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Vorkosigans!
It was after all the children were in bed, either sleeping or resting, that Miles finally entered their rooms.
He acknowledged her with a bare whisper of a nod, pulled a cushioned chair around and rested his arms and hands on the backrest, staring out the window into the dark of Sergyar’s night.
That was not good.
Miles in full manic mode, determined to solve a problem, was difficult. Miles in full manic mode, determined to tackle a problem to distract himself from a larger problem, was even more so.
But Miles in quiet, contemplative mode? That signaled a near-impossible struggle within.
Ekaterin rose from the resting couch and walked over to him and gently set her hand on his shoulders. Her wedding ring glimmered in the low light. Different stars outside. She’d gotten used to the Komarran sky during her time there but she’d visited Sergyar long enough time for it to look right to her mind. At least the rooms were laid out in the indulgent High-Vor style with cushions and couches and soft carpeting. The reminder of Vorkosigan house was comforting. She wondered whether Cordelia had departed from that style in her private rooms.
Miles’s acknowledgment of his wife’s presence was a long, slow breath but no words. She’d learned not to press him in these moods but offer quiet support. Besides, she liked it quiet. It’s too bad that silence signaled worry for Miles rather than relaxation.
Miles finally spoke.
“How are they?” he asked.
“Our children are as well as they can be, under the circumstances. Being Vorkosigans, I’m sure they’ll soon view today’s events as an adventure and regale their friends at home with the tale of strange floating fire on that odd planet ruled by their grandmother,” Ekaterin answered.
Miles shook his head with a smile. “Vorkosigans. You almost sound like my mother when she says ‘Barrayarans.’”
“Mmmm….” Aha, teasing. So this was no immediate crisis that Miles wrestled within his mind. No doubt something to do with Oliver Jole. Well, Oliver and Cordelia. After Oliver’s heroic actions today, Ekaterin was a firm advocate of her mother-in-law’s new relationship. But it was easy for her to accept the new status quo. Not so easy for a son to see his mother happy with a man not his father, especially when that father had been Aral Vorkosigan.
Though she’d thought Miles had worked himself around to a quiet acceptance of his mother’s ‘retirement’ plans. Or least classified them as ‘not my problem.’
“I gather the talk with Oliver went…somewhat sideways?” Ekaterin ventured.
“If you mean, are we at odds? No. That would be churlish in the extreme after his heroic actions today. And to think I teased Ivan about Simon and Aunt Alys.” He added the last sentence in a mutter. He cocked his head up at her, his expression unreadable. “By the way, it’s a boy. Well, boys.”
“So you were right! Oliver and your mother are going to have children together?”
Miles had guessed that but hoped he’d been wrong. That explained the mood. Cordelia having Aral’s posthumous daughters was a revelation but, well, it was Cordelia. Ekaterin understood that, somewhat, though she wondered if Cordelia really understood what it meant to be a mother of six. But more? An entirely new family too?
“I was partially right,” Miles breathed out. “Um, yes, they’ll be…um….my brothers.”
That was too much for her to parse. “Miles,” she said. “It’s late, it’s been a day, and you will have to speak plainly.”
“Oh, yes, speaking plainly is definitely needed. Was needed a long time ago, I should think.” He rose, and hugged her. She embraced him hard, needing the feel of him next to her, needing that reassurance, needing that love. It had been a day.
He rose on tiptoes, kissed her cheek and faced her. “Speaking plainly is difficult, as I’m sure you’ll understand after I spit it out. Mostly, I’m having a time wrapping my head around it enough to explain. It seems I’ve been wrong about my parents’ marriage. Well, only partially right. Who knew the past was so malleable?”
He rubbed his chin. If this concerned Aral too, no wonder Miles had been rendered mostly mute. “It’s been my experience the past changes as a person’s perception changes,” she said.
“Normally, yes, but it appears this is not so much perception as added knowledge.” He straightened, assuming a military pose. “Right. Best to come out with it. It seems my father, was involved in a physical relationship with Oliver for most of my adult life. With my mother’s full and enthusiastic knowledge, of course.”
“Of course.” Ekaterin repeated dully. Her throat cracked, absorbing the words. Aral had wanted someone other than his wife? That was…greedy…of him. “I’d not heard that rumor.”
They’d both heard all the worst rumors about Aral Vorkosigan after their high-profile engagement. Ekaterin had learned to ignore the whispers and to trust her own judgment on the man. She’d come to adore Aral, especially since he made a special effort to befriend Nikki.
“But there’s more!” Miles paused dramatically. “My mother also became a participant. When Oliver was stationed on Sergyar, the marriage became a three-way relationship.”
“Oh.” Ekaterin’s first thought was ‘lucky Cordelia!’ to have two such men. She bit her tongue before she said that out loud. Miles wouldn’t appreciate it. “They have earrings on Beta Colony for that.”
“That’s what I said!” Miles said. He sounded more normal now. It always helped having things in the open.
“That is a great deal of information to absorb in a few hours,” she said. “I begin to see why you had problems voicing it.”
“Oh, that is not all! There’s more. Remember the boys?”
“How could I forget?”
He dropped the military pose. “My mother gave Oliver some of her and father’s genetic material. Oliver is going to have three boys. They’ll be his and my father’s sons. My half-brothers.”
“That’s….” Okay, that had to be the revelation that explained the silence. That was a lot. She swallowed, hard. “Is that possible?”
“Oh, yes, and if you ask my mother, I’m sure she’ll give you all the scientific and biological details.” He spread his hands out in front of him.
“That will make their household one of…nine children? Nine more Vorkosigans in total?” Ekaterin couldn’t help the burst of laughter. “That’s absurd.”
Miles joined her in mirth.
He took her hand. “Well, that’s the right attitude. Ridiculous but who doesn’t have ridiculous family members? Except I’m used to being the ridiculous family member.”
She linked her arms together. “Now you are the perfectly respectable Count Vorkosigan.”
“Oh, not that respectable.” He grinned. “Especially since I promised Oliver that we’d acknowledge the boys as my brothers. Openly. No more secrets.”
A quick jut of his chin. Decision made. Moving forward. Of course. Almost daring her to argue. But she agreed!
“After Oliver’s actions today, I’m firmly behind him being a member of the family. I rather like him.” He was a good, solid man. A hint of mischief, yes, but not driven. Centered. “It must have been hard for him, to hide his love for your parents. The poor man. It’s terrible to conceal your true self from the world.”
“Not the whole world. I seem to have been one of the lost close members of the family to be clued in.” He rolled his eyes. “Gregor. Simon. Aunt Alys. All the Armsmen. God, I hope not Ivan. No, Ivan would have crowed to me about it. I wonder if Mark knows…”
“Explaining a private life to one’s children can be hard,” Ekaterin allowed.
He sighed, morose again.
“I just…I mean…they’re allowed to have their lives but….I’m going to sound selfish.”
She sat on the resting couch so they could be side by side. “Sit with me, husband.” She suspected what was coming. She’d gotten it from Nikki, once.
He settled in next to her, her arm slung over his shoulders. They fit together so well.
“When we decided to have children, Nikki was upset,” she said.
“What? I didn’t realize. I thought he loved--”
“Let me finish Miles.”
He relented.
“Nikki was upset because he thought that wanting more children meant that he wasn’t enough, that I needed more children to love because he wasn’t enough or because he was tainted because of his father.”
“Ouch,” Miles said.
“Ouch indeed.” Ekaterin nodded. “We talked it out, I explained that love is not a finite resource, and then I found a therapist for him.” She frowned. “I probably should have done that when we became engaged but…anyway, that helped a great deal. He loves his siblings. They love him. I think…if you are honest with your mother about feeling like Nikki did, you would get the same reassurance.”
“There is no limit on love, that’s what she would say.”
“But there is an adjustment period,” Ekaterin added.
Silence reigned for a time. The idea of Aral and Oliver’s sons rolled around in Ekaterin’s head. Dark-haired versions of Oliver? Blond versions of Aral? Either way, they’d have wonderful smiles. Perhaps they’d be less….impetuous, and have more of Oliver’s quiet confidence.
Ekaterin had no hopes that Cordelia’s daughters would be calm and considered. Half of Miles’ nature came not from his father, but from the mother who’d fled her planetary home in a pair of slippers.
Sergyar was going to be an interesting place during the adolescence of the nine. Luckily, Ekaterin would be happy to observe that from afar on Barrayar. And, even more luckily, her children would be mostly launched by then.
Of course, the nine might provide companions for her children to create Vorkosigan kinds of trouble.
“The only thing that remains is to tell the children. Well, they know about their upcoming aunties. This is just an addendum,” she said. “They took that fine.”
“An addendum that includes explaining my parents’ marriage with Oliver,” he said.
“In for a penny ,in for a pound, as your mother would say,” Ekaterin said. “They are already aware of Mark and Kareen’s untraditional bond.”
“Yes. But, but…I can’t help thinking what my grandfather would have thought of all this. For so long, there was only one sickly heir to his legacy. This isn’t the way he’d choose to have gone about continuing the line, though,” Miles said.
“Whatever General Count Piotr Vorkosigan would have thought, I bet your father would approve.” Aral Vorkosigan would be greatly amused and pleased at the chaos brought by all his offspring.
“Oh, yes, Da would love this. And he’d be the parent who would spoil them all, like he spoiled our children,” Miles said.
“Then possibly it’s your job in his place to spoil all these half-siblings?” Ekaterin grinned.
Miles laughed. “Belike.”