A/N: New chapter guys, another emotional one I'm afraid but we're getting close to the end now. I should have another for you on Thursday and then the last one up on Sunday (sad face, going to miss this one!)

For now though, hope you enjoy this one - do let me know!

:)

XXVI

"It's been a week and she hasn't held her once," Robb said.

"Are you certain?" Catelyn asked him.

"Yes," Robb snapped back, "Lottie keeps saying she's fine … that she spends time with Hanna every day but she's lying … Alma said she hasn't been once during the day"

"Have you spoken to her?" Catelyn asked him, a frown creasing her brow now.

"I don't know what to say to her, how can I accuse her of neglecting our daughter after everything she went through with Arthur?" he asked her despairingly.

"You can't ignore this forever," his mother said.

"I know," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I thought perhaps … perhaps once Hanna lived passed the sixth day she would snap out of it"

"But she hasn't," Catelyn stated.

"Alma says that sometimes she wakes at night and sees her standing there above the cradle, just watching her – she never picks her up, she just watches," he said, shaking his head.

"Talk to her," his mother implored him.

"What in the name of the Gods do I say?" he asked her desperately.

"I don't know Robb, but she is clearly suffering and leaving her to deal with it on her own isn't fair," she told him firmly.

"I know," he said, "I know …" he repeated, shaking his head again as he made his way towards the door.

His steps were slow and heavy as he trudged up the stairs. It had taken him a little over a day to realise that something wasn't right with Lottie. He supposed he should have noticed sooner but he had been so caught up in his own joy that he hadn't realised that her own was absent. The Maester had said sometimes new mothers struggled and that she would likely be fine in a few days. Robb had let that placate him but then his unease crept back into him when she lied to him about spending time with Hanna. She never lied to him. They didn't lie to each other – that was the rule; that had always been the rule since he had kept Ser Johan's intentions from her. He imagined he would be more angry with her if he wasn't so worried. Sometimes he looked at her and didn't even recognise her anymore. She was slipping away from him, slipping away from their daughter who needed her. Alma was wonderful but she was not Hanna's mother and she never would be.

When he entered their chambers Lottie was up and dressed and pretending to read in the window, he knew she was pretending because her eyes were staring blankly at the page. He sighed then, what in the name of the Gods could he say to her without accusing her outright?

"How are you feeling?" he asked her then, the only thing he could think of.

"Fine," she said and he closed his eyes despairingly.

"I thought I would go and see Hanna, would you join me?" he asked then.

"I've just been … you go," she said.

"Have you really just been?" he asked her and she said nothing, only confirming what he already knew; "I'm not a fool Lottie and I know you've been lying to me"

Still she said nothing and he had the overwhelming urge to shake her. What was wrong with her? Why would she not want to be with her baby? It made no sense. Was she scared of getting close to Hanna in case something happened? In case she lost her like she had lost her son?

"Is this about Arthur?" he asked and she shrugged; "Lottie please talk to me, how can I help you if you don't tell me what's wrong?"

"How can I tell you what I don't know?!" she snapped to him, getting to her feet and letting her book fall to the floor with a hard thud.

"Just come with me … come with me to see her," he coaxed her.

"I can't …" she choked and he stepped towards her, wanting to take her in his arms but she stepped passed him, striding to the door.

"Lottie!" he called her back but she had gone, "Lottie please!" he called down the hallway but she didn't stop, rounding the corner at the end and leaving him helpless.

Lottie stopped for no one as she raced from the keep. She heard them. She heard Arya call out to her. She heard Bran and Rickon shout over from the tiltyard but she didn't so much as glance in their direction. She had thought about the Sept but dismissed it, she didn't want to be stifled in that small room, kneeling down at the feet of Gods who had never listened to her no matter how much she begged. She wanted to be outside despite the biting cold. In her haste to get away from Robb and his accusing tone she had forgotten to snatch up her cloak. She didn't care though. The cold was oddly comforting. It was nice to know that she still had the ability to feel. It was to the Godswood she went, gazing at the beautiful weirwood that she had happily said her vows before, her hands clasped in Robb's as she had gazed into his beautiful eyes. That day; that night had been perfect but now she wondered if that was the night he had put Hanna inside her. Was it that night? Or perhaps the blissful day after when they had shut themselves away and made love countless times?

Did it even matter?

It didn't matter when he had planted her in her, the only thing that mattered was that he had and as Lottie stood there staring at the heart tree she found herself almost wishing that he hadn't. She stepped forward then, disgusted at her second of sheer hatefulness, dropping to her knees before the old Gods, her tears almost freezing on her cheeks.

"I didn't mean it!" she gasped out, "Oh Gods please I didn't mean it! Please don't take her, I swear I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"Lottie?" she heard Catelyn behind her then but she ignored her.

"Please help me! I want to be better I do but I don't want to hurt her, I don't want to do something wrong! What if I do something wrong and she's snatched away from me like Arthur?! Was it me?! Please just tell me it wasn't me so I can love my baby!"

Catelyn stared at Lottie's back, tears stinging her own eyes as she saw the girl sobbing to the old Gods, Gods she had never worshipped. She had come out after Robb had found her, her son was in a complete panic and she had bid him stay inside. Confronting Lottie in such a state would not have been a good idea and she had elected to go herself. Her heart was breaking for her good-daughter. She couldn't imagine it, having a child snatched away from her and not knowing what had caused it. From Lottie's heart wrenching pleas she could only conclude that the poor girl was blaming herself for her little boy being taken away. Catelyn knew it wasn't true, she had asked the Maester once on a whim and he had told her that sometimes babies were just lost in their sleep. There was no reason for it, the only explanation he had was that the Gods had taken them. Somehow she doubted Lottie would listen to that reasoning though as she watched her break down completely, her words no longer coherent as her sobs echoed around the Godswood.

Catelyn stepped forwards then and knelt next to her, wrapping the cloak she had brought out for her around her shoulders and pulling her into an embrace. Lottie didn't have the strength nor the will to fight her and she clung to her good-mother so fiercely that she wondered how she would ever let go. Somehow she managed to calm herself, to stop the tears and push the sobs back down but she didn't slacken her grip on Catelyn and the older woman kept her securely in her arms.

"What's wrong with me?" Lottie whispered and Catelyn swallowed hard.

"There is nothing wrong with you," she soothed, "likely you're just overwhelmed"

"I can't do it … it hurts to even look at her and I can't explain why, and Robb is going to hate me because he loves her so much," she choked.

"Robb doesn't hate you, he could never hate you … he just wants to help," Catelyn told her.

"How? How can he help me when I don't even know what's wrong?!" she demanded.

"I don't know Lottie, I wish I did … I truly do," Catelyn said, rocking her gently.

"I just want to love her," Lottie confessed, "I just want to love her but I don't know how …"

"I want to get better Robb," Lottie whispered against his chest as they lay in the darkness, "I want to get better I just don't know how"

"Don't lie to me anymore," he whispered back, his arms tightening around her.

"I won't, I promise," she swore to him.

"I love you," he told her then and she could have cried in relief.

"I love you too," she returned, "please don't give up on me …"

"I won't," he promised, "you're my wife and we're going to make this better …"

Robb tried to keep his frustrations at bay over the next days but they often burst from him unexpectedly. Thankfully he hadn't lost control with Lottie but he had snapped at several townsfolk who were undeserving of it and frequently vented his anger to his mother who deserved it even less. She was doing everything to try and help him and Lottie but nothing was working and it was killing him that his beautiful daughter was missing her mother. Hanna was still so small and she was still so unassuming but she would grow, she was already growing every day and her eyes that were starting to turn a more stormy blue-grey shone so brightly. She was a perceptive little thing, Alma said she held attention on things for far longer than most babies of her age. Robb thought that she knew his face now, she often kicked her little legs and waved her arms up at him, gurgling happily when he came to see her. The thought made him overwhelmingly happy but also filled him with sadness as he wanted his little daughter to know Lottie's face too. She should know it, she should know her own mother but it was likely that at this moment in time she knew any number of people better than she knew Lottie. Lottie may as well be a stranger to her and it broke Robb's heart.

Hanna was ten days old now. Ten days old and thriving and perfect. Lottie should be treasuring this time but instead she was hiding away from it and Robb had just about reached the end of his tether. After a particularly unproductive meeting with the Maester he was in an even worse mood and ready to snap. He would fix this. He would force Lottie to be a mother if he had to. There was no other way. He had tried being soft with her, coaxing her gently but it wasn't working. His mother would be furious with him for this but he had to do it. He had to try and snap her out of it. He strode into the nursery and instantly went to scoop Hanna up, her little fists clenching in his doublet in a way that would usually make him chuckle but he was too angry right now.

"Your Grace?" Alma said tentatively.

"This can't go on Alma," he said, shaking his head.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"I'm taking her to her mother, and her mother is going to look after her," he said with finality.

Alma looked uneasy but she made no move to stop him as he marched from the room and into the one next door to it. Lottie looked up at him and he saw the look in her eyes when she saw he had Hanna with him but he pushed down his guilt. This was for her own good, she would see that in the end.

"What are you doing with her in here?" she asked him fearfully as he gently lay Hanna down in the middle of their bed.

"I'm doing this for you," he told her, meeting her eyes before he made to leave.

"Robb no!" she jumped up but she was too late, he had left; "Robb please don't leave me here with her!" she shouted after him but his footsteps didn't falter.

She looked desperately to the bed then as she stood in the doorway. Surely Hanna would be alright for mere seconds if she went next door to get Alma? But then, what if Alma wasn't in the nursery? Lottie bit down on her bottom lip, tears stinging her eyes. What if Hanna rolled over while she was gone? What if she rolled onto her stomach and smothered herself in the thick furs? Surely she was too young yet to roll over? But what if she managed it? Robb had said how advanced she was for her age. He hadn't thought she was listening as he babbled on and on in the hopes that something he would say would snap her out of this consuming darkness. He hadn't thought she was listening as she stared blankly at the wall over his shoulder but she had been listening. She drank in every single word he uttered about their daughter. She wanted to hate him for forcing her into the position but she couldn't blame him. He had been pushed too far. She wanted to laugh then, this was much more like something Lyndon would do. Seems he and Robb had her pushing them to the ultimate limit in common, perhaps they could have bonded over that.

She turned away from the open door then and looked towards the bed for a long moment before retreating back to the window seat, her eyes still on the baby as she kicked her arms and legs free of her blankets. Lottie wished she wouldn't, what if she got cold? She bit her lip, the room was warm enough and Hanna was lain on those thick furs. She would be fine. Still she couldn't take her eyes away as her daughter started to gurgle happily. The sound should have melted her heart and had her walking to the bed at once and scooping her into her arms but she remained where she was. It was only when her gurgles turned to whimpers that Lottie moved. She twitched an inch, her eyes darting to the door. Hanna's whimpers began to turn to a cry then and she got to her feet.

"Robb!" she shouted through the door but she heard nothing but silence from outside the room, the only sound was Hanna's cry growing louder. "Robb please!" she shouted desperately; "Robb she's crying please come back!"

Robb bit down on his knuckles, feeling his mother and Alma's eyes on him as they listened to Hanna's increasingly desperate cries and Lottie's almost hysterical pleas for him to come back. He hated himself for this. For causing his wife and his daughter so much distress but he had to try. Lottie was shouting for Alma now and he snapped his eyes to her, shaking his head.

"Robb …" his mother started.

"Not yet," he cut her off.

"The little Princess is hungry," Alma said, "she always wants feeding around this hour"

"Just another few minutes!" he said desperately.

"Perhaps we should just try something else …" his mother said pleadingly as Lottie shouted out again.

"Not yet," he said, "not yet."

Lottie could feel the dampness against her chest and she knew that her milk was coming through, her breasts responding to the desperate cries of her baby better than she could. Her baby was hungry. Why wasn't Alma coming? How long would Robb let her go on like this? Surely it wasn't good for Hanna to be so distressed. She must be confused. Her crying was tearing Lottie's heart to pieces and in the next second she snapped, wrenching herself from the doorway and crossing to the bed, lifting her hysterical baby into her arms, holding her securely in one arm as she pulled on her ties with the other, shrugging her dress away and dropping her shift down to bare one breast. Hanna nudged against her, her cries lessening now as she sensed her hunger would soon be satiated. As she calmed Lottie encouraged her to latch on and she did so at once, feeding greedily, her little hand coming up to rest on Lottie's breast, her little fingers digging in to the rounded flesh.

"I'm sorry," Lottie whispered then, kneeling there in the middle of the bed, her eyes not moving from her feeding baby, "I'm so sorry"

She heard movement behind her then but she didn't turn. Someone had come, someone had finally come but she didn't need them anymore. She had her baby in her arms and she could look after her herself. Whatever cloud had been hanging over her had lifted. Hands touched her shoulders then and she knew at once that it was Robb who had come.

"I'm sorry," she whispered her apology to him then, feeling his lips come to the top of her head.

"I don't want to hear it, I'm just glad you're better," he breathed back.

"I will never forgive myself for this," she said, shaking her head as she looked down at Hanna.

"It doesn't matter Lottie," he soothed her, "you were bound to find it difficult but everything is alright now"

"It is," she agreed, a tear slipping down her cheek, "it truly is."

Robb went about his duties with the spring back in his step and the smile well and truly back on his face the next morning. He had his wife back, and their beautiful daughter finally had her mother. Lottie was going to see Alma today about her spending less time with Hanna and moving her cradle into their chambers rather than the nursery. Alma would still be around to help during the day but Lottie wanted Hanna in their chambers now and Robb was happy to along with whatever she wanted. If it meant being woken in the night he would live with it so long as his wife and child were happy. He knew Lottie still felt guilt over her days of neglect but Hanna was so young she would never remember it. Their bond could build uninterrupted now and Robb had constantly reassured Lottie as they'd lain in bed together the previous night that Hanna would soon come to know and love her.

When he left the Maester he went straight back upstairs, pausing at the door of the nursery and seeing that the cradle had already been removed. He'd seen the craftsman about having another made for the nursery now that the other would be placed in his and Lottie's chambers. He assumed that was where his girls were now and he was not disappointed as he pushed open the door to see them lazing on the bed. Hanna kicking her little legs up in the air and gurgling happily as Lottie lay at her side tickling her fingers lightly across her stomach. He smiled at the sight, the sight he had so longed to see over the past days when Lottie had been so absent, not just from Hanna but from him as well. Feeling his wife slipping away had terrified him more than anything and he was so pleased that she had pulled back from the brink. She looked up then and smiled that beaming smile at him that he had missed so much and he returned it happily, coming down to lay on Hanna's other side. Propping himself up on one elbow so he could wonder at her and her beautiful mother.

"Her eyes are more like yours every day," he commented.

"I think they are greyer than mine," she replied.

"There's still some blue in them, they're not quite Stark," he said.

"Her hair is all Stark though," she smiled.

"Something had to be," he grinned back.

"I don't see any Tully though," she commented.

"Not in looks perhaps," he conceded, "perhaps in her temperament"

"We shall have to wait and see," she said, cooing down at Hanna then as the baby grasped hold of one of her fingers.

"I think she knows you already," Robb commented.

"Do you really think so?" Lottie asked him slightly hopefully.

"I told you, she's a clever little thing, I have no doubt," he assured her and she smiled again.

"She definitely knows you," she said as Hanna moved her eyes to Robb's and kicked out even more furiously, her nonsense gurgling growing louder.

He couldn't disagree with her so he said nothing, merely smiling widely at her before bending to kiss his daughter's forehead, his fingers tickling the soles of her feet which were possibly the softest thing he had ever felt in his life. Lottie had her eyes fixed on him when he lifted his head back up and he leant in to kiss her lips softly for a lingering moment.

"Part of me was worried you might be disappointed with a girl," she confessed when he pulled away.

"I promised you I wouldn't be," he returned.

"I know … but I know how men want their heirs, especially King's," she teased.

"She's perfect," he said, "I wouldn't change her for a dozen sons"

"I can tell," Lottie said, seeing the proud, adoring light that shone in his eyes when he looked at Hanna.

"I honestly couldn't be happier Lottie, and it's all thanks to you," he said sincerely.

"Robb …" she blushed slightly.

"Don't argue with me," he said, kissing her again, "I am most thankful to the Gods that I stumbled across you in the woods that day"

"I thank them for it too," she breathed, "I can't imagine my life without you now"

He had to kiss her again then and she was more than happy to kiss him back, the two of them only pulling away when Hanna began to whine. Lottie sat herself up then, loosening her dress before cradling her gently and bringing her to her breast. She quietened at once, latching so easily onto her that Lottie almost believed Robb's words that her daughter knew her already. She was not quite so convinced of it herself, it had been Alma to do all this for most of the first few weeks of her life and she knew that that would have made an impact. All she could do was try and make up for the lost time and give her daughter all the love she had in her heart. She glanced up at Robb then and saw him smiling slightly wonderingly at her as she nursed their baby. He was such a wonderful father already and she just knew Hanna would always adore him – the Gods help any man who ever wanted to wed her. Lottie imagined that Robb would happily keep his little Princess locked up at Winterfell forever and never let any man steal her away. She snorted in amusement at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Robb asked her quietly.

"I'm just thinking of all those poor young men who will try and claim our daughter's heart," she said and he frowned slightly.

"Don't mention her marrying again until she is at least sixteen," he said and Lottie knew that he was only half joking.

"As you wish," she grinned at him and he let his frown drop away.

"I love you so much," he said seriously then and she met his intense gaze, "I love you so much and I'm so glad I have you back."

A/N: Definitely a happier ending than the last chapter! Thoughts?

:)