bloodbrothers

Things were going well. Really well, actually.

Jace and Cregan were dating – for real. They went to places together like any couple did.

Their first date was a really shitty movie – some attempt at horror that made Jace want to drag Cregan home and make him sit down so he could watch ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, so they could see actual good horror together.

But it was fun, honestly. They laughed the whole time, he was glad it wasn’t a full room, so people weren’t too bothered.

And, of course, they had dinner after, and it was great.

There was something really nice and really fulfilling in just taking someone you like somewhere with you, having someone you can enjoy stuff with. Kissing and making out and being in bed were all very fun – very, very fun – but going out and holding hands, and just… being together. Talking, sharing a plate of food in a restaurant, laughing together at a trashy film, and talking around was nice.

Sappy, yes. But sappy was fine.

Their second date was to ice-skating ring – and the whole time, Cregan had to hold him, because Jace was just falling on his ass. He came home with a bruised ass, and his boyfriend wouldn’t stop teasing him about it in the days after.

They made a point on going on a date every week – sometimes in the middle of the week, or the weekend, or anytime Jace could fit in his schedule without messing up with school and work.

Harwin didn’t ask many questions, he wasn’t the talking kind much – which was so different from his parents. Dad would probably be asking him so many questions now if he could. And mum too, she would be all over him – especially with the way Cregan left his neck half the time.

He needed a lot of make-up to cover it up on his work days, the make-up girls were all pretty amused by it.

But yeah, Harwin was more the… ‘I know. You know I know. And I know you know I know’ type. It was very obvious when Jace caught two packs of condoms in the middle of his bed right when he came home from school one day after he’d spent the whole previous dinner and breakfast staring at this huge hickey Cregan had left between his neck and his shoulder that was still yet to fade fully.

Maybe he had two condoms in his wallet as he gave Vermax a kiss and set him in his little den before leaving him in his bedroom as rushed down the stairs.

Cregan was just past the gates, he would be there soon.

“Going now,” Jace announced as he walked past Harwin in the living room.

“Have fun,” Harwin called back. “You’re home for dinner?”

Jace glanced at the couch, but he was just watching the show.

“Uh… probably not,” he frowned.

He was… thinking.

Jace and Cregan had done many things – many things – with their mouths and their hands and their hips and all that. But… well… he was kind of looking forward to something else now.

He wanted to talk about it today, maybe… warm up… see where it went. And they were going to go be hanging out at his house, so… it wasn’t that far-fetched to think something could lead to another something.

“But I plan to leave before nine, so I’ll be home by… nine-thirty?” Jace added.

Cregan was coming home from the doctor and had offered to pick him up, which was nice. Jace really liked their drives together.

“Okay,” Harwin spoke up. “Be careful out there.”

“Will be,” Jace nodded shortly.

He walked out, a bit stiff.

That was… mild.

He pushed his head into his pockets – his own pockets this time, this was his jacket, and groaned when he had to pull it out when his phone vibrated in his pocket with a text and he opened it when he saw dad’s name.

‘Is Harwin coming to our gala?’

Jace frowned a little, looking back at the house, and caught sight of a bearded face hiding behind the white curtain. Cause of course Harwin was watching him.

He scoffed as he typed his answer.

‘I don’t know yet.’

He was about to question if he could answer in a couple of days, but paused.

Every year, the Velaryons threw a gala party to promote conservation and environment policies, and Jace had been attending it for years. But this year was really special: Luke was finally 15, which meant he was having his debut as the heir.

It was an old tradition, showing off your heir to the realm once they turned 15 – and then, of course, it became showing your heir to your company, or the press, or whatever was important then. Two years ago, Jace had his turn in a big company party with mum and Kepa, and now it was Luke’s turn – and he wouldn’t miss it, obviously.

But…

Well, he’d been dating Cregan for a bit. And he liked going out with him.

He could bring him around. Introduce him to family.

Jace could bring him as a friend, he was sure dad would be fine with it.

He felt his cheeks burning a bit when he typed his next message.

‘Can I talk to you about something later?’

He press ‘send’ and then bit his lip. Well, it was better to also add that-

‘Nothing bad. Just a question about the Gala. I’ll check with Harwin too when I’m back home.’

He looked around for a moment, seeing Cregan’s car coming up, and typed something down quickly.

‘Gotta drive now. Love you. Bye.’

Jace rushed to the car, seeing a glimpse of Harwin’s nose pressed to the window as he opened the door and practically jumped inside before Cregan could even think of walking out of the car.

“Hey!” he greeted.

“Hey,” Cregan greeted back, leaning in to him.

Jace didn’t resist giving his lips a little peck, buckling his seatbelt, and Cregan drove off, leaving him to give a last glance back at the window again, and Harwin ducked behind the curtain like a terrible spy.

He wasn’t even wearing his glasses.

Jace shook his head, just resting back on the seat, and Cregan put a distracted hand on his thigh as they drove off, the car a bit quiet.

He turned to watch him as he drove off, and there was a bit of a frown in his eyebrows as he did, looking off to the distant.

“You okay?” Jace asked.

Cregan turned to him, surprised, and nodded a bit stiffly.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Just… thinking.”

Jace covered his hand with his, rubbing it. That didn’t look like good thinking.

“Are you okay?” Cregan asked him.

He hesitated.

Was it a good time?

But dad needed to know so he could get the jet set up, if he wanted Cregan to come, then he needed an answer.

“I had something to ask, but it’s fine. We can talk about it later or tomorrow,” I he assured him. “It’s not that time sensitive. Or a problem.”

Cregan nodded slowly, licking his lips.

“Okay,” he spoke softly and then cleared his throat. “I… I’ve been thinking of something.”

Jace watched quietly, waiting for what he had to say.

“Remember when we talked about you and your family?”

He squinted a little, confused.

“About you being donor-conceived and your brothers...” Cregan explained.

Jace nodded.

“Yeah?”

Cregan turned to face forward, seeming to think over his answer.

“Would you ever adopt?”

Jace blinked a bit, frowning.

“Adopt?”

“Yeah,” Cregan said, turning to him. “Like… to become a parent.”

It was still a bit confusing. He had never thought of that – all Jace knew was that he wanted a kid. He never thought about how.

“Well...” he spoke slowly. “I… don’t know?”

Would he?

Cregan shifted on his seat.

“Well, let’s say we stay together for another… ten years or something,” he spoke. “And we are.... turning 30, and we want to have kids.”

“Okay?” Jace spoke slowly.

“How would it be?” Cregan asked. “What do you think we would do?”

They stopped at the gates, and it took him a bit of time to answer.

That was really serious talk. He’d never thought about that.

“Well...” he started slowly. “We could do IVF, like my parents. Get eggs, and…”

Jace paused. Well, when he thought about being a dad, he always thought about it being one kid. Just one. At best, twins, if that happened. But they could have two, if Cregan wanted.

“Have one kid with your sperm and one with mine?” he finished his phrase, unsure. “Valyria must have good clinics.”

“Just Valyria?” Cregan asked.

Jace stared at him. Just Valyria?

“Well, Valyria is my home?” he said, obviously. “I’d want my kids to be born in my home, to have a connection with it.”

“With an egg from...?” Cregan asked, the most serious he’d ever seen him.

Jace shrugged, uncomfortable. What was that all of a sudden?

“I can ask one of my stepsisters?” he guessed. “It would make sure our baby is a Targaryen regardless of who… seeds… the eggs?”

What was the wording for that?

“Would the baby have to be a Targaryen?” Cregan pressed. “Would it have to be a Valyrian?”

He blinked.

“I… I don’t know?”

Jace was always connected to Valyrian culture. His parents spoke it to one another in Valyrian half the time they were married, they worshipped Valyrian gods, they preserved their culture through many ways.

Their ethnicity had almost been extinguished many, many times since the doom.

It was a miracle there were enough of them left to return to the East and repopulate. If it wasn’t for Volantis, they wouldn’t even have preserved as many traditions as they had preserved.

Even his family – old Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Alysanne and their children – were so assimilated to Westerosi culture, they had a hard time in Valyria when they were first banished. It took half a century for his family to understand how important it was that they stuck to their culture, that they should perpetuate it.

Jace wanted his kids and his grandkids to love their culture, and to feel like they were part of it.

He’d grown up thinking he didn’t fit in with people because of his looks, because of his hair and how he looked Westerosi, how could he go on and have a kid who didn’t fit in either?

“Maybe?” he mumbled.

Someone honked behind them, making Jace jump, and Cregan turned to the wheel stiffly, driving into Winterfell as another pair of cars followed them, and Jacaerys kept silence as he rested on the passenger seat, watching Cregan keeping both hands on the wheel as he made the way into his parking spot.

“Why does it matter?”

His question was met with silence.

They’d been dating officially for a month. Cregan had finished High School last year, Jace was finishing it this year. He still had at least another eight years of education in front of him.

Sure, he liked to think they would stay together for a long time, or even forever, but they had so much to live! They had so many places to visit, so many experiences to live and so much more. And, as far as Jace knew biology, there was no way the two of them could become parents accidentally unless a baby just fell from the sky ans into their arms for some reason.

They sat in the parked car in silence for what felt like maybe seven hours when Cregan spoke up.

“We should get inside,” he mumbled.

They did, very quietly and very tense.

Jace felt like he could reach out and slice the tension with a knife when they got into the lift, and tried not to stare at the envelope in Cregan’s hand, crinkled from how hard he was squeezing it.

Was he sick?

Was he infertile?

They walked into the flat quietly, and Cregan didn’t even wait to walk down to the kitchen, pulling a chair for himself by the table and waiting for Jace to do the same thing, fidgeting with the envelope and his nails.

“Is everything alright?” Jace asked.

Cregan looked up at him, looking somewhere between queasy and constipated.

“Why did you say that?” he asked.

Jacaerys was still on his feet when he asked.

“Said what?”

“Would a baby need to be Valyrian?” Cregan asked.

Jace moved on his spot, uncomfortable with the pressure.

“I’m Valyrian,” he said simply.

What was that about?!

Cregan pressed his lips together.

“But what if they weren’t?” he pressed. “What if you had a kid that wasn’t Valyrian? If they were any other ethnicity?”

Jace stared at him, still confused.

“Why?”

“I wanna know!” Cregan insisted. “Your dad loves you even thought he had nothing to do with how you were made! Does he only love you because you’re Valyrian?”

He frowned.

“He loves me because he’s my dad!”

Of course dad loved him and didn’t care about that. What kind of father would love his kid less because they weren’t Valyrian?

“Would you love a kid that you didn’t make?” Cregan asked, his eyes wide and… wet? “Someone who did not come from you? Who came to your life because of someone else, like… like your Keeper or your uncle? And they weren’t Valyrian!”

His Keeper?

“My Kepa?” he corrected him, not thinking.

Cregan glared at him, and he just ran his fingers through his hair, getting nervous.

“Why are you asking that?” Jace asked back, feeling his voice breaking for a moment. “Why does it matter now?!”

What the fuck was going on with him? Why was he insisting on that so much?!

“Jace-”

Gods, couldn’t he just talk?!

“Just say what you mean to say!” Jacaerys interrupted him. “Cause I don’t understand the questions! And I don’t know the answers!”

Cregan paused, staring at him, his face completely hard and unreadable.

“I always liked kids,” he listed along, as if it made any sense to Jace. “I saw my little cousins growing up, and the neighbours kids, and my friends kids… I have friends who have kids! And I always wanted to be a dad! And it wouldn’t matter for me if my kids was… I don’t know, blue skinned with green hair and with seven eyes-”

“What?” Jace frowned more.

What the fuck was he talking about?

“Are the only right kids for you Valyrian kids?” Cregan pointed at him. “That’s what you’re saying? Are you some… I don’t know Valyrian supremacist?”

Jacaerys stared at him, taken aback, frozen.

Offended, actually.

Valyrian supremacist? That was what he was trying to pry out of him?

“I’m sorry, what?” he couldn’t help himself from asking, way too loudly. “My culture and ethnicity has been fighting to stay alive for a thousand years! Do you know how much the Faith of the Seven tried to destroy our religion and our customs? How much of our history was lost?”

Did he knows how little of Valyrian culture was still being discovered? How many priests were killed? How many people were forced to assimilate to other people’s customs to survive?”

“We almost died out several times!”

“You descend from Kings!” Cregan argued back.

“Who fought to keep our culture alive!” Jace reminded him, trying to keep his voice down. “Who were exiled and didn’t have an ounce of connection to our own people! Who didn’t know shit about our gods! They stripped us from everything that made us Valyrian and then kicked us out of Westeros because they didn’t want us here anymore. Do you know how many Valyrian people exist? There are more redheads out there than Valyrian people!”

Did he even try to think about what that was like?

“What if they burned all of your trees and told you that your religion was wrong?” Jace asked him. “What if they striped you of everything that made you a man of the North?”

He was trying so hard to not just scream at his face. What was wrong with trying to preserve his culture? With trying to preserve his people?

The Northerners were as attached to their customs as they were, did it make them North supremacists?

Valyrians were one step away from being extinct hundreds of times, what was wrong with trying to avoid that the only way he could?

He rubbed a hand over his face, panting, trying to calm down.

“Starks were Kings for 8000 years,” Jace reminded him, remembering his extra history lessons. “Targaryens were Kings for 940 years, and Starks were Lord Paramounts even after we were banished. You never had to fight to keep your culture alive, your people never lost their identity!”

Didn’t he understand? Didn’t he even try to think like that?

“No one ever took anything like that away from you!” he stepped up to the table. “You were never on the verge of going extinct! You never forgot what your own gods meant, you never had to relearn your ceremonies and the meanings of your names!”

It was so important that they kept it alive now. New Valyria wasn’t even a hundred and fifty years old yet, they were completely reliant on Volantis, still an extension of it.

Cregan’s face softened and he looked away, clenching his jaw.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t know all that.”

They fell into silence and Jace took a deep breath, stepping away from him.

Water. He needed water.

Jace filled up his glass by the sink, and Cregan cleared his his throat after a bit of time.

“Can you sit?” he asked him, barely over a mumble.. “I… I wanna show you something.”

Jacaerys turned to him, and nodded stiffly, setting the glass aside and going to the table, and he sat across from him.

Cregan wasn’t quite looking at his face, tapping his fingers onto the table, staring right at the envelope.

“I… I was at the doctor,” he told him.

Jace chewed on his lower lip.

“I know.”

“It… uh...” Cregan added quickly, and paused. “It wasn’t for me.”

He frowned again, growing confused.

It wasn’t for him?

His boyfriend squirmed on his seat and then pulled something from inside it, though keeping it away from Jace as he stared at what seemed like… printed pictures.

He frowned, confused.

“I...” Cregan started and stopped, and closed his eyes, squeezing them shut.

At last, he pushed it over the table and slid it in Jace’s direction.

He’d seen at least three of those that he remembered. That was a 3D ultrasound picture. Mum kept all of the ones she had for all of them.

Jacaerys was completely stiff as he stared at it, completely confused now.

Wait, was Cregan…

Well, he couldn’t be, obviously. He didn’t even have the organs from that. That was a stupid thought.

But who’s ultrasound was that?

More importantly, who’s baby was that?

“I moved here in December,” Cregan told him.

Jace looked up at his face, even more confused.

“To the lodges,” he told him. “I was dating this girl in High School, as we were best friends, and then we broke up, and… she found out she was pregnant, and… well, Aunt Cat wasn’t very happy. Uncle Ned was disappointed.”

Jacaerys started at him, the news slowly washing over him as his mouth slowly fell open.

They were…

So he was…

“And because I was already modelling for a few years, I thought that it was better that I move here, where my parents used to live. So I could… do my duty,” he told him, pouring the information out. “We were together for a really short time, but she is my best friend and she is having my baby. It’s my kid.”

Jace looked at the picture again. That was a kid alright, yeah.

A baby.

Cregan’s baby.

He closed his mouth, still completely unease.

“She’s around 26 weeks pregnant. Six months,” his boyfriend continued. “The doctors said he’s coming in August. He’s… he’s a boy.”

All Jace could even emote was a raise of both his eyebrows.

“She said we can name him after my father, Rickon,” Cregan told him, smiling a little. “He has my nose, I think.”

Jacaerys moved down to look at the picture, still frozen. Well, that was… a baby.

He was still processing that it was a baby, he wasn’t exactly aiming to what the baby looked like more than the fact that it was a baby.

His boyfriend was having a baby.

“Her name is Arra, and she understands that I’m with you, that we’re serious,” Cregan told him. “And that if our relationship keeps going the way it is, that you’re gonna be in Rickon’s life. Like… a stepdad.”

Jace looked right up at him again, swallowing down around his dry mouth.

“If you want to be his stepdad,” Cregan added quickly. “But I’m not going to leave them. Her family is pissed off enough already with how young we are, and Arra was my best friend! She still is. And even if she wasn’t, Rickon is my son!”

That took Jace a little out of his shock.

“I would never make you abandon your son,” he corrected him.

What kind of person would do such a thing?!

But that was such a big responsibility!

And…

Did he…

Did he expect Jace to just choose the baby – Rickon – as an heir? As his kid?

Like this? Just picking this baby who he didn’t know, who he just heard about three months before he was born, who he had no connection with?

Could Jace even legally adopt a kid?

And what about the mother? He didn’t even know her mother.

Did she know Cregan was talking about this with him?

Did she… want this? Did she know who Jace was?

There were plenty of people out there who tried to take advantage of their family, he was always warned about it.

Cregan would never do it, he knew that. He was a good person, he worked hard. He never let Jace spend money on him, or give him stuff – he didn’t even let him pay for someone to install his dishwasher last month!

But what about that girl?

Jace closed his mouth as he looked at Cregan. Gods, he didn’t know he was gonna have this kind of conversation ever in his life.

Was it weird he want to call mum?

But mum didn’t even know he was dating.

Dammit.

“I…” he started. “He’s your kid. I would never...”

He paused, and chose his words carefully.

“I would never expect you to put anyone over your kid,” Jace decided. “And that includes me.”

Cregan swallowed down, still staring at him.

He was about to continue, but Cregan opened and closed his mouth, clearly trying to find words.

“Are we…” he started, and stopped, clearing his throat. “Does it mean anything to us?”

Jace swallowed down.

Did it?

Well, it did mean that soon there would be a baby around them. Probably not that much, considering that it would be a newborn. Joff didn’t start travelling to spend weeks with dad until he was almost two, so it was safe to say that Cregan wouldn’t have the baby sleeping with him much.

But there would still be a baby.

“I know you’ll have to put him first,” Jace told him. “But… well, that never stopped my parents from being with my stepfathers.”

It was something that sucked in the beginning, honestly.

Jace took quite sometime to get used to Daemon, Baela took even more to get used to mum in that role and not just as an aunt.

No one ever made him feel like it was wrong that he was struggling, they always helped him. He never felt second to Daemon, or to uncle Joffrey.

Jace always wondered if they would separate if he asked. He asked Luke once, when they had just moved, if he thought Mum would leave Kepa if they asked her, but Jace had never seen her smile so much when no one was looking, he’d never seen a couple that spent so much time together like they did. Dad never stole kisses from her when he thought no one was looking, or were disgustingly cute with her.

Mum never threw herself on dad when she thought no one was looking, they didn’t hold hands just for the sake of it like he and Uncle Joffrey did. He’d caught dad and uncle Joffrey whispering things to one another like two teenagers so many times and kissing, when his parents never did it together.

They were so happy, and they were friends.

So he never asked.

“I really like you,” Jace told him, completely honest. “And I know you can absolutely be a parent with someone and date another person, and as long as that person is aware that the kid comes first, then it’s just… life, I guess.”

He tried not to shrug or stutter too much. That meant a lot to Cregan, he could see it. But Jace wasn’t Rickon’s father, and Jace was barely an adult himself – he was still finishing High School, he still had a whole life before him, his parents still paid for all of his expenses and would be paying for another five years or so. He couldn’t just take responsibility for a kid!

But he could not just say that.

“That doesn’t change what being a parent is. I know who my dad is, even if I live with my mum and my Kepa. My Kepa knows who my dad is, my mum knows she is not my sisters’ mother. And we all love each other anyway. We’re all family.”

Jace reached across the table, taking his hand, and Cregan was as cold as some pile of snow when he squeezed his fingers.

“I really like you,” he told him, very honest. “But it’s been a month. I haven’t met your family, you haven’t met mine. You probably only know my mum’s name because she was famous.”

That made Cregan’s lips twitch in a little amused smile, and Jace relaxed a bit.

“I like the idea of being uncle Jace,” he told him, shrugging. “And maybe in a few years, and everyone is into it, we can do what my mum did with the girls and make me a third parent.”

Jace still vaguely remembered the conversation they had. Mum and Kepa had waited until they were 13 to talk to the twins about it. It was more of a safety thing, if anything happened to Kepa, they would be orphans and maybe mum wouldn’t be the first person the government would place them with, it was why she adopted them in this… weird legal way that still kept Aunt Laena as their mother?

It was some legal shit he didn’t understand past ‘if Kepa died, they would still live with all of them’.

Cregan nodded slowly, breathing in deep, looking way calmer.

Gods, that had to be really hard for him. Cregan was 18, he didn’t have parents, and his uncle and aunt were clearly unhappy with the situation.

Were they helping him? Talking to him?

Jace couldn’t imagine not having his parents to help him if something like that were to happen. Sure, it would be a bit embarrassing but… they were his parents. Even if they were disappointed, they would help!

He stood up, walking across the table, and wrapped his arms around him as best as he could, hugging him close.

Cregan seemed surprised for a moment, but Jace just ran his fingers over his hair for a moment, and he quickly relaxed against his chest, breathing in and out slowly.

“You’ll make a good dad,” Jace told him.

Because he really thought he would. He was worrying about the kid, he was thinking about the future and of what it meant to have separate parents for Rickon, and he was trying. He could see that.

Jace didn’t know a lot about parenting, but he knew good parents were parents who tried their best and knew that they weren’t always gonna get it right.

“I don’t know shit,” Cregan confessed, practically whispering.

“I think my mum still has a bunch of baby books,” Jace petted his hair. “I can ask her.”

Did mum and Kepa even want another kid? Viserys was two, but Kepa was also 53, and mum was 37, and they had seven kids. Did they need and 8th kid?

And if they had an eight kid, did they need the books still?

Of course, Jace wouldn’t dare to ask them about that. Mum and Kepa had suffered a lot with the loss of Visenya, he’d never seen her so sad since it happened. It was the first time he’d seen him cry fully – Kepa was sniffing and trembling, trying not to sob. He was scared. And mum was… heartbroken, like never before.

It made him wonder if they wanted to try again, if they want to risk it again.

Only time would tell, really.

Cregan raised his head to look at him, seeming surprised for a moment.

“You’re gonna tell her?” he asked him.

Jace was taken aback for a moment, and opened and closed his mouth.

“Well… I can’t not tell her,” he reminded him.

They were dating! What would he do, hide from his mother that his boyfriend was gonna have a baby? And when would he tell? When they were 25 and engaged? ‘Hey, mum, guess what? I’m technically a stepdad and never told you’?

“She’s understanding,” Jace told Cregan. “She got pregnant with me at nineteen, had me with 20!”

His parents were super young when they had Jace and Luke, which now didn’t really surprise him. Everyone in his family has kids early. Grandma was 20 something when she had dad, grandpa was around that age when he had mum… everyone kind of stuck to having their first kid before 22. His Gran-Gran - grandma's mother! - was just 80 something now and was already a great-grandmother of five!

Of course, they were also married when that happened so it was less irresponsible.

And they had money, too.

So maybe she would have opinions that Jace was going to keep for himself and very far away from Cregan’s ears.

“You wanna eat something?” Jace suggested. “Watch something… chill out?”

He seemed like he needed that.

But Cregan shook his head.

“What did you wanna talk about?” he asked him. “In the car.”

It took Jace a moment to actually remember, considering everything that had happened in the last few minutes.

“Oh,” he paused. “Just this family thing that’s gonna happen.”

Cregan raised his eyebrows, focusing on his face fully.

“Family thing?”

Jace nodded, and Cregan just moved his hands, holding his waist with both of them, setting his eyes on his, so casually affectionate it made Jace want to smile.

“Well… the Velaryons throw this big gala party every year,” he explained, trying to keep his focus. “And this year is a really special year, cause my brother is debuting as heir.”

“Good for him,” he hummed.

Jace chuckled.

“Well, my dad texted me,” he explained. “To ask if Harwin was going, and… well...”

There, there was the big question.

“I was wondering if you want to come?” Jace asked, lowering his voice a little bit.

He tried not to look too uncomfortable as he waited for Cregan’s answer.

It was a big question. It wasn’t just some dinner, it was an event. A public event. Everyone would see them and know.

And his family would absolutely know.

“I get it if you don’t wanna,” Jace added quickly. “Or if you pull away at any time. Like… everyone’s gonna be there, and they’ll probably wanna spend time with us and get to know you, and that can be a lot.”

“Everyone?” Cregan asked.

Jace couldn’t quite read his face when he looked at him.

“My parents and their husbands,” he started listing, “My dad’s parents. My two sisters, and my four brothers. And probably some granduncles and cousins, and maybe my Gran-Gran.”

Was Gran-Gran Jocelyn coming? He knew she was doing pretty well.

Cregan ran his thumbs slowly over his skin, considering it quietly.

“Do you want me to come?”

Jace let out a long breath.

“I do,” he confirmed, as firm as he could. “I… I want you to know my family.”

He wanted to introduce him to the family, and bring him over for stuff.

Jace was sappy, he wanted Cregan to feel like he was part of his family and that he was welcome. He wanted him to meet his little brothers, and his sisters, and his mum and his dad, and his stepdads, and grandma and grandpa and even grandpa Viserys.

They were part of his life, they were important.

He wanted their approval and for them to see how serious they were about their relationship.

“You don’t think they’ll think it’s weird?” Cregan ask softly.

That made Jace frown. Weird? What was weird about them? Did his think his parents were homophobic or something?!

“Dude, my dad’s married to a man!” he reminded him. “Did you forget that?”

But his boyfriend laughed.

“Not about me being a boy,” he squeezed him. “About the baby.”

Oh.

Yes. Yes, they would.

But Jace just gave him a smile.

“It’s fine,” he assured him. “I’m sure they’ll only have reasonable worries and will welcome you very happily.”

Because they would. Even if they had their worries, they would treat him like they treated Dany, or Orys and any other friend or relationship anyone brought over.

“Okay,” Cregan breathed out. “It’ll be fun. What do I need?”

“Just a suit and Summer cloyhes,” Jace assured him. “I’ll check if Harwin is going, and tell my dad.”

“Alright,” he confirmed. “Just tell me the date and when you’ll buy your ticket, so I can sit with you.”

That made him grimace a little.

“Actually...” Jace spoke slowly.

Maybe that was stupid, but this was the bit that embarrassed him a little. Not because it was bad, but it really made him stand out.

“I think he’s gonna send the jet,” he explained.

Cregan’s eyebrows shot up high.

“Your father has a jet?” he exclaimed, speaking the last word so slow Jace just knew he sounded shocked. “As in, a private jet?”

“Well, my grandpa has a private jet,” he corrected him. “Which my dad sometimes uses.”

Cregan continued to stare at him, clearly very surprised.

“And he’s gonna send it here for you?”

Jace’s face felt hot in embarrassment.

“It’s faster,” he mumbled. “And more comfortable. And I can take Vermax. And it lands in Driftmark!”

Not every flight landed in Driftmark without stopping at King's Landing. Their airport was small.

Private jets were nice! They were really private!

And they never needed to share anything in them – service was catered for everyone, they didn’t need to wait an eternity for a can of soda, or squirm their way into the bathroom, or pretend to be patient if someone was hoarding it…

Cregan laughed, looking relaxed for the first time in the day.

“Gods, you’re a fucking rich kid!” he accused. “I’m really dating a fucking Prince.”

Jace glared at him.

“Very fun,” he rolled his eyes. “Ha-ha. Mock your boyfriend for inviting you along for the private jet.”

But Cregan pulled on him, making him sit on his thighs, and he kissed his lips, smiling right against them as he did, tickling his sides until Jace was giggling and squirming.

“You’re fucking cute,” Cregan declared, pulling back from him and looking at his face. “Come on, let’s order something. There’s a show I’m dying to watch I think you’ll really like.”

They did, and it was a really calm night. They ate lying down – burger and fries, and Cregan had a milkshake, but Jace wasn’t thrilled to freeze up from inside, so he just had some soda.

At nine pm sharp, they left Winterfell, and Cregan drove him home, and stopped two houses away from Harwin’s house to kiss him goodbye.

“Actually,” Jace cleared his throat, nervous as he put his hand on his thigh, watching Cregan’s face. “Maybe you wanna come in? And meet Harwin?”

If he was going to meet his parents… well, Harwin was right there, right?

Cregan raised his eyebrows a bit, looking a bit surprised, but not… negatively.

“Sure,” he confirmed. “You want me to meet him?”

Jace shrugged.

“I guess,” he told him. “If you wanna? You know, just say hello and… meet him.”

No need for anything else, honestly.

“Yeah, sure,” he started the car again. “Let’s meet daddy number… four?”

Jace rolled his eyes.

“That fits enough,” he scoffed. “Just… don’t call him daddy, it’s weird.”

Cregan snorted a laugh, not wasting time as they made their way up.

“You can park in front of the garage,” Jace told him.

It did not surprise him at all that Harwin had his face right to the window and his eyes widened when he realised Jace had seen him, and he disappeared right behind the curtains.

There they went.

Jace let out a breath, shaking his head as he unbuckled his seatbelt and left the car, moving to Cregan’s side and taking his hand, pushing his other hand right into the pocket of his hoodie.

Cregan’s hoodie.

“Come on, let’s get inside before you freeze to death,” he told him.

Jace rolled his eyes, and they walked together to the front door, and he was forced to pull both hands away to get the keys from his pocket while he listened to running steps outside, probably from Harwin.

When he opened the door, Harwin wide-eyed, sitting on the couch with his sleeves rolled up, wearing the apron he wore to wash the dishes and cook, with a headband keeping his hair back and his glasses on, and had clearly ran around the house to look nonchalant.

“Hey!” he greeted, the word dragged wait too long. “Jace!”

“Harwin,” Jace greeted back, stepping into the room, and Cregan followed right after him.

“And… a friend!” he frowned, clearly looking confused.

Maybe a little disappointed?

Jace moved on his feet, a little squirmy as Harwin stood, walking to them. He had never introduced Arya to anyone – or anyone to anyone. He had never said the word girlfriend or boyfriend to any of his parents or adjacent people.

This was new. And a bit uncomfortable.

“Cregan, this is Harwin Strong,” he pointed, and Harwin offering him a hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you,” his father affirmed, giving him a firm handshake.

“Pleasure is mine, sir,” Cregan nodded.

“Harwin,” Jace cleared his throat, feeling his voice crack. “This is Cregan Stark. My-”

Before he could continue, Harwin interrupted him, probably not even notice.

“Eddard Stark’s nephew, aren’t you?” he asked, pulling his hand away, frowning a bit.

“Yes, sir,” Cregan confirmed.

His father shot them a bit of a smile.

“I didn’t know you kids were friends!”

Jace grimaced.

Oh, come on, don’t make it harder on him!

“Actually, Harwin,” he raised his voice. “Cregan is my boyfriend.”

His eyebrows shot so high they almost disappeared into his hairline.

“Ah!” Harwin exclaimed, or squeaked, a big grin coming to his face, as if he just had been told he the right lottery numbers. “I… well, nice to meet you!”