Work Text:
Francesco was strangely persuaded it all began with that one time where he presented Lorenzo as his brother-in-law. Soon after his mother started to make small talk after mass. That in itself was strange. Of course, Madonna Lucrezia had never been disrespectful but she was wary of him. The woman couldn’t be blamed. And yet, she was now giving her best recipes to Novella and asking after his health. Even Lorenzo himself had looked as bewildered as he had felt the first time it had happened. Then people started greeting Francesco in the streets. Some were familiar faces: employees at the Medici bank, protegees of Lorenzo, distant relatives of the Medici family… Others were complete strangers to him and yet they knew him by name. Then new clients poured in the Pazzi bank, most of them coming on the recommendations of the Medici bank. There were the handmade dresses for Novella and the luxurious foreign delicacies for him. There were artists crowding at his door to get a commission from him.
It all started because he said once, just once, that Lorenzo was his brother-in-law. Novella kept telling him it was a good thing, but Francesco wasn’t so sure. He was a bit scared in truth. What next? Would he get a new palazzo if he presented himself as the godfather of little Piero? Damn Medicis. You treat them like family once and they start thinking they are.