[ Arc 01 ][ 06 ] The Homecoming
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For the next several days, Samuel constantly visited the hospital to pay Mike's and Grace's daughter a visit. With each passing day, she was showing signs of energy that any child shows right after being born. To feed her, the hospital had chosen to have another mother feed her because her mother was no longer there.

“She is energetic, and not crying much after we feed her,” the doctor explained to Samuel on one evening when he visited the hospital after work. “She must take after her mother because her facial features are like that.”

He nodded and responded with, “You’re right. It's… saddening that she is no longer here.”

The doctor smiled sadly and said, “I know the pain of losing a loved one, but this is the time to stay strong, sir. They wouldn't have liked it to see us looking like this.”

“Yes. You're right. My wife also said the same thing the other day,” he replied, smiling once more.

Seeing him smile made her feel relieved, and so she asked him, “That's good. Have you visited your friend as well?”

At that question, Samuel became saddened once more as he said, “My friend… Yes. I've been visiting him daily but… there hasn't been any change in him at all.”

As he had been visiting their baby girl on a daily basis, he had always been visiting his friend as well. He was hoping that their treatment was slowly getting Mike to put himself back together, but it seemed the damage done at the loss of his wife was far more severe than they had imagined.

“He's managed to stop saying her name, but he hasn't said anything else since,” the administrator that was overseeing his friend's treatment said to Mike, looking very sad.

Samuel nodded in understanding and replied, “Yes. I understand. Please, no matter how long it'll take, please ensure he returns to normal soon.”

“Certainly, sir. It's my duty!” The man responded proudly.

With that, the conversation was over, and Samuel would take his leave after seeing his friend's motionless figure one last time. As he recounted those events to the female doctor that was looking after their daughter, she nodded her head in understanding with a sad expression on her face.

“It's tragic how things played out,” she muttered, looking quite saddened by the current state of that family's situation. She looked at Samuel and asked, “What about the girl? Have you have any thought into what you will do for her?”

Samuel nodded and replied, “We've decided to raise her along with our son.”

The doctor looked very surprised and asked, “Really? I mean, you will look after her?”

He nodded and explained, “Yes because that was the original plan. You see, if things had gone right, we had wanted our families to live together, and help each other raise our kids because of how close we are.”

She smiled at his explanation and muttered, “Must be nice to have a friend that's very close to you.”

“Sorry?” He asked her, not making out what she had said.

“It's nothing,” she said to him with a smile. “Well, at least, your family will be together with the being that ties you and your friend's family.”

He smiled and asked, “Yes. So, when can we take her home?”

“In two-days-time,” the doctor said automatically, looking as if she knew he would eventually ask that question. “We're conducting some check-ups on her to make sure she is healthy and well fed so she can leave the hospital and go with you soon.”

“Two days?” He asked, looking suddenly excited. When she nodded in assent, he grinned and said, “Thank you! In that case, I'll come back in two-days-time and take her home.”

“Suit yourself to come anytime,” she replied with a smile, and he nodded at her looking very happy.

A while later, once he got home, he began calling for his wife by shouting, “Sarah! Sarah!”

She came hurriedly to him while carrying her baby son in her arms, looking anxious.

“Yes. I'm here! I'm here! What happened?” She asked him anxiously.

He met her with a grinning face and said, “I spoke to the doctor today, and she said we can take the baby home in two days’ time.”

The worried look in her face vanished and it was replaced with excitement as she asked, “Really? In just two days?” When he nodded at her happily, she let out a sigh and said, “Well, we better prepare clothes, and another swing for her.”

“Yeah. Well, I'll take leave from work tomorrow, and we can go buy the stuff she needs,” he replied happily.

When he said that, she suddenly hesitated and looked towards her son, whom she was carrying in her arms. She seemed to hesitate about something, and looked at her husband with the same expression.

“Um… He's still just a baby, and I can't just leave him home alone, and… I don't like the idea of putting someone to look after him when he has… us,” she said, finishing in a very simple manner while clearly expressing her worry.

“Oh. That's alright. I'll do the shopping. You just give me a written list of things to buy,” he suggested with a smile.

“That's a good idea,” she replied, grateful for his quick thinking.

Her husband moved forward and pinched the cheeks of his son before going off towards the bathroom located in the top floor to freshen up. Meanwhile, his wife looked at her son and spoke excitedly to him.

“Did you hear that? You'll be getting a new family member in just two days! Isn't that exciting?”

She did not expect her son to understand anything she just said, but she could not hide the happiness she felt inside. True enough, her son did not understand anything she said as he merely looked at her with a blank expression on his face. However, his mind was racing as he thought about the behaviour, and his mother's happy body language.

“They're excited about something,” he thought as it was very obvious. “I wonder what it is? Could it be that pregnant woman? Must be because I can't think of any other reason for them to be so excited about. Still, I'm happy to see my parents looking so happy after looking so sad for the past few days, which makes me wonder… what happened for them to look so sad?”

With nothing concrete to help him assist in answering that question, it simply hung in the air to be queried at a later time.

Thus, two days went by in a flash, and the day came when Samuel arrived at his doorstep carrying a small baby girl in his arms. The baby was wrapped neatly in many blankets to keep her warm and comfy against any temperature differences due to changes in their surroundings.

“We're home!” Samuel announced loudly with a broad grin on his face.

In response, his wife hurried out of their bedroom and smiled happily at the sight of her husband carrying a bundle of wrappings. As he entered the house, he gently passed the baby into the waiting arms of his wife, who was looking thrilled to be carrying the baby born from Grace and Mike.

“As I suspected! She has her mother's cute face!” Sarah commented happily, slowly rocking her arms sideways as the baby slept peacefully in her arms.

At the sudden movement, the baby woke up and slowly opened her eyes to look up into Sarah's face. Upon seeing someone she did not recognise; the child began to cry loudly much to their surprise.

“Woah!” Sarah exclaimed, looking amazed. She quickly acted by gently swinging her arms back and forth while speaking soothingly to the girl.

“There. There. It's okay now. I've got you. You're in good hands now. Leave everything to me.”

Her attempt to calm the baby down worked, and the child looked up at her with tears streaming down her face. Seeing this, Sarah quickly acted to wipe them away and smiled gently at her.

“I will not allow the daughter of Grace to cry! It doesn't suit such a wonderful face bearing your mother's features,” declared Sarah with a soft smile on her face.

The baby girl did not seem to understand anything she said to her, but she soon realised that these strangers had no intention of harming her. So, she calmed down and peered curiously into Sarah's face with an unblinking stare.

Sarah, upon seeing her quiet down and stare continuously at her, laughed and said, “A staring contest, is it? Sorry, but against you, I'll surely lose.”

“Oh!” Samuel exclaimed in surprise. He looked at the small child and said happily, “Guess you already defeated my mighty wife at something! That's impressive!”

“Don't be silly,” his wife said to him, giving him a sardonic look. “She's still just a baby. She's got to put a lot of work in if she plans to have the upper hand in this home as a female family member.”

Her husband laughed and said, “Don't put too much pressure on her, okay?”

“I was joking,” she replied to him while letting out a light chuckle. “I would never do anything bad against her! She is literally a spitting image of Grace! I wouldn't even dream of hurting her in any way.”

He nodded his head at her, smiling happily hearing his wife suggest, “Let's go show her to our son and see his reaction.”

“I bet he'll be shocked and might come to think he's gotten a little sister!” Samuel exclaimed, eager to see the reaction of his son.

So, the both of them walked into their room and sat down where their son lay on the bed. Before Samuel's arrival, Sarah was in the middle of playing with her son, who could only twitch around and make small inaudible sounds with his mouth.

“Look who's home,” she said cheerful, presenting the small baby in front of her son.

As expected, at seeing someone new surprised him, and he widened his eyes in alarm. Seeing that, his parents burst into laughter at Samuel's prediction came true.

In the meantime, their son was thinking, “Wow! A baby. This is probably why mom ran out of the room in such a hurry after hearing my dad call for her.”

When his parents started laughing after seeing his reaction, he immediately understood why and sighed to himself.

“Come on, dad, mom. Anyone would be surprised when they're suddenly presented with a baby out of nowhere,” he thought in an exasperated voice. “Anyway, whose child is this? Could it be the daughter of that couple I saw a while ago? Don't tell me something bad happened to them?!”

Since he could not see her parents anywhere, he realised that his guess was very accurate. It made him feel very sorry for her, and instantly became determined with what he should do in the future.

“I suppose now that she's here with my parents means that they'll be taking care of her. Fine! Little miss, I'm sure you'll be my sister, so I promise you right here that I'll be a good brother and will look after you properly! I swear it in… um… the presence of my parents!”

He was determined to fulfil the role he was so suddenly given. Meanwhile, his parents were discussing what name they should give to the both of them.

“The girl needs a name that's cute and charming,” suggested Sarah.

Her husband agreed and said, “Yes, and we'll need a strong and mighty name for our son.”

His wife raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is that necessary?”

“Of course!” Samuel replied firmly with determination on his face. I can't give my son a name he'll later scold me for because it sounds too weird!”

“Okay. Well, girls first,” said Sarah, and she winked at her husband.

The two of them pondered for a moment before she asked, “How does Luna sound?”

“It sounds both cute, and charming” he admitted, looking amazed. “As expected of you of course.”

His wife smiled proudly and said, “I'm glad you think so.” She looked down at the baby girl and said warmly, “Your name will from now on be Luna Pistam.”

The girl did nothing but stare back at Sarah at suddenly being the centre of focus. Suddenly, a smile formed on her face and laughed childishly.

“Oh! She loves it!” Sarah said happily, interpreting the sudden laughter to mean that. “Good girl! You're as smart as my son!”

Her husband laughed and asked, “Okay, but what about our son? What's his name going to be?”

She pondered for a moment before saying with a smile, “Alexander!”

Samuel felt like his head was blown away by the shocking name, and he asked his wife hesitantly, “Um… That's… a majestic name.”

“It once belonged to a single warrior that dominated the world with his talent and skills,” Sarah explained her reasoning without being asked. “I have this feeling my son is meant to do something great one day, so having that great warrior's name is an added bonus that'll give him a tremendous boost.”

She was looking very excited at the prospect of the name, to which her husband could only stare at her in amazement. However, he was worried that his son may end up facing some kind of danger by having such a daunting name.

Suddenly, his wife looked at him in an imploring manner and asked, “You don't like it?”

All negative thoughts about the name vanished from his mind with the cute imploring look she was showing him. He was weak to the emotional blackmail of his wife from time to time, but he did not care because of how cute his wife was when she did that.

“Okay! If you like it, I also like it!” He said finally, declaring his acceptance of the name. Turning it smile down at his son, he announced, “You shall be known as Alexander Degan.”

His son looked meekly at him, not understanding that his parents had decided the names for both him and the baby girl that lay beside him. None of them had any idea that many years in the future, entire armies would surrender and kingdoms would tremble simply from hearing his name. For now, the family was preparing themselves to lead a normal, simple, and happy life together, completely unaware of the impact their son would cause in society with his presence.

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