"Hmm." Althea hummed. And although her tone seems non-committal, her bright eyes expressed her firm belief. Then, she turned her head to the older woman. "I'm glad you're here, nanny."
Althea said so sincerely. Now that their parents were dead, her husband was also missing, and her brother would inevitably have his own life…, she didn't know what would have happened if Nanny wasn't here.
The older woman smiled warmly.
It was at this time that they heard the sound of the front door unlocking. They simultaneously turned their heads to look at who entered, and they ended up seeing a familiar redhead smiling at them.
"Sister, Nanny."
Althea's eyes warmed at the sight of her brother. "Ansel? You're back," she said, finally putting down her small feet to give the newcomer space to sit next to her.
Ansel naturally sat down next to her, handing her the small box of snacks he brought for her.
He had grown his dark red hair a little below the ear. A few buttons were also left open to show off his collar, and his overall temperament emitted a playboy charm.
Of course, this was for outsiders. In front of her, her husband, and Nanny, he just looked like a childish little boy dependent on his older sister.
"Good morning sister." He grinned, showing his perfect teeth. "Long time no see~"
Althea laughed at him, habitually patting his hair. "You were here two days ago."
"Forty-eight hours, to be exact." He said childishly, squeezing his voice a bit.
Althea helplessly shook her head as she looked at the cute snacks he brought with him.
It was a box of varied fruit pastries that she liked. It happened that it went well with milk. She hurriedly ate one and took another with her other hand, familiarly putting one in Ansel's mouth.
He naturally opened his mouth to take it, looking like that cute little hamster that he was when he was a kid.
Ansel might be her adoptive brother, whom she had grown up with since she was around 9 years old, but they were closer to being real siblings than other blood relatives.
After all, they—including her now-husband—had been through precarious situations together as children.
It was this event that made Ansel imprint on her a bit, and he often acted like a child around her (to her husband's great disdain).
Looking at him opening his mouth again for another snack, it was obvious that growing up so big didn't do much with his maturity.
It was much like how former high school classmates, even after decades, would act like teenagers again when they were together at a reunion. Ansel would act like a kid when he was around her. It didn't matter if he was ten or twenty years old.
She looked at the next cute pastry that she got her hands on. It was a cute little smiling cartoon dog. She couldn't help but chuckle.
"A store opened so early?" She asked as she placed it in her mouth. She took a quick glance at the floating digital clock above the television. It wasn't even 8 a.m. yet.
"Well, the owner is an ex." He said, shrugging.
Althea rolled her eyes. This guy changed girlfriends every few weeks. His exes could literally line up along the neighborhood. More than once, she and her husband saw him making out with a different girl around the house.
Nanny (who was now rolling her eyes) had nagged him about it every day. Of course, depending on the vulgarity, her husband would sometimes drag him off to 'train' (e.g. beat him up) in the backyard afterward.
She tried to remember what 'independence-strengthening' activity she threw him to before this started but she couldn't figure out how he turned out to be such a player. Fortunately, all his exes were mysteriously still his (platonic) friends, otherwise she'd have beaten him up herself.
Sensing her judgemental stare, Ansel shrugged. "I can't help it; I'm too charming."
Instead of dignifying him with a response, Althea just wore an exaggerated disgusted expression and patted her stomach, as if comforting them. "Don't look down on your uncle too much," she told her unborn children, "He just lacks attention."
Ansel fake-gasped and held his heart as if in pain. He leaned over to whisper to the bulging stomach. "Your uncle is too charming, he can't help it. Here, let me bless you with my amazingness.
"My little nephew and my little niece. Are you behaving well today?
"Uncle already bought you toys…"
"Uncle…" Ansel continued on his soliloquy and Althea rolled her eyes.
"Stop teaching them bad things. Prenatal education is too important. You know, Mom once said—" Her voice was cut off as a thought came to mind: It would be so good if their parents were here.
She felt a little emotional to the point that she teared up a little. Damned pregnancy. Making her think of weird tangents. Again.
But alas, the hormones couldn't be controlled. "Mom... Mom used to say that my birth parents must have given me the best prenatal care since I turned out so well."
Ansel frowned, his goofy expression morphing into a serious one. Althea was sad, but Ansel's heart was torn to pieces. Those were his biological parents after all.
The three of them, along with Nanny, didn't speak for a while... letting a moment of silence pass by in remembrance of the loved ones they lost.
...
Ansel's parents were both very kind people. Mom was a professor of History at a top University, while Dad worked at a pharmaceutical company as a top researcher.
They gave all three of them the best they could provide, whether it was material things or love. Unfortunately, they were some of the people who perished during the weird radiation wave that shook the entire globe, taking down the plane they were in.
It was one of the tens of thousands of planes that were flying at that moment. It was also the first sign that the sun was dying quicker than expected, although it wasn't announced to the public at the time. Althea had always felt that her husband's top-secret mission was related to this event.
After some time, Althea calmed down and wiped her eyes, feeling guilty for reopening the wound. She pursed her lips and looked at her brother, realizing he was wearing a formal attire. "The deal is today?"
Ansel paused for a bit before nodding with a weak smile. He took the change of topic in a stride. They were very used to Althea's mood changes. At first, it made him panic when she suddenly sobbed, but at some point, he just learned to live with it and not let the stress kill him.
"Yes, and they even increased their order," he said. Althea nodded. She and Ansel started their own company two years prior, with her as the source of technology and formulas and him as the management helm.
She always had a special affinity for plants since she was a child. She not only liked growing them but she was also fascinated by their effects and combinations.
She often poisoned herself by accident because of this and was frequently at the hospital.
If she wasn't so young (and cute, according to her husband), the orphanage's headmistress would've kicked her out for all the excess spending…
Anyway, one day (during her probably 37th time at the hospital due to poisoning) a visiting doctor happened to see her by chance.
He was very amused when he found out about the cause and effect and gave her a huge encyclopedia of Terran plants, their effects, and their effective combinations.
She later found out that the old man—may he rest in peace—was one of the few pioneers reviving a branch focusing on botanical medicine, and he was at the hospital for a check-up when they first met.
Had Ansel's incident not happened when it did, it was estimated the old doctor would have adopted her instead. Still, they had been in contact until his death a few years back. With his backing, Althea's career in the field could be said to have risen like a rocket.
While it was a little controversial, she showed that she deserved such help, showing great talent in the field. She started specializing—and excelling—in the Biology and Botany fields as soon as she entered college at the age of 17.
Now, she took her thesis project, along with a few other formulas, and formulated beauty formulas and health products.
In the past two years, she had come up with formulas to treat acne scars, improve stamina, improve eyesight, and improve the smoothness of the skin.
Their parents were supportive and used their life savings to invest. Except for the villa they were living in—which was an inheritance from her mother's family—they had pretty much sold everything else.
Fortunately, the products took off months before their death so their parents were at least rest assured that they would be able to do well when they were gone.
She knew her parents very well: even in their deaths, they would definitely be thinking about the three of them.
Just a pity they wouldn't be able to see their grandchildren. They have been looking forward to it even before she got married.
"This deal would make us a lot of money," Ansel said, pulling her back to the present. He looked smug, causing her lips to twitch.
The deal Ansel was referring to was with a country South called Delo Country. It was a closed country that refused businesses abroad.
This was their second big client next to the military, a deal that had given the company quite a bit of prestige. It was not illegal in their Eden country to deal with these people, so she had no qualms about this deal.
If anything, because it was a bit secretive on the other party's side, they were willing to pay twice the market price for it.
"Although it's just a small partial payment for now, I'll definitely get even better deals," Ansel said with confidence. She nodded, knowing his capabilities quite well. "When is your flight?"
"In a few hours…" He said, tentatively looking at the time. He then turned his head back to look at Althea, opening his arm for a hug. "Anyway, time for me to go now~"
She naturally entered his arms. "Be careful."
"Of course, I quite like my life," he said with a cheeky grin.
Althea laughed as she separated from him, patting his head again. "Good for you," she said, and she watched him go out to the lawn and into his unnecessarily large car.
Before the gate closed, Ansel opened his window to wave at them one last time. "See you soon! Sister, Nanny!" he said, before finally driving away.
Only... it wouldn't be as 'soon' as they'd like.
…
That afternoon, after receiving a call from Ansel about his safe arrival, pregnancy lethargy attacked.
"You should take a proper rest in your bedroom," Nanny said, gently patting her awake. She blinked, realizing that she had snoozed a bit on the sofa.
"Hmm... I should," she said, lazily sitting up and stretching her arms as far as she could. The movement messed with her hair and Nanny fondly combed it down with her wrinkling hand. "Hm, I'll prepare you dinner so you can eat when you wake up."
"Okay, thank you. Goodnight, Nanny." She said, voice lovely and sweet, making the old woman chuckle in response.
"Goodnight, Miss."
Althea went to bed to take a long nap, and it was fine for a while. She even dreamt about her childhood with her husband. She was running after him in their game of tag, and—as always—he'd find a way to let her win.
However, just before she caught up to him, she was abruptly woken by a mysterious force that she couldn't describe. It was like there was an earthquake, but only the air shook.
She sat up so quickly that she felt dizzy. Closing her eyes to calm her nerves, she looked around to see what woke her up.
Confused, she opened her phone to look at the time—8:34pm—and quickly realized that there was no signal.
Before she could make sense of anything, she heard toe-curling screams outside—coming from different directions.
An odd feeling of foreboding crept up her spine. She immediately got out of bed, and she ran to the only other person in the house, hand unconsciously on her stomach as she moved.
"Auntie? Are you all right?" She asked, gently knocking on the door.
As she did so, she could hear weird scraping sounds followed by a low growl. She worried for Nanny, but her instinct told her something dangerous was in there.
She looked around to find anything she could use. She saw a broom resting against the wall, and she decisively grabbed the shaft. With a deep breath, she placed her soft hand on the handle and turned the knob to open the door—
Only to see a weird but familiar-looking creature standing in an odd posture, body parts bending at weird angles, and skin festering with pus.
It heard her arrival and turned, and her green eyes met with its lifeless ones. Bile rose up her stomach, but she pushed it down because it was at this moment that she realized who it was.
Her heart dropped and her soul shook. Tears welled in her eyes as her body shivered in trepidation.
"Nanny..."