This is my second fan-fiction, and it will be a multi-chapter. An idea for a story came to me about Catelyn knowing the truth so she and Jon had a loving relationship rather than the distant one we got in canon. It's not centred around Jon only, but the biggest change to canon will be around the reveal of his parentage. Instead, this fic will focus on all the Starks as they are growing up. Hope you enjoy it, and I welcome all feedback.

Ned felt confused as he looked upon the grey walls of Winterfell from afar. This was his home, it always had been despite spending nearly a decade living in the Eyrie, but it didn't feel like a homecoming. Ned had spent the last year fighting to find Lyanna and bring her home. He was bringing her home, but only her bones, along with Brandon's bones as well. He looked around at the cart carrying the bodies of his dead siblings and felt the familiar painful pang in his chest. At least Brandon and Lyanna could be laid to rest in the crypts. His father didn't even get that, his body completely burned and the ashes swept away by the wind in King's Landing.

A small cry turned Ned's attention to smallest person in their party. Lyanna had named her son Aemon, but in truth, the boy looked about as far from a Targaryen as possible, or at least he did with his eyes closed. Aemon already had a mop of black hair with a slightly long face, features that Ned had long recognised as traditionally Stark. But when Aemon's eyes opened, it was easy to spot the child's true heritage. Aemon's violet eyes stared at him now from where his wet-nurse, Wylla, was holding him.

"The eyes could cause trouble, mi'Lord." Ned nodded at her, his face grim.

"Aye. Any other colour and I could claim him as my own. But anyone who takes one look at him will immediately know who his father is. I do not know what to do," Ned admitted.

Ned had promised Lyanna that he would protect her son, and he intended to do so, but it was difficult for him to know where to begin. Howland had suggested that he take Aemon with him and raise him in the Neck as an orphan they found on the way home from the war. Aemon would grow up as a much-loved adopted son of House Reed, and Howland promised he would visit Winterfell with Aemon. The idea did appeal to Ned at first, Aemon would certainly be safe there…but he wouldn't know his family, so Ned dismissed it. Aemon would come with him to Winterfell, he would just have to find an explanation for the violet eyes.

Aemon's eyes weren't the only problem, there was also his name. He couldn't exactly allow the boy's name to remain as Aemon, but Ned had struggled to choose another name. A child's name is something a parent should choose, and he was only Aemon's Uncle, so he didn't feel right choosing a name that he would use forever. Howland had tried to help, listing names he thought would suit a Stark-looking child, putting emphasis on Brandon and Rickard. Ned had immediately rejected the names of his dead brother and father, not feeling comfortable with that just yet. Perhaps he could honour them by naming any future children he had after them, but right now it was too soon.

Thinking of his future children turned Ned's mind to the babe inside the castle he had never met. Robb, his wife had named him. He felt nervous at the thought of meeting his son, this child he had thought of so often but never laid eyes on. He didn't really have that much experience around babies, and didn't know what to do with them. He had been too young to truly remember Lyanna. He did have a few memories of Benjen as a baby, but those memories were more about his mother, trying to cling onto the few memories he had of her. There was Mya Stone in the Vale of course. Robert would often drag him along to see her and he would marvel in the fact that he had a daughter. But when Mya stopped laughing and began to cry, Robert would leave, and before long he lost all interest in her. Besides the few times Robert forced him to hold Mya, he hadn't held a babe until Lyanna placed Aemon into his arms.

Robb would be different though. Robb was his son. He had known about Robb's existence for a while now and he can remember with perfect clarity the moment he read Catelyn's first letter, telling him he was to be a father. As he was fighting, the thought of the unborn child pushed him through, kept him going. It gave him another purpose to win the battles he was fighting. The babe would either be a future Lord of Winterfell, or punished for his father's treason, and he worked twice as hard to stay alive to ensure it was the former. Ned had imagined what Robb would look like since he received word of his birth a couple of moons ago. It helped him sleep at night as it removed the images of horror from his mind.

Meeting Robb wasn't the only thing that had him worried. Explaining Aemon and the threat that harbouring him at Winterfell could carry to everyone with the name Stark would be another. He didn't know Catelyn, not really. He had spent two weeks at Riverrun and hadn't seen her since. They had corresponded through letters, but writing was different to talking in person. Although he didn't know her, he couldn't lie to her. He owed his wife more than lies. Could there be a worse way to begin a marriage than lying to a person you're bound to spend the rest of your life with? If there was, Ned couldn't think of it. He felt it was a risk confiding in a woman he had only known for two weeks, but she was his wife and the mother of his child. He felt that her advice should be as valued as Benjen's.

As if Benjen knew he had entered Ned's thoughts, he came into view on horseback with a small guard to meet the returning Lord of Winterfell. Ned looked at his brother and realised he wasn't the boy he left at Winterfell over a year ago when he rode south to war. Benjen was now a man, and it upset Ned to know that Benjen had been alone during the hardest year of his life. Ned saw light in Benjen's brown eyes as he approached, but the light turned dark when the cart carrying Brandon and Lyanna came into view. 'I'm so sorry,' Ned thought sadly. 'I'm sorry I couldn't save them.'

Ned hated that Benjen had to be told about Lyanna's death by raven. But rumours travel quickly, and Ned wanted Benjen to hear from him before anyone else. Benjen and Lyanna were inseparable growing up, closer than he and Brandon were, and he knew that while Lyanna's death broke him, it would've destroyed Benjen.

"Ned." Benjen nodded at him and extended his hand, so Ned shook it.

"Ben." It was an odd greeting, as if they were mere acquaintances and not brothers, but he could hardly embrace Benjen from horseback and a happy reunion didn't seem right under the circumstances.

"That's them?" Benjen nodded toward the corpses.

"Yes. For all his faults, Jaime Lannister told me where Aerys had kept Brandon's body. And then Lyanna…she belongs here, not in Dorne." Ned's eyes strayed to Aemon and Benjen followed his line of sight in curiosity.

"Who is this?"

"I can't explain here." Benjen didn't seem entirely satisfied with Ned's short answer, but recognised that the tone meant there was no argument.

They continued riding on towards Winterfell in silence. Ned had been in the south for so long that the air in the North almost felt foreign to him. The air in the south was too thick and Ned hated it. Everything was too warm, even Riverrun was warm during the time he spent there, and that was hardly in the south.

Ned had always been comfortable with long silences, but Benjen hadn't, and Ned could see he was itching to talk. Ned had been the quiet where Brandon was loud; sensible where Brandon was reckless; cold-faced where Brandon had been warm. Benjen was a balance in the middle of the two. He laughed often, but had a hidden seriousness and was outgoing, but had reservation unlike their eldest brother. As expected, Benjen couldn't remain silent, and his voice broken Ned out of the thoughts.

"Robb's a happy baby." Benjen looked at Ned. "Obviously gets it from his mother. In the week he has been here, I swear I've seen him smile more than you have your entire life." Benjen spoke with laughter in his voice, trying to lighten the mood. It was easy to forget how young Benjen was, but when he laughed, Ned could imagine he was still a six-year-old boy. "He cries a lot though. I don't think he likes it when I hold him. I'm the youngest though, so I've never been around babies before, but I'm trying to learn. I want him to know me. He is my nephew."

"You'll see him every day, I'm sure he will know who you are."

"Well, he needs a fun uncle with a stoic, solemn father like you." Ned could hear the joke in his voice and so decided to poke fun back at him.

"Well, it'll be hard to overthrow the Blackfish as his favourite uncle."

"Technically the man's not even his uncle, but I suspect I'll still lose. The man's a legend. Your son is related to one of the greatest warriors Westeros has ever seen. Robb will probably be a fighter himself." Ned's good mood had swiftly returned to his previous seriousness. His own taste of war made him want to keep Robb as far away from battle as he possibly could. He had no wish to see any child grow up to experience that, but his own son…he would fight to prevent that if he had to.

"Let's hope it never comes to that." Ned said, his tone sombre.

The conversation died out again and they reached Winterfell quicker than Ned had expected. Ned sent one of Benjen's guards to escort Wylla and Aemon to his solar, out of the way of prying eyes. The last thing he needed was gossip before he had a chance to explain Aemon to everyone. Men, women and children bowed as he entered Winterfell, cheering for their victorious Lord, but their cheering was drowned out as Ned's attention was focused on the fact that this castle didn't belong to him. He had gained a castle, land, titles, a wife and a son all because Brandon died, and it overwhelmed him a bit.

Ned dismounted and sent for men to tend to the bodies of his siblings and have them prepared to be laid to rest in the crypts. He spotted Maester Luwin, his trusted advisor, among the crowd and walked over to him. The Maester bowed when he approached.

"My Lord"

"Maester. It's good to see a familiar face." Besides Benjen, Ned had not recognised a single person he had set eyes upon in the castle.

"I trust you will want to see Lady Stark and young Robb, My Lord." Ned nodded at the man, who continued, "I set up the chambers you asked me to, the last I heard she was in there."

"Thank you, Maester. I would like to speak to you about something important, but not here, in my solar. I will join you shortly." Luwin looked confused but bowed his head and walked off. Ned turned to Benjen, who had also walked over to where Ned and Luwin had been stood "I want you to go there as well. What I have to say concerns you."

"You sent the woman and babe there. Who is he, Ned? Is he yours?" Ned shook his head but spoke no more on the subject, and watched as Benjen walked off.

Despite being away from Winterfell for a long time, Ned knew his way around the castle as well as he had done as a boy. He had written to Maester Luwin long ago, instructing him to give Catelyn the warmest chambers in the castle. The North had cold winters, cold even for Northerners at times, and Ned wanted his new wife to be as comfortable as possible. He felt that warm chambers may help to do that. When he arrived at her chambers, he knocked lightly on the door, anxious to meet the tiny baby behind it.

"Come in," spoke a soft feminine voice from inside, and Ned gathered up the courage to walk into the room. Once inside, he saw a red-haired woman with her back to the door, but she clearly had a baby in her arms, rocking him to sleep from where she sat on the bed.

"Forgive me, My Lady. I had not realised you were trying to put him to sleep." Catelyn's head whipped around at his voice, shocked to see him.

"M-My Lord. I was not expecting you today. Maester Luwin thought you were a few days ride away."

"We rode later into the night than perhaps we should have. After so long away, getting home quickly was the most important thing."

"Forgive me, My Lord. I should have been there to meet you. Only—" she gestured to the child in her arms.

"There's no need to apologise." Ned took a step closer, and held out his arms. "May I?" Catelyn didn't hesitate to hand the baby to him, and for the first time, Ned held his own child in his arms. Ned felt an instant connection with the baby unlike any other he could explain. When he first held Aemon, he felt love for his nephew, but nothing like this. This was his son, a part of him. Robb was a beautiful baby. Perhaps Ned was biased but it was true. He had bright blue eyes and what little hair he had was red. It was clear he would look like his mother, and that made Ned smile. He was simply perfect and Ned was left speechless.

Ned remained silent for a while, simply taking in this little boy. A whole host of emotions rushed through him, but Catelyn assumed his lack of speech was a bad thing.

"I hope you don't mind that he looks like me, My Lord. I had hoped that his hair would be darker. It is not quite as red as mine—" Catelyn continued to babble, clearly nervous that he would not react well to his heir not looking like him. Ned inwardly cursed the society they lived in where women were taught their husbands want children that look like them. He reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her from talking and she looked up at him as he reassured her.

"I wouldn't change a thing about him. You are far better to look at than I am. It's better he gets your looks. I am glad for it." She blushed slightly at that and he knew he said the right thing. "He's perfect, truly. I have imagined what he looks like for months now, but he is far better than my imagination."

Ned looked back to Robb, who had fallen asleep and smiled. Both parents resorted back to silence for a while and Ned thought back to the moment he received word telling him his wife was expecting a child. Robert had made his jokes and forced several mugs of ale down his throat but Ned found himself spending most of that night with his father-in-law. The way Lord Hoster spoke of his firstborn was almost inspiring to Ned. Of course, Rickard had loved Ned, he was in no doubt of that, but far away in the Eyrie, sometimes he had doubted that. Listening to Hoster speak of Catelyn and his unborn grandchild, Ned promised himself that if he lived, his child would never doubt his love.

Ned felt like he had failed already, missing the first few months of his son's life, and he thanked the Gods that his son would not remember it.

"Thank you for him. I wish I had been there from the moment he was born."

"My Lord—"

"Ned. Call me Ned, my family do." It still felt strange for people to be addressing him as a Lord. He wanted those closest to him to call him by his name at least.

"Ned… I'm sorry. About your sister." He looked at her and saw the pain in her eyes. She had never met Lyanna, but she still felt his pain and that meant something to Ned. Over the last year he had many people telling him how sorry they were, but most of them seemed false. Ned was not one for emotion and so he pushed Lyanna to the back of his mind, but Catelyn mentioning her had reminded him of Aemon.

"I need to tell you something. Away from people who may listen." He gently handed Robb back to her, not wanting to disturb his sleep, and watched as she placed him in his crib. He ran a hand across the soft hairs on Robb's head affectionately, unwilling to part with his son so soon, but he knew it was necessary. He offered Catelyn his arm, and they walked out of the room. It was time to tell the truth.