Hello again, people!
This chapter turned out different than how it was planned to be. The ending was supposed to be different, but I have decided to move that scene to the next chapter, where it fits better. Here there will be a bit of description of what happened between chapter 17 and 18, I hope you like it! I want you to take a look at the family's normal life before I decide to mess some things up ;)
I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave some reviews. I would like to know what you think of what it happening. Please take in consideration character development and that time has passed when you judge the grown version of Arya, who is now less of a to boy in her daily life, but she can still kick ass when she wants to!
please forgive some grammar and spelling mistakes. Second language + autocorrect does not help, I don't know if I missed any typos. My phone kept charging maester for maestro!
Enjoy! And please... *puppy face* review? :D
Arya´s efforts to try to hide were useless, because in the end her husband ended up finding her when he went to fetch her to take her to the maester. She glared at him, wishing that she could shoot daggers through her eyes, but Gendry wasn't going to be intimidated by the deathly threat in his wife's eyes. Arya wanted to hate him when she saw that pleading look in his eyes, but she knew by now that no matter what, it was impossible for her to hate Gendry.
"Please?" he begged, raising his eyebrows. "Remember, I will be your slave if you are only sick"
She sighed defeated. Lately Gendry was managing to get the better of her, convincing her to do whatever he wanted. He always knew how to ask. Arya had to put an end to that, or he would be the end of her!
She had been holding Robb in her arms the whole time, but she passed him to Gendry because the toddler was starting to feel very heavy. Arya had very strong arms, and she usually had no trouble carrying or holding anything that was heavy, but that day she felt tired. She supposed that it was because she was, in fact, sick.
She just wanted to go to her bedchambers, lay down on her bed and sleep all through the day and night; she felt more fatigued than in the morning, when she had felt fine, but now she just wanted to rest and she definitely did not want to go see the stupid old maester. However, she had promised Gendry.
She walked beside her husband through the hallways of the castle, trying not to complain as they approached the maester's chambers. When they arrived the door was closed, so Gendry held Robb with one arm and knocked with his free hand.
A few seconds later, the door opened and they were greeted by maester Lambin, a wise old man that was mostly bald, with the exception of a few white hairs left on his head, a wrinkled face, friendly smile, and gentle hazel eyes.
"Lord Gendry! Lady Arya!" he greeted them, happy to see his lord and lady at his door. "What brings you here today? Is little Robb ill?"
"No, but…" Arya started explaining everything. That her belly had been sick during that morning's ride, and that she thought she had food poisoning while her stubborn husband insisted that she was pregnant.
Mester Lambin listened with interest to everything that Arya said, and a serious expression appeared in his face. After she finished explaining everything, a smile apperared again on his face.
"Well, my lady, come inside. I will tell you in no time whether you or your lord husband are right."
They followed the old maester inside his chambers and he made Arya lay down. Gendry entertained their son Robb in a corner while he waited for the maester to finish examining Arya. Maester Lambin asked her some questions, to which she replied with the truth. Then he proceeded to do some small examinations to be sure whether his veredict was right or not, though by the expression on the old man's face, Arya could tell that he was already pretty convinced of the answer. Finally, maester Lambin nodded to himself, and he smiled to Arya. She wasn't sure what that smile meant, but before she could ask, the man had already turned around to look at Gendry.
"Lord Gendry, I already know what is the source of your wife's discomfort."
Gendry picked up Robb again in his arms and approached the bed where Arya was laying. Both of them were anxious, wanting to know what the maester had to say. Maester Lambin stared at both of them for a couple of seconds before he smiled at Gendry. Then he stared at Arya and said:
"Lady Arya, your husband is right. You are with child."
"What?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth. She was too stunned to pronounce any other word.
She could see from the corner of her eyes how her husband's face was suddenly lit up with the most overwhelming happiness. Arya wanted to get up from the bed and punch him as hard as she could and tell him that he was an idiot (which she used to do many times, so it wouldn't be a surprise) but when she turned her face to the side to stare right at him and she saw his smile, she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him. His happiness was almost contagious.
Her kept her eyes on her husband, piercing her with her gray glare and trying to stay as severe as she could even though the expression on Gendry's face made it almost impossible not to want to smile as well. She couldn't deny that deep down she felt happy as well, but she could not express that joy that she felt underneath layers and layers of dark worry. And besides, she did not want to smile because she did not want to give Gendry that satisfaction. She knew she would make his day if he managed to make her express any kind of joy over the news they had just received.
Gendry kept smiling, showing all of his teeth with pure glee, and then he lowered his gaze and his eyes met Arya's. He could instantly see that his wife was somewhat upset, given her annoyed expression. He didn't think much into it, as he believed that it was just another one of his wife's upset tantrums over losing a wager with him.
He handed Robb over to maester Lambin, and then kneeled beside the bed at the same time that Arya sat up on it, never taking his eyes off her. Arya felt that deep blue stare boring into her soul, and her expression immediately softened and she relaxed after a long sigh. Gendry's smile changed from a smile of satisfaction and victory to a sweet, caring and gentle smile. He reached out with his right hand and caressed Arya's cheek with his strong fingers, making her close her eyes for a second and shiver.
"Thank you," Gendry whispered.
"Why?"
"For making me so happy," he said with a smile still illuminating his handsome face. It wasn't the first time that he said those words to Arya; in fact, he said them rather frequently. In moments like those, Arya often wondered what in seven hells had that man done to her, with what kind of spell or ancient dark magic had he cursed her, to make her feel so soft and unable to be mad at him. It angered her, she wanted to smack him, but she couldn't. Only with her Gendry was she ever a tame wolf. "I know I annoy and bother you sometimes, but-"
Arya raised her eyebrows, skeptic and sarcastic.
"Only sometimes?"
Gendry laughed quietly, and he stroked her cheek softly. The touch of his calloused fingers against her smooth skin was very soothing.
"Almost all the time," he corrected himself. That finally managed to pull a smile into Arya's face, even though it was only a very small one, but it was something.
"You do," she nodded, agreeing with him. "Because you are, and will always be, a stupid bull-headed boy."
Gendry chuckled, amused with the formerly insulting phrase that Arya had been calling him since he was just a boy and she was just a girl, not so long ago but still it felt like an eternity had passed since then. They were not the same people anymore.
He lowered his gaze and looked at her hand, which rested on the mattress. He took it between his hands and kissed it before looking back up at her. His smile had disappeared now from his face, and his overall expression was more serious than before.
"Tell me the truth, Arya. You don't want this baby?"
She felt a heavy something forming inside her chest.
"I do want this baby," she whispered, and her free hand moved to her belly. She used to touch her belly a lot when she was pregnant with Robb, and not it felt strange to her to be with child again.
"Then? Why didn't you want to know if you were with child?" Gendry asked, worried. "Why are you not smiling as much as I thought you would be?"
"Because..." she tried to find out a believable excuse. "You know how bad I am with sharing my feelings."
That was as good a lie as she could muster at that moment, and it wasn't a complete lie at that moment. It wasn't a lie about her, it was just not the truth of the moment.
She wasn't smiling after finding out she was with child again because, truth be told, she was terrified. She was trembling inside, but she didn't want Gendry to know about that. Then she would have to explain and everything would just be much worse, and Arya did not want that. Lying was much better for the time being.
She used to be incredibly straightforward with everything that went through her head, and that often got her in troubled. She had been a wild and fierce child, and she was still a wild and fierce woman. She just didn't feel like arguing at the moment.
Gendry hesitated, but then he seemed to believe her lie well enough. His smile returned to his face, and he leaned in closer to Arya to press his lips against hers and give her a brief and sweet kiss.
"I love you," he said then, and Arya managed to genuinely smile a little.
"And I you."
Gendry kissed Arya one more time, and then he turned his head to the side when he heard how Robb started kicking and complaining in the maester's arms, wanting to be free of them and run around. Gendry chuckled for the second time that day, and he stood on his feet again before approaching the maester and taking Robb from his arms. The little boy was still far too young to understand anything of what was happening, but still, Gendry wanted to share with his son his enthusiasm.
"Mama is gonna have a baby, Robb! You are going to be a big brother!" he smiled, holding the boy in his strong arms. It was a very tender and heart-warming image.
Robb looked at his father with his Stark-grey eyes with a blank expression. Then he got bored and started kicking again. He wanted to go to play, and Arya knew that her stubborn son would start crying soon of he dying get what he wanted. She loved her child, but whenever he cried she wanted to be as far as possible; he sounded like a cat ensuring torture or having someone stepping on his tail. It was an awful, awful sound, though not as bad as when he was born.
"Be still!" Gendry exclaimed, frowning. He was admired by how much of Arya Robb had in him when it became to impatience. Despite how annoying Robb was at that moment, Gendry couldn't stop smiling for anything in the world.
"Gendry, could you take Robb outside and maybe go and play with him?" Arya asked, seizing that opportunity to have a private conversation with the maester Landim alone. "I have some... questions. For the pregnancy. I'm still not very... experienced," she sighed, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
Gendry nodded, understanding her request. He smiled encouragingly to her, and then he took Robb's hand and made him wave good bye. Gendry was such a good father, a much better one than either he or Arya had ever though that he would be, and he always proved it in moments like those, with little details that made the people around him smile. Robb giggled and started waving to his mother on his own, and then Gendry walked out of the room with him.
As soon as Gendry closed the door again, the small smile in Arya's face disappeared completely, leaving her expression worried and sorrowful and nervous and a complete mess. He took a deep breath, feeling distressed, but she tried to keep herself calm. She knew it did her no good to be upset in her current condition.
She saw maester Lambin's face from the corner of her eye, though her eye was teary and burned and thus the image of the old man was blurry. She could see that he was now serious, much more serious than before. There was a deep compassion in his wise old eyes.
"He doesn't know yet," maester Lambin said. It wasn't a question.
Arya shook her head.
"No... He doesn't. And it's better that it stays that way."
"But if he knew, then maybe-"
"If he knew, he would make me drink moontea immediately," Arya retorted severely. She got up from the bed and walked towards the window. She stared out of it into the sea, which was nice and calm that day, unlike how it usually was. It was definitely much calmer than how she felt inside. "I know Gendry. If I told him, he would become even more worried than I am, and... I don't know."
Again, her hands covered her belly, and she lowered her head to look at it. She was with child again... that moment that she had dreaded during two years and that, now that it had happened, she feared even more... But she couldn't help but feel happy deep inside of her. Maybe Gendry's joy was contagious after all. His happiness wasn't tainted by any kind of fear or worry.
"Lady Arya, you can speak with the truth to me," maester Lambin said. "Do you not want this child?"
She felt a sharp pain in her chest upon hearing those words, and a great anxiety. She wanted to scream in frustration, but at the same time she felt like there was an invisible gag in her mouth, preventing her from making any noise.
"I do want this child, that is the problem," she muttered, defeated. "If I didn't want it, I would have you give me a cup of moontea right this instant. But that's not what I want! When I was a child I never wanted a husband, I never wanted children, all of Westeros knows it. But now I have Gendry, and Robb, and... this child. I have a family. A pack."
She turned away from the window and looked into the warm and wise eyes of the old maester. Lambin was looking at her with understanding, not like other people who thought that she was crazy whenever she mentioned her "pack". Lambin knew and understood Arya, he was the best maester that she had ever known, next to maester Ludwin. He knew exactly what was going through Arya's head, and knew of the fear that consumed her.
"You are afraid," he said out loud, expressing his thoughts, and Arya nodded.
"I am. Very. You know why."
"I do, my lady. Remember that I was there for the birth of Robb."
"You saved my life," she suddenly said.
Gendry had been away from Storm's End when Robb was born. The Queen had summoned all the High Lords to accompany her on a diplomatic affair to Essos, and Lord Baratheon was of course one of them. Arya had wanted to go too, but her pregnancy was very advanced and Gendry didn't want her to get out of the castle for her own safety and their unborn babe's. For once, Arya had agreed with him without dispute, and so she had stayed in Storm's End, waiting for the birth of the child and the return of her husband.
When the day of Robb's birth finally arrived, things did not exactly go as planned. Maester Lambin had said himself that it had been one of the hardest childbirth's that he had ever attended to, and that they never ended well. It lasted for two days and two nights. Arya had never experienced such agonizing physical pain in her life, she felt like she was ripping apart. Her screams could be heard everywhere in Storm's End, and even though she was one of the strongest people that the household of that castle had ever met, no one believed that she would survive it. After Robb was born, maester Lambin and Arya's maids stayed at her side for three days and three nights, trying to cool her fever down and keep the Stranger away from her.
Arya didn't remember much from those days, only certain blurry images and distant voices. And then there was nothing. The maids and maester Lambin had stepped away from her bedchambers for a few minutes to attend to the newborn Robb and fetch some water and clothes, and they had been alerted by another maid that had gone to take a look at Arya that she had her eyes closed and was still as a rock. When thee maester and the maids ran back to the bedchambers they had found one of the sellswords at the service of the Baratheons coming out of Arya's chambers, saying that she was breathing and conscious, but a bit confused.
That following night her fever cooled down, and a bit of color returned to her face, making her stop looking like a corpse. She had even had the strength to take a short bath and eat a small meal to get her strength back. She had slept long hours, and when she woke up her fever was completely gone, and she was finally able to hold her baby in her arms. All the pain and the fear of dying had been worth it after she had her strong and healthy babe in her arms.
Maester Lambin kept saying that it was a miracle that Arya was alive, and that she had been in the Stranger's arms right before going back to health. Gendry never heard a word nor did he know anything about what had happened to his wife while he was gone. Arya had forbidden everyone to send any ravens to him, and she had also forbidden everyone to tell him anything while she was back. She wanted to tell him herself, but she never did. She had figured that it was pointless, because it had already happened and it had little importance after the baby was born and she had survived.
Now, the memories of those terrible days came back to her mind.
"I didn't save your life, lady Arya," the maester said with a small comforting smile. "You did that yourself. I have never seen such a strong woman as yourself, with a will of steel. I am sure that it will take a lot more to take you down."
"Will it happen again?" she asked then, a bit roughly and demanding.
That was what she really wanted to know, if she was going to be at risk again. If she was going to die giving birth to her second son, like she had almost done with her first one. It terrified her to think of the possibility that it would all be too much for her body to resist. She believed that maybe she could not make it this time.
But I have to be brave, like my mother was, like my sister was...
Maester Lambin seemed to read her thoughts.
"As I understand, your lady mother gave birth to five strong and healthy babes. A King, two High Lords, and two ladies that helped the Dragon Queen take back the Seven Kingdoms on top of enormous flying and fire-breathing dragons... Believe me when I tell you, Lady Arya, that in my honest opinion I think that the daughter of that woman should have no problem birthing with the same ease."
"And Robb?" she retorted, not trusting the maester's words. How could he say that she had the same ease that her mother had, when two years ago she had proved exactly the opposite?
"Complications can appear from time to time. You were younger and smaller."
"My sister was younger than me when she gave birth, and she had no problems."
"Yes, but Lady Sansa had the height and body of a fully-grown woman. That came a bit later for you, but now look at you, my lady... A full woman, healthy and strong and beautiful. Believe this old man, lady Arya... I would not dare lie to you, I swear."
Arya believed him. Maester Lambin was a man that always spoke to the truth, no matter how hard or painful if could be, and he was now telling her that she shan't worry too much. She wanted to believe him and be calm, she wanted those horrible fears and worries gone...
It was all so much easier before, when I was a stubborn girl that wished for a different kind of life, she thought, though she immediately regretted. When she was a young child she dreamt of the independent life of a soldier, and of the glory of battle and the adventure of war. Well, she had been alone and independent, and she chad more than often craved for her family. She had tasted the glory of battle, there was none, there was only death and blood. She had lived the adventures of war, it was filled with horrors, pain and sorrow.
She had the life that she really wanted now, and she had to understand that sometimes there were prices to pay. She hoped that it wouldn't bee too big this time.
"I believe you," she finally decided. "In these past years, not even once have you ever been wrong."
"My lady, I only want what is best for you," the old and kind man said. The corners of his warm hazel eyes were all wrinkled up because of his big smile. "Now I recommend you to rest. Rest very much, it will do you and the babe much good. The last time you were restless, going from one place to the other like a wild horse. Not this time!"
She gaped, indignant. Rest?! She did not want to rest, she would get bored! What was she supposed to do then, lie down the whole day doing nothing?!
"But-!"
"No 'buts', my lady!" maester Lambin exclaimed, raising a finger I front of him to silence Arya. "I repeat, rest. I do not want you in the training yard sparring with the knights or the sellswords or your husband. And do n"
"And what am I supposed to do then?! I can't lie down the whole day during nine moons!" Arya protested, feeling a little bit angry. She had refused to stop doing her normal life the last time she was pregnant (and maybe that was part of the problem after all) because she couldn't stand the idea of doing nothing during such a long time!
"Read a book," the maester suggested, slightly amused with Arya's annoyance. "You can go on walks, the fresh air will do you good... But not in excess!"
"Alright, maester Lambin..." She sighted, not really feeling in the mood to argue over her restrictions for the next several months. She knew that the maester was probably right, but she did not like that. The sole thought of lying around doing nothing bored her even before starting to so it.
This is all Gendry's fault, a voice muttered in the back of her head. Yes, it was all Gendry's fault, definitely. She would have to come up with a good vengeance... Maybe she would put a couple of beetles inside his shirt when he slept. That was bound to wake him up in not a very good way...
She smiled a little devilishly, satisfied with her plans for revenge on Gendry. Mage wouldn't be in that situation if it wasn't for his...! For his...! For his twice-damned fabulous love making!
She walked towards the door of them maester's chambers, wanting to walk out of the place and go search for her family.
"Remember what I have told you, lady Arya!" Maester Lambin told her before she crossed the dorrstep to the hallway.
"I will, maester Lambin. Thank you for everything."
She walked alone through the empty hallways and went straight to the bedchambers that she shared with Gendry, the biggest ones in the entire castle of Storm's End. When she arrived she found the door open, and Gendry seated on the floor, playing with Robb, who couldn't stop giggling. Arya wished that she had some kind of way to capture that image forever, because she knew that few people would believe her if she told them how mighty lord Baratheon acted around their young child.
She leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest, looking at her husband with one eyebrow raised and one corner of her mouth slightly curled up as well. It wasn't long before Gendry noticed her. He looked up and found her standing there in that position, and the smile slowly faded from his mouth, but not from his eyes.
He seemed to read her mind.
"Am I in trouble?"
She nodded. Gendry grinned.
"In how much?" he wanted to know, starting to act a bit cocky.
"In a lot!"