Summary: Violet's first steps come at a price as she discovers one of her powers.

Behold the first episode! It's cute! It's very cute! Violet's cuteness should be outlawed!


Chapter One: Baby Steps (Part One)

A Mutant's Development

Now that I am a father, I have deemed it necessary that I do a little research on a mutant child's growth.

Beneath this, a drawing of a baby Violet. Next to this was an arrow pointing to an adult Nadia. Caption: Did Nadia look like Violet as an infant?

Little information found. Development varies. Some born with intelligence, some grow at the rate of a human, others much slower. Violet seems to be a little slower than a human. The doctor informs me that this is nothing to worry about, but I can't help it. Maybe it's because I'm a first-time parent, but Violet is three years old. I feel like she should be walking by now, but the most she ever does is crawl. She's tried standing a few times, but she fell down each time. Imagine my horror when Starclops tried to teach her to go down the stairs, her excuse being, "How else is she gonna learn?" I love Starclops like a sister, but her thought processes both fascinate and irritate me. I'm just glad I found them before Violet could roll down more than two stairs. Banged her head on the second one, started crying. The sight both broke my heart and made me wish Starclops had a neck so that I could strangle her.

One nice thing: what Violet lacks in movement, she makes up for in speech. Seriously, since she started talking, she can't seem to stop! You'd think it would be annoying, but it's actually kind of cute.

I'll never forget the moment she spoke for the first time. She was about two years old, and I was putting her down for a nap. The little one was already half-asleep in my arms. I lay her down in her small bed (crib was too small at this point).

A drawing of the sleeping toddler, swaddled in a blanket. Caption: Cute!

I had just laid her down when Violet looked up at me with sleepy eyes. She yawned and just before drifting off, she said, "six."

Needless to say, I teared up a little.

My baby girl's first word could have been anything. I had been expecting something traditional, like "mama" or "dada." But, no. Out of every word in every language in the multiverse: six. The number of fingers on each of my hands. Hands that I loathed because they made the other kids called me a freak. I'd lived a good portion of my life thinking that my extra fingers were a bad thing. And, yet...that number was the first coherent thing out of my baby's mouth. Sure, it could have easily been passed off as a coincidence, but I know she was looking at my hands when she said it.

Of course, Starclops couldn't resist ruining everything and joking that Violet meant to say "sex." Seriously, someone give that woman a neck for me to strangle!

"Papa, Papa, Papa!" Violet's high voice interrupted him. Ford turned away from his writing. His daughter was gripping the side of his desk with her fingerless hands. Her toeless feet scrambled on the carpet, and Ford was just about to warn her of rug-burns, when she started speaking again. "Watch me, Papa! I'm-I'm gonna- I'm gonna stand up and I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna stop-stop holding this and I'm gonna stand by myself like-like you and like Mom and like a big girl and-"

Ford bit down on his lip to keep from laughing, as Violet kept babbling and trying to get her legs to hold her up. Eventually, she managed to get upright and let go of the desk, only to plop down on her bottom and start the cycle again.

Ford grinned at her determination. "Violet, I don't think doing that is going to-"

Then, Violet started chanting, "I can do it, I can do it," until she fell down again. She looked down and was silent for so long that Ford knelt down in front of her, worried that she was going to cry. Then, he gasped in shock, when she shouted, "I CAN DO IIIIIIIIITTTTTT!"

At that, Ford couldn't hold in his laughter any longer. He heard someone else laughing behind him and stood up. His wife used the opportunity to wrap her arms around his midsection from behind. His heartbeat paused as he felt her lean her head against his shoulder.

"She still doing it?" Nadia asked.

Maybe it was Violet's antics, but suddenly Ford felt rather playful. He grabbed one of Nadia hands and spun around, twirling her giggling self in the process. He then pulled her to him and wrapped his own arms around her. She was still giggling when she looked up him with those soft lavender eyes that genetics had graciously given their daughter.

Ford finally answered the question. "Can't say she isn't trying."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Starclops appeared between them, startling them out of each other's arms. "Cut the romantic crap! I told you; if anyone's gonna scar that child for life, it's gonna be me."

Tad picked Violet up off the ground. "Maybe comments like that are reason you're not allowed to babysit anymore."

Violet raised an eyebrow. "I thought she wasn't allowed 'cause of the stairs."

The demoness in question rolled her eye and groaned. "You push the toddler down the stairs one time."

Not wanting to hear anymore - because, honestly, none of them liked that story, except maybe Starclops - Ford clapped once. "Okay! I think this would be a great time to change the subject! Violet how's about we get to your schooling for the day, hm?" Since she was unable to walk (and since kids in this dimension didn't go to school until the age of five), Ford and Tad had been homeschooling Violet.

"I think that's a great idea," Tad said.

"Yeah!" Violet wiggled in the demon's grasp. "Put me down! I wanna walk to class."

"Class in here," Tad pointed out. But, Violet was persistent in stating that she could "walk like a 'Jip-sin.'" Ford made a mental note to teach her how to pronounce words like "Egyptian" and to ask her where she even heard that word in the first place. Tad shrugged. "Okay. If you insist."

Tad carefully place Violet down on her feet. Violet staggered a little but kept her balance. She took her first step.

And, landed face-first on the carpet.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Nadia asked fretfully, bending to her daughter's level.

Violet lifted her head up and spat out some fuzz. "I hurt my face." Suddenly, she grinned. "Let's learn something, Papa! Let's learn something, Tad!" She crawled over to the small pink chair that was across from the chalkboard on the wall.

Starclops sighed, but there was no annoyance in her voice when she said, "Kids. That's why I don't have any."

"And, the multiverse thanks you for feeling that way," Tad quipped.

Ford and Nadia stifled laughter, and Starclops remarked, "I'll have you know that if I had babies, they would be the best fuuu…" she glanced over at Violet, who was now in her chair, smiling with her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, "...uuudging babies you've ever seen."

"Starclops, if you ever have kids, and they don't turn out as demented as you are, then I'll eat my hat."

"You don't have a hat."

"Then, I'll buy a hat and eat it."

"Yoooooooooo-hooooooooooo!" Violet sang, waving wildly. "I'm ready for learning! I'm gonna learn so much!"

Nadia nudged her husband toward the eager toddler. "Well, the girl's ready. Better not keep her waiting, or she'll starting gnawing on her own hair out of boredom. Again."

Violet was already doing so.

Ford chuckled. "Papa's coming, Little One."

"Tad'll be waiting for the history lesson," Tad commented.

As Ford walked up to the chalkboard, Starclops asked her fellow dream demon, "You're not gonna help?"

Tad shrugged. "Ford's the one with twelve PhDs. I just know the multiverse's history."

"Fair enough."

R XZM WL RRRRRRRRRGGGGGG!


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