4 A New Baby

A screen flashed in front of Zell's eyes, visible only to him. It appeared as if it were glitching, where numbers were supposed to appear only rapidly changing symbols appeared. Every single attribute was a glitch, nothing showed him a number, not even his level at the bottom. Due to his high intelligence, he surmised this was not a common occurrence and felt that it would be best to keep it a secret.

"No father, I'm afraid that they are not in the teens." Zell told his father, not exactly lying. "I am sorry if I disappointed you. I know how much you wanted me to be special."

"Son!" Kelbor cried out. "You are special my boy, I don't care if your starting attributes aren't insanely high, only that you are my son! Besides as the son of a dukedom your life is essentially all parties and relaxing. Our kingdom hasn't had a war in ages, and your peace-loving uncle will do whatever it takes to keep it that way."

Zell smiled; his high charisma stat has caused his father to believe him despite all the evidence to the contrary. "I am glad you feel me to be special father, however I still feel as if I disappointed you." He said softly.

Elenore was walking to the study and heard Zell's comment. She immediately popped her head in the door. "Dear are you shaming our son with your insane expectations?!" She said with an ominous tone in her voice. "I told you it doesn't matter if he has high stats or not! He is our son and that's all that matters! All you have talked about for the past five years is I can't wait to know my Zell's stats. I just want to know how strong my boy is. I just know my boy is the best there is and I can't wait for the proof! On and on you droll on about it! You set up unachievable expectations and you got upset! You know that only one baby in a thousand years has ever been born with superior stats! That just doesn't happen and now you have upset my baby over it!"

"Mother it's fine really." Zell said, trying to calm his mother down.

"No, it isn't Zell!" Elenore chimed back. She entered the room, waddling because of her fully pregnant belly. "If your father doesn't learn his lesson here and now your baby brother or sister will have to go through the same heartbreak, and I am not letting him do that to all of my children!"

"Please calm down dear, it's not good for the baby." Kelbor said while walking slowly over to his wife. "Why don't you sit, you need to get off your feet."

"Don't tell me what to do!" She snapped back. "It's your fault I'm like this!"

"But dearest you said you wanted another child." Kelbor tried to reason with his wife.

"It's still your fault." She replied. "You should know better than to try and blame me for your foolishness! Now go get me a drink. I'm thirsty, all this yelling has parched my throat."

"Yes, dear I will call for a servant right away." Kelbor said.

"No, not a servant." She replied. "You get me a drink and bring one back for our Zell as well. I wish to speak to my son."

"Yes dear, right away." Kelbor said while rushing out of his study.

"Come sit next to mommy Zell." Elenore said with a smile as she patted the seat next to her.

Zell walked over and sat next to his mother. "So, what did you want to talk about mommy?" Zell said.

"Please don't take your father seriously, he is full of bluster and not much else." She explained. "You are fine the way you are, and it doesn't matter if you have amazing stats or not. What matters is you are my son and that is all that matters. If you have a problem, mommy will fix it for you. You don't have to be strong or wise because mommy will always be here for you."

Zell reached over and hugged his mother. He learned at an early age to not apply any pressure whatsoever as to not injure anyone. Through his efforts as an infant, he even had a skill activate called Limited. The skill allowed him to use only a small percentage of his strength, but even at one percent he still found himself to be much stronger than those around him, so he was always careful. "Thank you, mommy." He said during his hug. "I feel much better now, when is my baby brother or sister coming?"

"Any day now dear." She said while rubbing her belly. "The doctors have been on standby all week. I just know they will be coming soon.

"I can't wait to meet them." Zell said with a smile.

Kelbor returned to them with drinks in hand. "Here you are dearest. I have some juice for you and our son." He said as he passed out the drinks. "So did you all have a good chat?"

"We did." Zell said with a smile. "Mommy is always the best."

Kelbor felt like his son just stabbed him in the heart with that comment and smile. "I'm glad."

"Dear." Elenore said as she reached down and placed her juice on the table. "My water seems to have broken, please go get the doctors." She paused for a moment. "Now!" She shouted.

"It's time?!" Kelbor shouted and he ran out of the room. "It's time!" He could be heard yelling throughout the halls.

"I guess today was the day, huh mommy?" Zell said to his mother, now holding her hand trying to help ease her pain.

"See dear, they heard us talking about wanting to meet them and they decided they wanted to meet us too." Elenore said while grimacing from the pain, but trying her hardest not to yell, fearful that she would scare her son.

The doctors rushed in and began the preparations immediately. "We will take it from here young master, have no fear you will have a new playmate soon." They said as they began to sedate his mother with their magic. "And we are going to take diligent care of Lady Elenore. There is nothing you need to worry about. Please go wait in the hall or garden."

Zell left as Kelbor rushed back into the room, frantic that his new child was about to be born into this world. Elenore's labor was a success, and she birthed a beautiful baby girl they named Rose, after Elenore's favorite flower.