"Absolutely not," said Maggie. "It would never work out."

"But Mommy, he's so ugly and adorable," said Cassie.

"Yeah, the cutest," said Paxton, who was keeping a safe distance.

"Daddy," whined Cassie, "please can I keep him?"

Scott Lang exhaled hard. "This isn't my house, so I can't make the rules. Your stepdad does."

"Actually, we agree on just about everything," said Paxton, gesturing to Maggie.

"We do, and we want that... thing out of here," said Maggie. She too was sitting on the far side of the living room.

"It's not a thing, he's alive and needs a home like all other animals," argued Cassie. She made quite the picture of defiance. Her little arms were crossed over pyjamas while she sat up very straight on the couch. The adults assumption that she had finally fallen asleep was shattered when she reappeared in their midst and started the argument. "You can't kick him out on the street."

"That is where we found him," Paxton muttered.

"Actually," said Maggie, "we thought that Daddy would be able to shrink him down like he did with Thomas. Then he can rejoin the other ants and be where he belongs."

"But he already likes me too much," said Cassie. "See? Come here, boy. Here!" Sure enough, the giant insect walked over to her. Maggie gave a yelp and Paxton instinctively reached for his weapon. Scott sipped tea.

Cassie rubbed the ants head. "Good boy, Mr. Ant. Good boy." She patted him once, and then he scuttled back off to the corner.

Maggie eyed Scott suspiciously. "Are you doing anything to this ant? If the stories are true you have ways of manipulating them."

"Rumours of my insect controlling prowess have been greatly exaggerated," said Scott. The others were clearly unconvinced. He held up two fingers. "Scouts honour, I'm not doing a thing to this ant. It really has taken a liking to Cassie."

"I'll take care of him," Cassie promised. "I can feed him and walk him and give him baths and love him forever."

"Forever, huh?" Paxton said. "How long will that last?"

"Well, carpenter ants only live for a few months," said Scott. Maggie and Paxton both looked surprised, then relieved. Cassie was crushed and about to cry. Scott continued hastily. "But then again, this one is much bigger than normal, which could very well increase the lifespan to several years. Hard to say."

Maggie glared at him with a you're-not-helping look. "Sweetie, you know that we can't have pets. Your stepdaddy and I both work and you're too young to properly look after one."

Cassie glared back at her mother. "He's an ant. How much work can it be?"

Maggie and Paxton looked to Scott. "Well, there would need to be room to run around," he said. "It would need to eat meat, and sweet stuff like sugar and honey. Other than that... not much."

"See?" said Cassie. "I can do all of that by myself."

"We don't have lots of space here," said Maggie. "He would be cramped and unhappy."

"There's lots of room in the basement, actually," mused Paxton. Maggie gave him the same look she had given Scott. "Right. That's unimportant."

"What about the backyard?" asked Cassie. "He would have lots of room there."

"I really don't think the neighbours could handle seeing a giant, tamed ant wandering around our house," Maggie said.

"Some of them already got a good view the night-" Scott stopped abruptly as Maggie glared at him. Damn, she was good at this. "Well, anyways, what's one giant ant when there are falling cities and sentient androids?"

"Still no," said Maggie firmly.

"Okay," said Cassie sadly. "Okay, fine. I guess we can just send him away, so he'll be gone forever and I'll never see him again." She sniffled for extra effect.

"Thank god," muttered Maggie.

"And then I can get another pet!" Cassie exclaimed. "Like a dog, a really big and shaggy one. Or a lizard. No, wait, a snake. A long, slimy snake!"

Scott sipped tea to hide a grin while Paxton covered his face with his hands. Maggie rubbed her forehead. "Sweetie," she said, "we just really can't have pets right now. Especially not ugly ones that could escape and eat things they aren't supposed to. Like you, or me."

"He would never escape," said Cassie. "He could stay in the basement and maybe sometimes come upstairs only if no one could see him."

Paxton looked at Scott. "Any chance you could take care of this thing?"

"I don't exactly have space, or time," Scott pointed out. "Plus this is Cassie's pet."

"That's true," said Paxton.

"Are you agreeing with him?" Maggie asked Paxton.

"Well, it might be good for Cassie. Low maintenance, teach some responsibility. Short lifespan. Could be a great opportunity." Cassie watched the adults argue with approval. She made eye contact with Scott, who winked over his cup.

"No. Still no. Why are we even discussing this?" Maggie stood up. "It's far past your bedtime, Cassie. You get to stay in your sleeping bag in our bedroom while yours is repaired."

Cassie stuck out her lower lip. "I'll only go to bed if you promise Mr. Ant can stay."

"I'll carry you," said Maggie."

"I'll cry," threatened Cassie.

Maggie looked at the men. "Can I get any help here?"

Scott sipped his tea. Paxton faced Cassie. "Are you really, really sure you want to keep and take care of this ant?"

"Yes, of course," said Cassie. "And the best part is that he'll always remind me of Daddy."

Well, that did it. Scott smiled and Maggie sat back down, then breathed deeply. "Okay. Clearly I've been ganged up on here. Let's establish some rules. One, there will be a weeklong trial period. If you don't take care of him or he causes any trouble, he goes. Two, he stays in the basement or in the house and no one ever sees him. Three, I never have to feed him. Is that fair?"

"Okay," said Cassie. "I can do all that." Paxton nodded from his chair.

"Four," added Scott, "you need to pick a better name. Something different than Mr. Ant, especially since I'm not even sure if this is a male."

Cassie looked over at her new pet. "I don't know, Daddy. What's a good ant name?"

"Fluffy," offered Paxton.

"Ugly," said Maggie.

"How about Antony Junior?" said Scott. "Named after a special friend of mine."

"Antony Junior?" said Cassie. "Okay Daddy, but I'll just call him AJ."

"Sounds good to me," said Scott.

"If it makes you happy then I'm sure we can adjust," said Paxton.

"Somebody put him downstairs while I put Cassie to bed." Maggie stood up. "Say goodnight."

Cassie jumped off the couch and ran to Paxton. "Good night," she said with a hug. "Good night," she said to Scott with a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, AJ." She and Maggie went upstairs.

"Never thought I'd be taking care of an ant," remarked Paxton.

Scott finished his tea. "You think that's weird, try living my last month."

"Come back tomorrow?" asked Paxton. "We can all have dinner. There are a few things we need to discuss."

"Yeah, sure," said Scott. They stood and shook hands. "I'll see you then, Paxton." He looked at the ant. "I'll see you too, Antony Junior." With that, Scott Lang stepped out the front door and into the clear, cool night.