Her name was Tiana. Ti, from Berti. Ana, from Lana. A 6 and a half day old, newborn baby.

  'Honestly, I give my mother 5/10 rating on this name for the lack of creativity and inspiration. Actually, even that is quite generous.'

  Not that Tiana cared much for names, but she figured her mother could surely do better. She didn't really understand the emotional sentiment of naming your kid with a combination of you and your partner's name. Besides, she already had an average name in her previous life, so this time, she was expecting something with more flair. After all, she was someone who will accomplish great things in the future.

  'If only I could choose my own name. I'd have gone with something cool, like Quiin Les Seraphine Von Giselle Mont Everest. Or something like, a tongue twister so twisted, people ended up biting into their tongues trying to say it. Now, that'd be a hilarious spectacle.'

  Tiana balled her fingers into little fists and dragged it across her face like a sleepy kitten. Three days ago, her nose was itchy. Naturally, almost as a reflex, she attempted to pick her nose. It was a human action so mundane, one which went back to humankind's ancestral king kong days, that it was practically in her DNA.

  'To think, I ended up slapping myself in the face instead...'

  It was an incredibly unsatisfying fail of an attempt. Mostly because she was left with a nose still itchy, and she was unable to complain about it.

  'I'm a helpless baby who can't even burp without someone's help.'

  She sighed. In order to get over her previous humiliation, she was currently trying to get a proper feel for her own body. Hence, the constant fidgeting and flailing of her small arms and legs. It might look silly to others but it was working somewhat. At least, she convinced herself that it was. Anyway, this was not the most riveting story of her life, but a baby had to start somewhere.

  'Hmm.. seems like my stomach is empty now. Looks like I need to inform the house patrons. Let me just do my usual routine of announcing my hungriness. Ehem. Here I go~!'

  The baby's voice started quietly, then it suddenly picked up and the house's walls seemed to vibrate from the shockingly loud melodious sound of a crying baby. Tiana slowly counted to five and stopped instantly after. Right then, Tiana's grandmother, an old lady with a kind and friendly face appeared magically on time. She cradled the baby in her arms, then started walking towards the opposite side of the room.

  "Oh deary, dear. Are you hungry my little darling munchkin? Let's bring you to your mother. See? There she is!"

  Next to a half opened window, Tiana's mother was sitting comfortably on a simple wooden single bed, with a blanket over her lower body and a pillow behind her back. Tiana's mother, Lana, warmly received the baby in her embrace and fed her baby breastmilk.

  'Taste-wise, not recommended, but as long as my baby stomach is full, it don't really matter. Food isn't like, a big part of my life or anything.'

  Soon as Tiana burped, she heard a few knocks on the front door. She felt the urge to roll her eyes since she knew very well what it meant.

  'Oh, gosh. Not another visitor!'

  All Tiana had hoped for was that this one doesn't start poking and pinching her cheeks too.

  'It freaking hurts I tell you! My poor, delicate baby cheeks. Give this baby a break you slave drivers. I wasn't born for your entertainment! Oh, and don't even get me started when they were all up in my space, making those weird, distorted faces.'

  Though it didn't show on her baby face, Tiana grimaced at the memory of her previous encounters with literal strangers of all shapes and sizes.

  'Like get your stinky breaths out of my face! You're too close for comfort. Don't these people know anything about personal space?'

  The incidents were only somewhat bearable for Tiana because of how awkward and flustered they looked, when she blankly stared at them with a poker face in response.

  'I wasn't entertained, and I need them to know about it.'

  Much to Tiana's relief, the man who arrived which apparently named Peter, simply greeted the baby with a light caress over her baby head and a genuine smile.

  "Sorry for coming to see the baby late, I had been pretty lackluster lately. What with old man Norde retiring from guard duty, finding replacements, the schedule changes and stuff."

  Peter pulled out a seat for himself and sat near the foot of the bed.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "My wife has been nagging me about it, telling me to make time whenever I can. Even if it's just to show my face."

  He smiled apologetically towards the two ladies in front of him.

  "It's alright, Peter, sonny. We know how busy it is, especially for you."

  Aunt Laeya had seen firsthand how tough and demanding the young man's job was. Just a few days ago, she saw him running around the town, training new guards, while also attending meetings and fulfilling his guard patrol duty. He was flying around everywhere, she was concerned for a second that he might faint from serious exhaustion. But the man who was built like a bull remained steady.

  "That's right. Even if you had just left a basket of fruits and a short congratulations letter at the front door, we wouldn't have been upset either way."

  Lana chimed in, agreeing with her mother. Peter, who could only put on a sad smile at their considerate words, shook his head.

  "No, no. She's right. I should definitely make time for this. I mean, I did owe Berti my life... the least I should do is welcome the new life he had to.. forcefully left behind..."

  Peter's voice trailed and the mood turned somber. While all of this was happening, Tiana was listening to their conversation attentively, gathering bits and pieces of information.

  'So, that's why I haven't seen my father around since I was born. He.. died. What a shame. I've always wanted a father of my own.'

  Tiana had never experience the love of a father, because in her previous life, the man responsible for her mother's pregnancy had left her for another woman. So, initially, Tiana had thought of that as one of the possibilities to her father's absence in this life as well. Her last guess was an early death, which just so happened to be the answer instead.

  'At least my father isn't a living shitting scumbag who appeared again out of no where to demand money from me and my mother this time around. That's a better upgrade to me!'

  Lana stared at Peter, who had his fingers clasped together and his head dropped low with a regretful look on his face. All of them in this room had gone through their own share of emotional roller coaster the day the accident happened. But that was exactly what it was, an accident. Nobody was at fault, nor was anybody blamed. Everyone who witnessed it at the time knew. Berti, her brave and kind fiancee, had made a choice in that life and death situation, and he chose to save his good friend.

  "Berti did a great thing. I'm glad you're still alive to guard the village. You're one of the more skilled fighter our village has."

  Peter's head shot up, wide eyed at the words he just heard.

  "Don't say that.. Berti, he, too..."

  Lana gave him a convincing smile, hoping to end the conversation there. It wasn't that the hollow feeling from her fiancee's absence wasn't still there, but she also didn't want to let the awful feeling of guilt to fester inside him.

  "I know, Peter. I know. It's fine now. We're fine."

  Aunt Laeya, who was silent until now, took a deep breath and clapped her hands together, changing the mood with a different topic.

  "Now, now. Let's talk about only good things! Oh, do you know how well behaved our little darling here?"

  Peter blinked twice. Then, he reluctantly nodded.

  "Well, my wife described her as mild mannered."

  Aunt Laeya laughed joyfully.

  "It's true! Hear this. When Tiana first came out, she didn't cry at all!"

  Peter was unsure whether he heard it right. He asked hesitantly.

  "Is that.. okay?"

  Aunt Laeya waved her hand in a dismissing gesture as she explained.

  "We got worried as well because she was too quiet. But Teresa, the midwife, she said some babies are like that. Though it is rare."

  Peter was still wondering whether a baby who didn't cry was a good sign or not. Considering he wasn't exactly an expert in such topic, he simply listened without much input. Lana who noticed Peter's puzzled expression, explained further.

  "It's not that she doesn't cry at all really. She just only does it for specific reasons and not for long. Like when she's hungry, or it's time to change her diapers. So far, she didn't have any problems sleeping at night. It has been pretty peaceful and easy for us thankfully."

  Peter looked at the baby girl in the mother's arms. He was quite frankly shocked and beyond amazed. To him, it sounded extraordinary. He also had raised two children of his own. Thus, he knew very well how chaotic and stressful it was to care for a baby. They can be quite sensitive and fussy. At times they would cry, yet even the baby didn't know why they were crying. The parents had to somehow figure out what works and coddle the baby until they calmed down. This was just the nature of a baby, atleast to his understanding. But the way the mother and grandmother duo had described this particular newborn, rather than a baby, it sounded more of a machine which methodically set off a cry similar to an alarm, based on timely fixed programs.

  'They're either exaggerating or...'

  Now that he thought about it, the baby hadn't cried nor made a fuss. No, actually, he hadn't heard a single sound coming from the baby the whole time they were talking. Whether or not it was a good thing, one thing was for sure, it was a bit odd to him. Peter's sixth sense tingled.

  "Huh.. she's such a peculiar baby. You don't find that strange about her?"

  'Hmm.. This man is onto something. He might be the sharpest of the bunch. I like him already. I'm totally not favoring him because he's the first visitor that treated me with some respect.'

  Peter watched as the baby held onto Lana's forefinger with her tiny hands. The baby girl's big round green eyes were barely blinking as she stared up at her mother.

  "Also.."

  Aunt Laeya cut him off before he could continue.

  "Oh, shush you. She's just a clever kid, nothing's wrong with that. We've checked with Josh, she's a healthy, normal baby girl."

  'Old lady, I know you find your granddaughter to be adorably perfect the way I am. And that's true. But you should give that man a chance to speak his truth and listen to what he has to say. Because I definitely do not do normal.'

  Aunt Laeya smiled towards the mother and her baby as she brought up the latest check up visitation by Josh, the village's only doctor. Then, she went on about how long her newborn granddaughter's eyelashes were. Peter sighed inwardly.

  'That's not all though. There's something else there. This baby.. my instincts are telling me she's different somehow. And I can count on my instincts with my life!'

  In the end, Peter decided it was better to hold his tongue. He may have good intentions, but he figured taking this topic any further might create a misunderstanding and upset them both. So, he simply shrugged and moved on.

  "If you say so."

  A few minutes later, Peter rose from his seat, said his goodbyes and left for his evening patrol shift.