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Jaime had been looking forward to getting to be a chaperone for his son Tommen's holiday play field trip. Ever since his divorce from Cersei the year before, he'd felt more disconnected from his kids' day to day lives, including their school lives. The fact that hanging out with a group of first graders was the very opposite of how his ex would choose to spend a snowy, December morning was of benefit to Jaime. When Tommen had asked if he'd sign up to be a chaperone, he'd said "let me sign in Lannister red ink."
That said, Jaime always seemed to forget about the reality of taking a young child anywhere. He was currently being reminded of it as he stood outside the theater bathroom. Tommen had insisted he didn't need his dad to go in with him, so he found himself standing sentry instead. After a couple moments of doing so alone, he heard an approaching conversation.
"Podrick, are you certain you don't want to just go into my restroom?"
"No, mom, I've got this. You'll see. I'll be back in a jiffy."
"Okay. Just do your business and come right back out."
"Of course!" he said cheerfully, sending a big smile in the woman's direction and then disappearing into the men's room.
Jaime smiled a bit to himself and then looked over...and then up a bit...to see the mother in question. She was quite tall and had wide, strong shoulders that looked tense in that moment as she looked toward the spot where her son had just stood a moment ago. Her skin was pale though it seemed to be an all over thing and not just the pallor of a concerned parent. Her hair was blonde and fell a little below her shoulders. When he made his way to her eyes with his perusal, he only had a second to be stunned by them before he noted that they were staring back at his own.
He cleared his throat. "They can be so independent at inconvenient times, can't they? My son's in there too. Didn't want my help, no sir-ee."
She seemed to relax a bit and let her lips curve into a small smile. They were nice lips. Full.
"Yes, it's very hit or miss right now. Sometimes, I'm like 'you know perfectly well how to pull your own socks on' and others I feel like I'm begging to help with something...usually to try to avoid an inevitable mess."
Jaime chuckled. "Definitely. I know what you mean...and I'm really hoping Tommen doesn't exit with wet footprints, hair, or anything else."
"We can always hope." Jaime nodded and they were silent a couple moments. "So, Tommen's your son?"
"Yes."
"That makes sense. I can see the resemblance."
"Oh, thank you. My ex never liked that he favored me."
"Oh...so, Cersei is your ex?"
"That she is...we've been divorced for a year and change."
"Sorry...didn't mean to pry. I've met her before..."
"Then, I'm the one who should be sorry."
She broke out into the most spontaneous (and loud) laugh he'd maybe ever heard and then soon moved to cover her mouth, looking a bit chagrined.
"Sorry...I shouldn't have laughed so at that. It's just...well, we don't see eye to eye on the priorities for the classroom. I'm there volunteering often but she's, well, rather forceful on the occasions she does see fit to march into the school to make demands."
"It's okay. I know exactly how she is. And I'm glad, if nothing else, I could give you a laugh about it."
She smiled again. "Speaking of laughter..."
Jaime listened in that moment as he saw his conversation partner do and he heard the sound of two little boys giggling. "Oh, I wonder if this can be good."
"I'm sure we'll find out soon, but if it goes on for too long, I can storm the castle and check on them."
"We'll give them another minute, I guess. I'm Brienne, by the way. Brienne Tarth."
"Jaime Lannister. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Tarth."
"Oh, no, um...Miss or Ms., not Mrs. Or, well...just Brienne is fine."
"Okay, Brienne."
The boys chose that moment to stumble out the bathroom door, still chortling over their antics. Given the suds still clinging to their once nice-looking sweaters, it became apparent what those antics may have been.
"Oh my, Podrick. Did you stop to take a bath while you were in there?" That question only caused more chortles from both boys.
Jaime examined Tommen's blond curls and scrunched some errant suds up in them like hair mousse, tsking his son very half-heartedly.
Brienne shook her head and sighed and began rummaging through her rather large purse. "Now then, arms up." Podrick did as instructed and then started giggling and protesting, "...agh...tickles...mom." Before any of them knew it, she had her son dressed in a fresh long-sleeved shirt, albeit one with an ugly holiday sweater pattern on it.
Jaime looked at Tommen and shrugged. "Uh, cub, I don't really have a replacement on me. Maybe we should go try holding you under the hand dryer for a while."
Brienne snorted and thrust another long-sleeved holiday-patterned shirt in his direction. He took it, looking surprised. "They're about the same size. If you want, Tommen can use that for now."
"That's very kind of you. Thank you."
"It's no problem. It was something my friend Catelyn taught me. She's a mother of five and she told me I should always have extra clothes with me if I can, at least until he hits puberty and then depending what sports or activities he does, it may still be necessary."
"I'll keep that in mind. That voice of experience holds a lot of weight." Jaime made quick work of helping Tommen change and then the four of them headed back in the direction of the main auditorium. "Which row are you in?" he asked, wondering how Brienne hadn't caught his notice before now.
"We're in row N on the left."
"Oh, we're row L on the right." That explained perhaps why he hadn't noticed her, if they'd been ushered in through different doors on opposite sides of the theater. "Well, I guess we'll see you after the show then?"
"Enjoy," she said with a smile and a nod that he returned just as they separated to enter the inner theater. Tommen and Podrick waved goodbye to one another cheerily and then allowed themselves to be ushered off by their respective parent.
Jaime and Tommen slid back into their row without incident and proceeded to enjoy the remainder of the show. They hadn't missed too much and Tommen had already seen an animated version of The Nutcracker before, so he knew the general gist of the story. Jaime liked seeing his son's enjoyment of the show and seeing all of the children around them and their parents enjoying it equally. Some moments in parenting were more than trying, downright frustrating and demoralizing even, but this one was pretty peaceful and nice.
At curtain's close and following a generous ovation and some teacher provided instructions, he and Tommen waited for their row's turn to exit. He spotted Brienne and her son in the lobby. She was already speaking with a teacher and signing the form parent chaperones could sign to allow their children to be dismissed from the school day directly from the theater. Jaime had already decided to sign that form too, so he made his way over to inform the teacher. Brienne handed him the clipboard and he signed Tommen out. He thanked the teacher for the opportunity to join the group that day as he handed her back the clipboard.
"Let's get our coats from the coat room, cub." Tommen agreed happily and he and Podrick took off in that direction.
"We left ours there too," Brienne confirmed. "Did you like the play?"
"I did. And I think it was a hit with the kids."
"Oh, definitely. They do a great job giving a quality performance but making it age-appropriate."
"Yes." He looked on and saw the two boys animatedly talking. "Those two seem to get on quite well."
"They do, indeed."
An idea entered Jaime's mind and he didn't know why but it interested him a good deal. "You know, I was thinking of taking Tommen down the street to Hot Pie's Cafe for some hot chocolate. Would you and Podrick like to join us, if you're not on a tight schedule?"
She looked momentarily surprised but then glanced toward the boys and back at him, those blue eyes of hers sparkling. "Yes, thank you, I think we would. That sounds lovely."
There was something about her voice or the way she met his eyes, something that told him she was really engaged in their interaction that just left him feeling warm inside. "Great!"
They saw to it that everyone was bundled up once more. Jaime still had Tommen's sweater draped over one arm and he held Tommen's hand as they exited the theater and walked down the sidewalk toward the popular little cafe. Thankfully, it wasn't so popular that they didn't easily get a seat once they arrived.
A couple hot cocoas each, a variety of baked goods, and over an hour later, he found himself nearly giddy about having met Brienne Tarth. As it turned out, they shared a lot of similar interests, and dislikes for that matter. They talked about the kids and Jaime shared that he'd like to be able to find other ways to be involved with the school. His new friend was able to share about some upcoming events and school volunteering opportunities he could consider. She even pointed him to the best parent-teacher group on social media for their boys' school and made a few suggestions for Myrcella's grade too. He could see that Brienne, despite not having been prepared to become a mother, was a great one. She'd opened up to him (in brief and basic terms given their company) about having taken Podrick into her care due to necessity more than initial desire and having eventually adopted him very much related to love. She seemed like such an honorable woman, a fascinating one, the kind he wanted to keep getting to know.
It was a good thing then that they'd exchanged phone numbers before they'd left Hot Pie's. They'd walked back to the parking garage together and hugged goodbye before they'd gone their separate ways. The boys had giggled and Tommen had made kissy faces and noises at him when they'd gotten into the car, which had earned him ten seconds of merciless tickling. After dropping Tommen off with his mother and sister later in the day, wearing a finally dry sweater, Jaime spent a quiet evening at home just doing some laundry. The load was small but he just wanted to be ready to return a certain borrowed shirt sometime in the very near future.