4 Growing up

It had been three days since the reincarnation happened and Atticus was still in denial. It all seemed incredulous to him.

"Buddhism may have some truth to it after all.' Atticus pondered. He had never really been a 'religion' person. He always thought that there was only oblivion after death.

Atticus's approach to matters of spirituality had always been grounded in logic. He regarded himself a skeptic, trusting only in empirical evidence; whatever was proven was true.

Even though his mother on earth, had insisted on attending church every Sunday, Atticus remained detached from religious beliefs.

And yet, as he struggled with the aftermath of his unexplainable experience, he found himself at a crossroads as the lines of rationality blurred with the strange forces at play.

'It's been three days. I guess it's about time I accepted my situation.' He thought to himself.

His realization came with a gentle poke on the cheek from a blonde woman.

"Boo-wa," Atticus responded, hoping that would discourage further attention. However, it only seemed to endear them more to him as they continued to tug at his chubby cheeks.

'They don't give up, do they?," Atticus observed, feeling slightly irritated by the attention. He would prefer some quiet time to think and strategize on his current situation.

Amidst the chatter, Atticus made his first impressions of the people around him.

'My mother, apparently,' He mused. 'Anastasia. She seems happy… I think,' he noted as his looked over at a blonde woman.

"Look, Arya, he grabbed my finger!" she beamed.

"Yes, my lady." replied Arya, giving Atticus a warm smile. She was Anastasia's Ravenblade, her bodyguard.

"Here, Atticus! Grab mama's finger." Anastasia urged.

'She's beautiful.' Atticus gave a small smile and reached out for her finger.

"Yes! There you go," Anastasia squealed, excited to have him hold on to her finger again.

'Damn, this is tiring.' Atticus wondered why he felt so tired when he hadn't done more than sleep since he came to.

'I suppose this is how a baby feels. No wonder all they do is poop, eat, and sleep,' he mused.

'I'm glad they're at least speaking English,' he added with a sense of relief. 'I won't have to learn a language from scratch. Couldn't think of anything worse.'

"My lady, it looks like young master is tired," Arya noticed Atticus's closing eyes.

"Yeah, you're right, Arya," replied Anastasia, disappointed as she realized she had to leave him be. She covered Atticus with a warm blanket and left him to enjoy his sleep.

'I'm left to my thoughts now,' Atticus realized, with mixed feelings.

Atticus couldn't help but reminisce about his premature death and the subsequent rebirth.

The question remained on why he had been killed.

He remembered the man's last words, "Entertain us," They echoed in his mind, leaving him confused.

'Entertain him!? Go to a fucking circus if you want entertainment!' he thought bitterly.

The angrier he became the more exhausted he was and he realized his fragile, new body could not hold the emotions from his past life.

He breathed deeply to regain his calm.

'Aceept your situation and keep a clear head. A clear mind sees all." He encouraged himself.

Taking small measured breaths, he resumed the puzzle he was faced with. 'Why was I reincarnated? What even is this place? Some playground?"

While he was confident, logic would dissuade him from thinking himself so exceptional that he would

be singled out for reincarnation.

'I'll figure that out eventually. For now though, there's only one way forward—living,' he resolved.

Sadness crept into his heart as he remembered his earthly mother. 'I hope mum will be alright,' he sighed, as worry rose again.

'No matter how long it takes, I swear will make you regret this,' Atticus was determined to hunt down his killer no matter what.

He was driven by a strong sense of vengeance, as he would not spare anyone who had damned him to this plight.

Even though Kira, his girlfriend, had shattered his heart , Atticus wasn't one to let betrayal shape his future interactions or determine how he would move forward in life.

He had always lived by one rule: an eye for an eye. After what he did to her, the matter was basically forgotten.

'For now, this is my new reality and I'll make the most of it,' Atticus declared, determined to figure it out. 'I'll make sure he doesn't live long enough to regret this.' he added.

As sleep overtook him, his thoughts became distorted, tiny windows of memories of what was and what could be.

***

Atticus' early days were quite the snoozefest. He was stuck in baby mode, just eating, sleeping, and, well, pooping. And to top it off, Anastasia was watching his every move like a hawk. He could hardly catch a break.

'This would have been the life if not for this weird woman' he thought.

"Come here, my little At!" Anastasia's excited voice called.

In a fancy room full of toys and padding, Atticus was at the mercy of Anastasia's unyielding attempts to entertain him. He could only babble in response, which was frustrating for someone who normally had a lot to say.

"Bababa," Atticus cooed and gurgled, his communication limited to these innocent sounds.

'Being a child is tougher than I thought,' He attempted to crawl towards Anastasia with his tiny baby hands.

Anastasia's didn't give up on trying to entertain as she introduced a rattle for him to play with.

"Look, Atticus! A fun rattle. Can you shake it too?"

'Oh no, not again,' Atticus sighed and reluctantly shook the rattle.

"That's a good boy," she cooed at him like he was the most adorable child in the world.

"Good good, little At. Dada will be coming soon. Are you excited?" Anastasia asked Atticus while lifting him up tenderly.

'Hmm, a father? That's a welcome twist,' Atticus mused. Atticus had never met Anastasia's husband, and he had also never never met his dad back on earth.

He had left the scene before Atticus was even born. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to have a father, that might spice things up a bit.

'Well, let's see how this unfolds.' He said but it came out "Buaaaaw" instead.

"Oh, you're also excited little At. You want to see Dada?"

With a cheeky grin, Atticus settled in for a nap, his mind already racing with thoughts about this mysterious dad figure.