After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 148

Chapter 148: Peace
Aberdeen City, 2 years ago

The sun had just risen, and its opening light slowly draped the city with a new day.

Althea, gently woken up by the early sun’s greeting, groaned and turned her head nestled in her arms. She seemed to have fallen asleep on the side of her husband’s hospital bed some hours prior.

She knew this judging by how stiff her shoulders were.

She rubbed the lethargy away from her eyes and stretched it away with big movements, freezing when she saw her husband staring at her the whole time!

“Husband!” She yelled, immediately scooting to the side of his bed, and looking at him apologetically.

She wanted to tell him that she was sorry for scaring him but when her eyes met his warm azure ones, her tear ducts, uncontrollably, broke again.

“I’m sorry…” Althea sobbed as she stared at the man who had just woken up.

Althea was not a crybaby, at least not for a long time, but when it came to Garan she felt like it was still as it was when they were children: Her tear ducts just did not know control at all.

Garan smiled, weakly wiping her tears. “Why are you apologizing, my love?”

“I shouldn’t have said–”

“That was not your fault, it is my own weakness.”

Althea paused and only stared at the man, not knowing what to say.

She sniffed pitifully. But before she could get her own tissue the patient was already wiping it for her.

She hurriedly took the tissue and glared at him in embarrassment. “Please act like a patient.”

Garan grinned. “Don’t be shy, wife.”

She frowned, “Stop treating me like you have to care for me all the time! I’m not a baby!”

He continued to wipe her snot despite her glaring, and he gave out a fond smile. “I’ll always take care of you. It brings me joy.”

She froze, and then flushed, making him chuckle.

Seriously. If he wasn’t injured she’d have punched him for all his teasing!

________________________

[17 days of Protection Period]

Althea watched the two children snore in their new custom cribs, eyes filled with warmth and love.

Their babies were so beautiful and lovely and blessed. She wasn’t being biased when she said they were little angels brought down to the world to bring people warmth, light, and love.

She stared at them without any traces of boredom all the way until she heard them hum.

It was said that babies’ cried differently according to their needs. Althea was very interested in this theory and specifically looked at her omniscient tablet for it.

For example, low-pitched short cries likely meant the child was hungry and, because the baby’s tongue sticks to its palete, the sound that comes out was similar to ‘neh’.

In contrast, choppy cries likely meant they were upset. Probably had to do with the baby being emotional or something.

Then, repeated ‘Eh’ sounds—with the air coming out was brief and jerky—usually meant that the babies needed to burp.

It was all very interesting and Althea remembered reading the downloaded article with apt attention, repeatedly.

Another type of sound was when the babies would cry outwards, with cries sounding like ‘heh’. This likely meant that they felt uncomfortable—it was as if they were pushing the discomfort through their cries.

And then… when the sound was prolonged, elongated, hoarse, and contracted, then the babies were in pain, likely from gases and were in need to relieve themselves.

Finally, the babies were likely to be sleepy if their cries started with a yawn and their mouth opening wide, and would then recede almost immediately, forming ‘aoh’ cries.

Althea had read all these with gusto. Although it may not be applicable to some cases, it did have some research backing and Althea would definitely keep record of its accuracy to her children.

She watched closely as they opened their adorable eyes and cried. Sheila seemed to be ready and knocked closely after their cries. “Let me help you.” She said and Althea didn’t stop her.

“They are probably hungry.” Althea said, unbuttoning her blouse to feed them. Sheila helped her place them comfortably in her arms.

Unsurprisingly, both babies really sucked in hunger.

Sheila blinked, looking at Althea in admiration, “A mother knows best after all.”

Althea grinned knowingly, “Actually there’s something I’m testing out.” She said and handed the tablet over to Sheila.

Sheila, like her, was very interested in the concept of baby language and was determined to test it.

Soon the children needed to change their diapers and this time, Sheila volunteered to do the dirty work for her.

Althea watched as the woman washed and changed the children. “You are very familiar with this.”

“I had a baby brother more than ten years younger than I am.” She smiled, but quickly subsided at the fact that she didn’t know his fate.

“He was in our hometown with our parents. I don’t know how they are…”

Althea patted her shoulder just before carrying one of the children. “You are fine and it is likely some of your relatives are, too.”

Sheila nodded, hopeful. Althea had told them about her hypothesis and they believed it with all their hearts. It kept the fire of hope that they’d be able see relatives alive, and that was very important.

Then, the moment of melancholy passed, and they stared at the next problem:

The problem of diapers and waste.

She’d have to ask the NPCs how their old territories dealt with trash, though it shouldn’t be too urgent.

Most of the materials used were local and sustainable. How many people like her brought trash from Terran material?

As for the diapers…, She did gather a lot back in Terran, but how many baby products could a part of a cubic meter store?

The diapers that could fit in her space wouldn’t last a month, leaving her with a very important problem: What to do when they ran out.

How’d the ancients do it?

Well, she’d leave that for later. Right now she decided to just enjoy the peace brought by her children.

She took the tablet to take photos and videos of her little ones to show to G—

Her thoughts stopped at the image of her husband passing by her head, and she felt the sharp pang of longing in her chest.

She sighed, her hold on the tablet unconsciously slacking, suddenly in a sour and heavy mood.

If only Garan was here to watch with her…

He would probably love taking care of the babies with her right?