Baby Steps

By Slytherin Princess

Chapter One

Arya was scared of very little in her life.

Needles, sewing or otherwise, from too many pricks to her fingertips. Heels, usually forced on her by her sister and mother for stupid high society events that she always tried to escape. And, the most recent and terrifying one, telling her boyfriend that he was about to be a father. All of them understandable fears, if you asked her.

"Baby?" she called when she stepped through the backdoor to his townhouse. As soon as the word slipped from between her lips, Arya froze. She cringed and quickly placed her shaking hand on her belly, like an apology for her reaction.

His house was nice, clean and in a good neighbourhood.

Gendry and his siblings had bought it after their mothers had died, piling together all their money to have a home, together. It made it a little awkward to spend the night with her boyfriend since he shared a room with his younger brother, Edric. And now it would be worse, she didn't know how he would react to the news that they were having a baby but if he chose to stay with her then they would need to figure out a new living situation. They couldn't exactly move two more people into his crowded, cozy townhouse or into her two bedroom flat that she shared with Jon and his girlfriend, Dany.

Arya refused to think about what would happen if he didn't want her and their baby. The second the thought passed through her head, she hated herself. She wanted to blame the hormones coursing through her for the momentary doubt she had, but Arya knew she was scared of what her life would be like without Gendry. Not just what life would be like for their child without his or her father, but what it would be like for Arya without the man she loves.

He wouldn't leave her, Gendry knew what it was like to grow up without a father and he would never wish that on anyone, especially his own child. And he loves her, he loves Arya Stark in all her unladylike glory and wild ways. Just like she loves Gendry Waters in his motor oil stained overalls, messy hair that never cooperated to her hands, and stubborn attitude.

Everything would be okay, it had to be okay, because she didn't know what she would do with herself if it wasn't.

She heard him shift in the living room, she heard the gunshots from the tv. "I'm in here!"

"Do you want anything?" Arya asked as she pulled the orange juice out of the fridge. She'd been craving oranges like crazy for the last month and it had made it hard to hide her pregnancy from her family, since she usually gagged from the taste. She poured herself a full glass of juice and leaned against the counter as she sipped.

"Can you grab me a pack of crisps, love?"

"You know those are terrible for you, right?"Arya gulped down the rest of the juice, rinsing out the glass before grabbing a pack of Lays. "Oils and fats and artificial flavours."

Gendry was sitting on the edge of the couch, controller held tightly in his hands as he slammed his thumbs over the buttons, bright blue eyes glued onto the HD screen. The little avatar ran through a ruined street, aiming his gun to the rooftops. He was twenty four but still a teenager inside, something Arya found adorable usually but watching him play video games and be carefree now made it feel so real.

Reminded her that she was taking away those qualities that she loves in him, Gendry's carefree attitude, his almost childlike wonder in things. He was so young, so was she, and they were having a baby. A human child that would need adults.

Not two almosts. Almost adults, almost responsible, almost stable.

A baby that would need a home and constant care and adult supervision and clothes and food and- Arya screwed her eyes shut trying to block out the little voice, one that sounded too much like her sister, in the back of her mind screaming 'you can't handle this, you're just a little girl who got herself into trouble she can't get out of'.

"Arya?" When she opened her eyes, she saw the paused sign blinking on the screen and Gendry looking up at her from his perch on the couch. Face clouded with worry. "Are you alright? I was talking to you and it was like you were in a whole other place. I know I can drone on sometimes but spacing out entirely is overreacting, don't you think, love?" he joked.

Arya watched him silently, studying his face. His high cheekbones, sharp jaw, brilliantly blue eyes that reminded her of sapphires, his furrowed dark brows. She could feel her eyes watering and her bottom lip quivered slightly before she savagely chewed on it to make it stop. "You're the most handsome man I had ever seen, and your personality isn't half bad either."

His eyes flashed in amusement for a second, head shaking and a surprised laugh bubbled up in his throat. "As flattered as I am to hear that, your face isn't fitting what you're saying."

"You're funny and you're smart. I know I call you stupid all the time but I don't mean it and I hope you never think I did. You're really hardworking and honest and I love those things about you." Arya fit herself on the couch next to him, grasping his limp hand with her shaking one. She could feel the tears building in her eyes and, as much as she willed them to disappear, they wouldn't stop. "I love how you look like you could carry a car on your back or start a bar fight but you're actually the sweetest, most kind person I know."

Arya hadn't planned to tell him how wonderful she thought he was, not that he didn't deserve to hear her tell him all the things she loves about him, but it was just as much of a shock to her as it was to him when the words poured out of her uncontrollably. The more she thought about taking about Gendry's freedom and chaining him to her and a baby they hadn't planned, the worse she felt, the more she wanted to dig a ten metre deep hole and bury herself in it.

She knew he loves her, he had told her as much over the past two years but would he resent her for making him a father so young? Would he grow to hate her and their baby because she took any other future away from him?

A few months ago Gendry had told her that he wanted to enroll in some university engineering classes, so he could get a better job. Didn't he, the boy who had given up everything for his mother when she got sick and then to keep his half siblings in school by working seventy hour weeks instead of accepting a scholarship that would get him through university, deserve that? A better life, one without a pregnant girlfriend and an unplanned baby?

"This is starting to feel like a breakup," Gendry began slowly, voice cracking, his tone slipping into something Arya could only describe as pleading. "Arya whatever made you upset, whatever I've done to bring this on-"

"You haven't done anything," the tears were flowing freely now and Arya tried to wipe them away with the sleeve of her jumper but to no avail. When she cleaned her face from one streak of tears, two more would drip to her chin.

But Gendry continued on like he hadn't heard her at all, and maybe he hadn't. His voice having turned into panic as he gripped her hand tightly, anchoring her to the couch, to his house, to him. "-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, love. Tell me and I'll make it better, I swear. Are you," he swallowed and reached up to gently wipe away a stream of tears on her cheek. "Are you not happy with me anymore, Arya?"

"Of course I'm happy with you, I love you!" And then the sobs started. Arya would never consider herself the girl who cries when she thinks about being dumped, but here she was. Sitting next to her boyfriend, holding his hand, telling him how much she loves him and praying to whichever gods still looked down on her damned soul that he wouldn't leave her.

He was properly panicked now, releasing her hand to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest. Enveloping her into his warmth and rubbing her back gingerly, like he was afraid she might break. "Fuck, baby, please don't cry."

That only made her cry harder. Her throat having gone dry from her heaving gasps to draw air into her lungs and her vision blurry from her red and swollen eyes. Her small fist closed around a clump of his shirt, crushing the fabric with her grip. Arya climbed into his lap, her legs pulled into her chest and her face buried into the crook where his shoulder met his neck. Gendry rocked her, hushing her as she continued to sob into him.

"I ruined it, I ruined everything," Arya whimpered. "I ruined us."

"Hey, hey," Gendry tried to look into her eyes but Arya closed them tightly and refused to come out of her safety place- his chest. She knew that the second she looked into his eyes, she would tell him everything and then he would hate her. "Arya, did you cheat on me?" he asked quietly, dreadfully waiting her answer, his voice a rumble under her ear.

Her head snapped up, "No! I would never do that! Ever! No!"

Gendry breathed a sigh of relief and pressed a kiss to her forehead and then lingered at her temple. "I'm sorry for asking you, Arya, but I really don't know what to think about all of this. I love hearing you sweet talk me but the tears are scaring the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice small and Arya cringed at how young it made her sound. How broken. "I want to tell you something."

"You can tell me anything, Ar, you know that." Gendry leaned forward on the couch, sitting up with Arya in his lap. Her legs tucked over his.

"Do you remember two months ago when I left for that internship in Dorne?" It had been a nightmare being away from Gendry and her family for a whole month, but she wouldn't change the experience for anything, even if she spend almost every morning buried face first in a toilet.

"Yeah, it was the worst couple of weeks, being away from my favourite girl." he said sweetly and Arya felt the knot in her stomach tighten, making her want to vomit. She couldn't be sure if it was from the pregnancy or because she had known about the baby for weeks and had been too scared to say anything.

"Well, I didn't go alone…" Arya watched his eyes widen and the hand stroking her hair froze, fingers slipping through her strands. "I don't mean that I went with another man." she rushed to add. She eyed him expectantly, "I took a small piece of you with me."

"A piece of…" his eyebrows scrunched up and he looked over her face, eyes searching for something avidly. A look of realization fell over him and Arya knew, Gendry had figured it out. "You took a piece of me with you." she nodded, trying not to start crying again. "Did you bring that piece back?"

"Yes." Arya's voice was scratched and Gendry's eyes fell to her stomach. She knew it wasn't obvious that she was rounding out already, Arya was tiny and she knew that her stomach wouldn't get as big as other pregnant women. She always wore oversized hoodies so no one thought it was strange that she continued to wear Gendry's sweatshirts in early September.

Gendry fell back into the couch cushions, arms relaxed around her, but when she tried to pull away and sit on the other couch, Gendry's arms wrapped tightly around her waist. He looked at her in panic until she leaned into his side. Arya didn't dare say anything, waiting for him to come to terms. When she had found out, Arya had been in shock but it wasn't until she checked her email that sent her into a tizzy, she had sat on the floor of her dorm room with a pint of ice cream and the spam email of a baby store that had initially set her off.

They had been sitting in silence for so long that the sun had disappeared and the night sky had been lit by the full moon, the television screen was the only light left in the room- the video game controller laying abandoned on the coffee table next to a messy stack of her university textbooks and his unopened packet of crisps.

His hand absently tapped her hip as he thought, she could see his mind jumping to a dozen things at once and she knew what each of those things were because they had flooded through her mind as well. Thoughts of animal onesies, mashed food being airplaned from pinkie sized spoons into a toothless and babbling mouth, dry cereal being thrown by grubby little hands, sleeping cots and car seats, stuffed toys and arguing about eating vegetables. And hiding underneath those were the fears, the thoughts of tantrums, fevers, dirty diapers, and the new names they would have. Mother. Father.

"Gendry, love," Arya said gently. "Are you okay?"

"No, I mean yes." Gendry nodded before glancing at her and shaking his head in short jerks. "No. I don't know. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I know the chances of miscarriage are high in the first trimester, from when Jayne was pregnant with baby Ned." she pressed a protective hand to her stomach, like she could keep the baby safe from everything just with the warmth of her hand and the steadiness of her fingers. "I didn't want to jinx him, or her, by saying anything."

"I understand that," Gendry said and Arya could see that he meant it, but there was something he wasn't saying. She nudged him gently with her elbow, her eyebrows raised. "Why were you so distraught when you came in today?"

"I was scared about telling you."

"Did you think I would abandon the two of you?" he shifted in his seat, jostling her, his jaw locked and he glared at the coffee table. Arya didn't have to ask why that upset him, it was what his father had done to him and his siblings. Gendry did everything to be nothing like his father- he didn't drink unless it was a special occasion, he'd never been inside a stripclub or slept with women he wasn't dating, and no matter her irrational fears, Arya knew in her heart that he would never leave their baby to grow up like he had.

"I know you wouldn't leave our baby, that you'll be part of his or her life but I was scared you would leave me." Arya sniffed and hated her stupid hormones for making the tears well up in her eyes again when she thought about joint custody. Arya buried her face in the soft sleeves of Gendry's stolen "Motts" hoodie.

"Why the hell would I do that?"Gendry pulled her sleeves away from her face, holding her cheeks in his palms, wiping her tears away. "Arya?"

"Because this is my fault."

"Arya, we made this baby together. We made this life together." His large hand fell on her stomach, pressing lightly into the baby bump there. His fingers protecting "The two of us. It's not your fault that we're having a baby, it's our fault. We weren't careful and we are going to live with the consequences together."

"I don't want you to feel like you have to stay with me because of our baby." she whispered the last word. Baby. A human child who would depend on them.

"Arya Lyanna Stark, even though I've known about our baby for only a few hours, I love this little wolfling and you more than anything in the world." Gendry peppered little kisses over her cheeks, her jaw, and burying his face in her shoulder. "Whatever happens from here, whatever we decide and whatever we do, it's together."

He held her close and Arya finally felt the weight lifting off her shoulders as Gendry held her in his arms, shedding away like a snakeskin. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Don't apologize, I can't imagine how terrified you must have been." Gendry sighed into her hair and Arya felt his hand moving over her stomach. She wondered if he knew he was doing it or if it was unconscious to place his hand there, like she did. "I'm scared thinking about everything and I'm not carrying a whole life."

Arya's head snapped up suddenly when they heard the backdoor open, eyes the size of saucers. "We have to tell our families."

"Gendry! Come help with the groceries or I'm tossing your peanut butter biscuits into the bin!" Mya yelled from the kitchen and Arya could hear the paper bags drop onto the counter.

Gendry watched her, kissed her temple and then called, "Are Edric and Bella with you?"

"Yeah, we're here," Edric answered, his voice muffled by whatever he was eating. "And if I have go through bags of tampons then so do you." Arya heard a loud whack and knew one of the girls had hit him over the head, it was followed by a cry of pain and she hid her smile into Gendry's shoulder.

"Actually," Arya stood up from his lap and dusted herself off. "Can you guys come in here please? We have to tell you something."

Gendry reached out and took her hand, kissing her palm and the tips of each of her fingers, "Together, love."

To be continued...

This is going to be a four chapter short story. It's going to be sweet and slightly dramatic and adorable.