Dragonstone, 295 AC

The soft sound of the waves licking the cliff has put her to sleep earlier this night, but the cold wind on his back wakes him up suddenly. Stannis opens his eyes, and watches his wife by his side, fast asleep, before carefully leaving the bed and going to close the window. He pours a cup of water and drinks it silently, staring at the body of Aylis lying by the empty spot where he was a few seconds ago. He turns to the sea, watches it, a hand leaning on the stones of the wall. He has an awful nightmare and does not wish to go back to bed right now.

Aylis moves in her sleep and lays her arm on Stannis, waking up when she realizes he is not by her side anymore. The sheets under his spot are already cold and she sits up, curious and tired. She looks around and sees him in front of the window, staring at the sea. She cannot help smile. How handsome he is, standing there, the moon creating a beautiful hollow around him, his broad shoulders cutting the frame of the window, his muscles visible though his skin. A deliciously painful knot makes her swallows hard and she stands up, walks to him and kisses his shoulder. He turns his face to her:

"Did I wake you up?"

She shakes her head and leans against him tired:

"Why are you not asleep?" she mumbles.

"I had a bad dream…" he whispers, his arm wrapping around her. He places the cup by the bed and his free hand runs on her belly.

"How are they?" he asks with a smile.

They had been cold to each other after the tourney but, well, their bodies had needs and Aylis has been pregnant. She has been very happy of course, and the pregnancy helped them getting close again. When Maester Cressen had told them she was expecting twins, she has thought she was going to faint. She hasn't known if she could deal with two newborns, but, well, what choice had she? Today, she is in her last month, and feels as heavy as if she was a cow. She lays her hand on his:

"They are great", she whispers smiling. "What was your dream about?" she asks shyly.

"My parents…" he answers. "I saw them drown again… I was swimming to them, and they were holding their hands at me, but I could never reach them… I was trying, again and again but…"

He does not finish his sentence, and Aylis wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly.

"It was just a dream, my love… Just a dream…"

He does not hug back and blankly says, and Aylis does not really know if he is talking to her or to himself.

"I often wonder what they would have thought of you… If they have liked you, if they have liked the children… Would I be different if they had not die, would Robert be, would Renly be?..."

It hurts her so much to see him like that, so lost and confused, and she strokes his hair:

"You are perfect the way you are, Stannis… You are a good man, a good husband, a good father… We all love you so much, you cannot imagine. Me, Shireen, Aistan, Cressen… the two babies fidgeting in my belly. We love you more than anyone else in the world."

For a second, he stares at the sea, and she is not even sure he has heard her. But, he ends up turning to her and takes her lips in a passionate kiss. Aylis kisses back happily, and smiles when he leans his brow in the crook of her neck. She leads him to bed, and he lies against her, smelling her neck, his hands lying on her belly and stroking the two little babies rolling over under his hand. Still, he cannot find comfort, and the smile which curls his lips is a sad one. Sad for all these years lost, all these conflicts with his brothers, all these years spent fighting or starving in Storm's End. He would like to trust the future, to be confident that his life will be happy with Aylis and the children, but he feels a terrible anguish on the contrary. Robert is not immortal, and certainly not with the lifestyle he has. And Joffrey… He swallows hard thinking about him. Joffrey cannot rule. Joffrey must not rule. His thought wander to Lord Arryn, and he remembers the days spent in the capital, looking for Robert's bastards, and the accusation he has made when he first saw Joffrey, an accusation which now turns to be more and more plausible. And he perfectly knows what it means if Joffrey is declared illegitimate. He will have to find Robert a new wife, so he could at least have children of his own. The next years do not promise to be calm. He hears himself sighing wearily and he notices Aylis's eyes staring at him. He reddens with shame, and pecks her lips quickly. He wishes her a good night and slowly drifts off to sleep. Aylis strokes his hair gently, trying to comfort him, thinking that her touch could give him happy and sweet dreams, and not terrible nightmares that keep him awake at nights. She feels her babies moving and kicking and she groans slightly, wishing she could sleep but it is gonna be difficult with those two. Cressen has said they probably were boys, and she has the feeling he is right. They are as active as Aistan and, as much as it was hard to stand it with one baby, two little balls bouncing in her uterus are almost unbearable. She strokes her belly, trying to calm them down, and they do, after a while. Tomorrow, they will have to visit the small folks of Dragonstone and she needs to be fully rested to be able to follow her husband's rhythm.