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She flushed a little; both out of embarrassment that having her take down her hair was not what he intended, and at his closeness but shrugged lightly, trying to play his remark and the colour on her pale cheeks off; "It's fine, I'll say Decima had loosened it because I wasn't happy." Aurelia would likely believe it, even if her father in law wouldn't - but she trusted him to be discrete enough not to comment. 

She smiled a little. "I'm glad, I confess I hadn't thought much of him before you took him but I'm glad he brought you safely away and then home again." She would thank him later, personally, and quietly away from Aulus. It was not really the done thing, but if her husband placed such stock in him - likely in more ways than one - then she would likewise aim to get on the slave's good side. She had no intention of creating friction where there needn't be any, she wasn't a jealous woman after all. Maybe a small gift for him, as a token of her thanks, as long as he squirrelled it away and didn't parade it. Her musing was keeping her from concentrating, as was the feeling of him winding loose waves of hair around his fingers and she had to glance up at him to catch his question. 

"I confess Venus could have picked better timing to give us a daughter," She winced, and an easier time bringing her into the world"But afterwards has been fine, I've kept myself suitably occupied. They're good children, and I used to read them stories all about the provinces you were in before they slept, so they understood where you were." How much they absorbed from the tales, she wasn't sure, but she had intended to keep up a connection to their father during his long absence. Even if it didn't seem to have worked, judging by their reactions - Calpurnia's in particular. "Although I'd rather you were here, of course." She added quickly. In truth, their time apart had quickly become her new normal. The first few months, and particularly after Calpurnia's arrival had been hard and gruellingly lonely, but she had adapted well. It was the strangeness now, trying to revert to their 'before' that she knew she'd find more difficult. 

Touched by the offer she removed her hand from his neck and placed her jaw in her palm, thinking deeply. "They're in their temple phase at the moment." She smiled slyly, "Titus has a mind to see all of them in Rome, and Calpurnia is being dragged along for the ride - although I think she enjoys it enough. She's like her mother though, you wait until you wake up tomorrow - she'll be out here in the garden before dawn playing with all the little faeries she thinks lives in the grass and the rosebushes." She smiled fondly to herself and then sighed, wincing as she looked him up and down, honestly stating; "It saddens me you've missed Titus when he was little, your father said he was very much like you when you were a boy, which amused me greatly to imagine my great, towering husband obsessed with his little toy soldiers." 

 

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"I think your hair is very pretty," he said. "It seems a shame that women must keep it pinned up all the time - but we should not flout convention." Anyway, there was part of him that was glad of the it, for it meant that he was the only one to see what her hair looked like when it was down. Well, apart from her slaves, but they didn't count.

"All the temples of Rome? That is a lot of exploring for them to do. Is it truly the both of them, or does Calpurnia enjoy it because her brother does, and she looks up to him?" Even hearing about them reminded him of his own childhood with his own sister - but Calpurnia Praetextata had entered the Atrium Vestae when she was not much older than Titus was now, and so Aulus had not really much childhood to share with her.

"I was a great deal smaller at the time, I would have you know," he informed her, with a smile on his face. "But truly, I think I shall be glad to leave that martial world behind, for a little. Return to my small world of my family, as Cincinnatus did once Rome was out of danger and he was no longer needed to lead her army in battle. And do you still believe that there are faeries living in the rosebushes and grass, my dove?"

 

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She nodded with a little smile; "I'll fetch Decima to re-do it before dinner." The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass him mere hours after he had returned home. As the conversation drifted towards the children, she arched a brow and retorted somewhat firmly; "I wouldn't take her if she didn't enjoy it." Certainly Calpurnia had expressed interest in it, but she added to soften her statement; "I think she likes to pretend she's a Goddess visiting them." Little girls were fickle, she knew that from having a younger sister herself, and their imaginations ran rampant most of the time. Calpurnia was no different. One day she was the daughter of some God, and the next she pretended to be a slave from some far off province. Horatia had the sense to cut that fantasy short immediately, although the former seemed harmless enough as long as her little girl wasn't being overtly disrespectful. 

Arching a brow at the comparison, she laughed melodically, face still resting in her palm. "And do you think you're the paragon of modesty and humility like him as well? A comparison with the great Cincinnatus would suggest otherwise." She'd read about him when she'd gotten through the stories aimed at more feminine audiences in her fathers domus. The chiding was meant in good humour and she hoped he'd take it well. 

His own joke made her laugh again though and she shrugged; "You'll come to know my habits - out here at all times of the night to speak to the faeries and help them build their homes with twigs and petals, only going back to bed as the sun rises." She said, lifting the example directly from her youth and a scene she'd walked in on before dawn with Calpurnia sat cross legged trying to build a miniature house. Like mother like daughter, it seemed. If Calpurnia had been a redhead, she would have thought the Gods had blessed them with her life over again. Letting the quiet settle between them for a little while, she finally said; "I am here to listen, should you wish to talk about it...any of it, husband." The 'it' being whatever had occurred in his absence that he couldn't put into his letters. She ignored how odd the word 'husband' felt leaving her lips.

 

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And there was the hint of iron that Aulus had suspected lay beneath when he'd read her first letter sent (or that had reached him, which was not the same thing) after those terrible few months.

"I am glad she likes it too," he said. "It is very easy for one or the other to get bored with what the other likes to do, even when they want to spend time together. But as for truly modelling myself on the great Cincinnatus - I confess, I have too much ambition to truly wish to retire to my little farm in the countryside, although neither will you find me renaming months after myself, or doing anything so grandiose."

They fell silent again. Eventually Aulus broke the silence in response to his wife's offer of confidence. "There is not so much to tell, really. Long days of boredom - and Britannia is not always truly so cold, once you grow used to it. Very much greener and wilder than Italia - not so much of it is farmed as here, and it is altogether the wrong sort of climate for olives and the like, although I should think that vines would do well enough in the south. The worst of the fighting and rebellions were suppressed two years ago - Caesar had his triumph after all. The prisoner he had was from the most rebellious of the tribes, or rather, from one of the two most rebellious tribes. There is one in the south, and another in the north, and Eppitacos was from the Brigantes, in the north. We have two Legions there, which should be plenty to deal with any further uprising, although I think it unlikely that there will be any more, and the place is quite civilised in the south, with proper stone-built towns being built."

He had no real desire to go back, though one of his friends had no real desire to leave. Odd, how things took your fancy, or didn't.

"Have you spent all your time in Rome, since Quintus took the purple? Or were you planning to be here only for a short time before returning to Baiae and the sea?" He would not disrupt whatever plans she may have had. At least, he would try not to; he thought that everyone would adjust better to his presence if he could fit in to their lives as much as possible before he began making any demands on them.

 

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Horatia listened patiently, genuinely interested, although he had not answered her offer in the way she had intended. Then again, she suspected any of his feelings rather than a description of his duties would come later, once trust had been rebuilt and they grew more comfortable with one another. She would be much the same she supposed, and even though she assumed her burdens were far less than what he had experienced, she was completely reluctant to let him on on them at present; both because it was not his duty to know her troubles, but also because she didn't feel particularly right opening up and unburdening to a relative stranger. 

"It sounds as though you won't miss it." She added, with a little smile, perceiving from his description that whilst it wasn't as bad as the gossips like to make believe, it was no paradise for cultured, civilised men. "But I'm still here to listen." she affirmed again.

Nodding she added, "We spent most summers at the villa with your parents but have largely stayed in Rome. I came back just before Calpurnia made her surprise appearance," Because Horatia found her mother in laws presence overwhelming in late pregnancy, but that went unsaid, "I have friends here, granted not many but some and as much as I enjoy your mother and father's company, sometimes I need to socialise alone." Not that she did much, mind. She'd always had a fairly reserved sort of personality, albeit one with a core of solid iron underneath. It meant she needed few friends and she far preferred intimate dinners to grand parties, although in the years apart from her husband, she'd suffered them on the arm of her father, or brother out of necessity. The thought made her smile and she arched a brow; "My father will be pleased your back. He's in Rome, as are Publius and Livia and I've been spending quite a bit of time with them as of late, my brother has some harebrained scheme or two he's been seeking advice on." She added, a little proudly. Although it suddenly occurred to her that he might be asking to confirm his own plans and she withdrew her face from her palm, suddenly feeling uneasy once more in the shift that her life was taking. "Did you...intend for us to go to Baiae?"

 

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"I won't miss all of it, not by any means. Some of it, though, perhaps. It's no place to bring up young children, though - not yet, at any rate."

He remembered summers in his own childhood, spent at the villa at Baiae. Long lazy days, paddling in the sea and doing all the sorts of things kids did. It was different after Calpurnia Praetextata had joined the Vestals, of course, but there was always change to be dealt with, whether badly or well.

"I am glad you have spent time with your own family as well as mine," he said. It must have been quite the surprise to her mother for Horatia to have returned from Greece a married woman. He caught Horatia's hand as she bolted upright. "No, not at all - at least, not before you had originally planned to go there, this summer. I have things to do in Rome, especially if I seriously wish to be considered for Praetor - I doubt that more than one in ten Senators could recognise me were I to walk in there tomorrow. Though I do not intend to walk in there tomorrow. I need a few days to acclimatise myself to Rome and its workings, and have no wish to walk in today and for the children to not see me again despite supposedly living in the same house, simply because I got so busy with politics and hearing court cases and all the rest and had no time to spend with them."

He twined his fingers with hers. "So... which temple do you think Titus and Calpurnia would like to visit tomorrow - just the four of us. Or perhaps the Gardens of Sallust? Or should we stay at home, maybe, and make a blanket fort in the triclinium?"

 

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"Like I could keep my mother away from her grandson." She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. In truth she'd rarely clashed with her mother in law - despite hearing horror stories of such, but there had been fraught words between the two matriarchs before her mothers untimely passing. Most of it centred on Aulus' absence, but she had no wish to stir the pot and let him be privy to that information. 

Relief visibly washed over her face for a split second before her features settled into practiced neutrality and she hastily added, after he finished speaking. "Thank you that's kind I...have no wish to be a wife who acts displeased at her husbands wishes, nor one who sits and pouts I just..." She just what? She sighed and squeezed his fingers lightly. It was undoubtedly better to be honest, but it was difficult for her. She hadn't expected to feel so affronted at her newfound situation when she'd been waiting half a decade for it to happen. "I just may need a little patience. I've been minding my affairs and our children's for so long, if I say something or...make a decision without consulting you, it's not meant in offence." She smiled a little, her lips twitching, "It's just my idiocy about forgetting you're home." Whilst she had no intention of being a harpy and making a fuss about having an opinion or voice (she'd much rather work to gain his respect and to allow him to see her counsel as useful), she equally had no intention of being a complete dormouse. She'd like to find a fine balance between being strong and supportive whilst also respectful and deferential. It would take time, she knew. 

As he  held her hand she felt that familiar hum of attraction but tried to lay it to rest. Trying to distract herself, that he was taking their children's views into his life at all with his run for praetorship and his plans for the week were an excellent sign, she thought to herself. "I think they'd enjoy the gardens. We've been before but apparently Titus doesn't want to play soldiers with his mother." She sighed in contentment and relaxed back again, finding a comfortable position against his chest. She had missed this, despite its awkwardness and novelty. She spoke quietly and sighed, "I should get ready for dinner." but there was a very evident but I don't want to get up lingering in the silence as she made no move to stand.

 

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"You have had five years of making decisions without me, it would hardly be surprising if you need time to change that," Aulus pointed out. "From what little I have seen, you have done it extraordinarily well - it is hardly your fault they go shy when a strange man in a toga comes striding into their grandfather's house and announces that he is their unknown father. Especially when one considers I am more than twice their height."

Aulus smoothed Horatia's hair back from her face. He had seen red hair on so many of the British tribesmen, and their women, but there was something indefinably different about the shade of Horatia's - and he knew it was all her own; she did not resort to wigs as so many women of their class did, when they got bored of their own hair colour.

"I hope that I will always ask your counsel when it comes to our family," he told her. "Is that not the way it should be done, after all? The man takes his seat in the courts, or the Senate, and the woman runs the household? What he decides affects her - and you have had decisions enough to make over the past years and made them well, from all I have seen and heard. We may have spent years apart but I am still proud to call you my wife, Horatia Justina."

 

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That he was pleased with her, at least in her decision making skills thus far, and in her honesty that the adjustment would take her time to get used to, was heartening, and a relief. She hadn't known what to expect when he walked in the domus; a man so used to being obeyed and giving orders over the last five years, so changed from the man she married, that he'd stamp down on her and her children with an iron fist? A man disinterested in familial life after years on the road? A man so bound up in passion he'd take her to bed upon sight? In truth, she was glad in equal measure it was none of those men that walked through the door. This Aulus, in his thirties and battle hardened was changed from the man she married, but not indelibly so. He might be more pragmatic or uneasy around her, but the care he had shown for her children (their children) made her tense shoulders relax almost instantly. 

"That is the way it should be done." She affirmed with a smile as he paused his sentence. And such a way would suit her just fine. 

His words caused a flush of pleasure on her cheeks and she let out a contented sigh, pushing her head from the crook of his neck so she could look at him. "And you know I'm proud of you." She added, although that much should have been plain from her letters. In that instant, curled up in his lap like a newlywed, hair half undone over her shoulders, she looked at him - those startlingly blue eyes and crop of sandy blonde hair and felt the urge to kiss him, deeply and intensely as if she was a girl in the throes of passion. She stopped herself before she leaned in, however, not wishing to make a fool of herself. But the urge didn't go away and instead she raised soft fingers to run over his jaw and then lightly brush his lips, wordlessly. She still made no move to get up to dress for dinner.

 

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He had not been entirely sure what to expect from his return home, but knew that he neither wanted nor expected a miniature Legion, with everyone obeying his orders simply because he gave them - that was for the slaves to do, after all (and when it came to Felix in particular, he was willing to listen to suggestions that might go against his natural inclination). In fat, it was probably his relationship with Felix that had influenced his decision the most on what he expected when it came to his family.Women, like slaves, were in a subservient position according to the law - Horatia would have had to ask her father or brother (or perhaps Aulus' father) to handle anything legal that she needed to deal with, though Aulus didn't expect that there was anything of that sort that had come up in his absence. She would have told him if there had been, he was certain of that much.

But he was not going to treat his freeborn family as anything less than his own treasured relations and nor was he going to require anything of them that might have been expected back in the past. He was not a Cato, after all, to rule with harshness and put out of the household anyone who no longer met his standards.

He could not have asked for a better wife than Horatia, and he determined that she should know it, that somehow he would make up all the lost years to her.

Right now, they were snuggling like newly-weds, where anyone passing could see, she had her hair half-undone and spilling down her back and really should go and get it put back up before dinner. And yet, neither of them made any move to leave and return to their rooms (Aulus wasn't even sure where he was supposed to sleep tonight, though he knew where he was going to sleep in actual fact). Instead, she looked as though she might kiss him, but did not, simply trailing soft fingers over his lips, making him smile.

After five years' absence, was it any wonder they had grown somewhat shy with each other? He bent his head to kiss her, a little nervous in case it should not be wanted, despite everything.

 

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She smiled a little to herself, relieved that her feelings were at least somewhat returned by him. But it had been half a decade! Half a decade of no kisses, let alone anything more intimate than that for and she felt the hum of attraction spark in her chest just as strongly as she felt nerves tug her stomach. Nonetheless, she returned the kiss softly - finding the sensation as odd and unfamiliar as the man himself now. 

It was a chaste kiss by all measures but it still secretly thrilled her, and as she pulled away, she moved her hand from his cheek to the back of his hair, running his fingers through it. A little embarrassed by her nerves, the intimacy and other thoughts that spawned in her head after the kiss broke her cheeks took on some colour, although fortunately not enough to match the red of her hair. 

"I really should go." She mumbled and let her forehead rest against him. "Your mother has been planning the day you'd return with the slaves and has been stockpiling all of your favourite foods for the day you'd walk through the door." She smiled, amused and traced her fingers across the nape of his neck. "And I don't want to be the lascivious wife who keeps everybody waiting." Chuckling, she finally moved to stand from his lap although the position they were in made it difficult and she wobbled, ungracefully as her feet finally found solid ground and she stood up. 

 

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V happy to carry this on here, at dinner or afterwards! I love them! ❤️

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It was nice, this intimacy, after so long away. Aulus wasn't sure of the last time he had actually been able to relax, because there had always been something going on, and if he was not needed to deal with things, he would at least end up receiving a report about whatever had been happening.

"I suppose you should," he said softly as she rested her forehead against his, blue eyes meeting blue (was there any wonder that Calpurnia's eye were so startlingly bright blue?) He could not help the quiet laughter that bubbled up. "Why am I not surprised? I suppose the household has been run ragged ever since I wrote that I was coming - though I wouldn't be surprised if I got here before my letter did."

She finally moved to stand, although it was made harder for her because of the position and Aulus had to steady her, the fabric of her stola warm under his hands before he let her go.

He let out a breath as she moved away from him. She was no longer the giddy young teen who had first caught his eye in that other garden years ago; she was older now, indefinably so, but not an old woman by any means. A mother of two, and still young enough to bear more - she was in her prime, and carried herself with the bearing of a true born noble daughter of Rome.

He did not know how long he had been sitting there, watching the place he had last seen her when a slave came out to inform him that dinner was ready.

What was laid out in the triclinium was a private dinner for four. He supposed that his son and daughter were still too young to attend a proper evening meal, though they might come to join them for secundae mensae, or part of that course. A whole evening of adult conversation was likely to bore them silly. His mother and father were already there and he gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before taking his own place.

 

(OOC - secundae mensae - 'second tables' - the part of a Roman dinner that tended far more towards sweet dishes than savoury, what we might call the dessert course today)

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Horatia left with a lingering smile and a glance over her shoulder to her husband before retreating to the silence of her room (where the children were or what chaos they were causing didn't cross her mind). A slave was sent to find Decima who promptly appeared, ruddy faced and with an inscrutable expression that belied her frustration at seeing her handiwork so poorly undone. Horatia waved a hand to the back of her head as she took a seat in front of the small mirror, "Re-pin it, Decima." Was her single command which was met with an irritable; "Yes domina." and promptly the young woman set about re-braiding and re-fastening her mistresses hair.

Her thoughts were addled and she stayed silent as her slave worked. She felt a maelstrom of things; delight he was back, discomfort at what it meant for her, attraction that couldn't be denied and anxiety because she felt for all his kind words and smiles, she still did not know the man sitting in the garden just outside her door. 

When Decima had finished some time later and a slave had been to say dinner was served, Horatia stood and brushed down the plain stola she wore, moving to leave. But a bright twinkle caught her eye and she frowned, reaching fingers to brush over a bracelet - long forgotten in the mish mash of jewellery she owned. It was simple, a gold band entwined with carvings of ivy leaves and indiscernible flowers and it had been a wedding gift from her husband, some seven years ago. Ignoring the slave's insistence that the others were already seated, she reached and placed it over her wrist. It was silly, she thought to herself, and he'd probably not even notice, but perhaps by placing it back on her wrist she'd feel some of that long lost familiarity eek back into their relationship. 

She silently padded through the house until she entered the triclinium. Tiberius, Aurelia and Aulus were already seated on the couches and she took the vacant spot, next to her mother in law, opposite from her husband with a hurried; "Apologies I'm late." Which was waved off by Tiberius; "Nonsense, we were just catching Aulus up on all the senate gossip." Which produced an amused quirk of her lips, especially with the unspoken; but you don't need to hear all of that. Slaves diligently filled wine cups and her father in law raised his own in a toast; "To having our boy back." Which made Horatia smile and glance fleetingly over the rim of her cup to said 'boy'. 

 

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"It was my fault," Aulus confessed, though he didn't say why it was his fault (he'd just arrived back from Britannia, Horatia was his wife - did he really need to say why it might be his fault she was late to dinner?). He shifted to make room for Horatia; this was not a formal dinner but it was formal enough. Four people was a tricky number for a convivial evening meal, but they'd make do.

Aulus lifted his winecup fractionally, catching Horatia's eye at his father's toast, and trying not to be too obvious in his smirk. It had been several years since he'd been a boy, after all, and his career was well under way by now - he'd spent the last few years as a Legate, which was a pretty responsible position when all was said and done.

"You look very fine this evening," he said quietly to Horatia once she had taken her place. She hadn't changed, but then she hadn't needed to - she would look beautiful if she were wearing sack-cloth. There was a glint of gold as she reached for own wine-cup and he smiled as he saw the bracelet she was wearing. It had been a gift for their wedding, a pretty thing that had caught his eye and that he'd bought for her, knowing that she liked bracelets and other pretty things.

 

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Amused at the compliment, she arched a brow at her husband; "Did I not look fine in the same clothes half an hour ago?" before laughing quietly and sipping her wine. Decima really was worth her weight in gold, her re-done hair almost matched her previous up-do perfectly. 

Tiberius had begun chattering to his wife on something or other about the villa, what she didn't really care to know and so she sat quietly, sipping her wine and half-listening. Only when the conversation turned to Aulus that her interest was piqued; "So, glad to be back or yearning for the provinces once again?" Her father in law chuckled which earned him a light swot on the arm from his wife. Having heard the answer to the question already, she was less interested in this topic but Aurelia interrupted before Aulus could speak; "He's only just got home Tiberius, family is just as important as military glory and the children have missed you Aulus. The provinces can wait." She'd never heard her mother in law speak in such a way, so forthrightly - but then she didn't know the nuances of her relationship with Aulus. 

She couldn't, however, keep the smirk from her face at 'the children have missed you'. They didn't even know who he was. Aurelia must have caught her sly amusement as she added; "Although Horatia has done a commendable job with them, of course." She inclined her head with a; "Thank you. Aulus was telling me he plans to spend some more time in Rome with us, isn't that right?" If her husband was being spoken about he deserved the opportunity to comment for himself and so she gave him an opening her in-law's hadn't.

 

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"The children are too young to remember me at all, Mother, let alone to have missed me," Aulus said, over the rim of his wine-cup. "Is it the same dress? I hadn't noticed." If his wife noticed the twinkle in his eye, well, that was not his fault! "And you will look extremely fine by the end of the evening, divine tomorrow morning, beautiful after lunch and ravishing by the evening," he added with a smile for his wife. "As Horatia says, I plan to spend some time in Rome before going anywhere else at all - it is time I put name forward for Praetor, after all. The military is all fine and good, but there is more to life than merely serving with the Legions - and I would like to get the British chill out of my bones before going anywhere else for a while."

It was good to be home again, in the bosom of his family, with the same gentle teasing that his parents had always had for him, and between themselves. He hoped that it had not been too difficult for Horatia to find her place among them, though surely it would have been easier as the mother of their grandchildren.

 

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Horatia chuckled at his compliment and avoided the narrowing of her mother in law's eyes as she tried to work out what Aulus had mumbled to her. She felt herself flush with pleasure at it, stupid really - she said to herself - they were just idle words, but it had been so long! The compliments hurled by plebs on the street hardly compared to genuine flattery from one's own husband, after all. 

She listened quietly to the conversation, not intruding. She noticed Aurelia's satisfaction with his answer by the way she reclined back against the couch with that little self-satisfied smile she sometimes took when she won an argument with Tiberius, or tricked the children into eating their vegetables at mealtimes. 

"Good, good." The woman said although they were interrupted by platters of food that arrived. The variety was outstanding and far outside the realm of their usual meals - evidently his parents had been saving the good stuff for a special occasion. Glancing across at Aulus she arched a brow and asked; "Is the house as you remember it?" Given it was not their home, it was Tiberius', she had not been afforded the opportunity to decorate as she saw fit besides in her own room. That particular space was decked out in vibrant colours which she enjoyed and the eclectic mix of silks and flowers she enjoyed. She remembered vividly the last time he would have seen it - embracing Titus and her before he had slipped from the side door, Felix being dragged up next to him. "Vast amounts have changed in almost six years, but many things are still exactly as they were." It was a wider comment of course. Tiberius nodded sagely and grinned at Aulus; "Your boy being one of them. Just like having you back as a youth! All questions and plans and great ideas." 

 

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"I believe you have decorated the atrium, Mother - at least, someone has, and it is more likely you than Father." He had not had much of a chance to notice even that much, really, and had certainly not had a chance to notice anything else that had changed. "It is very much as I remember it, otherwise," he told Horatia, reaching for some dates.

"I daresay I still have plans and great ideas, Father. They have just changed somewhat, and I hope my questions nowadays are somewhat better thought out than 'where does rain come from?'" He met Horatia's eyes. "I daresay you've had similar questions from Titus - and if you haven't yet, you will." He had to squash the thought that if he had not been away for so long, he might have fielded some of those questions himself.

"As for what plans I have, well, I intend to join my wife and children on their next excursion looking at temples and such-like," he added, forestalling his mother, who merely raised a well-shaped eyebrow at him.

 

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She smiled lightly and nodded; "His most recent was asking me why the sun is so hot in the summer and cold in the winter. That was a fun one to try and explain." She rolled her eyes and reached out to take a square of cheese, portioned off. 

She noted Aurelia's glance and sensing tension brewing, diplomatically interjected; "If only to save me from Calpurnia's fantasies and Titus sprinting faster than I can chase him." She glanced between her mother in law and her husband and added, for good measure; "But if that's tomorrow then I need to see my father the day after and potentially again the following day, he's rewriting his will, again." The answer seemed to satisfy Aurelia, and Horatia relaxed a touch. To read between the lines, it was evident that her mother in law had no intention of being shunned by her son, and she supposed it was only natural. When Titus - Gods willing - became a man, should he return from a five year absence, she would be more than a little irritated should he choose to spend time with a wife he had rarely seen over his own flesh and blood. She tried to remember that whenever such issues arose. 

She remained quiet, picking at a date and sipping her wine as Tiberius directed the conversation to asking his son the intricacies of the battles he'd endured in Britannia. Said topics were out of her wheelhouse and although she'd have enjoyed listening, Aurelia began to chatter away to her - leaving the men to talk business; "Have you told Aulus about Titus' tutor yet? The Greek one who drones on, and on and on." Horatia smiled politely and shook her head, trying to half-listen to both her mother in law as she continued her amusing anecdote about the tutor and to listen in on whatever Tiberius and Aulus were discussing of war. 

 

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There seemed to be a little tension in the room now, and Aulus could not discern whether that was due to his arrival or if it had always been this way between his parents and his wife. His father engaged his attention in asking him some particulars of what he had been doing (how diplomatic of his father!) and Horatia and Aurelia likewise began talking about something equally mundane.

"No, no, they've been quite subdued since the capture of Eppaticos - I missed the Triumph of course, but understand that he's been spared to be a gladiator."

"I don't suppose that you've been to the Games recently? Or the races? I was thinking about sponsoring ludi for your safe return..."

"I haven't been the Games in... I don't know how long. The children are probably young yet for that, though, but they need not come. It will be good to spend time with all of you - and Mother need not fear I plan to vanish into the wilds of, oh, Dacia or Britannia again. I intend to run for Praetor and that will be a year's appointment, of course." If only it was not interrupted as his quaestorship had been - but Quintus Caesar had brought stability to the Empire that had been severely lacking seven years previously.

 

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Horatia bit her tongue to keep from affirming the seven and five year old children were indeed, far too young to witness the bloodsport in the arena or at the races (incidental though it may be in the latter). She smiled placidly as Aulus affirmed again that he wished to run for Praetor and took to sipping her wine rather than commenting. When she felt she had nothing to offer the conversation, she didn't. It wasn't out of shyness, but habit, and especially tonight where she didn't wish to make a fool out of herself in front of Aulus and his parents by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. 

Having finished eating for now (nerves had shot her appetite to nothing), she relaxed back against the couch and sipped at her wine, glancing between her husband and his parents. It was odd, she mused silently, that for the last five years she had been accepted and welcomed with open arms into this family (besides the initial drama at Baiae) and had felt very much a part of it. Yet now - and this might just be her introspection - she felt very much an outsider. She'd never known her husband in his youth or with his parents, and had never seen them interact. Now he was firmly back in their fold, she felt somewhat on the edge. It was not necessarily a bad thing, nor did she feel sad or upset, but it was interesting to watch the dynamic move and shift in the household.

Tiberius - a little flushed from the wine he'd been sipping constantly all evening - nodded at Aulus and smiled, relaxed; "Praetorship is a good position, you'll do well in it. Do you know much about it, ladies?" He turned to look at Aurelia and Horatia in turn - no malice just curiosity. Aurelia shrugged her shoulders and scoffed, "Not besides your ramblings on your career." and Horatia offered a light smile over the rim of her cup, "I know enough - through conversation with my family." Which caused Tiberius to raise an eyebrow, amused, before indicating to the slaves to refill their cups.

 

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Aulus noticed that Horatia hadn't eaten very much and reached for a plate of her favourite delicacies, helping himself to some and setting the plate aside within Horatia's reach so that she could help herself without drawing too much attention to herself.

"I don't believe I have expressed my thanks for taking Horatia in when she came down to Baiae," he said to his father, changing the subject. "I would have brought her myself but even my presence would have put her into too much danger."

"About that," his father said, and Aulus waited. If the story would not embarrass his wife too much, he would like to hear it, of course - but maybe not tonight, if she were truly self-conscious.

"I daresay I can get the story another time," he said, and took some mushrooms. He wanted Horatia to feel included in this gathering but this was the first time they had all been all together and he wasn't quite sure how to make it work. It wouldn't be so bad if he and Horatia were more comfortable together and had shared stories that they could tell, too.

 

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Tiberius merely grinned, delighted to tell the tale and shook his head but respectfully glanced to Horatia who was picking at some honeyed almonds that Aulus had thoughtfully, and strategically, placed next to her. "You don't mind, do you?" Horatia arched a brow, not sure her feelings on the matter would be considered regardless. The story didn't make her look bad, per se, perhaps a bit stubborn and forthright, but not bad. It did, however, raise more questions that she was not prepared to answer now or for the future if she could help it. "No, go ahead." 

She relaxed back, still fiddling with the almonds as Tiberius grinned and turned his attention fully to his son, "So there we were, none the wiser to the purges or the violence, it hadn't reached us yet and what do we have? A woman demanding to be let in, baby strapped to her chest, claiming to be my daughter in law!" He scoffed and shook his head and Horatia carefully, but discretely, watched Aulus' reaction, "She was covered in dirt and wet through from the rain in clothes I wouldn't give to a pleb so I told her to go away, assuming she was just after a bed and some money." Horatia finished the handful of almonds and bit at her lip, "Anyway, next thing I know, a few hours later who storms into my tablinium? The very same slip of a thing who shoves a series of papers from your study under my nose and places the baby on the table and exclaims that she was indeed Horatia Justina and she had your notes and letters to prove it!" 

Horatia flushed, but to give Tiberius his credit it was accurate. "Anyway, she later tells us she bribed one of the slaves to let her use their entrance and what was it you said?" Horatia winced but offered a sly smile, setting down her wine cup. "That I was very affronted at your treatment of your daughter in law, but was delighted to meet you." That produced a peal of laughter from Aurelia and a beaming grin from Tiberius who chuckled along. Horatia, for her part, smiled and shook her head, "It was the only way to get into the house and it had been three days on the road." She offered by way of an explanation and glanced across at Aulus. "It had not been...the way I would have liked to have presented myself to your parents for the first time, I think it's fair to say." 

 

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Aulus reached for Horatia's hand as he noticed her embarrassment rise, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "I should have written a letter myself but there were so many things to think of that it didn't cross my mind," he said, and let her hand go momentarily, but only so that he could slip her some more almonds. "That is a story to stand with the best of anything Livy or Virgil wrote, I think. I wish I could have been with you, but by that point Felix and I were already on our way to Ancona - and you were probably a lot safer without me around. Clemens and his followers knew me, after all - recently elected quaestor that I was."

He went back to rubbing her hand. "It sounds a... memorable introduction, at least. The act of a courageous woman and a worthy wife." And daughter-in-law, though that need not be said - anyway, she must have got along well enough with his parents before he wandered in and disrupted everything.

How had he got so lucky in his bride, he wondered. Stubbornness and determination in the right place could be priceless, and if nothing else, the anecdote showed she had those qualities. He had thought she was stronger than she might have seemed, and that core of iron was very definitely there, if hidden most of the time. A lesser woman would surely have given up.

 

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Horatia smiled, finding the motion of his thumb sweeping across her hand soothing, but took the almonds he offered with her spare one. She smiled slyly at his compliment and Tiberius grinned and chuckled; "Hear, hear!" He stated and raised his cup, which Aurelia did likewise. 

In truth, she'd found those first few months of adjustment with her new family a challenge, but only because she had needed to work out their particular personality quirks. She'd come to admire Aurelia and the two had grown close; wiling away afternoons in the garden whilst Calpurnia grew up around their feet and Titus chewed his grandfather's ear off. With Tiberius, she had found a stoic man but with gentleness born from old age. His initial reluctance at her had softened, once she had settled in, and the birth of a second grandchild for him had helped soften the blow that he had virtually no hand in his only son's marriage. Over the years the three of them had muddled on, content in one another's company which she knew was a lucky turn, plenty of women upon moving into their husbands houses struggled with their in-laws. She counted the gods blessings that things had been so different for. Well, aside from the friction between her own mother and mother in law. But that was to be expected, and amused rather than alarmed her. 

Her musing was interrupted by the padding of small feet and she let out a laugh, dropping Aulus' hand as Calpurnia and Titus made their appearance. Calpurnia looked between the adults before running to sit squarely between her mother and grandmother, and Horatia wrapped an arm around her small frame, leaving a kiss on her blonde hair. Titus, more unsure of what to do, slowly drew between his grandfather and father and cautiously sat. Glancing between them she arched a brow, "Do I dare ask what you've been up to whilst we've been eating?" She narrowed her eyes on the muddy patches of Titus' tunic and the boy flushed. As if on cue, Calpurnia giggled; "Finding faeries!" The statement made Tiberius guffaw but his eyes crinkled with amusement, "Ah yes, the faeries...what were the names again?" That question set Calpurnia off on a rambling anecdote as she named all the different types of faeries and their jobs in their little village (whilst a silent Titus picked at some of the sweet dishes laid out). 

Horatia, for her part, relaxed, arm still protectively hugging her daughter. She didn't realise it, but this felt familiar, comfortable - a meal with her in-laws and children, and forgetting herself, she didn't look over or acknowledge Aulus once; it was if in her mind he wasn't there. She didn't even consider how hard that might be for him, to watch his wife's demeanour change so quickly, and to watch his family go on so comfortably around him - as if he were a stranger, simply invited to observe.

 

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