I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World-Chapter 99: CP: Post–Pregnancy Chaos pt. 2

Seven Days Later:

The snakelings’ eyes opened on the seventh day.

All six pairs at once—coordinated like they’d planned it—revealing eyes that various green. Only the youngest one had ocean blue eyes— similar to its mother.

[ This one looks just like you,host. ] System said pointing its paws at the shy snakeling wrapped up in its own coil on Alex’s lap, blinking at Alex.

And the moment Alex got distracted by the system, absolute chaos ensued.

"NO!" He shouted as the third-born immediately launched itself off the sleeping platform toward the main pool. "You can’t swim yet!"

Zale caught the adventurous baby mid-air, his reflexes impossibly fast.

"This one is fearless," he observed, holding the squirming snakeling at arm’s length. "That’s going to be a problem."

"That IS a problem," Alex corrected, taking the baby back. "A problem that started seven minutes ago when their eyes opened and hasn’t stopped."

The first-born had discovered the bioluminescent algae and was trying to eat it. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The second-born had found a crack in the coral wall and was attempting to squeeze through it.

The fourth-born was scaling Leo’s leg like a tiny emerald vine.

The fifth-born had somehow gotten itself wrapped around one of the support beams and couldn’t figure out how to get down.

Only the sixth-born remained calm—coiled in Alex’s lap, watching its siblings’ chaos with what looked suspiciously like judgment.

"See?" Alex said to Naga. "This one has sense. This one understands that just because you CAN climb everything doesn’t mean you SHOULD."

"Give it sometime," Naga said, gently extracting the fifth-born from the beam. "Once it figures out its siblings are having fun, it’ll join them."

"Don’t manifest that," Alex pleaded.

[PARENTING UPDATE:

Day 7 post-birth

Snakeling development: RAPID (eyes open, mobility increased)

Supervision requirements: CONSTANT

Alex’s stress level: ELEVATED

New skill unlocked: "Serpent Wrangling"]

Mira pulled herself onto the platform, took one look at the chaos, and immediately started laughing.

"Right on schedule," she said. "Day seven, and they already seems to have given you enough trouble, huh?"

"More than enough," Alex said, rescuing the second-born from the wall crack. "They’re giving me headache already."

Mira conceded. "How’s feeding going now that they can see?"

"They’re AGGRESSIVE," Alex said. "Yesterday the third-born tried to steal food from the first-born. There was a tiny snake fight. They don’t have enough muscle control to actually hurt each other yet, but the intent was there."

"Establishing hierarchy," Naga said, sounding pleased. "Natural serpent behavior."

"Natural PROBLEM behavior," Alex corrected. "I can’t feed them all at once anymore. They just fight over who gets the food first."

"Then we feed them separately," Leo suggested, currently trying to convince the fourth-born to release his leg. "Six different locations, six simultaneous feedings."

"That requires six people," Alex pointed out.

"We have four," Leo said. "Naga, Zale, me, and you. Plus Kai and Mira can help. That’s six."

"You’ve put thought into this," Alex observed.

"I’ve been planning it since their eyes started moving under their eyelids yesterday," Leo admitted. "I knew this was coming."

So feeding time became a coordinated operation:

Alex took the sixth-born (the well-behaved one).

Naga took the first-born (the largest).

Leo took the fourth-born (the climber).

Zale took the second-born (the cautious one).

Kai took the fifth-born (the messy eater).

Mira took the third-born (the escape artist).

Everyone positioned themselves at opposite ends of the chamber with their assigned baby and a small pile of fish.

"On three," Leo said. "One, two, THREE—"

All six adults presented fish simultaneously.

The result was... surprisingly effective.

The babies, distracted by the immediate availability of food, forgot about competing with each other and focused on eating.

"This actually works," Alex said, surprised.

"Don’t jinx it," Mira muttered, watching the third-born suspiciously as it ate with unusual obedience.

For exactly four minutes, everything was perfect.

Then the third-born finished its fish, looked around, spotted the first-born still eating, and decided it wanted THAT fish instead.

What followed was a miniature snake chase across the chamber—the third-born launching itself at the first-born, the first-born hissing defensively, both babies tumbling across the floor in a writhing knot of scales and tiny outrage.

"YOURS is attacking MINE," Naga said to Mira.

"They’re ALL yours," Mira replied calmly. "You contributed to the production."

"But that one specifically—"

"Has personality," Mira interrupted. "Stubborn personality. Just like its father."

Naga opened his mouth to argue, then apparently realized she had a point.

Alex separated the fighting babies, giving the third-born a gentle tap on the nose.

"No," he said firmly. "We don’t steal food from siblings."

The third-born hissed at him.

Actually hissed. At its own mother.

"Oh, you’re in trouble now," Leo said, trying not to laugh.

"You don’t get to hiss at me," Alex told the tiny rebel. "I literally gave birth to you seven days ago. Show some respect."

The third-born, unimpressed, tried to bite his finger.

"That’s it," Alex declared. "You’re going in time-out."

"Time-out?" Naga repeated.

"Yes," Alex said firmly, placing the third-born in a small woven basket by itself. "Five minutes. No siblings, no fish, just time to think about your choices."

The third-born immediately tried to climb out.

Alex put a lid on the basket.

The other five babies watched this development with what looked like shock.

"See?" Alex told them. "Misbehave and you get basket time. Behave and you get—" He pulled out another fish. "—extra treats."

The five remaining babies immediately became models of perfect behavior.

[New parenting technique discovered: "Basket Time-Out"]

[Effectiveness: 73%]

[Duration: Unknown]

"You’re actually disciplining them," Zale said, sounding impressed. "I didn’t think that was possible with week-old snakelings."

"Everything’s possible when you’re sleep-deprived and desperate," Alex said. "Don’t you know exhaustion makes people creative. "

The third-born, having realized the basket was actually quite comfortable, had given up escape attempts and was now coiled peacefully in the corner.

"Huh," Alex said. "That actually worked."

"Don’t sound so surprised," Mira said. "Snakelings are smart. They learn consequences quickly."

After five minutes, Alex released the third-born from time-out.

The baby slithered directly to Alex, coiled around his wrist, and pressed its small head against his palm in what might have been an apology.

"Oh," Alex said, his chest tightening. "Oh, you didn’t have to—"

The third-born then immediately tried to steal a fish from the sixth-born.

"BACK IN THE BASKET," Alex said.

[Correction: Effectiveness: 45%]