Eden tried to clutch his chest as his mind raced.
'Lab accident? Did I trip? What about my samples?'
He tried to reach out to something—anything—purely out of instinct. But moving felt incredibly difficult, as if his body were wrapped in thick resistance.
Then he realized something strange. It felt as though he was floating in a heated pool… or something even warmer.
Wait—
'I can't breathe?!'
Eden had no idea what had just happened. Somehow, something inside him insisted that he would be fine, but he couldn't move properly. It felt as if his limbs didn't belong to him anymore. The thought made him uneasy.
And then it got worse. Suddenly, he felt his whole body being squeezed tightly from above, the pressure starting from his head.
'Hey—hey—hey!'
He wanted to yell, but no sound came out. The pressure kept coming and going—tightening, easing, then repeat. And just when the pressure had once again easened up, just as he began to feel a small sense of relief, a sudden impact shot through his entire body, starting from his buttocks.
'Hey! That hurts! What are you doing?!'
"Hey, he's out! The baby is finally out!"
Someone spoke, but when she finally saw the baby's head, she knew something was wrong. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. She quickly pulled the baby out, slipped the cord over his head, and checked the cord for a pulse.
There it was.
Faint, but steady.
The umbilical cord was pulsing, which meant the baby's heart was still beating.
He was alive.
Relief flickered across her face, but she didn't stop. The baby's skin was pale and slightly bluish. She quickly rubbed his back and cleared the fluid from his mouth and nose to make him breathe.
"Come on, little one," she muttered under her breath.
"What's wrong with the baby? Why isn't he crying? He is too quiet, Theresia! I am really afraid that something is wrong with him!"
After those words, the noisy room turned gloomy.
"Dear, don't get up yet! Leave everything to Theresia. You haven't fully recovered!"
A man said anxiously, trying to calm her.
"Don't worry about it, Piana. Don't you remember? I'm a pro with babies."
Eden then felt that someone had just unwrapped him. Before he knew what they were going to do to him—suddenly, PAK!
Someone just giving him a little spanking.
'Aagh, that hurts!'
"Uwaaaah!"
"See? Nothing happened to your baby. Congratulations Bast and Piana, on your fourth child."
After she triumphantly said those words, the room exploded in cheers and tears of joy. The people in the room hugged each other and took turns comforting the mother.
"Hicks… hick… You did well too, dear!"
Questions rushed through Eden's mind. But in the next moment, he felt all of his energy rapidly draining away. Before he could even understand what was happening, he felt himself being wrapped again before he was gently put down on a bed.
Those were the last words he heard before he finally passed out.
One month later~
From what he could see, his body was no different from that of a baby from Earth. His chest inflated and deflated as he breathed, and even the reproductive apparatus was the same.
'Thank god I'm still human!'
What relieved Eden the most was that he had arrived here as a boy. It wasn't that he looked down on women, but having lived his previous life as a man, it simply felt more familiar.
'Hmmm... then, did this even count as reincarnation?'
To be honest, Eden was fairly open-minded about this whole "reincarnation" thing. It wasn't that he was so enlightened as to think life and death meant nothing, but the concepts of karma, rebirth, and the impermanence of death were not entirely unfamiliar to him.
Now, focus on the task at hand. Well, being a baby was very uncomfortable… too uncomfortable. Especially when you hadn't lost the memories of your past life.
It was horrible!
Eden was lying in bed. He really didn't want to eat, but he also didn't have the strength to get up or crawl away.
"What's wrong? Your face is red. Are you hungry?"
The gentle voice of his mother. She didn't really give him a choice, though, as she had already picked him up and carried him in her arms. Before he could protest, she gently guided him to her breast.
'Shit, this is really awkward… But she gave me life and I consider her my mother… more importantly, I'm hungry!'
So Eden's baby instincts forced him to eat…
'I want—I want milk. Suck, suck, suck… gugu gaga… damn it!'
That was his final thought before he started enjoying his mother's milk
Six months later~
Time went by. Eden spent his days observing the things around him. Being a baby, his days were peaceful but far from boring. He had no responsibilities; all he had to do was eat, sleep, poop, and make the occasional baby noises or grab fingers.
Thankfully, his eyes and ears could see and hear much better than when he was just born. Still, one lesson of being a baby with past-life memories: don't think too much. The more you try to think, the faster you get sleepy. It's like your tiny brain is "overloading," and your body is not developed enough to act on it.
Well, Eden did not care much, though. After all he was a baby now. That left him plenty of time to think about his future.
First things first: his name.
"Shad, you wanna sleep?"
"Aaaah!"
Eden was no more. Shad—that was his current name.
The woman embracing him now was his mother, Piana: a very beautiful woman with green eyes and long brown hair tied behind.
"Gugu~gaga~"
"Oh my, Shad, are you comforting your mommy now?"
The baby's babble seemed to have the power to heal. It warmed Piana's heart and cheered her up. She was a mother, and she had children. No matter how difficult it was, she had to keep going. She gently put him down on a simple wooden bed. Just as she was about to raise the quilt for Shad to sleep, a noise came from outside.
Piana couldn't help but ask, "Bast, are you back?"
But instead of hearing the voice of her familiar husband, a low voice replied from outside.
"Mom, can Zack and I come in?"
A young boy fidgeted awkwardly at the door. Ever since he'd heard from his Dad that Mom had given birth to a baby boy, he couldn't stop thinking about it. The tiny human who had wiggled around in his mother's belly was finally here!
He tried to peek inside, but it was too dark to see anything. He had no idea what his new little brother looked like, so naturally, he brought along his moral support. But in his excitement, this moral support accidentally knocked over a piece of wood by the door with a loud clunk.
"Oops… Mom, I want to see my… uh… tiny brother too!" Zakel whispered, following his big brother, just as curious as he was.
When Piana heard the voices of her two other sons, she sighed and said softly, "Come in."
Hearing their mother's permission, the two boys exchanged a glance. They inched forward only a little, their tiny feet tiptoeing. Every so often, Piana could hear their conversation.
"I hope little brother likes us…"
"But… but he's ours, right?"
"Yeah… but… what if he bites? Or… spits up on us?!"
Hearing her two silly sons, Piana rubbed her head.
Akeli was the oldest, followed by Zakel, the second. Just from their conversations, anyone could guess that both were… mentally ill.
Akeli was better, but Jakel was… well, worse. Piana often had to repeat herself: 'Kel, you have to work hard. Listen to your daddy, and don't wander around.' or 'Zack, you also have to listen to your daddy and big brother. Be good means a good meal.'
Under her subtle influence, aside from the fact that they had not grown up mentally, they were generally well-behaved. They listened to their parents and helped with the work, though sometimes it was a mess. More importantly, they were obedient and never hit anyone. Even if someone hit them, they would not retaliate. Because of this, they had been bullied several times.
Thinking of her two silly sons, Piana felt uneasy. Soon, they arrived beside their mother and lay down next to her to look at their new brother.
Shad, who was awake, also recognized them from the past few months. He watched as his two silly brothers approached him.
"Little brother is so cute. His eyes are like grapes. Grapes taste sour. What about his eyes?"
"..."
Had he not known his brother's condition, Shad might have thought they had lost their mind.
Piana said patiently, "Shad's eyes can't be eaten. His eyes are for looking at you. You have to protect them well. If you eat them, he won't be able to see you."
Akeli seemed to understand and grew anxious at the thought of his little brother not being able to see him. "T-then… Mom, tell little brother I won't eat them. Brother, brother, look at me! Look!"
Jakel didn't say anything at first, but he seemed to be thinking about what his big brother had said. Finally, he shook his head and added, "No… I won't eat them either."
Shad admired how effective Mother Piana's teaching was. Looking at the two brothers, he let out a long sigh, feeling a little sad for them. He screamed, "Ai—" and didn't forget to flash his best smile toward his two silly brothers.
Akeli and Jakel were delighted. They couldn't help but laugh at his antics, and so did Mother Piana. Her heart warmed. In that moment, she forgot her hardships and couldn't help but smile.
The four of them spent most of the day together—until, in the late afternoon, a robust voice called from outside.
"Piana, I am back!"