“Why? The baby is in mommy’s belly. Why does daddy have to be there too?”
“……”
“So the baby is in mommy’s belly, but daddy is on mommy’s belly… uh, huh?”
Amor couldn’t figure out how to express her curiosity and trailed off.
Just in time, Eliya stepped in.
“Amor, the baby is a gift from the Sun God. When you pray with someone you love, God gives it as a present. Right, honey?”
Eliya looked at Judas, filled with a look urging him to agree.
Judas quickly nodded.
“Uh, yeah. That’s it. So mommy and daddy need to be there. Umm.”
“Ummm…”
Amor pondered long, with her finger on her lips.
No matter how clever she was, a child is still a child.
There are limits to what she could learn.
Eliya seized that point.
Soon, Amor understood.
“Ah, I see!”
It was only possible because she couldn’t grasp the act of giving birth to a person.
Judas and Eliya sighed in relief internally.
A burden was lifted.
“I want to see my little brother soon!”
Amor rested her face on Eliya’s belly.
After all, Amor was still a little kid.
She would easily forget and shift her interest to other things.
Eliya gently patted Amor’s head.
“Right?”
They were looking forward to the second child.
So were Judas and Eliya.
*
The second birth went smoothly in many ways.
First, they had done it before, and there was the benefit of anesthesia magic.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. It’s a healthy prince.”
Once again, Mei took care of the house.
“Waaah-!”
The loud cry was a testament to the fact it was a boy.
Judas carefully showed the squirming baby to Eliya.
“Eli. Look at this.”
“Phew…”
Even with magic, childbirth is tough.
Just because you’re numb to the pain doesn’t mean the body isn’t exhausted.
Muscles stretch and bones widen.
It’s impossible to eliminate that phenomenon.
Otherwise, childbirth wouldn’t happen.
Eliya wiped the cold sweat and held the baby close.
‘…Yes. This feeling.’
The emotion she felt when meeting Amor for the first time.
A little warmth that tells her she’s alive.
The reason to keep living ahead.
With Judas, Amor, and this son to believe in, Eliya could live joyfully.
Among the names she pondered, Eliya decided on one.
‘Faith.’
This child was her belief.
“Fides… I want to name him Fides.”
Judas smiled contentedly.
Eliya fixed her hair.
“Fides. Our second child.”
“Uh…”
“Waaah-!”
Eliya deeply cherished the cries of the wailing infant.
Fides de Bevel.
Their second son was born.
And Judas and Eliya realized that Amor was indeed an angel among angels.
Taking care of Fides was not easy, unlike with Amor.
*
Babies wake roughly every two hours.
To be precise, they have to be woken up.
Because a baby’s stomach is very small.
Thus, they have to be fed breast milk or formula every two hours.
After feeding, you have to pat their back for burping; only then does the feeding time come to an end.
This process has to be repeated about every two hours.
Judas and Eliya already knew this fact.
They did the same when Amor was an infant.
Feed every two hours, burp, and put to sleep.
However, their second son, Fides, was quite different from Amor.
“Waaah-!”
Judas held the crying Fides and comforted him.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
For starters, he just wouldn’t stop crying.
Compared to how they worried about Amor not crying, Fides cried quite a lot.
And it was very loud and sorrowful.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. What’s got you so upset, huh?”
Judas and Eliya took turns holding and comforting Fides.
They had fed him and changed his diaper, yet he still cried.
The reason was simple.
He wanted to be held.
He cried to be picked up and gently rocked and patted.
Only then would Fides slowly stop crying.
“Phew…”
Just because he stopped crying doesn’t mean it’s over.
“Fides? Time for sleep?”
A baby sleeps about 20 hours a day.
Yet, Fides didn’t sleep.
He just stayed awake.
When he wasn’t sleeping, he was doing two things.
Crying.
Or staring blankly with his golden eyes, resembling Judas.
He couldn’t understand the words “sleep,” so even if you told him to sleep, he wouldn’t.
Eliya switched with Judas and held Fides.
“Fides, you’ve eaten, so it’s time to sleep, okay?”
After soothing him like that, he would finally fall asleep, but then wake up crying.
During the time they were caring for Fides, Judas and Eliya realized.
‘Ah….’
Amor hadn’t been raised by them.
She had grown up entirely on her own.
They could only conclude that, feeling endless gratitude for Amor.
“Why does the baby cry?”
Even Amor didn’t flinch at Fides’ loud cries.
Instead, she curiously asked various questions.
“What does that mean…?”
While Judas pondered, Eliya answered.
“When a baby cries, it’s their way of talking. To tell mommy and daddy they’re hungry or need to poop, they cry.”
“Really…? Did I cry like that too?”
“No. You were quiet and calm, Amor.”
“Why? Don’t babies usually cry?”
“…Because you’re an angel.”
It was a statement loaded with various meanings.
She didn’t cry, was mature, yet possessed a child-like innocence.
Truly, she was an angel sent for the two of them.
Judas vehemently agreed with that expression.
“An angel?”
Amor tilted her head.
An angel for mommy and daddy, huh?
She liked that idea.
As much as her mommy and daddy loved her, she could become just as much of an angel.
“I’m an angel!”
“…Indeed, that’s right.”
Judas nodded, patting the beaming Amor.
Thanks to Amor, the tough times were much more bearable.
As time passed, Fides began to cry less and sleep better.
Just hearing him cooing and giggling washed away all the fatigue of Judas and Eliya.
Yeah, that’s all that mattered.
That small, precious smile.
Like the world was clearing up, that pure smile.
Just like when they saw Amor’s smile.
With that alone, everything was forgiven and repaid.
Judas and Eliya were becoming proper parents.
*
Their second son, Fides.
He was determined to prove how lively he could be every moment.
His energy was enough to tire even Judas, who was at the peak of physical abilities among mankind.
“Daddy!”
“…Uh. Yeah, F, Fides.”
Startled awake, Judas lifted his head.
“Daddy!”
His son, just shy of two years old.
Even though it was time for him to say more words, Fides only used two.
Daddy. And mommy.
‘Is the problem that just those two words solve most of the issues…?’
Just by calling out these two words, Judas and Eliya would automatically check the issues and solve them.
In fact, it’s okay for language development to be slightly slow at that age.
He was still quite young.
The real problem was how startled Judas was by Fides’ call.
What used to fill him with joy and happiness now felt frightening.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
Fides, on his back, wriggled around.
Judas held him tightly, afraid he might fall.
“Uh, okay. Shall we jump again?”
“Daddy!”
Unlike Amor, Fides liked to play vigorously.
One of those was riding on Judas’s back as he sprinted full speed up and down the mountain.
‘If this is a talent, I guess it’s a talent…’
He had an extraordinary physique that surpassed that of a normal person.
The speed he ran at was something average individuals could hardly handle.
But Fides enjoyed it all the more.
‘Regardless of anything else, he must have been born with a gifted physique.’
He began running before he could speak.
And by the time he could talk, he started dashing around.
He had been a healthy baby at birth, so it was clear he had inherited Judas’ physique.
Judas regained his stance and ran again.
Fides clung tightly on his back, catching his breath.
‘Running so much, the road has widened…’
His running had created a wide, straight path up the mountain.
This was precisely why playing with Fides was tough.
It wasn’t the physical exhaustion that was tough.
It was the mental strain.
Repeating the exact same thing for over four hours was detrimental to the mental health of a 25-year-old adult like Judas.
This didn’t only apply to Judas.
Eliya often requested to fly around using weightless magic.
Her stamina seemed immense; even the speckled puppies and Yuel would tire out first from playing.
With stamina that was anything but ordinary, Judas.
And Eliya, who played with magic.
Only the two of them could properly handle Fides.
After reaching the opposite side of the starting point, Judas slowly came to a halt.
Only then did Fides burst into giggles.
The unique laughter of a child that sounds like it’s about to turn upside down.
“Daddy! Daddy, Daddy!”
Though it was composed of only one vocabulary, Judas could now interpret it.
He was expressing joy.
Judas lifted Fides in front of him.
The way the short little arms flailed about while laughing was utterly adorable.
His sparse baby hair was soft and cute.
Looking at the golden eyes, which resembled his own, Judas couldn’t help but smile.
‘Yeah… if you like it, what can I not do?’
Just one laugh was enough to wash away the mental fatigue.
…Not completely, but at least a little.
“Did you like it that much?”
“Daddy!”
“Alright, alright. Shall we run again?”
“Daddy-!”
Judas hoisted Fides back on his back and ran.
In truth, there was another reason he could endure this.
Judas and Eliya had set a rule.
Whoever played with Fides that day had to do their best to serve the other that night.
‘What will I get today?’
He ran on with a sly imagination.
Meanwhile, in the palace garden.
Eliya was reading a fairy tale to Amor.
Dust was collecting on the table as it took a little nap.
After finishing the fairy tale, Amor would summarize it briefly and write her impressions.
With her short hands gripping the pen tightly, she would scribble awkward letters.
Eliya watched her fondly and then looked up.
In the distance, a small cloud of dust was rising up the mountain.
That was where Judas was running.
‘They’re working hard again today.’
Which meant she had to reward him at night.
When they first set this rule, it was somewhat of motivation.
Taking care of Fides was a strenuous task, hence the need for such a rule.
But both of them had grown to expect and crave this rule beyond mere satisfaction.
The fun was in brainstorming how to satisfy the other.
‘What should I do to make him happy today?’
After finishing her book report, Amor tilted her head.
“Mom, why are you smiling?”
“Because I like being with Amor.”
“But you were looking over there?”
Her smart daughter, who resembled her, wouldn’t let a single thing slide easily.
Yet, Eliya had the grace to navigate through the situation.
“I was thinking about how precious it is to spend time with family while watching daddy and Fides play over there.”
Despite her cleverness, Amor’s purity stemmed from being raised in a happy environment.
“Really!”
Thus, she quickly came to understand.
Eliya decided to protect this innocence of hers, now and forever.
Not just for Amor.
But for Fides, too.
And for her eternal partner, Judas.
To protect them, Eliya swore she would use all her strength and means.
And then, rather randomly, she began to think about what she would do at night.
‘That time I blindfolded him and tied him up was nice… Would Judas like that too?’
That night, Judas experienced helplessly being led by pleasure.
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