How lovely it was, Titania thought to herself, to have a vacation. Actually, it wasn't a true vacation, as she still had to do work, but merely being away from the office for a day was an unexpected surprise; it had been handed off to her by Ike after a long period of extra dedication, and perhaps slightly exaggerating the discomfort of a first-term pregnancy to a man who was quite clueless about those sort of things. From her position in an armchair by the window, she had a view of the entire city of Melior, drenched in rain on a grey, quiet day. She pulled a blanket over herself and opened her slim laptop, feeling it hum to life in her hands.

She edited an article she'd been working on, an interview with a rising star in the senate, a man named Jarod Lemire. In between edits, she reserved seats for Friday night's date, dinner at a new upscale place, and a movie; browsed for fashionable maternity wear, of which there was a definite dearth at Melioran boutiques. She attended various odd pregnancy needs, scribbled down baby names...

Titania was jolted from the reverie of a dreamy afternoon spent alone with the loud purr of the elevator. She checked the clock; slightly early for Rhys to be getting home... He crashed through the penthouse door without a trace of his usual finesse, slamming it behind him and sneezing mightily as he did so.

"Hello, darling," Titania called, not turning around, intent on finishing a paragraph. She was greeted by another powerful sneeze, followed by the pitiful snuffling of one with a hopelessly clogged nose. This justified turning around.

Rhys was a mess. He was drenched in rain and shivering, almost convulsing, really. His usually-crisp and pressed-to-perfection vest and tie were sodden and damp, and his neat red hair dripped onto his face. He already had a cold; Titania could tell these things.

"Darling! What happened, Rhys?" He sniffed and crashed into an armchair, limply reaching up to unbutton a wet tie.

"Hello, dearest," he coughed. "I forgot an umbrella today." She frowned and glided to rest on the arm of his chair, lightly fluffing his wet hair and feeling his forehead. Already burning up. She folded her arms over her stomach and smiled crookedly at him.

"You're a wreck, love," she said as his thin frame was wracked by coughs. She patted his back as he went red in the face. Soaked as he was, he looked absolutely miserable and pathetic.

"Why don't you go take a shower and forget about work for the rest of the day?" she said, stricken with sympathy. "I'll make hot chocolate and we can talk in front of the fire, does that sound nice?" He smiled weakly.

"But I want to hear about how you're doing—" Titania smiled and gently pushed him out of the chair, marching him in the direction of the master bath.

"Come on, darling. You're sick too much. I don't want you to miss any more work. Or—" Rhys raised his eyebrows and started unbuttoning his shirt as he walked off into the bathroom.

"Right. Be right out, dearest."