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“Sansa Stark.”
He’d seen her the moment he stepped out of his sister’s obnoxiously decorated house and onto the rear lawns where the party was being held. Jaime knew she had seen him too, just as he knew that she knew that he would follow, when she snuck inside to escape the celebrations for a time.
It was Westerosi Freedom Day. - An incorrectly named national holiday, that his brother in law in particular, enjoyed celebrating as if it was the single greatest holiday on the calendar. All because it was set on the day that the Baratheon ancestor he was named for, saved the old Kingdoms from Targaryen oppression and set them on a path towards decades of peace in a time when sustained peace was almost unheard of. - It was a waste of time to point out to Robert that true freedom didn’t come to Westeros for many decades after his favourite historical figure was long dead and long buried though. The man just liked that he was named for a King.
Jaime had not wanted to come - he very rarely wanted to be anywhere near his sister and her toxic family, and he especially did not want to be around when there were open fire pits for spit roasting, fireworks and copious amounts of alcohol involved. But he’d hoped to run into the exact person who was now smiling shyly over her shoulder at him. - So he had made the effort.
It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption that she’d be there, as she’d always been the dutiful daughter who accompanied her parents to whatever event those in their social circles expected them to attend.
It was an unreasonable desire for him to be so intent on seeing the young woman again, though.
It was madness, but he’d been unable to shake her and their last encounter, from his mind.
“Hello Jaime.” She grinned and turned her eyes back to the bookshelf she had been perusing in the vast, albeit mostly neglected Baratheon library. “It’s good to see you.”
“Is it?” He teased, stepping closer and leaning into the bookshelf beside her to meet her gorgeous eyes. Probably far closer than anyone would consider appropriate, but he really didn’t care what anyone but Sansa thought, and they were completely alone, so it didn’t matter… “And here I was assuming that you were avoiding me… Until you led me away to a private and unused part of the house, that is.”
Jaime smiled lazily as she reached out and took his fingers with her own, leading his hand to rest on her side, just above the hip he enjoyed gripping roughly while he slammed into her tight little body, not so very long ago. His eyes widened slightly at the unexpected and firm swell under his thumb.
“That’s new.” He sputtered on a harsh exhale, forcing his eyes to hers to beg clarification.
“I’ve had it a few months.” She quipped softly and shook her head before looking away guiltily. “I didn’t even know until about a month ago myself… I’ve tried calling since.”
“I didn’t receive any calls or messages.” He whispered, unsure if it was even him who should be receiving such a call.
He was confused. Beyond confused even. And very, very nervous.
They’d slept together last time they saw each other, that was true enough. Hells! They’d fucked like animals almost every single night he spent in The Vale for his Vertical Rescue training renewal. Instead of staying with his crew in the hotel in Eyrie City, on the nights they weren’t out in the mountains, he’d stayed at Sansas apartment, in her bed and in her… But that didn’t necessarily mean that the firm swell under his thumb was his doing, and her trying to call him could be completely unrelated.
In fact from his rather vivid memories of their time together, he knew for a fact that they’d been safe about it. Not that there’s ever full proof safety against such a thing, but they’d been responsible.
Still he didn’t know if he hoped it was or wasn’t why she had supposedly tried to call him… He couldn’t fucking think at all… He also couldn’t stop his thumb from lazily tracing the small curve, in wonder.
“I called the firehouse and left messages for you.” She explained so softly that he had to lean even closer to her to hear. “But it was just after the incident at Harrenhal Zoo, and that video of you pulling your friend out of the bear enclosure went viral… So I thought maybe the receptionist thought I was some crazed fan girl.”
Jaime snorted an understanding laugh and leaned forward to rest his forehead against her temple, pulling her impossibly close, so he might process without scaring her off by saying the wrong thing.
The fucking bomb threat at Harrenhal had been a complete nightmare! Not only because they’d had to share responsibility with so many other factions of first responders and rescue crews, but because the media coverage had been fucking insane and the Zoo staff themselves had been about as helpful as tits on a bull.
The useless pricks only had to put their more dangerous animals down for a sleep, if they couldn’t be evacuated in time, so the teams could get in and check the fucking enclosures for potentially hidden explosive devices, without being attacked, and they’d fucked that up royally.
When the video of him repelling in and pulling Tarth out of the angry, slashing paws of a rather pissed off brown bear, had gone viral, he had become even more of a celebrity than his status as the son of Tywin Lannister: billionaire CEO of Casterly Enterprises, and ruthless King of the business world, had made him his whole life.
After that he’d been hunted like the choicest piece of meat, by hungry girls and women - and even a few men, young and old. And poor Brienne had been dubbed the maiden fair with her bear, by everyone in the fucking country.
Which of course, only happened because it had turned out to be a hoax and the Harrenhal Zoo had not been blown to pieces, thankfully allowing the public to focus on his heroics instead of the horrible tragedy it could have been. But it still got under his skin to be so loved for just doing his fucking job.
It was entirely believable that the reception staff at his firehouse had dismissed Sansas calls as yet another fan wanting to get close to him in some way. And because of that, he’d likely missed her for a good month or more, than he needed to.
“How many months have you had this?” He let his fingers slide over her little bump, tracing it carefully, his curiosity and need for clarification warring inside of his head and his heart too. “Is this my - our doing?”
He pulled back enough at her insistence, to meet her eyes fully. The lovely sea blue pools that he’d so enjoyed losing himself in all those months ago, held no trace of deceit or manipulation, just anxious honesty.
She nodded slowly and slipped her hand over his to push it more firmly over her small protruding belly.
“I was already three months gone when I worked it out, that was a little over a month ago Jaime.” She admitted, her lovely porcelain cheeks flushing and reminding him of how lovely and flushed they had gotten during their passionate times… Some four months ago. “I’ve only been with one person in the last year - despite the attempts of another, which you are well aware of… I’m pregnant and the baby is yours.”
“Sansa Stark.” He greeted with a wide grin and slipped onto the stool beside the stunning woman he’d spotted across the bar. “Imagine my surprise when I looked up from my dinner to find you seated at a bar in the blue collar area of town. I didn’t even know you were in Eyrie City.”
The eldest Stark girl turned to him and smiled tightly, lines and shadows that didn’t belong on the pretty face of one so young, showing prominence and raising his instinctive concern immediately.
“Jaime Lannister… It’s far more reasonable to find a Stark in a ‘blue collar bar’ than a Lannister… Besides, of the two of us, I actually live in Eyrie City and I know you do not… This is my neighbourhood.” She teased tiredly. “What are you doing in The Vale?”
He held off commenting on her obviously uncomfortable state and shrugged, raising his hand to draw the bartenders notice, and ordering them both a strong drink. - He wouldn’t be able to have more than one as he needed to be alert the next morning, but he could certainly buy her a few more if she needed them.
“Vertical Rescue training… We have to renew and update our qualifications every few years. The Vale is home to the best programs for Vertical Rescue. So my crew and I are here to repel down cliffs and climb sheer rock faces and traverse thick scrub where the ground could drop off unexpectedly at any point, to locate and rescue practice dummies for a week… You live here now?”
“Ahh.” She smiled in understanding and nodded. “I am interning in the finance department of Arryn… I’ve two months left, then I’m going home I think.”
“Won’t take a placement if it's offered? I’m assuming you’ve graduated already if you're interning outside of summer programs?”
He was actually just assuming, because he knew absolutely nothing about what Sansa Stark had done with her life since graduating Kings Landing Prep beside his vile nephew. But he knew her to be old enough to have graduated university unless she was like Tyrion and continued on for longer than the usual three to four year courses. He personally didn’t know much about it at all, he went military for a handful of years after high school, and the fire and rescue once he retired from that. Academics were not his strong suit.
“Gods no.” She scoffed and down the expensive whisky he’d ordered her before waving the bartender back with a wiggle of her glass. “I love Uncle Jon, but I can’t be here any longer than I have to be. I can’t work at Arryn permanently.” She shuddered.
“That bad?” She snorted and then hummed in affirmation. Her whole demeanour was screaming at him to take notice… In a way he’d seen a few times before… “The work or the co-workers?” He already knew the answer, he’d seen enough women unfortunate enough to be mistreated in the workforce simply because they were women, to know the signs… But he hoped that she’d maybe trust him enough to say it… Express the depth of mistreatment she had been exposed to… Now that his concern had been raised.
“Co-worker, singular.” She huffed, rolled her eyes and turned to face him more fully. “He’s my direct boss at the moment actually… You might even know him, he’s done some consulting for Casterly and BaraCorp too - Pet-“
“Petyr Baelish?” He finished for her.
She didn’t need to say anything more. He didn’t know the man particularly well himself, as he tended to keep out of his families businesses as much as he could. He was not interested in that world at all, never mind that he’d been born to it. - He did know the man everyone called Littlefinger, though only in passing. But still well enough to know he was a sleazy little man. - Anyone who could make his sister shudder, was a right creep.
Considering Cersei tended to use any and all advantages at her disposal to make deals for herself - including sleeping with whoever she felt she needed to, no matter the fact that she had been married to Robert Baratheon for decades. - The fact that this Baelish guy could make her pull that particular trick from her repertoire, said quite a bit about the man.
He had to be a depraved slime ball if even Cersei wouldn’t stoop low enough to sleep with him to get what she wanted.
“Want me to knock him on the head and hide his body in the mountains somewhere?” He offered playfully, trying to lighten the mood, and make her feel better. - Understanding that she likely didn’t want to actually explain anything in detail, and that she didn’t really need to, for him to have understood why she disliked the man so. “It’s not my usual M.O - but I’m willing to make an exception for you Sansa.”
“You rescue people, you don’t dispose of them.” She laughed softly, and he was relieved to see that it was genuine, and that she was heartened by him not pushing for details or offering advice that would be unwelcome. “But I appreciate the offer… Especially when you offered something so obviously meant as a joke to make me feel better, rather than offering to call in a favour for me with your Father or something, purely because I’m a Stark.”
“Would you want me to… Offer you work at Casterly?” He hedged in absolute confusion. He didn’t even work for Casterly, he couldn’t offer that even if he wished such a horrible - albeit better than she currently had - fate on her. “You realise I don’t even want to work for my father?”
“No… Sorry, I know - you don’t even work at Casterly yourself… I just meant… I’ve had offers from my Dad and Uncle Robert - and even this placement with Arryn… I’ve been offered jobs because I’m Sansa Stark, not because I’ve earned them… I took this internship because Mr. Baelish made it seem like he offered it on my merit. He even made it seem like Uncle Jon didn’t know I had applied because as CFO, everything and everyone in finance goes through him and not my uncle... I know better now.” She explained, looking impossibly young and disappointed. “It turns out he wanted me working for him not only because I’m Sansa Stark, but because I look very much like my mother when she was younger too… Creepy right?”
Jaime snarled in disgust and reached over the bar to snag the bottle that the bartender had decided to simply leave down after the couple of refills he’d already delivered her, and poured her and himself a fresh drink, before tucking it under his arm, taking up his glass and standing to hold out a hand to her.
“Come on.” He wiggled his fingers until she gave up her suspicious study of him and his hand, and took them. “I’ll pay our tabs and we’ll get out of here. You need to get good and drunk and I’m a gentleman, so I’ll make sure you make it to bed - in peace, alone and free of creepy sleazes - to sleep it off once you’ve done so.”
“Or you could just join me yourself and help me forget in a way that won’t have me too hungover to function tomorrow.”
Jaime spun to look at her in absolute shock. She shrugged and blushed so sheepishly that he couldn’t help but laugh. He looked to the bottle tucked in his arm anyway, and flicked her a challenging look to make sure she was saying what he thought she was. - And that she meant it, before he took her up on it.
She smiled genuinely again and even scrunched her nose adorably, clearly embarrassed to have asked, but not willing to take it back all the same.
He put the bottle back on the bar without looking, downed his drink and dragged her out of the bar, surprised, but rather pleased with the unexpected turn his evening had taken.
“I left my number on your counter after the first night.”
“You did?” She asked in surprise.
“I did, but that surprised look explains why you didn’t text me while I was there either… It must have slipped off the counter or something… I just showed up again the next night hopeful that you’d be interested in another night with me.” He laughed along with her as she giggled. “So why didn’t you ask one of the dozens of people you know, who would have it, for my direct number, if you misplaced it and obviously needed to talk to me?”
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to have to answer questions as to why Sansa Stark was chasing your number.” She shrugged, dislodging a fiery curl from beside her ear. He reached out and tucked it away gently, thumbing at her temple softly as he did. “I wasn’t sure you wanted it to be known that we’d slept together.”
“Well, whether I want it known or not, it’s going to come out in a few months anyway.” He purposely stroked his child. “But I really wouldn’t have cared if everyone were to find out, regardless of this.”
“I don’t expect anything from you if you’re not interested in giving anything, Jaime.” She swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, and I understand if you’re not interested in me or the baby further.”
“Are you interested in more with me, or did you try to call only to tell me about my baby?” He demanded, pulling her flush into his chest and turning so that he was pressing her beautiful body into the bookshelf. “Would you have called or searched me out, or led me into the library today if not for our child?”
“Would you have?” She challenged.
“You’re the only reason I’m even here today… I hate this stupid excuse of a holiday, and I tend to avoid Cersei’s horrid husband and even more horrid eldest son, at all costs… Especially when the pair of idiots are drunk and at risk of setting something on fire or seriously injuring themselves and needing my help… But I knew the girl I haven’t been able to stop thinking and dreaming about, would be here… So here I am.”
“Oh.” She gasped and blinked rapidly at him, obviously not expecting to have made such an impact on him.
It was obvious that Sansa had not understood just how much he’d enjoyed their little fling. It was rather obvious that she didn’t understand that he’d want her just as much as he had during those few days, perhaps even more because he’d been deprived of her attention for months, and still couldn’t shake his interest in her.
He hummed encouragingly as her hands tentatively slipped over his chest and shoulders to rest gently either side of his neck, while his own slipped around her to splay over the long lines of her back, pulling her from the bookshelves and against him instead.
“I wanted to call… Or get a call from you… But because neither of us mentioned trading numbers, I figured that that’s all it was going to be.” She licked her lips in what he knew full well, was a nervous gesture. “Then I was distracted getting through the last months of my internship and avoiding… Any offers to stay on in The Vale and moving once all was said and done… Once that all settled down and I had more time to truly work out what I wanted or hoped for in regards to you, I figured out that I had to actually talk to you, whether either of us was interested in seeing what could be between us or not.”
“So you have missed me then?” He grinned and nuzzled his face into the side of hers, pressing playful kisses to the rosey hue sliding over her soft cheek. “Because that’s what I’m hearing - you wanted to keep contact but just accepted that we wouldn’t while you were busy, and before you could think on it further, you had to talk to me?”
She let out a breathy laugh and tipped her head to the side at his insistence, giving him access to that delightful spot below her ear that he knew could make her breath hitch with the right attention.
“I guess I did.” She gasped at the feel of his teeth grazing that spot below her ear, and tightened her hold on his nape, to keep him there. “Am I to assume you also missed me, and are not deterred by the news I have delivered you?”
Jaime laughed delightedly at her serious questions hidden behind her cheeky tone, and bit down a little more fully on her neck before releasing her soft flesh to soothe it with gentle licks and sucks, and soft kisses.
His hand slipped around and between them to cradle the little curve that he still hadn’t fully processed the presence of, and honestly wondered if anyone else knew about yet.
“If you wished to deter my attention, Sansa, informing me of the lifetime commitment I left you with, wasn’t the way to do it.” He breathed over the perfect little shell of her ear. “I missed you, Beautiful girl. And while I’m still a bit shocked, I think I want to know everything about this. I think if anyone knows of this or has any involvement in the future of this, it should be me.”
“My Dad knows. My Dad and my sister.” She admitted, turning to nudge his nose with her own, meeting his eyes with a fiery, daring challenge. “They figured it out not long after I did, but they are the only ones because I swore them to secrecy until I could inform the father… They don’t know that is you.”
He nodded in understanding and leaned in close enough to lightly brush his lips over hers, not a true kiss, but the whisper of one… The promise of one.
He had not expected this to be how a conversation between them would go. He hadn’t even been sure she’d be amenable to letting him seduce her again, or even if he would try. And yet for the shock of it, he would not change it, a curious excitement had settled inside of him in light of it.
And he desperately wanted to see where they could go from where they presently were.
“Let’s get out of here. Come home with me so we can truly talk and… Catch up.” He smirked. “I’ve a need to see this without the loose fitting sundress that’s hiding it from the world at large.” He stroked the bump again for emphasis and cocked a brow in challenge, waiting for her to agree before he simply dragged her out of his sisters house without looking back or explaining his departure to anyone else. “You can even tell your Dad and sister that the father knows now, and is not running from you or this , if you want.”
“Alright.” She breathed across his lips and smiled shyly. “If you truly want to… If you’re really alright with this.” She tapped his hand where it rested on her still.
Jaime laughed quietly and nudged her nose with his affectionately.
“I’m a gentleman Sansa, and a Lannister who was raised better than to avoid his responsibilities.” He grinned at her narrowed eyes. “I may have avoided the expectations of being the eldest son of Tywin Lannister when it comes to my career, by not following him in his ‘conquer the business world’ footsteps, but I still perform my duty and show up whenever he commands it. Because family duty is important. Family is important.”
——————
Sansa had been a nervous wreck in the lead up to the annual Baratheon Freedom Day party.
Truthfully she’d been a nervous wreck since she worked out that the reason she had been feeling so tired and just off, while finishing up in the Vale and moving back to Winterfell, was because she was pregnant. Not because she was stressed out and exhausted, as well as anxious to get away from Petyr - I’m a handsy creep who’s obsessed with your mother - Baelish.
She had missed all the signs because she had been wound so tight just trying to get through the last months of her internship so she could get out of there. - Before she secured herself a place on a business and finance blacklist by slapping the crap out of the creep who was her boss for that time.
Having Jaime Lannister saunter up beside her in all of his golden, sexy fireman glory (or rescue squad as he had laughingly corrected her that first night.) Had been a relief, because though she didn’t know him well, she had known that if she had wanted to actually draw attention to Petyrs interests in her, she only needed to hint at it and give the man the nod, and her Uncle Robert would know about it, and then her Dad and Uncle Jon, and she wouldn’t have to actually make a formal complaint herself.
She hadn’t done that, because she had felt that she could handle it without needing to be rescued. And she had handled it and gotten herself the hell out of there and away from the man and his unwelcome touches and ignorance of personal space, as soon as she could.
Instead she had taken advantage of the handsome Lannister mans presence to find relief from her stress in a wholly different way. And it had been amazing.
Almost every night for a week the man had showed up at her door with a winning smile and the same teasing greeting of “Honey, I’m home.” And she welcomed him with a wide smile and open arms… and legs.
And then it was just over. He hadn’t left his number (though apparently he had and she’d lost it before she realised she had it) and she hadn’t given hers. And though she had been a bit disappointed and even a little hurt that that’s all it was that they’d have, she had been too damned busy to dwell on it.
When she found out that he’d left her a little gift, she had been shocked for only a handful of moments and then excited not only at the idea of having a baby, but at the idea of having his baby. And at the idea of at least getting to have a conversation with him about maybe seeing what could be between them.
Not once had she expected that he’d leave her high and dry and deny responsibility. Even without her week long fling with the handsome older man, she knew him to be a decent man.
She knew he would own up to getting pregnant with her, and that he’d do right by his child.
But she hoped that meant that he’d give her another chance too, and not just for the baby, but because he liked her too. She didn’t expect it when things ended without any promises or even questions indicating any further interest, but she had hoped anyway because of how much had happened between them before their heartfelt goodbyes.
“Come on sleepy woman!” His sexy voice teased low against her ear as he leaned down by over her, gently shaking her shoulder in a bid to wake her. “Wake up enough to kiss me goodbye! I’ve got to go, or I’ll miss check in at the airport and my crew will wait for me because they’re loyal like that… And then the station chief will have my head for the costs incurred to get us all on a new flight.”
She smiled sleepily at his adorable begging and turned to plant a soft peck on his lips, missing instead and getting his chin because she hadn’t opened her eyes.
He laughed softly and tipped her chin to press a better aimed and firmer kiss to her lips.
“Better, but not exactly what I was hoping for.” He teased and pressed his lips against hers over and over, as if he couldn’t get enough, until she giggled and gave in, opening her eyes lazily to take him in. “There’s my beautiful girl. Good morning.”
“Good morning.” She whispered and accepted his tongue into her mouth for a deeper kiss.
Completely uncaring of her sleep breath because apparently her annoyingly awake and dressed lover didn’t seem to care at all.
Jaime groaned softly and pulled away after yet another soft peck, leaning his face into her bare shoulder and nuzzling her there instead.
“This has been amazing.” She hummed in agreement to his suspiciously quiet words. “But I need to go Sansa. I have to get back to Kings Landing and work.”
“I know.” She smiled sadly and pushed her fingers into his hair, patting him gently where he still cuddled into her. “Reality calls.”
“It does.” He agreed. “I didn’t expect to enjoy this trip so much.” He laughed quietly and lifted his face enough to meet her eyes. “Training weeks are always a good time, because we get to run the exercises… We get the adrenaline rush we all crave, but without the fear of actually losing a real life person if we can’t get to our rescue dummy… And because we get away from the big bosses breathing down our neck so we can bond as a team. And for me as squad captain, I get to truly test my guys skills.” He smiled almost shyly, a bit like a little boy wanted her praise. “But this time around has been… So much more. Because I got to spend my downtime with you. So thank you for that Sansa. You’ve been amazing company.”
“You’ve been amazing too.” She twisted so that she could put her arms around him and he could laze over her chest if he wanted. “A wonderful distraction from all that’s been bothering me… I’m glad we had this time together.”
“Come here.” He lifted her a little and met her in the middle, at an awkward angle, to steal another soft kiss or two. “Don’t be ashamed to report him, Sansa. Or just quit if it gets too bad. He’s a prick and you shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable at work… And you just let me know if you change your mind about dumping him somewhere no one will ever find him, alright?”
“Alright.” She agreed with a small laugh.
“I’ll get out of your hair and let you get back to sleep. It’s early yet.”
He leaned in and kissed her again, lingering far longer than she would expect someone who was content to say goodbye and end things as they stood in that moment.
And then he was gone, with that annoyingly beautiful cocky grin and a slightly subdued version of his usual swagger.
Sansa felt so very alone and utterly lonely the moment the door closed softly behind his departing form.
By the time they reached Jaime’s apartment it was clear that where Sansa’s nerves had settled from having finally managed to catch the man himself and inform him of his impending fatherhood, subsequently learning that he had wanted the same thing she had: a continued connection… Jaime’s nerves however, had ratcheted up to impossible levels.
The usual cool and cocky man, the flirtatious and confident lover she had met in the library at the Baratheon house, was gone. And in his place was a guy even more awkward than the sweet lover who had needed to prolong his goodbye, to actually be able to say goodbye.
They had driven across town, out of Robert and Cersei’s affluent gated community, through busier parts of the city and into Jaime’s gentrified neighbourhood, in complete silence.
He had held her hand in a tight grip, but rested them gently in her lap. And he’d looked over at her and more pointedly at her belly where it was hidden in the folds of her cotton sundress, more than a few times. But he’d not said a single thing.
She had let him have his silence, understanding that reality was crashing down on him now that he’d had time away from being able to touch her a little more intimately, to truly think.
When they finally pulled up in the backstreet parking lot behind what she assumed was his building, he advised that there could be some of his workmates passed out in his apartment, though he hoped there wasn’t, because he often opened his place to those who lived further afield from the firehouse, when they came off shift, to save them travelling if they were exhausted.
She hadn’t minded in truth; because although she wanted to speak to him privately - and catch up if the opportunity for that arose, she found it extremely telling that he’d offer his home out to his crew like that.
It said a lot about who he truly was underneath his arrogant Lannister charm, that he’d care to make sure his friends had a safe place to go to rest if they were too tired to make it home.
Thankfully though, when he opened the heavy steel door, his massive open loft was empty but for the two of them.
“Um.” He coughed and cleared his throat, and then waved to indicate the massive industrial look kitchen off to the side of the huge open space. “Do you want coffee? Can you even have coffee?”
Sansa laughed and tugged his hand, bringing him in close to her side, so she could slip her arm around his waist and kiss his jaw in a bid to calm him if she could.
“Not caffeinated, no. And thank you, but I’m alright.” She smiled at the feel of him breathing slowly and lifting his hand to brush her side.
“Alright, but let me know if you need or want anything.” He said. “If I don’t have it, I’ll call out to have something delivered. There’s little markets, grocers and restaurants and cafes everywhere in this neighbourhood. You can’t take a step without finding something like that, and they all deliver. So anything you want is easy to get.”
“Thank you, Jaime.” She blushed softly and nodded to the large worn brown leather corner couch, set up close to the bank of what had to be original floor to extremely high ceilinged windows that took up the entire wall of his living space, and blinked back at him in question.
Jaime smiled sheepishly and led her to it sit down, before almost awkwardly lowering himself down beside her.
“So I obviously know that you are around four months along.” He sighed heavily and twisted to look at her more fully. “That makes you due when? Five months - so, baby will be here sometime in February? God! Do you know what you are having yet - I have absolutely no clue what I’ve missed or what you might even want me to know or be involved in… For the record - I want to be involved in everything, but it’s your call.”
Sansa huffed a small laugh and reached out to take the twitching hand that obviously wanted to touch her again, and led it to the small swell of her belly again.
His fascination with the change of her body was quite adorable. It made her feel much better about his thoughts, if he liked that at least… Obviously he had not noticed the size of her breasts yet. - Though she had tried to hide them as best she could too, with the cut of her dress.
“I’m technically seventeen weeks, and I’m actually measuring quite small still, which is why I’ve been able to hide it so easily… The Doctor believes that it’s a combination of my height and the way my uterus and the baby is positioned, that has allowed for that.” She smiled shyly as his hand stroked over her, tracing around in a bid to feel whatever he could and determine how ‘small’ her belly still was. “I’ve had one scan already, to make sure all was as it should be, and it confirmed the dates - not that I needed it to, but it did.”
“And all is well, yes?” His eyes flicked up to hers quickly and then back to her belly once she nodded. “Good. That’s good.”
“I have a picture from the scan saved on my phone, if you want I can actually take your number this time and send it to you? And I have another scan coming up, you’d be welcome to come, but you’d have to travel, because it is at a clinic in Winterfell… I’m living back at home... for now.”
He handed his phone over without thought, simply digging it free of his pocket with the hand not resting on her belly, and unlocking it quickly so she could put her number in and send his to herself also.
“Put your appointment details in my calendar too, and set me a reminder for Monday, so I can put in the leave I’ll need to make the trip.” He advised. “Are you working? For your Dad or-“
“For now.” She answered quickly, her eyes and fingers more focused on the task at hand and not at all interested in seeing any pity or attempts at understanding in his eyes. “I had little choice if I wanted a reasonable excuse to avoid the placement I was offered at Arryn… With him…” Sansa swallowed hard, remembering how she had excused her disinterest in the lucrative role she had been offered, by claiming a desire to be closer to home and to work alongside her family, rather than to admit that she’d never ever want to work with Mr. Baelish again… Not for anything, and especially not when she knew the true expectations that went with the high paying offer. “My Dad gave me a spot in Starks finance division, with my cousin Jon… And as I said, he knows about the baby, so he’s given me some flexibility with my hours and workload so that once the baby comes, I can work completely from home for a while too.”
“And you hate that you had to ask it of him.” He whispered, knowing well that she hadn’t wanted to be given a leg up without having earned it herself, because she’d told him she wanted to make her own way. “Are you happy at home there? Outside of work I mean?”
“I’m excited about my baby.” She laughed quietly, meeting his amused eyes and hoping beyond hope that he’d take that deflection for what it was. “I’m content being around my family again.” She conceded, knowing from the look in his eyes that it hadn’t worked as well as she wanted it to.
“Well.” Jaime shot her that winning thousand watt smile of his and slipped his hand around her back to shuffle her closer to him as he flopped back to laze into his sinfully comfortable couch. “At some point in time, I’m going to want my Beautiful girl and my baby closer to me on a daily basis… Whether that means she puts herself out there to find work with a different company, in this city, where she can live with me, find her professional independence in the business world, and I can look after her and our child on a personal level... Or whether that means I’ve got to look into what it’ll take for me to be transferred up North to her side instead? Doesn’t really matter I don’t suppose… So long as we can be together… That will be a discussion for after she gives in and agrees to be mine.”
“Seriously?” She sputtered incredulously at his arrogant smirk and hum of affirmation. “Jaime I only just told you that we accidentally conceived a child during our fling - for lack of a better word! You’ve not had time to process the idea of being a Father, let alone anything else!”
Her nerves were exploding all over her body as she watched him lazily smiling at her, his handsome head resting comfortably against the soft cushioned back of his insanely huge and likely exceptionally expensive couch.
Truthfully she wanted him to want that sort of future with her… Any future really, that included him and her being together and loving their child together. But he hadn’t had time to process yet.
“Sansa, I am telling you this now so that you know where I stand and what I want, before I drag you into my bed so I can worship the changes my child has made to your exquisite body… I have missed you. I’ve not thought of or looked at a single other woman since that first night I spent in your bed. And now you’ve got my baby inside you… It’s all I can do to not strip you bare and lay you out like the feast I know you are, right here in my living room.”
“Oh.”
She bit her lip as he lazily tugged at her until she was nose to nose with him, cuddled fully against one another and pressed into the softness of his couch.
“Oh indeed, Beautiful Girl.” He laughed softly and pressed a barely there kiss to her waiting lips. “Stay with me tonight? Let me show you how much I want you and our baby… Let me convince you to be mine and not just the guy you have to share your child with.” She chased his teasing lips down with a giggle and stole another soft press from them, making him smile widely. “I want this.” He rubbed her belly pointedly. “And I want you… I have a definite need to see your belly without the dress, and I kind of want to see those lovely tits that I know you think I haven’t noticed too… It won’t be long before I have to share them, I need to get my fill in before I do… Hey! Ouch!”
She laughed at his complaints over her gentle tugs on his golden locks, and sighed happily as he carded his fingers into her hair and pulled her in for a proper, deeper kiss.
His reaction hadn’t quite been as she expected. But she certainly wasn’t going to complain about it when his lips and hands were finally on her again.
——————
“And how is my favourite sister and our littlest Lannister today, brother?” His younger brothers voice carried across the expanse of his loft as Jaime hung up the call from his girlfriend, when he noticed the little shit had up and welcomed himself through his door. “Still determined that my job offer is a result of finding out that she’s carrying my niece or nephew, rather than because her own Father fairly gushed about her intelligence and professionalism but bemoaned the fact that she didn’t really want to work for him, to me after you and she absconded from Roberts party.”
“I think the part that is lost on her is the idea of Ned gushing over anything, let alone admitting to anyone that he knows his daughter doesn’t want to work for him.” He answered dryly.
Much as it had excited him when his brother informed him that while he didn’t know what the fuck he and Sansa were about - because at the time he’d yet to tell him that he’d gotten her pregnant and claimed her for his own - he intended on offering her a job at Casterly, working directly with him - the CFO. Being that his executive assistant had quit just days before the party and Ned’s hints at that same party had made it seem that such a role might suit Sansa, to Tyrion it had seemed like fate had put her in his path. - Jaime understood her reluctance and her annoyance over it anyway.
She didn’t want to work for her Father because it looked like she hadn’t earned the spot on her own merits… Being offered a gift wrapped position at Casterly, working for Tyrion looked every bit as bad, given whose child they all knew she carried now.
Though thankfully she did realise the benefits of it, in that she could move South to be with him, without the need to rely on him - at least financially. She’d have a great job, in the field she wanted - or at least adjacent to it, and income of her own outside of both their vast trust funds, and his income. She also understood that it was a wonderful offer and not just because it paid very well, but because it was a position at Casterly - and his Father, Casterlys CEO, was the King of the business world. Tyrion was happy to - even wanted to take her under his wing, too, even knowing in advance that she’d need to take maternity leave in the not so distant future.
It was an offer that no sane person working in that world would turn down. She would effectively become the protege of Tyrion Lannister.
“I know she doesn’t want to be handed a leg up in the business world because she’s Ned's daughter or your girlfriend Jaime. And I respect that. But she is who she is, and she needs to realise that those in our world will always see our name before they see us… And believe it or not, I extended my offer after talking to Ned, because I genuinely believe that she and I can get along well together, and that she has what it takes to keep up with me and absorb all she can while at Casterly.”
“I know Ty.” Jaime let his head fall back into the back cushion of his couch and stared at the high ceiling well above him, while his brother ratted about in his kitchen - probably looking for his wine stash. “She knows you’ve said that too. But she’s a proud little woman. So give her time to get back to you through the proper channels and stop talking through me. It makes it so much worse.”
His brother snorted rudely somewhere behind his island bench. “I know! But tell Father that if you don’t want her pushed, he’s the one that has asked every day since he found out that she was your girl and the future mother of a Lannister, whom I offered a job to, whether she’s ready to start yet.”
Jaime groaned in frustration as his brother whooped over something across the room. Obviously he’d found what he was looking for.
Jaime knew his Father was being a pain in the ass. He had just sat through an amusing and unbelievable tale of the Great Lion having called Sansa to advise her of the contact information he’d collected for her, for the best OBGYN, paediatrician and postnatal care nurses in Kings Landing. As well as the funds and accounts he’d set up to pay for her care, and the baby’s once she birthed them.
His girl had been stuck in some weird emotional limbo, between being absolutely livid, utterly gobsmacked, mildly amused and just a little bit touched.
She was pissed that his Father had preemptively taken charge of her care, before she’d even decided if she was moving South to be with him, or whether she wanted him to go North to be with her. And yet she was a little bit pleased that he cared enough to reach out to her, and that he wasn’t pissed or suspicious that she’d maybe gotten pregnant with his sons child on purpose or some such nonsense.
Jaime hadn’t needed to point out that no matter what or how his Father thought of or saw her, she was carrying a Lannister. And that was all the old bastard really cared about. Sansa knew him well enough to work that out on her own… Though curiously, Jaime did know that Tywin Lannister was also quite pleased with him catching himself a wolf, as he referred to his Stark girlfriend, and also finally deciding to settle down.
His father had made a point of congratulating him for that when he had told him that he had gotten Sansa pregnant and that they’d be working towards a relationship before the baby arrived, so that they’d be together and sure that they’d find happiness, before that time.
The man had even smiled and dared he exaggerate: preened in pleasure over having a Stark in the family.
“Anyway! You didn’t answer me! How is Sansa and how is our little lion?”
Jaime’s head dipped to the side to take his brother in as he made himself at home on the couch beside him, and waved to the low table before him to show he’d at least had the decency to get Jaime a drink when he helped himself to his kitchen.
He smiled indulgently and looked down at the beautiful smiling face now taking up residence on his phones Lock Screen. His girlfriend’s beautiful face. His Sansa.
“She’s well. Baby is really starting to move about now, and her belly has finally started to really show, even flowing dresses and baggy shirts don’t hide it now.” He smiled happily, imagining just how round she might feel under his hands since he saw her a few weeks ago in Winterfell, for her second scan. “I’m missing her like crazy, but she is coming down next week - and before you ask - yes, she said she’d be calling the office to organise a time to meet and talk with you, following the appropriate channels, in regards to your offer. And though she asked me to stay out of it, I’m sharing that so you don’t bug her over it again.”
Tyrion grinned smugly around his wine glass, but thankfully held his tongue. Not only because he was pleased that he might actually be getting his way, in having Sansa take the job he’d offered, but because the little shit had taken the greatest delight in discovering just how smitten Jaime had become, for his beautiful fire haired girl.
“That is going to be one genetically blessed kid.” He quipped. “Between you and Sansa - that kid is going to be the most beautiful person to ever be born.”
Jaime snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that, and while he tended to agree, given just how exquisitely beautiful his girl was. His reasoning was more because to him his baby already was the most wonderful, beautiful thing in existence. Not because he was objectively a handsome man and Sansa the most beautiful woman in creation.
Personally he hoped his kid was both kind and smart, more so than pretty to look at. But he knew his brother didn’t mean his words to be belittling at all.
Tyrion was almost as excited about being an uncle to his child, as Jaime was to be a Father. - Almost, but not quite.
“So this is Dad, is it?” The young lady doctor asked with a wide smile.
Sansa blushed and nodded, patting his hand where it rested tangled with her other one, in her lap.
As promised he had travelled North to be there for her scan, and not that she’d asked it of him, he’d also agreed to sit down with her parents, and have the ‘intentions’ conversation. So that both Ned and Catelyn heard it from his mouth that he intended on looking after her and their baby.
He wasn’t terribly sure which situation he found more daunting and nerve wracking.
Though he’d seen and spent a rather embarrassing amount of time studying, the first scan picture that Sansa had sent to his phone as well as the few snaps he had of her showing off her sexy little belly, he did not know how seeing the baby move on the screen or hearing its little heartbeat, was going to affect him emotionally.
He was excited and yet almost violently terrified.
Whereas dining with Ned and Catelyn wasn’t at all exciting, because if he was honest about it, while he could respect them as people and peers, they weren’t exactly what he’d call friends. He knew that they weren’t particularly fond of him either, and to make it likely worse in their eyes, he had knowingly slept with their daughter despite being of an age with Cat, and far closer in age to Ned than Sansa. But he wanted it to go well for Sansa’s sake all the same.
From what he could glean from the things Sansa had said, they weren’t actually all that disappointed that Jaime was her child’s father, only that they hadn’t been dating more seriously when the baby was conceived… Which he found curious and slightly unbelievable.
“Alright! Let’s deal with the fun stuff first then hmm? The scan! - Let me know if you don’t want to know baby’s sex, and I’ll tell you when to look away if it’s made too obvious.” The lovely cheerful woman who did not look old enough to be a doctor at all, interrupted his thoughts with her pleasant chatter. “After that we’ll make our way through the rest of your checks and Dad can take the paperwork we need him to fill out for his medical history, with him, and they can be returned next check up - how’s that?”
Jaime followed automatically, as if he was on autopilot, as Sansa stood and made her way to the uncomfortable looking vinyl, paper covered bed and laid down. He stood to the side, utterly confused and yet oddly fascinated as she pulled the skirt of her dress up and over her belly to bunch under her breasts, out of the way, while the doctor tucked a towel into her panties and squirted what looked like super sticky and thick lube onto his baby, as if it was an entirely normal thing to do.
His heart leapt into his throat and he was forced to sit down the seat beside his girl as a loud whomping noise filled the room, and a wiggly little human like shape popped up on the screen on the other side of the bed.
He had been aware and prepared, even excited, to see his baby… And yet he hadn’t been at all prepared to see them.
Jaime’s eyes burned dangerously, and he could do nothing but stare and cling to Sansas hand, as he studied all the little body parts that made the idea of his soon being a father, a very real reality.
“Do we want to know the sex?”
He ignored the woman, his focused entirely on the baby until Sansa whispered his name.
“Do you want to know Jaime? I don’t mind if we do or don’t find out, I’d like the surprise I think, but if you want to know-“
“Isn’t that… Boy parts?” He interrupted, waving to the long dangling thing poking out near the small hips and thighs.
“That’s baby’s umbilical cord. But a common enough mistake, don’t worry.” The doctor laughed softly and pointed to where the babies genitals supposedly were visible. “This is their parts, as you say. And I can tell you which parts those are if you like, because it’s not necessary obvious to the untrained eye?”
Jaime swallowed hard and shook his head, having heard what Sansa had said: she wanted it to be a surprise, but she didn’t want to deny him the opportunity to know if he wanted to. And honestly he just wanted to know that his baby was healthy and that Sansa was doing fine… He had only been guessing because he thought it seemed obvious. He was wrong and he wasn’t going to hazard a guess of what that little line that was supposedly his baby's parts meant. He was honestly content to wait until they were born to know.
“Are you sure Jaime?” He blinked over to his teary eyed girl and nodded, lifting their joined hands to plant a desperate kiss to the back of hers.
“I’m sure Baby.” She blushed but held her tongue at his slipping and calling her by a brand new endearment, she simply squeezed his fingers and turned back to the screen to watch their little one roll around inside of her. “I can wait.”
Jaime eyed his brother contemplatively and decided that he was wrong, Tyrion wasn’t even close to being as excited about meeting his child as he was. And he wasn’t as excited about Sansa talking to him about the job he wanted to give her as Jaime was either… Not that he’d tell the little shit that and risk him chasing Sansa even more than he already had.
He hoped that after her visit the following week, she’d be willing to start moving her things into his loft, and make his place their home.
——————
“Honey, I’m home.”
Sansa smiled to herself at the familiar greeting being called out through the loft and sunk her huge form down into the warm bath, knowing he’d come looking for her soon enough.
She had lived with him for a couple of months, which was long enough to know he would search her out. And she’d lived in the massive claw foot bath in their huge ensuite bathroom, enough in the last week that he’d know to find her there when he discovered that she was already awake and out of bed.
He did not need to know that she’d been unable to get to sleep for more than a few moments at a time throughout the night, because she was aching and uncomfortable, and that was the true reason she was in the bath so early in the morning.
“I should have known.” Her lover teased playfully in the doorway and strolled in without waiting an invitation, stripping as he moved closer, obviously intent on joining her despite having showered at the firehouse before coming home, if his damp hair was any indication. “Can’t keep you out of that thing at the moment.”
She hummed in agreement and took his hand when he offered it, to help her sit up so he could climb in behind her.
“I’m huge and everything aches. The bath helps.” She muttered against his lips as he twisted them both enough so he could steal a kiss. “Your child is trying to beat me up, my back is protesting with or without being forced to support me. No matter if I sit, stand or lay down it hurts at the moment, and I was on my feet a lot yesterday and last night.”
“Mmm… That’s because my little squirt isn’t so little anymore… What had you on your feet so much?” He asked without demand, having learned his lesson about telling her what she should and shouldn’t be doing, after earning the silent treatment for nearly a full week for having the hide to try to make her rest when she had things to do.
“Pacing while I yelled at idiots who are too far away to see and understand I’m pissed off with a single look - because I’m here and they are all in Winterfell.” She huffed, more amused than anything now, in truth. Though she had not been amused at the time, and she was now paying for her agitation with idiots at work, with how uncomfortable and achey she was, and the mascot of sleep those discomforts had caused.
She definitely wasn’t going to tell him, but she absolutely had pushed herself too far the day before, dealing with stupid errors that had been made by her coworkers at her families company.
She hadn’t taken Tyrions offer for a job with Casterly. At least she hadn’t taken it with the intent to start immediately. What she had done was negotiated with him to take on an intern or a junior for a twelve month contract in the role, while she kept working with Starks financial division from home - even after she moved in with Jaime, until the baby was born. At which time she’d take the rest of the twelve month term off as partially paid maternity leave from Stark, and start with Tyrion after that, at Casterly.
That had been her compromise with one overbearing Lannister who was determined to hire her, and her overbearing Father who was determined to help her financially even though she had her trust fund and savings too… Her compromise with the other overbearing Lannister in her life was still being negotiated.
She was determined that Tywin could stick his determination to foist a full time, live in nanny on her, fair where the golden sun sets. And if he was so inclined to help in that regard, so she could go to work at Casterly, he could do so by employing an entire daycare staff and set up something for all employees at the Casterly offices, instead, because she was getting enough special treatment already.
Arguments were still ongoing, no matter that she was only days - maybe two weeks at most - out from giving birth to his grandchild.
She wasn’t worried though, Jaime and Tyrion had caved eventually to her demands for independence and free choice. - Jaime without too much effort at all in fact, but he understood her and loved her and she held the keys to his sex life. It was hardly a feat to convince him to stop babying her… Tywin would cave eventually too. - Lannisters were stubborn creatures by nature, but every single male Lannister she had met, had proved to be a sucker for the women in their family, with the notable exception of Cersei, who they mostly ignored, because she was an Uber bitch.
It was only a matter of time until she was told that space had been found and construction had been started on an in office daycare in The Casterly building.
She knew it and so did her boyfriends father.
“Well then it’s your own fault if your feet are swollen and your legs and back hurt! You were the one angrily pacing at nearly nine months pregnant, Beautiful. Don’t blame my little squirt for your actions.” Jaime replied nonchalantly, while resting his hands over their stretching child, inadvertently soothing her pained stomach muscles and skin as he did so.
“Stop calling our child your little squirt! I know where that nickname came from now!”
“Because he or she is the result of me squirting a little bit, inside you.” He laughed happily and rubbed her belly. “Took you long enough to work it out and get pissed about that, Baby.”
Sansa huffed in annoyance and slapped wildly over her shoulder in a bid to clip his ear for his awful teasing.
“Actually Arya asked me if that’s why you call the baby that, and I was ready to murder you for it and her for laughing about it and laughing about my obviously having missed your meaning! You’re a menace Lannister!”
“And you’re a sexy woman Stark slash Soon-to-be Lannister! Especially when you're huge with my kid, gloriously naked and pissed off at me!”
She snorted at him as he laid noisy smacking kisses to her jaw, neck and shoulder while sneaking a hand up to weigh her dreadfully heavy breast and tweak her overly sensitive nipple.
“What did you just call me?” She startled a little at what she had thought he’d said, and turned to look over her shoulder at him, forcing him to stop his needy nuzzling.
“Finally caught that, did you?” He grinned wickedly. “I was wondering if I’d managed to sneak that one by you.”
“Jaime!”
He laughed quietly at her growling and leaned forward to kiss her softly.
“Soon-to-be Lannister, is what I called you and yes I meant it… But I wasn’t asking yet because I may be an idiot when it comes to you Sansa, but I’m not so stupid as to ask my heavily pregnant girlfriend to marry me when she is clearly feeling miserable if she is bathing at 8am, and when she’s feeling the need to bash me too.”
“You could. I wouldn’t mind.” She whispered seriously, her heart exploding inside of her chest at the very idea that he might be that serious about her for herself, and not just because of their baby. “I already know I’d say yes.”
“No, because when I do ask, I want you to understand that I’m asking you and only you, to put up with me for the rest of our lives… Because I love you so much that I can’t imagine not having moments exactly like this, with you, every single day… I won’t be asking just because I got you pregnant, and you're sexy as hell all round with my child, and incredibly horny for me , thanks to all those wonderful pregnancy hormones… I want to make sure that we are clear on that.”
He punctuated his explanation by kissing her nose and lazing back behind her to get comfortable and soak with her massively pregnant form against his chest and between his legs. While she struggled to not ugly cry at his incredibly sweet words, or slap him for having teased her with such a thing.
“Well I’m certainly not horny right now! You realise how mean it is to dangle the prospect of a ring in front of your girlfriend and then take it away again?”
“I love you Sansa, but you’re just going to have to wait for the ring, my Beautiful Girl.”
“You could ask me without the ring and give it to me when I’m not huge and pregnant and miserable, and I’d still say yes now.” She grumbled at his carefree tone, still extremely overwhelmed with emotion over the whole subject. She shuffled awkwardly until she was comfortable as could be, and could lay her head on his chest properly without kinking her neck.
“You know why?” She whispered, grateful to have found some control over her hormonal reaction.
“Why?” He laughed softly, obviously indulging her petulance because he thought it was funny.
“Because I love you, even though you’re sometimes an ass, Jaime Lannister.”
“Hmm… And I love you, even when you’re all fat and grumpy... Ouch!”
She pinched his nipple… hard! - For the fat comment.
He deserved it and she wasn’t even remotely sorry.
Her pains started later that day.
After their bath Jaime had helped her to get dry and sorted them a quick breakfast, and then they returned to bed. She hadn’t slept very well the night before and Jaime had just come off a 48hr shift. So a nap had seemed like a fantastic idea. Even more so when her loves big hands took to massaging her aching back, hips and thighs, which of course led to an awkward and almost lazy bout of love making.
The first few pains were easily dismissed as just more ‘practice pains’, similar to those she’d been having on and off for days as her body prepared for the real thing.
They were not, and that became abundantly clear when they steadily grew more insistent and gained in strength.
She was panicked, though not nearly as much as she expected to be… And Jaime had been completely in control of himself - thanks to his years of experience as a first responder - which likely helped ease her own fears.
When she woke him, he simply blinked himself to full wakefulness, and wrapped himself around her, to give her comfort, while he timed her contractions for her. When they started to become a more insistent and beyond what she would consider uncomfortable, he stepped into the nursery they had made up for the baby and checked her hospital bag had everything she needed, while he called the hospital to advise they’d be in before the day was out, at the rate her contractions were moving.
Then he ran the shower and helped her into it, and held her up under the warm spray, even going so far as to take as much of her weight as he could to relieve her of the burden.
By the time they reached the hospital, she was ready to strangle him for being so damned calm and at ease. She was ready to share the pain and fear that was building inside of her until he snapped and showed her the explosion of emotion she had been expecting from him as the father of the baby trying to rip her insides apart.
He was emotional, of course he was, his eyes danced with obvious excitement for the most part, and with obvious discomfort over her pain every time she cried out or grimaced, with the waves of steadily increasing agony, too. He was loving and gentle with her… But he was also professional, and way too calm, and she had enough of those types at the hospital without adding her baby's Father to the mix. - She wanted him to feel as crazy and out of control as she felt.
She wanted to punch him in his stupid handsome face.
The idiot was even stupid enough to smile and press a kiss to her forehead, when she growled that exact thought at him as he helped her onto the uncomfortable looking half bed in the labour ward.
But he stayed with her, the whole time, through every single sob and scream… No matter what she threatened him with or how she cursed his very existence… Jaime Lannister did not budge from her side.
He held her hand, and pressed kiss after kiss to her disgusting sweat slicked hair and forehead, and he told her he loved her and she was beautiful, even after she said she was going to cut his stupid, wonderful cock off and smack him in the face with it.
He held her exhausted face in his broad hands and pressed his forehead to hers as she pushed and screamed at the burning, stretch and tear of her lower body, intent on helping her through and showing her that she was what was important to him in that moment, while she brought their baby into the world.
And when another scream of protest joined hers, he cried, holding her tight and burying his beautiful golden head in her neck as the emotion finally gave way, until their perfect and angry baby girl was laid on her chest and between them, forcing him to pull back enough to take in both of his girls.
——————
“Honey, I’m home!” Jaime grinned at the sound of hurried little feet racing towards him across the hardwood floors of the home he’d bought for his family not so very long after his daughter was born. He shut the front door, and dropped into a crouch to brace for impact.
“Daddy!”
He grunted as his wild and wonderful little lioness slammed into him at full tilt, and wrapped his arms around her tiny form so he could pick her up.
His duffel was left haphazardly laying in the entryway and he couldn’t care less - though he was sure he’d pay for it when his wife caught sight of it laying there, rather than being delivered to the laundry room properly.
“My Beautiful Girl.” He pulled back enough to grin at his little Joanna Catelyn Lannister, and pressed a smacking kiss to her blonde curls. “Did you miss me?”
“Yes! You were at work extra long this time!” His daughter huffed in annoyance. “You only stay at the firehouse for two nights Daddy! You stayed away for seven nights!”
Jaime hummed in agreement and kissed her head again, this time in apology.
He and Sansa had explained to their daughter that he’d be away with work for longer than normal this time because he had training in The Vale instead of his shift at the firehouse. But she was only five, retaining that information had apparently been a big ask.
More than likely she just hadn’t realised that him being away longer, meant he’d be away for a whole five extra nights.
“You are not the Lannister I was expecting to find.” Jaime huffed a laugh and deposited his clingy girl onto the stool at the kitchen counter quickly, before stepping around to greet his two year old son, who was presently sulking and burying his chubby little face in his Grandfather’s neck. “Hey Buddy.”
“Leave him alone, he’s tired.”
His Father growled at him and turned his focus to stirring the dinner he was apparently cooking in Jaime’s kitchen, while nursing his tired and grumpy child.
Jaime wasn’t sure he hadn’t walked into some horrifying alternative reality… Except that Tywin Lannister was still dressed in an impeccable designer suit, even in this terrifying domestic scene, which told him he had at least been to the office at some point.
“That useless new hire we took on in Casterlys Daycare seemed to think that my grandsons nap schedule was negotiable.” His Father explained. “I tried to fire her but your wife wouldn’t let me.”
Jaime snorted an incredulous laugh and looked over to his giggling daughter for some sort of clarification, despite his little angel not being nearly old enough to comprehend his utter disbelief, in not only what her grandfather had said, but the weird alternative reality he had walked into.
Not that he doubted his wife’s ability to get her way when it came to his father - or anyone else for that matter! The Great Lion might put up a better fight than most, but she could still talk him around to seeing things her way with enough effort… But how and why she managed to stop the man from firing someone he deemed to be underperforming in their role with his company, was frankly lost on him.
Of course, his father had slowly been stepping back, deliberately pushing more and more responsibility onto Tyrion and Sansa, grooming them to be the next Lannister power duo when the time came for he and Jaime’s Uncle Kevan to truly retire. But that time had not come yet, so it was quite curious that he simply didn’t overrule Sansa and fire the new hire if he wanted to.
Tyrion had always been slated to eventually take over as CEO, because Jaime himself had no interest in the company at all, and Cersei was not even close to being competent enough, which was why his Father had encouraged her to work with her husband at BaraCorp instead of Casterly after they’d gotten married… His father had been happy to have Tyrion take up the challenge, but he’d had concerns that he’d not have a competent COO when the time come if both he and Kevan were gone, as he was determined that only members of the family could hope to remain loyal enough to stand with Tyrion.
He hadn’t realised it at the time, but when he had told his father that he’d gotten the young and beautiful and highly intelligent Sansa Stark pregnant, he’d inadvertently put his girl on the path of being groomed into being that loyal Lannister. - The Stark turned Lannister who would be second only to his little brother as the heads and the future, of the Casterly Empire.
How in the world his wife preventing The Great Lion from firing a new recruit who had so gravely insulted the man, by making a mistake in regards to his golden lion cub, resulted in his finding The Great Lion snuggling said golden lion cub, in the kitchen of his and Sansas family home, while he cooked them dinner, he had no fucking idea. He didn’t even know his father could cook. And though he’d seen him lift his children into his arms plenty of times since Joanna’s birth, he’d never seen him willingly allow them to sulk into his neck the way the mans namesake now was.
But then Little Ty was his favourite Lannister, followed closely by Jo and then hilariously - Sansa… So he really shouldn’t have been surprised.
“I’m almost afraid to ask where my wife is?” He quipped, tipping his head to try to catch his favourite little mans emerald eyes over his fathers shoulder.
“Having a nap. She was ill this afternoon at work, which is why it was myself who discovered that Young Tywin had not been allowed his nap, and why I am acting as if I am the help! That stubborn girl is still refusing my attempts to hire her a live-in nanny, despite the obvious fact that you’ve put another Lannister inside of her, when she’s already busy enough with two children and her career. Especially with her idiot husband who galivants off to work for days or in this case weeks at a time.”
“Galivants-“ Jaime snorted an exasperated laugh and scrubbed at his tired face giving up on the idea of arguing with his father over what he actually does at work. Instead taking his son as his Father lifted him towards him, so he could focus on the oddly delicious smelling stir fry dish he was creating. “Wait! What did you say about another Lannister?”
Jaime froze and blinked at his smirking Father slowly, trying to think back to when he’d last known his wife to have suffered through her monthly visitor.
“Shit.” He groaned as his stomach flopped inside of him, remembering that his gorgeous woman had been unusually worn out in the days leading up to his trip to The Vale. “Am I in trouble, do you think?” He asked his Father, genuinely concerned that he’d managed to upset his wife by knocking her up again without any planning or conversation being had beforehand. “We’ve not discussed having more.”
“Go and wake her and find out, dinner is ready anyway and she needs to eat.” His Father scoffed and pulled dishes from the cupboard without needing to search them out. Telling Jaime that it was not the first time he’d made himself at him in his kitchen… “I have always protected you from the many screw ups in your life Jaime. But if you think for one moment that I’ll put myself in the path of that particular Lioness, to protect you if she is disappointed with the situation that you've put her in, you would be woefully mistaken.”
Jaime groaned dramatically and stepped away, leaving his Father to play at being the help as he called it, and waving his littlest woman to join he and the littlest Lannister Lion, in waking his sleeping and possibly pregnant again, love.
He wasn’t truly concerned though, like with Joanna and like with his little Tywin Eddard, he was ready and willing to be excited, and to see where the future would lead him this time.
Six years ago, almost exactly to the date, he had returned to Kings Landing after the most incredible week of his life. Where he’d spent his down time with the most amazing and beautiful girl in the world. Four months later she surprised him by leading his hand to the firm curve of the very little bump that was his daughter.
Five years ago, almost to the exact date, he’d asked that same amazing, beautiful girl to marry him, and she had done exactly that, less than six months later.
Since then they’d bought a house in a fancy but not obnoxiously over the top neighbourhood, with a good school district. They even had a dog, who he assumed had been relegated to the back garden with his Father present… And then she’d taken Casterly Enterprises by storm, earning the respect she was frustrated to have lost before she even started at his Fathers company, of everyone who rightly assumed she was given favour for being married into The Lannister family; but who wrongly assumed she wasn’t fit for the role all the same.
Then they’d added to their little family again and though she hadn’t actually told him so herself, he just knew they were about to do so again.
Jaime lowered his little man onto the bed so he could wiggle his way up and snuggle with his sleeping Mama, alongside his giggling sister. Then he lowered himself down to sit beside her gorgeous, sleepy form, and rest his hand over her belly, not at all surprised to find a telltale firmness hidden down near her pelvis.
“Mmm… Hi, you’re home.” He grinned at her mumbled greeting and sleep hazy eyes, and leaned low and pressed a soft kiss to her pretty, pouting lips.
“I am… That’s new.” He rubbed her belly pointedly and laughed at her sheepish little smile.
“I’ve had it a few months, though I only discovered it myself this week.”
Jaime laughed happily at the news that he was going to be a Father again, and at them sharing that news in the exact same way they had the first and even more unexpected time. He then contented himself with wrestling his children for his wife’s attention, and peppering all three and a bit of them, with all the kisses he’d missed out on stealing while he was away.
If he could handle seeing Tywin Lannister hugging babies and cooking dinner without his heart giving out, he could certainly handle the new changes that a third baby would bring into his life.
While he had Sansa at his side to share life with, he could handle just about anything, as far as he was concerned. - Even grudgingly his idiot brother in laws stupid holiday party… If he absolutely had to… a surprise baby was easy.