ASOIAF: Modern!AU

Fawn

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING.

Summary: Renly wants a baby. Loras is…hesitant.

Ch. 7—The Barbecue


"Do I have to?" Loras asked for the umpteenth time as he and Renly approached the little white house's front door. He could already here people instead, talking loudly and laughing, and of course, crying babies. There was also a smell in the air, like steaks on a grill. No wonder. Summer was almost over and thus the time for barbecues as well.

"Yes," Renly said as the climbed the front stoop. "But—" Loras' protest was cut short by Renly pecking on the lips. "Just try, please. It won't be that bad." He said, and Loras could only nod sullenly.

Renly took the liberty of knocking on the off-white front door. Sansa answered it. "Ren, Loras! Welcome!" She said, beaming, little Alyster on her hip. Loras was amazed to see how big the baby was already. He looked so little in the pictures Podrick showed him. Renly gave his auburn-haired co-worker a hug and a wide smile, and gave her son's soft, chubby cheek a gentle pinch. The little baby was completely unfazed and stared up at Renly as if he were a space alien. Loras went and gave Sansa a hug next, but simply smiled and gave Alyster a greeting in a babyish voice. Again, the little redhead did not seem impressed. In fact, he looked downright stoic, which before today, Loras had thought impossible for a baby.

Loras could guess whose side of the family the little boy would take after already.

Inside, Sansa and Podrick's living room was packed to the rafters with parents and small children and babies, as well as other guests. On the couch sat Renly's own niece, Mya, and her husband, their little boy between them, attempting to crawl onto his dad like a jungle gym. Loras was a bit freaked out by the baby's resemblance to Renly. Next to Mya sat her brother's girlfriend and Sansa's sister, Arya. Never had Loras seen the feisty girl so…relaxed. Usually at social gatherings she was brooding about rather being…anywhere else basically. But now, she sat beside Mya, speaking amiably, looking a tad tired, but smiling, and perfectly tranquil. On the arm of the couch next to her sat Gendry, who held their daughter Wenda up in the air, tossing her lightly and catching her, making the near one-year old giggle with glee.

On a armchair in the corner of the room sat Bran Stark, leisurely reading a book, even as a toddler with dark hair climbed the chair and leered over his shoulder, which would make anyone uncomfortable (except for apparently Bran). Suddenly, Robb Stark strolled out of the kitchen, and upon spotting the boy, heaved a sigh and strode across the room to pluck the boy off the chair and carry him back into the kitchen. Then, as if by magic, Meera and Jojen Reed appeared on the armchair, Bran squished between them.

In another corner of the room, on a loveseat, Theon Greyjoy was sprawled out, asleep, with a dark-skinned baby in pink fast asleep on his chest. On the floor sat other couples and guests and children Loras didn't recognize aside from Brienne and Jaime and their son.

"Take a seat wherever," Sansa said. "The food will be done soon and then we can all move outside." With that, the young mother disappeared into the kitchen, from which Loras heard a lot of noise such as clanging pots and pans and running water. Renly found them a seat on the floor next to the couch, close enough for Mya to see them. "Renly, Loras! You guys made it!" She said with a smile bright enough to match her eyes. Her uncle smiled back up at her. "Of course we did. Wouldn't miss this for the world!" He said. "Is the rest of the family coming?" Loras asked, dreading the idea of Stannis showing up. Shireen and Myrcella, Tommen and Edric, and even Bella and Barra were fine with him, but Stannis and Robert…He cringed inwardly at the thought.

Thankfully for him, Mya shook her head. "Dad wanted to come, but…you know, Cersei…" She said in a secretive whisper, most likely because the golden bitch's brother was a stone's throw away. Loras and Renly nodded understandingly.

Suddenly, a tiny hand was grabbing at Loras' hair and yanked. "OW!" Loras shouted as Mya's little boy continued to pull at his hair, giggling the whole time. He attempted to pry away the baby's hands, but Gods! The kid was certainly Robert's grandson! "R-Renly! Help!" His boyfriend scrambled to help, trying as gently as possible to get the boy to let go. It was only by the mother's mercy that Loras was saved by Mya, who laughingly, easily pried her son's hands off of Loras. "Mason, sweetling, that's no way to treat uncle Loras!" She chastised him, but all the blue-eyed boy did was smile toothlessly up at her.

"Does he always grab at people's hair like that?" Renly asked warily. Mya shrugged. "It's not always hair." She said as she handed the boy over to her boyfriend. Loras nearly groaned. "Are all babies so grabby?" He asked. "For a time," Mya said, scooting down to the floor to sit next to them. "But trust me, it's not all that bad. Just put that precious hair of yours up or get a haircut. That's what I did." She said, gesturing to her pixie cut of black hair. "Like that stops my Wenda," Arya suddenly cut in, crawling over to where Mya previously sat on the couch. She sat cross-legged and with said Wenda in her lap, cooing. "I cut my hair, too, but she still grabs at it. Pulls it. Swear, she nearly tears it out every time." She continued, running a hand through her bob of dark brown hair, so similar to her daughter's.

Loras looked at the little baby girl, with brown hair already so long it reached her bottom, with blue eyes like her father and Renly, and so tiny she could be a doll, and wondered what kind of monster lurked within.

Arya caught him looking. "Wanna hold her?" She asked, holding the baby girl out to him. Loras looked at the baby and then at her mother, not really knowing what to say. "S-sure," He said, tentatively taking the girl. She was so light, it was ridiculous. She looked at him, curiously, and smiled brightly. It was an infectious smile—yes, Loras thought, this girl's a Baratheon. He settled the girl in his lap. The little girl seemed absolutely fascinated by his wristwatch, grabbing at it and eyeing it as if it were a puzzle to be solved. Loras chuckled at the sight.

"Food's ready!" Someone shouted from the kitchen, and everyone climbed to their feet (or into their wheelchairs in Bran's case), and slowly poured into the kitchen (aka disaster area) and through the backdoor. Thankfully for the crowd, the backyard was room with plenty of lawn furniture for everyone. At the grill stood Sansa's father, Ned Stark, beside him, his wife Catelyn, who was playing the part of his assistant. Loras and Renly sat near the grill at one of the picnic tables, right next to Podrick and Sansa, and across from Robb and the newly awakened Theon, a toddler in-between them, poking at his hotdog distrustfully.

"Who's this little guy?" Renly asked. The aforementioned boy looked up from his plate, only to flush red and look back down. "That," Robb began. "Would be Lonny, Theon's son. Say hello, Lonny." Shyly, the boy looked up and whispered a hello before going right back to poking his hotdog. Theon sighed, took a fork, and started cutting up the hotdog. Then he stood, the plate of hotdog in hand, and held out another hand to Lonny. "Come on, let's go find some baked beans." He said, and his son beamed, hopped up and took his hand. When they were gone, Sansa whispered, "How are things going?" Robb sighed and put his head in his hands. "I finally understand mom." He grumbled. Loras was inclined to ask what the heck the Stark siblings were talking about…but something told them this was too personal for him to ask about.

Theon and Lonny returned a moment later with a plate of pork and beans for Lonny, who greedily wolfed it down when it was sat before him. "So," Theon began as he sat. "How's everything going for you two? Is Ashara treating you well?" He asked. Robb looked about ready to chastise him, but Renly was quick with his reply. "We had a mother contact us, but…well, she decided she wanted parents with less dangerous jobs." He said. Sansa laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry," She said, but Renly shook his head. "No, no…Ashara warned us about be rejected. Besides, there are thousands of babies in need of a home. We'll get one of them, I'm sure."

Lonny tugged at Theon's sleeve. "Are they going to get a baby like you and Robb did?" He asked timidly, and Theon nodded. "Yeah, they're going to get a baby the same way we got Nasreen." Lonny smiled brightly at Loras and Renly then. "That's good!" The boy cheered. "I really like Nasreen—you'll like having a baby, too!" He said, smiling. All the adults laughed, even Loras. "I'm sure we will, Lonny." Renly said, reaching across the table to ruffle the boy's dark hair.

Several minutes later, Loras got up to get a second helping. Those steaks were fantastic! Loras grabbed another one, the last one, a baked potato, some macaroni salad, and…well, he was going to grab some chips, but they were out. Catelyn Stark walked by just as he was about to reluctantly head back to the picnic table in defeat. "Oh, Mrs. Stark! Are there anymore chips?" He asked. Mrs. Stark simply pointed inside the house as she continued her beeline for her granddaughter Wenda across the patio.

Loras headed inside, into the kitchen, intent on finding his precious barbecue chips.

"Oh!" He said with surprise, upon finding several men gathered around the kitchen island, beers in hand. "I didn't realize there was a second party going on in here." He said, working his way around the men, searching the countertops for the chips, which for the life of him he could not find. He cursed.

"Hey, do any of you know where the barbecue chips are?" He asked. The men exchanged looks, and a fat one guiltily held up an empty chip bag. Loras sighed and headed towards the door. "Wait!" The fat one called. "I think there's more somewhere. Let me look, you, you just wait, okay?" And without awaiting his reply, the fat young man went to work on a raiding Sansa and Pod's kitchen for a bag of barbecue chips.

Loras stood awkwardly at the backdoor for a moment, before shrugging to him self and joining the other men around the kitchen island. He recognized a few of them, now that he actually looked at them. There was Jon, Sansa's cousin, for one, and he was pretty sure one of them was Edric Dayne, and there was also Sansa's other cousin, Robin, and her brother, Rickon. A few of the others were mysteries.

Loras raised an eyebrow at Robin and Rickon. "Aren't you a little young for beer?" He asked. Rickon scoffed. "Yeah. What are you gonna do about it?" He asked like a condescending little brat. "You know I'm a cop, right?" Loras asked in turn. Rickon and Robin turned white, dropped the beers, and bolted for the backdoor, leaving all the men laughing. Outside, in the pool, there was a large splash and cries of surprise.

"Rickon!"

"Sweetrobin!"

"SHAGGYDOG!"

When their laughter died, Loras was able to finally turn to Jon and ask, "What sort of cousin are you, letting them drink like that?" Jon shrugged. "They could either do it behind our backs in the garage, or right in front of us, in the safety of the kitchen, nowhere near power tools." Loras rolled his eyes at them, and the rest of the men laughed. "What's so funny?" Loras asked. "It's nothing," Jon said. "Just, you sound like a parent already." He said, and Loras felt him self freeze.

The others noticed. "We don't mean to say you're lame or anything," The Dayne kid tried to say. "Loras, are you okay?" Jon tried to ask. "I found the chips!" The fat one finally yelled. Loras grabbed the chips and turned on his heel. He fled the kitchen, suddenly plagued by thoughts about his own kid getting drunk at parties behind his back and having to yell and reprimand them like some old, no-fun geezer.

Outside, people were climbing into the pool, clad in swimsuits, small children in water wings, and babies in little floatation devices. Theon Greyjoy was doing laps in the pool, impressing many, while his son Lonny took to the water like a fish, despite Robb's narcotic yelling about putting on his water wings. Rickon was doing canon balls into the pool, much to everyone's annoyance, except for a girl Loras scarcely recognized as one of Oberyn's, who cheered Rickon on. Robin, who was still shivering from his previous dive, did not look eager to climb back into the water. Several dogs were in the pool as well.

Renly sat on the edge of the pool next to Brienne, who was stubbornly wearing her clothes still, her jeans simply rolled up to her knee. In the water near by, Jaime was gently pushing his son around the pool, though the golden haired babe did not seem to like the water much.

Loras stripped down to his swim trunks and approached. "Hey," He greeted his boyfriend, sitting down next to him and pecking him on the cheek. Renly returned the peck and pulled away beaming. "Loras," He said eagerly. "Help me get Brienne to go in the pool. She refuses to be seen in a swim suit!" Over his shoulder, Brienne sent him a silent plea. "Well, I would, Ren, but…" With a hard shove, Renly went into the pool with a large splash. Loras and Brienne laughed as the Baratheon resurfaced, his black hair a sobbing mop on his head. Suddenly, however, they found their feet seized by the blue-eyed devil and were yanked into the pool with an even larger splash.

Loras forgot all about his worries as he and Renly spent the next few hours, horse playing in the pool. By the time they crawled out, it was almost dark and getting cold. Sansa thankfully had some towels ready for them, and soon they were dry and back in their clothes.

Before they left, Renly kissed and hugged Mya goodbye, and gave little Mason and Wenda kisses on the forehead. They both gave Sansa and Pod hugs on the way out, and ruffled the hair of Lonny Greyjoy as they passed him and his father down the driveway.

Loras didn't realize how tired he was until he was in the car, when he couldn't help but yawn and doze off just a block away from the Payne residence.


When they got home, Loras wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and not come out until noon the next day. With Renly firmly wrapped around him of course. But no, his boyfriend just had to check the answering machine…

"I'll be right up, promise." Renly called softly as Loras lugged him self down the hall towards their bedroom. He only grunted in reply. He crawled into bed as planned, stealing some of Renly's share of the covers as a bit of payback, and nuzzled into his pillow with a sigh. Soon, he was drifting off to sleep.

Until Renly had come loudly prancing in, jumping onto the bed, and wrapping his arms around him. Loras groaned and tried to scoot away from his boyfriend, who held him way too tightly for comfort. "Let go, Ren!" He yawned, squirming. But Renly gave weird sort of…giggle…a mannish giggle of excitement but…still a giggle. Loras rolled over to face Renly with a curious expression. "Did you just…giggle?" He asked. With no shame, Renly nodded. "Why?" Loras asked. Renly leaned his close so their noses were nearly touching. "Because…" He breathed. "Ashara called…a mother chose us!"

And suddenly, Loras felt as if his entire world had been flipped upside down.


A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday! But thankfully, school was canceled here today and I could write this!

So please review, check out my other stories, and enjoy!