Sydney's POV

If there is one thing I've learned in my four years of marriage is that life with Adrian Ivashkov is never boring. It's intense, and it's maddening. It's also heart-stopingly wonderful. But boring just isn't in our vocabulary. Even on the days when life is blissfully normal, he finds some way to add a little spice. It's one if the things I love most about him, and one of the reasons I knew I was right to marry him.

You know it's funny because people said there was no way we'd ever last, and yet here we are four years later and going strong. See that's the thing about love; you can never really tell whether someone else's love is insurmountable. People can surprise you.

And so can their choice in partners.

And it's why I felt responsible to be the voice of reason now.

*Flashback*

When Lissa sent me on a mission to find where Rose had wandered off to, I had a pretty good idea on where to look. I'd seen her sneaking off with Bash not long after the ceremony ended and figured she'd just stepped out to try and feed him.

Unfortunately for me, that wasn't all that I would find.

"Rose" I started to call out as I pushed open the marble doors, but the man I saw outside them stopped me short.

He was standing proudly and defiant with his salt and pepper hair beside a woman that was young enough to be his daughter. The woman was much shorter, with a mop of curly blonde ringlets and although pretty, she had quite a baby face. Both of them were dressed in an air of confidence that screamed affluence, and to be honest, he looked as cruel as I remembered.

It had been several years since I had seen him, but I would know Adrian's father anywhere. Not to mention the signature scowl that he was wearing.

"Mr. Ivashkov…" I sputtered in shock and he turned his glare from Rose to me. Clearly I had walked into something unpleasant.

"Oh look" Rose chirped up with what was obviously false enthusiasm. "It's the other Mrs. Ivashkov. Hey Mia, have you ever met Adrian's wife?"

Other Mrs. Ivashkov?

I didn't know what the hell that meant, and so I turned to look between the three of them in confusion. Not knowing what else to do, I extended my hand to hers out of politeness, and the poor girl looked as if she wished the ground might swallow her whole.

Who was this girl, and what was she doing with Mr. Ivashkov. Or more importantly, what was he doing here at all?

Last time that I had checked he was off traveling the world; hiding from the shame his family brought him. After his divorce from Daniella and his falling out with Adrian, he had all but disappeared from all our lives. He sold the house he had a court and started traveling abroad. None of us had heard much about him since.

Contact with him had been so minimal in fact, that I wasn't sure he even knew he was a grandfather!

"It's nice to meet you" I told the girl before I turned to look at Rose. "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what's going on here."

Rose opened up her mouth to tell me, but before she had a chance, Nathan stepped between us both and cut her off.

"This really isn't any of your concern." He said levelly, giving me an icy glare.

Apparently his feelings about my marriage had yet to change.

"Ha" Rose laughed bitterly. "Well I think that this concerns her plenty. Don't you think she deserves to know about her new stepmother in law."

My stepmother in law?

But that just couldn't be. The girl in front of me was even younger than Adrian!

"You look a little confused Syd. Is it because you're doing the math? Well let me save the trouble and tell you that Mia was in school with me and Liss."

Unbelievable.

This girl was Rose's age?

Then what the hell was she doing married to Nathan?

"I'm sorry" I stuttered dumbly. "but I still don't understand."

"Well that makes two of us" Rose declared turning on Mia in accusation. "Honestly Mia, what the hell were you thinking marrying him!"

The girl bristled up when Rose suddenly attacked her head on and she squared her shoulders off and prepared to face her.

"Since when are you against marrying an older man?" She spat at Rose. "Dimitri has got a few years on you yourself!"

"Yeah seven years Mia, not twenty seven! Plus Dimitri isn't a prick that ditched his family!"

"No of course not" Mia said sarcastically rolling her big blue eyes at Rose. "Saint Dimitri would never do something as terrible as that. I mean sure he killed a countless number of innocents while he was running amuck as a Strigoi, but I suppose that's nothing compared to familial disapproval. God Rose, you are such a hypocrite. What right do you have judging me and Nathan!"

I gasped in shock when she brought up Dimitri's unsavory past, and had it not been for the baby in Rose's arms, I'm fairly certain she would have lunged. As it was, I thought she was actually still considering it.

"Rose" I said with caution, trying to gauge her level of reason. "I really think that we should both go back inside. Lissa is looking for you, and this day is for the twins."

And I saw the reason return to her with the reminder.

She nodded at me slightly before returning her sights on Mia.

"Maybe I'm a hypocrite, but you're a heartless bitch, and you should know that showing up here was a mistake. Don't think that I've forgotten the way you used to torture Lissa, and I've been waiting for the day I could pay you back for that."

"You don't scare me" Mia sneered, but her body language was saying otherwise. I noticed it when she took a step closer to Nathans side.

"Well then you're as stupid as you are heartless" Rose laughed hardly at the pair. "Especially if you think you're going in there."

They both turned their gaze on the marble doors of the ballroom, and beside Mia, Nathan stiffened in response.

"It's an open event Guardian Hathaway and you lack the clearance to try and stop us."

"Oh Mr. Ivashkov, but that is where you're wrong. My gold digging old friend isn't the only one moving up in the world. As the head of the royal guard, it is absolutely within my power to keep you out. Now you can leave her peacefully, or I can call in the cavalry, but something tells me you don't want me to make a scene."

Rose had him there and she knew it.

Nathan Ivashkov was a man who cared a great deal about appearances, and a scene was that last thing that he wanted.

"Keeping me out today doesn't change the fact that I'm back. My resignation was temporary, and I fully intend to be reinstated. If I were you Guardian Hathaway, I would get used to the idea because me and my new wife aren't going anywhere."

Beside him Mia smiled smugly before they turned and walked away, and Rose and I reluctantly rejoined the party.

*End Flashback*

Both of us agreed it was best not to tell Adrian; at least until we were in the comfort of our own home. With Adrian there was no telling what his reaction might be, and I thought it was better that we handle it here in private.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to mentally play out my options, looking for the best way to drop the news. It was going to be a shock no matter how I chose to spin it, but I thought some sex appeal might help to soften the blow.

After slipping into his favorite nightie, I tied a silk robe over top and headed into Juliet's nursery to find my husband. He was sitting comfortably in the rocker that he sat in every night while reading Juliet a bedtime story. At 6 months old, she was more interested in eating the pages, but Adrian insisted on reading to her every night. So I waited patiently in the doorway and enjoyed watching their interactions until a soft giggle alerted Adrian to my presence. He looked up from the pages and his emerald eyes sparkled at me with joy.

I really hated that what I'd tell him next was going to crush that.

"That's quite a robe you've got on there Mrs. Ivashkov. But I bet it would look even better on the floor."

"Play your cards right, and I might just let you put it there…"

His rich green eyes suddenly lit up with excitement; clearly he was enjoying our verbal four play.

Four years later and we still hadn't lost our spark.

"I can't say I hate the sound of that." He smirked.

Rising from the rocker he strolled across the room to me, offering up Juliet for a kiss. At more than half a year old, she had finally mastered the art of self-soothing, and we now longer needed to rock our girl to sleep. I took her in my arms and nuzzled her chubby neck before I gently handed her back over to her father. Adrian's goodnight routine was similar to my own and he cuddled her once more before he laid her down to rest. She greedily took the small bottle he placed in her pudgy hands, and together we turned the light out and closed the door.

Despite the bomb I was about to drop, there was no denying our charmed life.

Hopefully Adrian would remember that as well.

"So listen…" Adrian said as he tugged gently on my robe's sash. "Do you think your bad news can wait until after sex. "

What?" I asked with a squeak; my voice raising an octave in surprise. "What makes you think I have bad news"

He took a moment and paused from his pursuit of my robe to give me an all knowing look.

"Call it experience, or history, or maybe four years of marriage, but the fact of the matter is I know you. You've been acting twitchy since you found Rose this afternoon. "

Thanks to his devil may care attitude and easy going smile; it was easy to forget how observant he can be.

"Adrian" I sighed heavily as I pushed him towards the bed. "I think its better you hear this now rather than later."

He eyed me skeptically and sighed before he plopped down on the bed, pulling my hand so that I landed right beside him.

"Fine, we'll do this your way. First the news and then the nookie."

And he looked so disgruntled I almost laughed.

But what I was about to tell him was no laughing matter, so I took a deep and steady breath and then began.

"I ran into your father after the christening."

Adrian who had been toying aimlessly with my bathrobe string suddenly stopped and met my cautious eyes with surprise.

"My father?" He repeated; his face showing his confusion. It was understandable given the complicated circumstances.

Little did he know it was about to get more complicated…

"Yes, he showed up at the christening but Rose wouldn't let him in. And I think that you should know he wasn't alone."

I waited a couple seconds for the news to settle in, and then continued to break the news to my poor husband.

"He was with his new wife; a woman Rose apparently knew. Needless to say she wasn't all that thrilled about it. Her name was Mia…" I added cautiously, unsure if I was overloading him with information. But he surprised me when he let out a hearty laugh.

"Mia Rinaldi? My dad married Mia Rinaldi? Oh man, I bet Rose completely lost her shit."

I stared back at my husband who was taking this rather well, not sure if this was a side effect of the shock. I'd expected anger, outrage, and maybe even a little disgust. But I certainly hadn't been expecting any laughter.

"You're laughing?" I asked incredulously?

And now I was actually kind of mad! All my worrying today had been for nothing.

"Syd, my dad married a girl 5 years younger than me. If that's not funny then I don't what it." He laughed easily. "Besides, who are we to criticize who one marries? We're about as unconventional as it gets."

It was the most reasonable thing I'd ever heard my husband say, and I felt as if I might just burst with pride. There was a time when this news would have sent him straight into a bottle, and now he was sitting bedside in our bedroom and he was laughing.

"So you're okay with this?" I asked, still searching for clarification. But I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

"Well my mom will flip her shit, and I'm sure poor Belikov is getting an earful. But sure I'm okay with all of this if you are."

And with his assurance all my previous fears evaporated.

"I'm more than okay" I purred seductively in his ear, and his earlier sense of excitement suddenly resurfaced.

In the interest of keeping the romance, all our conversation came to a halt, and I let my husband show me just how okay we would be.

Nathan might be back and married to Rose's high school rival; but surely that was a problem for another day.

I thought it was time we check in with Adrian and Sydney. 10 chapters in and we hadn't heard much out of them.

Plus it seemed appropriate given we were talking about Adrian's father.

As for the new wife being Mia, I thought it seemed appropriate. When we first met her she was quite the social climber. Remember how hard she clung to Aaron because he was a Royal?

Now I know in the books they made her less villainous in the end, but I never agreed with how easily they forgave her for torturing Lissa. The things she did just seemed downright cruel, and so marrying for status just didn't seem out of her wheelhouse.

As always I'm looking forward to reading all of your reviews : )

P.S. For the reader who was worried about Bash possibly being sick, let me go ahead and put your mind as ease. Little Sebastian is as healthy as a horse.