Story Title: Step By Step
Author: DeepBlueQL
Summary: Modern!AU. Ned is a widower with 3 children (Jon, Sansa, Arya) and Cat is a divorcée with 3 children of her own (Robb, Bran, Rickon). When the two get married, their families have to learn to live with each other. Series of interconnected oneshots that explore familial and romantic relationships. Lots of Arya/Gendry.
Rating: PG-R/K+-M
Pairing/characters: Ned/Cat, Arya/Gendry
Word Count: 2204
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: Not mine.

Story Notes: Hey all, did anyone ever watch the 90's show Step by Step? It was kinda like a less harmonious Brady Bunch, and this story is partly inspired by it. I just liked the idea of Ned and Cat meeting after they already had children of their own, and the adventures and hijinks that would arise from having all of them under one roof. So this story is gonna be a bunch of oneshots that don't follow any particular order or chronology. Some will focus on the romantic misadventures of the Stark and Tully family members. Pairings that will appear are Arya/Gendry (my personal OTP), Sansa/Willas, Robb/Dacey, and Jon/Ygritte. There may be other ships and appearance from my fav characters from the books/show. There will also be chapters focusing on the family relationships. At the end of the chapter I'll give the kids' ages so that you know where this falls in a timeline. The rating is M just to be safe; later chapters may not always be so tame.

Chapter Notes: I thought Ned/Cat would be a nice way to open the story, and that the first chapter just had to be their wedding. But fear not, since I categorized this as an Arya/Gendry story, they dominate almost half of this chapter. Please enjoy!

"To Have and to Hold"

Ned looked warmly at the woman who leaned her head on his shoulder. Just a few hours ago he had been a widower, and she, Catelyn Tully, a divorcée, each with three children of their own. But now she bore his name and they were a family of eight.

Despite the loud music and raucous assembly, a contented fatigue was beginning to get the better of the two of them. They had both been through this once before and found that weddings were no less exhausting a second time around. Ned breathed in the soft lavender scent of Cat's auburn hair and looked out onto the dance floor to see all six of the new step brothers and sisters dancing and laughing. The wedding ceremony and reception, though long and tiring, had gone incredibly smoothly, more so than any of them had dared hope. This, of course, was in no way a reflection of the engagement that had proceeded it.

In the last 24 hours alone, two particular altercations came to mind.

Ned walked through the corridors of the chapel, mumbling his vows to himself. It had taken him only a few minutes to change into his tux and comb his hair, but, he knew from experience, Cat would need at least another hour yet.

Raised voices drew him out of his recitations and he followed the commotion to the room Sansa had commandeered to get ready. Jon was already standing beside the open door, unfazed by the shouting match, but ready to intercede in the face of imminent bloodshed. Robb hovered next to him, an uncomfortable and almost fearful expression on his face. Ned didn't have the heart to tell the boy to expect much more of this in the years to come. He would find out soon enough anyways.

Ned entered the room unflinchingly, despite the decibels his two daughters' shouts were beginning to reach and took in the scene before him.

"Arya, you cannot wear sneakers to a wedding!" said Sansa, going a bit shrill.

"Why not? They're clean and they're black," Arya rebutted, her back turned to her sister.

"Please, Arya. I borrowed these pretty heels from Janie Poole." Sansa's tone was now plaintive, clearly attempting a different tact. And Ned could see the younger girl begin to weaken at her older sister's plea until the Poole girl had been mentioned. Arya despised Sansa's friend.

Arya faced her sister and stuck her tongue out. "Never!" she screamed.

Grabbing Sansa before she could fly at Arya in a rage, Ned barked to Jon, his voice a touch frantic, "Arya's black ballet flats. In the car. Get them. Now!"

Jon nodded and tore down the hall, Robb trailing after him.

Ned sent both girls to their respective corners. He rubbed the back of his neck wearily. After yesterday's rehearsal dinner, he had hoped to avoid any more unforeseen dramatic situations

"I love you, Cat. I've always loved you, since I was a boy. Please, don't do this."

Ned froze; he had been walking through the hall towards the restaurant restroom. Surprised would have been an understatement, and Ned was curious as to who was fervently professing love to his fiancée. Peering around the corner, he saw his bride-to-be talking to a man he vaguely recognized. Ned recalled his face among many entering the restaurant as he held open the door for his and Cat's guests. Ned's grey eyes coolly evaluated the man with a hand on his fiancée's arm. The man was slight, not much taller than Cat, but he had a slick sort of attractiveness. Ned was sure Sansa would consider the stranger's refined features more handsome than her father's own craggy, stone hewn face. Ned let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Cat shook off the man's hand.

"You did love me. But you also loved money and whores. And you never loved our children." Catelyn said, biting the words. "Go away, Petyr. Go back to my sister. I'm sure she's wondering where you are."

Ned started at the sound of the man's name. This must have been Petyr Baelish, Cat's ex-husband and the father of Robb, Bran, and Rickon. Cat had only ever mentioned him once, the man who had gambled away their savings and had cheated on her with her own sister.

Ned, uncomfortable spying on the pair, decided to make his presence know. Suddenly, another voice entered the fray.

"Dad?" came Robb's surprised voice from the other end of the hall.

Robb joined his parents, shouldering between them so he stood a bit in front of his mother, his guard clearly up.

Petyr affected a warm expression, his smile never reaching his eyes. "There's my boy. You're getting so big." Petyr went to ruffle the boy's hair. Robb ducked the gesture.

"What are you doing here?" the 15-year-old asked suspiciously.

Petyr narrowed his eyes at his son, clearly displeased. "I'm here to stop your mother from marrying some bastard, just because he's the first sucker willing to take in you brats."

Robb flinched, but his light blue eyes turned flinty. "Ned Stark is a good man, and he treats Mom better than you ever did. I wish he were my dad."

At those words, Petyr flushed with rage, and he raised a hand to strike the young man. Fed up, Ned took two quick strides and caught the smaller man's hand, mid-descent.

"I think you should leave," Ned said as politely as he could manage. The man whirled on him, and Ned could see the fear in his eyes, but he also saw a sort of desperate bravado.

"Ah, the groom finally emerges from his hiding place. Did you really think I couldn't see you over there? You Starks seem to have slow minds and quick tempers. This is who you chose, Cat? You must be more desperate than I thought. Please tell me he's at least rich."

Ned shoved Petyr against the wall. He didn't normally consider himself to be easily angered, but Petyr didn't seem entirely wrong at the moment.

"Get the hell out of here, and stay away from my family."

"They're not you're family," the smaller man spat.

"Yes. Yes, they are. Cat is my wife and Robb is my son, and you are never to come near any of them again." Ned's words were spoken so severely, even Petyr seemed to think better than to oppose him again. Cat's ex-husband slunk away in retreat.

Ned turned to face his fiancée. Cat had tears in her eyes and Ned froze. Perhaps he had overstepped his bounds. But when Robb hugged him awkwardly and Cat smiled, Ned knew they were going to be ok.

All of that unpleasantness behind them, and Ned settled back into his chair, his arm around his new wife. He could hear the happy exclamations of the children on the dance floor and looked over at them. Robb danced with Arya until she stepped on him one too many times. Robb laughed and pleaded with her to spare his toes. Arya shrugged unrepentantly and picked up her new brother Rickon and spun him about, much to the little boy's delight. Sansa took her sister's place dancing with their oldest step-brother and Robb seemed relieved. Arya nudged Jon to ask a pretty friend of Robb's to dance, and Bran hopped about to the music next to them.

Ned smiled at the scene, and kissed the crown of his wife's head. Life was good.

Bonus Gendry/Arya Scene:

Yep, Gendry thought to himself, weddings suck. He flushed hotly in embarrassment as he watched his father, fat disgusting slob that he was, proposition Allyria Dayne. Gendry only hoped she wouldn't slap his father and call more attention to the mortifying spectacle.

Rebuffed, Robert Baratheon stumbled back to his seat and fell into the chair, knocking the table and rattling all the glasses. Gendry could feels eyes all over the room on him. They vacillated from judging to pitying and Gendry didn't know which he hated more.

The wedding had been beautiful and the bride and groom lovely, and though he would never begrudge his best friend Jon and his family any happiness, he couldn't stop the pangs of jealousy as he watched everyone laughing and smiling.

Having been inactive for a moment, Robert began to crash, his eyelids drooping and body slackening. Gendry just barely caught his father before he face planted into his slice of wedding cake.

"Alright, that's it. Time to go home," Gendry muttered. Hauling his father up, Gendry made his way out of the restaurant as steadily as possible, considering Robert's near-dead weight burdening him.

Robert dragged his feet. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you, boy?" Robert said belligerently. Despite the drunk man's slurring, Gendry understood his father perfectly and chose not to respond.

Gendry tried not to meet the eyes of any of the people he passed and kept his head down. He wanted to quicken his pace, but he knew from experience that if he hurried his father, Robert would only trip and end up sprawled on the ground, embarrassing him even further.

They made it out of the restaurant without any significant incident, and Gendry threw his father into the backseat of the car none too gently. Robert only chuffed for beat before promptly passing out. Gendry locked the car doors and headed back inside to say his goodbyes before driving his father home.

He approached the bride and groom's table and had to wait a moment before they looked away from each other and noticed him. Had he ever seen anyone so in love before? His memories of his own mother were scant, but he could recall a lot of yelling and tears during the short time he had with her before she died.

Ned looked upon the boy with a broad smile. "Gendry, you're growing up into a man. Are you as tall as Robert already?" Ned asked in his rumbling voice.

"Nearly," Gendry said tonelessly. He disliked the frequent comparisons to his father. Honestly, he saw little of the man in himself, but enough people told Gendry he looked like his father when Robert had been young, that he had no choice but to believe them.

"Anyways, Mr. and Mrs. Stark, I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you for having us. I have to get my father home."

"What a responsible young man," Cat said dulcetly. "You are welcome over any time you like. You're practically another son to Ned and that makes you family to me."

Gendry ducked his head, almost bashful because of the warm affection in her voice. If there were any point in wishing, he might wish he were born a Stark or a Tully, but there wasn't, so he didn't.

"Your father's lucky you just got your license and can drive him home," Ned commented. Gendry smiled wanly and agreed weakly. The first time he had had to drive a completely drunk Robert home from some bar, he had been 13 and far from having his license.

Finishing his farewells, Gendry made to leave when a small body barreled into him. He looked down to find Jon's 12-year-old sister's heart shaped face peering up at him, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Gendry! Are you leaving already?" Arya asked.

Gendry smiled at the little girl. He knew that despite being over three years older than her, she regarded him as something of playmate, though perhaps toy or pet may have been more accurate. She always seemed to delight the most in bugging him whenever he hung out with Jon.

"Yeah, I gotta –" Gendry started to explain.

"No, you can't go." Arya said imperiously, cutting him off. "Come dance with us." And that was the final word on the matter as Arya took his hand and dragged him to the dance floor without so much as a backwards glance. Gendry thought briefly of his passed out father, but allowed himself to be pulled along.

"You look nice," he said to her, voice raised so he could be heard above the music, "like a proper little girl."

Arya stuck out her tongue and made a face, just as he knew she would, and Gendry laughed. He had said it mostly just to tease her, but it was true. Arya was usually all scraped knees, smudges of dirt, and torn jeans. Now she was scrubbed and polished, in a satin sort of romper that was silver and made her grey eyes shine. It looked delicate, but could obviously withstand her rambunctiousness. Arya didn't need the makeup her older sister favored. Her clean and shining face was pretty enough.

Once they reached her siblings and new step-brothers on the dance floor, there was a tumult of activity: Jon clapped an arm around his shoulders, Robb shook his hand and Sansa hugged him shyly.

Arya tugged on his arm and started dancing with him, more jumping around him than anything else. But her eyes were bright and laughing, and her family seemed as enthused as she was. As he joined them, he thought to himself that weddings weren't so bad.

A.N.: Thank you for reading, everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please REVIEW. Expect this story to be updated fairly frequently. Please keep in mind that the chapters are not chronological, nor will every character appear in every chapter. They are essentially oneshots that exist in the same universe.

Ages:
Robb Tully - 15
Jon Stark - 14
Sansa Stark - 13
Arya Stark - 12
Bran Tully - 9
Rickon Tully - 7

Gendry Baratheon - 15