Monday morning... Rodger was up and preparing some breakfast for the family, rather than Brenda today. Nothing fancy, just farina and homemade bran muffins with honey butter. The muffin recipe was microwaveable, and made a huge amount; luckily the dough also kept for up to six weeks in the refrigerator. Although if he sent some over to Meg at the mansion it might be all gone in a day or two, given the way both she and Iris ate, he'd mused to himself while making it.

  He heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" he called out, keeping one eye on the farina on the stove. He didn't want it boiling over; any bits that didn't get cleaned up or dissolved in water before it dried were like glue.

  Bella called "It's me, Bella.  Umm.  Dads wanted some, umm, them time, so I thought I'd go be polite to the neighbors."

"Bella?" he muttered to himself. "Oh dear," He couldn't remember, at the moment, whether Lin had mentioned her in Brenda's hearing, or whether he had. Nothing against Bella, mind you, but explaining her rather extraordinary relationship to Bill to someone was not something he relished the thought of. Maybe he could just tell the boys that she was one of Mr. Masters' relatives, if they asked, and leave it at that.

"Could you hold on a minute or two until I turn the stove off?" he called back to her.

  She called "Sure.  I got all day, so I'm not in a rush."

After a minute and a half, he turned off the heat and laid some aluminum foil over the top of the saucepan. The farina needed a little bit to thicken undisturbed, and he already had bowls set out with pats of butter at the bottom for everybody.

Hurrying to the door, Rodger checked through the peephole to make sure that yes, it was indeed the young woman whose image he'd been shown before opening it.

"Hello, Bella. I'm Rodger Eskin," he introduced himself (assuming that they hadn't already met face to face - I forget if they had during the time I was away). Something in the pit of his stomach was uneasy - his angelic resonance as a Mercurian was troubled, although he still lacked any comprehension of what it was telling him.

  Bella shook his hand, and said "Dads both said you are sort of the  chaperone for the Defenders, so I thought I might, you know, get to know you a little better so I don't scare the living hell out of you the first time you see me zipping around.  I don't sleep, like Dad, and I fly, like Dad, and I sorta can be a little startling at times."

"Yes, I am that," he agreed. He wondered, but didn't say anything, about what his future self might have done that she would have known about. Hopefully by the time she was born he'd gotten the whole secret identity business down.

"Just making breakfast at the moment. Was there anything you wanted to talk about in particular?"

  Bella smiled, and said "Well, not specifically, but I wanted you to know who I am before I scare you accidentally.  I have traits from both Dads."

"Did that include their weaknesses?" he asked, thinking about a certain gelatin dessert and the results that Richard had told him about.

  Bella shrugged, and said "Not sure.  Never tested out some things, because Dads didn't want me doing any hero-work yet.  I'm not that old, after all."

"Quite understandable, but... if you did, you might be danger from any tricks or traps targeting one of your fathers. Gelatin desserts, for example." He'd overlooked the fact that no one in the Defenders had spoken to him about the incident with Darren, the dessert spell, and becoming the Mayor's urine. He knew about it as the culprit who caused the incident.

  Bella nodded, and said "Yeah.  Although I have some traits different from Dads.  I think Mom contributed some."

"Mom?" He blinked, getting the weird idea that Meg was somehow Bella's third parent. If she was, could she see how weird his bio-field was compared to other people? Oh dear. Two paras with that ability would be even more of a problem for this whole game business. And he wasn't at all certain what the demons had come up with as a way to compensate for Meg's ability, beyond having him keep an eye on her with the rest of the New Age Defenders.

  Bella shrugged, and said "That's what I've always called Megaira.  She's the closest thing to a Mom I've ever had.  She created me for Dads."

He gulped, paling visibly. He'd been afraid of that. "Bella... if you inherited Meg's gift for seeing bio-fields, or know anything about my unusual one from your own time, could you please, please keep it to yourself? I already have enough problems with... certain authorities... from her being able to see what I am," he begged of her, keeping his voice low in hopes that no one in his family had come within hearing distance behind him.

  Bella gently touched his lips, a shushing motion, and said "I can't tell you.  I will tell you this much: don't worry, they'd be scared of me irregardless if they knew what else I can do.  But if you see two of me?  Listen close.  I am totally immune to temporal paradox.  Everyone else isn't."

"Oh, that doesn't worry me," he assured her. The idea of her being immune to a facet of her own power made perfect sense. The consequences of someone from the future blabbing to the Defenders, or Mr. Gysbourne, or someone who told the media, that scared him. Especially someone who, given her heritage, likely would have heard stories from her parents about android activities, at the very least, if not seen his evil wizardry (albeit in more experienced hands) firsthand. "If nothing else, you could explain that away as an ability to duplicate yourself, if someone asks about it, rather than as time travel."

  Bella shrugged, and said "Last time I saw Mom, when I'm from, she said things may not all be active yet.  I may develop more powers as I get older."

"She certainly did," Rodger answered dryly. He recalled all too well Meg's stories about her healing powers jumping dramatically not so long ago.

"Who's at the door?" Brenda's voice came from the hallway before he could begin another sentence.

"It's Bella, dear," he called back.

"Bella? Bill's daughter Bella?" Brenda hurried into the living room to get a look. Her hair was damp from the shower, and she was carrying John in both arms, freshly dressed for the day.

  Bella waved, smiling at Brenda, and said "Hello!  I don't bite, and Mom taught me how to cook, so I'm not the kitchen nightmare that Dads are."

"Hello Bella. I'm Brenda, Rodger's wife, and this is our younger son John," she introduced the two of them with a smile as she joined her husband at the door. Unseen by either parent, John's eyes flickered an amazing shade of sapphire blue for a heartbeat, gazing at Bella. "Won't you come in?"

  Bella smiled back, and said "As long as I'm not causing any problems, sure.  If I am, just toss me out the window or down the drain, and all is good."  She gave John a wink, turning, for just a second, translucent as water.

"Oh, no problem at all," Rodger assured her, stepping aside so she could enter unimpeded without need for powers. More muffins could easily be baked, and a little less hot cereal in each bowl could allow for a guest's serving, certainly.
And if she did cause problems, well, he did have all her parent's phone numbers. As well as Lin's.

John gave Bella an uncertain look that suddenly broke into a radiant, gleeful smile, all kid trying to charm the adult.