A few months later, my birthday came. For the first few months, I had an abnormally large appetite, which my parents noticed. I think I was going through withdrawal symptoms, but there's no way to be sure.
I was awoken by Father picking me up and setting me in a chair. "Adela and Delmor are coming, right?" He asked. "Yes, indeedy. Did you get Balere's cake yet?" She asks. He finished buckling me into my chair before looking down at me in silence. "Cake?" He ran out of the house, and my mother shakes her head in disappointment. "He was smarter before you were born, I promise."
She kneels in front of me and sets her head on the chair. "Are you excited to see your Aunt and Uncle? You might even get to meet your cousins today." She messed with my hands while she talked, seeming to calm her down. Is she stressed because it's my birthday? How did I comfort people in my past life..?
I smacked her hand three times before rubbing it five times. "Are you trying to comfort me? Thank you, I suppose. It is just getting a little hard handling you since you keep falling off of the couch and nearly breaking your arm." I gave her a confused look in response. I only did that three times, don't be ridiculous.
"What's worse is that you haven't started speaking yet. There are a few mothers nearby us, and their children have already spoken. You barely ever cry and you never scream, so I've started to get worried." I mentally sighed. I guess I have to make some kind of noise.
I made a grumbling sound with my throat... What the hell was that? I tried again, this time with my mouth open, but a gravelly groan came out. "Are you OK?" I began sweating. Can I not speak? I bit my lip and took a deep breath. I put my tongue on the roof of my mouth to make an 'N' sound. I managed to successfully pull it off. Mother began clapping as I struggled.
After making every sound a letter makes I nodded. "M... mama." My voice was that of a baby. Gross, my worst nightmare came true, I'm actually a baby. Mother instantly became elated and started clapping. She ran through the house laughing and clapping. I smiled at her because she seemed so happy. She looked a lot like Eliza, and maybe that's why I tried to even do it in the first place.
Father walked back into the house and was immediately hugged by Mother. "HE SAID, MAMA!" She yelled. He almost dropped the cake as she started jumping with him still in his arms. "Honey, that's amazing! Let me put the cake down, then we can celebrate."
They tried to get me to say it again, but I found it to be too much of a hassle. Soon enough, I heard knocks on the door so I pointed at it. When Mother opened, my aunt tackled her. "IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!' She yelled with her eyes closed. Is she dumb, or is she just pretending?
Behind her, my uncle and three kids entered the house. The oldest seemed to be around twelve, while the other two seemed to be four. "Rufus, can you help?" Mother croaked. Father tried to help but was unable. Finally, my Aunt got up and ran over to me. "Hey there, Balere. Do you remember your Aunt Adela?"
Finally, I learned my father's name; Rufus. I stifled a laugh at the word. His name means red, and he's a redhead? What kind of lazy writing is that?
"You just barely missed it, he just said his first name!" Mother yelled. "Oh my god! What was it?" I ignored their banter and looked back at my cousins. The eldest had brown hair like his father but had his mother's auburn eyes. The two young ones, who I assumed were twins, both had blonde hair with brown eyes.
The eldest came up to me and pushed up his glasses. "So, you're Balere, eh? I'm Dominic, it's nice to meet you," He said while grasping my little hand. If I had to guess, I'd say that this kid was cocky. Not just in his knowledge, but his abilities as well.
Everyone sat down at the table and started chatting. "Dominic just recently awakened," Uncle Delmore says, ruffling the kid's hair. "Oh? That's amazing! I wish either of us were mages, then we wouldn't be living in this crappy town," Father complained. "Don't you have a mage in your family though?" Aunt Adela asked. "Technically, yes. But Bruno doesn't associate with the family anymore... Anyway," He says, getting away from the topic.
Uncle Bruno? I'm getting flashbacks to that one kid's movie. After they all ate, my father placed the cake in front of me. They all sang the song and clapped when I blew the candles out. I was given a piece of cake, which I took gleefully accepted.
Alas, I could only finish half of it before growing drowsy. "Looks like it's time for Balere to go to bed. I'll go put him in his crib." Father stood up and picked me up. He laid me down in my crib before looking down at me and smiling. "Adela sure is a lot, isn't she?" He asked rhetorically. Didn't I know it? She reminds me of a child who had too many cupcakes. "She's always been like that, although, I'm not sure why." He sighed and looked at me in silence. "Can you say, papa?" He asked after a moment.
Is a child saying words really that important for people? I swear this is so strange for me. No one would get excited if a grown man said someone's name in my past world, but it seems like that doesn't apply the same to babies.
After sighing mentally, I sat up and looked at him. "P... papa?" I pretended to struggle. His eyes lit up and he gasped. He smiled brightly and kissed my forehead before walking out. I could hear him bragging to my family about it, which made me laugh.
It was weird how I couldn't talk at first. Was it because it was the first time I tried to speak, or because I had problems with my vocal cords? I'm sure it doesn't matter, not now at least. That's a problem for future Balere. I guess I'm used to my new name. Although, I never was used to being called by my name from the past world. I was always called Ponyboy, and I introduced myself as such.
I laid back down and rubbed my eyes. Stupid baby hands, too small to do anything at all. Well, seems like I'll have a good night's sleep, at least.
Another month passed, and I could tell I started growing, even though it was slow. I started walking and my parents were so proud. I barely ever spoke on purpose, not wanting another mishap with my voice.
I was walking around the living room when I heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" My mother walked over to the door and opened it. A tall man stood in the doorway with an intimidating face. "Kasan..? What're you doing here?" Mother asked. "I was in town and I just wanted to come to check in on you and Rufus. May I come in?" Mother nodded, and the tall man entered the house, letting me get a better look at him. He had dark skin and a bald head. His azure eyes greatly contrasted his appearance, making him seem weak in a way. He wore leather armor that covered his torso, and metal armor pants. His arms were riddled with scars, while his head had one scar going down his right eye.
"Who's this little kid?" He asked, crouching down. "Oh, this is our son, Balere. Come over here." I walked over and stood in front of the man. He's very intimidating. "Hey there, kiddo!" He ruffled my hair. "Adeline, you have one cute kid!" He laughed. Ah, so my mother's name is Adeline. Both her's and my aunt's names mean nobility if I remember correctly. "He is very cute. He hasn't made anything easier, though."
"Kids never make anything easier," He said before standing up. "He's fallen and almost broken his arms multiple times, making us use up your crystals." I groaned mentally. THREE TIMES, WOMAN! Wait, did she say his crystals?
I pointed up at him and tilted my head. "Mage?" I croaked. "Oh, you can talk!" He yelled, "Yes, I am a mage. I use healing spells to make crystals for your mother." Mother tilted her head. "How did you even learn that word? I suppose your father might have said it once or twice..."
"Speaking of, where is Rufus?" He turned to her. "He's working with the town's blacksmith. When we moved here, that's what he decided to do for his occupation. He wasn't good at first, but he's gotten much better recently." She quickly moves to the kitchen. "Him? A blacksmith? I wouldn't have ever guessed he would do that." She laughed. "I know, I know."
The two sat down at the table and talked for about an hour. "So, Balere doesn't talk much?" He asked. "Not really. Only when he needs to get our attention, which doesn't happen very often. The weirdest thing is that he croaks the words out. I worry that he is ill," She said, looking down at me on her lap. "Do you want me to give him a check-up?" He offered.
Before I knew it, I was sat on a chair as this mysterious man looked down my throat with a wooden stick on my tongue. "Say ah for me," He said, his finger glowing to see. I made the sound, which sounded like an out-of-tune frog trying to seduce another frog.
He took the stick out of my throat and rubbed his chin. "I can't tell if anything is wrong with him, but if I had to guess, his vocal cords are messed up in some way." My mother clenched a rag tightly. "Is there anything we can do to help him?" She queried. "I can try and get some crystal water, which might help, or surgery." I sighed mentally at this. It seemed this really was a problem for future Balere. "We can't afford either option..." I looked up at her and saw tears forming in her eyes. I stood up carefully and held her leg. I patted her three times, then rubbed her five times, and then repeated the cycle.
"I can supply you with crystal water. I am his uncle, after all." I stopped and looked at him. How in the ever-loving hell is he my uncle? Mother laughed quietly and picked me up. "You and Rufus may have grown up together, but that doesn't mean you're his uncle."
"Honey, I'm home!" Father walked in and sighed. "Those stupid guards keep breaking their swords, so we keep making them new swords. They're always such a—" He's cut off by Kasan, "Holy crap, will you shut up?" He playfully groans. "Kasan? What're you doing here?" He asked, hugging the man. "I just stopped by and met your son. By the way, he is the cutest baby I have ever seen." Father laughed.
This is just going to be boring. I waddled over to my parents' room and walked toward the bookshelf. I stood in front of it looking up. One of these days I'll learn about this world, one of these days. I sighed and turned to leave, but instead saw my mother. "Looking at books?" She asked. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there and stared blankly at her. "I guess you don't know what these are, do you?" She pulled one out of the bottom shelf. She opened a random page and began reading aloud.
"Laupor was founded a long time ago and is mostly ruled by humans. Although some beastmen live in the kingdom, they are... treated differently," She dodged the word discrimination. "I guess this book may be a little too advanced for a little boy like you." I had grown drowsy as she talked, so I laid my head on her knee. "We can continue another day," She rubbed my head.
I was put in my crib and I slowly drifted to sleep.