Chapter 26

Jon Snow Stark POV

I'm spending some time with my family today, it's officially Christmas Eve so I'm spending the night here for Christmas morning tomorrow. I don't mind being with them, I did miss my siblings. I'm just not looking forward to talking to my dad about stuff. I hope he doesn't push it on me, I kinda don't want to think about it.

My parents are cooking a big meal tonight for Christmas Eve, we're sitting on the couch and on the floor while they cook. Besides Bran, he's with Meera.

"Is Robb coming tonight?" I ask my parents.

"No," my mom says. "They're seeing Talisa's parents tonight, but they should come by tomorrow."

I miss Robb so much. I understand he has a family now, but I wish he could see us more. As I'm thinking about Robb, Bran and Meera walk in with Meera's dad.

"Hey Bran," I say, turning around. "How are you already almost taller than me?"

"Jon, what are you doing here?" He asks. "You hardly ever stay here anymore."

"It's Christmas Eve," I say. "I wanted to spend the holiday with you guys, don't act so surprised."

"Hi Meera," my mom says, walking out of the kitchen. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Stark," she says. "We have to go soon, but I wanted to say hi while we dropped Bran off."

"Of course, you're always welcome here," my mom says. "Would you like to take some food home? We just got finished cooking the meat."

Meera looks at her dad. "Sure," her dad says. "That would be lovely, thank you."

My mom packs them up some food and they head out. It's nice to see Meera, Bran has been friends with her and her siblings since childhood and I think it's really cute that they're together.

"So what's Dany doing tonight?" My mom asks me as we're all sitting down to eat.

"She's with her dad and her aunts," I say. "She might stop by to say hi tomorrow, if that's okay."

"Of course," my mom says. "I always love seeing her."

"So are you guys getting engaged soon?" Sansa asks. Everyone goes quiet, did she have to put me on the spot like that?

"I don't know," I say. "I'm focusing on college right now."

"That's good," my dad says. "I love Talisa, but Robb was incredibly young to get married. I think you should wait at least a couple more years."

I'm not sure when Dany and I will get engaged. I know Sam is engaged and Robb is married, so asking her doesn't seem too crazy. I do want to be living together for a little longer, though. I know I want to marry Dany, I definitely am in love with her. I just don't feel the need to rush it.

…

Later that night, Bran and Rickon are sitting outside on the back porch. I decide to go out there, I haven't had quality time with my younger brothers in a while. I walk outside and sit at the table across from them, they stop their conversation and give me a look.

"Hey," Rickon says. "What are you doing out here?"

"I just wanted to say hi to my little brothers," I say. "I know I haven't been around much. It's not because of you guys, I promise."

"We don't care," Bran says. "You're not as important as you think you are."

"Whatever," I say. "You need to be nice to me." They both just laugh at that.

"So how are things with Meera?" I ask Bran after a long pause. Rickon tries not to laugh as Bran turns bright red.

"He's in love," Rickon says jokingly. "You just opened that door."

"Shut up," Bran says, smacking Rickon. "I'm not in love, I barely even know what that means."

"How long have you guys been together now?" I ask.

"Almost 4 months," Bran says. "But she still won't do more than kiss me."

"Good," I say. "You're way too young to be doing more."

Bran rolls his eyes. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

"If you pressure her, I'll kill you," I say. "That's not how mom and dad raised us to be."

"Okay damn," Bran says. "I haven't been."

"Good," I say. "But if you need to talk to me about anything, I'm here." Rickon can't stop laughing.

"I don't," Bran says. "I need to talk to you about shutting up."

"Hey, don't talk to me like that," I say. "And what did I say about watching your language?"

"Let's go out to the backyard," Rickon says to Bran. "Just let it go."

Bran glares at me and they go out to the backyard. I know it's embarassing for him, but I do want him to feel like he can trust me. I know it's hard to talk to our parents about that stuff, and he should be able to trust me and Robb.

I want my siblings to trust me, even if they aren't my siblings biologically. They'll always be that to me, that won't change. We grew up together, I helped raise them. They'll always be my brothers and sisters, and I'll always be there for them.

Sansa Stark POV

It's Christmas morning today, I'm not as excited as I was as a child. That's probably pretty normal, but it's weird to actually feel like I'm growing up. I'm excited to see my nephew today, I miss Robb too. He was always like a third parent to me.

As we're sitting around the tree and getting ready to open presents, there's a knock at the door.

"Is that my grandson?" My mom says, getting up to answer it. Robb and Talisa are here with baby Eddy.

"Robb!" My mom says, giving him a hug. "I'm so happy you all could make it."

They walk inside holding the baby, he's just over a year at this point. Or just under, I can't really remember. Robb walks over and hugs my dad.

"Hi son," my dad says. "Can I hold my grandson?"

"Of course," says Talisa. She hands him to my dad and my dad playfully shakes his hand. "He looks just like his daddy."

"I know," Robb says. "I think he looks a little bit like you, too."

"I can see it," my dad says. "But he doesn't have that rugged handsomeness yet."

Jon laughs at that. I walk over and start to gush over the baby. "Arya," I say. "Come see the baby."

"Has he changed since I last saw him?" Arya asks.

"Yes," I say. "He's so much bigger."

"Maybe later" she says. "I'm comfortable."

I smile at her, it's kind of funny how uncomfortable she is around babies and little kids. I wasn't ever like that, I've always loved kids. I guess her and I are different in that way.

"Can we open presents yet?" Rickon asks.

"Of course," my dad says. "But you need to learn how to have some patience."

My parents sit on the couch while my dad is still holding baby Eddy. Robb and Talisa join them, Robb puts his arm around Talisa. My dad passes presents to Bran and Rickon, they start to open them.

"So how is everything going?" My dad asks Robb and Talisa.

"It's good," Talisa says. "I went back to nursing school this semester."

"Oh that's wonderful," my mom says. "Are you going back to school anytime soon, Robb?"

Robb decided to take a break from college. He tried to go back for a semester after his son was born, but he got a job recently assisting at a library and decided that would be better.

"Maybe, please don't grill me about it," Robb says. "I have a good job, we're doing fine."

"I believe you," my mom says. "It's just that I was worried about you not finishing school if you got married so young, and that's what's happening."

"Mom," Robb says. "I really don't want to do this on Christmas this year. My job has good benefits, which is what we really needed."

"You just need to get your degree," my mom says. "I'm going to keep saying it."

"Trust me, I know," Robb says. He turns to Bran. "So Bran, I heard you're finally dating Meera. How is that going?"

Bran blushes hard and Robb starts laughing. He still teases him like a brother would, even though he has his own son now.

"Jon!" Bran yells. "You told him?"

"It wasn't a secret," Jon says. "You were showing her off a ton."

"Aw, how sweet," Talisa says. "That's adorable."

"Jon, you're an asshole," Bran says. "I can't believe you did that."

"Hey," my dad says. "Watch your language or you're going straight to your room."

Bran just glares at Jon, and my mom hands Robb and Talisa a gift. "This is for Eddy," my mom says. "We figured he might like this."

Talisa and Robb open the gift, it's something to help with Eddy's teething. "Thank you so much," Talisa says. "We're definitely needing something like this."

"Thank you," Robb says. "That's very kind."

We open a few more gifts, I got a CD and a dress and Arya got a new journal. She's been asking for one, I think it helps her work through stuff without having to talk about it.

"So Sansa," Talisa says. "Are you excited to go to college?"

"I guess," I say. "I'm just glad I'll be with Jon and Dany, I wish I could do modelling full-time."

"Oh right," she says. "I heard you did a modeling camp, did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, it was super fun," I say. "I'll still try to go to castings, but I think I'll major in fashion design or something."

"That sounds great," Talisa says. "That sounds like something you'd be good at." I smile at her. She's really sweet, I'm glad Robb has her.

"How's Dany?" Robb asks Jon.

"She's great, she's with her family today but she might stop by later," Jon says. "She works at a restaurant by campus with Cersei, they're both hostesses."

"Oh awesome," Robb says. "You like living with her?"

"I really do," Jon says. "It's been going really well."

We finish opening presents and spend the rest of the day watching Christmas shows and movies. Robb and Talisa actually stay for the whole day, which I didn't expect. Robb seems more and more distant lately, which I understand.

It actually feels like Christmas with a little bit of family arguing. I know Robb is my mom's favorite, but she still gets upset when he deviates from what she wants him to do. Things are always hectic around here, especially around the holidays. I'm actually glad I'll be going to college soon. I love my family, but it'll be nice to have some space from them.

Arya Stark POV

Christmas has been fun. So was Christmas Eve, we always have a really good meal that night. Technically it's still Christmas, but it's dark out. Robb and Talisa are still here, my mom has basically not let the baby out of her sight the entire day.

They're all still playing with him. My mom always loved babies, but she seems to grow tired of her kids the older they get.

I'm sitting outside on the back porch when Sansa walks out there. "Hey," she says. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I say. "Just getting some peace and quiet. What are you doing?"

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" She asks. "I want to take my mind off how much I ate."

"Sure," I say. "Let's go."

We go out the back fence and start walking around the block. I know holidays can be tough for her. She's doing a lot better with her relationship with food and she's mostly recovered, but I know she has a hard time once in a while when she eats a ton in one sitting.

"Did you have fun today?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I guess," she says. "I'm kind of excited to go to college, though."

"Why?"

"I want to get some distance from mom and dad," she says. "I want to know what it's like to be on my own."

"I'm going to really miss you," I say. "I might cry when you leave."

"I know, I feel bad leaving you," Sansa says. "I want to take you with me."

"You better still call me," I say. "I want to know everything about college."

"Of course I will," she says. "If I don't call you, you can call me and yell at me."

"Oh, you know I will."

There's a pause of silence as we keep walking. I want to say something, but I'm kind of embarrassed and I don't know how to bring it up.

"I miss Gendry," I finally blurt out. "I almost called him today to wish him a merry Christmas."

"I'm glad you didn't," Sansa says. "That probably wouldn't have been healthy for you."

"I know," I say. "Especially since there's still feelings there, at least on my end."

"I know he feels that way too," Sansa says. "It was just a right person, wrong time situation."

I don't respond because I'm not sure I believe in that. I think if you find the right person, there can't be a wrong time. Two people that both really love each other can always find a way to make it work, in my opinion.

When we get back from our walk, Robb and Talisa are heading out. We say goodbye to them and the baby before they do. "Thanks for coming by," my dad says to Robb. "Come visit us soon."

"Of course," Robb says. "Love you, dad."

"I love you too, son," my dad says. "Merry Christmas."

They head out and Sansa and I go to our room. It's getting late and I feel really full, so we'll probably go to sleep soon.

"I feel bad that Robb had to drop out of school," Sansa says as we're chilling in our room. "I know he really wanted to get his archaeology degree."

"He technically didn't drop out," I say. "He's just taking a break."

"I know," Sansa says. "I just would never want to put my life on hold like that."

"I know, me neither," I say. "So don't get pregnant." I laugh, even though I'm serious.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she says. "I definitely won't."

I know Robb loves his family, but I still feel bad that he and Talisa have both had to sacrifice so much at such a young age. I would never do that. I honestly don't think I want to have kids at all, the idea sounds less and less appealing the more I think about it and the older I get.