Chapter Text
“Aemmie, love, hurry up and find your shoes!”
“But Mama, I gotta potty! ”
Dany sighed, still shoving moving boxes aside in an attempt to find her keys. They’d vanished overnight, lost in the mess of moving. Why she’d thought a week would be long enough to make the twenty-hour drive, unload with a rambunctious toddler to keep out of trouble, and unpack everything was beyond her. Down the hall, she heard the clatter of the toilet seat.
Gods, I’ve told him a hundred times.
But ever since Aemon had started preschool last year, and realized all the other boys stood up (despite being too short for most toilets still) he’d been determined to do the same. At Sunspear Prep the facilities had at least been designed for small children. Their home did not have the same luxury. Dany had sworn she’d teach him once he’d mastered the basics and some semblance of control, but now…
“Aemon Targaryen, if your little booty is not on that toilet seat, I’ll put you back in diapers.”
She found her four-year-old standing before the toilet, raised up on his tiptoes, trying and failing to get a good angle. He was almost tall enough now, but not quite. At least he hadn’t let loose yet. Dany sighed again and hurried over.
“Sweetheart, there is nothing wrong with sitting to pee,” she reminded him. He protested as she put the seat down and then lifted him onto it and helped him aim down between his little legs. “I know, I know, you want to stand, and you will before you know it, but please, love. Right now you’re not quite tall enough to reach without making a mess.”
“But Mama, I’m a boy ,” he said and to make sure she understood how serious he was, he reached up and took her face between his tiny hands. “Boys stand for pee-pee.”
“And can sit just as easily. Your Uncle Rhaegar sits all the time and he’s a boy, right?”
Aemon pouted, but nodded. “I guess.”
“I tell you what,” she said once his hands were washed and he was fully dressed again. “This weekend, we’ll go check out that big forest park we passed yesterday and if you have to go potty while we go hiking you can find a big tree to pee on.”
His whole face lit up. “For really real?”
“Yes,” she said. “Now find your shoes. You don't want to be late for your first day.”
He scampered off to his bedroom just as her phone rang. Without looking Dany accepted the call.
“Yes, Mother?”
“Is he nervous?”
“Is Aemon ever nervous?” She returned to the front of their apartment and continued to search for her keys.
“You know what I mean,” Rhaella said, her voice tight and anxious. “He’s like you, always putting on a brave face. This is a whole new school, a whole new province of Westeros, a new timezone .”
“Mom, he’s fine. This job opportunity was too good to pass over, you know that. I get to do what I love with one of my best friends. Its double the income, so Aemon gets to go to a better preschool—”
“I know, I know, I just miss you, Dany. Both of you. I’ve grown far too content having my favorite daughter and little grandson living with me.”
“Rhaegar and Elia are just around the corner.”
“Yes, but your brother is a grumpy old man now, and Elia is thrilled to have an empty nest.” Her mother sighed. “How cold does it get in Wintertown? I know how to layer up.”
“Frigid, or so I’m told.” Dany flipped open a new box and saw a glint of metal that gave her hope. “Last night it was below freezing and its only the end of August.”
Her mother made a noise of revulsion. “My poor grandson is going to turn into a popsicle up there.”
“He’s been begging for snow since we arrived,” Dany said, then she growled in frustration when the metal she’d found turned out to be the silverware for the kitchen. “Assuming I can ever find my keys so we can continue our lives outside of this apartment.”
“And an apartment , honestly, dear, they’re so small. And noisy. Maintenance people are in and out all the time, checking this and that. Drogon will hate that. I would have been happy to put a down payment on—”
“No. For the ninth time.” Dany shushed her mother when she tried to continue. “I appreciate all you’ve done for me since I found out I was pregnant in college, Mom, truly. But its time I did things on my own. Besides, this job may not work out for all I know. I don’t want a house until I know we’re absolutely staying here.”
“Daenerys Targaryen, you are doing exactly what you love and are meant to do. Gods know, however much I want you closer, you’ve found your place and won’t be budging from it. If you aren’t running all of Wintertown by next summer, I’ll be stunned.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Behind her, Aemon’s little feet came stampeding down the hall. Something was jingling merrily, too.
“Here, Mama, here! The shiny nails.”
“Keys,” she corrected, but relief swept through her as he handed them to her. “Where were they?”
“Under Drogon,” Aemon said.
Of course .
She handed her mother off to Aemon, grabbed her bag, and carried him out to the car. Instead of Aemon’s usual Disney songs, she listened to him yammering away on the phone to his nana. Her heart ached to listen to them. She did miss her mother, much as she tried to not admit it. Rhaella had always been with them—had always been with her. Daario had not bothered to stick around at the news he’d fathered a child, and Dany had been both heartbroken and relieved. Her mother had welcomed her back with her finished degree and swelling belly.
Aemon had learned to walk and talk and make a mess in the very same house she had.
But now they were in the North, in the blistering cold, hostile North. Dany had visited once as a small girl. She scarcely remembered anything about the family trip, only that her brother Viserys had broken his arm and acted like a gigantic baby the entire time. Her best friend Missandei and her husband had moved here straight out of college, him for the army and her for a job. They were the only people she knew here, though she hoped that might change once Aemon made some new friends.
And I hope I’m not the only single mom.
Dany dreaded that more than anything, but what she’d heard of the North made her suspect she would be. Dorne had plenty of single parents, was far more free and uninhibited with out of wedlock children and sexuality in general. The North was different. Or so Missandei had warned her. They were in the city limits though, Winterfell was just a ten minute drive down the road. Still, she worried if the old ways had lingered longer in this frigid landscape.
The preschool’s parking lot was almost full when they pulled in. Mothers were all over, clasping the hands of their tiny children. A few older kids were tagging along in their own school uniforms, readying for their own first days. She pulled her car into a spot between two minivans and shut the engine off.
“Time to say goodbye to Nana, okay, love?”
Aemon made a big kissy sound as Rhaella wished him a good day. Dany said her goodbyes, too, then unbuckled and helped him out of his carseat.
“Now, don’t be nervous, Aemmie. This is a new school, yes, but its going to be very much like what you did last year. Nap time, arts and crafts, story time. All the things you love.”
“Will Howie be here?”
She kissed the top of his dark curly hair. “No, love. He’s in Dorne, remember? We’re in Wintertown now.”
“Oh.” He frowned as she lifted him from the carseat and set him on the ground. “I need a new Howie?”
“You’ll make all sorts of new friends,” Dany assured him. “Probably not any named Howie though.”
She helped him put his little dragon backpack on and took his hand. All around them, other mothers were leading toddlers into the building. Some were crying and screaming, others bouncing like they were trying to float away. Aemon skipped along at her side, happy as could be, his violet eyes shining as he took all of it in. He was her wonderful, brave boy, and everyday she was grateful for how adaptable he was.
At the door, they gave their names, and Dany was given a folder of important forms to fill out about allergies and emergency contacts.
“Down the main hall, last door on the right,” the assistant said, then she was on to the next mother behind Dany.
“It’s so big! ” Aemon’s little voice echoed in the high-ceilinged room. “If Drogon meowed here, he’d sound like a lion.”
“He’d liked that.”
Aemon’s teacher was at the door to his classroom, smiling and just as kind in person as she had been over the phone. She was about Dany’s own age, thin but pretty with green hair.
“Well, hello, Aemon, I’m Ms. Wylla, it’s very nice to meet you.”
He gave her the biggest smile and offered his tiny hand. “I like your hair!”
She smiled and shook his hand, then offered him a green wolf nametag that had already been filled in. “We all get to be wolf pups this week,” she explained, helping him pin it to his shirt. “This way we can all learn each other’s names together.”
Aemon pressed his finger to his and read it out. “Aemon Targaryen, and my pronouns are he and him!”
Ms. Wylla led them into the room where a few children were already playing with blocks and drawing with crayons. “Reading already?”
Dany nodded. “We’re both quite fond of books instead of television.”
Aemon made a beeline for the little cubby that had his name on it. He hung his backpack up and his fuzzy hat, gave Dany a fleeting hug and kiss, then hurried over to the blond girl who was busy building a rocketship out of blocks.
“I’m Aemmie! This rocketship is amazing!” Dany heard him say, and though she didn’t hear the girl’s reply, the pair went right to work building together.
Ms. Wylla seemed relieved. “He’ll be just fine,” she told Dany. “A lot of them get scared and panic when they realize their parents aren’t staying. If you’re worried there’s a room next door you can stay in, just in case.”
“Oh, no. Aemon’s my brave boy. Fearless as can be. He was clingy the first day last year, but as soon as he found a friend it was like I was a cloud high up in the sky.” Dany glanced at the folder of forms. “Do you need these immediately?”
“By the end of the week,” Ms. Wylla said. “I have all the important information already from our phone meeting. Those are just for the front office.”
She tucked them into her bag, gave Aemon one last look and a little wave, but it was clear he was already comfortable. The girl beside him waved, too.
“Bye, Mama!”
“Bye, little love.”
Somehow, leaving him this year was harder than last. Dany made it back to her car, half in a daze, and it was only once she was shut inside that the tears came. Perhaps it was him not needing her that had done it, or maybe the knowledge that here in Wintertown, if something did go wrong, she would not have her own mother to fall back on.
When her phone rang this time, Dany checked the name before answering.
“I do hope he at least gave his poor mother a hug and kiss,” Rhaella said consolingly.
Dany sniffled and laughed. “Yes, he did, our sweet, brave boy. I’m just being silly.”
“There’s nothing silly about watching your baby grow up and need you less.”
Dany snorted. “Please, right before you called earlier I had to stop him from trying to pee standing up again. He needs me plenty.”
Rhaella laughed, too. “Rhaegar and Viserys both were at his age, but then again, your father insisted. The messes they used to make. I swear I was half-convinced having them go in the bathtub would be cleaner. You know him, thinking it would ruin his sons if they sat on a toilet seat.”
“They were both taller than Aemmie is.”
“He’ll be there soon enough,” her mother said. “Now, dry your eyes, make sure your makeup isn’t running down your face in rivers, and go have a wonderful first day.”
“I will. Thanks, Mom.”
“And then—and then, we—Alyss climbed all the way up and to the top and she—and um—”
“Slow down, Aemmie,” Dany said as she buckled him into his carseat, his little legs kicking excitedly as he gushed about his day. “Think about your words.”
He bit his lip, brow furrowed, then waited for her to get into the driver’s seat before continuing.
“She’s my new Howie, Mama,” Aemon explained. “I like her more than Howie. I like her mostest.”
“And what did this Alyss climb to the top of?”
“The monkey bars!” Aemon was grinning like a loon. “She climbed up and over and stood on top of them and said she was Queen in the North! Then Ms. Wylla put her in timeout.”
Dany knew that much already since Aemon had apparently insisted on sitting with his new friend. She was proud of him for his loyalty, though she worried about this climbing business.
“It’s dangerous to climb so high,” Dany told him. “It’s a very long way for little bodies to fall if you take a wrong step.”
“Alyss won’t fall,” Aemon declared. “She’s the bestest climber ever.”
Dany smiled as the crossing guard waved them through the intersection.
“And what else did you learn today?”
“We did number paints, and Ms. Wylla let me read the storytime book to everyone.” He brandished his little painting happily. “And Alyss helped! She can read big words, too, Mama!”
She sounded like a wonderful little daredevil. Dany let him tell her all about the three little wolves from the story and the weirwood that tried to trick them. By the time they were home, he was still going.
“And Mama, Mama, the best part—the bestest part—she’s my twin.”
“Aemmie, I’d know if you were a twin.”
“But, Mama,” he whined, suddenly tugging at her sleeve. “Mama, she’s got my nameday.”
“That doesn’t make her your twin, sweetheart.” Dany helped him out of his backpack. “Go put your bag and shoes away, okay?”
He came back as she was heating up leftovers from last night in the microwave.
“Mama, can I play soccer? Alyss plays soccer!”
“We’ll see.”
He’d never done any sort of sports beyond some attempts at swimming with floaties at the Water Gardens. Dany considered him as she waited for their food to heat up.
“Everyone in school plays, Mama,” he said, clinging to her leg and staring up at her with big, hopeful eyes. “ Pwease, Mama .”
“We’ll ask about it tomorrow,” Dany said and he ran off cheering.