Chapter 1.4

Chapter 1.4- In Deep Now

                Waddling home from the consignment store, she had stopped at the salon to ask prices for a more professional dye job. The chestnut still didn’t suit her features, and the dye on her brows was starting to fade already. It was more than they could afford right now if they wanted a crib too, so she turned and headed toward the nearest subway station.

                “Helen!”

                ‘Elena’ whipped her head around looking for who could be so foolish as to yell her name out in public.

                “Helen Blue, if you don’t come and talk to me I’m going to call the newspaper to tell them you dyed your hair. That’s a travesty!”

                Helen finally spotted her, standing at the subway station a grin spreading from ear to ear.

                “Oh, My PlumbBob,” Helen’s stride had lengthened, making her clumsy. “Bianca Black!”

                “Yikes,” Bianca said, looking closely at Helen. “It really is a travesty. Please tell me you were at the salon chewing them out for messing up your eyebrows.”

                Helen scoffed. “Yeah, right. I did this myself, at home, in the mirror. Didn’t want folks recognizing me before I went out in public.” She paused, eyeing Bianca shrewdly.

“Of course,” she continued. “Of course, that’s all blown now. Yelling my name like that. What were you thinking?”

                “Oh, for PlumbBob’s sake,” Bianca countered. “No one cares that you’re here and there's no one around.”

                “Really? Two years of being forced to live with Heather Red and under constant surveillance during those trials kind of let me know SOMEONE wanted to keep an eye on me.”

                “Yes, but no one cares anymore.” Bianca looked stony. “William is dead. It’s over. So long as you aren’t planning on taking over the town again I don’t think anyone will mess with you."

                Bianca glanced down at Helen’s swollen belly.

                “And I’m guessing in your condition you’re not going to get far on an attempted coup even if you tried.”

When Helen didn’t reply, Bianca took in a deep breath. “I’m betting that’s Norris’ handiwork, and the reason you left so suddenly.”

                Helen smiled. She still cared very deeply for Norris.

                “I couldn’t risk Heather finding out,” Helen admitted. “She’d have murdered me. I want this baby. It’s the last of Norris I’ll ever have.”

                “You are so stupid,” Bianca said scornfully. “You know he’s married to Heather now. If he cared about you, he’d have followed you.”

                “No one is looking for you, Helen,” Bianca said evenly. “Let your hair go back to your normal color. Live a little.”

                “What about Drew and Tori Lao then?” Helen asked.

                “They don’t give a flip who’s here or why,” Bianca talked as if to a toddler. “My brother Trenton is here. He wasn’t supposed to come with the rest of us. But Drew signed his papers to let him get a job and didn’t bat an eye. They’re nice. They just don’t want any trouble. That’s all.”

                A little suspicious of why the greater part of Bianca’s family was there with Sim Nation sanctions, but Trenton had been left out, she couldn’t help but ask.

                “Why is your family here anyway? I thought Christine was looking forward to the opportunities over there.”

                “Sister Sha Sha, and mom was furious.” Bianca sneered at her own words.

                “Zazzy?” Helen was incredulous.

                “They were tired of the trouble she was causing. She finally told the police force that she wanted to come home. Even signed a statement saying she’d be a quiet little mousie if we were moved back for the resettlement. They didn’t put Trenton on the orders because he’s an adult. He snuck over in a packing crate. Idiot. Couldn’t walk for a week.”

                Helen couldn’t help but laugh. Zazzy would never be content to not cause a little bit of trouble. She was harmless, just liked a laugh. Trenton, she didn’t know very well though, though. He had been a long ways ahead of her in school. She doubted she had ever even spoken to him.

                Bianca looked at Helen.

                “Helen,” she said. “Live your life. Quit hiding. Move on. The rest of the world has.”

                Bianca didn’t wait for an answer. She walked away to catch a train, leaving Helen to mull over the teenagers wise words.

                She had been so afraid after her older brother had been sentenced to die. He was as harmless as she was. He had just made some bad decisions. But, maybe, it really was time to be herself again. She shouldn’t be afraid of that.

                Another lady at had just walked over to the station from the stadium. She looked quizzically at Helen and walked over with a smile which would have frightened babies.

                “Hi!” The evil-clown-faced stranger chirped. “I haven’t seen you around here before. I’m Shavon. Shavon Ezell and I'm going to stalk you and murder you in your sleep!”

                Helen looked at her for a moment, contemplating the extended hand before her.

                Looking up suddenly, meeting Shavon’s eye she made up her mind.

                “I’m Helen. Helen Blue. It’s very nice to meet you.”

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                ‘Steve’ walked in the door quietly. He hadn’t seen ‘Elena’ since she had shoved him out of the bedroom earlier that day, sobbing. All day long, he had pondered what he was going to say to her. He still had no idea.

                She was reading on the couch the radio on, tv off. She didn’t look up, she didn’t flinch when he came in the door.

                The garbage can was sitting out by the fridge. Steve stared at it and made up his mind. He smiled, hoping Elena would look up from her book, seeing him trying to help out. She didn’t.

                He took in out to the large bin outside. Staying a moment, he rubbed his neck, sighing. The stars overhead were dimmed slightly by a large moon, bright in the sky. His mother had always pointed out the constellations to him as a boy, trying to show him that there was nothing to be afraid of when the sun went down; that there were still lights in the sky that made the darkness beautiful.

                He reentered the house with more noise this time.

                “I need to talk to you, Elena.” He said, looking hard at her.

                She shut the book, replacing it in the bookshelf.

                Her face was passive, almost weary, tired. She met his eyes steadily though as he came around the couch.

                Coming closer, he placed his hands on her rounded belly.

                “I found us a crib,” he said, looking up at her. “For cheap.”

                “Oh,” Elena drew in a sharp breath. “Oh, thank you!”

                For a brief moment, Steve thought, hoped, she would hug him. Her smile beamed, and her eyes glowed as she returned his gaze kindly.

                “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner,” there were tears in her eyes, and a catch in her voice. “And I’m sorry I’ve made you sleep on the couch, and-“

                “-Aw, that’s enough.” Steve cut her off. “You’ll make me blush. ‘Sides, et’s all just hormonals right?”

                She giggled. “Steve, the bed is big enough for two. Get a good night’s sleep for once,” she offered shyly.

                He smiled complacently at her. His smile however, made her look sharp.

                “Hands off, though,” Elena warned him. “Or I’ll cut them off.”

                “Sounds fair,” he laughed. “Princess…”

                This time, she let it slide.

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                Her offer to share the large bed came not a night too soon. Shortly after dawn, her pains began, and her water broke soaking both them and the sheets.

                “What are you doing?” Steve was almost yelling in his panic.

                “Cleaning up! I don’t want the sheets and mattress ruined,” Helen told him calmly.

                “I also don’t want to have to clean this mess up when I get home,” Helen continued.

                “But yer in LABOR!” Steve really was shouting now.

                “Pain is no excuse for mess.” Helen told him dryly.

                “Et’s not just pain,” Steve continued his freak-out. “Et’s a baby!”

                “You’re such a wuss,” Helen sneered. “And now we won’t need to buy a new mattress.”

                Steve continued to do a jig in his agitation.

                “I’m fine!” She told him loudly. “See look-“

                “Aw, PLUMBBOB!” Helen yelled, doubling over in pain, clutching her suddenly hard belly. “That HURTS!”

                “See!?” Steve yelled right back, his jig gaining momentum, making him bounce off the wall at his side. “I told you!”

                Helen glared at him. It wasn’t like HE was in pain.

                “Just call a cab you ninny,” she told him more calmly as the contraction eased for a moment.

                “CALL A CAB?” Steve was almost crying. “NOW!?”

                “YES, NOW,” Helen gritted her teeth, trying to breathe. This contraction made the last one feel like a tickle. “I’m not too sure I can do it at the moment.”

                The cab arrived just after they were both dressed. Steve wondered if all the cabs in town smelled like fish. Helen just hoped this driver would speed up. Her contractions were getting closer together.

                “For PlumbBob’s sake,” Helen hissed at Steve. “I don’t need a guard. It’s just the hospital.”

                “You never know,” he shot back at her.

                Due to a glitch (literally) at the hospital, ‘Steve’ was the one to bring little Cyrus home. Elena would be on her way as soon as she could, picking up the crib on the way.

                He looked down tenderly at the infant in his arms. The boy looked back at him.

                “Hey,” Steve said softly. “I guess I’m kinda your Daddy little guy. Welcome home, man.”

                Steve swallowed. They were in deep now.

                Steve had been trying to rearrange furniture and put the crib together. Cyrus lay on the carpet, Elena was afraid he would roll off the couch, and there was nowhere better until the crib was up. He had been shoving the bed over when he heard a broken sob from the kitchen.

                Coming around the corner he found Elena standing in front of the refrigerator, crying.

                “Elena?” Steve asked her gently.

                Elena turned around, forcing her shoulders square. She couldn’t hide the tracks her tears had made as they flowed down her cheeks.

                “Aw, Princess,” Steve sighed, giving her a pitying look.

                Elena flung herself at him, to his very great surprise.

                Her sobs were harsh, her arms around him.

                Steve had drawn a sharp breath and grabbed her to help keep himself steady, surprised that she had initiated physical contact. They had had a very strict unspoken agreement that it was ‘hands off’ where the other was concerned. He hadn’t even touched her unless she had asked when her ankle was twisted in the woods. Then, he had merely moved her to somewhere more sheltered before fashioning a crutch for her to use.

                “He will never know I have his son,” Elena managed to say between her racking sobs.

                Steve knew she must be talking about the mystery father Cyrus had out there somewhere.

                “Cyrus will never know,” Helen’s cries overcame her words for a moment.

Steve held her close, sad himself because she was sad. He leaned his cheek on her silken hair, smelling the scent of her sweet shampoo.

“Cyrus will never know who his father is,” she choked out.

                Steve patted her back, unsure that he had any words for such a situation.

                A thought tugged at the corners of his mind; a tune his mother had hummed to him when he was little and frightened and scared.

                ‘Well,” Steve thought. ‘She’s scared for the future, kinda.’

                And so he began to hum. He held her close, patting and rubbing her back, cuddling her while he gave her his mother’s love in song.

                Slowly, slowly, Elena’s weeping abated. She nestled into his chest closer, feeling the vibrations of his humming rumble against her hot, wet cheek. Allowing him to comfort her until all that was left was a hollowness in her chest and an ache in her heavy heart.

                Gently, Steve put Elena away from him, hoping to talk to her some. But when he pushed her away, the kicked pup look on her face only made him want to wrap his arms around her again; promise her that he’d make the world be nice, that he’d take care of it all for her.

                Instead, sure that if he didn’t touch her somehow she would fall over, he put his hands out, gripping her upper arms.

                “Elena,” the firmness in Steve’s voice made her look up at him, though she only wanted to look at the floor. It was rare when his voice didn’t hold a teasing note. It was even rarer for him to use the name she had given him.

                “Elena, you’ve got the most beautiful thing any woman could want right over there. He’s yours. And if his father isn’t around now, he’ll never know. The only way he will know is if you let him know by not being both father and mother. I know it’ll be harder for you that for most women, but you can do it.”

                Steve dropped his hands, but didn’t drop his speech.

                “Mama, you’ve got the most wonderful opportunity to make that kid never think he needs a dad. And then when he’s all grown up, he’ll have a better idea of how to be a good daddy ‘cause he has such a wonderful mama. Who needs some guy who couldn’t even bother with you and ‘is son.”

                “’Sides,” he continued quietly. “I’ll be around to help ‘s long as I’m ‘round here.”

                He chuckled, thinking of their bank account. “And the way things are lookin’ now, you two are stuck with me for a good long time.”

                Elena finally smiled, laughing a little at the thought of their low funds. Despite it all, she was glad he was around.

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And generation 2 arrives! Helen was pregnant when the story started, just not showing or anything. I wanted to keep Cyrus’ father’s genetics in order to not have him be a clone of Helen. So I let him stay alive in town until she gave birth. I killed him while he was at the hospital, but after the arrival. It caused a really weird glitch and made Helen mourn. But, of course, if you love baby’s daddy and he’s not going to be around you’d mourn him for his lack of involvement, too. So it worked.
'Elena' still hasn't told 'Steve' her real name and she's completely ignoring the fact that there are people in town who do know what her name is. She's banking on the fact that there aren't a lot of people who know her real name, and that there are even fewer who know and are actively talking about it around town. Hence why I still refered to her as 'Elena' when 'Steve' came home.

I love ‘Steve’. Originally, I envisioned him as being closer to a ‘cowardly lion’ type. To my delight, his personality is much more complex, and not nearly as clumsy or bumbling. 
And finally, just because I tend to ramble, I've added a tab at the top where you can see what has been revealed of this generations roll as well as revealed traits. There are a few hidden, but only because they will be mentioned in an upcoming chapter. I'll add a picture of Cyrus and any traits worth mentioning when he becomes a toddler.
Also, (remember: rambler!), the struck-out portions of Helen and Shavon Ezell's interactions are because that chick gives me the willies. She will NOT be reappearing. I deleted her.