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“I’m twenty-five, it just seems too late...”
Davos stopped himself. He’d been arguing with Maester Cressen for a good few minutes now and it was becoming increasingly clear that what he was actually doing was trying to talk reality into bending itself backwards. He was the one who had noticed his belly growing and the movement within, the nausea and the tension in his muscles, and the sudden burning need to cling to Stannis’s leg at all times that well overshot the mark of the already unreasonable affection he had for a man who would always have to marry and leave him despite their current tentative affair. The last item on that list, he had not mentioned to Maester Cressen, but he’d still been able to figure out the cause of Davos’s discomfort with little issue. Even Davos, who did not have his education, could not pretend to be surprised, though. The signs were fairly clear if considered from this perspective.
When he fell silent, marking his waning resistance, Maester Cressen gave him an approving glance.
“It happens every once in a while. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories,” Maester Cressen said, since Davos’s flow of words had finally ceased. “The way these cases go, you will experience your first real heat after the pregnancy. The ones you’ve had so far were so weak you may have mistaken them for regular... excitement.”
Davos was sure his ears had grown pink. It was true that he’d had scattered nights were he’d felt almost insatiable, but he’d blamed that on being a young man with urges to match. It was not like betas never got in the mood, after all.
“Well, this will be hard to explain,” he just said with a sigh, finally resigning himself.
If it was to be that he was an omega, then he would have to live with it. He only wished that his lover did not have to find out with him in such drastic fashion. He knew Stannis’s stance on bastards.
“To the father?” Maester Cressen asked carefully. Despite the fact that he was deliberately busying himself on his work bench, Davos could hear light curiosity in his voice.
“Yes. I don’t think he’ll have much use of a child by me.” He stopped himself. “I should talk to him first, of course. Thank you for your help, Maester Cressen. I would be thankful if you did not tell Lord Stannis yet. He will learn soon enough.”
There really was no way to keep Stannis’s name completely out of this conversation, even if it might have made things a bit obvious.
To his surprise, Maester Cressen drew himself up a little. “Sir Davos,” he said, “you’re clever. I’m sure you must be aware that Lord Stannis is fond of you. You should tell him quickly so he has time to – adjust plans accordingly.”
There was a warning in his tone and Davos found himself smiling. Apparently, he hadn’t been quite obvious enough. The old maester really did care for Stannis in a way very few people seemed to, had even come here to help ease Stannis’s way into his new role of master of ships, and Davos would never begrudge him that. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen to go to him instead of Maester Pycelle, whom he did not trust nearly as much.
There were no plans Stannis ordinarily would have had to adjust around one of his knights carrying a child, but Davos understood well what Maester Cressen was telling him: let him deal with the fact that you’re breaking his heart by having somebody else’s child.
Of course, it was not, but apparently they had been discreet enough to hide the fact.
“Don’t worry. I have the Lord’s best interests at heart,” Davos said with a bow of his head.
He just didn’t know what that meant when he carried his bastard under his heart.
-
Stannis was in his study at the Red Keep, as so often these days. He took the new tasks his brother had given him very seriously, even after the ongoing fight that had started when Stannis had not been able to catch the fleeing Targaryens and the following humiliation of Robert switching his inheritance to his brother – the castle Stannis had defended almost at the cost of his life – while giving Stannis the lands of Dragonstone.
Davos really disliked having to add to his troubles, but it couldn’t be helped. Much like trying to ignore the fact that he was not, in fact, a beta as he’d believed all his life, the baby wouldn’t stop growing while he dragged his feet.
After knocking, he entered and sat down on the edge of the desk. Stannis threw him an unimpressed look, but he had given up on trying to teach Davos not to do so. He never acted out in front of others, so Stannis had to live with his little moments of impoliteness in private; and in truth, it did not feel to Davos like Stannis really minded all too much that he brought some little levity here and there, or otherwise Davos would not have done it.
Of course, his mood was not too light now. He thought that Stannis could tell, too, from the way he looked at his face with a frown.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I’m pregnant, my lord,” Davos said without preamble, keeping his voice calm. “Maester Cressen has informed me that I’m an omega who presented late. I admit, now that he told me, it’s easy for me to see the signs as well, though I did not want to believe him at first.”
They had always been people who talked to each other without mincing words or dancing around truths. Stannis liked it that he was forthright when it came to uncomfortable things, too. Even as he stared, he did not stop Davos from finishing what he had to say.
“I... see,” he said. “The child is mine?”
“Yes, of course. Maester Cressen said it should be four months along... we were just finishing up the fleet four months ago.”
Stannis and him had had much occasion to spend the nights together during that time while working with the shipwrights in the days, as they had been left more or less to their own devices with the task,.
It seemed Stannis remembered these nights as well, judging by the colour on his cheeks. He ran a hand through his short dark hair, dropped it immediately.
“I assume you’re considering your options now,” he said stiffly.
“My options?” Davos echoed.
“You’re a male omega, a knight despite what anyone says. You will have offers.”
Davos had not really wasted a thought on it yet, to be true, much too preoccupied with the idea of Stannis’s reaction. However, male omegas were rare and even one with a bastard child could probably take their pick of husbands way above his standing. After all, it was supposed to be a special blessing from the Mother that made it possible for them to carry in the first place – not to mention that they were also the only official refuge for men who preferred men, but were still under obligation to provide heirs for their bloodline. Then, there were the benefits of the carnal nature that alphas reaped. Heats were supposed to be intoxicating for them as well and ruts could best be quenched by omegas.
However, the idea of leaving Stannis’s side was difficult. It might be necessary to protect his honour, though. If Davos presented more obviously in the future, and he hardly couldn’t when he was pregnant, people would quickly wonder if Stannis was the father, considering he was just about Stannis’s only close confidant.
“Do you want me to go?” he asked. “I understand people might talk.”
“People do nothing but talk in this damned castle,” Stannis muttered dismissively. “If one listened to everything they said, they would get to nothing else.”
The corner of Davos’s mouth twitched. If he was honest, he’d hoped Stannis would say something to this effect. “We should first think about what to do with the child. No one would have to know about their father, though they might suspect it, anyway. I do know you disapprove of the king’s habits around his bastards...”
“I disapprove that he has bastards at all. Ignoring them doesn’t make it better,” Stannis said, cutting him off.
Davos cocked his head. “You want to acknowledge the child?”
Stannis gave him a look that suggested he was insulted Davos had ever even thought otherwise.
In that case, it would most benefit the child not to have Davos’s name, but that of a noble bastard, which still carried some weight. It would likely be born in the Crownlands, so Waters made the most sense, but Stannis was of the Stormlands, so Storm was also an option. Davos felt a sudden sense of relief that he would not have to play at the kind of subterfuge he was decidedly not made for. Sneaking around in the dark had been his occupation, but lying to everyone’s face in broad daylight was a different type of secrecy. Besides, it would mean his child didn’t have to grow up uncertain about their heritage.
“Thank you, my lord,” he said and added, the way he would when they were alone: “Stannis.”
For some reason, Stannis looked like he had struck him. He gritted his teeth as he rose from his desk.
“Get some rest. You have worked too hard for someone in your state lately,” he said curtly.
-
The news of Davos’s pregnancy spread quietly and quickly through the castle, jumping from servants to guards to courtiers pretty much within a day. From what Davos could tell, Stannis ignored the whispering, even the obvious jabs from his brother, who felt very gratified by this turn of events. Instead of rising to the bait, he quietly had Davos’s chambers changed to fit his new needs – not that Davos had asked, as he was quite happy with what he had. Still, the soft new blankets, the extra food always supplied on the table and the stronger hearth fire now that the weather was edging towards winter were welcomed. He also basically had to fight Stannis for tasks now, since Stannis was trying to take the work load off of him.
All in all, Stannis made for an exemplary expecting father if not for the fact that he had stopped sharing Davos’s bed entirely and they did not even kiss anymore. Davos tried to swallow the disappointment, even as his newly awakened instincts begged for Stannis’s touch whenever he saw him, and his higher mind missed the close conversations they had shared late into the night in Stannis’s chambers, when he opened up that little bit more that Davos did not get to see otherwise. He could not blame him for not wanting to touch Davos anymore, though, considering the embarrassment it had already brought him. However, Davos could still hear the echo of Stannis telling him he loved him – almost grudgingly, staring him in the eyes as if it was a declaration of war – and wondered what had become of that.
When he tried to set all that aside, there were some more base problems with the pregnancy as well, of course, which were almost more pleasant to focus on, if not in the moment. Davos still struggled with nausea, especially in the mornings, but it sometimes caught him unexpected in the afternoon as well. He had managed to make it to a quiet part of the courtyard this time, emptying his stomach into the bushes. As he was still retching, hands digging into the sand, he suddenly felt a hand wind into his hair and hold it out of the way. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Stannis standing over him with a frown.
Davos decided to worry about it once he had gotten rid of all the offending food inside of him. As he could finally clamber to his feet, he felt Stannis’s hand rest on his back for a short moment before it dropped.
“Thank you,” Davos said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
He would have apologised, but Stannis had come to him and besides, he’d seen people at their physical worst during the siege; something like this was unlikely to bother him.
“Come,” Stannis just told him.
Davos trudged behind him into the castle and up the stairs. His vague hopes that Stannis would lead him to his own chambers were dashed, however; they ended up at Davos’s door instead. Stannis herded him into the washroom so Davos could rinse his mouth and get the foul taste off his tongue.
“I can send someone else to the harbour tonight. Don’t push yourself,” he said when Davos returned.
“I haven’t pushed myself in a while!” Davos said with a small smile. “You have not let me.”
“Still, you don’t seem well.”
“It is what it is. From what I’ve heard, it’s luck of the draw when it comes to what one experiences in pregnancy,” Davos said, sitting heavily on the bed.
He looked up at Stannis’s face and saw the obstinate expression there, forcing a smile out of him. Stannis hated it when things slipped from his control like that.
“Everything will be fine,” Davos added.
Silence spanned between them for a moment before Stannis looked to the door. “I will leave you to rest.”
“Do you have to?” The words escaped him unbidden, yet Davos decided not to back down from them as Stannis turned back to him. Instead, he gave him another smile. “I understand things are different between us now, but I miss at least talking to you, my lord.”
He saw Stannis’s jaw working under his short-cropped beard.
“It’s not that easy. If I were an alpha...”
He did not finish the sentence. Davos frowned.
“If you were an alpha?” he asked, unsure what that had to do with the present situation.
“If I were an alpha, I would have already married you. However, I know as an omega you’ll want a mate that can fully satisfy you in the end. I hear the scent, the rut, the heat, it is all connected.” He took a deep breath. “You’lll have to leave, so don’t make me do this.”
Davos stared at him. Perhaps it was his own fault that he had never connected the dots here; had never asked himself how Stannis had been convinced he’d want another partner so quickly. However, the instincts the pregnancy had awakened in him had made him so constantly want Stannis’s presence that the very suggestion had been silly to him.
“I’ve no mind to find an alpha, Stannis,” he said and decided that if he was being honest, he may as well fully commit to it. “I want to stay with you. Married or not, as your knight, your concubine or your husband, I never planned to leave for any other house.”
Stannis looked so full of hope it was actively painful. Davos got to his feet, a little unsteady as they were, and crossed the distance between them.
“Are you certain?” Stannis asked.
“My feelings for you have not changed. And if you truly are serious about marrying me... obviously, you didn’t need to be an alpha for us to make a child, so I could bear you heirs.”
To prove his point about his loyalty, Davos knelt before his lord, but his knee hadn’t even touched the ground before Stannis pulled him back up, holding his shoulders so tightly the grip hurt.
“What about your instincts? All your good-will won’t help that.”
“I don’t know much about being an omega yet, but what I can tell you is that right now, I always want to be around you, close enough to touch.” Davos chuckled. “I guess it’s not so different from before, then, but this is – an urge, something impossible to ignore. It doesn’t seem to matter that you are a beta. I don’t see why it would, truly.” His smile turned a bit more playful. “Besides, you’ve never had any trouble satisfying me before...”
Stannis frowned at him, but in the less insistent, less indignant way that he got only when Davos teased him. It felt like the world had finally clicked into place again. Davos smiled.
“Come closer, then,” Stannis just said, and Davos could hear the relief in his voice.
He moulded himself against Stannis’s body and breathed in his scent – perhaps not that of an alpha, but that of the man he had been in love with for a year. Stannis embraced him.
“Maester Cressen is going to be mad at me,” Davos joked. He had tortured both of them for no reason.
Stannis raised his brows. “Why?”
“I’ll explain later.” He looked up. “Are we really going to be married?”
“Why would you question me? Of course I will marry you if you let me. I would have married you a year ago if I could have.”
He added the last part with a little less force, almost embarrassed.
Davos put his head back against Stannis’s chest. “Good,” he said simply, smiling at the way Stannis’s heartbeat thumped more quickly under his ear as he did.