Work Text:
All my Winterfairs
Silence had finally settled on the house after the chaos of the day's events. Two by two the family had drifted off to home, to bed, or, in the case of Ivan and Valeraine, to linger by the crib of their new son, with the grandmothers not far behind them. Most of the chaos surrounded the Emperor and Empress, of course, with their host of Armsmen and ImpSec escort, but Miles Vorkosigan also generated his own chaos wherever he went, too. It was always more peaceful when he left the room.
There were only the two of them left in the library, feet up on footstools and glasses in their hands. Even the armsmen had been sent on their way.
Wally looked at his glass, lit by the flames of the flickering fire. There was fire in the spirit, too, but mellow and warming as he took another sip.
"Did you know?" He asked his companion.
Simon VorIllyan shook his head. "I had no idea. Ivan and Raine kept their cards very close to their chests, didn't they?"
Wally sighed. "It was always my one regret. I once told Ivan, if I'd ever had a son I would have hoped he would have turned out just like him."
"I know what you mean." Simon settled more comfortably into his chair. "I never dreamed, once I'd had that damned chip put in, that I could ever hope for a normal life. It was something I had to put behind me; a normal life with a normal family. Not for me. I tried for thirty years to make it happen for the people around me. I failed with Miles. I thought I'd failed with Gregor, until the miracle happened. I always had hopes for Ivan. To be a part of his family, though, like this. That was beyond all imagination."
"Duty is a four letter word. It's all very noble, striving for the greater good, but I don't know when I realised I'd missed the family boat. After the Komarr revolt, perhaps?" Wally shrugged his shoulders. "I was withering into irrelevance and then that bastard Vorclarence did what he did, and nothing was ever the same, after that. Thank all that's holy."
Simon smiled. "Your face, when they announced the name. How did you feel?"
'How did I feel? I suspect you know exactly how I felt. I saw your face when Simon Xav was born, remember?
"True. I was so gobsmacked by the honour I couldn't actually speak. I thought Aceline would have been upset, but she wasn't."
"No, Aceline told me she didn't want to look at a child with her first husband's name, bringing it back to her every single day. That wound goes too deep. She was delighted at the name, too."
"Lord Stefan Xav Voralys. If he takes after his Granda he'll do very well. So how did you feel?"
Wally smiled. He knew he must look like a grinning loon but he he didn't care. "How did I feel? Like all my Winterfairs had come at once, of course. That's how I felt."