Chapter 14

Jon Snow Stark POV

We're about to head to the new apartment to sign the paperwork and then we're heading to Robb's place. I stayed at Dany's place last night so we could head there as soon as possible, plus it comforts me to sleep next to her.

We're drinking some coffee before heading out, and it's moments like this where it feels like we are already married and living together. "Did you sleep okay?" I ask her as we're sitting at the dining table drinking coffee.

"I did," she says. "How about you?"

"I slept great," I say, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go get ready."

I put my mug in the sink and go get dressed. I hear Dany clean up in the sink and start to get ready as well. We get ready in peaceful silence and then get into my car and head out, it feels very natural and routine.

"Are you excited?" I ask her.

"I am," she says. "I know I didn't seem very excited about the studio apartment, but I know it'll be good for us and I am excited."

"I'm sorry for doubting you," I say. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

We get to the apartment complex and meet with the woman from the leasing office. The whole appointment is kind of uneventful, we just sign paperwork and I put the security deposit charge on my card.

"The apartment is officially yours," the manager from the leasing office says as she's gathering our paperwork. "You'll get the keys on move in day, I'll make sure to get two copies made for you."

"Thank you so much for all your help," Dany says as we walk out. "We really appreciate it."

"Of course," the manager says. "We're really happy to have you guys living here."

We walk out to my car and get in. "Don't forget to Venmo me for your half of the security deposit," I say as I'm buckling my seatbelt. "Whenever you get the chance." We agreed on that plan already, we just thought it would be easier to pay fully on one of our cards.

"I'll do that right now." She takes out her phone and I hear my phone ding when she's sent the money.

We get some slushies and then drive to Robb's place. When we walk in, Talisa is holding the baby and Robb is on his computer. She smiles when she sees us. "Ed, look!" She says to the baby. "It's your uncle Jon and aunt Dany!"

Dany and I smile and walk over to Talisa. "Hi baby Ned," I say, sitting next to her. "He's getting so big!"

"We're actually calling him Ed now," she says. "It makes it easier to differentiate between him and your dad."

"We also call him Eddy, or Neddy," Robb says. "Just never Ned anymore."

"Just because it's confusing?" Dany asks.

"Yeah," Robb says. "And because we want him to have some individuality."

"That's fair," I say. I look at him, he seems intrigued by me and I'm not sure if he remembers me. "Hi Eddy."

"Thanks so much for agreeing to watch him," Talisa says. "Robb and I haven't had a chance to go on a real date since he was born."

"We've just been so busy with work, school and travelling," Robb says. "I'm taking summer classes so I can try to finish my degree quicker."

"Are you still going to finish nursing school?" Dany asks Talisa.

"I'm going back in the fall," Talisa says. "I'm really excited and I feel ready, the campus gave me some resources for a day care that they help fund for moms like me."

"That's really nice, I'm glad to hear that," I say. "I know finishing nursing school was important to you."

"Definitely," Talisa says. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to."

"How are things with the apartment?" Robb asks, shutting his laptop. "Did you get everything squared away?"

"Yeah," Dany says. "We paid our security deposit, the apartment is ours and will be ready next month."

"Awesome," Talisa says, handing Jon the baby. "Are you ready to go, love?"

"Yeah," Robb says. "He has some bottled breastmilk in the fridge, he should only need to eat once before bed. There are diapers in the laundry closet, and you should try to put him down by 8 tonight."

"Okay," I say. "Sounds good. I'm sure he's a great baby."

"Call us if you need anything," Talisa says. She gives baby Eddy a kiss. "By Eddy, mommy loves you." She starts tearing up.

"It'll be okay," Robb says. "Let's go."

"I know," Talisa says, giving the baby one more kiss. "Bye."

I keep holding the baby, he seems to like his uncle. I hope this goes well, I am a little nervous even though I've babysat a baby this young. It's just been a long time since any of my siblings were this little. He is a really cute baby, he looks exactly like Robb.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

Robb and Talisa left, and Jon is holding the baby and making faces at him. It's adorable, I know he'll be a good dad one day.

"You look so cute," I say. "Can I take a picture of you two?"

"Of course," he says. "Just don't post it anywhere, I don't know if they'd be okay with that."

I take a picture of him and the baby, the baby looks a lot like Robb but not much like Jon. I thought they would look more similar since Jon is biologically Robb's half brother and they have the same father.

A little while later, the baby starts fussing. "Oh," Jon says when he hears it. "I think he's a little hungry. Dany, can you get the milk from the fridge? I think it's in little bottles."

I get the bottle from the fridge and hand it to Jon. Eddy has a hard time at first, but he eventually starts drinking it. Once he finishes the bottle, Jon is able to burp him.

"Oh, he's a very good burper," Jon says. "He must get that from his dad." We both laugh at that.

Immediately after Jon is done burping him, the baby starts crying again. "What's wrong, baby?" I ask like he's going to answer.

"Come sit with me," Jon says. "Maybe he needs a female presence."

I chuckle and sit next to Jon on the couch, he hands me the baby and I take him. That doesn't immediately help, the baby keeps crying.

"Shhhh…" I try to soothe him, but I'm not really sure how. "It's okay baby, your mommy and daddy will be back soon."

"He can't understand you, you know," Jon says. "Not sure what you're trying to achieve."

"No shit," I say. "He might know what mommy and daddy means, though."

"But he doesn't know the rest of it," he says. "You say mommy and daddy, that might just remind him that he misses them."

"I think you're reaching just a little."

An hour goes by, and the baby hasn't stopped crying. I'm kinda getting stressed out, they didn't mention he cried this much. I know babies cry, but I didn't think he'd do it this much or be this loud.

"Can I take him?" I ask Jon.

"Why?" He asks. "I'm doing just fine over here with him."

"Are you?" I ask. "Because you've had him for the last 45 minutes and he hasn't stopped crying."

"Fine," he snaps at me. "Take him."

I barely can register that he's handing me the baby before I take him. "Why are you so mad?" I ask. "Did I do something?"

"No," he says, rubbing his face. "I'm just stressed because I don't know what to do or how to make him stop."

"Well I don't either," I say. "I know even less what I'm doing than you do."

"I need a break," he says. "I'm going to go sit outside for two minutes."

He walks outside, but the baby keeps crying. I know this is hard, but I feel like he should be keeping it together more since he's taken care of babies more than I have. I have pretty much no idea what I'm doing and I'm being a lot calmer than he is.

Once it hits 8:30, the baby starts to fall asleep. He's been crying the entire time since he ate. We ended up moving to the nursery and rocking him, but it didn't seem to help all that much. We changed his diaper, so that wasn't the core issue.

"He's finally sleeping," I whisper to Jon, still holding him. "It's past the time they said, I feel bad."

"It's okay," Jon says. He seems really worn out, but a little calmer. "It's not like we could do much about it."

Once I feel confident he's asleep, I set him in his crib. I exhale, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. We try to leave the room and he starts to fuss again, so we just lay on the floor next to him.

"Are you okay?" Jon whispers. "I'm sorry I snapped."

"Thank you," I say. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't expect that to be as hard as it was."

"Should we tell Robb and Talisa?"

"No," I say. "The baby is fed, dry and asleep. That's what's important. I don't want them to worry too much next time they want to go out."

"Good idea," Jon says. "Maybe we should go back to using condoms, we definitely aren't ready for this."

I laugh at that. "I agree," I say. "You're right, that was really hard."

We end up falling asleep on the nursery floor, and Robb and Talisa don't wake us up until the middle of the night when the baby starts crying again. They don't ask us why we fell asleep there. This was much harder than I expected, and we definitely need to wait at least five years before we try and do that with our own baby.

Jaime Lannister POV

I'm hanging out at home at about 10 a.m. when my phone buzzes. It's a text from Brienne.

Ding. *I'm about to head to the smoothie place, do you want to meet me there?*

*Sure, be there soon.*

I walk into the living room and Cersei is on her computer. Shit, I was hoping she'd be in her room. We usually sleep in the same bed when we can, but we didn't last night because she fell asleep in her bed after drinking. I didn't feel like talking care of her, so I'm probably in trouble for that.

"Where are you going?" Cersei asks me.

"I'm just going to go meet Theon and Ramsay," I say. "I'll be back soon."

"Can I have a kiss?"

I pause and then walk over to her, kissing her cheek. "Bye."

I feel bad lying to her, but I really don't want to get into an argument. I love Cersei, but I hate that I can't be honest with her about wanting to hang out with another girl. She's dated and hooked up with other guys, it's really not fair.

I get to the smoothie place and Brienne is already there, sitting on her phone. I walk up to the table she's sitting at. "Hey," I say. "Have you ordered yet?"

"No," she says, looking up from her phone. "I didn't know if you wanted anything."

"Oh, you don't have to get me anything."

"I want to," she says, standing up. She's as tall as me, and I'm pretty tall. "Let's go order."

We order our smoothies and go sit down again. "How was your workout?" I ask her. I'm not really sure what to say or how to start the conversation.

"It was good," she says. "I showered at the gym so I'd be less sweaty when we met."

I smile, that's nice but I'm not sure why she told me that. "How's your sister?" She asks me.

"She's okay," I lie. I don't know Brienne well, so I don't really want to get into it. "Just relaxing mostly, my brother already went back to his apartment near campus."

"Oh, why?"

"He doesn't really get along with my father," I say. "They have a strained relationship, so he didn't stay long."

"Sorry to hear that," she says. "That must be tough."

They call our number and we walk up and get our smoothies from the counter. We sit back down at the table and start drinking them. I thought it would be weird hanging out with her, but it's actually not. I like talking to her.

"Are you going back to Winterfell to coach in the fall?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she says. "But it'll probably be my last year there?"

"Really, why?"

"I want to finish my sports medicine degree," she says. "I always wanted coaching to be part-time, I think it's time I move on."

"That makes sense," I say. "I know a lot of people liked you, though."

"Yeah, I know one guy had a thing for me. It was so weird, he was aways trying to talk to me after practice. He even tried to get an assistant job this past year, but luckily he got denied."

"Yeah, I heard about that," he says. "He talked about you a lot."

"Great," she says. "It was so weird, him thinking I'd ever go after him."

"But what are you doing right now?" I ask, laughing a little.

"You've graduated," she says. "And we're just hanging out."

We keep talking for a while, it actually doesn't feel weird at all. I thought it would, but it just feels like I met someone through college or work. Brienne is really cool, actually.

We finish our smoothies and I walk her to her car. "This was fun," I say. "Thanks for inviting me."

"It was, I enjoyed talking to you," she says. "Do you want to hang out again soon?"

"Sure," I say. "I'd like that."

There's a pause, and I lean in for a hug. Maybe I should've asked her first, but she doesn't stop me. It feels nice, I really like her.

"Bye," I say. "See you soon."

"Bye," she says. "Sounds good."

I get in my car and head home. Luckily when I get there, I don't see Cersei so I just head to my room. I still love Cersei, but it's really complicated. I want to see where this goes with Brienne, even if we stay just friends. I know I should tell Cersei, but I really don't want to. I just don't want to deal with the drama.