The territory did not pause for new parenthood.
Darius had expected this — had planned for it, had briefed Cole on the expanded scope of his authority during the first weeks, had organized the compound's administrative function with the specific thoroughness of a man who had been running a territory since nineteen and understood that the work required structure or it consumed everything.
The structure held.
What he had not fully planned for was the way Rowan reorganized the study.
It started practically. Rowan needed to be somewhere while I rested, which happened more than I preferred and less than Kira insisted on, and the somewhere that made most sense during the compound's morning was the study — Darius working, Rowan in the cradle beside the desk, the bond running its three-frequen
