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

It took a while for Beanie to stop crying, not caring if he was being stared at by people in the park. Eugene and Melissa looked at each other and sighed, extremely uncomfortable.

He gently patted the larger man’s shaking shoulders. ”Uhm… can we talk in my house? I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

Beanie sniffed, ”A-Ah, yes.” He said, standing up, though without letting go of baby Theo at all.

When Eugene brought Beanie to the secondary house, he was shaking and not letting go of Theo.

Theo was obviously uncomfortable with his hold, but the little angel just sat still on his father’s arms as if he was.

It was evening and almost everyone was already home and it so happened that Harold was there. Seeing Eugene coming with an unfamiliar man holding Theo, he had an idea what it was about and he immediately recalled the announcement from earlier.

Harold felt heavy and sighed, just going to the kitchen and doing what he could do.

They served him some comfort food and extra dessert for the children.

Althea, coming from the main house, heard that Theo’s father was there and hurried out of their honeymoon phase, to her husband’s gruntlement.

But then they saw who it was and their hearts dropped, especially Althea’s.

Then Priya and the baby—

She froze at the threshold, not knowing what to do next.

She hadn’t been paying attention to the announcements earlier, so she was completely unprepared for this news.

It was around this time that Sheila got home and saw the boss blocking the doorway. ”Hey boss, what are you doing here?”

Althea didn’t answer and just stared in front of her. Sheila followed her sight and blinked.

”Oh? We have visito—”

The nurse stopped when she finally noticed the somber atmosphere. She belatedly noticed that even their boss, who had a blank face, was visibly pale and was being supported by her husband.

Instead of asking, she just pursed her lips and did not ask any questions. She simply went to the kitchen to help Harold out.

She certainly wouldn’t be able to handle this awkward atmosphere if she stayed.

The atmosphere was depressing even after dinner came, and no one spoke much, each drowning in their own thoughts.

Althea didn’t speak much either and Garan looked at his best friend in concern, before turning to his wife again.

Garan held her hand, azure eyes asking her if she was alright. She shook her head, expressing she would tell him later.

Eugene wanted to take Theo so they could eat and Beanie reluctantly let go, but only if the boy was seated right next to him.

As he ate, Beanie’s tears and snot flowed nonstop.

”It was a daughter.” He mumbled out of nowhere, sniffing. ”We named her Thalia, after my wife’s late mother…”

He started sobbing and food went to his air pipe, making him cough. He tried to face away from the table by habit but he lost his balance and fell down his chair instead.

Harold and Garan, who were nearest, stood up to help him, but the man remained unmoving as his face touched the floor.

”Hey,” Garan uttered, patting Beanie’s shoulder.

Instead of lifting his head, Beanie’s shoulders shuddered, followed by heavy breathing and cries. His chest heaved in erratic gasps as his tears flowed, and he soon struggled to catch his breath.

”Priya… my Priya…”

”I should’ve been there….”

”I’m a bad husband, a bad father, I deserved to die…” he said, bumping his head on the floor with such force that he started bleeding.

Garan sighed and held his shoulders to stop him from killing himself, but Beanie just sobbed even louder, as if Garan had wronged him by stopping him from doing what he wanted.

Garan did not bulge, eyes shifting to the little boy held back by Eugene.

”Do you want the boy to lose another parent?”

This made Beanie freeze, and he looked at the boy being held by another man—someone who would be a better father, no doubt.

The thought just made him cry even harder.

”Papa…” The little boy called, and Beanie looked at him in a daze.

Except for his lighter skin, Theo looked so much like his mother. And it only broke Beanie’s heart into pieces even more.

”I… I don’t deserve to be,” Sniff, ”A father!”

”But the fact is that you are his father. That’s something you cannot change,” Garan said, deadpan voice as direct as ever. ”What you can change is how you’ll accompany your child after this.”

As he said so, Garan couldn’t help but turn his head towards his family—to his beautiful wife and lovely children.

”As long as you’re alive, there’s a chance to make up to them, don’t you think so?”

…

Garan took Beanie to the verandah for a drink. The poor man was grovelling in his seat for a while, just sniffling, unmoving.

Garan was patient and just placed a glass next to him.

”You’re a father now. You have to be strong. After this, you can’t be breaking down again…”

Beanie tried wiping his snot with his shirt, but it was flowing non stop. Garan frowned and just took some cloth from the space and threw it at him.

”I wasn’t even able to give her the fabulous life she deserved,” Beanie told him. ”She was born rich you know, but she was disowned for falling in love with me.”

”I… I wanted to give her the life she was born with…”

”And my daughter… my baby daughter…”

”I wish I could’ve called her name…”

This time, instead of trying to get himself killed, he just drowned himself in alcohol.

Garan sighed, allowing the man to have this this moment to let go. Instead, he also downed a shot, joining him.

”I’ll straighten you up tomorrow.”

…

That night, upon Garan’s request, Althea spent one more night with just him alone. Althea agreed because her mood was a little lour and she needed the comfort of her husband.

”How… How is he?” She asked, ignoring the overwhelming smell of alcohol.

”He’s sleeping in the other villa with Theo and Eugene,” he said, gently caressing her smooth cheek, a little drunk. ”He’s in pain, but he shouldn’t do anything regrettable. His son is right there…”

”I had a choice to bring Priya with me. I should’ve forced her,” she mumbled, burying her head in her husband’s generous arms. She had told him about Theo’s mother before, but now she had a new identity—his best friend’s wife.

And, to Althea, this made her feel so much guiltier than she already was.

Garan quickly tightened his hold, placing her head against the crook of his neck, making sure no part of her was untouched my his warmth. ”No one would have foreseen the beast tide, and you couldn’t guarantee their safety either. You were a pregnant woman yourself!”

He held her tighter, his heart constricting every time he thought of how she must’ve suffered when he wasn’t by her side. ”I would’ve been the first one to disagree with them coming if I knew and wasn’t there with you.”

He held both of her cheeks. ”None of it is your fault,” he said, ”You simply took the best decision you could take, considering everything.”

He leaned down giving her a soft peck on the lips. ”And I am thankful for that.” He told her, his mind refusing to think of the possibility of his losing her like Beanie lost his wife.

”Thank you for coming back to me, Althea.” He said, eyes dark with heavy emotions.

’Because I would’ve destroyed the world otherwise.’