Chapter Text
“I’m still fairly positive I made a gross social faux pas when I neglected to ask your parents for your hand in marriage.” Vex complained, leaning against Percy’s side in the back of the towncar they were taking to the sprawling de Rolo manor on the outskirts of Emon. “Are you sure that we can’t just... pretend? So I can pretend to ask for their blessing before I’m hunted down and murdered in my sleep?”
Percy chuckled softly, rubbing Vex’s shoulders affectionately. “I’m certain that everything will turn out just fine. It’s not conventional, sure, but since when has our relationship been conventional?”
“True.” Vex replied, nuzzling her head against his shoulder. “I just don’t want your parents to hate me.” She admitted quietly.
“They’re not going to hate you.” Percy reassured her. “Mother already loves you, and I’m fairly certain that Father is going to explode with happiness when he sees what you’ve brought.” He nodded towards the canvas next to them, a jaguar similar to the painting that hung in Percy’s office that Frederick absolutely loved.
“Now I feel like I’m bribing him.” Vex chuckled softly.
“It might soften the blow a little.” Percy smiled, pressing a kiss to her hair.
“I still feel like we should pretend the proposal went the other way around, in you proposing to me.” Vex murmured.
"Honestly, I don't think you should worry, dear. They love you already. This is just a formality.”
“A casual dinner with your family instead of a formal one is a “formality?” Vex arched a questioning eyebrow at him, and Percy just laughed.
“Things might sound a bit backwards, yes. But you’re the one who agreed to come to the next family dinner, remember.” Percy pointed out.
“I did.” Vex agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not still nervous.”
“It’s not even the entire family.” Percy replied. “You’ve already met everyone attending tonight. Ludwig’s still in Wildmount, and the twins are out of town as well. It’s just my parents, Julius, Vesper, and Cassandra.”
"I guess that makes it a bit better," Vex conceded, leaning against Percy's shoulder. He put an arm around her shoulders and she felt herself relax a bit. Even if she did mess something up, she knew that Percy would be by her side.
The towncar pulled up to a gated entrance, and Percy gave him the passcode to unlock the bars. They drove up a winding road, Vex’s nerves getting worse the closer they got to the large, sprawling manor that was Percy’s childhood home.
She’d grown accustomed to large displays of wealth, between Percy and her brother, but this just bled exorbitant amounts of money that she couldn’t even imagine.
They pulled up to the front and Percy got out, giving her his hand to help her out of the car like the gentleman he was. Vex got out of the car and looked around, feeling completely out of place.
This place was old, but well maintained, with the greenery perfectly trimmed and the front area gleaming despite the dust that threatened to settle from their walk up the stairs. A pair of massive mahogany doors waited for them, and Percy pushed them open with a familiarity that Vex was almost envious of.
Clutching the edges of the painting, Vex followed Percy through the doors, which closed behind them, and she found herself in a huge entryway. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it was both bigger and homier than she had anticipated. The floors were a dark, rich grain that matched the banisters arcing down from either side of the top floor, and there were pieces of art along each wall, both older paintings and more modern designs. But she was startled out of examining the decor by a sudden greeting from Vesper.
"Hello, Vex!" she exclaimed, arms outstretched. Vex accepted the hug with a smile, carefully holding the painting with one hand, and after a moment Vesper pulled away, looking over Vex's shoulder at Percy. "I'm so glad that Percival remembered our address after being away for so long."
“Because you haven’t been out of the house longer than I have.” Percy retorted, though he gave her a smile and a hug as well.
“I visit more frequently, at least.” Vesper chuckled, looking at them both. “C'mon, everyone’s in the sitting room having wine. Julius is late, but since when has that been a shock?” She smiled, leading them through the entryway and through the sprawling hallways. Vex tried to keep track of the turns, but gave up after a few moments and decided she would just rely on Vesper and Percy to get around. This place was massive, even more so than Syldor’s home.
When they entered the sitting room, decorated modestly all things considered, Johanna lit up and set her wine glass aside. “Percival! Vex’ahlia! So glad you’ve arrived.” She gave them wide smiles, getting up from the couch she had been sitting on and going to give them both hugs.
"Hello, Mother," Percy said, and Vex chuckled as he grinned and hugged her tightly in return.
"Hello, Mrs. de Rolo," Vex said, suddenly feeling nervous again, as if the ring on Percy’s finger would be immediately apparent through a hug, but after a (thankfully) gentle hug, she simply pulled back and smiled, looking Vex up and down.
"You're certainly looking very well," she said, "It seems that Percival's been taking good care of you."
Vex felt her own smile tighten at that, but Percy cut in before she could really get angry at all. "She can take care of herself, Mother," he said, coming over and putting a hand on Vex's shoulder. "I'm doing what I can, but she's pretty self-sufficient."
“I do my best. But that doesn’t mean that Percy doesn’t try to pamper me more than he needs to.” Vex let out a light chuckle, before looking towards Frederick, who was sipping his own glass of wine. “…I painted this for you.” She offered him the canvas. “Percy told me how much you loved the jaguar he has in his office, so I painted one for you.”
Frederick’s face broke into a wide smile, and he got up to take the painting from her. “Incredible. Amazing. Percival, when are you going to marry this woman, because I think she’s my favorite of all your significant others.” He grinned at his son, causing Vex’s heart to beat a little faster in her chest.
“Hey now!” Vesper complained, though her tone was still teasing. “Jarrett is wonderful to me, and respects you deeply!”
“He doesn’t make me paintings, does he?” Frederick chuckled, looking at her with a warm smile. “Thank you, Vex’ahlia. I’ll hang it in my own office immediately.”
"I'm glad you like it," Vex said, a little bit of her tension falling away. She hadn't been too worried about him disliking the painting, especially since he had specifically mentioned the one at Percy's office, but she had still been nervous. No matter what she tried, she was never fully satisfied with her work, always able to see the flaws in them, and was always afraid that people would be quick to see the same flaws, and dislike them because of it.
"Anyways, would you like to sit down?" Johanna asked, gesturing to the empty space next to Vesper on the couch and the love seat. Cassandra was sitting in her own chair, her legs folded neatly as she sipped at her own glass. She waved, and Vex grinned, winking in return. "We have a bottle of wine open, unless you would prefer water, or-"
"Or sparkling grape juice," Cassandra cut in, lifting her own glass, "Or we have a large variety of soda products available in the fridge-"
"Wine will be fine for me," Percy interrupted her, rolling his eyes despite a chuckle. Vex found herself grinning at Cassandra's blase attitude as well, and was glad that she seemed to be acting the same as usual.
"I'll take a glass of wine as well," she said, following Percy to sit on the love seat.
Johanna poured them both glasses of the sangiovese that was sitting off to the side, handing them over once they were full. “This wine is from Italy, and it’s quite wonderful. Nice and light on the tongue.” She smiled.
Percy gave his a swirl before sipping it, and Vex copied him. The wine was very smooth on the tongue, and she found she liked it a lot.
“Now where is Julius?” Johanna checked her watch. “He said he would be here ten minutes ago.”
“It’s Julius, Mother.” Cassandra pointed out. “If he was on time for anything that wasn’t a work meeting, I think we would all be concerned.”
The door opened, and a handsome man with dark skin and dark brown hair entered, giving them all a smile. “Your house is extraordinarily easy to get lost in.” He commented, his voice low and rich with an accent that Vex couldn’t quite place. She felt her heart pick up slightly as he glanced at her, and knew that if she wasn’t engaged and currently sitting next to her fiancé, she would have made a move on this one.
He went over and sat next to Vesper, putting an arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple lightly.
“You must be Jarrett.” Vex said, trying to keep herself from staring too much. She had heard a lot about him from Vesper, but they had never had a chance to meet.
“Guilty as charged.” He flashed her a smile. “And you must be Vex’ahlia. A pleasure to meet you at last.”
“Likewise.” Vex replied, before looking back at Percy and giving him a smile and a kiss on his cheek, lacing their hands together. No, she was quite happy with the man next to her, despite the initial attraction to Jarrett.
"She made me this painting," Frederick grinned, and Vex felt her cheeks darken as Jarrett turned to see the jaguar she'd made for him.
Percy rubbed his thumb over hers, obviously sensing her embarrassment, and whispered in her ear "Don't worry, he'll do that for everyone who comes to the house for the next month. Goodness knows he did it for everything we've made over the years, and yours is much better than those old things."
"That makes me feel so much better," Vex hissed in his ear, but she felt a warmth in her chest at the reminder that she was more-or-less part of the family now.
"It's lovely," Jarrett agreed after a moment of inspecting the painting, turning a genuine smile back on Vex. "You should be very proud of your work.”
“Thank you.” Vex gave him a polite nod and a smile in return.
The door opened a few moments later and Julius strode in, looking a little harried. “Sorry I’m late, Mother.” He apologized, moving to press a light kiss to her cheek and give her a gentle hug.
“It’s quite all right dear, you made it.” Johanna smiled, patting his arm affectionately.
“We’re all shocked, Julius.” Cassandra said with a deadpan look, and all of the siblings burst out laughing. Vex smiled, but she felt like she didn’t know Julius enough to be able to join in the teasing. She’d met him, but she’d never spent an exorbitant amount of time with him, and the closest she’d been was overhearing him defending her at a party once.
"Hello, Vex'ahlia; hello, Jarrett," Julius greeted the two of them, and both of them greeted him in turn. Johanna tapped him on the shoulder, making him turn around, and handed him a glass of the Sangiovese. With a smile he accepted the glass and swirled the contents, inhaling deeply before taking a drink, almost making a show out of it.
"You don't have to gloat, Julius, we know you like it," Cassandra quipped, "But I'll just enjoy my grape juice, don't mind me." She lifted her nose in the air and twirled her own glass expertly, taking a measured sip of her own drink and making the siblings break out into chuckles again.
Vex glanced over at Jarrett, who was also looking around the room. He shrugged in response to her curious look, and it made her feel a bit better.
Once the chuckles died down, Vex gently squeezed Percy’s hand and they shared a look. Vex felt her heart begin beating a little faster.
“Well, now that everyone’s here, Vex and I have an announcement.” Percy told the room. Vesper’s face curled into a knowing smile; she had known from the beginning, but Vex had sworn her to secrecy until she and Percy announced it to the rest of the family.
“Oh?” Johanna looked intrigued, and Vex noticed that her eyes darted down to Vex’s left hand. She still wasn’t wearing a ring yet; that was a conversation that her and Percy were still in the middle of, since Vex didn’t want an extravagant engagement ring, but Percy wanted to get her an expensive one regardless.
Vex nodded, and Percy pulled her close, kissing her temple. “Vex and I are engaged to be married.” He told them, and she could feel the happy smile against the top of her head, and hear the happiness in his voice.
This was miles different than what had happened with Saundor.
"Oh, congratulations!" Julius exclaimed, just as his father said "Excellent!"
"I mean, congratulations," Frederick said, clearing his throat at a glance from his wife, to chuckles from the rest of the room.
"Congrats, Percy! You beat Vesper!" Cassandra said, patting her brother on the back with a wide grin.
"Congratulations," Jarrett said, Vesper echoing him.
"Oh my goodness," Johanna said, her eyes suspiciously bright as she came forward to hug first Percy, then Vex again. "I'm so excited. And though I don't want to pry," she said, voice dropping a bit as she pulled back from the second hug, "I can't help but ask, Vex'ahlia. Where is the ring? Please tell me Percival didn't have a ring when he proposed."
"Well, he didn't..." Vex said, trailing off, but, eager to save Percy from the death glare Johanna turned on him, she continued on. "But that was because he didn't propose. I did."
Johanna smiled. “That’s so sweet.” She murmured, gently patting Vex’s cheek. “And in that case, I have a gift for you. One moment.” She turned and left the room then, and Vex felt a little confused.
“Welcome to the family.” Julius gave her a smile, coming over and lifting Vex up into a swinging hug. Vex gasped and clung to him, afraid of being dropped, and backed away a little when he set her down, before looking at Vesper. “Look, I’ll pay you next time I see you, I don’t have any cash on me.”
Vesper just laughed. “I better see it.” She gave him a wink, and Vex just felt even more confused.
Johanna returned a few moments later, holding a small box in her hand. “I always said I would give this to the first of my children to be wed.” She murmured, handing the box over to Vex with a warm smile. “Welcome to the family, dear. We’re so excited to have you as a part of it.”
Vex opened the box to reveal a stunning diamond ring, clearly very old, but very well taken care of. The engraving on the inside simply read “De Rolo.”
She covered her mouth with her hand. “…I can’t accept this.” Vex whispered softly.
"She's not going to not let you take it," Cassandra hissed from Vex's right.
Johanna ignored her and smiled, crouching down and closing the ring box, curling her hands around Vexs' and pushing it gently toward Vex's chest. "It's a gift for a gorgeous young woman, who's soon to be my first daughter in law," she said, and Vex blinked quickly as she felt her eyes start to water. "And you, Vex'ahlia, who've brought so much joy to my second son, to our family, definitely deserve it.”
Vex couldn't argue with that, and she sniffed as tears started to fall, but she smiled and nodded, accepting another hug from Johanna. "I'm so glad he found you," she whispered as she patted Vex on the back, smiling.
Vex just gently squeezed the older woman. “I’m glad he did too.” She whispered in return, her voice slightly choked.
Johanna gave her a smile as she pulled away, and Percy gently took the box from Vex, opening it and removing the ring before taking Vex’s hand, sliding it onto her finger.
It was a perfect fit.
Vex didn’t believe in fairytale weddings, or true love or anything like that. But in that moment, feeling the heirloom rest perfectly on her finger, she couldn't help but think that maybe some things were fated to be.
Percy pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, his own eyes suspiciously bright as he looked at her.
“Now, let’s see the ring Vex got you.” Cassandra urged her brother.
He chuckled and first handed Vex a handkerchief, which she took from him gratefully, dabbing at her cheeks as he held out his hand to Cassandra, who started playing with it around his finger. She examined the band, and expressed her congratulations again, then let the rest of the family see it, Percy walking over to Vesper and Jarrett, which Vex was thankful for as she finished drying up the tears around her eyes.
"Well, now you both will have to be at more family dinners," Frederick said, a happy grin on his face after patting Percy on the back. "No excuses now!"
"Of course," Percy said, rolling his eyes in amusement.
"We'll be here," Vex promised, keeping her eyes on Frederick as the rest of the family turned her way. "After all, I've got to meet the rest of my future siblings, don't I?"
Cassandra gasped, and Vex suddenly found a grinning teen next to her on the couch. "We get to be sisters! Excellent!"
"Should I be offended or jealous?" Vesper asked from her own seat as she smirked and sipped at her wine.
"Offended, probably," Cassandra smirked, pulling Vex into a side hug. "I mean, you're kinda cool, but Vex is definitely cooler than you."
Vex laughed as Vesper rolled her eyes and took another sip from her glass, and Cassandra pulled back from Vex so she could more accurately point her - very proper - stuck-out tongue in Vesper's direction.
Julius chuckled and clapped Percy on the shoulder. “Congratulations, brother.” He murmured, before looking at Vex with a grin. “I dunno how he did it, wooing someone like you, Vex’ahlia, but rest assured that whatever he did? Completely a lie.” Julius gave her an exaggerated wink.
“You mean he doesn’t have his personal private island? Drats. The wedding’s off.” Vex retorted with a smile on her face, and Julius laughed.
“Yep, she’s a De Rolo all right.” He grinned, and his words touched Vex deep in her chest as she looked around at the others there, all smiling and warm and relaxed in a way she hadn’t seen most of them before. Before today they had always been at formal events, and she had honestly been a little frightened. But seeing them like this, relaxed and joking and informal?
She felt a lot better about everything.
“Have you put any thought into the wedding yet?” Johanna asked. “I’m not certain how long you’ve been engaged.”
“A few weeks, now.” Percy replied, moving to sit next to Vex again, holding her close as he settled back into the couch. “And not very much. We’re still just getting used to the feeling of being engaged.”
"That's perfectly fine, but when you have a date in mind, let us know," she said, sipping her own wine. "We can take care of booking the venue, and the guest lists of course - oh, I should probably start putting that together-"
"But first, dinner, right dear?" Frederick asked, taking his wife's free hand as he interrupted her. Johanna sighed, but smiled at him and nodded, taking a breath, which Vex was thankful for. Honestly, she would really prefer a small wedding, though she wasn't sure just how small the de Rolos would be willing to go.
"I suppose you're right," Johanna said, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. "After all, it should be ready any minute."
"Excellent, I'm starving," Julius said. "What are we having?"
The dining room was huge compared to most that Vex had seen - it was almost like a movie, with the large patterned windows on one wall and the long wooden table, already set with dishes on one end, a perfect floral centerpiece sitting on a runner down the middle. As they all sat down, Percy on Vex's left and Julius on her right, Johanna went to the other side of the room, opening a door set into the wall, and spoke with someone on the other side before returning to sit at her husband's side. "Our food will be out momentarily," she said, "But until then, does anyone want more wine? Or some water? Something else?"
"I'll have some more wine." Vex murmured, and the bottle was passed down, Percy pouring her another helping into her glass. Vex smiled, thanking him with a kiss to his cheek.
Fredrick raised his glass. "A toast, to Percival and Vex'ahlia, and the bright future in front of them." Everyone raised their glasses, and Vex smiled softly at the people around her. Her family.
It was such a new sensation.
As the food was being served, Johanna looked at the rest of them. "So Whitney is recovering well from her surgery, and the twins will be back next month. We're going to have a ball to celebrate, I hope you'll all be able to make it."
"Is she okay?" Vex asked. She'd never met the twins, but Percy hadn't mentioned them being ill before.
"She's perfectly fine, it was just a necessary surgery for her. It helped her feel more at home in her own skin." Frederick replied.
"Oh, a bit of plastic surgery?" Vex asked. "I suppose if you can afford it..." She'd never seen the appeal of changing her face or anything, except considering it once before she'd gotten away from Saundor. Simply getting a "face-lift" or "nose job" for aesthetic reasons seed like a waste of money.
The moment the words left Vex's lips, an awkward silence fell over the entire table, the de Rolos giving each other fleeting looks. Vex shrank back against her chair a little, feeling embarrassed and like she had said the wrong thing. Percy put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's not quite that." He murmured. "Oliver and Whitney were born identical twins."
"Identic- ohhhh," Vex said, eyes widening and her cheeks flushing as she realized her mistake. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I didn't-"
"it's quite all right, dear." Johanna gave her a warm smile. "Whitney hasn't called herself a boy since she was very young. It's not exactly something we make public knowledge, so we're not upset at you for not knowing."
"Still, I feel bad for assuming," Vex murmured, biting her lip. "I had no idea, I just..." She trailed off, hating how stupid she felt.
"it's all right." Julius replied, taking a sip from his glass. "Gods know enough women with money get reconstructive surgery they don't actually need. It's not a far leap, honestly."
Vex just felt her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment. Of all the blunders she's sure she had made in front of these people, none of them measured up to this.
"We kept it out of the public eye for a reason," Vesper smiled reassuringly at her. "Honestly, I would have been surprised if you had known. It's all good, we promise." Vex nodded, feeling a bit better at everyone's reassurances.
"Besides, you're going to be an official de Rolo." Cassandra pointed out. "So now you get to hear some of the family secrets." She grinned. "Like the time Julius dra-"
"She doesn't need to know all of the secrets." Julius interrupted, his own cheeks flushing and causing everyone to burst into laughter.
"Oh no, do tell, Cassandra," Vesper said, grinning over at her sister. "It's a wonderful story, isn't it Julius?"
"I really don't think Vex wants to hear about that - she'd much rather hear about your piano lessons, or even that time when you snuck-"
"Nope!" Cassandra exclaimed, and they stared each other down for a long moment, at a draw.
Vesper was laughing, and even Percy was chuckling slightly. Vex leaned onto the table, folding her fingers together and looking at both siblings. "I don't know, I'm fairly curious about both stories now." She smiled, teasing and feeling a bit better now that all the attention wasn't on her.
"...Percival once drank spiked apple juice when he was a teenager, and puked in the middle of a formal Christmas dinner." Julius decided.
"Hey! I had no part in this!" Percy protested.
"Is that what happened?" Frederick asked, gasping out a disbelieving laugh. "And to think we nearly brought you to the hospital for the sudden illness you'd developed."
Percy flushed, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, and Vex chuckled, taking a bite of her pasta as she patted Percy's shoulder. "I didn't know it would taste so bad!" he said in his defense, making those at the table grin.
"Are there any stories about you, Vesper?" Jarrett asked, though he'd been silent for most of the discussion, and Vesper turned to him quickly, looking betrayed.
"Oh, are there." Percy smiled, happy to turn the tables on his older sister. "There was the time when she mistook the Nair for shampoo..."
"The twins switched that, thank you!" Vesper replied hotly, and Jarrett laughed. Vesper shot him a glare.
Johanna laughed out loud. "I remember that! Only a couple of weeks after you'd gotten a haircut as well - though you did learn how to shop for wigs after that, didn't you?"
"And we all bought her nice headscarves for her birthday that year," Cassandra added cheekily.
Vesper groaned, leaning against the back of the chair. "I hated you all."
"You sure you still want to marry into this?" Julius teased Vex, and she just smiled, holding Percy's hand under the table.
"You know, strangely enough I'm looking forwards to it." She smiled.
"Good to hear," Johanna replied, nodding at Vex from across the table. Vex agreed with a nod of her own.
Dinner was served not long after that, and they all dug into the delicious meal. As they ate, Vex couldn't help but look around at the other people seated around them.
Next to Johanna and Frederick, Vesper and Jarrett were having their own quiet conversation, and Vesper chuckled, kissing him on the cheek. Julius and Cassandra were eating, but taking it in turns to make ridiculous faces at each other, and Vex felt her heart warm as she looked around at all of them.
They were certainly an interesting family, and nothing like she expected them to be, but she found herself loving them for it all the more.