After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1874: Lessons for Babies
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It took about another two weeks for the babies to ’graduate’ through basic classes of using their powers in the right place and not using them at all outside.
Granted, the term ’graduate’ was used loosely here, but they couldn’t occupy everyone’s time for so long, right?
At the very least, Meatball could now easily go up and down, and then not go farther than three meters above ground. He also learned the weight that could hurt someone.
They did fear— considering he was giggling so adorably when this was happening—about whether the boy really understood that it was the weight not to use, rather than a weight used in some sort of play...
Pepper, meanwhile, learned how to jump from (allied) people’s arms to (allied) people’s arms, rather than appear in dangerous places and heights.
Fortunately, there had not yet been a case where she blinked above ground and then promptly fell down. Her ability seemed to automatically have an anchor on a surface.
Which surface, on the other hand, was what they had to train her to choose well.
For now, they were only allowed to use it in the bunkers, and they were allowed to use it until they were tired. Conversely, whenever they used it outside, the adults would reprimand them, particularly when someone outside the circle or their mentors were nearby.
Even if it was inside the house, for the sake of consistency, they still made an issue out of it, especially because Maya and Horus had visitors from time to time.
They couldn’t forbid the kids from bringing friends over, right? That was simply not the Alterran way!
Not to mention, it wouldn’t do good for the development of any of the children!
They were fortunately at the large playground in the garden, but it was too close, so they could’ve seen it had they been unable to stop Meatball from heading there in time.
It wasn’t that they thought other people couldn’t be trusted. After all, so many people were already privy to the children’s abilities, some of them having direct connections to cities.
However, those people were powerful enough to retain their values. People at the bottom might not. And if not, they might get hurt instead.
At this age, especially when they were smarter than peers, the babies had started to learn to know when and what they were doing was genuinely disliked by the adults.
The adults made an agreement to be stern and not soften up, which was very, very difficult because whose hearts wouldn’t break at the babies’ pouting faces.
Worse, their chubby guilty faces?!
For example, at this time, they were back at the villa and Meatball once again floated even when the door was still open. As per the agreement, one of the parents would reprimand the child, and none of the adults were allowed to show any amusement no matter how cute the baby was!
"Hnnggg..." Baby Meatball pouted, chubby cheeks red as apples, and eyes glimmering as tears threatened to fall down.
It easily broke people’s hearts, but they had to keep their expressions. Otherwise, the child might think it was okay!
The mental fortitude required to do this was immense. They doubted that resisting physical torture was more difficult!!
"My baby...," Althea said, patting his little head. "We agreed not to use powers outside the bunkers, didn’t we? Especially not when there are other people who could see. At least not when it’s not necessary..."
These were complex terms and concepts that they weren’t expecting the baby to understand. However, the children should understand that they were speaking with love in mind.
"Hnnggghhhmmmama..." the baby boy mumbled, and Althea wondered how to make him understand.
"If bad guys see you use your powers...they can take you away. You might not be able to see mummy again..." she said. "Gone. Poof! Bye, bye, mama—"
This made the tears actually fall.
"Mamaaaaa?" the baby sobbed. "Dungooooo! Wuuuuuuuuuu!"
"Awww..." Althea embraced the little one. "So, for now, try not to show it to outsiders, okay?"
The baby sniffled and eventually nodded. While it was unknown how much of that he actually understood....that was good enough for now.
Meanwhile, Pepper was chilling with her dolls, sucking on her specially designed pacifier —chup, chupchup—appearing to be well-behaved.
Well, she was, for the most part, but everyone knew that if she entered an exploratory mood, she’d be just as reckless (if not more) than her brother. At least Meatball made noise. If Pepper didn’t want to be found, many of them had to use a skill!
Of course, since she was behaving now, she naturally got compliments to reinforce the behaviour.
"Very good girl."
"Such a princess..."
"Oh my, Baby Pepper is so well-behaved!"
Chup, chup
The baby blinked, sucking on her pacifier, but she seemed pleased. Winona, who was next to her, couldn’t help but give her chubby cheeks a smooch.
Speaking of pacifiers, they have slowly reduced the use of them now, and she could probably use one for an hour or two accumulated every day. They should be gone by now, to be honest, so they were slowly changing things up.
Not to mention, since the two kids grew a little faster than their peers and even have two or three more little teeth than usual, they might even cut this off sooner.
The fact that they matured sooner, in fact, was the reason why the pacifier was still there at all. The babies knew how to hide them now!
At least someone from the pediatric department reassured them that with the babies’ physiques, the specially designed pacifier wouldn’t have long-lasting negative effects. The reduction of use was purely so the babies could get used to not having it.
Well, they were already looking for alternatives. For now, the baby was just too cute!
