Chapter Text
“We are so late!” Brienne cringed as she jogged with the pushchair through the school gates. Her son Gal, who was jogging beside her only gave her a good natured shrug. Her eldest was endlessly good natured and it wasn’t his fault they were so late. That honour was Brienne’s alone - she didn’t know how the morning had got away from her so much.
“We made it!” Gal announced happily as they arrived at his entrance.
“Have you got everything?” Brienne gave him a visual once over; lunchbox, book bag, PE kit. The seven year old looked all in order. Somehow. Gal nodded and Brienne pulled him in for a quick goodbye hug. “Okay. Be good. Have a good day.” She kissed his head before releasing him.
“Bye Mum.” Gal bent and dutifully kissed his younger sister sitting in her buggy. “Bye Jojo.” The three year old screwed up her face and wiped at her cheek. She was still annoyed at being stuffed in her buggy and not being able to walk. They certainly hadn’t had time this morning for her meandering pace.
“Love you.” Brienne called as Gal headed for the door.
“Love you too.” He called back.
“Apologise for being so late!”
“Okay.” Gal disappeared through the doors.
Brienne puffed out a breath. It had been a long morning already and it was barely past nine. “Okay Jojo, home again.” Brienne said to her daughter as she turned with the buggy and almost ran into a man that was standing beside them. Brienne hadn’t heard him approach. She stopped abruptly before she hit him.
“Sorry.” He apologised at once before Brienne got the chance to the do the same. “Sorry to disturb you. Are you Gal’s mum?” The man asked. Brienne narrowed her eyes. She definitely hadn’t met this man before - frankly there was no way she would have forgotten meeting someone this beautiful. He was, by far, the most attractive person she had ever seen in real life. Golden blonde curls, sharp green eyes, a jawline that could cut glass. Frankly it was absurd how gorgeous he was.
But Brienne guessed he must be a new caretaker or teacher or some other school staff that was about to lecture her on the importance of getting her child to school on time. She was in no mood for such, even by someone so pretty.
“Yes.” Brienne answered reluctantly.
“I’m Dunc’s dad. I don’t know if Gal has mentioned-“
“Oh!” Brienne answered, instantly relieved. “Yes, of course. I’m Brienne, lovely to meet you.” She offered her hand. The man took it but with his left hand instead of the right. He shook it backwards but was smiling easily. Christ, even his smile was stunning. Brienne couldn’t help but look down at his right hand and saw an empty sleeve where the hand should have been. Don’t stare, Brienne chastised herself.
“I’m Jaime.” The man introduced himself. “Lovely to meet you too.”
Jaime’s son Dunc had started in Gal’s class a couple of weeks before and Gal had talked of little else since. The boys seemed to have hit it off instantly. Brienne was always glad when Gal made friends; she was happy to see any evidence that her son was not having the same miserable, lonely experience in school that she had had. And Gal really wasn’t - he seemed to make friends as easily as Brienne had found it difficult.
She had to admit she was a little surprised as this new friendship. As far as she could tell from what Gal told her, Gal and Dunc had very little in common. Gal was an endlessly physical child; he loved sports and games and anything that didn’t involve sitting still. Whereas Dunc, apparently, was the cleverest person in the class already and loved nothing more than reading. It seemed sometimes opposites attracted when it came to seven year old boys and friendship.
“I just wanted to introduce myself and say… well, say thank you if that’s not totally weird.” Jaime explained.
Brienne frowned, unsure of what she was being thanked for. Jaime seemed more unsure of himself than Brienne would’ve assumed. In her experience attractive people, the nice and not nice alike, were always sure of themselves. Why wouldn’t they be? They lived in a world that loved them.
“This move has been tough on Dunc and he finds it hard to make friends at the best of times.” Jaime rushed to explain some more. Brienne sympathised with Dunc. “Gal’s friendship, his kindness and generosity, has made such a difference. I guess I just wanted to say thank you for raising such an amazing kid.”
To her horror Brienne found tears had sprung to her eyes. She wiped at them hastily before they could fall. “Oh god, I’m sorry. This is a psychotic reaction, it’s just I’ve had a bit of a morning.”
“I get it.” Jaime reassured with another heart-stopping smile.
“Gal’s father isn’t in the picture at all so it’s just me. Your words mean more than you know.” Brienne said honestly. She loved her children more than she could ever express but sometimes it felt like such an uphill battle just to keep afloat. To hear she was doing a good job meant so much to her.
Jaime nodded in understanding. “I get it.” He repeated. “Dunc’s mum isn’t in the picture at all either.” Ah, so he really did understand then. “Single parents unite.” Jaime said in jest, raising his hand in solidarity.
Brienne laughed. “I could do with the support. My parent friends here are great but they are all disgustingly happily married.” Brienne loved Sansa and Margaery but it was hard to hear them gush over their perfect husbands sometimes.
“We could start a club.” Jaime joked. Brienne smiled but it really would be nice to have a single parent friend who understood some of the struggle in juggling everything alone. And getting to look at Jaime some more certainly wouldn’t make her life any worse. “Erm anyway…” Jaime stuttered, suddenly sounding unsure of himself once more. “Dunc is really keen for Gal to come over and if Gal wants to I’m happy to have him. Obviously you’d be more than welcome to come as well or to see our place beforehand to make sure you’re comfortable.”
“I’m sure Gal would love that. Do you want to take my number so we can arrange something?”
“Yeah perfect.” Brienne watched as Jaime struggled to get his phone out of his pocket with his left hand and unlock it. She got the impression the loss of his hand was fairly recent. Brienne averted her eyes to try and be respectful. Whatever had happened would not be helped by her gawping. “Here.” Jaime offered her the phone to enter her own number.
She did so and looked up to find Jaime smiling and making silly faces at Jo in her buggy. Surprisingly Jo was giggling and making faces back, her bad mood apparently forgotten. “You should be honoured.” Brienne told Jaime. “Usually she is most suspicious of anyone she doesn’t know.” Jo was much more reserved in character than her older brother which was hilarious considering who her father was: that is the most unreserved person to have ever walked the earth.
“What’s her name?” Jaime asked, still smiling at the toddler.
“Jo. Joanna but Jo.”
Jaime’s face transformed suddenly and he gave Brienne an oddly intense look. She had no idea what it meant but it made her throat dry up completely. “A beautiful name.” Jaime said. “It was my mother’s name.”
“Oh.” Brienne replied uselessly. There was no misinterpreting the grief in his voice. Brienne understood it entirely.
Jaime shook his head to clear it. “Sorry. Thanks.” He said as took back his phone. “So I’ll drop you a message and we can work something out.”
“Great.” Brienne answered. Jaime smiled and bade her and Jo goodbye. As he strode across the playground towards the exit Brienne couldn’t help but watch him go. This beautiful, intriguing stranger she seemed to have so much in common with.
“Muma, home!” Jo suddenly whined from the buggy, interrupting Brienne’s thoughts.
“Yes, home.” Brienne agreed.