Chapter 4: Expectations

After chatting with the priests, Brutus felt skeptical about what seems to be nonsense that the priests were spouting. But none of that matters anymore, because the child was born and everyone was alive and well. 

cradling the sleeping baby, Brutus was really lost on what to do at this moment. Usually, this was a job his wife would take care of, like last time. But right now his wife is asleep as well. 

Oh well Brutus thought, as he gently placed the baby into the crib. After the priests left, sat there unsure of what to do. Looking at the baby, once again Brutus felt another sense of pride. 

*creeek* 

A five years old boy with pale white skin, fluffy red hair, and big bright eyes filled with excitement could be seen peeking through the slightly open door. This made Brutus laugh out loud.

"Come here, Tick. come check out your new younger brother," Brutus said while gesturing for his son to come along.

Tick Hayes quickly burst through the door, and ran next to his dad and stared amazed while at the napping baby. 

"You're gonna be an older brother soon, you know what that means right? You need to train hard to set a good example for your little brother and protect him!" Brutus said, chuckling and patting Tick's head. 

"I will!" Tick exclaimed with sudden determination and ran out grabbing his sword and swinging with newfound motivation. 

Brutus smiled as he watched Tick sprint out. Turning back around and to look at the baby, he thought to himself, hmm, what should we name him? 

Glancing back at the unconscious Iza, he caressed her long red hair thinking it was better to wait and make the decision later.

OOOOO

three hours later

Iza woke up, blinking a couple of times confused on what was going on. But everything came back to her when she felt the sudden pain. She saw someone sitting on the bed next to her, looking at the baby inside the crib thoughtfully. 

"Brutus…" she whispered.

Brutus turned around and smiled, "Ah, honey, you're awake." Then he carried the baby and showed it to his wife. His wife slowly sat up, already recovering quickly, and held out her hands reaching for the baby.

"What should we name him?" Iza asked, and they both started contemplating. 

Just then, the baby with his eyes closed clenched his face, as if he had just experienced a nightmare. The face was so funny it made both parents laugh out loud… wait, laughing? 

To laugh! Brutus thought as his expression brightens up even more. "Let's call him… Isaac!"

Iza, ofcourse, felt the connection as well and said, "That's a great name, hun."

Brutus' smile grew wider as he murmured, "Isaac, Isaac Hayes. this is perfect!"

OOOOO

two days passed

Isaac had woken up after sleeping for a whole day. He still can't really see, but what surprised him the most was finding out that his name was similar to the name he had back on earth. Could it be a coincidence? 

Either way, currently Isaac is starving himself. There's a very straightforward explanation for this. He doesn't wanna get breastfed, like at all. Remember, he was a perfectly normal adult before he died. This was unacceptable, Isaac has made up his mind, preparing to die for the second time if his parents don't find another solution to this problem. 

On the other hand, both parents have been increasingly worried, wondering what was going on. They reached out to the priests again to find a solution. But this time, the priests just shrugged it off telling them to just find a different way to feed the baby.

After racking their brains together, Brutus designed an object using wood for feeding the baby. They weren't sure if this would work or not, but surprisingly it did. This was good. The baby was being fed and not hungry anymore, however this was pretty depressing to Iza as well. This was because the special bonding between the baby and the mother was gone, unlike the first child.

The past two days were hellish. Even without eyes, it seemed like the baby was trying to push the food away even when Iza put it right in his mouth. It was so different from Tick, she became really stressed trying to feed Isaac. He even cried when she tried to feed him. The strange thing was, he doesn't seem to even care when he poops or pee himself. 

Ofcourse, Brutus was scared as well. He knew that Iza was facing some problems but just didn't know how to help out. Tick being a good big brother checks up on Isaac once in a while as well. 

OOOOO

a year passed

Isaac had been slowly growing accustomed to the environment and everything. And though barely understanding, Isaac is slowly learning how to read and understand words thanks to his mother reading him bedtime stories all the time. That's the good news. The bad news is how Isaac is slowly losing it. He's getting super annoyed to sleep and eat all the time. He wants to exercise, read, or just do anything instead of barely being able to move around and looking at the ceiling. 

But overall, he had lots of time to think and plan out his future now that he found out about magic and how different this world could be. Isaac learned a lot about his family as well. His new family seems to be quite small, consisting of his grandparents, his parents, and his brother. 

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

~ISAAC's POV~

My father, Brutus Hayes, seems to be very strong, kind and dependable. At the same time, he seems to be very busy all the time as well. He really cares about his family, doing everything he can for the family. It's not even an exaggeration. We aren't nobles, yet we live pretty decently. But recently we're running out of money and food. My father went everywhere and did dangerous guild quests and had exchanges with mercenaries just to feed us or so I've heard from the chat my mother had.

Now, speaking of my mother, Iza Hayes, she's one of the few most affectionate people I've ever met. I guess she's just being a good mom, but still, mother is too mature. When I say mature, I mean like she doesn't get surprised by anything, always calm no matter what news. I bet even if something is going on inside, My mom wouldn't show it at all. Evidently, whenever I take a dump, she always skillfully changes my diaper while humming after she finds out.

On the other hand, my big brother is the strangest one of us all. He's constantly active, playing around, eating, sleeping, more running around and the cycle repeats nonstop. Just looking at him makes me tired, so why is he never tired? But anyway, he's always very cheerful which is pretty uplifting. 

Other than these three family members, I know I also have a grandfather who is a merchant or something. I'm not too sure what he's like, but he sounds adventurous.

Back to my topic, I've actually been working pretty hard, though not making much progress. That said, the words on the books all look like gibberish, however I could now walk and exercise a little. 

Right now, I'm really trying to stay steady with my grip on this pencil. It's really hard to hold and write, even with both hands. I really want to make a diary, or like a memory storage. I should write down as much as I can before I forget anything important from the past. 

Say, what if otherworldly people, transmigrated or reincarnated just like me. That would be quite scary, but I hope to leave them a guide nonetheless. And hopefully find me before I die. 

I rolled around and glanced up at my mother. She's knitting saddles and looking after my brother. hmm. Yeah, I don't think my family has one of those people. 

Back to the topic, I'm so frustrated. I can't write, I can't draw. The lines go all shaky. Magic… I wish I could use magic like my mother. sigh. I'll give up on this for now, though I'm still improving.

Now next thing on schedule, I waddled to one of the few children books we have in our house.

My current goal.

 I need to learn to read. 

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

(beep)

INFO/STATUS:

NAME: Isaac Hayes

RACE: Human

AGE : 1 

AFINITY: None

SKILL: None

TITLE: 

STRANGE BABY {epic}: [Barely escaping death when being born] strangers now find you weird. Increase the chance of them distancing themselves from you. Permanent

BIG BRAIN {rare}: [Training and improving your memory and observation skills for a whole year] Great dedication. Try figuring out something for a whole hour straight. You'll figure something out.

(beep)