Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"One day, when I woke up… Lilim wasn't there, and she never returned. I was scared… too scared to do anything. She was just a little girl… even younger than Jessica.

I couldn't even go to the police… what was I supposed to tell them? I had no relation with Lilim, nor did I have any proof of her belonging to this world. But she returned the next day to inform me that she would be living on her own.

Obviously, I tried to stop her, but she never listened.

'I don't belong to the place where daddy is not present.' She had said to me.

I told her that the baby was you, but she didn't believe me. I couldn't blame her. Had you not told me your story, I wouldn't have believed that the baby was you. I certainly would have thought that Rebecca kidnapped the baby from somewhere.

It wasn't as though I wanted to force Lilim to stay with the girls, but I obviously couldn't let her go out in the world alone. Even if she was a demon, she was still a little girl. But she said she had everything under control.

So I let her go under one condition."

"Let me guess… the condition was that she would need to visit you every week?" Rudy guessed with a knowing look on his face.

"Yes. I guess you heard it from Lilim."

"She didn't tell me that, but I heard her part of the story where she mentioned a few notable things. I tried to connect the dots and guessed this."

"Continuing the story… Jessica and Rebecca lived together, and I mostly stayed with them. But a few months later, Grandpa and Grandma's health got worse, so I had to stay with them to look after them.

I asked Rebecca to move in with me, but she didn't like the idea. She said she could handle everything on her own and didn't need my help. I got angry after hearing that. I was trying my best for them, and… she never cared.

No offense, but she had become very arrogant and selfish for your sake. I then stopped talking with her and only spoke with Jessica at school, but I stopped going to school when I couldn't hide the baby bump anymore.

Then I was nearing my labor days, so it was almost impossible for me to walk across the room without grunting in pain and taking a minute break after every step. In short, it was hard, and I had no one to take care of me.

Grandma's health got even worse, and she couldn't move from her bed. She was bedridden. Grandpa was in the same condition, but he could do his stuff on his own. And… a few days later… Grandma passed away.

There…" Eleanor chuckled wryly and muttered, "How was I supposed to arrange a funeral? When I realized I was helpless… I passed out. When I woke up, I was in the hospital.

I was scared… I thought something had happened to Eric and Erika. But the nurse said they were fine. I asked them how I got there, and she said my family called an ambulance.

Obviously, my first thought was that grandpa called an ambulance, but… it was my mother. I had never been that happy to see my mother in my life. And… she was crying… apparently.

They told me I was out for a day, and grandma's funeral was already taken care of. After that, Grandpa and I moved in with my parents. I was confident that mom and dad would taunt me after seeing me pregnant, but surprisingly that never happened.

They never asked me who the father was. I guess… I had a wrong impression of them. It wasn't as though they didn't care about me… they simply didn't know how to raise a daughter.

As you know, my mom got pregnant in high school, so I guess that explains why they were awkward when I entered middle school. They weren't sure what rules should be set and thus ended up giving me freedom.

I took that as they didn't love me. I mean… we stopped interacting even when we lived in the same house. We rarely saw each other, so… that was given. We all were at fault. I… when I ran away from home, I hated them for neglecting me and my needs.

But after everything happened and I kind of raised the girls… I understood them a little as an adult. Having so many responsibilities at such a young age is difficult. Dad had to work harder to provide for mom and me.

He was a junior… so to say, he was younger than her, yet he had to step into the world of adulthood at a very young age. His parents were against the idea of me being pregnant with his child.

So they asked mom to abort… well, me. Dad denied it… then… his parents disowned him from their name. Mom had already dropped out of school, and dad had to drop out too.

Maybe… that's why they never asked or told me about my pregnancy. They didn't want me to go through the same thing they did. They didn't want to repeat their parent's mistakes and abandoned their children in their time of need.

Needless to say, our relationship didn't exactly get better even after we started living together. But it was better than before. A few weeks later, I gave birth to twins. Mom told me to stay with them as long as I wanted, but I was worried about Jessica and Rebecca.

I had Eric and Erika with me, so traveling with them was out of the question. It was a three-hour ride from the city. I could leave Eric and Erika with mom and dad, but they were always busy with their work. And I couldn't ask Grandpa to look after them as he was too old. So all I could do was call them… and I… did."