Chapter Text
Every year since they were children, the Stark family trip to Disney World has been chaos.
This year, though they’re hardly children anymore, is no different.
All of the kids are gathered in Winterfell, though strictly speaking, none of them live here anymore. Even “Baby” Rickon has just turned 21, and is away at college for the vast majority of the year. They’ve all gone their separate ways, are leading their separate lives, but they find time for this trip every year, no matter what.
No, really — Bran had tried to skip the trip this year to stay behind and do some research for his dissertation, but Arya threatened him with warfare of both the psychological and physical varieties if he dared skip out on their annual vacation.
Ned sat at the kitchen table with Cat, each sipping at a cup of coffee as they prepare for the long drive to Orlando. He’d told all of his kids that they’ll be leaving in exactly an hour, and he chuckled with his wife as they listen to the sound of feet shuffling and doors opening and closing upstairs.
“Who do you think will have the first disaster this year?” Catelyn asked with a fond roll of her eyes, right as their oldest, Robb, barreled into the kitchen. His eyes are wide, and he starts opening and closing drawers without saying a word to either of his parents.
“Hello to you, too, son,” Ned chuckled as Robb threw open the freezer, rummaging through the ice bucket, then slamming it shut in frustration.
“It’s not here ,” Robb said angrily in reply, before stomping back up the stairs to continue searching for whatever he’s lost. Why it would be in the freezer of all places is beyond his mother and father, but then again, Myrcella Baratheon has always been a curious girl. If Ned had been trying to hide an engagement ring from her, he might have resorted to the strangest of hiding places, too.
Not that there’s any guarantee that’s what he’d been searching for. Although their son had giddily informed his parents that he’d gotten permission to ask for Myrcella to marry him, there was just as good a chance that he’d misplaced the engagement ring as that he’d just been trying to hide something from his siblings. Arya in particular —she was the next to traipse through the kitchen, a manic gleam in her eyes.
“I don’t like that look,” Cat said to her daughter, as her boyfriend Gendry trailed in after her, looking slightly miserable.
“I like that look even less,” Ned replied, as the two of them carried on as if they weren’t even in the room.
“Arya, I’m hungry ,” Gendry pleaded as his daughter stood in front of the pantry, barring it with her tiny body.
“No! Last year you had to vomit by the time we got to Italy, we have to starve ourselves until we get there so we can eat our way around the world the fastest! We have to win!” his youngest daughter insisted, glaring at her boyfriend in a way that did not leave room for any questions, comments, or concerns.
“Arya,” Catelyn scolded, but it was no use. Gendry had already admitted his defeat, and instead was pouring himself a glass of water, resigned to tricking his stomach into feeling full as they prepared for the marathon competition that awaited them.
Every year, they made sure to plan their vacation during Disney World’s famous Food and Wine Festival. The kids hadn’t enjoyed it when they were younger, calling EPCOT the most boring of the four Disney parks and even attempting to boycott the day they were supposed to go there and threatening to stay at their hotel in the pool instead.
And then, Arya had turned 16. She’d seen people filling passports with stickers and proudly turning them in at the end of the day as if they’d accomplished something. Arya loved accomplishing things, especially when her accomplishments made her seem more skilled at something than her siblings and cousin Jon, and the Stark family ‘eat around the world’ competition had been born.
It was now eight years later, but the rules hadn’t changed. One day. More than thirty food booths scattered around the park. Whichever Stark (plus whatever friend they brought along with them that year as their plus one) completed their food passport first was declared the champion.
For the first couple of years, Robb had taken home the prize. He’d had an easier time of things, being able to alternate between food and alcohol, and he’d always laughed at how infuriated Arya was when he was declared the victor. Then, Bran had gotten into his accident, and his wheelchair had given him an advantage. Plenty of people let him skip to the front of the lines, and he’d left Arya in the dust for a couple years of victory of his own.
Last year, though… last year, Arya and Gendry had won decisively, and it seemed that his daughter had a mind to do it again.
“He’s fine, mom! He’s just not as used to being a winner as I am,” Arya insisted, and Ned stood up from his seat, going over to ruffle his daughter’s hair.
“Good thing, that. If he’d been the one to bite Theon in the name of ‘winning’ last year, I don’t think that poor boy would have an ear anymore.”
Cat’s eyes went wide with horror as Ned mentioned ‘the incident’ — not that the whole world doesn’t know about it already, Bran had posted a video of it on YouTube and it had gone ‘viral,’ whatever that meant. Theon Greyjoy had been a frequent member of their party over the years, coming with Robb or even Bran, before they’d gotten girlfriends, and he would have been more than welcome to join this year, too.
But last year, he and Bran had come too close to victory, and before he could get in line at the last booth, Arya had bit him to slow down his progress. Theon had howled in pain as Gendry had shoved a tostada from Mexico into his mouth, and Arya had only let Theon go when it was time to slam the last of her stickers onto the page and declare herself the champion.
Ned suspected that that was why the boy had turned down the invitation to join them, but he couldn’t be sure.
“That was one time!” Arya shrugged, then said, “We’ve got way better plans this year, don’t we, Gendry?”
Dutifully, Arya’s boyfriend nodded his head, then she quickly ushered him out of the room before her parents can ask any questions about what their trickiest child has in store.
Sansa came into the kitchen next, although unlike her siblings, there’s nothing harried about her entrance. Instead, she pulled her rolling suitcase behind her, and she’s followed by three other girls, all of them immaculately dressed and seemingly all ready to go.
“Tea?” their oldest daughter asked as she started the electric kettle boiling, and Margaery Tyrell, Jeyne Pool, and Myrcella all nod their heads.
Myrcella kept casting glances towards the doorway, as if she were torn between sitting in the kitchen getting her caffeine fix and going upstairs to help Robb. Ned had heard him forbid her from packing for him the night before, and he and Cat had smiled knowingly at each other — Robb really was going to be proposing on this trip, and he was trying to keep it a surprise for his girlfriend as long as possible. It was clearly driving Myrcella crazy, though; Ned’s seen it over the years, the way she takes care of his son, always knowing where to find things he’s lost, always helping him fit more into his bag than he might have on his own, all kinds of small gestures that show how patient and attentive she is.
Margaery Tyrell, on the other hand, looked ready to burst with excitement. It was her first year being invited on the trip — Sansa had always brought Jeyne, every year since they were eight. Even when she’d had boyfriends, she’d passed them up in favor of her lifelong friend, so it had been a shock when she’d been home in August and gushed about how happy she was Margaery was coming this year.
Ned and Cat loved Jeyne like their own daughter, and had exchanged horrified glances when they’d realized she was going to be excluded from the family trip for the first time in nearly two decades. It wasn’t like Theon, who came off and on and really seemed fine with being left behind — it would have broken Jeyne’s heart not to go, and they’d been wracking their minds for ways to include the Poole girl when Jon had interjected.
“Sans, why don’t you invite two friends this year? Sam’s busy and I don’t feel like rushing to find someone else.” Cat had narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Jon’s offer, and Ned had to admit it was quite convenient — but his nephew had always been kind, since long before his parents had passed away and left him in Ned’s care. It didn’t matter why he was doing it, what he was doing for Jeyne was a kindness, and Ned had been grateful that he’d never have to find out what Sansa’s friend would have thought about being left behind.
Still, Ned can definitely see the shift in the girls' dynamics, even with the clock ticking as their departure nears. Margaery and Sansa were all giggles and smiles, pouring over a list of the food booths for this year’s festival, and Jeyne sat at the end of the table a bit quietly, sipping her tea. Ned wondered how that will go, when they get to the parks, but he didn't have time to think on it for long, as a crash somewhere down the hallway made Cat leap from her chair.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Ned heard Bran yell, and a few moments later, Meera Reed wheeled him into the kitchen.
“Sorry, Mrs. Stark. We were just practicing seeing how fast I can push him, so that Arya can’t get too far ahead of us when we get to Disney,” she admitted sheepishly, and Ned snorted into his coffee. He knew Cat was amused deep down, too, at how intense their children get about this whole thing — or at least, she would be amused, once she went out into the hallway and ensured that Bran and Meera hadn't broken anything.
“I take it that means you’re all packed otherwise, then?” Ned didn’t notice Jon come in with all the commotion, but there was his nephew, leaning against the kitchen counter, messy hair, reserved smile, eyes glancing towards Jeyne Poole, as if he were checking to make sure she was okay. Ned breathed a sigh of relief — it seemed that offering his friend spot for Jeyne wasn’t the end of his making sure she was all right, and Ned sensed that somehow, their day at EPCOT would turn out all right after all, no matter how joined at the hip Sansa and her newer best friend seem to be.
“Yep, everything ready to go! Just Rickon and Robb now, right?” Bran asked eagerly, right as the former stomped into the room.
“You filled my suitcase with books !” Rickon said angrily, glaring at Bran. He had one in his hands, a particularly thick volume on Floridian birds, and Ned’s youngest son looked like he was about to cock his arm back and hurl the tome at Bran when his plus one stepped into the room, and then it’s like everything stops for Rickon.
“Don’t do that,” Lyanna Mormont said, or more commanded, really. And Rickon obeyed, because he always obeys. Cat has joked about how she really wishes she knew how that girl does it, because the youngest Stark has always been the wildest, even more free-spirited and hard to control than Arya . He’d been a troublemaker in high school, and gods knew what he got up to in college — but with Lyanna around, at least nothing had been bad enough to get him chucked out.
Ned had a feeling that no matter what words of wisdom Lyanna might have, though, Cat would never get the same results from her son. Cat was his mother , and Lyanna was the girl he stared at as if she’d hung the moon. Oh, he swore up and down that they weren’t dating, that they were just the best of friends, but Ned had seen bonds like theirs before, and he had a feeling it wasn’t nearly so platonic as Rickon insisted. Everyone else in the family called Lyanna his girlfriend, and Ned was sure that before they were done with their university days, Rickon would be using that title to describe her, too.
“But Lya ,” Rickon protested as she snatched the book out of his hands. She walked it over calmly to Bran, setting it down in front of him.
“We unpacked this and the rest of your books, too,” she told him, folding her arms over her chest.
“He had plenty of room!” Bran protested, stuffing the bird book into the pocket on the back of his chair.
“He had forgotten his toothpaste . And his swim trunks, and his comb, and shoes ,” Lyanna argued, and Ned bit back the urge to laugh again. Some of those oversights were just Rickon being Rickon, forgetful and impractical, but he had a feeling the shoe thing was on purpose. If Disney Parks would let him in barefoot, he’d galavant around shoeless all day, of that Ned was sure.
“Thank goodness he has you to pack for him! I’m sure Robb’s forgotten something, maybe I should just…” Myrcella began, starting to rise from her seat, too. There were only five minutes to departure time, and Robb and Arya really seemed to be cutting things down to the wire. Ned could only pray that other things were holding Robb up, and that he hadn’t actually lost an entire engagement ring somewhere inside the halls of Winterfell.
Before Myrcella could even get out of her chair, though, Robb walked in, warm smile on his face and two suitcases pulled behind him. He left them in the corner, walking straight to Myrcella and standing behind her, leaning down to plant a kiss on top of her hair.
“I’ve got everything important . Anything I forgot I can get in the hotel lobby, I promise,” he informed her, sounding far too proud — but Ned supposed some of that was the glow that went along with knowing a proposal was just around the corner. He remembered the days leading up to asking Cat to spend the rest of her life with him, and how he’d been buzzing in anticipation of it; he could only imagine that Robb was feeling that times ten, since his son had always worn his heart on his sleeve more than Ned had.
“If you say so,” Myrcella giggled as she stood up from her chair, turning to wrap her arms around Robb in a hug.
“Gross, you two better not be this mushy the entire trip,” Arya fake-gagged as she and Gendry joined them in the kitchen. Ned looked at his clock — they were all there, and it was exactly the time he’d told them to depart.
“I think this is a first,” he chuckled as he drained the last sip of his coffee and went to put the mug in the dishwasher.
“Has everyone gone to the bathroom? We’re not stopping until we’ve crossed state lines,” Cat told them all sternly, and he heard at least three groans as different people ran off to relieve themselves before they loaded into the car.
Ned laughed — of course it had been too good to be true. Still, it only took seventeen minutes for them all to use the restroom, play Tetris with their bags, fight over who was riding in which car, and rush back into the house for last minute snacks (and in Sansa’s case, a pair of Minnie ears).
Then, they clambered into the Stark family’s two large SUVs, waved to the other car, and hit the road, off to the happiest place on Earth.