Between their three children and still very active careers, Ben and Ellison had had little time for many social calls for quite a while. They had been at the wedding of course, Ben wouldn't miss the marriage of his oldest brother, but beyond that they had only seen Keir's new wife during occasional gatherings of either the family or Nevermeren events. It was certainly a relationship that was surface level.

At the knock at the door Ben had been trying to convince Otto that he needed to eat the carrots that were on his plate. Fred, who visited quite regularly these days, came down the stairs where he'd been helping Ellison with something. Fred, unlike Ben and Ellison, had seen Valeria plenty of times. He had more freedom after all and he found her to be delightfully sweet, like buttercream frosting on top of cake.

A servant answered the door and escorted Valeria inside. "Val!" Fred said with a delighted grin. "You didn't tell me she was coming to visit this afternoon, Ben," he chided his twin. Ben gave his brother an apologetic smile. The truth was that he'd entirely forgotten. Fred bounded over to their guest and wrapped her up in a warm hug.

"Couldn't be better," Fred said with a broad grin. It wasn't entirely true. He'd been rather distraught since Rosa had disappeared and felt at a loss for what he could do about it. He spent much of his days distracting himself so that he wouldn't be pulled down into the depression that threatened to take over. She was, after all, another man's wife.

"Not at all," Ben replied graciously. "We were expecting you." Just because it had escaped his mind didn't mean that she wasn't expected after all. "Come in, make yourself comfortable. Ellison should be down in a few moments," he said glance briefly at his twin, "and dinner should be ready soon as well."

Hollie came into the room carrying 3-year-old Sarilla in her arms, the girl clearly very heavy for her. Sarilla was sniffing and had tear stains on her cheeks. Ben's attention immediately turned to his girls. "What happened?" he asked, moving to take Rilly from her older sister before the weight became too much for Hollie. "She fell down and bumped her head," Hollie replied, looking worried for her little sister, even though they weren't related by blood. Ben let his hand slip through Hollie's silky hair, giving her an encouraging smile before he turned his attention to his youngest.

"Uh oh, did we fall down?" he asked sweetly. Rilly sniffed again with a little nod and buried her head in Ben's shoulder, wrapping her little arms around his neck.

Hollie looked up at the other woman, having met her only a couple of times as the children were often left home for certain gatherings. She gave Valeria a bit of a shy smile and a nod before she moved over to her younger brother, this one was by blood, and took his hand. "Let's go get washed up for supper," she told him, looking a bit wearily over her shoulder back at Valeria as the two of them left the room.

Rilly recovered quickly and rested her tear stained against Ben's shoulder as Ellison came downstairs with a smile at Valeria's direction. "Right on time," she said to the woman as she embraced her in greeting. "I'm pretty sure you've never been late to anything." Ellison, clearly, had not forgotten that they were expecting the woman for dinner. "Could Keir not join us or is he coming later?" she asked, hoping that Ben's brother might also join them.

Ben snagged Fred's elbow and tugged him a bit as the two men, with Rilly still in Ben's arms made their way towards the dining room. Ellison smiled at Valeria's compliment and returned it. "Me? Look at you? You are quite literally glowing," she said looking from Valeria's face to her belly and back. "How are you feeling? Are you excited?" she asked as she led the way to the dining room and sat down at the table, motioning for Valeria to sit beside her, between herself and Fred.

Ben smiled to see Valeria so happy and to know that Keir would soon be welcoming a child into the world. He had never imagined himself as a father yet children had been a blessing to him that he hadn't expected. He settled Rilly into a seat beside him. Next to her was Hollie and then Otto next to Fred. The little boy was going on about the sword he'd been practicing with as if it were a mighty weapon when it was simply a toy made out of wood. Fred spoke loving and encouraging words in spite of knowing this.

"Oh do share!" Ellison said in regards to the names. She knew that plenty of people liked to keep it a secret but she couldn't help but ask if Valeria was willing to tell her.

Ellison grinned. "Oh those are lovely names, Valeria, truly," she said kindly. Ben smiled too. "Farron Delaney. Idris Delaney," he tested them out on his tongue to see which sounded better with their surname. "I like both," he said, "hard to choose."

It was then that a couple of servants entered the room with bowls filled with a beef and vegetable pot pie and fresh loaves of bread, which they set down in front of everyone at the table before departing again.

Fred poured himself a glass of wine from a bottle at the table and offered some to Valeria. "Shall I fill your glass?" he asked her. The children all picked at their food quietly while occasionally whispering and giggling to one another.

Fred raised his glass of wine in the air with a smile. "May you be blessed with as many children as you desire," he said. Ben opened his mouth to say something in the realm of 'and have fun while doing it,' but with a knowing look at Ellison the two only smiled at one another as they too toasted to Valeria, Keir, and their little family.