After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

Salia laughed at their reaction, and the heavy feeling of tiredness from giving birth as well as having to listen to her mother-in-law’s voice dissipated a bit.

She couldn’t help but stare at the two a bit more, all while she was patting her sleeping infant. ”Your dress is so beautiful.”

Veronica immediately sparkled. ”Thank you! I can tell you more if you’d like.” Her pink eyes were so bright that one would feel bad if one didn’t ask for added information.

Sean looked at her fondly, while Salia held down a giggle. ”Can you tell me more?”

”This is called fusion dress, where I combined some sensibilities in Xenoan dresses while maintaining the comfort and practicality of Terran dresses~”

At this, Veronica sat next to the bed as the two chattered. She was obviously quite passionate about this. ”I actually have a lot of ideas for maternity dresses...”

This idea came from Cassandra’s case, though she only started designing recently, so Cassandra didn’t have a use for it anymore. Claire was super adorable though!

Speaking of babies, she looked down at Salia’s son, Shaun.

Veronica’s eyes softened at the soft, pudgy thing. ”So cute...” she said. ”Someday I can design for babies, too!”

The two women entered their own world, while the men just watched them patiently with smiles.

Phillip went next to his brother-in-law. ”I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said, referring to his troublesome mother.

”Well, there are great mothers and there are other types...” Sean said. ”It’s not your fault.”

But then, the atmosphere around him darkened slightly. ”However, the moment she hurts my sister—”

Philip’s eyes sharpened at this. ”That will never happen,” he said. ”Because I will handle it first.”

...

Sean saw Veronica out about half an hour of chatting later. She still had to go back to her store in the end, and she had a measuring appointment with someone.

He walked with her to the door of the hospital, and they exchanged comfortable silence on the way there. Considering how gregarious Veronica was, this was quite unusual, but neither of them felt uncomfortable or awkward with this kind of atmosphere.

”Thank you for coming,” Sean said.

”I really like her, and I’m glad I came by.”

”Only her?”

At this, Veronica’s face flushed as deeply as her hair. Unconsciously, she ended up twirling her short hair with her fingers.

”...you, too.”

...

Each family had close members, while there were also troublesome ones that could not be dragged to the correct path, no matter how hard one tried.

For example, there was Winona’s grandmother who insisted on seeing her great-grandson.

Winona honestly wouldn’t have minded... if the old woman kept her rationality. The old woman was also making a scene, making other people misjudge the situation.

”Girl! Why are you making your grandmother wait outside like this?”

Just because she didn’t rush out when the old woman announced her presence, the old woman sat down on the ground in protest.

Even after everything, she still didn’t learn. It was said that one could not teach an old dog new tricks; it seemed like it was true with this one.

That, or she has gone senile.

”Come out, Winona! You can’t ignore this old lady forever!”

The old woman then cried. ”Don’t you dare stop me from seeing my great-granddaughter!!”

This noise sounded all the way to the house, because the window was open. They could close it and take advantage of the house’s insulation, but Winona refused.

”You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Sheila said. She was about to enter her third trimester now, and her working hours had been reduced. She was now spending time in the Gaea villas while she waited for her husband to pick her up.

She promised to do this in her brother’s and father’s unit occasionally as well, though they said they had to buy a few things first to make her comfortable.

There was no one else in the villa at this time except for them and the babies, so only they had to suffer the old woman’s shrill screams.

The old woman might’ve married for money back in the old days, but her spoiled and entitled attitude lacked class. She was part of a nouveau riche family since she was young, but while money could not buy class, it could at least cover it.

Now that Winona hadn’t been sending her excess money, it seemed like the bit of ’class’ that she had also become non-existent.

Winona was extremely disappointed and even a little disgusted, especially since she had been controlled and critiqued by this woman a lot growing up, and it felt bad to see her acting like a shrew.

”Sigh, I’ll kick her out,” Winona said, heading out to meet the woman.

She felt sad. She had thought that her grandmother had learned her lesson at this time. She was a handful, but she was still her grandmother in the end, one of the two blood relatives she had left.

But looking at her now, all she could do was to take care of her from a distance, to make sure she received the basics, but at the same time not destroying her and her family’s peace.

Winona stood outside, seemingly unaffected by the whispers of passersby. To be fair, many of these were newcomers who were just touring the neighborhood to see the ’rich houses’, and some were not even residents of Alterra.

Most actual citizens already knew Winona’s character and her history, so they did not judge her. The others, though, were looking for a good show, especially when it involved famous people.

”Grandma, do you hate me?” she asked, making her grandmother stare at her. ”Someone who loves her family wouldn’t do this.

”You are my grandmother, and I will keep taking care of you—I will, at least, not let you live on the streets and not let you go hungry. However, this will not mean I will be willing to sacrifice my or my son’s well-being.

”If you can promise to prioritize my son’s happiness and not your own, I can consider it once he is old enough. Otherwise, I will report harassment charges again.

”Now leave, grandmother. Think about my conditions and return when you return to your usual, rational self—unaffected by the whispers of the devils you keep beside you.”

”YOU—”

Winona did not bother hearing her response because she knew it was useless.

She returned to the house, and this time, she allowed Sheila to close all fenestrations so even if the old woman yelled to death, they would not be bothered anymore.

The pregnant woman wordlessly wrapped her arms around the other, patting her back. Winona settled into the younger woman’s embrace.

”Was I too cold?” She could not help but ask Sheila as soon as she entered.

”No, you were great.”

The two women hugged for a while before separating with a smile. After parting, she went straight to the side and leaned down on the crib, seeing her beautiful son’s sleeping figure.

Her lovely son deserved the best, and he did not have to deal with ’blood ties’ that did not love him, but were seemingly intent on dragging him down.

She would not let anything destroy this peace.