Sol broke out into a cold sweat. He opened his eyes to see his mom still wearing her usual expression.

‘Huh?’

“Gahhh, you’re so talented.”

And with that, Nicky returned to gushing over her baby before placing him back into his crib.

Sol gulped down and finished the milk in his bottle. After Nicky placed him back down, Lucy started waving her arms back and forth.

“I just fed you.” Nicky tilted her head.

However, Lucy continued waving her arms

“What do you want, Troublemaker?” Nicky picked up Lucy.

Lucy pointed towards the door.

“Oh, you wanna go on a walk! Okay!” Nicky’s face lit up, excited that one of her kids initiated an interaction with her. And so, she was off, leaving Sol on his own.

‘Whatever, it’s not like I wanted to join anyways.’

Sol closed his eyes and went back to channeling his energy out of his soul core. Next, his body rose into the air half an inch and stayed in place. His face began to redden as he stayed suspended, and after a few seconds, he plopped.

‘Changing my own diaper is great, but I would prefer to use a normal toilet again.’

A tear formed in the corner of his eye, and he fell asleep.

Sol finished his milk again, and, on cue, Lucy began swinging her arms.

“Oh, do you wanna go back on another walk, Missie?” Nicky rhetorically asked while picking Lucy up and leaving the room.

‘Fine. I may be a bit jealous. No, nevermind. It’s just that being a baby is so boring!’ With a huff, Sol returned to his training.

Finished milk. Lucy flapped arms. The two ladies left.

‘Whatever!’ He trained.

Milk. Arms. Leave.

‘I don’t care!’ Train.

Then, after a week passed.

‘Fine! I’m jealous.’

Sol watched while Lucy was carried off by Nicky. He pouted. But instead of turning to his routine training, he stared at the ceiling. And stared. He didn’t want to fall asleep.

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‘It’s natural to not want to be the second favorite. It’s not that I’m jealous otherwise.’ He nodded along while he listed his reasons, and time continued passing as he stared at the ceiling.

‘What am I? A two-bit tsundere? I was serious, though, when I said being a baby is boring. Wait. Who am I starting a conversation with?’ Sol pondered briefly and theorized, ‘The stare perhaps?’

Finally, as the sun began to set, the door cracked open. Nicky walked back in with Lucy asleep in her arms.

“Oh, you’re still awake.” Nicky looked over with a smile.

Nicky walked over to Lucy’s crib and gently placed her down in it. She tussled her hair slightly and turned back to leave the room. But right before she was about to leave, she saw Sol sheepishly reaching his arms out and moving them.

Nicky let out an affectionate gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. She briskly walked over and scooped Sol up.

“Would you like to go on a walk too?” Her eyes glowed.

Sol timidly raised his finger towards the door, and with it, they were off. Once getting outside the door, though, they paused. Nicky looked down to him and waited before speaking up.

“Where do you want to go now?”

‘Now? Shoot. I haven’t thought this far.’

Sol pointed in random directions, leading them through the corridor, the kitchen, then out the back door. Outside, the sun was almost finished setting as the stars came out. Sol’s pointing hand slowly fell to his side as he was taken up by the scenery.

“Do you want to stop here?” Nicky watched Sol, but even as time passed, he remained silent.

She took a seat slowly to avoid disrupting his concentration. Not that she was sure if she could, even if she tried. Time flowed by while the stars became more visible, and eventually, even the galaxy was visible. The two stayed there in silence until, eventually, Sol fell asleep.

Nicky brushed his hair to the side, kissed him on the keppy, and brought him inside.

Lucy continued her schedule of flailing her arms while Sol maintained training as they left. He made strides in progress and also put some effort into waking back up at sunset. The cycle repeated itself until both of them turned three months old. And with the end of their third month came goodbyes.

“Thank you for allowing me to stay here, ma’am, but I should report back to my master.” Standing at the front door, Ella gave a deep bow to Nicky.

“No, thank you for helping out around the house and village. You’ve been a huge help.” Nicky raised her hands up awkwardly and abruptly continued, “Wait!”

Nicky quickly walked off and returned with Lucy and Sol in each arm. The two were rubbing their eyes, waking up from a nap.

“Ella is leaving now. Can you say ‘bye’?”

Sol let out babbles that started with “B” before mumbling off, while Lucy watched and followed suit. Seeing their efforts, Nicky gave them each a kiss on the cheek, causing them both to blush. Then, she set them both on the ground.

“Well, I’m going to have to help Ella with the guards, so you two behave while I’m gone.” Nicky waved and walked out with Ella.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Sol’s arms began to shake from just keeping himself on all fours. Lucy watched him struggle, then sassily turned her and began to crawl off.

‘Do babies learn to crawl this fast?’ Sol gave her a quizzical stare as she increased the distance between them. His mind went back to her previous accomplishments.

‘On second hand, maybe this is the most normal thing she’s done… Nevertheless!’

Sol put a determined look on his face, focused on himself, and began to lift up. He rose until Lucy was well beneath his feet and started slowly floating forward. His sweat rapidly formed and breathing hastened, but he soon passed Lucy.

Sol turned back and gave a condescending look down to Lucy. She replied with a mean stare but went back to crawling.

“Tah ah wah fa ma,” said Sol in a haughty tone, translating to, “That’s a win for me,” while he maintained his distance in front of her.

Lucy came to a stop and glared up at him again. Sol paused as well and gave a villainous smirk, looking down on her. But, suddenly, an explosive slamming sound came from the floor. The next moment Lucy was two meters in the air, her gaze matching Sol’s head on, and her fist wounded back.

‘Shit!’