A Baby On The Way

"Is mum... Pregnant?" Charles asked hesitantly.

"Hmm? Pregnant?" Darwin asked and turned to take a look at their mother. When he studied her for a few seconds, especially the way she seemed to be smiling down at her belly while slowly rubbing it, he lowered his mug of chocolate from his mouth slowly, his jaw slack.

"No way... Mom is... Pregnant?" Even Darwin was shocked. He definitely did not expect to see their mother pregnant at this time, especially since he was already approaching twenty years of age. He would basically be twenty years older than his youngest sibling if they were able to confirm that their mother was pregnant, but even without confirming, he was already pretty sure. After all, he still remembered how their mother would constantly smile at her belly while rubbing it affectionately like that back when she was still pregnant for the twins.

The two brothers just remained there, staring at their mother in a stupor.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" The voice of their father right behind them startled them out of their daze some time later. "That's why I married her." The man laughed. "Well, along with her angelic attitude." He added.

"Wh-what?" Charles stuttered, while Darwin choked on his now warm chocolate.

"You two make sure to take care of your mother this break, alright? She's pregnant for your little brother or sister now, so I hope you can help her out in the house when I'm out in the fields. We can't have her stressing out herself now, can we?" Donald smiled at his two oldest boys.

"N-no! Not at all!" The two boys responded at once.

"Good, now go play help your mom." Donald tilted his head in the direction of the house and the two boys raced there, eager to help their mother, while the man remained outside to play with the twins.

...

"Merlin, are you in?" A young boy with his arms full of books, called out as he tried to knock on the door before him.

"Aye, lad! Just push open the door. It's unlocked." An aged, but strangely, vibrant voice replied from the other side of the door. The boy sighed deeply and maneuvered the books in his arms to give him enough leeway to turn the knob of the door and push it open, revealing a large, but cramped room beyond.

"I'm over at the back." The old man, Merlin, spoke again. The boy made his way through the cramped room, over to the back of the room where Merlin was currently brewing a potion.

Around Merlin's figure was a couple of wooden tables, where scrolls and parchments of paper were spread out, depicting various diagrams and recipes.

"Ah, thank you, lad." Merlin smiled and raised his head from the pot of bubbling liquid that he was focused on a moment ago. His face was something that most people of power would recognize. After all, he was the Grand Archmage of the Kingdom of Skyhart. The only people who would not recognize him were those who were unable to interact with this powerful mage.

Surprisingly, this old, powerful mage was also the very same old man who had helped out with Charles' bullies earlier in the day!

"So, where did you go earlier this afternoon? I came around, but you weren't here." The boy, Arthur, asked as he set down the books onto a table with a rare, free spot on it.

"Hmm, I was just wandering through the Middle Circle, you know. Mingling with the people." Merlin grunted as he turned back to his bubbling potion. "Hand me the Star Grass." He stretched out a hand, and Arthur rushed to hand Merlin the bottle that had some fine grains of green sand. Star Grass, which had been ground to fine dust.

Arthur raised a brow when he processed Merlin's words. "What were you doing there? Searching for some trouble?" The young boy smirked.

"Pah! What kind of trouble can an old fogey like me stir up? Morning Dew." Merlin scoffed before calling out another ingredient.

"Hmm, I don't know? Maybe something good enough that can help you in your search for a Mage Apprentice?" Arthur replied as he handed the old man a bottle with silvery liquid inside it.

"Heh. You found me out." Merlin smirked and turned back to face his Alchemist Apprentice. "I smelled something strange in the air today and decided to investigate. Turns out someone with talent does exist in this city." The old man said.

"... You know there are lots of kids with talent, Merlin." Arthur rolled his eyes, slightly stumped.

"Meh, you know what I mean. None of them have that spark that I'm looking for. Luckily, I found a good one today." Merlin smiled mischievously.

"What did you do...?" Arthur asked hesitantly. He knew how crazy Merlin could be to further his goals when it came to finding an apprentice. After all, the crazy old man had nearly turned a nearby country over on its head just to get his hands on Arthur.

"Hmm? Nothing much. Just stopped him from being bullied, and then gave him a couple of presents." Merlin shrugged.

"Oh, gods of..." Arthur whispered before turning around and rushing through the room. He reached a certain corner and pulled out a few drawers, and when they came out empty, he let out a loud curse. "Don't tell me you gave him the Pearl and Egg?!"

"I did. Any problem with that?" Merlin asked as he walked around, looking through some bottles of strange materials. "Where did we keep the Gold Bee Dust?" He asked Arthur.

"Why are you asking me? You were the last person who used it!" The boy yelled back from across the room.

"Never mind. I remember where it is." Merlin shrugged off the boy's reply as he walked over to a shelf and pulled out a container of gold dust. He proceeded to let only a single, tiny grain of that gold dust drop into the pot of his bubbling concoction, before immediately taking a step back.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion that caused no physical effects rang through the room, but Merlin was already prepared, and had cast a couple of spells to nullify any damage that could be done to the room. He could not let any of his precious materials get damages, could he?