Catelyn had been married for almost two years, at the age of 27, she had a beautiful three year old daughter, Lana, who had long, brown hair, Tully blue eyes and the pale skin she inherited from her fathers side. Her father, Brandon Stark was head ofa
large companysituated in the North, he and Cat had been friends ever since the age of 12 so it was no surprise to anyone when they married, no surprise to anyone, apart from Brandon himself it seemed.

Brandon had left many stains on their relationship, Cat had only once caught him kissing Ashara Dayne at a party, he claimed to be drunk and unaware of what he was doing, and for some idiotic reason, Catelyn believed him, so she wrote it off. She hadsuspected
him many times in the past of cheating, all of which he denied with a frown on his face, knowing full well he was making Cat feel guilty. He was drunk a lot, he was at party's, a lot and he was always texting other 'business partners' of whichhe
regularly met up with.

Lana was nearing her fourth birthday, she wasn't having a party (at her own request) but Cat was still organising a little family meal for her, she had asked Lana if that was ok and as any child would, she agreed to it so long as she got the most cake.

Catelyn had sent a text to Lyanna, Brandon's little sister, Lysa and Edmure, her own two siblings, Benjen, Brandon's littlest brother, Brandon's father and her own father, and finally, to Ned.

Catelyn had met Ned many times in the past, they saw each other a lot because Jon (Ned's son) was the same age as Lana so they attended the same school, they often got talking whilst waiting for their children to be released from class.

She and Ned were very close, she shared all her worries about Brandon and all the suspicions she had, his unsurprised expression had given the game away, she knew her husband was a cheat.

She didn't know what compelled her to stay with him, maybe it was for Lana's sake, maybe for her own, she didn't know.

She leaned over and placed her phone on the bedside table, face down, her head hit the pillow as she fell back, she closed her eyes and was left to her thoughts. Lana had gone off to sleep, Brandon was downstairs for a change instead of 'at the bar' and
Catwas up in the bedroom, she was used to sleeping alone now so it was no issue falling asleep.

She awoke the next morning and Brandon was next to her, it took her a moment to realise who he was, she was so used to waking up to the window and the sun shining through the curtains, not the sight of her husbands back.

Her eyes adjusted to the stream of light coming in through the crack in the curtain and she pulled the covers back, rising from the bed and heading to their daughters room.

Lana was peacefully sleeping in her bed, her hair was flowing in somewhat knotted curls down her back and her chest was rising and falling in perfect rhythm. Careful not to wake her, Cat took a seat on the side of her bed, she stroked a piece of hairfrom
her face and moved a hand along her cheek.

She kissed her forehead before leaving the room, the door closing with a soft click.

Lana would need food for the day, it was only Wednesday so she would be at school. Cat descended the stairs and proceeded to make her way to the kitchen. The clock caught her eye as she walked in, it was 5 in the morning. Cat wasn't one for early morningsbut
/today for some reason, her body decided to wake her.

She made her daughter a packed up lunch and put it in the small light blue box she had, some had said she should've had more a 'girly' colour, but ever since she could speak, she had said that the colour of the winter rose was her favourite, so much so,the
wallsof her room were light blue, with roses lining the walls.

For a three year old, she was oddly advanced in her opinions, The box was placed in the fridge ready for when she awoke her daughter.

Cat was at a loss of things to do, she moved to the island in the centre of their kitchen and pulled her phone out of the pocket of her pyjama bottoms, which she picked up in her way out of the bedroom. She went over her emails and deleted all the spam,
she scrolled through Facebook before becoming bored, she then decided to respond to the messages she got back from her relatives.

Lyanna: "Thanks for the invite Cat, I'm sure you don't mind if Robert came too? Thanks!

Robert was Ned's best friend, and Lya's finance, they had been engaged for longer than Cat and Brandon had been together, he was loud, slightly overweight, drank too much and was very lose on the tongue. But he was pleasant company and he was good around
kids, according to Ned.

Benjen: "Sure thing, do I need a present for her?

Cat responded: "Not really, a card would be alright, she's only four I'm sure she won't care that much"

Lysa: "Yeah, I'll be there, Petyr can come too, right? Ok, good, see you soon sis

It seems her family had a thing for inviting plus one's. Lysa had always been very sure-minded on everything, to say no to her was like telling a fish it had to fly, it wasn't going to happen.

Her brother had agreed to come but he wasn't sure if he would be on time, he lived further away than any other person in the family. Catelyn didn't see much of Edmure anymore, as a child, she had been responsible for raising him and being a mother for
him,their own mother died during the birth.

Her father had not responded, she would have to call him later about it- their father had always been useless at using any sort of technology, his brother, Brynden had always said he was born 50 years too late.

Brandon's father, Rickard, had replied with a simple 'yes x' to which was no surprise for Cat, he too was not very well educated when it came to phones.

Catelyn checked the text back from Ned last- she did not know why but she was nervous as to what it would say. He had replied: "Sure thing Cat, I'll see you there, silly question but I'm sure you don't mind Jon coming? I'll fetch her a gift- tell her
/she can't complain! Uncle Ned should be allowed to spoil her!"

Catelyn smiled down at the screen, she sent a message back: "Of course Jon can come you idiot, Lana won't complain, she may not admit it but she loves getting presents from her favourite Uncle"

She pressed send and placed her phone on the counter, she stood up and ascended the stairs, it was now almost quarter to 6 so she decided to get dressed.

Entering her bedroom, Brandon had rolled onto his back, he was still sound asleep. Catelyn opened the wardrobe and picked out a white vest top, it had a blue pattern on the front and had a decent Sean, not showing too much cleavage. She then picked outa
pair of dark blue jeans. She threw them over the back of the chair next to where she was stood and bent down to pick out fresh underwear and some shoes from the cupboard to her left.

Pushing herself up, she stood and faced the mirror, why did Brandon not love her? Was she that bad? Her long auburn hair was knotted, so she gathered her clothes and went to the bathroom just down the corridor away from their bedroom, instead of of theiradjacent
bathroom- she didn't want to wake Brandon up.

She pulled down her pyjama bottoms, then removed her top, once again taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror, she was only 27, she had given birth almost 4 years ago yet she still wore he scars of carrying a child. Her body was not as it usedto
be maybethat is why Brandon stayed as far away as he could.

She let out a small sigh and picked up her top from where it was left, draped over the side of the bath, she pulled it over her head before then moving into putting her jeans on.

She picked up the hair brush, and began attacking the knots that had gathered during sleep, it took her a while but eventually the locks were flowing in somewhat perfect curls down her sides, they were as far down as the waistband of her jeans. She Decidedtoleave
them lose today, she had no need to tie it back.

She applied a light layer of makeup and picked up her trainer, she padded out of the bathroom barefoot and descended the stairs once more, she threw her shoes down at the front door and went back into the kitchen to get her phone.

There was another reply from Ned, she wasn't surprised he was awake at this time, it was now coming up half past 6, she remembered him once telling her he was good with early mornings and liked getting Jon's things ready early. She had replied with a
smile,acknowledging his parenting skills.

Ned: "Favourite uncle, eh? Well, that is a title I'm glad to hold, are you dropping Lana off today?

Cat: "Yes, who else would do it if I didn't?

Ned's reply was very fast: "her father?

Cat: "Yeah, like that would ever happen, you know very well how good of a father your brother is

Ned: "I'm sorry you're stuck with him

Cat: "I did marry him, I guess that makes me the idiot" With that, Cat put her phone down, she heard Brandon walking around upstairs so she had to be careful now, she thought on Ned's words, "I'm sorry you're stuck with him" was he truly sorry she was
/so unlucky?

Her phone made a noise and Cat turned it over again, replying to Ned's message with a broad smile on her face

Ned: "You're not an idiot Cat, my brother is the insensitive asshole, I'll see you in a few hours, Jon is waking up"

Cat: "see you later"

Almost as soon as her phone hit the kitchen surface again, Brandon's footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, he walked into the kitchen, he was dressed in his work outfit, light blue shirt, dark grey trouser bottoms, dark blue tie and black leathershoes.
Cat stood up to greet him, he placed his hands on her waist and kissed her briefly on the lips saying "Good morning"

"Morning" Cat said, watching as her husband hurriedly rushed around the kitchen making himself some toast to eat on the way to work.

"We have a new client coming in today... Mace Tyrell? He's meant to be good with money so if all goes to plan, our business just got even better!" Brandon said

"That sounds great" Cat said, she still didn't really understand what exactly his job was, she knew it was important and he got paid a lot but it still didn't add up to Cat, she didn't question him on it though, she never had time... He never gave her
/time

"It will be great, Cat! Anyway, Gotta dash" He said, taking a slice of toast out of the room with him, before Cat couldn't even say bye before he was out of the house, Cat knew he would take a detour to some girls house before work, maybe today he might
changethings up a bit and go to Barbrey Ryswell, last Cat heard she was married and had a daughter, that surely would be enough for Brandon to go ruin.

Catelyn decided it was time to go wake her daughter up, she went back up their wooden staircase and pushed open the door of her daughters room. To her surprise, her daughter was already awake, she was sat on the floor playing with some of her toys.

Catelyn enters and knelt down next to her "Good Morning sweeting" she said, stroking her child's hair down her back.

"Mummy!" Her daughter exclaimed, climbing into her arms and giving her a hug

"What are you doing here then?" Cat said, sitting her daughter in her knee and looking towards her toys.

"This is daddy, and this is you" Lana said, pointing to the various dolls, 'mummy' and 'daddy' were noticeably spaced apar

"And who's this one?" Cat asked, pointing to the doll sat next to the doll representing herself

"Uncle Ned!" Lana smiled, hugging her mother again, Cat smiled a halfhearted smile, wondering why her daughter pictured her uncle and mother closer than her own father and mother, but as she thought on it more, it was understandable why... Sometimes Cat
Evensaw herself closer to her brother in law than her own husband.

"Come on then, let's get you dressed" Catelyn said, ignoring the previous topic.

Something inside Catelyn was feeling odd, she saw Ned almost every weekday, but for some reason today was different, she felt different. Ned had always been a better friend to her than anyone, he was the only one who truly knew what Brandon was like...The
Only one who knew what she was like.