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“He’s eager to come out.”
Another kick under his palm where Sansa has it pressed against her belly has him smiling. She felt the first flutters a moon ago, but tonight the babe is restless. For all that Jon can recall the births of his youngest siblings, witnessing these moments in Sansa’s pregnancy, and sharing them, has been awe-inspiring and humbling and cause for more than a bit of head scratching. Right now as they sit in bed it’s excitement he feels, thinking ahead to a future when he might take his son hunting, or share a dance with his daughter.
“A few more months,” Sansa says, stroking a hand down her belly. “He’s warm in there and safe.” Something in her voice makes him look up, but her gaze is fixed on the ever growing swell that is proof that they’ll be parents soon. “Are you ever scared, Jon?”
“Of what, my love?”
“We had a sweet childhood, didn’t we? Father made sure of it, and my mother. They were strong, good people, but even they were powerless against the whole world. We can toil away until the day we die to make the North the safest place… Some people will always want to hurt others and they’ll manage. What can one do against that?”
A frown covers her face. How long has she been harboring these thoughts alone, he wonders. He knows worry aplenty, and though it might be a fool’s hope to imagine Sansa can be spared any, he won’t stop wishing for it.
“I have a sword and a wolf, and neither has stopped some from trying to hack at me. You’re here today, and so am I. Some of that required skill, but other times…” He pauses, grasping at truths he’s uncertain how best to put into words for her.
She’s ahead of him anyway, seeing into his heart the way he hopes she feels he sees into her dear one too.
“Some nights all I had to keep me going were my memories, and the knowledge that life has warmth and laughter and love in it too.”
“We can give our children all of that. We will. Fear can’t hold us back.”
That earns him a smile. “Well, the babe is on its way, so I suppose it already hasn’t.”
“It’s a good thing.”
He means it as an affirmative, but can’t fully keep away the questioning tilt of his voice. She answers with a kiss and the soft padding of her fingers over his face.
“And we’ll be together through it all.”