Silas Chapter 1.4 - First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.

Life settled into a routine for Silas. He and his father still rarely saw eye to eye, but now instead of getting angry, Silas just closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Yes, father," "No, father," "Of course, father," "Yes, father, I will," and on and on, every day.

Silas was saving up to move out soon, hoping to bring Marilyn with him when he did. She was at his house more often than not, anyway, choosing to spend her nights with him instead of at home. Her brother, Jonathan, had moved out years before, so it was just her and her parents these days. Mrs. Swiftstream had left her husband, Tristan, for Jonathan, who was her student not that long ago, and it was the talk of the village for awhile now. Her children wouldn't even speak to her anymore.

At least Marilyn got along with Silas's parents. Nathan especially seemed to love her, she would listen to his ramble about his newest books for hours and she'd happily listen to him. Marilyn was happy because she didn't have to hear about her brother constantly when she was at Silas's. Although she was happy that her brother was happy, she still didn't agree with him. Marilyn thought it was extremely disrespectful of Jon to break up a marriage, even if Dana Swiftstream hadn't been happy with Tristan for a long time. Besides, she was their parents age! Dana was much too old to bear any more children, and Cyrene Island desperately needed more children. It was bad enough that he broke up a marriage, but to date someone who couldn't even produce children while he was in his prime? Of course the villagers weren't happy.

She wished Jon all the best, and hoped that the scandal would quickly be forgotten, for her brother's sake, and especially for her parents' sake.

Her mother, Keely, had finally recovered from her illness, with Marilyn's help (thanks to Olivia's notes). It had been months now, and Keely had shown no signs of any other ailments, and was as healthy as one could be at her age. Occasionally she'd even hear her parents in their bedroom, and though she was grossed out, she couldn't been any happier.

Thinking about her brother and her parents got her thinking about her own life, her life with Silas. They'd been officially dating for about a year now and usually other people would be married with little ones on the way by now. Marilyn had started to feel restless lately, hoping that Silas would finally ask her for her hand in marriage. She wanted children, and soon. Others her age were beginning to have their own kids, and she wanted their children to be around the same age, so they would have kids to play with, and, most importantly, would be able to eventually find partners their own age (unlike her brother).

Marilyn thought Silas would never propose, which is why, when suddenly one day, he insisted they visit the beach.

"I've been thinking, Mary."
"Oh so that's what I've been smelling!" Silas playfully smacked her arm.
"Babe, please, let me finish before I lose all my confidence!"
"Okay okay"
"So I love you, more than anything. I can't imagine my life without you, I don't even want to imagine a life without you. I want to wake up every day with you next to me, I want you by my side, I want to grow old with you, I want...you." Silas got down on one knee, a tradition passed on through the generations, the meaning lost.

"Marilyn Greenwood, would you please be my wife?"

"Of course I will, you idiot!"

Silas, overcome by emotion, could only kiss her. But then he had a thought.

"Mary....this might sound crazy..."
"What...?"
"Let's get married right here, right now. We've waited long enough and I don't want to wait any longer, before you wise up and realize how terrible I am."
"If that were true, I would have realized it long ago, Silas. But....okay, let's do it!"

And so, with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face, they got married during the sunset.

Marilyn couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

That night, after they had told their parents they'd finally gotten married, the two sprinted off to their bedroom. Neither of them had ever done this before, instead choosing to wait until they were wed.

Marilyn was a little nervous, she'd heard through Eva Wisp that it hurt, like, a lot. Marilyn was hoping that it wouldn't hurt so bad that it ruined an otherwise perfect day.

"Hey, wife, are you okay?" Silas asked, a concerned look on his face.
"Of course I am, husband. I'm just excited! And nervous. I've never, you know..."
Silas kissed her, stroking her hair, "Me neither, but I'm glad it's with you. I love you, Mary."

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A few months of happy, married bliss later (along with a lot of "practicing"), Marilyn was finally pregnant. 

Although she had never been happier about anything, Marilyn was still extremely worried. Would her baby be okay? Would she? No one had died in recent years due to childbirth, not in decades even, but it was still extremely dangerous. Any time a woman was pregnant, the entire village was on high alert, ready to rush in to help in case anything went wrong. She worried night and day, wondering if her baby would be okay. She didn't know what she would do if she lost her baby, or what Silas would do if he lost them both. And that worried her the most. If something happened to her, she thought, she didn't think Silas would ever recover. She knew that he had a temper that he only just barely managed to control with the help of some breathing exercises she learned about in Olivia's notebooks. If he became unhinged....well.....the villagers would only tolerate it for so long.


Thanks to a booming business, Silas had managed to save up enough money to move out of his parent's house. They didn't move more than a few hundred feet away, but Silas felt like he could finally breath easy for the first time in his life. He no longer had to worry about butting heads with his parents or being home at a certain time or being quiet so his dad could work.

Silas was also extremely excited to be a father. He was still in a dazed amazement that his beautiful wife was carrying a human being inside her, his human being! He made that! And it was super fun to make!

"I can't wait to meet the little guy," Silas told Marilyn.
"What makes you so sure it'll be a boy?"
"Father's intuition?"
"I'm not sure it works like that, dear. The baby is due any day now though! I hope you finished the crib..."
"Uh...right...I should go-"
But as he turned to leave, the baby decided it was time to come out.

Silas only panicked a little.

There was nothing to fear, however, because a few hours later, a beautiful baby boy was born, Wyatt Rivers.

Silas couldn't stop staring at little Wyatt, still in total awe that he was a father now. He thought he could never love anyone more than he loved Marilyn until the moment Wyatt came into the world, crying and screaming. Even through Wyatt's constant screaming, Silas worn the biggest grin on his face. A son! It's really all he could think about. But with a baby came more responsibility, and they didn't have a lot of money, having spent most of it on building the new house.

Silas spent his days at home helping Marilyn with the baby, and his nights at the bar, trying to make as much money as he could, which unfortunately wasn't much. Although the villagers still came by, it was less and less frequent as time went on. Some nights, it was only himself and Tristan, whom Silas hired to help out when he was at home with the baby. Tristan was kicked out of his home, that he built with his own two hands, when Dana decided to start sleeping with Jonathan.
Tristan liked to complain about Dana a lot, which Silas just tried to grin and bare.

Even with Wyatt, Silas still found time to repair things around the house between shifts at the bar and feedings. He wanted to make sure that his wife never had to lift a finger.

Especially because she was pregnant again!

In shock, Silas could only managed a wimpy thumbs up.

After taking a few moments for the news to hit him, Silas took his wife in his arms and they gently swayed to music only they could hear.
"Are you worried?" he asked after they danced like this for awhile.
"Sort of but Wyatt was such an easy birth, I'm sure this one will be fine. Besides, Lily and Nathan are within shouting distance. I'm pretty sure your mother knew the second Wyatt was on his way!" Marilyn laughed.
"I guess you're right. But make sure to send someone to get me if I'm not here! I want to be here when this baby arrives!"

They danced for awhile longer, with a few little mishaps that Marilyn blamed on not being able to see her feet. Eventually, Silas had to get to work, especially if they were going to be getting another crib and cloth for diapers.

That very night, only a few hours after Silas left, Marilyn went into labor.

She was feeding the Chinchilla she had found a few weeks ago when she felt the first wave of pain hit her. This felt entirely different than it was with Wyatt. She managed to get downstairs to the bedroom before she began yelling for help. No one came. It was all she could do to stay conscious, pushing her baby out into the world.

After several painstakingly agonizing moments, Marilyn picked up her daughter, placed her into the basket, and passed out. She never woke up.

Silas found her an hour later, following the crying of Wyatt and what he could only assume was the newest addition to his family. He was smiling to himself when he walked into the bedroom.

His smile quickly faded.

The following few days were a blur for Silas. Most of the time he walked around in a daze, the rest of the time he cried and blamed himself for not being home.

He held a very small funeral for Marilyn, only himself, his parents, and her parents attended. They laid Marilyn to rest next to the house, where he could see her grave whenever he looked out the window.

Every night he looked at his two beautiful children and couldn't keep himself from grieving the mother they'd never have.

Silas tried to explain what happened to Wyatt, but he was still too young to really understand what Silas was saying. Wyatt could only gurgle and laugh at his daddy.

He named his daughter Evelyn, a nod to Marilyn's name, and little Evelyn was the spitting image of her mother, which caused Silas immense sadness whenever he looked at her. At least she was an easy baby, especially considering how she entered this world. She rarely ever cried. Wyatt, on the other hand, cried for his mother all the time.

Eventually Silas had to go back to work, he had to keep a roof over his family after all. Lily stopped by frequently, pretending to play pool but really was just checking up on her son. After she finished a round of pool, she'd stop by the house as well, to check on her grandbabies. Lily and Nathan both offered to move in with Silas, to take care of the little ones, but Silas refused. He told them he needed some time to himself, to process the suddenly void in his life.

Even Jonathan stopped by one night. He wasn't exactly close with Silas or even his sister, but he still wanted to see how Silas was holding up. Jonathan was worried about him, he knew how Silas used to be, having been the target of a few mean spirited pranks when they were teens.

It was all Jonathan could do to comfort his brother-in-law when Silas started sobbing into his chest. Jonathan felt awkward but he knew that in a short time, he'd be feeling exactly like Silas. Dana wasn't getting any younger.

Silas tried his best to move on, for his children, but the house seemed so empty without Marilyn bustling about, cleaning things that weren't dirty, humming a soft tune, or playing with Wyatt.

Then one night Brandon walked into the bar and Silas felt all his old rage bubbling back up to the surface. He remembered how much he hated Brandon when they were teenagers, and he decided to take out his old rage and his new rage at the loss of his wife onto Brandon.

It was really no contest, Silas easily won, only stopping because Tristan pulled him off of Silas. Not only was Brandon's body bruised, but so was his ego, and he didn't come back to Silas's bar for a very, very long time.

Even after a year, Silas still quietly grieved his wife, quickly wiping  away his tears before either of his kids could see. Evelyn really did look just like Marilyn, and she was incredibly smart for a one year old. She learned how to walk, talk, and use the potty in half the time that Wyatt did. She had already caught up to him when it came to their other toys as well. Either Wyatt was really slow for his age, or Evelyn was smart for hers.

Silas couldn't believe that Wyatt was nearly 5 years old already, he felt like just yesterday he watched as Wyatt arrived into this world, screaming and crying. Silas decided to get as much time in with his kids while they were still young and thought the world of him so he took some time off of work again. Luckily both his kids were easy going, Evelyn even more so than her older brother. Although Wyatt was 3 years older than her, Evelyn had already surpassed him in everything they did.

But they still loved each other, even if Wyatt was a bit goofy.

Life was moving forward in the Rivers household, with or without Marilyn. Silas hoped that she would be proud of the way their children were turning out, even if the house wasn't up to her standards. With only one adult around, it was only reasonable that the dishes would pile up...although maybe Silas should clean the mold on the counters...maybe tomorrow.

Chapter 1.5

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Author's Note: I really didn't want to kill Marilyn but I also really didn't want to send her off into the world to marry someone else or have more kids, it just didn't really fit her. Besides, I realized when I first moved her in that Silas was the only best friend she had, everyone else she was exactly neutral with, so couldn't see her being able to leave Silas or her kids. I chose to use MC to kill her, choosing Drown, because I thought it would be fitting to have a blue ghost around that looked like she was crying. Although, when she did appear, she was very much happy to be surrounded by her family it seemed. She cooked a lot and even cleaned up a bit, which I thought did fit her to a T. I'm sad she's gone but Silas is a great dad. They really don't have any money and once or twice a week, I have to send him to the bar as soon as it opens to force him to moonlight for hours and hours to pay for not only the babysitter, but also the bills. Things were really rough there for awhile but things do get better for them.