Threads of the Soul

Chapter 470 - 470: Family Tree

Of course, Seth didn't exactly have much ground to stand on when it came to mocking about children. That man had more children in a single year than most people had in their entire lives, if you were counting his Anima that is. The Anima themselves very much did count themselves as his children, as did Seth.But for Alfie and the rest, most only really thought about Nixie as his actual child. So really, even after all of his teasing, Seth had beaten Alfie to the ultimate trail of fatherhood, although Alfie followed closely behind.

You see, the problem with marrying a plant woman is that their reproductive needs are not only extremely insatiable, which some people might see as a benefit, but they are also operating on a different time scale than humans.

As Alfie had painfully discovered the hard way, pun intended, that while the process of reproduction was thankfully the same, Junipers pregnancy was not. While humans were pregnant for 9 months, Junipers was closer to 2 months, with a little exception. Some of her clans people, as they all had very different mutations, didn't even get pregnant at all. Simply created clouds of spores that immediately seeded.

Honestly, he had to count himself lucky on that part. At least he still got to do the fun part and didn't just fart out some spores.

However, if he did have to deal with spores perhaps he would have less children than his... ahem, proclivities towards the fun part had left him with.

Five children in total, over the course of the last year, with varying balance between human and plant-life. His oldest, a boy named Spruce, appeared like his mother. With wood instead of flesh, plant-life for hair and who generally appeared like a tree that had come to life.

His next child was the complete opposite, appearing completely human except that she had a bundle of vibrant, green vines for hair that she was able to control. Fern, was her name.

As if the quickness of their birth wasn't bad enough, these two appeared like they were already 5 years old in terms of human growth.

There was also Blueberry, a girl who appeared like a normal human three year old with bright blue hair, but could control non-sentient plants. Then finally there was Mycal1, who was only around 6 inches tall and appeared like a living mushroom. He seemed to confuse people the most, when Alfie told them he was his son.

For those who can count, you would realise that is only four and not five. Congratulations to you.

This was because his fifth and final child did not have a name as of yet, nor did they know much about them. They were still growing, having been planted in a pot that Juniper carried around with her after her 'pregnancy'.

Alfie was currently trying to wrangle the older two, who were hyped up on the treats from the festival, and were running rampant throughout the streets. Blueberry was sitting in his arms, her little arms around his neck, while Mycal bounced excitedly on his head where he wouldn't get stepped on.

He had been shouting at them through a series of very stern and authoritative, but when those were ignored he had to resort to shouted through gritted teeth like many parents in public.

"Spruce! Stop pulling your sisters hair right now!"

"Dadddyyyy, Can we get a meat skewer?"

"No, you already had three different treats today, you've had plenty."

"But-"

"But nothing! Mycal, can you please stop bouncing on Daddy's head."

"Alfred!"

"Daddy's so bouncy though! Boing Boing Boing!"

"Alfred!"

"I know Daddy's bouncy, but Daddy's head is also starting to hurt and I don't want you to fall."

Amongst all the different voices clamouring for attention, one of them simply got lost and mixed in with the rest as he was ever so slightly overwhelmed by the needs, desires and whines of his children. That was until a strong, calloused hand slapped down on his shoulder and squeezed it tight.

He whipped his head around, so fast that Mycal let out a yelp and had to cling to his hair to stop himself from falling, as a Requital already started to form in Alfie's hand.

But as soon as he registered the owner of the face that was currently smiling at him, he dismissed the Requital and let out a sigh of relief.

"Director Zero... I didn't realise it was you. Still, you really shouldn't sneak up on people these days, too many people have gotten stabbed over simple pranks"

The Director kept up the warm smile, laughing softly at his response.

"Please, I admit it's my fault, Young Alfred. I did try to call out to you, but it seems you were otherwise occupied."

"Ah right, My bad." Alfie said with a soft laugh, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, before he had to push Blueberries hand out as she tried to touch the directors face.

"But you know, Alfie isn't short for Alfred. It's short for Alfonzo. It's an old family name."

"Oh, well... You know what they say about assumptions."

The two men smiled politely as they stood across from each other, each clearing their throats as they waited awkwardly for the other to say something and continue the conversation.

One was a man who hadn't left work in countless years and only ever communicated with professional intent, while the other was simply a nerd and introvert through and through, no matter how powerful he got.

If there was a beast that mutated to eat social skills, it would be dying on the floor of starvation from encountering these two.

In Aflie's arms, little Blueberry glanced between her awkward dad and the man that had approached them. Child-like curiosity etched onto her adorable face and large, doe eyes as she asked.

"Daddy, who's this man?"

It was such a simple question, but it broke the silence so perfectly that Alfie was ready to toss her into the air in celebration and shower her in kisses. Children really were the best!

Pronounced like Michael