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“And do you think my teacher will like me, Daddy?”
“Of course! Everyone who knows you loves you, Alanna,” he replies as he nears Wintertown Primary School for Alanna’s first day of second grade.
Theon had been feeling (justifiably) anxious about uprooting his and his daughter’s lives but when a job offer came to work on the construction of the new high-speed rail in the North, he decided he couldn’t miss this chance to give the two of them a better life.
He had never seriously thought of fatherhood, since Balon Greyjoy wasn’t exactly a shining example of a good father, but when a previous one-night stand came up to him and told him she was pregnant he was forced to confront this.
“Hi, can I talk to you?”
“Of course,” Theon replied as he guided Alyn to a quieter bar area where they had first met.
“I’m not gonna beat around the bush. I’m pregnant.”
“Congratulations?”
“It’s yours. I’m seven and a half months pregnant.”
He took another look at her and simply said, “Excuse me?”
“I know it doesn’t look like it but my sister told me to take a pregnancy test since I’ve been having this super-developed sense of smell and I’ve been eating all kinds of odd foods and it was positive! I was as shocked as you! I went to get an abortion last week but when the doctor checked everything, she discovered I was too far along to get one.”
Theon kept looking at her with confusion, not fully understanding the situation, “There’s no way I don’t sound like a dick asking this, but how did you not notice?”
“I didn’t have any symptoms, okay? My periods have always been pretty irregular and honestly,” she lifts up her shirt to reveal a slightly bloated belly, “does this look like a 7-months pregnant stomach? I thought I’d just gained some weight! It looks like I had a large burrito.”
“Well fuck.”
“I know.”
Theon didn’t ask how it happened since he remembered the night the baby was conceived. She was stationed in the Iron Islands doing research and was coming out of a pretty long dry spell and he was excited to hook up with a scientist. However, when they reached her rental he discovered he didn’t have the condoms he was counting on. She mentioned she was on the pill and he said he would pull out, but apparently they were meant to be part of the percentage that conceives a baby that way.
“Wow, okay. So, listen, I’ll go with whatever you want. This is on me as well.”
“Yeah. I haven’t decided if I’ll give it up for adoption or something but would you like to come for my next check-up?”
He nodded and two weeks later he was seeing his baby’s ultrasound for the first time and two weeks after that he was holding his baby girl in his arms. He wasn’t expecting it, but he felt that first spark of love immediately and he knew his daughter would have him wrapped around her finger for the rest of his life.
He and Alyn tried to make it work for a while, but her work involved a lot of traveling for research and conferences, and they figured it would be better for Alanna to have a mom that wasn’t always there but loved her than one who resented her for keeping her away from her work. But Alyn called Alanna every day and tried to visit as much as she could and told Theon she’d support him 100% if he took the job up North and she’d just travel there rather than to the islands, so the two of them made the move to Wintertown during summer holidays.
He parks his car and walks Alanna to the front entrance where a group of teachers is receiving the students. Apparently drop-off and pick-up duties rotate during the year and Alanna’s teacher wasn’t part of this schedule. He gives his daughter a big hug and several kisses and sees her nervously wave back with a smile and he doesn't complain much about the traffic from the cars leaving the school’s parking lot on his way to work.
Later that evening, he asks Alanna how her first day went and she excitedly starts rambling about her new friends and what she learned but she’s most enthusiastic about pretty and kind Miss Sansa, who is, apparently, a real-life Disney princess.
When she’s tucked in in bed ready for sleep Alanna quietly confesses, “I cried at school, daddy,” and his heart lurches in his chest and he knows she didn’t mention anything earlier because his sweet and empathetic 7 year old didn’t want to worry him, “but Miss Sansa didn’t scold me or told me I was a baby like Miss Megga used to. She said that I shouldn’t feel bad for being emotional and she told me she cries all the time despite being a grown-up.” She says that last part as if Miss Sansa had told her the secret to life itself. Theon is mostly relieved her teacher had managed to cheer up Alanna and he gives in when his daughter asks for a second bedtime story (although she falls asleep not even halfway through).
The next couple of weeks are filled with stories about how wonderful Miss Sansa is and Alanna is thoroughly convinced that she is a Disney princess and no logical argument will make her change her mind.
“She’s like Giselle, auntie Asha.”
“Who’s Giselle?”
“From Enchanted!” Alanna replied as if it was obvious. “She’s a princess who goes into the real world…” and then kept going about every tiny detail of the movie she had seen hundreds of times as Asha did her best to keep a straight face.
He makes sure to have dinner with Alanna every day. He gets back from work and helps her with whatever homework she has left, makes dinner and the two of them eat together as she tells him about her day and what she learned.
“So, what did you learn today, my Lanny?”
She sits upright in her chair like she does whenever she has something important to say, “We learned that we must not let jerks walk all over us and make us feel bad about ourselves!”
Theon is utterly confused, “That… is a very good lesson, but how did this show up in class?”
“We were in calligraphy practice when suddenly there was music outside! Miss Sansa ignored it, but Miss Beth from third grade came to tell her that she had to go outside and see what the noise was. She walked out and we all went to the window to see and there was a really handsome man, like a prince! But when Miss Sansa saw him she became really mad and then really upset and she started crying and that’s when Miss Dustin walked outside and told him to leave.”
“That’s… a lot.” He guesses that it was probably a desperate last bid from an ex but it’s an asshole move to ambush her at work. He hopes this doesn’t repeat again.
Alanna is nearly finished with her dinner when she asks, “Daddy, what’s a jerk?”
“Well, a jerk is someone who is not nice and doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. It’s not a good thing to be.”
“You’re not a jerk, right?”
Her little face is totally worried but he chooses to be honest with her, “Daddy could be one, when he was younger, but after you were born I thought that Alanna Greyjoy wouldn’t like to have a jerk for a dad, so I became better so I could be a good dad.”
She nods with passion, “Yes, you’re not a jerk daddy! And Miss Sansa doesn’t like jerks!”
“I don’t like jerks either, it’s good to not be one.”
Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Alanna changes topics to her actual classes and how she doesn’t like multiplication tables at all but then runs to show him her calligraphy book and tells him she can show him how to have pretty handwriting.
Time flies by and suddenly it’s October and they must make the arduous decision of what her Halloween costume will be, and after some negotiating, she agrees to wear last year’s Belle costume to school, since she’ll probably be running around and he didn’t want to risk ruining a new costume, and the two of them will be trick-or-treating in Jessie and Woody from Toy Story costumes.
Alanna had insisted he walk her to school rather than their routine drop-off because Miss Sansa was now in the morning rotation and he absolutely had to meet her.
She runs off once they’re close to the entrance doors and he sees a group of teachers, also in costumes, welcoming the children. Alanna suddenly yells, “Miss Sansa!” and then a redheaded woman in an Ariel costume turns around and fuck, maybe Alanna wasn’t off the mark about her being a Disney princess. There’s a beaming smile on the woman’s face as she greets the little girl running towards her and tells her how pretty she looks and how Belle was always her favorite character.
Alanna asks if she can sing something to her and he’s about to say that she doesn’t have to, when she crouches in front of her and starts singing a song he recognizes.
There's something sweet and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined
And now he's dear and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before
And of course, she has the voice of an angel and his daughter also wasn’t lying about that. Alanna is happily clapping and he sees some of the other kids looking at her in amazement, when his daughter suddenly says, “That’s daddy’s song! He’s the beast!”
Miss Sansa’s eyes widen and her eyebrows go up her forehead, surprised by Alanna’s comment. He sees her fighting a laugh when she replies, “Alanna, that’s very rude. You can’t be calling your father a beast.”
“But daddy always plays the beast, right daddy?” She turns around to him and it’s then that the teacher notices him standing in front of them. She gasps a little and there’s a blush covering her cheeks from the embarrassment, although Theon thinks it adds to her charm. She shares a quick look with Alanna, who looks completely pleased by this development and finally she stands up and tells her student that she should go inside and show her classmates her costume.
“And remember, no running!” she says before Alanna does exactly that, and the girl hugs him and waves a bunch of times before finally entering the school.
Miss Sansa finally looks at him, and before he can think about what he’s saying he blurts out, “You know, when Alanna kept saying her teacher was a Disney princess I thought she was exaggerating, but it seems she wasn’t.”
She laughs and blushes again, “I used to be an entertainer at children’s parties, I had this lying around the house,” she says as she points to her dress, “So, you’re Alanna’s father?”
“Theon Greyjoy,” he says as he offers her a handshake.
“Sansa Stark.”
“I wanted to thank you. Moving here wasn’t easy for either of us, but you’ve really helped Alanna settle more easily. Your kindness has meant a lot to the two of us.”
Her eyes get glassy and she puts a hand in her heart as he says that.
“Thank you,” she says with a shy smile, “She’s such a darling girl, so smart and kind and witty. I love having her in my class, and so do her classmates.”
He smiles at that and he asks another impertinent question, “So what exactly does a children’s party entertainer do?”
She giggles as her face reddens again, “Just basically sing and play in character, and eat lots of birthday cake. The agency had costumes for us to wear but since I was mostly booked for the Ariel and Giselle parts I made my own better quality dresses, ergo I had this at home.”
“You can sew too or did you have little animal helpers to help you with that?”
She laughs fully at that and it’s wonderful to see, “I see where Alanna got her sense of humor from.”
However, the moment is broken when one of the other teachers asks her, “Sansa, are you still tutoring in High Valyrian?”
“Yes!” she replies, back in teacher mode but before she leaves she turns to him and says, “It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Greyjoy. Hope to see you around.”
She starts walking towards the teacher and parent asking and he can hear her ask, “How old is the kid? 8? Oh that’s the perfect age to start learning a second language!” The voices fade in the background but he turns one last time and catches her eye and she smiles at him as he waves her goodbye.
If Sansa notices that Theon is dropping Alanna in person more often she doesn’t mention anything but the mornings that he manages to have a quick chat with her make him have a pep in his step throughout the rest of his day.
Winter arrives and Theon is not prepared for a true northern winter but Alanna is thriving with all her coats and scarves and hats. She makes Theon buy her some berets after seeing Miss Sansa wear one and he also gives in when she asks for the same style of boots the teacher has worn on occasion.
Alanna loves the snow and playing in it but she’s particularly fond of ice-skating, especially after she befriends another girl around her age named Rose. The girl constantly teases her dad who, objectively, does not skate well and she goes on and on about her aunt who is actually the one who taught her how to skate.
He laughs to himself when they go to the skating rink one day and they see a familiar head of auburn hair, gracefully doing one of those complicated jumps that frankly terrify Theon, and a clapping Rose looking at Sansa like she just won the Olympics.
“Your dad is just jealous he can’t do this, Rosie.”
“You can be worse than Arya sometimes, you know?” He sees the other man tell her, part amusement, part annoyance in his features and it’s now obvious why the man seemed so familiar; the shade of the man's red hair is darker but the eyes and smile are the same.
“Miss Sansa?” Alanna asks in amazement as she skates towards Rose and her aunt and Theon knows that he’s lost another battle against his daughter’s mythologisation of her teacher. Sansa smiles at Alanna and she seems tremendously pleased when she finds out the girls have become friends. She smiles at him and asks if he’s joining them on the ice and he says that he’s a squid and squids are supposed to be inside the water, not skate in it and that earns him another big laugh from her, so point for not skating and making a fool of himself.
The day ends in smiles. Sansa patiently guides the girls through their impromptu class and Theon convinces her to let him buy her some hot chocolate and churros in repayment after he and Robb insist she takes a break and her brother will watch over the little skating duo.
“You didn’t have to do this, thank you,” she says as she dips the end of one churro in her hot chocolate and bites it.
“I’m sure you weren’t expecting to work today.”
“It’s fine, I was gonna skate with Rosie regardless,” she deflects gently.
“Does everyone in the North learn how to skate like you?”
She blushes a little, “You can see my brother is helpless, so no.” She doesn’t speak for a minute or so as she chews on her churro. “I participated in some junior competitions for a while, but constant travel while having five young children doesn’t really mesh. And besides, it’s an expensive sport.” Some bitterness seeps into her comment and he wonders if these were part of the arguments she heard when she was younger.
She doesn’t mention that her parents had been happy to pay and travel for Arya’s fencing because jealousy isn’t really becoming and she and Theon are practically strangers.
Alanna is literally vibrating on their way back home and he already knows he’ll be contacting the coach’s number that Sansa gave him.
Beth and some of the other teachers notice Sansa’s little flirtations with Theon Greyjoy and start teasing her mercilessly. She thought that she had managed to be discreet but it only became more obvious after Valentine’s Day when Waymar Royce, one of the other single dads, had brought her a box of chocolates during pick-up time and she just stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. She was only saved by his daughter complaining about being late for ballet class and right after Theon went by to pick Alanna up and she offered him some of her chocolates.
“Did you not bring Miss Sansa anything for Valentine’s Day?” Alanna asked, outraged later in the car.
“Um, no? Did I have to?” her confused father asked as he drove back home, where one of their neighbors would look after her since her nanny was out with a stomach virus.
The now 8-year-old gasped as if she was the offended party and Theon was even more confused by his daughter’s reaction and was left to wonder exactly what he did wrong for the rest of the afternoon.
Alanna’s intentions become clearer some weeks later when career day is approaching. She’s never been too enthusiastic about his job, he’s aware that little girls aren’t too interested in trains and as much as she tries, her attention wanes quickly whenever he’s explaining something to her. However, two days before he’s scheduled to go to her school to talk to a classroom of second-graders about what an engineer does and the process of building a railroad, she excitedly questions him about his job but lets one little comment slip away.
“Miss Sansa was talking about Career Day and we asked her what her mommy and daddy do! She mentioned her mommy is a book editor, whatever that is, but her daddy is an engineer like you! But he doesn’t work with trains, he works in construction. She said he’s a civil engineer,” she leans in closer to him and motions for him to do the same, “It’s fate.”
Alanna had recently heard about the concept of fate in one of the shows her nanny put on TV while she watched her and after he tried to explain what it was, she became fixated on labeling good things that happened as fate. However, he’s totally lost on why he and Sansa’s dad being engineers is fate and Asha will probably laugh when he tells her about this new development.
Sansa sets him aside after he’s given his talk to the class. It’d gone surprisingly well and Alanna’s little smug face as her class crowned him as the dad with the coolest job was going to get him through the rest of the day and well, getting some one-on-one time with Sansa would be the cherry on top.
“I wanted to ask something. When we were scheduling this day I asked Alanna about her mom and she said something that concerned me,” she mentions, her big blue eyes full of worry.
Theon is confused as to what could’ve upset Sansa, so he just tells her to go on.
“She mentioned something about her mom being at sea?”
Theon laughs, all tension leaving his body, “Alyn is a marine biologist. When Alanna says she’s at sea she means it literally, like on a big, super technological ship.”
Understanding flashes through her face and she breathes in relief, “Oh, thank the gods. I was wondering if it was a metaphor for something else and I was worried about being super insensitive.”
The two of them laugh about the small misunderstanding and Theon reassures her again that his daughter’s feelings were not hurt.
“You were quite a hit there! I think you’ve successfully secured the employees to build whatever railroad extension they’re working on in 20 years.”
“I will bring this up in my next performance review. After all, the opinion of the second grade group is a very important KPI.”
They laugh together and miss the curious looks from certain students looking through the tiny door glass and teachers going through the hallway who had conveniently stopped to see the pair converse. They’d seen through the years several shameless fathers attempt to hit on the lovely Miss Sansa Stark and she had deftly rejected any advances but this was the first time they had seen her forge a connection with someone like this. Now all they had to do was keep Miss Dustin from finding out.
Theon picks up Alanna some weeks later and the girl seems to be deep in thought over something and he lets her gather her thoughts until she says what she’s thinking about. He’s surprised when she pulls out a notebook from her backpack and asks him, “Daddy, have you seen the movie The Umbrellas of Che-burg? Borg? I don’t know how to pronounce this.”
He waits until they’re at a red light to read the scribble on the notebook and he’s even more confused, “I’ve heard of it, but no. Why are you asking this?”
“We were talking about our favorite movies today and someone asked Miss Sansa and she said this. Brandon asked her if we could see it in class like we did with Kiki’s Delivery Service but she said it’s for grownups. You’re a grownup, why haven’t you seen it?”
“There are a lot of movies I haven’t seen!”
Alanna looks unconvinced and all she says is “Hmm” as she puts the notebook back in her backpack. Later that day she asks if they can see the movie together but he compromises with showing her the trailer and telling her he’ll find a way to watch it and see how grownup it actually is.
He googles the movie and finds out there’s a screening in two weeks at the arthouse movie theater he’s driven by a dozen times but had never been to, so he thinks he might as well watch the movie like it was intended. It’ll also give him an excuse to watch a movie for adults since he can’t remember the last time he did that.
He almost forgets until he gets a call from his mother asking him at what time he’s dropping her granddaughter by her place and he remembers asking if she could watch Alanna for a few hours the day of the movie. Alanna had readily agreed since she’d missed her grandma and seemed to be making up for lost time for the months she couldn’t see her while she sorted her things and made the move to the North to be close to them.
The movie is as dramatic as it looked on the trailer, and he really liked it if he’s being honest with himself but Alanna will have to wait a few years to watch it since it’s not exactly appropriate for an 8-year-old. He exits the movie theater and checks the notifications on his phone right outside the door when he hears someone sniffling, a lot , and he looks up to see Sansa walking out after the credits had rolled. She’s drying some tears and doesn’t seem to notice him and he’s trying to decide whether or not to walk away and act like he didn’t see her, but then it’s too late because she looks his way and sees him standing there.
“Theon Greyjoy?” she asks, confused, but she walks the few steps separating them, “Oh Seven, I’m a mess right now. What are you doing here?”
“You look fine,” he says without thinking and before he says something more embarrassing, he keeps talking, “So funny story, Alanna has been obsessed with watching this movie ever since you mentioned it the other day. I found out there was a screening here and came to assess the situation myself.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that, I’m sorry!” she says, flustered.
“No harm done. She’ll forget about this in a few weeks but she’s gonna have to wait a few years to watch this, I’m afraid.”
She giggles a little and looks at him, “I first watched it when I was 15, you can tell her that. So, what did you think?”
“I’m surprised I liked it so much, but then again, before I became an expert in the Barbie universe, I didn’t have the most refined taste in movies.”
She giggles again and he decides to take another risk, “So, would you like to have some coffee or something and you can give me more movie recommendations?”
Her face falls and he instantly panics, thinking he’s made a mess but before he can apologize for being a creep and hitting on his daughter’s teacher she says, “I’m actually watching another movie in like, 30 minutes. But there’s a café in the foyer! We can have something while I wait. Or if you’re interested we can watch the movie together! Or not, you’re probably busy, I’m sorry.”
She’s rambling and it shows in her face but he’s quickly agreeing before she says anything else. Her face lights up and he feels giddy as they walk to the ticket counter and she tells him to buy a ticket for Now, Voyager.
“I love it so much! They’re doing this whole romance cycle and they’re screening so many of my favorites,” she says excitedly as she sips her latte, “I watched In the Mood for Love last week and next week I’m watching Casablanca and The Age of Innocence.”
“I’ve never heard of the movies you just mentioned, but I agree.”
She gasps, “You’ve never seen Casablanca?! Okay, you’re buying a ticket after we finish this. I can’t believe this.”
He does that and neither of them realizes immediately they’ve just made plans with each other or how natural it feels.
“That was pretty fucking incredible, wow. I’m a Bette Davis fan now.” Theon says two hours later, after they walk out of their next movie and she’s beaming despite her puffy eyes and reddened nose from crying, “Right! I’m glad you liked it!”
They walk the two blocks between the movie theater and the subway station Sansa is going to in a comfortable silence and he has to stop himself from giggling as they make their plans to meet there the next week.
Their movie dates become a regular thing, with Sansa usually picking films she likes but every so often she chooses something that she thinks Theon might like after she becomes familiar with his tastes. She asks him one day if he has mentioned this to anyone and he says no, nervous about her reaction but she seems relieved and she comments that only her roommate knows so far.
Of course, it’s Asha who ends up finding out first after he unsuccessfully tries to deflect her questions about what he’s doing every other weekend for hours while Alanna is at her grandmother’s place.
“I gotta admit, I didn’t think you still had that dog in you after Lanny was born but seriously, her teacher?”
“Asha, it’s not like that. We just hang out. I guess you could say we’re friends, that’s it.”
“Now say that without sounding like you’re in pain.” She snorts as he scowls and she continues, “Now let me take a look at this Miss Sansa.”
“I don’t– Her socials are private,” he says resignedly, as he hands Asha his phone. He’s only found her Instagram and her LinkedIn page and he really hopes she doesn’t have the premium version that lets you know who has looked at your page because between that and the amount of time he’s spent looking at her profile picture, she will probably think he’s a stalking creep.
“There! Did your homework for you.”
“What did you do?” He looks at the screen of his phone in horror as he realizes Asha sent Sansa a request to follow her on Instagram. Months and months of careful approach undone, just like that, “Why the fuck would you do that?”
Fuck. Is it too late in the school year to sign up Alanna for the school bus program? Sansa will most likely block his number and pretend they don’t know each other on the days he has to drop or pick up Alanna at school. Fuck, if she tells Miss Dustin the woman will likely ban him from school grounds.
“Watching you pining is only funny in theory. In practice, this is kind of ridiculous.”
He’s pacing back and forth, trying to come up with a decent sounding excuse explaining why he even knows of her social media when his phone lights up with two new notifications.
Sansa Minisa Stark (@sansastarktully) accepted your follow request.
Sansa Minisa Stark (@sansastarktully) has requested to follow you.
“Fuck. What now?”
“You accept it and stalk her properly, dumbass,” Asha says as she grabs his phone and places it in front of his face to unlock it. “Oh wow, she's super pretty. Too pretty for you.”
“Give me that.”
He looks at her stories first. The first one is from almost a day ago and it’s a photo of the poster of Blow Out, the movie they watched yesterday. He tries not to look too much into it. Then she has a bunch from earlier that day of her having brunch with a girl he recognizes as one of the teachers at school and another one he guesses it’s her roommate, a couple at the farmer’s market holding some sunflowers and posing prettily, a picture of a focaccia she made, and the most recent ones are a video repost from her roommate of her hysterically sobbing while her roommate laughs and points to the television in their living room, and a picture of whatever she’s watching on tv with the caption “THIS IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!”
“Oh she watched the Six Feet Under finale, understandable,” Asha mentions next to him and he starts scrolling through her main feed (and being careful he doesn’t accidentally like a picture from years ago.)
Her feed is very pretty and carefully curated. She has a ton of selfies and pictures of herself, along with intermixed pictures of nature, food, her dog (a pretty Husky named Lady, he learns) and she’s a social butterfly, so a ton of pictures of her with friends and family.
The most recent post is one from the wedding of the teacher he recognized, a woman named Beth and he can assume Sansa, Beth and the roommate, Jeyne, are old friends (he won’t comment on the last video of the post of Sansa dancing to Can’t Get You Out Of My Head with a pretty tipsy blush on her face). He learns she’s a tennis fan (and she has a bunch of posts with another friend named Margaery at different tournaments) and she has one sister, three brothers and a cousin who scowls in every picture. When he finds a picture of her parents he thinks that her father’s genes didn’t even try.
He takes a look at his feed and it’s deserted in comparison. Just a few pictures of Alanna, some landscapes, a few of him running and some he recognizes as total dad selfies. He closes his eyes and accepts the request and hopes he’s not making a mistake.
In a different living room, some neighborhoods away, there’s another freakout taking place.
“So the hot dad you’re definitely not dating requested to follow you? That’s what’s happening?”
“Yes, Jeyne we’re not dating. And yes,” she tries not to grin, “Should I accept it?”
“I mean, it’s not like there’s anything that could get you in trouble. Unless you want to get in trouble? Because I’m sure we can organize a trip to the beach next week and you can give him a peek at what’s underneath your cute teacher clothes,” Jeyne replies with a wiggle of her eyebrows as she shakes her boobs.
“I’m being serious!”
“Sansa, I’ve known you since we were five years old. You totally want to bang this guy and you only have to wait two more months until his daughter isn’t your student and your boss won’t freak out on you. Besides, you practically see him every day at school and then you don’t go out with him during the weekends.”
“It’s not every weekend…”
Jeyne pulls a face that has Sansa groaning in defeat as she opens the application and accepts Theon’s request and sends a request back. He accepts it about an hour later and she blushes as Jeyne mentions that he was totally going through her profile and she smiles as she looks at his most recent picture (from six months ago) and it’s a cute post of him and Alanna at the beach with the caption “Happy birthday to my favorite sea treasure!” and she doesn’t think twice when she presses that little heart underneath the pictures.
Sansa starts flirting more openly with Theon after their Instagram episode. He’s been flirting with her all this time, but after getting to know him, she knows it’s part of his nature. She’s seen the looks he gives her and she won’t lie to herself and deny that they don’t make her feel extremely hot and bothered, as Jeyne would put it, but he’s kept it courteous so far and hasn’t made any explicit seduction attempts.
That doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun and leave him flustered in return.
She also figured out Alanna’s clumsy attempts at matchmaking after some time. Once she did, she started thinking about certain things she said and did, like saying it was fate that her dad and Theon were both engineers and suggesting that Sansa gave personal skating lessons to her dad. The two of them had gotten a big laugh about that but it was later she realized that Alanna was serious. If only she knew about their movie dates.
Sansa also starts thinking about what would happen if she and Theon do start dating. He has Alanna, and they’re a full package and while she’d always wanted to be a mom she had never thought of a scenario where she would become a stepmom first, and if things don’t work out between them, she’ll be devastated if Alanna’s feelings are hurt.
She’s at her parents' house helping her mom clean up after dinner and she’s been overthinking things for days when she suddenly blurts out, “Do you think I could be a good stepmom?”
Catelyn Tully is confused, to say the least. “I think you would be a wonderful mother, regardless of the situation.” She takes one look at her daughter and immediately figures out that Sansa has been thinking too much about something, like she tends to do, “Are you seeing anyone with a child?”
“In a way. We’re taking it slow, we haven’t defined our relationship yet.”
“Why haven’t you?”
Sansa looks away, “He’s one of the dads at school.” Catelyn’s eyebrows almost reach her hairline but before she can say anything, she continues, “We’re not actually dating. We hang out sometimes and I’m sure he’s waiting until the year ends to do something but his little girl is so sweet and she’s been playing matchmaker and I’m scared that we’ll break her heart if it doesn’t work out.”
Her mother scoffs, “You’re not usually this negative. Why are you already dooming a relationship that hasn’t even begun? I admit, it’ll be more complicated to date someone who already has a lifelong commitment like this but you can’t discard a relationship based on fears. Why did he and the mother separate?”
“They were never together. It was a one-night stand,” she mumbles the last part and she sees her mom biting back a retort. “She has to travel a lot for work, so Theon has full custody, but they get along well.”
Catelyn nods and gathers her thoughts before she speaks again, “You have to be aware that being the child’s teacher isn’t the same as being her stepmother. She might have a different reaction if you actually develop a relationship with her father and you’ll have to build a different relationship with her as well.”
“I know that, but she’s wonderful.”
“In the classroom, sure. Don’t give up without even trying but you have to be prepared, sweetling.”
Neither of them was eager to acknowledge the elephant in the room, so they kept going on their dates-not-dates and flirting publicly, much to the entertainment and frustration of everyone around them. Even Alanna asked Theon why he was being so weird with Miss Sansa.
Things eventually reach a breaking point once the school year is near the end and Sansa could yell out of frustration. She really does have to do everything around here.
The kids have some short performances on their last day and while a group from a different grade is performing, she locates him in the crowd. She finds a seat behind him and taps his shoulder, “Hey,” she whispers, “There’s something I need to show you, back in the classroom. Do you have a minute?” Her class had already performed, so he stood up and followed her.
He, however, was not prepared at all for Sansa to grab his tie and pull him down for a kiss as soon as she closed the door. He was not complaining. He quickly got a hold of his senses and grabbed her by her waist and pulled her closer to him, finally giving into all the desire that had been building inside of him for the past few months.
They stumble a little and when they finally reach her desk, she wastes no time and hops on top of it, only breaking their kiss for a moment to grin wickedly at Theon, “Finally,” she says as he spreads her legs and Theon positions himself between them to continue kissing her.
“Been wanting to do this for ages,” he says as he presses a trail of kisses down her neck.
“Why didn’t you?” she replies after a small moan once he found the spot she loved.
He thinks he ought to have more self-control, because he seriously can’t be thinking about having sex in his daughter’s classroom, but before he can finish laying Sansa down on her desk, she breaks the kiss again and tuts at him.
“Ah, ah, ah, not here.” Her voice sounds determined and it definitely doesn’t match the disheveled look she has right now but Theon blushes and feels like a scolded schoolboy. But she’s blushing too, and her eyes spark with desire and the cocky part of him can’t help but feel smug about making her lose some control and he can’t wait to have her in his bed and see her drunk with pleasure.
“Very well, Miss Stark. I’m eager to make up for my failings, so please allow me to earn some extra credit and earn my full score.”
She bites her lip as she tries to hide her pleased grin. Theon is smirking back at her and the two of them feel electric, fueled by the knowledge that their hearts beat the same.
“You’re a creative man, I’m sure you’ll think of something, Mr. Greyjoy.”
7 years later
Alanna Greyjoy wakes up on her 15th birthday and smiles to herself. She has some minutes of peace before her door bursts open and her little sisters jump into her bed and sing Happy Birthday to her. Five-year-old Serena is the first one to enter the room, followed by two-year-old Gwinnie hobbling in her tiny legs, and she opens her arms and hugs them. She wished the age difference wasn’t so big between them but she loves being an older sister and she loves her family.
Dad (and mom, because Sansa is her mom too) walk in with a cupcake with a lit-up candle and Alanna could cry because she knows that Sansa probably stayed up until late making that because when she went to bed there were no cupcakes anywhere in the kitchen (she looked).
“Make a wish, Lanny!” Serena says excitedly and she doesn’t have to think too hard because she’s gotten everything she’s ever wished for. So, she just wishes for her to do well at her piano concert next week.
Her dad gives her a big kiss and a hug and leads his sisters away so he can get them ready for daycare and preschool, respectively. Sansa sits on the edge of her bed as she hugs her and tells her, “Happy birthday, my baby!”
As Sansa stands up and starts walking towards the door, she says, “Mom?” (Sansa still gets that teary-eyed look when she calls her that despite the years), “Can I ask for a birthday treat?”
“Of course! What is it?”
She knew her family was coming over that day to cut her a cake and spend some time with her, but she knew they would leave early since it was a weekday. “After everyone leaves, can we watch a movie?” Sansa was a little confused but she nodded and Alanna continued, “Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Dad told me you first watched it when you were fifteen.”
Sansa laughs in surprise, “He told you that? You’ve been waiting all this time to watch it? You should’ve told me before, we could’ve watched it together!” She comes by the bed and sits again, “You have school tomorrow, so if everyone hasn’t left by 9, we’ll watch it during the weekend, okay? You know your dad is strict about your bedtime but since you’re the birthday girl I’m sure we can convince him to let you stay up a little later,” she says this as she cradles Alanna’s face in her hand and gives her a look that’s so full of love that she has to look away as she fights off her grin.
“You and your dad have the exact same smile, I’ll never get over it.” She stands up and kisses the top of Alanna’s head, “Now go and get ready, I’m sure your mom will be calling you in a minute and you’ll get to talk a bit more if you’re already dressed.”
Later that night, after Grandma Alannys, aunt Asha and the Starks have left, Sansa tells Theon about Alanna’s movie request.
“It’s already 9, and you have school tomorrow…”
“Come on Dad! It’s not that long.”
“Yes, come on, dad.” Sansa echoes as she puts the remaining cake in a container.
“I’m always outnumbered in my own home, I can’t believe this,” Theon replies, pretending to be mad but he can’t hide how much he loves to see Alanna and Sansa act so naturally with each other, as if Sansa had always been in their lives.
90 minutes later, Sansa and Theon console a devastated Alanna, who has been crying for almost half the movie.
“Why do you love this movie? It’s so sad!”
“I just like some sad movies.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
Theon laughs at Alanna’s comment as he stands up to retrieve the movie from the Blu-ray and organizes things the way Sansa likes them.
“It will one day, sweetling,” Sansa cradles her face as she dries her tears. “Now, you promised your dad you’d go to bed right after we were done here, right?” Alanna nods and hugs Sansa and then walks up to her dad. He hugs her extra hard and whispers, “Happy birthday, my sea treasure.”
“I love you, daddy. I’ll always be glad we moved here.”
“I love you more, my Lanny.” He hugs her again for some seconds and the girl finally starts making her way upstairs to her bedroom.
Theon opens his arms as Sansa stands up, and she readily accepts the hug from her husband. They stay like that for a few minutes until she lifts her chin to look at him, and smiles as she says, “We have a pretty great daughter, don’t we?”
“Three great daughters, although I can’t take all the credit.”
She rolls her eyes but her smile remains as he bends his head down and gives her a slow kiss. She sighs into it as she lets the happiness fill her heart.
“I guess my fate is to be surrounded by women I love,” he says with that infuriating grin she loves.
She grabs a glass of water as Theon turns the lights off and they start making their way up.
“You told Alanna my comment about watching Umbrellas when I was fifteen?” She suddenly remembered she wanted to ask him that earlier.
“She asked about our first date one day and that was part of it, yeah?”
“That was not our first date.”
“It was to me.”
She knows he’ll keep arguing about it, so she drops the subject and thinks she’ll happily keep having silly discussions like this with Theon for the rest of her life.