Chapter Text
A soft breeze blew by, lightly lifting the dark strands of Lyanna’s hair from her shoulders. It was only February, yet Winterfell had been experiencing a slight heat wave, enough that they didn't even need jackets.
Lyanna pushed a bright red wagon across the street, its wheels bumping softly along the pavement. Inside the wagon sat little Arya, her legs kicking against the side as she babbled happily to herself and the Buzz Lightyear toy in her hands. Just a week ago, Arya had been kicked out of daycare for biting too many kids, and until Ned and Cat could find another place, Lyanna had volunteered to babysit the little girl.
Normally it wouldn’t have been a problem, but Cat had gone to the Riverlands to help take care of her ill sister, which meant Ned was left to juggle work and Robb and Sansa's school schedules on his own, so Lyanna had stepped in to help where she could. That's what family was for, after all.
She rolled the wagon to the pickup line with the other parents waiting along the sidewalk. Only a few more minutes before the gate opened and the children came pouring out at the end of their day. Arya leaned forward in the wagon, pointing at everything she saw.
“Doggy!” She announced loudly to no one in particular.
“Yes, that’s a doggy.” Lyanna said patiently, smiling down at her. The girl talked nonstop, and while it was adorable, it was much more than she was used to from Jon's toddler days.
“Yeafs!” She cried out, pointing to a bush covered in green leaves, still working on her ‘L’ sounds.
Lyanna chuckled, amused by the little girl as she babbled.
Soon enough the big blue gate creaked open and the parents all shuffled forward. Lyanna pushed the wagon inside, heading for Jon's classroom. Arya continued her running commentary about the world, pointing out the trees, backpacks, and a very interesting rock.
Jon burst out of the classroom door the moment he saw her.
“Mama!!”
He sprinted across the pavement and threw himself at her leg, wrapping his arms around it with a dramatic enthusiasm only a five year old could muster.
Lyanna laughed and bent down, pulling him into a hug. “Hi, sweetheart. How was your day?”
“Good!” Jon said quickly, letting go of her and climbing onto the side of the wagon next to Arya, tossing his backpack inside haphazardly. “I played with my friends and ate my lunch.”
Lyanna smiled. “That's wonderful.”
“Jon! Jon! Jon!" Arya yelled with excitement, crawling all over him.
They made their way out of the schoolyard, Jon and Arya babbling back and forth until Jon looked up at Lyanna.
“Mama!”
Lyanna raised a playful eyebrow. “Yes?”
“I have a girlfriend.”
Lyanna's step faltered and she blinked once, then twice. Wasn't he a bit young for that?
“Oh yeah?” She said carefully, fighting back a smile as she started pushing the wagon towards the sidewalk again. “What's your girlfriend's name?”
Jon smiled brightly. “Her name is Dany.”
“Dany.” Lyanna repeated. “And where did you meet this Dany? Is she in your class?”
"Dany?" Arya repeated as well, looking around for the Dany in question.
“Yes.” Jon said as if it were the most obvious thing. “She sits on a purple circle in class.”
“A girlfriend?” Arya repeated, clapping for no clear reason.
Lyanna tried to keep her voice casual. Of course he didn't understand what he was saying, but Lyanna would never be ready for the day he actually got a girlfriend. Not her baby. “Well…what’s she like?”
“What do you mean?” Jon asked, brows furrowing.
“What do you like about her?” Lyanna clarified.
He perked up immediately. “She was wearing a pink shirt with hearts on it. I liked her shirt.”
Lyanna smiled. “That shirt sounds very nice. Anything else?:
“Sometimes she wears bows. I think she looks very cute.”
“Very cute?” Lyanna repeated, amused.
“Yeah.” Jon swung his legs against the wagon, his eyes lighting up again. “And she shared her crackers with me.”
Lyanna nodded thoughtfully. “That’s very serious girlfriend behavior.”
Jon nodded back, completely earnest. “Can we go to her house? Can she come to ours?"
“You mean like a playdate?”
“Yeah, today. She can come play with my dinosaurs.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “And then she can be my girlfriend forever.”
Lyanna couldn’t help it, this time she laughed softly. “Forever is a long time, Jon. And no, not today but maybe another one.”
Jon frowned. “But Dany is my girlfriend. I want her to come over right now."
"We'll work something out another day, I promise."
Jon met her eyes, as if testing the sincerity in them and then nodded, seemingly accepting her answer. For now.
They walked another half block before Lyanna spoke again, an idea forming in her mind. “Valentine’s Day is in two days.”
Jon tilted his head. “What's Valentine’s Day?”
Lyanna held in another laugh. This was his first year in school giving out Valentine’s, so he might not remember the previous years where she bought him gifts to celebrate. They'd talked about it for weeks now, but, well, he was five.
“It’s a day where people give something special to someone they like.” Lyanna explained. “And you also give out the Valentine’s and candies we bought to you classmates, remember?”
Jon’s eyes widened immediately. “For girlfriends too?”
“Especially girlfriends.”
Jon gasped like this was the greatest news he had ever heard.
“I should get Dany something!” He said excitedly.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Lyanna said, hoping the girl's mother would find it cute too. “What do you think she’d like?”
Jon thought very hard about this.
“Something pink.” He decided.
“Of course.”
“And maybe hearts.”
Lyanna nodded encouragingly. “Naturally.”
“And dragons! Dany loves dragons.”
“Okay.” Lyanna replied. “We'll look for something pink with hearts, and maybe find a dragon too.”
Jon grinned from ear to ear, already bouncing with excitement.
“And dragons!” Arya repeated, giggling with Jon. "Can I have a dragon?"
"Yes baby, we'll get you a dragon too."
Arya would certainly not want to be left out.
Jon and Arya both cheered.
Lyanna smiled to herself as she pushed them down the sunny sidewalk towards home, already imagining Jon’s serious little face as he presented a Valentine's day gift to his very first girlfriend.
Two days later, Valentine’s Day arrived, bringing with it another rare day of winter sunshine and a cool breeze, a little colder than the day before. Lyanna tugged her coat closed as she pushed the wagon with Arya towards the school gate once again. Arya was especially excited because Jon had decorated the wagon the night before, insisting on taping two crooked paper hearts to the sides so everyone would know today was Valentine’s Day.
To say he was excited for today was an understatement. Jon had woken up at dawn, like he usually did, and carefully packed the Valentine’s Day gift they had picked out for Dany – a pink card with glittery hearts and a tiny stuffed dragon attached to it – in his backpack to keep it safe, along with all of the Valentine’s he'd spent the night prior writing his name on.
Arya sat bundled in her little jacket, clutching a now empty chocolate wrapper Jon had slipped her earlier. She happily crinkled it over and over, her mouth still filled with the chocolate that had been inside. Cat didn't usually allow them candy, but Ned would just have to be fine with it. She was babysitting for free. Beside her sat her a red dragon stuffy, the little girl unwilling to part with her newest toy.
Lyanna smiled to herself as she stepped into the pickup line. She was more than curious to hear how Jon's day had gone. Some days he was a chatterbox and others as quiet as could be. Today she hoped he was the former.
The big blue gate opened and parents shuffled inside, as they did every day.
Lyanna pushed the wagon forward, scanning the small crowd of children pouring out of the classrooms.
“Jon!” She called, smiling brightly when their eyes connected.
Right on cue, he appeared in the doorway, backpack bouncing as he ran across the pavement.
“Mama!”
He crashed into her, giving her a quick hug before scrambling up onto the side of the wagon next to Arya and hugging her too.
“Jon! Jon!” Arya squealed in excitement, showing him the chocolate wrapper excitedly.
“Well?” Lyanna asked, barely containing her smile as she started guiding the wagon towards the exit. “How was Valentine’s Day?”
Jon’s face lit up immediately. “It was the best day!”
“Oh good.” Lyanna said, relieved to hear him so happy. “Did you give Dany her valentine?”
Jon nodded enthusiastically. “I did!”
“What did she say?”
“She liked it! She said the dragon was cute. She loves dragons.” He replied proudly. “And she gave me a card too.”
He dug into his backpack immediately, pulling out a crumpled pink envelope and holding it like it was his most precious keepsake.
Lyanna glanced at it with an approving nod. “Looks official.”
Before Jon could say anything else, he suddenly spun around in the wagon. “Mama! There she is! Go!”
Lyanna looked up just in time to see a little girl with pale blonde hair walking towards the gate beside another parent. A pink bow sat neatly in her hair, and sure enough, she was wearing a matching pink shirt with tiny hearts all over it.
Jon jumped out of the wagon, running faster than she'd ever seen. Arya tried to follow, but Lyanna was quick to hold her back.
“Dany!” Jon called out, running after her.
The little girl turned and brightened immediately. “Jon!”
They met halfway across the sidewalk, both talking at the same time in excited bursts that Lyanna couldn’t quite make out as she caught up with Arya. Lyanna slowed the wagon as she approached, watching with quiet amusement.
Jon held up the Valentine he had just shown her, and Dany held up the dragon stuffy in return. They seemed to examine them again like they hadn't done so already. Lyanna knew they had.
“Bye, Jon!” Dany said finally.
“Bye, Dany!” He replied. “See you Monday!”
Lyanna approached just as the woman with Dany looked up. She was tall with long silver blonde hair and a tired but kind expression. She smiled apologetically.
“Sorry if he ran off.” The woman said, gesturing to Jon. “Dany has been very excited about seeing him today, and he seems just as excited.”
“No apology needed. She's all Jon has talked about the past two days." Lyanna chuckled softly, recalling the dozens of conversations that had revolved around Dany. "I'm Lyanna, Jon’s mom.”
“Rhaella.” The woman said warmly. “Dany’s mother.”
Lyanna gestured lightly at the children, who were still talking like they had all the time in the world even though they'd just bye.
Rhaella let out a small laugh. “Oh yes, you're not alone. Dany has been asking me every day if Jon could come play after school, but we always seem to miss each other at pickup.”
“Yep. That sounds familiar.” Lyanna replied. “Jon has asked if she could come over too.”
Lyanna conveniently left out the part where Jon announced that Dany could sleep in his bed with her. He'd insisted there was room for two, and Dany was his girlfriend so she could sleep in his bed.
She had no idea where he'd gotten that idea from and hadn't the nerve to ask. Ever since starting school, he'd been picking up so much from other classmates.
Rhaella’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “Really? That would make her so happy.”
Lyanna pulled her phone from her pocket. “Well, maybe we should actually make it happen. If you want to, that is.”
Rhaella quickly took out her own phone and they exchanged numbers while the kids continued their animated conversation beside them. Arya had toddled her way out of the wagon, running to Jon's side with her red dragon stuffy in hand.
“Perfect.” Rhaella said once they finished. “Text me anytime. Weekends are usually easiest.”
“I will.” Lyanna promised. While she wasn't extremely excited about spending time with a new parent – her experiences so far had been very interesting – she was excited for Jon. She would do anything for him.
“And when you come over, you can see my dinosaurs!” Jon explained to Dany very seriously.
Dany gasped like this was the most amazing offer she had ever received. “Okay!”
Rhaella glanced down at them with a fond sigh. “I suppose we should get going. We need to go pick up your brother.”
“Okay, mama.” Dany replied, heading back to her mother and taking her hand. “Bye, Jon!”
“Bye, Dany!” Jon said again, waving as Dany and Rhaella started walking away.
They both waved until Dany and her mother disappeared around the corner.
Jon returned to the wagon with Arya, a very satisfied expression on his face.
Lyanna started pushing them home. "So…” She said casually. “It was a good Valentine’s Day?”
Jon nodded, still smiling brightly. “The best! Can we go to Dany's house right now?”
Lyanna laughed. “No, Jon. But I did get her mother's number and we'll set up a playdate.”
“Can you set it up now?” He pressed. “I want to show Dany my room.”
Lyanna sighed, shaking her head and smiling to herself as they walked down the sidewalk. He was going to be asking about this all night. She'd need to text Rhaella sooner rather than later.
Fairly quickly, Arya and Jon fell into a conversation about candy, Jon excitedly showing her the bag he'd gotten from class, and no sooner had Lyanna pulled the wagon into the garage did her phone vibrate.
It was a text from Rhaella.