Apollo finished stitching Joxer up, and tilted his head, considering his handiwork. "Not bad at all. A few weeks, and you'll hardly know it was ever here."

"Oh, I'll know it was there," Joxer assured him faintly. "I don't care what women might say to make us feel better--childbirth of ANY sort is not something you forget. Put out of your mind so that you don't cream your husband every time he comes near you--maybe. But not forget."

Apollo cleansed and bandaged the wound. "If you can ramble on this soon after major surgery, I know you're going to be all right. Ace, how are things going?"

Asclepius was gently wiping the baby down with a warm, damp cloth. "Couldn't be much better, Dad. Joxer? I just hope this kid decides he likes being bathed later on, because if he keeps up like this, he's going to be a handful. He's squalling and squirming like nobody's business."

"It's MY business. Bring him over here, and I'll calm him down." He might still feel weak, but Joxer's tone was firm.

"You ought to wait a few minutes," Ace began.

His father interrupted him. "Son, go ahead and bring the little one over. Seeing and touching that baby is going to be more of a tonic for Joxer than a bowl full of ambrosia." Apollo finished cleaning Joxer, propped him up slightly, and drew a sheet up to his chest as Ace wrapped the baby in a soft blanket, then carried him over to where his father lay. Joxer held out his arms, and Ace carefully settled the tiny bundle securely in his grip.

The baby lay against Joxer's chest, still squirming and fussing. Joxer gazed down at him, eyes wide with wonder, then said softly, "Hello, baby." The volume of the infant's cries lessened a little. "Oh, yes--it's scary, isn't it? You've been in the warm and dark for so long, and now it's all bright and cold. It makes perfect sense to be upset. I understand." He bent down and nuzzled the baby's cheek. "It's all right. I'm here to take care of you, and help you figure it out." The baby blinked. The cries tapered off, becoming almost questioning. "Yeah, you'll get used to it. This world isn't so bad. There's a lot of good things in it. Pretty soon you're going to meet one of the best--your other daddy..."

Apollo and Ace stood a little apart from the two, watching as Joxer talked softly to the baby, now and then dropping a kiss on his fluff of dark hair. Ace sniffed. Without looking at him, Apollo materialized a handkerchief and handed it over. Ace took it and wiped his face quickly. If he used it more about his eyes, his father didn't comment. When he handed it back, Apollo silently did the same, then made the cloth disappear. Still not looking at his son, he said, "The one who tells gets a massive case of warts. Deal?"

"Deal. Okay to let Ares in now? There's no telling how close he is to getting in anyway, and having him actually blast the door down would be upsetting for the baby."

"Oh, sure, but you don't have to worry about that. What with his bond with Joxer, he'll know that everything is all right."

The door to the outer chamber opened, and Ace stepped out. He looked first at Ares, who was watching him with an intensity that could be felt. Ace smiled. "Ares--ready to meet our newest god?"

"I'll forgive you for the stupid question if you get out of my way, Ace," Ares said, his voice surprisingly mild.

Ace chuckled, but he hopped out of the way, barely missing a collision as Ares rapidly entered the room. Ace examined the other gods and goddesses, then said, "Fates, you all look like Cerberus has been chasing you around the Acropolis." Aphrodite immediately materialized a small mirror and began touching up her hair, and Strife, leaning against Cupid, flipped him the bird with tired good-humor.

For all his eagerness, Ares halted just inside the door, staring. For a moment his mind flashed back to the day Cupid had been born--Aphrodite lying in bed with the baby cradled to her breast, his tiny white wings flickering now and then. She'd looked so serene--complete. Joxer had the same expression now as he gazed down at the baby.

Then Joxer looked up, catching sight of Ares. He smiled, and it was somehow sweet, contented, loving, and just the tiniest bit smug--a hint of 'look what I did!' showing through. Ares could feel himself smiling in return. I was just such a Joxer look.

Ares went to them. The first thing he did was bend over and kiss Joxer--a long, gentle kiss. "Judging from the garden, I knew you could grow beautiful things, Jox, but you've outdone yourself."

Joxer lifted an eyebrow. "You have to have the right seed to work with," he said quietly. He looked back down at the baby and said proudly, "He did turn out pretty fantastic, didn't he?"

*ahhh*

Both men chuckled as the baby made a cooing sound. "He's agreeing with you, Joxer. It's good to see he's going to have healthy self-esteem," said Ares. He gestured. "Can I...?"

"Don't go stupid on me now, Ares. Of course you can hold him--he's your son."

Joxer lifted the infant, and Ares gathered him into his arms. Ares made a surprised sound. "He's so tiny!" He looked sharply at Apollo, who was waiting nearby.

Apollo shrugged. "It's to be expected. He's a little early, and male produced babies are likely to be a little smaller, since the bodies weren't originally designed for pregnancy--less room. But he's fine, Ares. His heart is as strong as Pegasus', his lungs would do a Harpy proud." Ares was unfolding the blanket. "I told you he's all right."

"I can look at my own son, can't I?" His eyes were flicking over the baby.

"What are you doing?"

"Counting fingers and toes," said Joxer. Apollo gave him a skeptical look, but a hint of color rose in Ares' cheeks. "I counted, Ar--ten of each, complete with nails. He's perfect."

Ares' head was cocked. "About his... uh... equipment..."

"I didn't take the foreskin," said Apollo. "I figured you might remove my head if I did."

"Wise man. He can decide for himself later on how he feels about that. But what I meant was... Uh..." Apollo and Joxer were both looking at him expectantly. "Well..." He held his thumb and forefinger close together.

Apollo covered his mouth, and Joxer's eyes flew open as his hands went to his stomach. "Oh, oh, oh! Ares, don't make me laugh now! He's a baby, for Olympus sake! He only needs enough to pee with right now. If it was any bigger, when he grew up it would go past 'wow!' into 'get that away from me'."

Ares looked a little sheepish. "Okay, so it's silly. I just want my kid to be happy."

"I can understand that, but geez, didn't you change Cupid's diapers when he was little?"

"Well..."

Joxer was still smiling at his husband. "Uh, huh. Well, you can forget about that. You're going to be a hands on daddy this time around, believe me. Ares?" He hesitated. "We can't keep calling him 'He'."

Nodding, Ares sat down on the edge of the table, beside Joxer. He'd folded the baby back into the blanket again. Now he was tickling the baby's palm with one finger. The little boy closed his fist around the finger. "Look, Joxer--he's holding my hand. Mm, he's got a grip, too. I'd like to know what his godhood is going to be before we name him. You know, we don't want to give him a name that would be totally at odds with his nature."

"Right. No one would take a God of Disemboweling named Maurice, or a God of Fluffy Animals named Spike seriously." Ares looked at him sharply. "I'm kidding. Actually, I'm hoping for something somewhere in between."

"We can have the others in for a couple of minutes if you'd like to see if Zeus will let you know now," said Apollo.

"Please," said Joxer.

Apollo went to the door, and a moment later the other gods and goddesses filed quietly into the room, gathering around the table. Olympus had rarely seen such a collection of smiles. Even Eris' normally hard expression had softened a little. There was general agreement that this was an extraordinary baby. Cupid sighed. "Cute as Tartarus, but no wings. Someone needs to have a baby with wings, so Bliss and I will have someone to preen with." Several people noticed that, as he said this, he took Strife's hand, and Strife's free hand wandered to his own belly.

Joxer looked up at Zeus, who was bending over the baby. "You know, in a few months, you're going to have to be careful of your beard when you do that. He looks like he's going to be a grabber."

Zeus laughed. "Babies have special dispensation on things like that." He glanced at Joxer, then Ares. "I suppose you two want to rush me into declaring his godhood. Well, I've fooled you again--you aren't rushing me. I've been thinking about this and consulting with the Fates ever since we learned this little man was on his way. I believe we've come up with a very appropriate godhood for the son of War and Peace." Zeus carefully cupped his hand over the baby's downy head. "You see before you the new God of Mediation. Your son will be the middle ground between aggression and pacifism." There were murmurs of approval among the others. "Yes, I'm rather proud of that. Now, I expect the new family could use a little privacy. There'll be plenty of time for official pomp and circumstance later."

They left, each of them exchanging congratulations, hugs, and kisses with the new families. Strife and Cupid were the last, and Strife said hesitantly, "Unc, d'ya think that mebbe I could...?" Ares silently laid the baby in his nephew's arms. They watched as Strife gazed down at the baby, his expression one of curiosity and tender wonder. He looked shyly at Cupid. "Damn, I forgot how tiny babies are. Cupe, d'ya think that I...?"

Cupid squeezed his shoulder. "I think that you're going to be a kick-ass father. You already are. Ask Bliss sometime."

After they left Ares sighed. "It's nice to see all of my kids, natural and adopted, happy and secure. So..." Joxer was holding the baby again, and Ares reached down to tickle the infant's chin. "What are we going to name this guy?"

Joxer shrugged. "I guess our 'wait till the last minute to decide' strategy sort of blew up in our faces. I don't think that any of the ones we discussed fit now, but it shouldn't be too hard to come up with something suitable. Lesse... God of Mediation. Um... Median?"

"Not bad," said Ares. "Conciliate?"

"A bit of a mouthful for someone so small, maybe. And Harmony is too girly. I know Strife says that the Britains are going to name men Beverly, Vyvian, Shirley, and Evelyn in the future, but I don't think we're ready for that now."

"Sometimes I have to wonder how much he just makes up."

"The scary thing is that I think the answer is 'not much'."

Apollo came over. "I'm going to leave you two alone now, but I'll be in later to check up on you. I'll need to give you instructions about how to care for the cord stump later." He left.

"Joxer, you have a peculiar look on your face. What are you thinking of?" asked Ares.

"Cord."

Ares nodded. "Future bellybutton. I hope he has an innie."

"Ares? Accord." Ares cocked an eyebrow. "To be in agreement?"

Ares smiled slowly, repeating the name. "Accord." He looked down at the baby. "Accord?" *uh* "I think that settles it. He knows his name." Ares kissed the baby's nose. "Accord, God of Mediation.

Aphrodite was sitting on a couch in the House of Love, snuggled up against Hephastus, enjoying a glass of wine. "I didn't think it was possible for someone else's pregnancy to exhaust me, but there you go," she sighed.

Heph hugged her, stroking her hair. "And you're going to volunteer to baby sit the second they're ready to let him out of their sight, aren't you?"

She giggled. "Do you think there's any other way that I'm going to get a chance to dress him?"

"Just be sure you get any trace of pink off him before Ares sees it. The last thing we need is a War God having a heart attack."

"Poo, it won't be that bad. He's a lot mellower these days, haven't you noticed?"

"Sure. Everyone has, even if they don't mention it. I have to tell you, Dite--there have been times when I was pretty sure that I'd have to supply chains to keep Ares from just ripping Olympus and Greece apart. I'm not worried about that since he got together with Joxer. And Joxer seems different, too." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "He bragged a lot, but you could always tell that underneath he wasn't sure of himself. He's much more assured now." He chuckled. "And assertive. He wouldn't have said boo to Ares when he first came up here, but now I sense that he gives as good as he gets."

Dite nodded. "It's the give-and-take, Heph. I know that 'opposites attract' is going to be a dreadful cliche some day, but it's sort of true. Ares give Joxer security, so that Joxer can believe in himself. Joxer gives Ares unconditional love, so that Ares doesn't have to be fighting the world every minute of his life. It's... it's sort of like... furniture."

Heph stared at her. "You're having a Joxer moment, my love."

She giggled. "Maybe. He rubs off on people. But it's true, Heph. It's like furniture. You've built furniture, right? What do you think of a table with only one leg?"

He frowned in concentration. "Well, it will stand, and it looks all right, but it's pretty easy to tip over."

She nodded. "And one with two legs?"

"Two? It's possible, and it will even be more stable than the one-legged one, if the legs are placed precisely, and are sturdy. The balance is better."

"Okay." She held up a finger. "One man alone. Possible, but likely to upset." She held up the second finger. "Two together. Support, and balance. More stability. Now, then..." She curved her arms and made a rocking motion, then held up a third finger. "Three?"

Hephastus smiled, nodding. "Firm and steady."

Aphrodite returned his smile. "Complete." She settled her head on his shoulder, thinking of Ares, Joxer, and Accord. She sighed, and smiled again. "Balanced."