Birth is usually a joyous occasion. It was the arrival of another human on the planet, and the arrival of an offspring to Mai. Even better, it was a son!
But then, she saw the midwives carrying the baby frowning and shooting her concerning glances. Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly asked. "What… is there anything wrong?"
The head midwife, a woman who looked to be in her forties, shook her head. "There isn't anything wrong per se… but…"
She showed the baby to the panicking woman, causing her to fall silent. They lived in a small village full of homogenic people. All had almost the same black hair colour except for Mai's husband, whose hair was white as snow. The villagers also had fair skin, even if a bit darkened by their constant toils under the sun.
The only people who seem not to be affected are the village head, the head nurse and the chief of the guards.
In short, all of the villagers had fair complexions.
This baby was different though. His skin was unlike anything they'd ever seen. It was light chocolate in colour, almost caramel. A stark contrast to that of its parents. Frankly, if it wasn't for the white hair on the baby's hair that emitted some light like his father's, Mai would've been suspected of being an adulteress.
There was also another problem.
The baby had been eerily silent since his birth, which had been well over forty seconds.
He just stared into the eyes of the head of the midwives until she found it uncomfortable.
She passed the baby over to his mother, and the chirpy sound of a baby's joyful giggling echoed in the room, causing Mai to smile. she brought the baby near her chest, and started breastfeeding the baby, causing it to emit cute sounds.
Soon, Mai was cleaned up and transported to another ward with the baby clinging to her like a koala. The head of the midwives looked at the baby and found it staring back at her with the same eerie gaze.
She shivered inwardly.
The head nurse has to know about this weird baby! It gives me chills! She thought to herself as she exited the ward.
After breastfeeding her baby, Mai saw him fall asleep in her arms. She gently caressed the baby's face and spoke softly, in an inaudible whisper. "Father's coming soon…"
The head midwife quickly walked around the clinic, ignoring the young nurse assistant that she carelessly hit to the side, and entered a particular office.
The office was not really an office, as the only things present there were a wooden table, three wooden chairs and a bookshelf that housed some weird looking tools and sculptures.
On one of the wooden chairs sat a woman who looked to be in her early fifties. She brushed the streaks of grey hair across her face as she focused on weaving a grass doll that looked almost realistic with distinct facial features.
The head midwife sucked a deep breath when she saw the grass doll. This was because it looked frighteningly similar to the assistant she had barged into earlier!
As she tried her best to calm down, she heard a warm voice.
"What happened to make you rush all the way here?"
Regaining enough of her calm to speak, the head midwife spoke. "Mai gave birth today, but the child she gave birth to was… weird. It gazed at me silently, causing me to shiver, but when it was returned to its—"
"Don't refer to a child with 'it'," the nurse corrected, still weaving her doll.
The head midwife nodded. "When we were moving Mai from the operation room, the child also looked at me with the same gaze. It was…frightening."
After listening to what the head midwife said, the head nurse chuckled softly. "Beatrice, the child obviously doesn't like you…and you seem to have had a nightmare for a mere baby to frighten you so much."
The head midwife wanted to retort, but she found herself unable to. Being scared by a day-old child sounded as unbelievable as there being monsters and spirits in the woods.
So, she just left with a bowed head.
The moment the door was back in its hinges, the head nurse's demeanour changed from that of a calm lady to a scary one. She muttered some incomprehensible words as one of the materials on the shelf burned up completely. Then, her eyes went blank for a moment before returning to normal.
Then, she smiled contentedly.
"He isn't anything special so…no need to waste my time watching him."
***
Faraday looked at the small baby in his arms with joy and ecstasy in his eyes. The fact that the baby was even trying his best to pull his moustache with happy giggles and shining eyes was just adding to the joy he felt.
Soon, the baby stopped moving and fell into a deep sleep, assuming the same position of sucking his fingers that he met his firstborn when he entered.
He cast a loving gaze at his wife and couldn't help but say: "Thank you, my love."
Mai smiled.
Faraday sat down at the edge of the bed and conversed with his wife and son—who was still asleep, making Mai smile more than once. Their chatter eventually caused their son to wake up, then he started giggling and pulling his father's moustache.
Then, Mai seemed to hesitate before speaking. "Dear…our son is only one day old, yet he plays as vigorously as a one-year-old. You know this isn't normal, don't you?"
Hearing his wife, Faraday nodded. "I noticed, but he is our son. No matter what."
Mai clearly agreed, then she asked. "What are we naming him?"
Faraday fell into thought. He looked at his son's skin, white hair and recalled the deep blue eyes.
"Luan," he said.