After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 946

Chapter 946: Standing Up

Wiggle, wiggle

Push

Wiggle

It was a tense minute as they watched the two kids struggle to lift themselves up. Their little hands and legs were unstable though, and their diapered bums wiggled as they made their attempts.

Sadly, their tiny legs were too shaky in the end, and they gave out as soon as they lifted their hands.

They flopped down on their butts in the end.

“Aww…” they mumbled, shoulders slumped in disappointment.

What they didn’t realize was that the babies were looking at them, and seeing the adults’ ‘heartbroken’ faces affected them very much.

Their little faces scrunched in sadness and tears pooled in their rounded eyes. Their cheeks turned red, and they soon broke into cries.

“Wuuuuuuuuuuu!!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

“Oh, no, babies…” Althea and the others immediately stood up to comfort them. Althea and Garan took one baby each, cooing them to calm them down.

However, when tears flowed, they poured.

“Wuuuuuuuuuuu!!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

“Oh, dear…” Althea mumbled as she rocked the baby back and forth, with Garan following her movements. The other adults also made silly faces and brought out toys in various attempts to make them laugh.

Even after a while though, they were still crying in a way that broke their hearts. They felt extremely guilty for showing such faces. Clearly, they were already doing very good at their age! It was the adults’ mistake for making them think otherwise.

“Wuuuuuuuuuuu!!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Althea leaned down and smooched the babies’ faces repeatedly as they cried.

Chuu~

She kissed their foreheads and their chubby cheeks. Slowly, their sobbing calmed until they were just sniffling.

Smooch, smooch~

And soon, they started giggling. Their eyes and cheeks were red from crying, but adorable milky laughter came out of their mouths. The adults could even see the babies’ gums and the single teeth they had.

Their shoulders slumped in relief, but they didn’t stop making silly faces and bringing out toys, just in case.

“Babies are known to be much more sensitive than adults give them credit for,” Sheila said with a sigh. “Our disappointed faces must’ve affected the little ones.”

Althea and the others nodded, smiling at the babies. She gently rubbed their noses. “My babies are so smart and talented.”

“You’re too young,” she added. “Don’t rush, don’t rush.”

In Terra, the average age of walking was 11 months, with the record of the fastest being 9 months. In contrast, her babies were not even 4 months old.

Althea didn’t know how developed their bones were. If they forced themselves to stand now, maybe it’d affect their growth.

They could always check, of course. Dr. Cynthia was a pediatrician and ob-gyn doctor, so she would be the perfect expert to see. However, they’d still need some tests to be sure.

However, while the x-ray was being developed in the Research Center, could babies as young as hers safely undergo an x-ray—especially with a machine that was still being perfected? She wouldn’t risk it for sure.

“Take your time, my babies,” she said, kissing their soft faces again for good measure. “Mom and Dad will love whatever you do, and be proud of whatever you achieve.”

The babies didn’t quite understand her words, but they felt her emotions.

They giggled again, causing everyone’s hearts to melt.

….

The babies might have failed to stand up, but someone else managed to succeed.

“You’re doing great,” Victor said with a smile, holding his wife’s hand as she finished her short rehabilitation journey.

They were in the physical rehabilitation area in the hospital, and there were other people there being treated. Along with them, there were also a lot of physical therapists (they gained a few the past couple of weeks) to help them out.

Although nothing was really wrong with her legs, it got affected by the operation and as a side effect of Cain’s attack. She would’ve been able to walk again on her own without rehab, but Juni wanted it to happen as soon as possible, so here they were.

Victor guided her to the interior gardens of the hospital. The rehab room was boring. It was better to have actual goals in the path to hasten her progress.

And so, hand in hand, the newly-wedded couple perused the lovely sight with smiles on their faces.

Victor was very gentle and one could tell he’d be a great husband and father.

Vanessa, who was visiting the hospital, watched this with a frown. She was there with the customary fruits, though she stopped when she saw the patient and her brother ambling about.

To be honest, the sight made her heart itch with discomfort.

She remembered when her brother was gentle and spoiled her very much. Now, he barely even talked to her!

Even her former admirers barely gave her time of the day now.

Juni turned and caught her bad look, which Vanessa immediately wiped off her face. Juni, though, was an actress who had seen a lot of things about human interactions. She didn’t miss it at all.

The woman then walked towards them and handed the basket to her brother. After saying her bland greetings, she said her goodbyes.

“Brother, I’m gonna go to work now,” she said, turning away to head back to work.

Juni sighed. Vanessa could be quite extreme sometimes, and it’d won’t do her any good to keep her unchecked.

Juni looked at her husband. “Check on your sister more,” she said. “It’s not like you didn’t have a hand in spoiling her.”

Victor’s eyebrows furrowed. “But…”

To be honest, it just came second nature to them to give her whatever she wanted. Because they were always gone, it was their way to show their affection to her.

He didn’t really question it as much before, and they just handled the consequences, believing that—like them—Vanessa was logical enough to see what she did was wrong, and wouldn’t do it again.

Juni looked at him with a serious expression on her face. “She’s an adult and she is responsible for her choices,” she said. “However, as her only family, don’t you think you should be working harder to keep her on the right path?”

Victor frowned. Before, Vanessa was just his little sister. She could be a brat, but neither he nor their father had thought too much of it.

Not to mention… both of them were extremely busy with their careers and the life-threatening missions they were often sent to.

How could they—dense straightforward men—know how to handle the intricacies of raising a good kid, let alone of the complicated female species?

Juni saw his cluelessness and patted his arm. She wanted to shake her head at them but, at the same time, she also understood how it could be.

She had absentee parents so she knew how bad it could get. She turned out well because she was close to Mathilda back then. She had a good face and had a lot of admirers. If Mathilda hadn’t straightened her up early on, she could’ve been a very different person.

Not to mention, the only true romantic relationship she had before was with Gill, who was dense in his own right, so she also had an idea of how men’s brains—particularly, the military men—worked.

“Trust me on this,” she just told him. “Or else you risk losing her forever.”