"Don't look at me like that," the still somewhat young man with dark blue hair told his wife with a shrug. "Accidents happen, Alice. I know we agreed that we didn't want to have a child, but what we need to be worrying about now is what we're going to do when the baby arrives."
"I suppose you're right, Caelum. This probably means that I won't be able to continue my schooling and get a career in law. Well, unless we pay somebody to look after the child, but I can imagine what the neighbors would think. I may not have been living in Sinnoh all my life like you have, but from what I've seen so far, that would just give them more reason to reject me as a foreigner." The woman, who also had blue hair, although a good few shades lighter than her husband's, stared out of the window of her rather luxurious house overlooking the beach.
"Yes, the neighbors' opinions certainly are a concern for us, and I want to fit in as much as you do. I know they probably already hate us for moving into one of the nicest houses on the block along with your Unovan accent, but that's going to be all right. I managed to obtain a high-ranking leadership role at a big engineering company, and if that doesn't get us enough respect, I'm sure we can earn it." Alice turned her gaze away from the window to look into Caelum's dark blue eyes as he spoke, which seemed to express concern despite his confident words.
"Well, we'll certainly try. I'm just afraid that it might come down to how our child behaves, though. What if the child is a trouble maker? What if he or she doesn't want to fit in? We'll be the ridicule of all of Sunyshore." Alice's expression seemed to contrast her husband's, as her intense grey eyes would have given no sign of emotion to the average onlooker. Caelum, however, who knew her better than that, could see the fear in her face.
"I'm sure that we'll be able to teach our child to behave themself well enough. You're one of the most convincing people I've ever met, I can't see any reason why any child would choose to act up under your care. Just relax, honey." Somehow Alice didn't seem convinced.
"Somehow, I have a feeling that this will all go horribly wrong. Call it Murphy's law, but... are you listening?" Alice questioned her husband, who had just taken off his glasses and was cleaning them with a piece of cloth.
"Yeah, I uh... I have to go do some preparation for work tomorrow. We can talk about this later if you want." Caelum put his glasses back on and headed out of the room, trying to avoid his wife's glare.
Alice and Caelum actually did discuss their plans for the child more as time wore on and Alice got further into her pregnancy. Whenever the topic of the family fitting in with the rest of the neighborhood came up, however, Caelum always seemed to find something to occupy himself with and dart out of the room. It seemed that they would just have to hope for the best. If the child was a rebel... well, neither Alice nor Caelum wanted to think about that.
Finally, the child was born at Sunyshore General, and Alice and Caelum soon had themselves a newborn baby boy. The child was extremely pale to the point that Alice and Caelum started to worry, but the doctor told them that the baby was healthy enough and that was just the way the baby had been born. Alice and Caelum decided on the name "Cyrus" for the child, and soon took him home.
"He's got your stare, Alice," Caelum commented a few weeks after the family had come back from the hospital with their newborn baby.
"My stare? It seems all he does when he's not eating or sleeping is stare like that. Do you think that there's something wrong with him?" Alice asked concernedly. Just what they needed, a kid that was different from all the rest of the town's children.
"Relax, Alice. I'm sure he's fine, it's just the way his eyes are positioned. I think he'll grow up just fine, and I've got enough faith in your parenting skills that he'll learn to listen to whatever he's told. Besides, between my leadership and engineering skills and your ability to convince people, I'll bet he'll be the most successful kid on the block."
Alice nodded, but wasn't quite convinced by her husband's words.
"Today I've got another outing planned for you, Cyrus. We're going to the beach again." Alice told her son as he was neatly stacking toy blocks in his playpen.
"Okay," the blue-haired toddler responded, seemingly paying more attention to what he was doing than his mother's words.
"Now, I want you to listen to me now, Cyrus. This time we're going with several other families and their children, so I want you to be on your best behavior. I can't afford to have you making trouble." That seemed to get Cyrus' attention. He seemed to hate being around other children, and always seemed to either make one of the other children cry, or ignore the other toddlers entirely.
"I don't want to go with other children. They always take my toys or mess up what I'm trying to do." Cyrus stopped playing with his blocks and crossed his arms over his chest. Why did his mother have to invite company? Cyrus was perfectly content going about things by himself.
"They only bother you because you refuse to share with others. Try to think about somebody other than yourself for once, Cyrus. Now, this is an important day for you and mommy, so try to do what the other kids are doing and listen to what I say. If you keep acting selfish and staying away from the other children, their parents are going to think I haven't raised you properly and it'll look bad on me." Alice sighed and went over to pick up Cyrus and put him in his stroller.
It seemed so far that Alice's worst fears had been confirmed- Cyrus was growing up to be a troublemaker. The neighbors already were casting Alice dirty looks whenever Cyrus wouldn't listen, and she was sure that they were spreading rumors about the family behind her back. Still, if Cyrus listened to his mother's words and didn't cause any trouble today, maybe it would help Alice's reputation... but what were the chances of that?
"What is that?" another toddler asked Cyrus, who was piling up sand to form intricate patterns. It was later that day, and Cyrus had been working in the sand for a few hours in spot slightly removed from the other children.
"It's a sand castle. Haven't you ever seen one before?" Cyrus remarked, clearly not wanting to be bothered by the other child.
"I've seen sand castles before, but they didn't look like that. Why are you staying away from everyone, anyway?" Cyrus didn't respond to the other boy's question. Why should he have to put up with other children's stupidity when he could just ignore them until they went away? The other boy, however, did not go away.
"My mommy says that your family isn't from around here," the other child stated, having heard his parents talking about Cyrus' mother being from Unova. "Where are you from, anyway? Is that why your sand castle looks so weird?" Again, Cyrus ignored the other boy, not wanting to even respond to that ridiculous comment.
"Wait, I know! You're from outer space, aren't you? That's why you won't tell me anything, isn't it? The funny way your mommy talks, the way you never go near the rest of us, and now that weird thing that you call a sand castle. I get it now! You're an alien from another planet! I'm right, aren't I?" The boy talking to Cyrus seemed extremely proud of himself for figuring this out.
"No, you're wrong. I'm from Sunyshore, too. Now leave me alone." Cyrus had only now stopped focusing on his sand castle in order to look up and fix his glare at the bothersome child. What was the other toddler even talking about? It was true that Cyrus had a great interest in outer space, but to think that he was from there was just silly.
"I did it! I found your secret! Now you're just mad at me because I know!" Cyrus, however, had stopped listening by now, and had resumed working on his intricate sand castle. Catching on to the fact he was being ignored, the other child took a step closer to Cyrus and his sand building.
"If you want to fit in, why don't you just make a regular sand castle? Here, I'll help you." With that, the other child kicked the sand sculpture that Cyrus had spent the last few hours working on until it was completely ruined.
"You..." Cyrus began, standing up to fix the other toddler with a death glare. "How dare you ruin my work! You idiot!" The other toddler stepped back a few feet, clearly taken aback by Cyrus' yelling.
"Cyrus, calm down! You're only going to make this worse." Alice had been watching the entire thing unfold but was only half-listening until now. Now she and the other parents were all looking and Cyrus and the other child, ready to step in and stop the conflict.
However, before any of the parents could take further action, Cyrus had marched up to and shoved the other toddler to the ground.
"Zachary!" The other child's mother called as the boy Cyrus had just pushed sat there on the ground crying. Meanwhile, Cyrus was sitting facing away from all the people watching with his arms crossed.
As much as Cyrus' mother had apologized for her son's behavior, it seemed that the other families had left the beach with a much worse perception of Alice and her family.
"Why do I have to wear this? I can hardly move." Cyrus complained as his mother adjusted the toddler-sized suit she had recently bought on the four year old child.
"I've already told you why- your grandfather on your father's side is visiting us, and the last time you met him you weren't even a year old. We need you to make a good impression on him, and this is your best chance to do so. If you decide to act up, it will look bad on your father and me, and the last thing this household needs is more people judging us badly because of your behavior."
Once Alice had finished working on the appearance of her son's clothes, she grabbed a comb and some hair gel from the drawer and started working on the toddler's blue hair. Cyrus didn't seem to enjoy it any more than having the suit put on.
"Stop it, you're pulling on my hair," Cyrus protested as his mother ruthlessly tried to straighten out his hair.
"Quit struggling, I need to make you look presentable! Now, remember your manners. Sit up straight and don't slouch, say 'please' and 'thank you', elbows off of the table, finish the food I serve you, use your silverware and don't eat with your fingers, and for heaven's sake, do what you're told."
"Do I make myself clear?" Alice questioned after Cyrus had ignored her previous comment. This time the boy nodded in response and said nothing more. As she was gelling her son's hair back, the blue-haired woman wondered if she was being too harsh with the child. No, of course not, if he refused to behave like other children his age, Cyrus needed to be dealt with appropriately.
Before Alice had much more time to ponder how best to deal with her son, the doorbell rang.