Some context for the coming scene: the fanfic follows the story of Julia Drusilla, daughter of Augustus and Livia Drusilla (in real life they never had children together). I shared a brief scene sometime ago with her as the main character too, but unlike in that other piece, in this one, Julia Drusilla isn't married to Marcus Agrippa, Julia the Elder is (as it was in real life). The scene is based on the Domina TV show: Agrippa has just learned that Julia has been unfaithful to him and now he's about to kill his children, but women of the family (Vipsania, the Antonias, Octavia and Julia Drusilla) stop him (the scene doesn't have gruesome depictions and no one is killed):
Julia Drusilla stormed in the room passing through her two cousins Antonia. And she quickly put herself in between Vipsania, holding the little baby, and Agrippa. Aunt Octavia was also there, by the door. All were protecting the children and trying to calm him down to no avail.
His nostrils flared, his face red with fury but the gesture... His brows were up, his eyes on the verge of crying. It didn't take Drusilla a lot of effort to take her eyes from the sword he was carrying, but she shouldn't forget about it either.
"Agrippa. They are yours. The children are yours. My sister swears it. She cannot lie to me. I can always tell. Since I was three." Drusilla had her arms up, showing she had nothing to keep from him, nothing to hide. Never. Not from him. "Agrippina, she's the spitting image of my sister, but her smile is yours; just like yours when you chuckle. And Gaius, he speaks as loud as you. His manners, forgotten when someone tries to get in his way." Someone else might have advised her against saying that. But Drusilla knew Agrippa would have found it funny in a normal situation. Made him proud, even. So she hoped it would now bring back that side of him. Now she only needed to say something about the runt of the litter. The one suffering his father's imminent wrath. But he was just born a few weeks ago... What could be so characteristic about a newborn? Think, Drusilla, think. "And Lucius, he's just been born and he already has so much strength! What a soldier he will make. Just like you. Better!" She remembered when he took her finger, he grabbed it like it was the end of the world. They were his world.
Agrippa continued struggling with himself but he gave up. He threw the sword and threw himself to the ground.
"Go, Vipsania, go!" She hushed her sister-in-law out with the newborn. The Antonias did the same with the other two children.
Drusilla kneeled beside him and put a hand on his arm but he flinched. He had never recoiled from her touch. But Agrippa didn't see her. He was in his own world.
"Come here, sweet one." Aunt Octavia wrapped her arms around Drusilla and took her away as well.
Aunt and niece sat down at the atrium and it took Octavia a while before she found the words to speak. The scene had left all the women in shock.
"That time at Baiae, your mind was elsewhere. You blushed but you wouldn't speak of it. You lied when you said you loved that boy, didn't you?" Her eyes were tired but tears were about to run through her cheeks. "Even now you won't speak of it. My sweet child. It was Agrippa all this time."
The moment she spoke the words Drusilla quickly stood up, turning her back on Octavia and started playing with her tunic like a child. She might have just accepted the truth she was presented with for her stance demonstrated it anyway.
"Yes. I do. But it cannot be."
As she was unable to face her, Octavia went to her. But she said nothing else, only gave her the warmest hug Drusilla had ever known.
***
Note: technically, if I mention Agrippina, I should have mentioned Julia the Younger, cause I think she's the older sister. But I didn't want to make that part of the dialogue longer and since I was already talking about two Julias, I didn't want to add a third 😂.
