Chapter Text
Christmas Day, 25th December 2017
There’s only four of them left now, the soft lighting in the room provided by the glow from underneath the door and the glare of the streetlights through the window, where the snow falls outside, providing another layer to the white blanket that already lay on the ground.
Another snowy Christmas at Winterfell it would seem.
Robb, Jon, Sansa and Arya were the last ones awake, patiently waiting for the adults to go to bed before the girls return to their rooms. His mother and Uncle Ned were still bringing all the presents downstairs and they didn’t want to be caught still awake at this hour, so they kept themselves hidden in the boys’ room. They’d heard their Uncle swear multiple times, probably assembling something for Bran, Robb assumes, and they’d all had to bite their tongues to keep from laughing. It was not often that they heard such words pass from their sombre Uncle’s lips and so had caused a little laughter to stir in each of them, even himself and Jon, at age 15.
Their Dad, (Brandon, Robb often finds himself referring to him angrily in his head these days), had retired to his bed hours ago after having too much to drink, Aunt Lya had been feeling too ill and his Uncle Ben had been sent to bed, he works too much already to also be pulling the trying night shift on Christmas Eve, according to his Mum. And so, Uncle Ned and Mum had been left with all the toys to assemble. Nothing new there, he thinks, everything always seems to be left to the two of them.
They’d always spent Christmas in their family home at Winterfell, it was much too far North of the city for it to be any use as an actual home, but they always spent the winter months in the mansion. Some of the summer too – something which Robb couldn’t fathom as it was always so cold, but his father always insisted, and his mother never seemed to protest too much – after spending some time with his family at Riverrun. In all honesty, though Robb never minded too much, it allowed him to spend time with his Grandparents and even more time with Jon – his cousin, Aunt Lya’s son, who always seemed to spend more time with Uncle Ned or with him than actually with his mother.
Another soft curse from Uncle Ned travels upstairs and brings Robb out from his musings. The children all stifle another bought of laughter from the unfamiliar sound coming from their Uncle, they all calm down after a moment and go back to what they were doing. Sansa, however, remained distracted and she let out a long sigh which Robb knew meant that she was about to ask a question. The inevitable came a few moments later when she gave up the pretence of reading and put her book down, turning her attention to where the boys sat, Arya sandwiched between them. “Jon.” She said quietly.
Jon peaked up from his phone, raising an eyebrow to indicate he’d heard her before she continued. “Has – does…” She stammered and even in the darkened room he could see a blush colour her features. “Can you ever remember Uncle Ned having a girlfriend?”
Robb let out a sigh, ever since turning ten, just a year older than Arya is now, she had been obsessed with romance. Relating every scenario she could with TV shows and songs, forever banging on about this boy or the next (he feared the day she ever brought a boy home, having himself and Jon to deal with as well as Brandon and Uncle Ned) and had got Mum to tell her how she met Brandon a countless number of times. His sister was a hopeless romantic it seemed. But Robb couldn’t help but be curious at his sister’s question – had Uncle Ned ever had a girlfriend – not one that he could ever recall, Jon too, judging by the way he furrowed his brows.
“Not that I can remember.” He hears Jon answer after a moment, his phone now lay forgotten as he continued to consider Sansa’s question. “Why do you ask?”
She tucks her bookmark in place and scoots closer to the boys, the conversation has now captured her full interest. “It just - Uncle Ned’s always been such a family man, you know? And he seems like the kind of guy who’d have a wife and kids – I mean just look at how he is with us! Do none of the rest of you think it’s strange that he’s never brought a girl home? Like ever?”
Robb can’t help but think that his sister has a point, his Uncle’s been at more football games and dance recitals than he can remember his father ever being at, he also always bought them the best presents – joint first with their mum, of course – and he always made sure to spend some one to one time with all of them. Not even to mention that he raised Jon while he was for Lyanna to step up and take responsibility for him. It is a little strange¸ Robb admits to himself while he thought over all Uncle Ned did and all the things his father didn’t.
He feels Arya shift next to him, his interest peaked at the conversation about her favourite Uncle. Jon shrugs. “I don’t know Sansa – maybe he’s not a relationship kind of guy, or he doesn’t like commitment or maybe he’d prefer just to be an Uncle. There could be a million reasons why Uncle Ned doesn’t bring girls home. Maybe he wants to keep his private life private.”
Robb finds himself nodding in agreement. “Maybe he just hasn’t found the right person yet – hell, maybe he’s even gay, have you seen him with Robert – ouch!” He lifts a hand to the back of his head and gives it a little rub, shooting a glare at Arya beside him and then giving Jon one when he heard him snicker. “Uncle Ned isn’t gay.” She stated, a frown on her face. “Not with Robert, at least.”
He heard a sigh come from Sansa. “I just really want Uncle Ned to be happy because he really deserves – “Her sentence was cut short by Robb covering her mouth with his hand. There had been no curses from Uncle Ned for a suspicious amount of time, he’d noticed and using his years of experience from staying up with Jon, he knew that indicated that they were done with the presents and would be heading upstairs.
Putting a finger over his lips and removing his hand from his sister’s face, he creeps over to the door and gently pulls it open a little, he hears their footfalls grow nearer and their hushed whispers gradually grow louder. He’s careful to keep the door open just enough so that he can see when they will depart to their rooms and is hopeful that they’ll be too tired after all their work to notice him peeking out of the door.
“I mean really who knew that a Star Wars model could have so many damn different pieces to fit together and stickers, oh my god Cat, those damn stickers. If I never see another sticker in my life, I’ll die a happy man.”
“I’m forever thankful that Sansa is out of her doll phase and Arya never had one because we all know those were a damn nightmare to set up, with all the little pieces of furniture – “
“It’s worth it though, to see their faces when they wake up.”
He can see them now through the gap he’s peeking through in the door, they both look exhausted and he feels awful that Rickon’s going to wake them up in a few hours. Maybe he can find a way to keep his three-year-old brother distracted for another hour or two to let them both catch a little more sleep. How hard can it really be to keep a small boy in place for just a little while?
His Mum stretches, her arms raised above her head and she lets out a quiet groan. “I just really need to sleep now.” Uncle Ned chuckles, “you and me both.” It’s after that moment that a weird thing happens – they’re hugging. Don’t get him wrong, he’s seen his Uncle and his mother hug before – quick hellos and goodbyes, on New Year’s, on their birthdays – and they’ve always been close, his Mum being one of the few people to bring out the witty and fun side to his Uncle, but he’s never seen anything quite like this before.
It’s more of an embrace than a hug, Robb thinks, his mum is pulled flush against him and his Uncle’s chin rests on his Mum’s head and her face is buried in his sweater. Robb can’t help but think that it's more intimate than anything he’s ever seen exchanged between his parents. His Uncle murmurs something into his mother’s hair that he doesn’t catch, and his mother remains in his embrace a moment longer. She tries to pull away, but his Uncle continues to hold her close, he doesn’t quite catch what was said again, but it sounds something like “just a moment a longer.”
Then after another few moments, they’re pulling back and exchange smiles that almost seem sad, his Uncle kisses his mother’s forehead and then she disappears into her room and his Uncle into his. He turns back into the room to face the others and gives a nod. The girls quietly get up and go to the hallway and Robb clicks the door shut as quietly as he can behind them. Jon climbs into his bed and he slips into his.
He briefly wonders if he should mention to Jon what he saw, just purely from the strange nature of the encounter, but he can’t seem to form the words. There was something about what he just saw that seemed so intimate that he felt he should keep it to himself. It’s not like anything happened anyway – it was just a hug and they were probably just so close together because they were leaning on each other because they’re exhausted and they’re such good friends -
“Merry Christmas, Robb.”
“Merry Christmas, Jon.”
Robb put a stop to the ramblings in his mind, he was too tired and he was sure that he was overthinking everything he just saw. He closes his eyes and lets sleep claim him.
As it turns out, it's pretty easy to keep his littlest brother entertained for a few hours the next morning, but eventually, the boy does begin to squirm, so they set off to wake up the household and soon enough everyone is clamouring downstairs to get their presents. Uncle Ned and his Mum did an excellent job setting everything up and he had to suppress a laugh a little when his Uncle keeps Rickon a good distance away from the Star Wars model at all times for fear of him smashing it.
Dinner is the happy affair it usually is, although Robb notices that Brandon drinks more than he should and Aunt Lyanna is seeming to try her hardest to keep up with him. Even when she has straightened herself out, she still goes a little heavy on the drink. He looks for Jon, knowing that he’s always hated his mother’s tendency towards alcohol, but relaxes when he realises that his own mother has already distracted him, as she got him to show her the new features on the Surface Pro that Uncle Ned had bought him for Christmas.
As they all go through the regular Christmas activities, Robb can’t help but notice his Mum and Uncle together after what he saw last night. It’s the way his Mum refills his Uncle’s coffee cup as soon as its empty or how his Uncle is almost constantly watching his Mum if he’s not interacting with one of them. It’s weird, he thinks, because he’s pretty sure they’ve always been this way and it seems so natural to them that he’d never gave it a second thought. But as he thinks over it now, he can’t help but notice that they seem more like a couple than his parents do – they certainly seem to talk a lot more than his parents do these days.
Later, when all is said and done, Robb finds his Uncle alone on the Balcony. His Mum and Uncle Ned had both put Bran and Rickon to bed, having tired themselves out after numerous battles with their new Nerf Guns. He’d stepped out for a moment to cool himself down when he’d stumbled across his Uncle, quietly leaning on the balcony, seemingly lost in thought. He looked a little sad, Robb thought, and his mind couldn’t help but drift back to the conversation he’d had with Sansa last night – don’t you think it’s weird he’s never had a girlfriend? With that, another memory from the previous night slipped into his head, his Uncle holding his Mum so tightly in the wee hours of the morning.
Is Uncle Ned Lonely?
“Mum could never understand why someone would need to cool down in the North.” His Mother had come from much farther South where it was warmer and could never fully adapt to the cooler climate in the North. Even though Robb had inherited his mother’s looks, he’d inherited the Stark’s tolerance of the cold and often found himself too warm in the slightly warmer climate of the city, much to his mum’s disbelief.
Uncle Ned chuckled, turning to look at Robb. “No, she never could get used to the cold.” They lapsed into silence but Robb could still hear the thoughts running round in his head. He wants to ask but he’s so scared it’ll come out wrong. “Uncle Ned,” he begins, “you’ve never brought a girl home.”
He curses his mother’s looks as he feels his face grow hot, a telltale sign that a blush has begun to form on his cheeks. His Uncle turns to him, cocking a brow. “No.” He states. “I haven’t.”
Robb sighs as he sees his Uncle isn’t going to say much more on the subject without prodding. The look in his Uncle Ned’s eyes is confused, but there also seems to be something else there, he almost looks a little guarded. “It’s just, you seem like a family guy, you know? With the big house and the four-door car and the kids that leave messes everywhere. And the wife, who helps pay for the house and the car and looks after the kids. And if you brought girls home, it would make sense why you didn’t have all those things, because you hadn’t found the one or whatever. But you never bring anyone home, except occasionally Robert and unless you and him have something going on – which is unlikely, he sleeps with far too many women – it just doesn’t make sense. So, what gives?”
His Uncle looks a little stunned and Robb looks at him expectantly for an answer, because the whole damn thing didn’t add up in his head. His Uncle turns away from him and looks out of the balcony silently and remains so for several moments. Thinking that his Uncle wouldn’t give an answer, Robb turns to leave, a little embarrassed by his outburst.
“I’m not the family guy.” He stops and spins on his heel when he hears his Uncle speak. He doesn’t turn back to face him, instead, he stares fixated at a far-off spot in the distance as he speaks. “I don’t want the family life, I work away a lot now and I’m not around as much. I wouldn’t be any good at it, the whole four-door car, wife thing. I’m okay with my life how it is.”
Robb turns to go, not wanting to bug his Uncle more than he felt he already had. He slips back into the family festivities, where Brandon and Aunt Lyanna are drunkenly dancing to a Christmas tune and Arya was showing their Mum something on her Xbox. He tried to shake the conversation he’d just had from his head and be satisfied with the answer he got, but the sad faraway look in his Uncle’s eyes told him that it wasn’t the truth.
Maybe there is more to it, maybe not.
Maybe it’s a love story that goes back twenty years.