"Bliss?"

"Yes, Daddy Strife?"

"Whatcha doin?"

"Playing with Imp."

"Oh." *pause* "Look, it ain't that I doubt ya, kiddo, but it looks like yer sittin there with Imp's blankie ovah yer head."

"I am."

"Oh. So?"

"We's playing peekaboo."

"Don't that usually involve liftin tha cloth occasionally an' sayin 'peekaboo'?"

"Yeah, but I'm trying to get Imp to pull the cloth off herself." *pause* "She is close enough to reach, i'nt she?"

"Lemme check." Imp was sittin on tha floor between Bliss's legs, peerin up at him with an intent, puzzled look. I lifted her arm, an' tha fingahs just brushed tha cloth. "Yeppers. She can grab if she wantsta. How long have you been sittin here like this?"

"Um... I dunno. I didn't look at the sundial. Just after you went to Demeter's."

I blinked. "Bliss that was more'n an hour ago. You're gonna suffocate." I snatched tha blankie off his head.

Impetua gave wunna those full body jerks. It was kinda like what happened tha first time Bliss gave her a taste of grapefruit when I wasn't lookin. Her mouth dropped open, her green eyes got real big, an' I thought for a second she was gonna do that harpy impression she's so good at. Then she gave Bliss a big, toothless grin, waved her arms, an' said, "Ah!"

Bliss sighed, lookin at me. "I think that she thinks that if I can't see her, she can't see me."

"Funny, she don't look like a ravenous bugblattah beast." I scooped her up, an' Bliss stood.

"I wish Imp would figure things out quicker. She'd be a lot more fun to play with if she could, like, throw a ball 'stead of just knocking it."

"She'll get there. It just takes awhile fah a baby ta figure out how ta work tha littler pieces of her body."

"Is that why Imp tinkles in her diddies so much?"

"Cupe!"

He strolled in. "Whassup, babe?"

"Yer son has a question fah ya. C'mon, Imp." I sniffed, an' started singin. "When it's diddie changin time on 'lympus..."

I took Imp back inta her room. Once I was in there I laid her on her bed, held up a fingah ta my lips ta shush her, an' said, "We do it tha easy way this time, peanut." I blinked, an' she was in a fresh cloth. She jerked, suddenly startled at tha feel of tha clean cloth, then she kicked an' cooed, grinnin. "Yah. I'm hopin ya learn how ta do that yerself in a few months. Wouldn't hurt my feelins at all if ya did."

I cocked my head, listenin ta Cupid's voice as he stumbled through a kinda convoluted explanation of tha differences between male an' female anatomy, an' how it functioned. "I got yer Dad good, lil bit. I gotta feelin he's gonna leave all the explainin to you ta me." I shrugged. "Well, I don't gotta worry 'bout that for awhile."

Bliss came in took hold of tha bars of Imp's bed, peerin through it at her. "Peekaboo." She reached through tha bars, tryin ta grab his nose. "Daddy Strife, what was Daddy talking about in there?"

"He was tryin ta explain about tha birds an' tha bees, I guess."

Bliss wrinkled his forehead. "Gran'ma Hera told me about them. Bees sting and birds poop on you if you aren't careful. It sounded like Daddy was trying to talk about sex."

Cupid came in. He looked like he'd been runnin a marathon. "Yes, and thank you so much, Strife. I get all through the routine, and he looks at me and says 'Oh. What about you and Daddy Strife?', and I was off again." He looked around. "Where's the dirty diaper?"

I looked at tha ceilin an' whistled. Imp looked up, too. Bliss giggled. "She's looking for a birdie."

I picked Bliss up an' dangled him ovah tha bed. "Ya settle fah a bird boy, Impy?" Bliss giggled when I turned 'im upside down. His face was right in fronta Imp. Imp crowed an' waved her hands at him wildly. She managed ta grab a handful of gold curls. "Bih!" she yelled. She tugged hard. "Bih, bih!"

"Ow! Imp, leggo!" Bliss squealed. Imp turned loose, an' I set Bliss back on his feet. He rubbed his head. "Boy, Imp sure does like to pull hair!"

"Yer tellin me?" I ruffled my own 'do. "My hair has nevah been spikier. Anyways, she's tryin ta say yer name, Bliss! Yer tha only one she calls Bih."

"She knows me!" Bliss said proudly.

"Sure she does! I just wish she'd say my name, or Cupe's."

Cupid reached down to tickle Imp's belly. She chortled, tryin ta grab his fingah. "Well, our names are kind of hard for a baby to form, sweetie."

"Yah, well, I thought babies were s'posed ta learn how ta say Dada an' Papa first thing. So whatta we get?"

I leaned ovah tha crib, cooin at Imp. She held out her arms. "Mama!"

Cupid laughed. "Stop it," I grumbled. "Don't get all superior, Feathahs. She calls you tha same thing. I figuah 'Dite's gonna be 'Ite', Heph's gonna be 'Eh..."

"Not 'Eff'?"

"Fffff's too hard fah her. Lessee, Mom will be 'Is', Ares is gonna be 'Ree', an'..." I giggled. "Oh, Tartarus, poor Joxie! I dunno WHAT Imp's gonna make of his name! He's got tha jay an' tha ex ta deal with. I'm gessing 'Ahee' fah awhile."

"What do you suppose she'll call Zeus and Hera?"

"Pretty much what tha rest of tha Pantheon does, I expect."

"Strife!" Cupid scolded. "Our daughter will not use that kind of language."

I tittered. "Ya think? Anyways, I was thinkin more along tha lines of 'uh oh' fah both of 'em."

*Flash*

"Or she might settle on 'oh no'. That's a favorite of mine. Hi, sweeties!" Bliss ran squealin tah wrap himself around Aphrodite's leg. "Hello, dumpling! How's the handsomest godling on Olympus?"

"Don't let Unc hear ya say that," I cautioned her. "Much as he loves Bliss, he's potty about Accord." She carried Bliss ovah an' I planted a kiss on her cheek, then Cupe did tha same. "Happy ta have ya drop by. Whaddaya want?"

Dite rolled her eyes, addressin Cupid. "Is he always this suspicious?"

"Yes. What do you want, Mom?"

"Can't I just visit my very favorite people?"

"Sure ya can," I said agreeably. "Whaddaya want?"

"Honestly!" She bent over tha crib. "Hello, my precious little angel!"

I snorted. "A granma is always tha last ta know."

She ignored me. Imp was reachin up, pattin her face. "Iee!"

"Oh, she's trying to say my name!" Dite said excitedly.

"Uh, Dite? Ya might wanna pull back a little."

"Come on, darling! 'Dite.' You can do it." Dite bent even lowah.

A few shiny blond curls swung down. Imp's green eyes glowed. "Dite, I'm warnin ya..."

"Aye!"

You guessed it--double handful. I woulda expected Aphrodite to jump an' scream, but I guess bein a grandma gives ya special tolerance fah yer grandkids. She just got real still an' said in a strained voice. "Cupid, please remove my beloved grand-daughter from my coiffeur." She hadn't had time ta really get her fists wrapped in it, so Cupe untangled her pretty easy. Dite sighed, primping her hair. "Well, at least she's showing the proper womanly interest in hair, which means that I'm right in wanting to give her this gift..."

"Dite!" I said sharply. "Whaddid I tell ya about mirrahs? No glass around Imp, not fah a long time! We nevah know when she's gonna get an energy boost, an' she gets so hyper that it wouldn't be safe."

"Hold on to your drawers for a minute, son-in-law. I perfectly understand that, but Heph found a way around the problem." She waved her hand. Suddenly there was a shiny square attached inside tha bars at tha foot of Imp's bed. "It's super-polished silver, with an extra luster spell on it. There's no way the child could break it, and it reflects just as perfectly as glass."

Imp, an observant lil cuss, had spotted tha new object at the foot of her bed, and was crawling toward it. "I dunno..."

"Oh, come on, Strife! She's a girl, and my blood! She needs a mirror!"

Imp had plopped down in fronta tha mirror an' was starrin at her reflection. "Well... I guess so. She seems ta like it."

She sure did. Imp stared at herself, cockin her head from side ta side. Then she reached out an touched tha reflection. She jerked back so hard she fell ovah backwards, a surprised look on her face.

Cupid reached in an' set her back up. "Whoops! Kinda cold, huh, baby girl?"

Imp pointed at tha mirror. "Bah?"

Bliss bounced excitedly. "Yeah, Imp! That's a baby!"

"Son of a bitch!" I said wonderingly. "I toldya she was a genius."

Cupid hugged me. "Yes, but she just thinks that's another baby. She doesn't know that it's her."

"She'll figure it out," I said confidently.

Imp was reachin undah tha mirror, then around it's sides. "She's trying to get the other baby," said Bliss. "I've seen Mjau do the same thing with a mirror."

Cupid looked puzzled. "Where would Mjau be around a mirror?"

"Oh, there's this little room at Gran'pa 'Res place. It's funny. All it's got in it is mirrors all around the walls and a big bed in the middle. Joxie turned awful red when he noticed I'd followed Mjau in there."

I started chokin. "Scuse me." I left tha room fah a moment so I could have my laughin fit in private. Damn, I just hope I have as much zing in my spring as Unc does when I get ta be his age.

I came back just in time ta see Imp wave her wings, an' notice that tha reflection was doin tha same. Startled her inta fallin ovah again. Good thing Dite had set it up in tha bed, or tha kid coulda concussed herself. This time I sat her up.

"That's you, Imp!" Bliss told her. He climbed up, hangin onta tha bars, hung ovah tha side of the crib, an' gave tha reflection a kiss.

Get this--Imp frowned. "Do it again, kiddo."

Bliss did. He smooched tha reflection with great big smackers, an' said in a dramatic voice, "Oh, boy! This is just the sweetest baby! This baby is so pretty and smart, and I just love her to death!" He kissed tha reflection some more. (Bleh. All right, so it was gonna need some vinegah an' a dry cloth latah.)

Imp bounced up an' down, wavin her hands at Bliss. "Bih! Bih!"

He kept kissing. "I could just eat this baby up."

"Aah!" All of a sudden Imp was vibratin! Her lil wings were shiverin, her legs and arms were stiff, an' I swear, her eyes glowed green.

"Quick, Bliss! Make a fuss ovah her!"

Bliss quickly pulled away from tha mirror an' started makin a big too-doo ovah his sistah. Imp relaxed immediately, givin him a sunny smile. Cupid an' Dite were blinkin. Dite said, "What was that?"

I sighed. "Imp just gave herself an energy boost. She thought Bliss was makin up ta anothah baby, an' she got jealous."

Dite clapped her hands. "Oh, that's so cute!"

"Ya think? Dite, I want ya ta imagine a two year old havin that kinda reaction."

Her mouth formed a little oh. "Ooo."

"Exactly. I just hope she don't come inta much of her powahs till she gets ta tha age of reason--whatevah tha Tartarus that is."

Bliss was playin peekaboo with Imp again. He draped tha blankie ovah his head. "Hey, Imp! Where am I, huh? I'm right here! Cantcha find me?"

Imp stared at him. Slowly she reached out an' touched tha cloth. "That's right, Imp! You can't see me, but I'm here! Find me."

Imp tried ta peer behind Bliss, frowning. She looked at me. "Bih?"

I twitched tha cloth offa Bliss. "Bliss," I told her. I dropped tha cloth back down, then jerked it off several times in rapid succession. Bliss ended up blinkin, goggle eyed. "See, sweetie. He don't go away. Ya just can't see him. He's still there."

She looked real thoughtful. "Ah?"

I dropped tha cloth ovah her head. "Where's Imp? She's gone!" I jerked it off. "There she is!" I repeated it. She started gigglin. I covahed her again.

Before I could pull off tha blankie, she dragged it off herself, grinnin almost as maniacally as I do when I'm tryin ta scare tha mortals. "Yah! She did it!" We all applauded. "One more time!"

I draped her again. This time tha cloth barely settled before she snatched it off an' grinned at us. Then...

Then she caught sight of tha baby in tha mirror, an' got real interested. She reached out slowly, an' she touched tha reflection of tha blanket. She looked down at tha blanket, at tha reflection, at tha blanket, at tha reflection... I sweah, I could hear gears clickin.

Starin at tha mirror, she slowly lifted tha blanket in fronta her face, then lowered it. She did it again. And again. Then she just held it, right about even with her nose. She flapped her wings. Tha reflection flapped its wings. Her eyes got real big. She dropped tha blankie, an' her little mouth was hangin open. (Not exactly anythin new, but this time there wasn't a drool string involved.)

She looked at us, pointed at tha mirror, an said, "Ih?"

Cupid, me, an' Dite exchanged looks. Ih?

But Bliss didn't have any trouble translatin. He jumped up an' down, noddin like crazy. "That's right! Imp. That's Imp, Imp. That's you!"

It was like Apollo had just driven his nags out from behind a cloud. Her face shone. She looked at tha mirror again an' said. "Ih." She looked at Cupe, pointed, an' said excitedly, "Mama! Ih!" She looked at me, waving her arm. "Ih, Mama! Ih!"

I laughed an' scooped her up, huggin her close. Bliss was doin a war dance. Cupe an' Dite were huggin, an' I think I saw tha Love Goddess discreetly wipin away a tear.

"That's right, kiddo!" I held her ovah my hed, and she giggled, flappin her wings. "That's Imp! That's you. That's my girl!"