The heavy wooden door of my house didn't lead into a dark, empty hallway like I had expected. Instead, warm, amber light spilled out from beneath the crack of the frame, the soft glow of multiple well-placed glass lanterns illuminating the entrance. Someone was already inside, making themselves completely at home.
I leaned heavily against the porch railing, shifted the weight of my five-month baby bump, and raised a fist to knock firmly against the dark wood.
"Evelyn, I'm home," I called out, my voice carrying its usual flat, exhausted deadpan.
Within seconds, the lock clicked, and the heavy door swung wide open. Standing right there on the doorstep was my younger sister, Evelyn. She was wearing a simple green kirtle almost identical to my own, but the way the fabric was stretched to its absolute structural limits made me freeze in my tracks.
Over the last three months, Evelyn's hybrid biology had gone into a state of absolute hyper-drive. Thanks to the volatile, accelerated nature of her slime growth, her short stature had completely vanished. She had shot up from her previous height, skyrocketing past 5'6" all the way up to a towering 5'9". She had officially surpassed our big sister Elicia, who stood at a dignified 5'8".
But the height wasn't the most absurd part of her rapid development. Evelyn's overall build had matured into a remarkably voluptuous, impossibly curvaceous framework that looked like a peak eighteen-year-old adult woman. Her chest line, which had already been a disproportionately heavy F-cup, had expanded even further, filling out into a staggering G-cup bust that seemed entirely ridiculous on her frame. Her deep brown locks cascaded over her shoulders, the glowing, bioluminescent turquoise and neon-tips pulsing with a vibrant, excited flare that cast a colorful, watery light across the porch. Her twin jade-green eyes… a perfect, vibrant match to the Rynd family resemblance… shone with pure, childlike innocence.
I stood there in a stunned deadpan, looking up at her. She was chronologically only six years old, yet she completely eclipsed me.
I looked down at my own body. I was the middle sister, sitting at a petite frame of 5'5" with an incredibly average, awfully modest C-cup bust. My biological metrics made absolutely no sense in the context of our family line. Big sister Elicia was a statuesque 5'8" with a G-cup. Little sister Evelyn was now a towering 5'9" with a matching G-cup. And right there in the middle was me: 5'5", a C-cup, and carrying a prominent five-month pregnancy bump that just made me look rounder rather than mature.
Chronologically and legally, I was the older sister standing next to Evelyn, but looking at our physical frameworks, the roles had completely and violently reversed. I felt like the tiny, underdeveloped younger sister all over again, while my six-year-old sibling looked like the mature matriarch of the household.
"Pahahahaha! Oh, this is absolute gold! Look at the difference, Mommy Eirene! You got absolutely scammed by the genetic lottery! You're a terrifying vampire lord, and you look like a middle-schooler standing next to a literal slime goddess! The six-year-old is towering over you, Mommy!" Plasma instantly erupted into breathless, mocking hysterics inside my skull, completely ignoring my previous threat.
Before I could mentally thrash the ghost, Evelyn's twin jade-green eyes locked onto my face. The neon-turquoise tips of her hair flared with a brilliant, joyful brilliance that lit up the entire front yard.
"Big sister, you're back!"
Evelyn cried out, her voice full of pure, unadulterated childlike glee that completely contrasted with her impossibly mature adult figure.
She lunged forward, throwing her arms around me in a massive, overwhelming hug. The sheer volume of her newly developed chest pressed heavily against my face, burying me in an accidental, suffocating embrace as her warm, healthy skin radiated comfort. Despite her terrifying hybrid power level, her grip was incredibly gentle, carefully avoiding my prominent baby bump as she held me close, completely thrilled that I was finally home from the restaurant.
Suddenly, right in the middle of our massive hug, a sharp, distinct little thump pressed outward from the front of my kirtle.
Evelyn blinked, her twin jade-green eyes widening in surprise as she felt the movement against her stomach. She pulled back slightly, resting her hands gently over my rounded five-month bump. The neon-turquoise tips of her deep brown locks gave a soft, rhythmic pulse of excitement.
"Aww, your baby is a strong one!" Evelyn beamed, her face lighting up with absolute childlike wonder.
"Yeah, tell me about it. The little passenger has been practicing kickboxing metrics all afternoon. Probably got a rush from all the garlic fumes at the tavern." I muttered with a lazy, exhausted chuckle, rubbing my lower back as my crimson wings gave a relaxed flutter
"See? Even the kid knows it's time to move!" Plasma chimed in inside my head. I chose to actively ignore his existence.
Evelyn practically bounced on her heels, her towering 5'9" frame and heavy G-cup bust swaying with an energy that looked completely absurd given her mature adult figure.
"Big sister, let's eat! I already prepared food for us! Uhm... well, I practically stole it from the kitchen after our last mission from the Bureau. The guys in the uniform said it was totally free, so I just took the whole tray!"
I let out a rare, amused grin, shaking my head at her six-year-old logic. Leave it to a hybrid slime to accidentally rob a government branch under the guise of 'free samples.'
"Well, let's eat then, honestly, my mind has been completely full of adobo for the last ten hours. I'm ready to eat literally anything else. Lead the way."
"Yay! Food time!" Evelyn cheered.
We hurried right out of the hallway and into the dining room, the glowing turquoise tips of her hair illuminating the path as the giant, voluptuous "older" sister and her petite, pregnant middle sister sat down to finally enjoy a chaotic family dinner.
I walked over to the coatrack in the corner of the hallway, unstrapped my heavy leather purse, and hung it up before heading into the dining room.
Evelyn certainly hadn't been exaggerating. Sitting right in the center of our wooden dining table was an entire, massive metallic catering tray filled to the brim with braised pork. This was the exact high-tier military ration provided by the Bureau, specifically funded and led by the captain of the Luminous Knights himself, Captain Friedrich. I couldn't help but let out a quiet, amused scoff. My six-year-old sister had basically looted a legendary paladin's personal division commissary, and she was sitting there looking completely proud of herself. What a mischievous little slime.
I grabbed a clean ceramic bowl, scooped a piece of the Bureau pork into it, and took a bite. I chewed slowly, my single jade-green eye blinking in a flat deadpan.
Compared to the deep, explosive garlic-and-vinegar punch of my optimized adobo, this stuff tasted like boiled cardboard. It was incredibly bland… high in protein, sure, but completely lacking in culinary soul.
"Well, it's edible, But Friedrich seriously needs to invest in some seasoning. A single bay leaf would destroy this entire recipe." I muttered, swallowing the pork with a lazy shrug as my crimson wings gave a relaxed twitch.
Evelyn giggled, her towering 5'9" frame swaying as the neon-turquoise tips of her deep brown hair flared with a warm, cozy light. She rested her chin in her hands, her huge, innocent jade-green eyes locking onto my five-month bump.
"Hey, big sister, did you think of the name yet?"
I paused, my spoon halfway to my mouth as I looked up at her.
"What name?"
"Your baby! The little passenger! You've been carrying them for five months now. You must have thought of something!"
I stared at her for a solid, unblinking second, my spoon hovering in mid-air over the bland Bureau pork as my single jade-green eye processed the question. My brain had been operating entirely on restaurant logistics, inventory numbers, and spice ratios for the last ninety days.
"Oh, the name, Honestly, my mind has been completely filled with ingredients, supply chains, and bakery metrics anyway. I haven't exactly been drafting baby name registries between lunch rushes. Well, I suppose..."
I stopped, my gaze drifting up toward the warm, amber glow of the glass lantern hanging from the ceiling. Deep within the locked vaults of my memories from my past life back on Earth… long before the reincarnation, the blood curse, the bounty hunting, and the chaotic family dynamics of the Rynd household… a sudden, random piece of pop culture trivia flashed across my mind. I remembered a remarkably talented New Zealand actor named Cliff Curtis. The guy was a absolute legend back on Earth, famous for his incredible range and his roles in massive blockbuster franchises like Avatar: The Way of Water and its highly anticipated sequel Avatar 3, not to mention battling prehistoric sharks in The Meg 2: The Trench. He was just one of those memorable, solid, and incredibly reliable figures.
"Let's go with Cliff, yeah. Cliff Rynd. It has a solid structural sound to it." I said, snapping out of my nostalgic daydream and looking back up at my towering little sister.
Evelyn blinked her twin jade-green eyes, the glowing, neon-turquoise tips of her deep brown locks pulsing with a skeptical, amused little flicker in the dim dining room. She looked down at my prominent five-month baby bump, then looked back up at my deadpan face, completely unimpressed by my sudden burst of creative inspiration.
"Cliff? Big sister, you literally just imagined a giant rocky cliff outside the window because you're tired, and decided to name your baby after it, didn't you? You didn't even try!"
"I tried, Well, it is what it is." I muttered, my voice completely flat as I scooped up another piece of the bland pork.
We had actually gone to a local clinic for a medical checkup just a few days ago, so the biological data was already locked into our system. It was officially a boy. The magical blood metrics were pretty fascinating, too… the kid was exactly one-third vampire and two-thirds human. Since I was a dhampir… a half-vampire… and that deadbeat criminal father I had to behead months ago was a hundred percent human, little Cliff was a unique hybrid mixture.
"Cliff? Seriously, Eirene? That is a terribly boring name for a hybrid child of the Crimson Phantom! You should name him something with real biological flair. Like Blood Clot! Or Aneurysm! Oh, oh, how about Leukemia Rynd? Now that sounds like a medical marvel, Mommy!" Plasma's voice suddenly erupted inside my skull, dripping with his signature obnoxious, cackling energy.
'Shut up, Plasma, If you don't stop giving my unborn son a disease-themed registry, I am going to find a high-tier priest to exorcise you straight into the abyss.'
Evelyn, completely oblivious to the chaotic mental war happening inside my head, just smiled warmly. The neon-turquoise tips of her deep brown hair flared with a soft, cozy light as she reached across the table and patted my arm.
"Well, boy or girl, Cliff is going to be a super cool little nephew, and with you as his mommy and me as his giant auntie, nobody in the three districts is ever going to mess with him!"