Alien in the House

residence.”
    With that, the two of them took off. They didn’t run, but they definitely didn’t stroll, either.
    The front door closed and Jeff and I looked at each other. “You talk to the animals in their minds?” he asked finally.
    “I guess.”
    “I mean, not giving verbal commands you thought of, but by thinking at the animals without speaking and them understanding you?”
    “Um, sorta.”
    “Sorta?” Jeff sounded like he was working to keep his voice nice and calm. “And is Jamie saying that this talent has extended to the Earth animals, too?”
    “Ah . . .”
    “You know you do, Mommy,” Jamie said patiently, while I did my best to ensure that my expression, body language, and upper level thoughts didn’t betray how freaky it was to be having this conversation, with this level of language clarity, with my almost-one-year-old. “Just like you talk to Fairy Godfather ACE.”
    “Right.” Now I had to hope my worry about ACE wasn’t getting through to Jamie. Prayed Jeff was doing some sort of mind block or something, though he looked like my Dr. Doolittle-ness had sent him to Freaked-Out Land with me.
    Jamie shook her head. “Fairy Godfather ACE is tired and busy. You shouldn’t worry, Mommy. He’ll never leave us.”
    “We can’t talk about this with other people, Jamie-Kat,” Jeff said quickly. “Daddy doesn’t want you to talk about ACE unless it’s only with Mommy or Daddy. And the same with Mommy being able to talk to the animals, that’s just for us to talk about.”
    “I know, Daddy.” Jamie looked back and forth between us. “Are you mad at me?”
    I hugged her tightly. “No, we’re not. Mommy and Daddy have been worried about Fairy Godfather ACE, that’s all. And other things.”
    “Other things you don’t need to worry about,” Jeff said quickly.
    “Okay, Daddy. Mous-Mous wants everyone to come with us tonight.” Mous-Mous was Jamie’s Poof, which, at the sound of its name, appeared from wherever it had been to perch on Jamie’s shoulder and purr loudly.
    “Everyone?” Jeff asked. “Daddy and Mommy have to entertain the other grownups.”
    “No Daddy, Mous-Mous wants all the other pets to come.”
    Jamie’s saying that it was her Poof who wanted the other animals along was actually normal. Lots of little kids said their stuffed animals or favorite pet wanted to do the thing the little kid themselves wanted to do. Mom claimed that I’d used the cats they’d had when I was born, Sugar and Spice, as my excuse for anything and everything.
    Now, however, I wasn’t sure if Jamie was just being a little girl or if Mous-Mous was actually weighing in on the evening’s animal arrangements.
    Didn’t matter, because all roads led to every animal we had heading over to the Pontifex’s residence anyway. “No worries, Jamie-Kat. Every furred and feathered beast we have will be with you and Mous-Mous tonight.”
    “Yay!” Jamie gave me a big hug, which was always nice.
    Jeff got her settled and her dinner finished up. Then it was bath time, and into a Minnie Mouse pajama set. The A-Cs loved black and white and Armani. However, Reader had managed to ensure that Jamie’s baby shower registry had contained actual color. I didn’t know how long before she’d be put into the white oxford shirt and black slim skirt that was the female uniform of A-C choice, but I was going to do my best to ensure that day was a long time coming.
    Jeff finished getting Jamie ready to go while I fed the dogs and cats and packed Jamie’s bag. She’d potty trained herself a month ago. Per Denise, Jamie had asked about it, Denise had explained the concept, and Jamie had done her thing. It made some things easier, but I almost dreaded what she’d do weeks, months, or years ahead of schedule next.
    However, among the things it made easier was packing her for babysitting gigs like this one. All the room diapers and wipes would have taken up in the still awesome and reasonably pristine diaper bag was filled with changes of clothes, toys, and, as I looked inside, Poofs.
    The cats were herded back into the Feline Winnebago along with whatever Poofs weren’t in the diaper bag. The dogs went back on their leashes. We called for Denise, Len, and Kyle. And then I called for the Peregrines. As Jamie had said, in my mind.
    “Whoa!” Jeff jumped as twenty-four big birds just sort of appeared. “I hate it when they do that.”
    Contrived to look innocent. “Yeah. It’s sort of