Dragonstone, 295 AC
An exhausted smile on her face, Aylis watches happily her father walking around the room, holding his two new grandsons in his arms. His eyes meet hers and his lips smile hugely at her, before walking close to her. She had given birth the night before, two big babies shouting loud. Hoster had joined them in Dragonstone to be here for the birth, but he has stayed outside of the room, when Stannis was comforting and encouraging his wife. Now, Lord Tully hands his youngest daughter her newborn, claiming for milk. She hides slightly to breastfeed. Hoster does not look shocked, on the contrary, and he smiles stroking his daughter's hair. She takes his hand and kisses it lengthily:
"Catelyn will be so happy when she will know…"she whispers watching her child suckling.
Hoster nods approving:
"It is good that cousins are so close."
They had heard about Rickon's birth a few days only before the birth of the twins. Another son for Catelyn, named after his grandfather Rickard. Aylis had immediately sent a letter congratulating them.
"Have you chosen their names?" Hoster asks again, while Aylis pats her baby's back softly.
She nods smiling:
"Doryos and Oswyn."
Hoster frowns a bit and she explains:
"Stannis has always said he wanted his children to have their own names. But I always want to celebrate someone I love when I choose the names. I liked Shireen because it started like Stannis's name. Aistan is a mix of our two names. I have chosen Doryos for Ser Davos, and Oswyn for Orys Baratheon."
"I am sure Ser Davos will feel honoured" he smiles.
She nods silently, and stands up to place the babies in their cribs. Hoster leans over them and stares at them:
"How black is their hair already", he admires in a whisper. Aylis cannot help smiling proudly:
"Shireen and Aistan were the same. Do you know how is Rickon?"
Hoster smiles proudly in turn:
"Rickon is a real Tully, as Robb, Bran and Sansa are."
Aylis swallows hard, feeling this is a hidden reproach, as none of her children look like Tullys. Hoster notices the sadness in her look and adds:
"I guess the Baratheon's seed is stronger than the Stark's one…"
He is now too old to quarrel with his children, and does not want to hurt Aylis more than he already did when she was a child. He looks at her, smiling as she looks up at him, her eyes shining with happiness, and the resemblance with her mother strikes him again, hard in the guts, both painful and sweet. Hoster loves his children, with all his heart, and each one of them has a special place in his heart. But Aylis has always been different from her siblings. And when he looks at her face, her eyes, her cheekones, her lips, her nose, he sees Minisa, he sees all of Minisa in her. Feeling tears coming to his eyes, he looks away quickly, and stares at the room they are in.
"Are you happy here, Aylis?" he asks softly, placing his hand on hers.
"I am very happy, Father…"
"This is way different from Riverrun", he notices, not willing to hurt her. The castle is grim and damp, and, even if it is south, it is colder than in Riverrun.
"I hate the castle", Aylis shrugs. "But I am with Stannis, and I could not be happier."
"When do you intend to join King's Landing again?" he asks, looking at her at least.
"Very soon, as soon as I feel up to travel", she nods smiling.
He bends down on her to kiss her brow:
"I am happy that you are happy, daughter."
"You would have not bet a single coin on us, right, Father?" she asks without nastiness, just an observation.
Hoster knows it is useless to lie and he nods slightly:
"This is true. I never thought you would be that happy with him. But he treats you well, and this is the only thing I was asking for when I agreed on this marriage. I like your husband. He is strong and is obviously very much in love with you."
Aylis' cheeks fluster red and she bites her lower lip to not smile hugely. She knows Stannis loves him but it always feel weird when someone else acknowledges it. She reacts the same when she catches some of Cressen or Davos's looks upon them.
"He is the best man I could ever dream of", she ends up saying, softly.
Just as she finishes her sentence, a knock on the door rings out and Stannis walks in. He bows in front of Hoster:
"My Lord…"
Hoster bows back, greeting him as well, and turns to Aylis:
"I should go now. I will see you later"
She nods and he places a kiss on her hair, before stroking the twins's hands gently. He leaves silently, Stannis walking to Aylis and taking her hand in his. Hoster closes the door behind him with a smile, and joins the room he has been granted to. He needs to get back to Riverrun soon, even if he wishes he could have spent more time with his daughter and his grand children. As when Aylis has come to Riverrun to give birth to Aistan, Shireen is following her grandfather everywhere, and he feels ill at ease with the little girl. He tries to hide it the best he can, and feels very bad about it, but he tries to spend more time with Aistan, a strong child as big as his sister, though two years younger than her. He wonders if the newborns will be as impressive as their brother, but he does not doubt it. Shireen has been strong enough to fight greyscale when she was just an infant, and her fragility is only apparent, he knows it. Despite greyscale, she has never been sick. She is small, and puny, but this is because of her illness. If she had been sane, she would have probably been tall and strong, just like her brother. As he gets in his room, she is here, and jumps on her feet to hug him tight, and he cannot help smiling as his arms embrace her.