Now that the Legionary had caught on, I sawthe corners of his mouth twisting as he tried to keep fromsmiling.
"Why, yes, Prefect," he answered. "Thatwould indeed be a problem. But, as you say, the net is empty."
"Very good." I gave Ocelus a nudge. "Have agood day, Gregarius, and good luck finding forage."
"Yes, sir!" Surprisingly, he was extremelyenthusiastic. "Thank you, sir! And I will do my best to come backwith forage, sir."
We parted, and I did not bother trying notto smile as I thought it was good to be back in a place where theproblems were so simple to solve.
"Avus!" Even with that slightwarning, I must admit that I almost had my legs knocked out fromunder me as little Titus barreled directly into them, wrapping hisarms tightly around them to the point I could not move.
"Easy there, nepos." I laughed. "Ithink you've grown so much since I've been gone, you're going toknock me over!"
"Where is Ocedus?" the boy demanded as heheld his arms up in that gesture that I believe children of everynation and race learn very early.
Sweeping him up into the air, which was hisfavorite game, for a brief moment, he hung above my hands that werewaiting to catch him, and his curls were standing out straight fromhis head as his mouth opened in a shout of pure joy and, in thatmoment, I do not believe I had been happier than this in a very,very long time. It is an image that I treasure still and, as Icaught him, we both threw back our heads and laughed, long andhard. His arms around my neck, I looked over at Iras, who hadopened the door, and seeing her standing there with Gaius' firstdaughter on her hip, suddenly, it all made sense. Everything that Ihad been through, all the horrible moments I had endured, and allthe terrible things I had done, had led me to this moment as, forthe first time I allowed myself to think, I have done it.
"I said," Titus jerked me from my reveriewith the demanding tone that only a small child can use, unless heis Caesar, "where is Ocedus?"
"Nepos," I told him, "I'll answer youin a moment, but first I have to greet your mother."
I will admit I was somewhat surprised whenhe relented, and I bent down to kiss Iras on the cheek. Her eyeswere shining, and the question was clear to read in her eyes,forcing me to stifle a sharp reminder that she still belonged tome, and I knew my well-being was not what she wanted to know about.Then, I caught myself; more accurately, I looked down at Titus, andthen to the baby, and I forced myself to be honest. Why should shenot have that as her first interest? I chided myself. She was amother now, and I knew that this was her primary concern; any gainshe might realize from my exoneration I was, and am, sure wassecondary. So, I just gave her a nod and a wink. Suddenly, her eyesflooded with tears, which I did not expect. Iras had never beenoverly emotional, but now, with her free hand, she grabbed my armand came to bury her head in my chest, as both Titus and I lookeddown in bemusement.
"Why is Mama crying?" he asked me, but Icould only answer with a shrug.
"Because she's happy." Iras' voice wasmuffled by my tunic, but then she pulled her face away to look upat me, her eyes still shining. "I was so worried! I want you toknow that I made sacrifices every single day! I'm just so happythat you're back, and Gaius will be so pleased!"
Staring down at her, every fiber of my beingwanted to believe she was sincere for my sake, and my sake alone,and not just because her children's inheritance and status was nowsecure. But then I realized that the power rested with me, so Ichose to believe her words as she spoke them.
"I'm happy too," was all I could think tosay.
By this point, there was no denying Titus,who reached up with both small hands, placed one on each of mycheeks and, with surprising strength, twisted my head so that wewere locked eye to eye.
"Where. Is. Ocedus?" he asked for the thirdtime, and his look of ferocious determination made me break out inlaughter again.
"I imagine he's in the stable by now," Itold him. "Getting a rubdown and his bag of oats."
"What about his apple?" Titus demanded, andthen, he raised an eyebrow in a look that evoked such a strongmemory of my sister Valeria from when we were young, and she wasquestioning me about some misdeed that I inevitably lied about, itmade me weak in the knees.
"I gave him his apple every day," I promisedhim past the lump in my throat.
The eyebrow stayed raised as he asked mesuspiciously, "Every day?"
"Well," I conceded, and over his head, I sawIras grinning. "Almost every day."
"Avus," Titus scolded me. "Youpromised you would feed him his apple every day, from me!"
When I looked away from Iras, who wascovering her mouth, clearly greatly amused at the sight of the CampPrefect of the Army of Pannonia, and hero of the 10thLegion being dressed down by a five-year-old, I could see thatTitus was clearly upset that I had not fulfilled my obligation.There was a telltale quivering of the lower lip that prompted me tohead off what would be an unpleasant experience for all of us, andwreck what had been a perfect homecoming to that point.
"I just missed today," I made up on the fly."So that you could feed him his apple. Are you ready to go seehim?"
"Yes!"
His proximity to my ear did not help, but Iwould have flinched anyway.
"This boy has a powerful set of lungs," Imumbled as I stepped past Iras, moving out of their quarters tohead to the stables.
"Yes, I'm aware of that," his mother said inthe kind of understatement that made
