(Untitled)

[withoutasea]

In the days after the Lady Lyanna's disappearence, for Ygraine's sake, Jenny took pains to make sure that things didn't change. The child whined and grizzled for her birth-mother, but the woman who had had a hand in raising her since the day of her birth did her best. They visited with family in Summerfell and the clinic. They spent hours in the

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[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa's fear of disappearing increased every time she lost a family member. But this time it was tinged with disapproval and suspicion. She did not care to think on Lyanna's relationships - because Lyanna had always been far too keen to make Sansa blush and Sansa had long ago learned the trick of ignoring that which she did not wish to know. Yet since Lyanna had gone Sansa could only assume her friendship with Bran's mother was more than that for Jenny was apparently mother to Ygraine as much as Lyanna was. This Sansa could not understand and she did not want to. She understood adoption of course - but she could not change her opinion that a child needed a mother and a father - not two mothers. And not one mother who was not even blood to her. Yet she could not be so rude as to say that and so she said nothing at all feeling awkward whenever she saw the woman who had charge of her young cousin. She felt it even more today when she heard Ygraine's howling. She should be with family

[withoutasea]

The child settled, a little, at the sight of her cousin, and Jenny pressed a hand against the top of her head, cooing a little and rocking on her heels as she smiled at Sansa and dipped her head.

"Good day to you, Sansa," she said, voice pitched to carry over over Ygraine's grumbling. "The Lady Ig is in a frightful temper today, I fear. Neither horses, food nor the moving pictures have charmed her."

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa assumed Ygraine missed her mother - her real mother but she smiled at Jenny. "A temper she comes by honestly," she said softly, missing her aunt as she said it. Lyanna's moods had been swift and quite often frightful.

She turned to Eddara, "do you have something that might entertain your cousin there?" she asked. Eddara was at least getting better at sharing and reluctantly Eddara toddled over to wave a small cloth doll at the babe.

[withoutasea]

"Aye," said Jenny, smiling wryly though her dark blue eyes stayed sad. "Our lady Lyanna had a storm in her, no doubt."

She looked down at Eddara, smiling a little truer and then she nodded. "Shall we bring them to the kitchen to play for a while, lady? I could take tea."

[plntfood]

When the baby screams, Mathias winces almost imperceptibly before he moves closer to Jenny in the kitchen and offers her a small smile. There's no task on this earth as daunting as caring for a child, he thinks, but she seems to be patient enough.

"Hello," he says, smiling at Jenny before looking at the little girl. "And hello to you, too."

[withoutasea]

"The lady is in a fearsome temper today," said Jenny, voice pitched to carry over Ygraine's wailing. "Do not take it personally, dear heart. I fear she'd wailed at anyone, today. Nothing charms her."

As if on cue, Ygraine did quiet a little, still grizzling, leaning her head against Jenny's shoulder and shoving her fingers into her mouth. Jenny cradled the back of her head with her hand and rocked her a little.

"Her dear mother, my heart, is gone," she said. "And so I must stand in both Lyanna and my husband's stead."

[plntfood]

"Oh," Mathias says softly, looking at the little girl with his regular unreadable expression. It's an awful reminder of how fickle the island can be and he eventually frowns, looking back at Jenny.

"How are you doing?" he asks, because it can't be easy for her either.

[withoutasea]

"As well as can be expected," she said, with a twitch of her mouth that was almost grateful. She liked that he had asked.

"The littlest lady needs me," she said, stroking soft, dark hair. "It's enough."

And, most days, it was.

[giftless]

Edmund winced as he came upon Jenny and Ygraine, the child howling her head off. At least the direwolves could hit a note, in a lonely but beautiful sort of way.

"Not a good day?" he asked, cautious but friendly. He didn't know Ygraine, or Jenny for that matter, as well as he did Rickon and Eddara, but spending time with them had bolstered his confidence when it came to small children.

[withoutasea]

"We are in a frightful ill temper."

For a moment, it was not clear whether Jenny referred to Ygraine alone or the both of them. She pressed one hand against Ygraine's head and cradled her, red and sobbing, hough mostly spent, hiccuping unhappily.

"And nothing pleases us."

[giftless]

"You'd think they'd run out of breath," Ed remarked. He came closer, angling himself so he could catch Ygraine's attention without intruding on Jenny, wondering if a distraction might help. "But it really is the pits being a kid sometimes. You can't blame her."

[withoutasea]

"I think they devise a way to breathe through the ears, and we forget it as we grow," said Jenny, watching as Ygraine quietened, finger stuffed in her mouth as she watched the boy who might as well be another Uncle.

"I was married when I was fourteen," she told him, a smile twitching the corner of her mouth. "I barely remember being a child."