched them examining the shell, touching over the patterns and the light refraction from them, awed.
“Rhaena, we should look for one for you!” Baela turned to her sister.
“I agree,” Corlys told them. “I’m sure there is a shell just as beautiful waiting to be found by you.”
Rhaena squealed, excited with the idea.
They ran off to hunt for more, and he watched them from his spot. His grandchildren – he could see all four of them from where he was seated, running around all happy, picking up shells, innocent and happy.
Corlys still missed Laena so dearly. Every day. Maybe the pain was smaller, but it would never go again.
And yet, here she was, multiplied into two little girls with her eyes and her happiness. They wouldn’t replace her, but they were gifts from her. He would make sure he nurtured them very much and enjoyed the chance of being such a big part of their life.
“Grandpa!” Rhaena called him. “I found it, I found it!”
Baela rushed to her twin, and he watched them put their heads together to compare their little treasures, and the boys ran to them with their hands full to come see them.
All was well.