Chapter 174: Who’s The Father?!
Their faces went blank as they stared at Sunnie working. They had figured that she was probably pregnant with another cub.
And so they began with their most asked questions.
"Who’s the father?"
And while the chipmunks set off to join Sunnie in the farm to proceed with their work, the others stayed behind, staring at each other.
"When did it happen?" Eris stared at Azure.
Everyone turned their attention to Azure, who was still carrying Maren. "What?" He stared at them. "Why are you all staring at me?"
"It’s clear that you’re the father of the cub she’s bearing now. I thought you were just a bookworm—I didn’t know you were also active," Eris ran a hand through his chin, teasing him.
Azure blinked. "Well, I’m not the one responsible."
They stared at him with a sigh as Eris turned and began looking at them one by one. "Well, then who could it be? Luka is too innocent for it, I haven’t shot my shot yet, Zayn is too grumpy to have babies, and Karl..."
He stopped at Karl as they all stared at him.
"What?" Karl demanded, arms folded with a cold expression.
Eris ran a hand through his chin in thought. "You’ve been so flirty with the female lately. So I think you’re the father."
Karl scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Well, I think you’ve got it wrong because I don’t have time for that."
But Eris smiled as he confidently spoke. "I’m never wrong, and I’m sure you’re the father. I’m never wrong. So just accept it so we can congratulate you." He smiled.
"I’m the father," Luka said at that moment.
Silence. Everyone turned to stare at him. They were all speechless as they looked at Luka.
"You?" Eris asked as Luka nodded. "Damn, I guess I’m wrong again."
There was another silence as Eris leaned closer to him. "You? How did it happen? When did it..."
Immediately, Eris paused as he stared into the distance. He blinked and slapped his head. "Ah! That was it! Why didn’t I remember?"
They stared at him as Eris said, "That night after we returned, I saw you and the female doing it outside the house before you left. I didn’t follow you to where you two went, but now I see...!"
Luka immediately wrapped his arms around Eris, shutting him up. His cheeks instantly flushed as he felt shy.
Azure covered Maren’s ears while Zukka struggled to cover Little Black’s rabbit ears, which were growing tall from the tea.
Eris broke free from his grip as he stared at Luka. "You..." He smiled. "I never knew it would come to this, but... I can’t believe you’re becoming a father before me." He sighed. "Traitor."
Luka smiled, scratching his ears and hair as he stared down. He was being shy about it, his face flustered. "Well... I didn’t know it would come to this either."
Eris folded his arms with a sigh. "I guess we have two fathers now." They stared up at Sunnie, who was working hard without stopping.
"Do you think we should stop her?" Luka asked. "What if she hurts herself working too hard? What if it affects her in the long run? What if it hurts the cub inside her? What if something goes wrong during the delivery?"
They all paused and stared at him.
"Now I understand why your mood suddenly changed with her. You were being all protective, as if you could tell..." Eris shook his head as he said, "Don’t worry about her. She did more work when she was having Maren, so I don’t think this will affect her."
Azure nodded. "I think she has a unique system. Her body suddenly gets super strong when she’s pregnant. So maybe that’s it."
Karl folded his arms with a scoff. "She got that probably by stealing the meat from me."
"From me," Zayn corrected as the two cast each other a cold glare.
"I still think we should stop her so she doesn’t overwork and hurt herself," Luka suggested.
Karl and Eris stared at him and shook their heads.
"I thought Azure would be the worst, but I think we’ve got another one," Karl shook his head. "What a stress."
---
They later decided to join the rest and plant the remaining crops. They were almost finished planting everything.
The crops they had "won" from the competition were enough to cover the entire field. They didn’t need to find any more. It was essentially all they needed for the farmland.
While they all worked, Maren slipped away from Little Black’s hands while he and Zukka were busy bickering.
Maren ran into the farmland where everyone was working.
The little kid watched what everyone was doing to understand better. After a while, she smiled with realization. "Ah! Treasure!"
She smiled as she rushed and began digging up the spots they had already planted.
The kid happily dug out the spots and picked out the crops they had planted, piling them to the side. She was happy about what she was doing, thinking she was finding many treasures.
Azure and the other husbands noticed this as Azure rushed to stop her. "No, you can’t do that."
The leader of the chipmunks already wanted to faint from the scene. His hard work!
Azure stopped the little one from digging up more. "Go and sit down right there, okay? Everyone is working."
"I want to work too," Maren said, pouting. She pestered him for a while, insisting that she also wanted to work.
Azure sighed as he looked around and said, "Okay, take this." He handed her a little watering container. "Take this and water the spots." He instructed her, pointing at the places she was to water.
Maren watched and simply nodded with a bright smile. "Yes!" She happily ran off with the can to get the job done.
Azure watched her leave, hoping that she would at least get that done right. But he guessed he was wrong.