Apocalyptic World: Surviving with my husband and my cute little babies-Chapter 277: As if being starved

After a few minutes, the two older brothers finally settled down in their cribs with their feeding bottles still tucked in their tiny mouths.

They tried to pull the bottles away so it wouldn’t bother them, but the moment they did, the little ones grew irritated and let out pitiful sobs.

Even in their sleep, they continued to drink their modified milk instinctively, clearly showing just how hungry they were.

In total, they had each finished three bottles of baby milk—something that shocked everyone.

Ethan, however, wasn’t surprised at all.

As an awakener himself, he knew this would happen; he also needed to eat a lot whenever he had to replenish his spiritual energy.

Luckily, he had managed to hoard enough items and food for the babies. Otherwise, they would have been forced to improvise.

’Look at them... acting as if they’ve been starved. Tsk.’ But deep inside, he was far too happy to put his feelings into words.

All the stress, all the emotions, all the chaos—it was worth every moment.

His reward was the greatest blessing of all: three adorable sons. Because of them, he was now a father.

And just a few minutes later, they finally pushed away the feeding bottle as they finally fell asleep, breathing softly along with the youngest brother.

Everyone let out a breath of relief at the sight of the triplets sleeping in their adorable poses.

Seeing them like this, Grandpa Caldwell made a promise—he would search the Southern Storage sector later for cameras so he could take pictures of his little great-grandsons.

He didn’t want to miss a single moment with them—not like before, when he had missed so many moments with his own children and even Little Mia’s infant stage.

So this time, he would make sure to document every stage of his great-grandsons’ lives.

Just thinking about it made him smile as he watched the tiny little Caldwells sleeping peacefully.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ethan finally spoke, thanking them for everything they had done.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt... thank you for taking care of my sons. Please rest for a while and continue watching over them," Ethan said gratefully.

He still needed their help—there were too many things waiting for him outside the space, and for now, he had to entrust the babies to them.

Then his gaze shifted to his third son.

He wanted to check on him closely—the memory of almost losing his youngest was still painfully fresh in his mind.

Knowing Baby Max was adjusting well, Ethan’s unease finally lessened.

He quickly walked to the other cribs, wanting to gently caress their tiny cheeks before leaving the space.

"Stop thanking us—we love to look after them," Grandpa Caldwell responded warmly.

Watching over the triplets wasn’t tiring at all. In fact, he felt energized and full of hope.

These past months had been heavy and depressing, especially with disasters striking nonstop, but these babies... they eased the weight he’d been carrying.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Bwother, don’t worry, Auntie Mia will surely watch her little nephews," Little Mia declared proudly, emphasizing the last word with triumph.

Since all three babies were boys, it proved her prediction had been completely correct.

"Hahaha! Little Mia, you truly predicted it. All boys!"

Grandpa Caldwell praised her happily, making her puff her chest even more as she looked at Ethan with a smug grin.

Ethan watched her triumphant little antics, amused.

They had been bickering ever since Elena got pregnant—each insisting the baby would be the gender they believed in.

But now, all three were boys and not a single little princess in sight. So Ethan accepted defeat gracefully.

Don’t misunderstand—whatever their gender, he loved his babies with all his heart.

He had simply dreamed of having a little girl who looked like a tiny version of Elena... a little princess.

"Alright, you win. Now, Brother wants to ask you something. Okay?"

"Brother? What is it?" Little Mia asked, confused.

Ethan then took out the spiritual grape from his [Inventory] and showed it to her.

At first, Little Mia was mesmerized by how beautiful the purple gem-like fruit was... but then she froze.

She had seen that before. Her eyes widened—she also had one just like it! She quickly reached for her small pouch, only to realize it was gone.

She panicked and began searching everywhere until the only explanation hit her.

Her brother had the same purple gem... because he had hers.

Little Mia whipped her head toward Ethan, crossing her arms as she glared at him accusingly.

Ethan immediately caught that look and couldn’t help but smirk.

"I didn’t steal it. Mimi gave it to me—for your own good," Ethan insisted.

Then it finally sank in to her. Her cat had betrayed her.

She slowly turned her head toward Mimi and gave her another accusing glare.

"Twaitor, Mimi."

"Meow~~"

Mimi looked up at her master, confused by the sudden hostility. Poor Mimi—blamed for something the baby commanded.

"Don’t blame Mimi," Ethan said gently while defending their cat. "Do you know this thing is dangerous if you eat it? Your Sis Elena already told you not to take anything strange inside Paradise."

He wanted her to understand the seriousness, not just scold her.

The spiritual grapes were good—very good—for awakeners. But Little Mia wasn’t an ability user.

So, her small body couldn’t handle such a strong burst of spiritual energy.

Ethan’s chest tightened just thinking about it.

If something happened to Little Mia because of this, Elena—who treasured this little sister—would feel guilty all over again.

Everyone was stunned, especially Grandpa Ford, the manager of the Western Fertile Soil Section. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

He had no idea such a fruit had grown, and when Little Mia took it. It must have happened when the kids helped him harvest fruits last week.

"I’m sorry... this is my fault. I should have supervised the kids better," Grandpa Ford said, guilt heavy in his voice.

He looked at his granddaughter’s innocent face and felt his heart clench. If anything happened to her, it would turn their family upside down.

"Little Mia is just curious," Grandpa Caldwell replied, trying to ease the tension.

"Kids need reminders—again and again—so they’ll learn. Not just Little Mia, all of them."

Little Mia stood there quietly as her grandparents discussed the situation so seriously.

She hadn’t thought it was wrong.

They always ate fruits in the Western Fertile Soil Sector, so she thought taking one that looked different wasn’t a big deal.

She didn’t know this was the same kind of fruit Sis Elena had warned them never to take, because it might cause side effects.

"I’m sorry, grandpas... and brother," Little Mia said softly, head lowered. "I thought it was pretty and different, so I took it to show my friends."

"It’s also our fault for giving a vague warning," Ethan said, lowering himself to her eye level.

"But next time, if you see something strange or unusual in Paradise, tell the adults, okay?" Ethan reminded her gently.

"I’ll listen to you, brother," she promised with an earnest nod.

Realizing she had simply picked the fruit without understanding what it truly was, Ethan let out a silent breath.

According to her, the grape had looked special—different—and there had been only one like it among the entire bunch.

But Grandpa Ford still promised to double-check the entire sector later—just to be safe.

Once everyone had finally settled down, Ethan was about to leave when he noticed that the strange phenomenon inside the space had completely faded.

The heavy rain and strong wind were gone, replaced by a gentle and warm temperature.

The animals had also calmed down. They returned to their usual behavior, though they still refused to leave the house.

Ethan wanted to send them back to the community zoo section, but that would take time.

Well, they seemed harmless now, so he let them be. He would wait for Elena to add some restrictions later.

That way, if the babies lost control of their emotions again and accidentally used their abilities, the animals wouldn’t gather around the house like before.

"By the way, where is Poochi?" Ethan asked, suddenly realizing he hadn’t seen his partner at all.

It looked like while he was busy, the dog had been dealing with something of his own.

"You don’t know? Poochi, um... suddenly fainted. Don’t worry, he’s fine. Your Uncle Anthony carried him, along with the others who passed out," Grandpa Caldwell explained.

Hearing this, Ethan understood instantly. Poochi might be awakening.

He made a mental note to visit him later, along with the others, to check on their condition.

"I see. Then, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunties—I’ll head out now."

He took one last look at the sleeping triplets before disappearing from the space.

******

As Ethan and the others were preparing to leave the building, the situation outside—especially in other places—had become chaotic.

The solar eclipse had already lasted for almost an hour, and many people were suddenly collapsing without warning.

The military quickly posted a notice and made an abrupt announcement, telling everyone not to panic.

They assured the public that the phenomenon was not dangerous, but reminded them to look after any family members or strangers who had fainted.

They also advised bringing the unconscious to the Military Evacuation Center for proper investigation.

At the moment, the military was doing everything it could to gather and assist as many of the unconscious people as possible.

According to the information from the Paradise Shop, these individuals would soon awaken their abilities.

Because of that, the military wanted to secure them early—both to monopolize the new ability users and to make sure they remained under control.