Author's Note
I do not own Game of Thrones.
When Jon was nine, Lady Catelyn fell pregnant again.
There were many whispers from the staff, and even between Father and Lady Catelyn themselves, when they thought none of the children could hear. They feared for her health with another babe. Something about Bran's birth not being easy.
"Do you think Lady Catelyn will be alright?" he asked his siblings as they gathered in his chambers.
Sara shrugged. "Does it matter? What would change?"
Sara hadn't forgiven Lady Catelyn.
Sara never forgave anyone. Cept Jon, cos she was his sister, and that was what sisters did.
Jon sighed. "I know she's not always been kind to me, but I don't want her to be hurt. Last year one of the mares died giving birth to her foal."
Father made Lady Catelyn rest much more than when she'd been pregnant with Arya or Bran. She spent lots of time in her ladies chambers and the sept. That was nice, because Jon could go most places in Winterfell without her grumbling about it being inappropriate.
Robb, Sansa, and sometimes Arya argued over whether the new sibling would be a boy or a girl. Robb wanted another brother to join their conquests. Sansa wanted a girl so she'd have a 'proper sister, not a boy one like Arya.' Arya flipped between whether she wanted a boy or a girl based on the phases of the moon, but seemed to prefer the idea of a girl.
Then there was the naming.
The first name Lady Catelyn suggested was Cregan.
"But you can't call him Cregan!" Jon protested when she announced her desire at evening meal one night. "Cregan's already Cregan!"
"I can be someone else if you need me to," Cregan said.
"No!"
"Jon does not have other siblings, and I'm sick and tired of pretending he does." Lady Catelyn glared at Sara and Cregan. "And it's a good, traditional name to use, is it not?"
"It's Cregan's name!"
Father raised his hands. "Jon's right. We won't be calling the babe Cregan."
"Ned–"
"I'll hear no more of it."
Lady Catelyn wouldn't eat with him after that. He had to go to the lower table or she'd eat in her chambers.
When the babe was born, he was named Rickon, in honour of Father's late father.