Elena didn't know how time flied so quickly. Tyrion had gone back to the Rock and the babes were now nearly two years old. They were growing and as they grew they became much more mischievous. They were both slowly pushing themselves to their feet and soon they had learnt how to say one word.
Joanna had been the first to speak and Elena had shrieked in delight when she had said the word. She had been so delighted that she had carried the babe out to the training ground where Jaime was. Jaime had noted his wife approaching and he had feared the worst for a while. He dismissed the men as Elena stood by him, a wide smile on her face. Damion had looked on as Elena ignored him, her eyes only for her husband as they had been since she had first married him.
"She said her first word," Elena declared to her husband and Jaime grinned at the sight of her joy. "She said mummy...didn't you Joanna? Tell daddy what you said."
"Are you sure she spoke or are you hearing things?" Jaime wondered from his wife and she nudged him in the stomach as Jaime laughed and wrapped an arm around his wife's waist.
Elena allowed him to hold her close as he bent down to tickle Joanna's chin and Elena urged her daughter to speak again.
"Tell daddy...mummy...Joanna...say it...come on, sweetling," Elena urged, but all Jaime heard was his daughter's laughter as he continued to tickle her.
Elena nudged him then and Jaime looked down to her with a small smile. The past year and a half had brought him closer to his wife. How could it not? They had been through a lot together by having twins. Jaime had never recalled his father being there for him when he was but a babe. He didn't want to make that mistake with his own children. Elena refused handmaidens and they both took it in turns to wake in the middle of the night when the twins cried.
"I think you are hearing things," Jaime taunted his wife further.
"Be quiet," she reprimanded Jaime and his smile continued to grow. "She did speak. I know that she did."
"I will believe it when I hear it," Jaime said. "Perhaps she might have said daddy."
"I doubt that," Elena teased back, a slim smile on her face.
Jaime hadn't been intimate with Elena since before the pregnancy. They both slept soundly beside each other, but there was a lack of contact. They weren't lovers, but Jaime had hoped that they had managed to become friends with each other. Being Elena's friend was more than enough for Jaime. He had needs. Of course he had needs. He often thought about what she would do if he slipped his hand underneath her nightgown, but then he remembered Cersei. And Elena would no doubt remember Cersei too.
"Will you be dining with us tonight or are you training late?" Elena asked, realising that her daughter wouldn't speak again.
"I should dine with you," Jaime responded. "I shall be finished in time. I was also thinking that we should travel to Casterly Rock for a few weeks if you so wish. I received word from Tyrion and I think that he is lonely."
"Will the King allow it?" Elena asked and she squinted to look up to Jaime and he shrugged.
"The giant oaf will have no option," Jaime muttered.
"Jaime," Elena scolded him. "You cannot speak of the King like that. He is...well...he is the King."
"He is too drunk all of the time. He wouldn't understand a simple sentence," Jaime assured his wife. "You should go back inside and I should get back to training. I shall see you for dinner this evening."
"As you say," Elena said and Jaime pecked her on the cheek before she walked away from him and he watched her go, still urging their daughter to talk.
...
"We have not been alone in months," Cersei whispered to Jaime when she found him alone in the armoury. "You have avoided me as though I am a leper. What am I to think of that, Jaime? What am I to think of all of this?"
"You can think what you will," Jaime promised his sister. "I still love you, Cersei, but I have a family to think about. I have a duty by them...I swore oaths to Elena. It is bad enough I head people mutter Kingslayer still and they say I have no honour to train the Kingsguard."
"What does that matter?" Cersei asked. "I need you, Jaime. Do you know what it is like married to that great oaf?"
Jaime inhaled sharply as Cersei moved to kiss him on the throat, her arms wrapping around his waist. She closed her eyes and Jaime's breathing hitched in his throat. Is this what he had been waiting for? The feeling of his sister again made him weak. He couldn't help it.
"I miss you," Cersei continued. "I miss you so much."
And she supposed that was true. She had tried to make her marriage with Robert work. She had tried to make him happy, but it hadn't worked. He only loved one woman and she was dead. Cersei couldn't compete with a dead woman, but her brother loved her. He loved her and he wanted her. He just didn't want to dishonour his sweet little wife. But Cersei had a way to make him see sense.
She always would do.
"No," Jaime whispered. "We can't, Cersei. I have children...if anyone found out...if anyone saw..."
"You need to stop worrying," she urged him. "No one shall find out."
"And if they did?"
"Then I'd silence them," Cersei said as her hand moved to his breeches. "I need you and I know that you need me."
"That is not the point," Jaime mumbled as Cersei knelt in front of him and he knew that all was lost.
...
The gardens of Casterly Rock had always been one of Elena's favourite places to visit. She found Casterly Rock to be a place full of beauty, but also power. She knew that it had strong defences and she respected that of it. She was also grateful for it. If anything was to ever happen then they would need safety.
"Joanna and Harrold are causing Jaime trouble," Elena informed Tyrion as they wandered along the cliff edge.
Tyrion was growing into a young man and Elena wondered what ran through his mind sometimes. She knew that he thought about getting away from Casterly Rock most of the time. He wanted to travel and he wanted to see the world. Elena admired him for that.
"Are they walking yet?" Tyrion wondered.
The two of them continued to wander the cliff edge and Elena remembered when she had almost been killed that day. Tyrion had saved her life. He had genuinely been the one to save her and she was still grateful to him for what he had done. She doubted he would ever know how grateful she was.
"Trying to," Elena said. "Jaime is jealous that they said mummy before daddy. No doubt he wants them to start walking so he can have some credit."
"Did Jaime tell you about Cersei?" Tyrion suddenly wondered as they settled down to sit on a boulder and Elena pulled her legs to her chin and shook her head.
"What about her?"
"She wrote to father last week to tell him that she is expecting a babe," Tyrion said and Elena's orbs widened as she heard that piece of news. "She already has names chosen. She wants to call it Joffrey if it is a boy and Myrcella for a girl."
Nodding, Elena wondered why Jaime had said nothing to her. Did he know? Had his father told him? Surely Tywin must have said something for Tyrion to know. Was Jaime jealous? Elena didn't know, and she didn't care. Perhaps Cersei having children would be an escape for both of them. Elena could only hope so.
"I am sure she shall have many children to make her happy," Elena replied to Tyrion. "Perhaps I may have another one day."
"Do you want another?" Tyrion asked her.
"I'm content with twins for now...it depends on what Jaime wants too."
"Jaime has changed," Tyrion suddenly said to Elena, picking at the grass by his feet and pulling it out in tufts. "He's not...I don't know...he just seems different."
"I think having children changes you," Elena admitted to Tyrion. "Jaime is still as cocky and arrogant as he was before. I only hope that doesn't rub off on the children."
Tyrion noted Elena's smile on her face before he closed his eyes and wondered if he could persuade his brother to stay for a while longer. Perhaps Jaime might not go back to King's Landing and they could remain at Casterly Rock. Tyrion didn't know, but it was worth asking.
...
"Harrold, don't hit your sister," Elena scolded her son once she returned from her walk with Tyrion to find the twins sat and hitting at each other as Jaime tidied away their discarded toys. "We don't hit."
"But Joanna...being...nasty..." Harrold finally said and Elena looked down to Joanna with a cocked brow and her daughter shook her head, her brown curls bouncing around her face as she did so.
"I am not," she said defiantly and Jaime looked to Elena as the twins glowered at each other.
"Go and play with your toys. Mummy needs to speak with daddy," Elena explained and the twins looked annoyed, but Jaime winked at them and they went out of their bedchamber and into the solar.
Jaime held the door open for them as Elena's handmaiden took them into the solar to play with their toys. Jaime closed the door and looked to Elena as she sat on the bed and pulled her slippers from her feet to rub her heels after the long walk.
"What is wrong?" Jaime wondered.
"Why didn't you tell me that Cersei was pregnant?" Elena wondered and Jaime allowed his mouth to drop slightly.
How could he tell her? He didn't know what to say on the matter. He could scarcely admit that there was a chance the babe was his. He didn't want to admit that and he couldn't admit that. It scared him more than it scared Cersei. He had written to her and asked, but she had given him an indefinite response.
"I was going to mention it tonight. She is still in the early stages of pregnancy," Jaime informed her. "No doubt the King will be happy."
"No doubt," Elena muttered and Jaime sighed before dropping his hands to his hips.
"Why don't you just ask me?" he snapped at her and she looked back to him with a cocked brow. "Why don't you just ask me if I did it? That is what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Elena gulped and shook her head. She wasn't thinking that. She hadn't thought that in weeks on end if she had to be honest with Jaime. And she was going to be honest with Jaime.
"I had no intention of asking you," Elena said. "I know what you have done...and I know what you said to me just after the twins were born...you told me that you were going to try and have self restraint. I doubted you at first, but recently...I trust you, Jaime. I trust you not to make any decisions which hurt us and the children. You may not love me, but you love them. Anyone can see that."
She shrugged at the end and Jaime didn't know how to feel. He felt disgusted with himself mainly. Elena had put her faith in him and he had thrown it back in her face. He had dishonoured her and gone against her. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve him. She could do so much better.
It was only then when Jaime moved towards her. He bent down to where she sat on the bed and tucked her hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes and he heard her take a sharp breath. He hadn't touched her in months. There had been nothing intimate. But all Jaime could think of right now was how she had put all of her faith into him and he had destroyed it. He loved Cersei, but Elena deserved much more.
He moved slowly and pressed his lips onto hers. She remained shocked for a few moments before she began to kiss him back. Jaime reached for the laces of her dress and tugged at them with haste as Elena closed her eyes and moved positions so that she was straddling him on the bed, her hands reaching to his breeches as she tried to forget what had happened in their past. She had to forget. Remembering brought her nothing but misery.
Jaime wasn't the only man who had needs. Elena had been lonely. Yes, she had the children, but she still wanted something intimate. And Jaime was her husband. He was her husband and she was slowly growing to trust him.
It was only when she slid him inside of her did she pant for breath and Jaime did the same. He slowly sat up and Elena groaned as their naked chests brushed against each other and Jaime moved to kiss her again once he had searched her innocent eyes. She had believed him and he had lied to her. How could he ever earn her forgiveness if she found out?
...
A/N: Another chapter in one day! Hope you enjoyed it!