Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World Chapter 163: Mother & Daughter

By the ti they returned to Gideon’s house, Delilah had cald down enough to think clearly.

There was still one conversation she needed to have with Sumr.

No matter how shocked or conflicted she felt, she had already promised herself that she would not get angry with her daughter.

Sumr had been emotionally unstable lately, and her body was already under enough strain from the morning sickness. The last thing she wanted was to make things harder for her.

As they walked through the house, she remained quiet but her mind clearly was the opposite. Sensing the tension, Gideon glanced at her and gave a small chuckle.

"Guess I am kind of lucky you didn’t bring up how weird our relationship is. Pretty taboo, you know?"

Delilah shot him a sharp glare and jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"Seriously?! There are far more disturbing things happening in this post-apocalyptic world. I’ve seen relationships much stranger than this."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "But stop irritating , okay?"

Gideon raised his hands in surrender and nodded obediently, though he still could not suppress a quiet laugh.

To Delilah’s annoyance, that laugh drew a reluctant smile from her.

A few monts later, they stopped in front of Sumr’s bedroom. The atmosphere imdiately grew tense again.

Gideon reached for the doorknob, but before opening it, he turned to look at her.

"You ready?"

Delilah took a slow breath, steadying herself, then gave him a firm nod.

Gideon opened the door, revealing Sumr lying in bed. She looked much better than she had a week ago. At the very least, she was finally able to eat without imdiately becoming nauseated.

He and Delilah stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind them.

Hearing them enter, Sumr’s eyes fluttered open, and the mont she saw the worried expressions on both of their faces, she tried to push herself into a sitting position.

Delilah quickly crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed, resting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder to gently ease her back down.

"It’s okay. You can just lie there, Sumr."

Sumr nodded and settled back against the pillow. She was still weak and constantly drowsy, with barely enough energy to do anything other than rest in bed all day.

Delilah hesitated for a mont before speaking, her voice soft and careful because the last thing she wanted was to frighten her daughter.

"I wanted to talk to you about your condition. This isn’t a normal sickness, is it?"

The mont the question left her mouth, Sumr’s face turned pale, as if she had known exactly where this conversation was heading.

Slowly, she turned to Gideon, her expression full of confusion and accusation, silently demanding to know what had happened.

Gideon gave her a reassuring nod. "It’s okay, Sumr. I told your mother everything."

"What?! She’s going to kill !"

Sumr whipped her head back toward Delilah, her face filled with dread.

"I’m so sorry, Mom, but I don’t want to abort this baby! I want to be a mother!"

She imdiately wrapped both arms around her stomach, holding it protectively as though Delilah might sohow snatch the child away on the spot.

Delilah could only stare at her in complete confusion before turning to Gideon, who rely shrugged with an infuriating little smile that seed to say, ’See? Everyone thinks the sa thing I do.’

That alone was enough to make her head throb.

"No, you do not have to do that. Oh, God." She pressed her fingers to her temple and let out a long sigh. "Do I really look like so crazy old witch who wants to abort every baby in every woman’s stomach?"

Sumr gave a small, silent nod while Gideon finally lost control and burst into laughter. Delilah narrowed her eyes and pinched his palm hard enough to make him flinch, but he continued laughing anyway.

"Ugh, you were constantly giving Kanna unnecessary ’advice’ when she was pregnant and silently judging her the entire ti," Sumr groaned.

"Of course, I thought you’d do the sa to . Especially when you still treat like I’m a child and criticize almost every decision I make. I can live on my own too, Mom."

Delilah gasped, genuinely stunned that her children saw her that way.

"I’m not like that," she protested, though her voice faltered almost imdiately.

"Well... yes, I was worried about Kanna. She’s tiny, and I knew labor would be painful and difficult for soone with that kind of figure. Was it really so wrong for to say that her decision was absolutely wrong?"

Sumr and Gideon nodded so quickly and so firmly that Delilah let out another long sigh of exasperation.

"Fine. I was wrong."

Then she turned back to Sumr, her expression growing stern as she leaned closer to the bed.

"But, Sumr, most of your decisions really are terrible and usually end in disaster and chaos. Need I remind you what happened the last ti you fell in love with so musty old man who was the sa age as your father and clearly only wanted to sleep with you, but you were too foolish to notice?"

She did not wait for an answer.

"You wanted to run away with him. You cried for days and called an old hag for separating the two of you. And what happened the very next day? He was thrown out of Freebound because he raped underage girls. Girls, plural. Not just one."

"See? You always bring up the past!" Sumr huffed as she turned onto her side, making it clear that she no longer wanted to look at her mother. "That happened seven years ago. Move on already."

Then she gestured dramatically toward herself.

"And now look at . I’ve beco an old virgin. What would have happened if Gideon hadn’t co to live with us? I’d probably still be a virgin at forty and turn into a legendary wizard."

Gideon placed a hand on Delilah’s shoulder and nodded solemnly.

"She’s right. You’re welco."

Delilah imdiately slapped his hand away.

"Shut up, Gideon! Go, leave the room. I want to talk to my daughter alone!"

Sumr imdiately pushed herself into a sitting position and exclaid, "No! I want my husband to stay here!"

"Oh, co on. He isn’t your husband."

"He will be. In the spring, he said he wants to marry ."

Sumr beckoned Gideon closer with an insistent wave of her hand, and he moved to her side.

"Fine."

Her expression softened as she took her daughter’s hand and held it firmly between both of hers.

"I’m not here to lecture you or force you to get rid of the baby. I just want to know how you’re feeling. Are you alright? Has morning sickness been too hard on you? I can make a redy for it. It’s a recipe my mother used to make for when I was pregnant."

Before she could finish, Sumr’s expression crumpled. Her eyes filled with tears, and without warning she leaned forward and threw her arms around Delilah.

"I’m okay. Thank you, Mom." Her voice trembled as she clung to her tightly. "I’m just so happy that you accepted our relationship and this baby. I thought you would kill for sure."

Delilah froze for a mont in surprise, but her arms soon wrapped around Sumr in return.

As she held her daughter, warmth spread through her chest.

For a brief mont, it felt as though ti had turned back and Sumr was a little girl again, racing into her arms every afternoon after school and chattering excitedly about everything that had happened that day while they ate dinner together.

Those had been peaceful days, and more than once Delilah had prayed that she might experience sothing like them again.

"Of course I’ll always be here for you, Sumr," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "I’m your mother. I will always protect you, and I will always believe in you."

Tears slipped down her cheeks before she could stop them. She tried to bla it on the pregnancy and the unruly hormones that ca with it, but deep down she knew that was only part of the reason.

Sumr nodded against her shoulder.

"Okay, but you have to stop treating like a child. I’m going to have a baby in eight or nine months."

Delilah let out a watery laugh and gently brushed a strand of hair from Sumr’s face.

"I can’t do that. You’ll always be my baby. You’ll understand once your own child is born."

When they finally pulled apart, Delilah kept her hands on Sumr’s arms and looked at her with quiet certainty.

"You’re going to be a wonderful mother. Better than I ever was."

Sumr stared at her in disbelief before smiling through her tears.

"What are you talking about? You’re the best mother in the world."

At that mont, Delilah felt happier than she ever thought possible after the apocalypse.

She had never imagined that their small family would survive long enough to grow, much less find a safe place where they could finally settle down.

Yet here they were, living in this modest territory, their bodies no longer tense with constant fear and their hearts slowly learning how to be happy again.

Turning to Gideon, she said softly, "Thank you, Gideon, for giving us a new life."

Gideon’s expression softened. Unable to hold himself back any longer, he leaned forward and wrapped both won in a warm embrace.

"Then promise you’ll help this territory thrive," he said. "And don’t worry. I won’t let your dreams end just because you’re becoming a mother."

The three of them remained there together, holding one another in a rare mont of peace.

None of them noticed the figure standing quietly in the doorway.

She watched them with eyes filled with both happiness and sorrow. One hand drifted to her stomach, rubbing it absentmindedly as she whispered to herself.

"Is it impossible for to get pregnant too?"