Chapter Text
As Violet sipped her tea and watched her children and grandchildren, she couldn’t help but think she had done something right. Deep down, she must have. That, and they were just good people. They had their flaws, she had flaws, everyone had them, but she believed they were good people.
That had to be it. Because for the first time in a long time, they were all home at the same time, consoling a heartbroken Francesca. Even Daphne, who hadn’t been able to arrive in time for the funeral, but was there now, sitting beside her sister.
She was brought out of her thoughts by a gentle tug on her skirts. Violet looked down and saw Belinda gazing up at her.
The girl grinned widely, a toothless grin that melted Violet’s heart every time, and held her arms out, clearly wanting to be held by her grandmother. “Nana,” she called out.
Violet placed her teacup on the table and leaned down to gather the girl in her arms. Before she could do so, Auggie came barreling toward them and knocked his sister onto her bum.
“Up!” August declared. Although he rarely saw her, there was no denying that the boy loved his grandmother, much like all of his cousins and his sister.
The girl looked seconds away from starting to cry, so Violet quickly gathered her in her arms and shushed her. “We don’t do that to our baby sisters, we are nice to them, Auggie,” she told her eldest grandson sternly, even as she gathered him in her free arm and sat him down on her other leg.
Belinda melted into her grandmother’s arms, and August couldn’t help but do the same.
“Sorry,” Auggie said unprompted to his sister and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead.
Violet smiled and pressed a kiss to each of her grandkids' heads. “Do you want to see the flowers outside, hmm? I think that would be better than staying here and listening to all these adult conversations."
“Yes, please!” August said with a clap of his hands, a giggle, and jumped down on Violet’s leg. He jumped to the floor and started making his way out of the room before Violet could even get up.
Chuckling, the Dowager Viscountess rose from the couch and walked over to where most of her children and their spouses were sitting. She placed a kiss on top of Francesca's head, told Daphne she was taking the children outside, and picked up Edmund from the ground, wanting to take him outside with her. She would have taken Elliot to, but the boy was happily sleeping in Eloise’s arms while his aunt pretended to hate every moment of it.
Her children barely noticed any of it, all catching up with each other. They were a loud bunch, and Violet had a headache brewing in the back of her eyes, and perhaps fresh air was all that she needed.
A baby on each hip and a toddler running ahead of her, Violet went outside with three of her grandchildren. They walked over to a flowerbed, filled with Hyacinths and Violets. Violets had been Benedict's addition.
Unconcerned with her dress or what was proper, Violet lowered herself to the ground, knees on the grass as she placed Edmund on the ground beside his older cousin. The two boys reached for the flowers, accidentally ripping a few petals. They looked at Violet at the same time, afraid of her reaction, but she merely laughed, ruffling their hair, and they went back to playing.
Violet leaned forward and let Belinda grasp a violet in her hands, watching as the girl tried to pluck it from the ground. Seeing this, Violet helped her and handed it to her. “There you go, sweet girl.”
“Why don’t we pick a few flowers for your mamas and Aunt Francesca, huh? I think that would make them feel better.” Violet suggested.
August looked at her and asked, “One for Aunt Eloise, too?”
Violet couldn’t help but smile at that. “Of course we can, we can pick as many flowers as you want for as many people as you want. There’s plenty of flowers here for everyone in the house, maybe for the whole town,” she joked.
Auggie furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her, but shrugged after a moment and started delicately pulling out flowers alone. Violet helped Edmund and Belinda pick their flowers, knowing they were far too small to do so on their own.
Back inside the house, the siblings and their spouses stared at the scene outside.
Francesca couldn’t help but hiccup at that. “Look at that. She had everything, she had children, eight pieces of him. She has four grandchildren, four, and they all love her. We all love her! Mama has everything women are taught to want, and I couldn't even give John something as simple as a child!”
There was a glance exchanged between the siblings and their spouses before Daphne stepped forward and hugged her younger sister. “It’s alright, God just has a strange way of testing us.”
Francesca let herself be held by her sister, the way she had let her mother do before.
That was how Violet and the three children found them when they walked inside, grass stains on all of their clothes, Belinda and Edmund resting their heads on Violet’s shoulders. She paused for a moment, taking it all in, while August just stepped forward and handed Francesca one of the bunches of flowers he had picked up with his grandmother.
“Here, Nana says flowers can make things better.”
Francesca took them from her nephew and looked over at her mother, knowing how much that must have cost her to say.
Violet just smiled at her daughter, a simple, small smile that told her ‘I am here’ ‘ I am not going anywhere’, ‘' I understand you’, ‘I hear you’.
August continued his tour of the room, handing flowers to his mother and then to Eloise, who was almost half asleep with Elliot in her arms. “Nana said those are Hyacinths and Violets.” He frowned for a moment, looking down at his little hands before asking the room in general, “Is Nana a flower?” He looked at Violet with wide eyes and asked her, almost afraid of the answer he would get, “Did I take the little yous from your home?”
Violet opened and closed her mouth a few times, eyes wide as she processed the question.
Kate was the first to laugh, unable to stop herself from doing so, and the other quickly followed.
“Yes, your grandmother is a flower,” Benedict said, clearly amused, and picked the boy up from the floor, almost throwing him over his shoulder, before he saw the look in his sister’s eyes. “Now tell me why I did not receive any flowers from you, hmm? I’m your best uncle, the most handsome too, but yet, here I stand with no flowers.”
There was a moment of hesitation from August before he reached out and took the bunch of flowers from his sister’s hand. He handed it to his uncle, clearly proud of his gesture.
Violet gave the boy a look when his little sister started to cry.
“Sorry,” August said, though he clearly wasn’t.
The Dowager tried to rock the girl in her arms, but it was awkward with Edmund on her other hip, so Daphne stepped forward and took Belinda into her arms. “I believe it is nap time for most of them, isn’t it?” Violet asked Edmund, who placed his hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes, a bunch of flowers still gripped in his hand. Violet smiled and kissed his forehead before looking over at Kate and Anthony. “If you want, I can take him upstairs, get him to rest.”
Kate smiled at her mother-in-law and told her, “You don’t need to, I can do it if you want to spend time with Daphne.”
Violet shook her head softly. “It shall be rather quick, I do have some experience in getting babes to fall asleep.”
Kate’s smile widened, “I would be thankful if you did so.”
Violet didn’t waste a moment, skirts swishing against the floor, she left the room with Edmund in her arms. She went upstairs, but instead of going to the nursery, Violet kept walking toward her bedchambers. She drew the curtains back and sat down on the bed with Edmund, taking off her hairpiece. She didn’t know why; it wasn’t as though she wanted to get comfortable, she wasn’t supposed to fall asleep. But no one could blame her, could they?
She was tired, more so than usual.
Was age finally catching up to her, or was it just from spending so much time with her grandchildren over the last couple of days?
Lying down on the bed, she adjusted herself and pulled Edmund close to her, smiling when the boy placed his hand against her cheek and looked at her with his beautiful, huge eyes.
He was perfect; there was no other way for Violet to describe him.
Soon enough, his eyes started to close, and it didn’t take her long to follow after him. Exhaustion got the best of both of them.
Hours later, after Elliot, Belinda, and August had all woken up from their naps and played some more, the house wondered where Violet and Edmund were.
Kate went in search of them, first stopping in the nursery and then Anthony’s office. When she didn’t find them there, she went over to Violet’s bedchambers, unsure why, but she couldn’t think of another place.
Knocking on the door gave her no answer, so she pushed it open and couldn’t help but smile at the sight before her.
The two were fast asleep, and to her surprise, Violet was slightly snoring. Edmund pressed flush against her, a hand on her collarbone and his head resting against her chest.
Kate stepped back and quickly ran down the stairs. Everyone looked at her as she walked into the drawing room. “Come,” she said, and no one really knew who she was referring to, so most of them followed after.
It was a surprise how, even as people peered into her room, Violet kept sleeping.
“Well, that takes me back,” Benedict murmured as he looked away from their mother and looked over at Daphne, remembering when the baby on the bed had been her.
Edmund, on the other hand, started waking up, turning onto his back and stretching his arms out, one of his hands making contact with Violet’s face, and that was what finally prompted her to wake up.
The children pulled back, pulling the door shut before she opened her eyes.
Edmund smiled when he saw his grandmother’s eyes open and babbled at her.
“Hello, sweet boy,” she murmured. Turning her head to the side, she noted that no light came through the windows. That got her up faster than if someone had shouted fire. Wiping a string of drool from her face, she held Edmund in her arms, straightened her dress as much as she could, and left the room with him.
Slowly she made her way down the stairs, holding Edmund against her hip, and her dress in the same, while gripping the rail with the other. Edmund moved up and down on her hip, hand patting against her chest as he did so.
“Well, aren’t you well rested?” she asked upon seeing the boy’s enthusiasm. She shifted him to her other hip as they got to the bottom of the stairs. They walked to the dining room, where she found all her children far too quiet for her liking. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at all of them, but before she could say anything, August ran over to her and tugged at her skirts while throwing his younger cousin an accusatory look.
“Where were you, Nana? I wanted more flowers, but Uncle Colin and Anthony said I couldn't do it without you.” His eyebrows scrunched, and he spared a glance toward his cousin before asking, voice filled with indignation, “Was it, Edmund?”
Violet pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing.
“Ah, ah, we don’t speak like that with anyone, much less family,” Daphne said as she rose from her chair and moved to pick up her son. Instead, her mother handed her her nephew and picked up her eldest grandchild instead.
Daphne couldn’t help but huff in amusement and hand her nephew over to Kate.
“Why are you all so quiet?” Violet asked as she sat down on her spot with August.
The children exchanged a glance before Benedict finally spoke, “We were simply wondering when we’d be graced with your presence.” Amusement was written all over his tone, and that earned him a stern glance from Violet.
“I’m sorry, I didn't know your lives had to stop any time I'm not present. But it’s duly noted, "I shall be everywhere from now on; you shall never get rid of me.” Violet said.
Benedict could swear she was joking, but there was no hint of a smile on her face, that was, until she bit the corner of her lip to suppress a smile.
Food started to be served then, and conversation ceased as they started eating, while most of the babies were taken away from the table, since they had already eaten, August refused, pressing himself closer to his grandmother, and she let him.
The three oldest Bridgerton brothers exchanged a look, while the three oldest sisters did the same.
Hyacinth, never one to be quiet, looked up from the soup she was slurping and asked her mother. “Why is your hair so messy?”
Violet froze for a moment, spoon halfway up to her mouth. Tilting her head to the side, Violet narrowed her eyes and answered. “I fell asleep, that is why. And stop slurping your food, it’s unbecoming and honestly quite a bit nauseating.”
Hyacinth crossed her arms over her chest, displeased.
“Arms,” said both Daphne and Violet at the same time, without even having to look up from their food.
Once the soup was done, the main course was served, but upon seeing it, Violet scrunched her nose and declined it. Instead, she continued sitting at the table, listening to her children speaking while August played with her necklace.
They went to bed later than usual, but Violet couldn’t complain about it, not when the night ended up with a game of cards that had transformed even her older children into literal children. They were a ridiculous bunch, but they were her ridiculous bunch, and as crazy as they were, she had to admit she missed the noise of a full house, not that her house was ever quiet, not with Hyacinth, Gregory, and Benedict.
She sometimes wondered what her life would be like if Benedict were closer in age to her two youngest. She’d probably have a head full of whites.