My mind blanked as I realized that the baby I was hearing might be me, especially since I felt a weird involuntary sensation in my body that might match up with the sounds I was hearing.

Wanting to test my theory, I gathered my thoughts, focused my mind, and tried to say ‘test’. Buuuutttt, it turned out I didn’t have very good control over my lungs or vocal cords…

“Appproberboo hipppppp”

My test... did not go as planned, and the sound carried on for far longer than I expected. But at least I’m pretty certain I felt myself making the sounds, even if everything going on in my mind and body right then was either chaotic or indistinct, or a mix of the two. Did this mean I had to re-learn everything about this body, how to move and all? Because yeah, that would suck.

Many of the sounds around me started to resolve into distinct voices, but it was hard to keep track of them and I couldn’t make anything out. At least the pain seemed to have completely faded, and I soon found myself getting more and more tired, but I did my best to fight off sleep until I knew what was happening. Opening up my eyes was out of the question; not only did I not know how, but the light in the room was blinding even through my eyelids.

I felt what I thought was motion and pressure as something suddenly changed. I felt warmer than before, and the dominant sound became one of the higher-pitched voices. I even felt a faint yet familiar rhythmic thumping in conjunction with the sounds, which was both familiar and comforting, and I felt my body relax as I finally felt like I had gotten something back that I hadn't even realized I was desperately missing.

As the adrenaline of being born wore off, was no longer able to fight off my mounting exhaustion, and my thoughts stalled on a final realization as I returned to the darkness.

A heartbeat... if I was a baby, the comforting thump must be my mother's heartbeat.

Seconds later, I was fast asleep.

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I woke up sometime later to a startlingly urgent sense of… hunger? Yeah, I was pretty sure it was partly hunger, but I also felt an even more immediate need that I couldn't identify yet. Either that, or worms were burrowing through my chest, eating me alive. Regardless, now seems like a great time to yell for help.

“Aawwwwwwhhhhhaaaaaaaa."

That time I was pretty certain the wailing baby sound was coming from me, and I would have been embarrassed if I wasn’t so damn desperate for sustenance. Moments later I heard voices and felt movement, followed by something warm being pressed to what I assume was my lips. I still didn’t have any idea how to control this new body, but lucky for me instinct took over. I didn't even care if I was being bottle-fed or not at first, although it did occur to me that sucking milk out of a strange woman’s nipple was rather discomfiting.

But screw it, I was hungry as heck and this didn’t taste half bad. Plus, didn't the CCEO mention reincarnation? So she wasn't exactly a strange woman then, right? If I was born again this was my mom.

That made it worse, somehow, and it wasn't long before I decided to never think of it again. I'm a baby, I have no control, and it's food. End of story!

Without going into too many details (and ignoring any ‘spit up’ mishaps that may have occurred…) my next few days (or hours? I couldn’t tell) went by in a blur. I rarely woke up for long enough to think straight, mostly going about my normal baby business. It was not entirely pleasant, but it wasn't terrible – I did find myself missing the before-time, when things like hunger, thirst, and diapers didn't exist.

At least I had the easy part of the job, compared to my new mom. No messes to clean up, no responsibilities, just eat, sleep, and... Anyway… long story short, things were not that bad, and they only got better and better as I adjusted to the new routine.

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Mom has purple hair. And I didn't mean dyed purple, it is straight down to the roots – even her eyebrows are purple! Not only that, but she has pointy ears that are prominently displayed by her crazy gravity-defying hairstyle, with her hair sticking straight up at the sky like some kind of Disney fairy. What the heck, am I an Elf or something? Other than that she looks human, at least. Quite pretty actually, with grey-blue eyes and delicate features. Great smile too, I mean heck, every time I see her she is smiling up a storm!

I had decided after the first few feedings to make a conscious effort to think of her as 'mom’, even though we had only met a short while ago (weeks or days, I couldn't really tell). I figured it would make this crazy experience a lot easier if I just bought into it and did my best to go play my role. It’s a struggle at times, but I was completely helpless (as I hadn't figured out how to move any part of my body on purpose yet) so I didn't actually have much of a choice. The best I could get, so far, is one of my arms randomly entering my field view now and then, but that usually happened when I was trying to do something else.

I had just opened my eyes for the first time a day before, but things were so out of focus that I couldn't really tell what I was seeing until much later, and even then things were still a bit out of focus once they got more than a meter or so away. I still hadn't seen what other people on this planet looked like; that is, assuming it was a different world from the Earth I knew. It did seem kind of obvious what with the hair and ears, but you never knew. Maybe mom was a cosplay freak and got body mods done in San Diego or something?

I also had no idea what she was saying when she spoke with me, so I assumed it wasn't a language was familiar with, but she talked at me all the time so I was hoping I could pick it up fast. Aren't kids supposed to be good at learning new languages? I just hoped it would still apply even though I was technically an 'old soul'. Hopefully, the local language wouldn't be too hard to pick up; I mean I managed to pick up Mandarin Chinese after living in China for a few years in my late teens and early 20s. I figured it couldn't be harder than Chinese, right?

Then suddenly a deeper voice rumbled across the room, causing me to start in surprise. Seconds later a blurry figure came into view, reaching down with massive hands to scoop me up. Woah, too fast, too fast! Mom started yelling at him, but he just responded with a deep rumbling laugh. Then I notice that there is something wrong when he moves me closer to the pink blob that I assume is his face – he had fangs! And I didn't mean small pansy vampire fangs, I meant meat-grinding carnivore fangs, like a bear! His jaw was massive too, with a wide chin that looked like it could crush rocks.

I saw a blur that I assumed was Mom hitting him (I heard muffled sounds like a fist hitting a punching bag) as he held me up to his face… no… towards his mouth! Was this the end? I was still too scared to even cry out, my eyes locked on his sharp-looking teeth. He hadn't even responded to Mom attacking him, but she soon stopped her assault and was just standing quietly beside us. Was that it, Mom? Try harder!

This time I was so scared I DID wet myself – but I’m not sure it counts, what with the lack of basic bladder control and all.

Then something unexpected happened. He kissed me all over my face, carefully keeping his teeth covered by his massive lips, then rubbed me against his cheek – ohmygod stubble burn, that hurt you damn oaf! I yelled at him to stop, which came out as a typical ‘wahhh wahh’ sound. I really had to learn to control these vocal cords…

Mom started yelling at him again, and he let out another rumbling belly laugh as he handed me over. She smiled at me and kissed me all over, then pulled down her shirt to stick a nipple in my mouth as she carried on yelling at the huge scary man. Had I mentioned his size yet? Well, it was hard to tell from my perspective, but he was at least two or three times wider than Mom, and tall enough that the top of her head didn't quite reach his shoulders.

I tried my best to keep a wary eye on him as I fed, but he just stood there chuckling, and I had a sense that he was looking at me. When he finally spoke I was struck with a sense of familiarity – I had heard that voice before, and quite often! And why did mom not care that she was baring her breasts in front of him?

Realization rapidly dawned on me as I put the clues together, making me gasp and start to choke on a mouthful of milk. Was this terrifying beast my dad!?