'As well as telling me that i had a place here'

After the ceremony, things around the house seemed to quiet down a bit. Everybody had gotten their fill of the blessed baby and not even my older brother, Gryn, brought friends over anymore. I got to spend much of this time by myself into my crib.

The crib, like most of the house, was a light colored wood but it was lined with soft fuzzy blankets and cushions. My room was actually kind of big, almost the same size as my old room back on Earth. However, instead of video games and a large TV on the far wall, i had shelves of wooden figures and hand drawn artwork.

In place of a bed, obviously, i had a crib and where i would have had a closet there was a large black wooden wardrobe against the wall. There were no dressers or anything else, but on the far wall between the art wall and wardrobe was a wide desk with storage trunks on either side.

I had absolutely no uses for any of this stuff at the moment, but at least i had it for when i needed it. In a world like this with magic and gods and undead, i can see myself freaking out over every shiny object i come across in my second childhood. More than likely I'll simply hoard useless objects.

For now, with a body currently incapable of proper coordination, all i could do was set to work on preparing myself. Even though i already had the strength to work my body, the body itself was not as willing as the spirit. First things first, i needed to do as all babies do and learn to roll.

Tossing and turning was way easier than i anticipated, but progress was hindered by the mounds of cushions and blankets around me. So, after my first successful rolls all the way around in either direction, i set to work on flailing. This was another important ability for babies, it helps us learn coordination as well as makes ordinary tasks harder for our parents.

I could stick my arms and legs straight out, but even with my innate strength my body itself was still pudge. Learning to roll my wrists and ankles was the best that i could hope for. My legs were so short that even thinking about bending my knees had bent my knees as far as they could go.

With a few days of hard effort and work under my belt, i received a startling reward. a notification of sorts from my system appeared before my eyes.

[Endurance Raised By 1]

Not only had my endurance increased after long hours of effort, but i had finally managed to start shrugging my shoulders and turning my arms properly. Not long after that, i was able to focus on flailing my legs. Within the same day, i finally had enough control to start kicking outward.

My parents were far from dumb, every time my mother would come in to check on or feed me she would reorganize the pillows and blankets around me while remarking about how hard i was working. My father had already made it clear that they knew i was coherent, she now made it clear she knew i was working on physical development.

Usually in the stories and shows, people try to hide their reincarnation until it becomes a problem or the drama is just right. I had slipped up and been figured out pretty much since birth.

While rolling about my crib for the next week or so, developing my core muscles like an ab fanatic, i began working on my face. I would rush through a range of expressions and clenches, ghoulishly isolating areas of my face and working all of the muscles that i could. Soon, i would begin talking.

My work in forcing my development seemed to do more than just exercise my muscles, by the end of the first month of my life i was almost five inches longer than when i was born and most of it was in my legs. At over two feet in length, i was pretty sure i was almost ready to start standing.

Even with all of my feeding and growth, my exercises had actually made me lose a pound. I did not know if this was a good or bad thing, since i could feel my body tightening and developing, but i was pretty sure babies should not be losing weight.

So, after that first month, i stopped my rolling exercises to focus on my facial muscles.

My father did not visit me as often as my mother did, he was often out working for a few days at a time before spending another few days at a time sleeping and eating. Every now and then he would take Gryn out for the day, usually to go hunting but often to go out to the markets. Now that Gryn had a baby brother, he was being taught his responsibilities.

During the second month of my life i reached a point where i could awkward blubber my ABC's, but without teeth it really was like relearning speech. I had expected speaking to be time consuming, but if i was already capable of screaming at the top of my lungs i should be able to scream words. All i could coherently do was go 'la la la' for now.

Finally came the day when i decided it was time to leave the crib on my own. It was early in the morning, mother had just fed me, and father had returned from work during the night. I was free for at least an hour.

Rolling over to the barred side of my crib, easily mantling the pillows in my way, I reach up to grab one of the bars. Even with only one hand it was but a simple task to pull my ten-plus pounds of tall baby body up onto its feet. Next came the hard part.

Reaching up to the top of the crib with my free hand, i quickly and quietly pull myself up to the top of the crib. In my head i had always imagined myself straddling the top of the side of the crib and slowly lowering myself down. In reality, only one let wanted to work and it was the wrong one.

If not for my Kung Fu baby grip, i would have fallen sideways and straight to the floor. Luckily, my hand holding the top of the crib never let go and i just kind of dangled there. For about a second.

Then my weight bouncing the side of the crib made its come loose and start to fall outward. Already dangling from the top, i rode the lowering side of the crib all the way to the ground where i was slammed down on my butt. For the first time in many days, i just sat there and started wailing.

If i could have, when my mother rushed into the room, i would have probably yelled at her about what kind of people would have a crib that opened like that. As it was, i could only point at the crib like everything was the crib's fault and wail about my sore butt. None of this was my fault, it was just the unfairness of life.

Mother swiftly scooped me up off the floor and began gently rocking me while softly hushing me with soothing words and assurances. It was honestly nice being a baby some times, after a certain point this kind of coddling comes to a stop. At least i was coherent to enjoy it in my second life.

Once i had been calmed and my mother could lay me back down, she briefly examined my bruised rear before the crib grew suddenly brighter and warmer from somewhere out of sight. As the light and warmth faded, so too did my pain. She just used magic on me AND I MISSED IT!

I had learned a valuable lesson from this endeavor. Not only was i physically unprepared but i was also too unaware of my surroundings. How have i been sleeping and shitting in the same crib and never knew it opened outward instead of lifting up?!

Sitting up complacently as my mother goes about cleaning the small mess i had made of unleashed blankets and pillows, i just sat and watched. This time, i was looking out for the fastens and hinges of the crib. This time, i learned where they were and how they worked.

Next time, things would be a hell of a lot simpler.

As my mother lifted me out of the crib and into her arms, i decided i would give up on trying to explore by myself for a little while. If i proved too independent, i might cause problems for myself. They already knew half my secrets, the last thing i wanted was for them to resent me for what little they already knew.

Mother carried me out of the room and then out into the front yard, after that. Finding a bench in the front lawn where we could sit in the shade of a tall flowering tree. The air smelled nice and a gentle breeze made the world feel cool and refreshing.

I had been in the front yard on several occasions, but never had i taken the time to just look around and enjoy my surroundings. The front yard was almost a third of an acre in size all by itself and was walled off by a tall wooden fence of beams instead of planks. Along the fence grew flowering hedges around which were small garden outcroppings of herbs and flowers.

Some of these plants gave off wave signatures like i did, telling me they carried magical or divine properties. There were several trees like the one we sat under scattered about the edges of the yard, but in the middle of the front lawn grew a small fruit tree that looked like citrus. This seven or eight foot tall tree carried an aura of energy almost as strong as the divine essence in the temple.

Some time after we had sat down and i started showing signs of boredom, my mother softly says, "Soon, little Chuck, you'll be able to go out and play and explore all you want. For now, though, just stay my little Chuck. Okay?"

I, for the first time, felt bad about the position i was in. I was somebody who already had a life to live and now i was here in their world living as their child. From the time i spent in the womb, i could safely assume i had been here the entire time, but did my being here steal from them the chance to have a real child?

More importantly, did they already know that i was not an actual child?

Craning my neck more than the average baby should be capable of to look up at my mother, i find her staring back at me with the calmest and most patient eyes i had ever seen. It was like her gaze was telling me that i had all the time in the world to figure out my place here. As well as telling me that i had a place here.

I could only wordlessly nod and look away as these sobering thoughts drifted about my mind.

*