being self-reliant was alien to her
upbringing and she loved the contrast. Here was Heather, her friend of
just a few days, off looking for an apprenticeship while she was just tagging
along. Ultimately she was going to have to think about continuing her
education in a more practical direction. She wasn’t going to be someone’s
trophy wife, some broodmare to be passed along as a political favor.
Chloë
marveled at Heather and her independence: she had a part time job and was now
traveling a hundred miles from home with no escort, male, parent or otherwise
and both Heather and her parents were comfortable with the arrangement.
Chloë greatly enjoyed her company and was struck by the thought that if Chloë
hadn’t showed up, Heather would probably be making this same journey regardless
but alone! Traveling so far from home with a friend is one thing,
but to do it alone? Heather had a level of discipline and independence
that Chloë had never even imagined for herself.
Trophy
wife. Now there was a concept that seemed to be alien to these
people. Chloë still giggled at the thought of Ivy, First Mother, as
running the house. And then there was Maggie, Lady Mayor of the
town. That was such a change from the palace. If a woman had spoken
up there, she’d be sent to her room. Here, the women ran most of the
politics. Well, there were four times as many of them as
well. It was all very odd. Even the relationship between Ivy and
Llewellyn was different than what she would have expected in a straight role
reversal. Ivy was head of the house, but Llewellyn certainly wasn’t
subservient. Heck, none of the other mothers were really subservient,
more that each had a job to do and they did it. It was an exotic
symbiosis that she hadn’t expected.
“Heather,”
prodded Chloë, “how normal is your family?”
Heather
laughed immediately, “Um, not very! It’s huge for one and everyone there
is such a wonderful live wire.”
Chloë
smiled, “Yes, they are all quite unique and strong people. But I
was more asking about their relationships between each other.”
“Well,
Dad is kinda glued to Moira right now because she is… well… that is still quite
odd, but he is,” Heather laughed, “Dad is strange any way you look at him.”
“Hmm.
Well, I only have your family to compare to so let me ask this a different
way: the social order and precedence. You family appears to be a
unit rather than First Mother and her minions, if that makes any sense.”
“Minions,”
laughed Heather, “That’s rich. I think we kids would constitute the
minions.” Heather thought a bit before continuing, “I’m not sure if you
would say our family is typical in that regard, but we are close to the ideal,
I guess. Did that make sense? A good family is a unit, not a First
Mother and her supporters.” Heather laughed, she did that a lot,
“Something else you may not have caught onto: the parents will all but tie
their tails in knots to not pay attention to the biological mother of a
given child. A good mother treats all the children like her own,
even when it is kind of obvious. Ivy and me for example; you don’t end up
with this much red hair by accident. But if you ask any of my
mothers, I am her child.”
“I
confess I had been trying to figure out which kids went with which biological
mother. I guess that is actually bad form.”
“Yep.
I wouldn’t do that; it is very impolite. That is one of the fun parts of
twins―there is an immediate level of ambiguity!”
Chloë
grinned, “Well, now knowing, I’ll try to avoid that little social faux pas .
It is pretty wild watching how much the twins, young and old, enjoy the
confusion they cause.”
“Oh,
oh yes! Then there are those evil triplets. I swear they swap
names.”
“I’ve
never seen any twin males up here.”
“Neither
have I,” replied Heather with a shrug. “What’s it like in the
upbringing and she loved the contrast. Here was Heather, her friend of
just a few days, off looking for an apprenticeship while she was just tagging
along. Ultimately she was going to have to think about continuing her
education in a more practical direction. She wasn’t going to be someone’s
trophy wife, some broodmare to be passed along as a political favor.
Chloë
marveled at Heather and her independence: she had a part time job and was now
traveling a hundred miles from home with no escort, male, parent or otherwise
and both Heather and her parents were comfortable with the arrangement.
Chloë greatly enjoyed her company and was struck by the thought that if Chloë
hadn’t showed up, Heather would probably be making this same journey regardless
but alone! Traveling so far from home with a friend is one thing,
but to do it alone? Heather had a level of discipline and independence
that Chloë had never even imagined for herself.
Trophy
wife. Now there was a concept that seemed to be alien to these
people. Chloë still giggled at the thought of Ivy, First Mother, as
running the house. And then there was Maggie, Lady Mayor of the
town. That was such a change from the palace. If a woman had spoken
up there, she’d be sent to her room. Here, the women ran most of the
politics. Well, there were four times as many of them as
well. It was all very odd. Even the relationship between Ivy and
Llewellyn was different than what she would have expected in a straight role
reversal. Ivy was head of the house, but Llewellyn certainly wasn’t
subservient. Heck, none of the other mothers were really subservient,
more that each had a job to do and they did it. It was an exotic
symbiosis that she hadn’t expected.
“Heather,”
prodded Chloë, “how normal is your family?”
Heather
laughed immediately, “Um, not very! It’s huge for one and everyone there
is such a wonderful live wire.”
Chloë
smiled, “Yes, they are all quite unique and strong people. But I
was more asking about their relationships between each other.”
“Well,
Dad is kinda glued to Moira right now because she is… well… that is still quite
odd, but he is,” Heather laughed, “Dad is strange any way you look at him.”
“Hmm.
Well, I only have your family to compare to so let me ask this a different
way: the social order and precedence. You family appears to be a
unit rather than First Mother and her minions, if that makes any sense.”
“Minions,”
laughed Heather, “That’s rich. I think we kids would constitute the
minions.” Heather thought a bit before continuing, “I’m not sure if you
would say our family is typical in that regard, but we are close to the ideal,
I guess. Did that make sense? A good family is a unit, not a First
Mother and her supporters.” Heather laughed, she did that a lot,
“Something else you may not have caught onto: the parents will all but tie
their tails in knots to not pay attention to the biological mother of a
given child. A good mother treats all the children like her own,
even when it is kind of obvious. Ivy and me for example; you don’t end up
with this much red hair by accident. But if you ask any of my
mothers, I am her child.”
“I
confess I had been trying to figure out which kids went with which biological
mother. I guess that is actually bad form.”
“Yep.
I wouldn’t do that; it is very impolite. That is one of the fun parts of
twins―there is an immediate level of ambiguity!”
Chloë
grinned, “Well, now knowing, I’ll try to avoid that little social faux pas .
It is pretty wild watching how much the twins, young and old, enjoy the
confusion they cause.”
“Oh,
oh yes! Then there are those evil triplets. I swear they swap
names.”
“I’ve
never seen any twin males up here.”
“Neither
have I,” replied Heather with a shrug. “What’s it like in the
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