There's not even any staff there anymore, except those that came over from the castle with them, none of whom would be there at this time of day. Pike's there instead, coming downstairs to greet Percy as he comes in. "How's it going?" he calls to her in greeting.
"You mean," she replies, "have we heard the story of how some asshole accused Lady de Rolo of adultery in the middle of Dawnfather Square, and was promptly attacked by ravens? Yes, we have. I have, in fact, had time to listen to all the reactions before I closed the bakery up for the day. The most common response was people saying very knowingly that actually, if they can be sure of the paternity of any of her children, it would definitely be the Tiefling."
"That's probably for the better, then," says Percy. He can take whatever's being said about him; he doesn't have to care. Not the way Vex still struggles not to.
Thankfully, not only does Pike know that, she won't make the protests about the de Rolo family name he might have feared from someone else. Instead she just says, "Vesper took the other kids back to the castle for the night. If the twins, at least, have their way, they'll be back bright and early tomorrow. Probably bring you two breakfast. I'll try to drop in on my way to the bakery."
"We'll see you then," says Percy. "Thank you for this, Pike. Truly."
"Goodnight, then. Try not to let the town's antics get to you. We all know there are plenty of idiots everywhere."
They have known that. And they've known since Vex's first pregnancy that this was always a possibility. For twenty years they've even had books sitting in the library full of parenting advice for non-Tiefling parents of a Tiefling child.
Not that Vex is paying attention to all of it. One of the main suggestions they've had is that they get a Tiefling wet-nurse, since they can definitely afford one. Percy had in fact looked very carefully to see if he could provide any suggestion that might be better for the baby, as well as for the mother. When he'd failed to find it, he, Keyleth and Pike had all even said to Vex that she could still do it purely for her own sake, that she didn't have to nurse a baby whose fangs could literally make her bleed.
But from Vesper's birth onwards, Vex has been very stubborn about nursing her children herself. She'll let nannies look after them when her schedule requires it, and she's mostly left Percy to handle many aspects of their upbringing, which he has found he prefers to do anyway. For the most part, she has ultimately accepted that she is now a woman of means and rank, and how she raises her children will be dictated by that. But even when she's admitted how difficult breastfeeding is-and that was their first four children, she's still insisted that if her mother did it for herself and Vax, she can do it, too.
At least that's going better than it was a week ago. When he comes into the bedchamber, Vex has little Gwendolyn at her breast, and at the moment she isn't even showing any discomfort as the baby nurses. Indeed, she's smiling down at her, stroking her fingers lightly over the little nubs on her head, keeping her eyes on her even as she calls out, "Good evening, darling."
"Good evening." As Percy joins them on the bed, he feels much of the day's tolls, both physical and emotional, fall off of him a bit. He doesn't even feel much of the guilt in him, now, when he's looking at this beautiful daughter of theirs; he will never, ever not be glad she exists exactly as she is, no matter how many difficulties that might cause for her. "How are you two doing?"
"She was a little feisty, today," says Vex. "But now I think she's worn herself out." Sure enough, even as she speaks, Gwen finishes feeding, gives an adorable little burp, then closes her eyes and appears to be asleep moments later. When it looks like she's going to stay that way, Vex gently holds her out for Percy to take.
She's starting to get a little heavier now than she was only a couple of days ago. He doesn't want to disturb her, of course, but he can't help but ghost his fingers over her face, touch the tips of her tufts of hair. When he tucks her down into the cradle, she sighs a little, but doesn't wake up.
"I thought I might even bring her up to the castle in a couple more days," Vex says as he rejoins her. "It probably is about time we let the people see her; even the nicer of them are no doubt getting very curious." It's a routine they've got fully developed now, letting their children live their first couple weeks of life away from the hustle and bustle and prying eyes of the castle and city, then matter-of-factly traveling with them to where they now all lived, not doing any fancy formal presentation, but letting people have a look, if they'd like, which they usually had.
It would also mean the end of this little period of respite that the entire family had taken, to some extent. Vex would resume most of her normal duties-which she was no doubt at least a little restless for my now, Percy would be back in his own routine and fully available for whatever he might be wanted for, and the older children would return to their lessons, and Vesper to the duties she'd now taken on. It won't be an unwelcome change, but Percy knows he'll miss this quiet once it's gone.
Maybe even more so because while he and Vex haven't talked about it, he thinks this might be the last of their children. It's hardly set it stone, especially since they aren't on the clock they'd be on were Vex fully human; she'll probably remain at least somewhat fertile for most of Percy's lifespan. But he gets the feeling she is getting tired, and there's no denying birthing and caring for this little Tiefling of theirs will take more of a toll. At the very least, he thinks there'll be a long break; Gwen may be their youngest throughout her childhood.
All of this goes through Percy's head as he asks, "You think we're all ready? It'll be different this time; we all know that."
"I do," Vex sighs as she stretches herself out on the half-made bed. "But I don't want to hide her. Hiding children will always make them think you're ashamed of them, even if they're too young to remember. I won't be giving anyone reasons to think there's anything wrong with her."
Percy's certainly not going to argue with her on any of that. He does ask, "Do you want the guards to come with us? Or just Trinket?"
"Well," she grinned, "if what I heard today is true, there'll be plenty of protection for her at least within the city." She didn't sound too disturbed, though maybe slightly annoyed at what hadn't really been necessary on the part of the one responsible. "And anyway, Trinket may be getting a little long in the tooth, but between him and us, we should be able to handle any trouble."
She's really relaxing now. She also is very much not bothering to put her robe back in place, letting her husband get all full view of both her breasts. The bite marks Gwen has left on her are really healing now; Percy probably can only still spot them because he already knew where they were. He let his eyes linger shamelessly; she can respond, or not, as she likes.
It's none too surprising, of course, when she does with, "I think you're looking a little overdressed." He was down to his shirt already; now Percy dutifully took that off as he leaned down to kiss, and touch.
"Better?" he whispers to her, just before his fingers make contact. He keeps the touch light; knowing how sensitive she probably is at the moment, and she moans oh so softly, before whispering to him, "Getting there," and pulls him down harder.
Getting frisky above the waist has been common enough for them whenever they've had the opportunity these past couple of weeks, but Percy's genuinely surprised when she takes his hand and pulls it down, then nudges his head to follow it. She's had magical aid in recovering the birth, of course, but she has to still be at least a little sore. He nudges her robe aside and slips a single finger in where she's wet. He nearly pulls it out at her slight noise of discomfort, but she reaches forward to hold his hand in place. "Maybe keep it to just the one finger inside," she breathes, "but I think I could do with a little of that."
Her hands cradle his head as Percy gets to his knees, indulging in a long, slow lick to get the taste he's missed, before settling his tongue over her clit and getting to work. He's missed that, too, and missed her pushing and squeezing against his finger; even if she has to restrain the noises she'd normally make to avoid waking up the baby. It's a chorus of gasps that come out of her instead, followed by a whine through gritted teeth as her legs press tight against him, a brief groan escapes as she quivers all around him.
The two of them wrap themselves around each other as Percy moves back up. She kisses him deep and hard, doesn't stop even as she gets the rest of his clothes off and moves her hand with practiced ease up and down his aching cock. He doesn't need to restrain his noises, she kisses them all away as he lets it all go, tucking himself into her as he comes all over both them.
Even then they don't stop, still kissing and touching, and Vex holds him so, so close. She whispers his name multiple times, presses her face into his, as if she wants to breathe him in.
They've been married over two decades, now, and sometimes it still stuns him, that this woman loves him as much as she does. It further fuels the overwhelming love on his own part, that which he could never imagine not feeling for her.
"Percy..." Vex's voice suddenly has a different tone to it. "Is your knee all right?"
Now that he's paying attention to it, no, it really is twinging something awful. He can't even avoid a small noise of pain as he tries to bend it. "Your powers of observation are excellent, as always," he sighs.
She shakes her head a little. "I should've thrown you a pillow. I know how hard these floors are."
It is true they've had these kinds of difficulties as he's aged, and it's absolutely affected their sex life; the days of his crawling around for her are now in the past. But hearing her dismay with herself, Percy just says, "Even you can't keep track of everything at once while handling a new baby, my dear. Hopefully it'll be fine in the morning. And if it isn't, I'm nearly done with the cane now, and it's usable enough; we can get someone to fetch it." He's already thought one would be useful, and also he may need one, before too many more years go by. "Maybe if I start walking around with it now, it'll take people's attention from the baby a little."
"Or provoke a few more salacious remarks, if you come out of here suddenly limping on it," says Vex, but she does not sound all together displeased at this prospect.
"Not for the first time, nor the last," Percy reminds her as they reluctantly disentangle and she gets up to take care of the couple of necessities. He takes a look over at the cradle, where Gwen is still sleeping peacefully. He won't tire of looking at her for a very long time, and right now he very much likes the idea of drifting off in his wife's arms while doing so, a little moment of peace, however long or short it may prove to be, until such time as she chooses to wake her parents up.