Three of a Kind - Part Two

The Pontifex Maximus had heard that a young Vestal Virgin, named Tarpeia, had said that she had witnessed Rhea Silvia copulating in the pool with a man.

At first, he had dismissed this as nonsense, believing that a six- year-old girl would not know the meaning of the word copulate, but he had to change his mind when the doctors confirmed Rhea's pregnancy.

All hell broke loose. King Amulius, who had imposed the 30-year vow of chastity on the pain of death, had to be informed right away that the pledge had been broken by his niece.
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The Nubian midwife assigned to perform the delivery revealed that the birth of twins was imminent

She was ordered to hand over the children, as soon as they were born, to a couple of his henchmen who were instructed to drown them.

She did that and returned to take care of the distraught mother being comforted by Marcus, who, almost invisibly, had appeared on the scene.

Something unpredictable happened. Rhea Silvia was giving birth to a third child.
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Fatima, the midwife, feeling guilty for having surrendered the twins to the king's thugs, was determined to spare the latest arrival's life.

She handed a red-haired baby boy to Marcus as the sobbing mother was saying:

“They might have killed my twins, but Rufus is alive and will keep me company in my old age. Please take care of him.” 

The obstetrician pitied the deluded girl who was clinging to the forlorn hope that she would avoid being executed and live happily ever after
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OOO`
 

While this was happening in the Temple of Vesta, on Mount Olympus, the goddess Juno was nagging her husband Jupiter.

“How long will you lie there, you lazy so-and-so, before you go down there to clear up the mess that your son created?”

Jupiter refrained from mentioning that Mars was her son, too, in case she became more incensed.

Instead, he said in conciliatory tones: “I'll see to it right away, dear.”

He pondered for an instant before finding the right solution.

Obviously, Mars, who was about to be wed to the goddess Anna Perenna, could not expect his bride-to-be to bring up the child, so Tiberinus, the last celibate god, must be ordered to rescue Rhea Silvia, marry her, and adopt Rufus.
 

OOO 
 

Tiberinus sighed. He was the god of the Tiber, for goodness sake, not a lifeguard.

He must have a word with old Jove to remind him of his rank.

He had already rescued Rhea's ginger-haired twins, who had been left to drown in the river, and had given them to an infertile couple who were happy to bring up what they thought was a godly gift.

Acca Larentia, the wife of shepherd Faustulus, was elated. 

At last, she had what she had wanted for many years and was determined to raise the two orphans, whom she called Romulus and Remus.

Faustulus, on the other hand, not being a religious man, did not believe in divine interventions and was convinced that the newborns must have been abandoned by an unmarried mother and were not a present from a supreme being.

Had he known what had been going on at the Temple of Vesta, he might have changed his mind.

 OOO 
 

If the king of the gods believed he had the answer to the Vestal Virgin's predicaments, he was soon disabused of that notion by Juno, who saw that his plan was full of holes.

“Can't you see what is going to happen?”, she thundered. “When Rufus grows to adulthood, and he's told by his adopted father that he is Rhea's son, and that he has two more brothers, there will be a dispute between the three  to see  who is the heir to Numitor.”

“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” replied her husband.
 

    OOO