DISCLAIMER - Ecce Romani isn't mine. If it were, it would be less about a cart getting stuck in a ditch and more about... Well, you can imagine.

It started off with a naughty game when they were little girls.

In some quiet corner of Flavia's family's rustic villa, Cornelia would drape a shawl over her head and pretend to cook while Flavia, with a bedsheet hanging from her stocky limbs, would harangue a line of dolls, telling them to respect their elders. The two girls were Mater and Pater then, and their dolls were their naughty little filiae. Once Pater was done scolding her daughters, it would be time for dinner. Mater would serve her porridge of leaves and water in a cracked bowl, which Pater would pretend to sip and pronounce as being absolutely delicious. And then would come the best part. Indeed, it was what the whole game built up to: the filiae would be laid in their beds, and Pater would take Mater in her arms and kiss her. Neither Cornelia not Flavia would ever forget the butterflies in their stomachs at those early moments. Their breath would quicken, and they were never quite sure when to stop.

The game would be over after the kissing; Cornelia, always the quiet one, would return home to sit on her bed and think alone, while Flavia would go tease the slaves in the kitchen, and not think at all.

Eventually, they played less with dolls. Pictures and words became their game. They would sit in the cool shade under the tall trees of the nearby forest and draw pictures with sticks in the soft earth. They drew people, mostly girls, and told each other stories about them. They didn't kiss anymore; they had gotten older and wiser about life.

It was under the forest's trees that Flavia had first pulled off her tunic and shown Cornelia something new: breasts. Cornelia had looked at them in awe and slight jealousy. She was still completely flat. It was unfair that Flavia, who had always been the more active and boyish of the two, would grow them first. "Can I touch them?" she asked softly.

"Sure," Flavia answered.

Cornelia reached out, but didn't touch. She drew back her hand, blushing. "I'm scared."

"Of what, silly? They're just breasts!" Flavia laughed. She grabbed Cornelia's hand and held it to the left side of her chest. "See?"

Flavia's breasts were still tiny. Cornelia could feel her heart beating quickly through them, and knew that her own was beating the same way. She looked up at Flavia's face, and saw that it was flushed. With pride, Cornelia assumed. She drew back her hand, saying, "They're very nice."

"Yours will come in soon, too." said Flavia, reading the jealousy on her face.

"And if they don't?"

"I promise you, they will!" Flavia threw her arms around Cornelia's shoulders and rested their foreheads together. "I bet yours'll be even nicer than mine!"

Cornelia smiled, looking into her eyes. "They'd better be." She paused, before saying, "I'm Mater, after all. I should have the nice ones."

Flavia remembered, and giggled. "Oh, that old game? Well, by that logic, I shouldn't have any at all." Then, she let go of Cornelia and pulled her tunic back on. "If I could give you mine, I would," she said flippantly, tying the tunic at her waist.

At that moment, Cornelia wanted very much to kiss her. But, the tunic was on and the moment had passed. As the sun was setting, the two raced back to their respective villas, where Cornelia sat in her room trying not to think, and Flavia paced around her family's villa listlessly, touching her own chest with a frown.

Keep reading, it's not over yet! Leave me a review, and I'll love you forever; I genuinely do want some feedback on this. I can review something of yours in exchange, if you like. Also, concrit is love!