Over a month after Marin's pregnancy announcement, Rafael was surprised by many things and, somehow, by none of them.
Gregoris had asked - no, imposed - that Rafael remain in his mansion. Rafael had every intention of fighting him over it. He even prepared several very sharp arguments. Unfortunately for his pride, the timing was disastrous. The imperial wedding came first. Then Gabriel's coronation as Empress. The palace dissolved into controlled chaos, schedules, rehearsals, security layers, and ceremonial perfection, and whatever confrontation Rafael had planned was quietly buried under the weight of an Empire preparing to reinvent itself.
Which meant Gregoris was almost never home - at the Shadow base, the military headquarters, the palace, the imperial offices, or the cathedral where the coronation rehearsals were being drilled into perfection. Everywhere, in other words, everywhere except the mansion.
