Work Text:
Vorkosigan House
The morning after the wedding, Nikki got to sleep in. The fireworks and celebrations had lasted long past his usual bedtime, and by the time the Countess had tucked him into bed, he'd been too tired to protest that he wanted to stay up with the grown-ups.
The room he'd been given while the newlyweds traveled down to Vorkosigan Surleau for their honeymoon had been Lord Vorkosigan's, when he was growing up. Lord Vorkosigan had apologized for the room being "a little small", but it was bigger than any of the rooms they'd had in Da's apartments, or the spare room he currently occupied at aunt and uncle Vorthys’s house. It even had an attached bathroom. He'd never had his own bathroom!
Nikki felt a bit weird putting his toothbrush and shower stuff in it, especially when he'd be going down to join Mama and Lord Vorkosigan in a few days and would have to pack it up again. At least Father Frost had given him a jump pilot's travel kit bag as one of his early Winterfair gifts, with special slots and webbed compartments to hold everything, so that was all right.
After spending a bit of time in his(!) bathroom, he pulled on some of the new clothes that he'd gotten from Aunt Vorthys, deliberately bought a bit big, but very comfortable, and decided to take the lift tube down to the basement to ask Ma Kosti for some breakfast.
As it turned out, she wasn't in the kitchen, but one of her helpers happily gave him a bowl of warm groats and syrup, plus a slice of spice bread that she slipped onto the plate with a wink.
Nikki wandered a bit after eating, hoping he might run into Captain Arde or one of his cousins, but ended up encountering The Count sitting in the library instead, looking out the window at the snow and not really reading the book that was open on his lap.
Nikki intended to slip back out, but The Count looked over and noticed him, a smile making his face seem much less intimidating than it had a moment ago.
"Good morning, Nikki.”
“Morning.”
“Did you enjoy the party?"
Stepping closer to the Count's chair, he nodded. "Yah. We had a lot of fun with Sergeant Taura and the fireworks, and Mama was really happy." Thinking more about what had happened yesterday, though, he felt a bit unsettled, and his face fell slightly as things that had been bubbling in the back of his mind suddenly came into focus.
"Um...canIaskyouaquestion?"
The Count put his book away, and gestured at the chair across from his. "Of course you can. I'll always be happy to talk with you, Nikki."
Jumping just a bit to make his way into the tall armchair, Nikki let his feet swing a moment as he tried to put his problem into words.
"I don't know what to call you? I mean...I already have a Granda. I had two, but one's gone now. But he's still my Granda, isn't he? Are you, like, an extra Granda? “
The Count’s eyes crinkled a bit, but he allowed Nikki to go on as the words poured out, tumbling sentence after sentence.
“Should I keep calling you Count? What about the Countess? Mama always told me to be respectful, but I don’t know how that works now. Lord Vorkosigan...he's not my Da. And I know he isn't trying to take him away. And he’s always been really nice! But calling him Step-Da doesn’t feel right. I don't..." He paused, a bit lost as he ran out of steam, and shrugged. "I dunno what I'm supposed to do."
To his surprise, a wave of sympathy washed over The Count's face, replacing the brief amusement, and he reached out to put a hand on Nikki's knee. "Oh, Nikki. I'm sorry. We should have had this conversation before now."
Straightening up a bit, he smiled again, but it was somehow a more serious smile, and he seemed to think carefully for a minute before he spoke.
"Because of our responsibilities on Sergyar, we haven't spent as much time with you or your Mother as Cordelia or I would have liked. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you, in that time, and we care about both of you very much. Your Mama is a very special woman, and we're very glad that she and Miles have found each other. However, that doesn’t mean that your Da or that part of your life aren’t important, too. You'll always be a Vorsoisson. We would never want to take that away from you."
His look was still thoughtful, but a bit gentler as he went on.
"Personally, I don't have any objections to being called your Granda, if that's what you decide you would like. Count Vorkosigan is a rather weighty thing when we're just sitting here talking. And I'm quite sure that Cordelia would be pleased if you decided to call her your grandmother."
Nikki thought about that for a few minutes, then nodded slowly. "So...Granda Aral?"
The Count's face became softer and warmer at that, somehow, and Nikki felt something inside of him relax as he nodded. "If you like. I'm afraid, Nikki, that our family tree is...a bit complicated. I should have thought to talk to you about this before." He closed the book that had lain open on his lap, and put his hand on his chin, rubbing it absently.
"In school, have you talked much about the Regency?"
"Some. That's when Emperor Gregor was too young to be in charge, cuz he was just a kid when his Da and Granda died. So they had someone take over until he was older."
Nikki tried to think of the Count as Granda Aral as he nodded at that answer, approving. It was starting to fit.
"That's the basics of it, yes. Prince Serg, his father, was killed fighting in the Escobar War. His grandfather, Emperor Ezar, passed away a short time afterwards, and his mother, Princess Kareen, was killed during the Pretendership.”
Nikki felt his eyes going wide. Some part of him had heard or read about all this, but hearing someone who had been there talk about it gave it a strange new weight.
"Because I had already been asked to serve as the Regent, Cordelia and I were asked to serve as Gregor's guardians after the fighting had ended. This is a road we've traveled before, in many ways, but we should have taken the time to talk about what all of this has meant to you.”
Granda Aral reached out again and put his hand over Nikki's. The warm, firm weight of it felt both reassuring and strange all at the same time.
"We told Gregor that we never wanted to take the love he had for his parents away. It's impossible for us to replace them, just as Miles could never replace your father. We love him very much, and we did our best to help him as he grew up, but we understood that he wouldn’t see us in the same way as his parents. Miles cares for you the same way, and he'll want to be there for you, too."
His smile turned a bit wry, and he leaned back in his chair. "Of course, I can't promise you that he won't make a few mistakes along the way. Do I remember that Gregor gave you one of his cards?"
"Yah. I keep it in my pockets."
"You might want to talk to him about all this, too. I'm sure that he'd be happy to listen, and share a bit of what he ran into, growing up."
Nikki nodded, slowly. He understood that the card he'd been given was for special times, and not something to use often. Outside of the day Mama proposed to Lord Vorkosigan, he'd almost always just kept it in his pocket. Maybe this was one of those times, though.
Suddenly, a bit more of what Granda Aral had said connected with something that he heard from Gregor on the day the Emperor had explained what had happened to his Da.
"Um...you said that you were Gregor's guardians. But that’s like you were being his parents."
"That's right."
"And he called Lord Vorkosigan his foster brother."
"Yes. They grew up together for quite a few years before Gregor went off to school."
"So...is he my uncle now?"
That got a laugh, warm and a bit unexpected.
"Legally, it's a bit vague, but I think that if you asked him, he would like that."
"And Lord Mark. He's...um..."
"Mark is...complex. He's certainly Miles's brother, though, if from a rather unexpected direction. So he's certainly your uncle, too."
Nikki had to think about that. It felt like his world was getting bigger and bigger, faster than any jumpship could travel. All of Lord Vorkosigan's galactic friends, new family, extra grandparents...it was going to take some time to figure out.
Apparently Granda Aral realized that, too.
"According to the forecast, there's going to be quite a bit of snow when we join Miles and your mother down at the Lake. There are several rather good sledding hills, as I recall. Maybe you could go find Arthur Pym and go look for a sled or two up in the attic."
Hopping down, Nikki grinned, putting the conversation away for later. He'd heard Mama talk a bit about the attic. It sounded like there was a lot of neat stuff up there. Turning to go, he reached the doorway before turning around one last time.
"Thanks, Granda Aral."
"It was my pleasure, Nikki."