Once Catelyn had bathed and changed her clothes, she checked on the children in the nursery. When she walked in, Catelyn found the three babies in the same crib. When Catelyn's maid from the Riverlands saw Catelyn enter the nursery, she curtsied.

“Lady Stark, it appears that the servants of Winterfell only had one crib prepared for your arrival. They did not know of Lord Stark's bastard,” Catelyn's maid said with disdain.

Catelyn's eyes narrowed, “Do not call my Lord Husband's son that! If I hear you or any of the servants refer to Jon Snow as a bastard, you will find your head on a spike. This child is to be treated as a trueborn child. Do you understand?”

The maid stared at Catelyn in shock, but she quickly nodded and curtsied, “Yes, my lady, whatever you want.”

“Good, I want you to let the rest of the servants know you are dismissed.”

“Yes, my lady,” The servant said and quickly left the nursery.

Once the maid was gone, Catelyn walked towards the crib to check on her children. She found her twins asleep, but Jon was awake, looking around. Catelyn smiled at her nephew; she felt her heart go out to the orphan. It wasn't fair that he would never know his mother; she didn't feel bad that Jon would never know Rhaegar; Catelyn thought Rhaegar was scum for leaving his wife and children unprotected and causing their brutal deaths.

Catelyn picked Jon up and sat down in the rocking chair, and began to rock the baby to sleep. The grey-eyed baby stared at her for a moment then his eyes began to droop closed. After a while, Catelyn could hear the sweet snores of the baby she would claim as her son. She vowed that Jon would not be treated differently from her trueborn children. When Catelyn was sure the baby was asleep, she kissed his forehead and put him in the crib with her twins. She said a quick prayer to the Mother to watch over the three children and then left the nursery.

What Catelyn didn't know was that Eddard had been standing outside the nursery and had seen the entire scene. He was surprised and relieved at how his new wife was treating his nephew, which only strengthened his resolve to tell Catelyn the truth about Jon. Ned left before his wife caught him and went to his Solar to wait for her. A few moments later, there was a knock at his door.

Ned told the person to enter and saw that it was his new wife, “My Lady, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes, My Lord, I wanted to inform you that the feast is ready.”

Ned nodded and walked towards Catelyn, offering his arm. Catelyn gladly took it, and the couple quickly left for the great hall where the other lords and soldiers were waiting for them. As they walked down the corridor, Ned pulled Catelyn to a halt, “Lady Catelyn, there are urgent things I would like to talk to you about; if we can meet in my solar in the morning, we will have breakfast in private.”

Catelyn agreed. She had a feeling that Ned would tell her the truth about Jon. Catelyn was reasonably sure that she guessed Jon was Lyanna's son and was born from rape, but she wanted to hear it from her husband to be positive.

After their brief discussion, they continued into the Great Hall, where the Northern Lords were waiting for the couple to begin the feast. As the celebrations continued through the night, Catelyn observed that the North Men were happier and more relaxed now that they had returned to the North. Catelyn never thought she would enjoy watching the men of the North celebrate, but she found that they were less reserved than they were at Riverrun.

After a while, Catelyn excused herself and decided to go to bed, but before she retired, Catelyn stopped by the nursery to check on the babes. When she arrived, Catelyn smiled at finding Lyarra awake. The baby girl had a special place in her mother's heart. To get her wrong, she loved her twins equally, but there was something about Lyarra that always brought her peace when she held and nursed the little girl. When Lyarra saw her mother, she giggled and asked to be had. Catelyn smiled and took Lyarra into her arms; she sat in the rocking chair and untied her top to feed her daughter. As her daughter latched onto Catelyn's breast, she couldn't help but feel sadden that soon, her twins would be eating solid food, and her bonding experience with them would end. So, Catelyn cherished every moment she spent with her babes.

What Catelyn had failed to realize was that Kagome, now known as Lyarra, had felt her mother's resentment towards Jon and was slowly pushing her healing powers into Catelyn so that she would see Jon for who he indeed was, an innocent child. Kagome had no idea that he was doing that; it cleared Catelyn's thinking and made her mother take a long look at Jon and come to the correct conclusion about his parentage. Kagome unknowingly was already changing the Stark's future.

The following morning, Catelyn walked towards Ned's solar. When she entered, she was surprised to find that her good brother was there, but she said nothing. Catelyn called the servants to serve breakfast, and once they left, the Starks began to eat. There was an awkward silence between the three, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. After breakfast was eaten and the dishes cleared away, Benjen and Catelyn looked at Ned expectantly; they waited until he gathered his thought. After a while, Ned sighed and leaned forward on his desk. He looked at his brother and wife directly in the eyes, “What I am about to tell you can never leave this room. I trust you with a huge secret that could lead to our deaths if discovered.”

Benjen and Catelyn looked at each other, concerned, “What is it, Ned?” Benjen inquired.

“First, you must swear to me on your honor and to the Old Gods and the New that this information will never be revealed.”

“I swear it by the Old Gods and the New,” Catelyn and Benjen said simultaneously.

Ned closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. When he opened them, there was a look of determination in his eyes. He then began to tell them everything that happened during Robert's Rebellion, and his realization that Robert did not love his sister, Lyanna, was more of an obsession for him.

Ned continued his story and the journey to The Tower of Joy and the battle with the Kingsguard when they arrived. Ned told Ben and Cat how Arthur truly died and what he found when he entered the tower. He explained to them the condition Ned had found Lyanna and that she was dying from blood loss after giving birth to a son. Ned explained that Lyanna had left with Rhaegar willingly and that they had married secretly and that she had given birth to Rhaegar's trueborn son, whom she named Aemon after Rhaegar's uncle.

Ned paused and let out a shuttering breath, “Lyanna knew she was going to die and that if Robert found out about Aemon, he would kill him. She begged me to take care of her son and protect him; of course, I agreed. And the only way I could think of to protect the baby was to claim him as my bastard. I changed his name to Jon Snow, and you all know the rest.”

Benjen and Catelyn sat there, stunned for a few moments. Catelyn had guessed Jon was Rhaegar's son, but she didn't think that Lyanna and Rhaegar were in love and that they had got married. The realization dawned on her that Aemon Targaryen, aka Jon Snow, was the rightful ruler of Westeros. Her resolve to protect Jon only strengthened after hearing her husband's tale.

Ned waited for the pair to say something; he was surprised when Catelyn spoke first, “I had already guessed that Jon was not your bastard, Ned, and his parents were Lyanna and Rhaegar. I had no idea that he is a trueborn son.”

Ned looked at his wife in surprise, and it didn't occur to him that she would have figured it out so quickly since Jon looked so much like him.

“How did you know?” Ned questioned.

Catelyn smiled at him, “I took a long look at the babe. It's true that he most resembles a Stark, but if you look very, very carefully, you can see traces of his father in him. His eyes, for example, are mostly grey, but if you look closely, you can see a bit of indigo in them.”

Ned's heart sped up, and he began to sweat. Catelyn noticed how agitated Ned was becoming and shook her head, “Ned, the only way a person would be able to tell is if they know what they are looking for. They would have to examine Jon closely to see any Targaryen traits. For anyone else, he's pure Stark.”

Ned let out a sigh of relief. He then turned to Benjen, who was still stunned. Ned cleared his throat to get Ben's attention, “What do you think, Brother?”

Benjen smiled sadly, “At least there's a piece of our sister left in the world.”

“Were you still planning on joining the Night's Watch?”

“I don't know, now. I'll have to think about it.”

Ned nodded, “I understand. I hope you decide not to, but if you do, I will support you.”

With that, Benjen nodded and excused himself. Once Catelyn and Ned were alone, Ned turned to his wife, “What are you thinking?”

“That what happened to Jon is unfair. He was deprived of his mother because they were too stupid not to get a maester. And I think what you did was the right thing to do.”

“Now that you know the truth, what will you do, Catelyn?” Ned asked.

Catelyn smiled at Ned, “I will raise our nephew alongside our children and treat him as my son,” Catelyn declared.

For the first time, Ned gave his wife a genuine smile, and he felt his heart flutter with affection for his wife.

“Thank you, Cat. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“You're welcome, Ned, and thank you for trusting me with this large secret.”

Ned stood and helped Catelyn up. He kissed her cheek and offered his arm so they could visit the nursery together, then see the Northern Lords off. As they walked down the hall, Ned realized that maybe one day he could grow to love this woman. Ned truly hoped that would happen, but he knew it would take time. But who knew what the future held?