Valeria wiggled her toes in the fishpond. The fish seemed much larger than usual, but summer in Athens meant laying on the fountain in her mother’s garden with chiton tucked up to the knees where the fountain stopped. Mama had been so fond of gardening and a courtyard where the four houses had been combined into one with walkways had been an irresistible temptation. Trees had grown to border the courtyard and to provide a shady wall, fountains provided coolness, and bright flowers bloomed. Valeria sniffed the air and inhaled the heavy flower scent.

Normal Athenian homes had a garden behind the kitchen, but the oikos had four times the garden space of normal homes. Her great-grandfather had decided that a large garden would be a way to connect the fourth house. How the family had grown so large as to need four homes was beyond her, but it was absolutely lovely for parties such as the one that night. There were parties almost every night and parties were the only time that any sort of effort was needed or movement required.

Her time in Athens had been lazy. The servants did everyone and the family let them do the work. Every day was spent lying someplace or other, diving from rock cliffs into the sea, gossiping, horseback riding, and in short anything but actual work. Perhaps the best time to take a vacation was the moment she felt that house and family would fall apart without her. Catulus could reach her by letter and she’d be on a fast ship back to Rome, but until then or September, it was one idle day after another.

Idleness was a lovely cure. She was starting to feel like her old self. The days of being totally unscheduled and not bothering how things were done had been so long ago that they were barely remembered. Until now, that was. Oh, mind you, when she returned home, she’d be back to acting as the ever-competent mistress of a grand house. For now, she was Rina, another redhead in a house of others, albeit surrounded by enough guards to cover a whole palace

At the childish laughter, she turned her head to look at the children. Butterflies had rested on some flowers that had been put out to attract them, so the children had insisted on catching them. Arsinoe had become a child, thank goodness. Children needed to have a childhood and little girls didn’t need to act with such airs. Her children would grow up to be as normal as any other children are and that was a promise.

Not that there was any worry. Her children rarely cried and Margarita was always laughing. Really they were good babies and so well tempered. It was such a joy to play with them, feed them, and be a mother. It was odd to think that children were the most important things in a woman’s life. Perhaps children were the only way to contribute to the world. Although there were gardens, clearly those could contribute. Growing things…. women always contributed growing things to the world and few men acknowledged that importance.

She shook her head as she caressed her children’s cheek. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking because this was her vacation and her inner resources needed to be replenished. She was going to receive a guest in a simple matter and afterwards she was going to catch some butterflies herself. Perhaps after that, she would invite Porcia and children for a visit. The whole nursery would love some new playmates.