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Jaime Lannister woke up in his bed and looked at his wife. She lay back to him, her nightgown’s strap fell off her shoulder. Jaime reached out to stroke it. He tried to remember the last time they could afford a night full of passion and couldn’t. The more kids they had, the less time they had for each other. It was the first night in the last month that they were in bed just the two of them and nobody was crying.
Galladon is a year away, and Brienne is still breastfeeding him, so his crib is right there in the bedroom. It appeared here four years ago when Selwyn was born. Before he could grow out of it, it had to be ceded to Tyrion, now it’s Galladon’s turn. Jaime chuckles, he wondered when the next inhabitant will show up?
He looked at his wife again. “No, I have to wait. Brienne is too tired, three consecutive pregnancies, constant feeding, sleepless nights, and endless childhood illnesses have exhausted her. I need to take care of her. After all, she’s my wife, not a breeding mare. Let her rest,” – Jaime thought and moved away from his wife.
It was already very bright outside, soon the castle will wake up and the usual turmoil will begin. But while we can enjoy the silence. Today, Galladon was surprisingly never awake, having kept them up for almost a week, whimpering – he was teething. And before that, Selwyn had a tummy ache and he and Brienne spent half the night persuading him to drink poition, and then half the night, Jaime was running around with a pot. And before that, Tyrion was not sleeping well, crying, wetting his bed, demanding not to put the light out and hold his hand. Jaime had no idea that a three-year-old could have nightmares. Tyrion said he dreamt of dead people trying to kill him. Brienne immediately lashed out at Jaime, accusing him of telling his son the story of the dead, and Jaime was making excuses that he wasn’t stupid enough to tell stories like that to babies. Brienne arranged for Jaime Junior to be interviewed, and their oldest son also swore that he had not told his younger brothers such stories. They decided it was probably their son’s genetic memory that worked, so he sees the events that happened to his parents. They talked Tyrion over long enough, told him tales of how Mom and Dad, the most powerful knights, defeated all the dead. Two weeks later, he stopped peeing and a week later he agreed to go back to the nursery.
A grunt was heard in the crib, and Jaime quickly jumped out of bed and ran to Galladon to calm him down. Let Brienne sleep a little longer. Jaime was in his pants. They had to change their habit of sleeping completely naked after the babies started getting into bed with them. Now he’s always sleeping in his pants and Brienne’s wearing a nighty.
“Never mind,” - thought Jaime, - “the kids would grow up, get less sick, learn to deal with their fears, and I and Brienne could finally give ourselves to each other.”
Galladon was in a good mood, he greeted his father with joy, only was upset by his soiled pants. Jaime took wet pants off, and the kid was having a good time waving his chubby bare legs, enjoying his freedom. Jaime took his son in his arms, and it was his mistake, the boy saw his mother, and the signal went off in his brain and he realized he was hungry. Galladon reached out his little arms to his sleeping mother and mooed. Jaime tried to distract him, showed him the toys, offered to pull his beard, but his son was unstoppable, he whimpered and begged for his mother.
Brienne woke up.
“Is your son hungry again?” - She sounded sleepy.
“Mind you, yours, too,” - Jaime responded by putting the boy next to Brienne.
The baby found her breasts immediately and began to suck humming with pleasure. Jaime leaned over to his wife and kissed her.
“Good morning, my love. Had a nice sleep?”
She pulled him up and kissed him too.
“Yes, thank you.”
They don’t have to talk much, they’ve learned to understand each other without words. Jaime’s back in bed while there’s still a few minutes to relax. He reached out to Brienne, she reached out and their fingers joined. It was the only caress they could afford now, but even so, they felt love, tenderness, and caring for each other.
The patter of feet was heard in the corridor, the door opened and a screaming Tyrion flew into the room, followed by Selwyn, making a formidable growl. Tyrion tried to climb up on the bed, but it was too high for him, Jaime leaned down and got the kid hooked. Selwyn got in himself. Tyrion began to hide under the blanket, screaming.
“Save me, a lion is chasing me!”
Selwyn growled, continued to play a lion with talent, and even bit Tyrion’s butt.
Brienne laughed.
“Tyrion, you don’t have to be afraid! You’re all lion too!”
The baby looked out from under the blanket.
“Is that true?” - He’s staring at his mother.
“Of course,” - she smiled.
Tyrion bravely dropped a blanket and attacked Selwyn with a terrifying roar.
“I’m a lion too! I’m going to eat you!”
Now it’s time to squeal and hide for the older brother.
Galladon was distracted by this noise from his main business, and he was curious to look at his brothers, who were tumbling and growling. They fell on the pillows.
“Is Galladon a lion too?” - Selwyn asked.
“Sure,” - Brienne replied, looking kindly at her sons.
“And Jaime?” - Tyrion continued to question.
“And Jaime, too, you’re all lions, just like your father.”
She looked at her husband worryingly.
Their 15-year-old son had changed a lot lately.
When Jaime reunited with his family, their firstborn was ten years old. In five years, he’s gone from being a skinny little boy to a stubborn little teenager. He was still very thin, and because of this his arms and legs seemed even longer, his voice began to break, and it was already noticeable that he would look very much like his father, there was occasional acne on his face. But not that bothered his parents. The boy shut down, became silent, and preferred loneliness to his family company. He certainly had friends among the sons of the guards who served in the castle and boys who lived nearby. The boy inherited his father’s communication skills and the ability to make friends quickly, but in his own family, he felt uncomfortable. Jaime has long tried to find an answer to this tormenting question and seemed he had. When the father returned to the family, the younger Jaime was eagerly awaiting the birth of his brothers. They appeared one by one, taking away the attention and love of their parents, and the eldest son began to feel forgotten. He expected the brothers to be his playmates, his training partners, and in fact, they were little, whiny, annoying creatures.
The hallway door remained open, and behind it, there was a stir.
Father called:
“Jaime!”
The boy came in and stopped on the doorstep. His eyes were down, he wasn’t looking at the bed.
“I told them not to come here,” - he spoke in a hoarse voice, - “they don’t listen to me.” - He tried to look up, blushed sharply, and once again lowered his eyes, - “I better go.”
And then the father realized that their eldest son had never been in their bedroom. When Jaime returned, the boy was ten years old, and somehow it was established that his parents' bedroom was closed to him. Jaime grew up like that too, it never occurred to him, that he could come to his parent’s chambers. The arrival of his and Brienna’s children broke that tradition, and now he had no idea it could be any other way. Only now did he realize what his eldest son had been deprived of.
“Jaime, come here,” - Father kindly called.
The boy made hesitant steps and stopped in the middle of the room. Jaime patted the bed.
“Come and sit here,” - He was as friendly as possible.
His son came and sat on the edge. His face was on fire.
“Look at me, son,” - Jaime asked.
He looked up.
“What do you see?”
“You,” - the boy’s voice was cautious.
“I’m your father, why are you afraid of me?”
“I’m not afraid,” - the boy muttered linking his fingers.
Jaime took his son’s hand so that he could feel his support.
“And now look over there” - he nodded at Brienne, who also smiled gently on their eldest boy – “that’s your mother.”
The younger Jaime looked at his mother, who had Galladon in her breast. He was embarrassed, but his father’s friendliness and his mother’s tender gaze reassured him.
Jaime continued.
“She’s feeding your brother like she used to feed you.”
Brienne nodded to confirm that.
“You’re all our children, and we love you all very much. You - even a little longer,” - said Jaime, lowering his voice a little bit – “for more than eleven years.”
The boy understood the joke and smiled confusedly.
“Come here,” - Jaime moved Selwyn, making room for his eldest son. He awkwardly and hesitantly climbed over his father and lay down next to him. – “Jaime,” - father’s voice was serious – “you can come here when you’re hurt, when you’re scared or lonely, or just whenever you want. Just knock on the door first. okay?”
Junior Jaime smiled and cheerfully nodded, he was a big boy and he understood a lot.
Brienne looked at her husband with gratitude, she knew when it came to their children Jaime could be relied upon.
The younger kids were curious and unaccustomed to see their older brother in their company, but they cheerfully welcomed him and even fought for the right to lie beside him. Eventually, Jaime Junior moved away from his father, giving place for Selwyn and so Tyrion could lie down next to him.
“You know,” - Jaime was talking to all his sons, - “who’s the best friend I’ve ever had in my entire life?”
“Who?” - his sons asked.
“My brother Tyrion. Whatever happens in life, whatever mistakes we make, we always forgive each other, always love each other. And you’re brothers, my mother and I want you to remember that you’re family and there’s no one else in the world. We want you to be friends now and when you grow up and when your mother and I are gone. Do I have your word?”
“Yes,” – the oldest son said confidently.
And the youngest echoed, - “Yes, yes.”
Jaime, the father, touched by such agreement, leaned down and kissed the nearest one - Selwyn, who took it as a clue to the game and kissed Jaime Jr., who in his turn kissed Tyrion, and the last one drooled over the cheek of little Galladon. He was too young to join, so Brienne herself kissed the youngest on the blonde top.
Brienne and Jaime looked at each other and smiled, at least this way they could kiss. She reached out to him over their sons, and he grabbed her hand. As long as they could, they would protect and defend their children with all their strength, faith, and love.
And Jaime thought that maybe another baby would fit on their bed, but if there were six, we’d have to order a new one.