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

After a while, Maya and Horus—also in school uniform—arrived and the three babies immediately went to greet them.

The bigger kids smiled at the little ones and greeted them back, but instead of playing around, they settled down where the adults were lounging.

Seeing this, the three babies also followed behind their big brother and big sister.

”So the first birthdays must be grand…” Ansel said as he sat on one of the armchairs. He even pulled a small blackboard to his side. ”So we’ll be treating it as an actual event!”

The redhead always took the role of Main Event Organizer whenever there was an occasion in their team and everyone else was happy the troublesome parts were out of their hands. ”I’ll reserve a hall in the hotel and performers… Harold is in-charge of the catering…”

While Ansel talked out loud, his audience half-listened and half-played with the kids. (It couldn’t be helped; people’s attention spans were limited).

At some point—during Ansel’s soliloquy—they were all sitting on the carpet floor with the children doing their own thing.

Maya was playing with dolls with Pepper on the carpet, while Horus and Theo started to read adventure books—the bookstores now offered a large variety—and was lounging next to Harold with it.

Little Meatball was with his father because he settled down the best with him. He was literally going around him at this time though, crawling everywhere.

One time he was on his father’s lap, then he’d climb up his shirt, and maybe even reach his head.

”Dada… dada…” he mumbled, grabbing his father’s head as he tried to crawl over him.

Garan was so used to it that his face didn’t change even when the boy was patting his face and squeezing his nose.

He would only pull the boy back if he started eating his hair…

At some point, the menu was discussed. The menu had a lot of food the kids loved including spaghetti and fried chicken.

They wanted to be awesome and make a coffee bar for the adults and a chocolate fountain for the dessert area, too.

”Do you have samples of the coffee and chocolate?” Althea asked, her tone was supposed to be of professional inquiry, but the sparkle in her eyes said otherwise.

Harold grinned. He had been waiting for them to ask!

As the rest discussed about the venue, Harold—under the eager eyes of the children and adults alike—went to the kitchen to prepare the ’samples’.

”Since they’re twins, the decors should unisex,” one said.

”Or a combination of their colors,” another added.

They looked at the super cute babies doing their own things, unaware they were the current subject of the discussion.

”The colors don’t really matter,” Althea said with a shrug. ”The kids will remember the activities and the programs more.”

They nodded. That made sense.

A couple of minutes later, Harold finally arrived with their drinks. He served hot cocoa and coffee according to their tastes, though the pregnant women were strictly allowed only to drink hot cocoa.

The adults gulped, both excited and worried.

The initial batches had a few… problems that had to be fixed.

The chocolate was too bitter and whoever tasted it spat it out. They remembered being so excited at the time, and feeling betrayed by the taste afterwards.

At the same time, adding a mountain of sugar or salt to neutralize it was unhealthy.

On the other hand, the caffeine in the initial versions of the coffee got too strong that anyone who drank a cup would be unable to sleep for two days straight. This would’ve been fine, but then they would lose energy all of a sudden afterwards, causing them to be bedridden.

After some more tests, they figured the cocoa had too much theobromine while Coffee had too much caffeine. Of course, some energy drinks had been derived from that initial batch of harvest, so it wasn’t entirely a loss.

They controlled it though so hopefully the increased theobromine in their chocolate still wasn’t poisonous to their dogs—not that they tried to do it, of course.

Anyway, they all took sips together and their eyes brightened. This was it!

They could already see the various products derived from these two and felt giddy with excitement. Althea and the others already felt the gastronomic culture of Alterra entering new heights, while Ansel could already see the gold pouring in!

On the other hand, the children could only look curiously at the new drinks. Since it was still new, Althea and the others didn’t dare give it to the kids, especially not to the babies.

For now, the kids would get juice in covered cups, with both Horus and Maya choosing orange juice, Theo with apple juice, and the babies choosing their favorite fruits.

Today though, Harold made nice combinations to make things more exciting for the kids. The adults were having a ’novel’ drink, so the kids should also have it!

For example, Pepper’s strawberry juice had extra basil, which added a refreshing tinge to it. Meanwhile, Meatball’s pineapple juice had a bit of mango that combined the zesty tang of the pineapple with the sweet creaminess of mango.

The combination seemed like a success as it made the kids—especially the babies—sip their drinks with more gusto than usual.

The adults continued with their discussions, hearing the squishy sippy sounds the babies made while they drank.

It was just that it was over too soon and the two babies ended up calling their mother.

”Mama…”

”Mwama…”

”Mow joose! Mow joose!” Little Meatball called out, extending his little paws to show off the empty sippy cup. Their vocabulary was now about two or three dozen words. Half of Meatball’s was related to food.

”Goodness, Meatball, if you keep this up you’ll really turn into a big ball…” she said, poking at his chubby tummy.

”Hmmmm…”

Seeing as his mother wasn’t planning on giving him more juice, his little feet went to Winona instead. ”Mow joose antee Nona!” He looked adorable with those puffed cheeks and glazed eyes filled with plea.

If eyes could grow hearts, Winona’s would’ve transformed into one.

Little Pepper was much more demure, staring at her cup and numming the taste. Her chubby cheeks were red and her eyes were sparkling, obviously liking the new taste.

She pushed herself up, her small feet taking her to Harold. ”Mow joose pwease ankle Arold…”

Harold, too, melted.

Suffice to say, no one could reject them. They peacefully drank more of the juice, crawling back in the arms of their mother.

…

Later, in the middle of the night—just as everyone settled down and were entering deep sleep—the silence was cut by Fufi’s howling.

It wasn’t noticed immediately due to the rooms’ excellent insulation, but Fufi started desperately scratching the doors.

Awwwoooo!!!!

He made as much noise as he could, howling in despair. He was especially frantic when waking up in Althea’s room.

Fortunately for him, no one was using the voice blocker that night, and the humans were soon alerted by his pleas.

The door opened revealing Garan, his ice sword up, ready to slice at a moment’s notice.

Although houses made by the system could automatically block trespassers, he wasn’t one to take chances.

Althea was right behind him, and she immediately ran out when she saw it was her battle pet.

Snow! Snow!

She blinked and they immediately followed the frantic dog back to their dog house. At this time, several other people like Ansel and Winona were there too.

Inside, Snow was there, barely moving, and her mouth was slightly parted as if having difficulty breathing.

Awwwooooo!

”Oh, dear…” Althea mumbled, kneeling down to check. She looked at the others and then to Fufi.

”She didn’t accidentally eat chocolate or anything did she?”

Awwwooooo!

She patted the dog’s head, comforting him, which just ended up making the big dog cry even more pitifully.

”Husband, can you call Sheila please?” She asked, and he nodded, disappearing from view.

Soon, the nurse—who fortunately lived nearby—came with her husband right next to her.

Eagle stood next to Garan, while Shiela quickly kneeled to check on the dog, doing an ultrasound on her.

Her eyebrows which had been furrowed in worry quickly loosened up. ”This…”

”What is it?”

Awwwooooo….

Poor Fufi howled again, very pitiful.

Sheila held back her smile and turned to pat the poor boy’s head. ”Congratulations, Fufi,” she said. ”You’re going to be a father.”

This made everyone flinch and gape. They looked at the two dogs in shock, before breaking into smiles.

Snow is pregnant!

Interestingly, by the next day, this news would be spread throughout the territory, triggering another set of celebrations here and there.

After all… they were finally going to have puppies!!