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Percival and Vex'ahlia were visiting so there was an entire street gang of children running through the house and yard. It was lovely and exciting and loud and Keyleth would not have changed a single thing about it. She watched the twins chase one another, smiling as she wondered if Vex and Vax had been that energetic as kids. Or that close. Percy and Vex had other children, but the twins seemed to shut the world out and exist as a single unit sometimes.
"Keyleth, darling, you're not waiting for a raven to come by, are you?" Vex strolled onto the deck, blue gown fluttering around her. She was radiant, motherhood suiting her and softening a few of the hard edges. Not that soft, her gown was cut for the shoulders of a huntress and arms that could pull the strongest bows.
Keyleth smiled and tucked red hair back from her face. "Of course not. The dead can wait, I’m looking forward to seeing the living.”
Vex blinked, taken aback by the druid’s frankness. She’d known her a long time now, it shouldn’t have surprised her that Keyleth was going to say what was on her mind, however awkward it might be. “You should come visit Whitestone. The Suntree is beautiful in the summer.”
“I do miss our conversations. I thought about coming for Winter’s Crest, if I wouldn’t be interrupting anything,” Keyleth returned to watching the expanse of grass outside her porch.
With a smile of her own, Vex put an arm around Keyleth’s waist, pulling her a little closer. “Nonsense, you’re family, you’re always welcome. How are you holding up here? What do you think if Percival comes to stay here for a while? We can hardly keep him away from the Suntree and he’s been talking about coming here nonstop since we started talking about it.”
“Mama!”
Chaos interrupted their conversation as a small flock of children surrounded them. Five separated off to cling to Vex’ahlia while the sixth wrapped herself around Keyleth. Vex’s children were a mix of their parents, ranging from the twins who looked almost human to her eldest who was the spitting image of Vax. He had a smear of dirt on his nose and kept grinning over at his cousin who had grabbed onto Keyleth. She was the exact image of Vex; the cousins were often mistaken for siblings when they were seen together.
“Did you ask? Can I stay?”
“Sweet pea I was just getting there,” Vex smoothed his hair back and looked over to Keyleth. “As you can see he’s dead set on coming to train with you.”
“Can he? Please Aunt Vex’ahlia?” Keyleth’s daughter at her aunt from behind her mother, half-hiding and so shy around this woman she was told she looked so much like. The twin sister of a father she had never met.
“Vex is fine, darling, you’re family. And of course, I can see there’s going to be no peace until I say yes. Go find your father. Probably fixing something,” Vex shooed the twins off on the task and put an arm around her oldest child’s shoulders. “And you should go play too. You’re only a child for so long.”
“Yes mama,” he leaned in and kissed her cheek, then darted out into the sunshine.
Vex and Keyleth watch them go, standing side by side. They both saw the boy but they would forever be reminded of the man who had once been the other half of them.