Read this short story by Andrzej Miszczak. Maybe you will encounter it in some anthologies. Starting with a lot of action and ending with some questions about parenthood. How do we take care about our kids, what will they do with us or to us when they grow up. What happens when we fail as parents? Are there some cases in which it is better to give kids away? All that in an alternative history when Romans fight in deep Africa and steam wagons are running the streets of Rome. And what happens when the imperator himself starts to write SF books.... A rollercoaster of ideas and feelings.