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Keyleth had seen many sides and parts of Percival de Rolo in their years of knowing each other. Scared, terrifying, sneaky, nervous, badass, lovestruck… the list could go on indefinitely. But none of those words, those descriptions, suited him quite as much as being a devoted husband and adoring father.
He loved his girls endlessly, it was evident in everything he did, in his face, his eyes, how he talked about them. Percy absolutely thrived at doting and fussing, and it was clear he loved it. Like he was always meant to do it. And Keyleth absolutely loved watching it.
It was an absolutely lovely day- warm and sunny and perfect for spending time outside, which is exactly what they were doing. Everyone was relaxing and chatting in the garden, enjoying the weather and companionship. Everyone was at a table, picking at snacks. Everyone except Keyleth, who had moved to sit under a tree, and Percy, who was standing beside Vex, bouncing baby Vesper, as she started crying if he even considered sitting. Trinket was snoozing nearby.
Percy was fully engaged in the conversation about the legalities of something strange Scanlan had said, but stopped to listen and respond to every single one of Vesper’s babbles as if she was making good points.
Keyleth adored her friends, but sometimes, even now, she got overwhelmed for one reason or another, something she couldn’t always place, and she was happy to watch from afar when that happened.
After a few moments, Vex stood from her seat, pressed a passing kiss to Vesper’s head, and brushed a gentle hand across Percy’s arm and crossed the garden to Keyleth.
“May I join you?” Vex asked. Keyleth nodded and Vex lowered herself to the ground right beside her. Their shoulders just barely touched.
“Percy is such a good father,” Keyleth said with a soft smile, watching her best friend smile at the little dark-haired toddler he was holding.
A tender smile spread across Vex’s face as her eyes locked on her little family.
The girls were silent for a moment, simply enjoying the peacefulness of watching their friends be happy. Vesper reached up a tiny hand towards her father’s face and Percy, between words, kissed that little hand.
“I… I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” Vex stumbled. Her uncharacteristic nervousness made Keyleth turn to face her with an urgency neither of them expected.
“Nothing bad,” Vex assured with a pat to Keyleth’s leg. “I just think… I think I may be pregnant.”
Keyleth’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hair.
Vex sighed. “I know . Vesper isn’t even two and we have never really talked about having another child, not that we talked about it before Vesper really, but… gods, it certainly doesn’t seem responsible of us, and I’d like to think we were trying to be responsible… How did this happen?”
Keyleth barely opened her mouth to respond when Vex sent her a sharp glare.
“Rhetorical question,”
“Right, sorry.” Keyleth replied. “What did Percy say?”
“I…” Vex shifted uncomfortably, looking away. “I… haven’t told him. I don’t know for sure yet.”
“Pike didn't give you a straight answer?”
Vex sighed. “I haven’t asked Pike.”
“Oh,” Keyleth looked down to her lap and then back up to her friend. “You haven’t told anyone?”
“Only you,”
“Why me?”
“Well, you’re practically my sister. Isn’t that what sisters do?” Vex turned back to face the redhead.
“But… Pike…”
“Yes, her as well, but darling, you are the closest to the real thing.”
“I’m… confused.” the druid admitted.
Vex took a long, shaky breath. “I’m certain you would be my sister by now. Sister-in-law technically, I suppose. But sister all the same.”
Keyleth turned those words over in her head, trying to make sense of them. Surely, Vex didn’t mean…
“He mentioned it once,” Vex said, as if she knew Keyleth’s thoughts. “Very quickly. Muttered something about flowers and how beautiful you would look.”
Keyleth squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard.
“I figured that, since I knew his intentions, I should just treat it like it’s true, like it’s happened.” Vex’s voice broke slightly. “It makes it hurt ever so slightly less.”
Keyleth sat still as stone, trying not to cry.
Vex placed a hand on Keyleth’s shoulder and spoke in a near whisper. “I know that if all this had worked out our way, I would have a sister and I… I would be the proudest aunt in all of Taldore’i by now.”
That was the breaking point for Keyleth when her threatening tears broke through the barrier. There was no way of knowing all of that for sure, but Vex, she figured, would know better than anyone. Knowing all that made Keyleth ache in places she didn’t think could hurt, made her want to scream and cry and throw herself on the ground like Vesper did when she threw a tantrum. But it felt as if all the air had left her body. She felt weak. And when Vex pulled her into a tight hug, Keyleth went limp like a ragdoll as her grief consumed her more than it had in months. Only when she felt Vex’s body shaking did she realize her friend had begun to cry as well.
They cried together for a long few minutes, holding each other up in their sadness. When tears stopped and all that remained were shallow breaths and sicky, streaked cheeks, Vex spoke again, not pulling away for even a second. “You meant so much to him. He thought so highly of you, spoke about you every chance he had. You might as well be in charge of making the sun come up with how much he adored you. I know you are well aware of how much he loved you, but I wanted to make sure you know that I know too.”
Keyleth sniffled hard.
“ We love you, Keyleth, you know that too, but since you two loved each other so much, it only seems right to me for you to be Vesper’s aunt. He may not be able to love Vesper on this plane, but he loved you so much… and you loving my little girl so much… it’s almost like he is here to love her.”
“I promised him I’d look after your children,” Keyleth whispered. “That’s not something I took lightly then, but knowing how much more it means to you now… Vex, I’m honored.”
Vex pulled away then and smiled. “You are a wonderful aunt. And a wonderful friend. Trust me, the honor is all mine.”
The sound of light, unstable footsteps made both Keyleth and Vex turn to identify the sound. Vesper was toddling towards them, looking concerned. Vox Machina was watching them, worry all over their faces, Percy especially, looking utterly hopeless at having just seen his wife and dear friend sob into each other for who knew how long.
Vex wiped at her face and smiled, holding her arms out towards Vesper. “Hello my little love,”
Surprisingly, Vesper ignored her mother and stopped directly in front of Keyleth instead.
“Cryin’?” Vesper asked, the warm breeze blowing through her hair and the bottom of her tiny blue dress.
Keyleth sniffled, nodded, and rubbed her eyes. “Yes, Vesper, we were crying.”
“All done cryin’,” Vesper said firmly, her round little face looking eerily like her mother’s.
Keyleth laughed lightly. “Yes, we’re all done. We feel better now.”
Vesper’s eyes searched Keyleth’s face and then her mother’s and then back to Keyleth’s before nodding in approval. She then threw herself into her aunt’s lap.
“Love you, KiKi.” Vesper said, snuggling close.
Keyleth froze for a moment and Vex’s breath caught in her throat. The nickname took both Keyleth and Vex by surprise. Vesper had not tried to say Keyleth’s name at all until that moment. No one had taught her to say that.
Keyleth wrapped her arms tightly around the little girl, fighting back tears again. She dropped a kiss to the toddler’s hair. “KiKi loves you too, Vesper.”
Above them, a large, dark bird that had been in the tree all afternoon, seemingly satisfied, flew off into into the sky.