Crowned Stag (rhaenyra targaryen x male oc)

Fatherhood

TWO YEARS LATER

"PUSH, MY LADY!" The midwife urged Elenda who was holding Mace's hand tightly, nearly tearing his arm off.

"I CAN'T!" Elenda shouted but Mace held her hand tighter.

"Yes, you can! Just one more and you are done," Mace encouraged her and Elenda gave one final push before the sound of a babe's cries filled the room.

"Another girl, my Lady," Maester Devan proudly said as he and the midwives gathered around the baby girl, wrapping her in blankets and cleaning her.

Mace planted a proud kiss on Elenda's temple and stays with her until Maester Devan approaches them with the girl wrapped perfectly in a black and yellow blanket.

"Congratulations, my Lord. My Lady. You have another daughter," Devan says as he carefully hands the baby girl to Elenda and the new parents admire their child.

Mace sighs, "She's just perfect..." He put a hand around the baby and an arm around Elenda, admiring the beautiful girl.

Elenda cries tears of joy as she gives her daughter a soft kiss. They exchange warm smiles, "What should we name her?"

Mace wipes his eyes and exhales a large breath, "I...I haven't given it much thought." They chuckle at his words and Elenda grins widely.

"I've got it," Elenda says as she looks down at her daughter, "How about...Maris?" She looks up at Mace who nods with a smile curling on his lips.

"Maris Baratheon," Mace says out loud, trying to hear how it sounds. "Sounds just right to me."

And just like that, Mason Baratheon's second born child was named Maris Baratheon.

Cassandra Baratheon, Mason's first child, was born just a year before. She was quite small with her father's features but with her mother's face. Cassandra was named Mason's heir a few weeks after she was born. She turned only a year old a few days ago.

Mace fell in love with his two daughters. They were just perfect. But each moment in which he spent some time alone with them, he was reminded of why these girls are here.

Children in a marriage that only came to be as a punishment.

Mace regretted sleeping with Elenda for all that time and could barely look at her the night they "consummated" their marriage.

But at the same time, Elenda was the mother of his children.

He felt joy at the arrival of his second daughter and wouldn't change it for anything. He stole a glance at Elenda, who was falling asleep on the bed.  She was the mother of his children, he reminded himself. A fact that both comforted and haunted him.

But yet, she was a constant reminder of the choices he had made, the consequences of his actions.

As he gazed down at Maris, her tiny features mirroring his own, Mace felt a surge of protectiveness wash over him. These girls were his flesh and blood, innocent beings caught in the tangled web of his past mistakes. Yet, they were also a beacon of hope, a chance for redemption in a life filled with regrets.

With a heavy heart, Mace vowed to be the best father he could be to Cassandra and Maris, to shield them from the mistakes of his past and nurture them with love and care.