Residents: Serena Derico, Marcus & Kitty Prescott
Kitty sat one morning talking with her twin brother, Vincent, over lunch. He was a frequent visitor at the house, despite having his own family. Things were easier for him now that he was at the top of his game career-wise. He always made time to visit his twin sister. Unfortunately, this time she was telling him something he definitely did not want to hear.
Kitty had been with Louis again, despite the fact that they both are married. She admitted that it hadn’t really been intentional. They had both been shopping when they ran into each other. It just elevated from there. They had been apart for sometime, ever since Loraine starting acting oddly. Louis was worried that she had somehow found out, and he couldn’t risk it any further.
It had only been one night, but that seemed to be enough. One consequence of their action was Kitty’s newest stalker, Loraine.
She was always strolling by the house. Kitty suspected she was responsible for kicking over their garbage bin. Serena wasn’t as willing to accept this; she said it was simply one of her scorned dates, unhappy that they weren’t the only man in her fun-filled life. Kitty would roll her eyes. She said that Loraine was probably hoping Kitty would catch the flu and die.
There was, however, another consequence…
“I think I’m pregnant, Vince.”
Her male twin nearly choked on his Chili Con Carne, “That’s not funny, Kit!”
“I’m serious,” She frowned, her eyes downcast, “I’m going to the doctor tomorrow… while Marcus is at work.”
“Oh, man… Oh… man.” Vincent boggled, his eyes rapidly blinking, “This is NOT right! I mean… if you have a kid… then its own father will be, like, its uncle, too! Oh that’s just…”
“Who cares about the family tree, idiot! I’m having a BABY and the other party responsible is currently married to my mentally deranged aunt!” Kitty flailed her arms in a dramatic arc, “What am I going do?”
Vincent was silent for a moment, “I don’t know, Kit. I really, really don’t know…”
After returning home from the doctor’s office and finding out that she was, indeed, pregnant… Kitty was sure to lavish her unknowing husband with attention. She knew it wouldn’t be long before he figured it out–she wouldn’t be skinny forever. Soon, she’d start showing and all the pieces would fall into place.
She wanted to hate herself for being so careless, but she couldn’t. Inside, she was jubliant. She was having a baby! And not just any baby, Louis’ baby. No matter what happened, Kitty would do right by her child. Even if she had to be a single mother… even if she could never, ever tell Louis the truth. Hopefully the child didn’t end up with red hair.
Eventually the day came and Kitty started to show. She paced nervously in the livingroom, waiting for Marcus to come home. She knew he’d be livid. There was no way the child was his; he was sterile. As she paced, her cell phone rang. The voice that greeted her ear nearly made her collapse due to a heart attack.
“Kitty?”
“Louis?” She choked out, “W-What… Why are you calling?”
“I think Loraine knows… about that time…”
Kitty blinked, “O-Oh…”
“You might… you might want to stay clear of her, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt. She isn’t very happy. I haven’t admitted yet, but I don’t think it matters anymore.”
“Louis…”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I need to tell…” Suddenly, the front door opened and Marcus walked in. As soon as he saw Kitty’s condition, his entire body stiffened. Hastily, Kitty hung up her cellphone, not bothering to give her lover an explaination. She didn’t have time.
The two argued for an hour, back and forth. Marcus cut her down and Kitty retaliated. Hateful words were spoken. Marcus was extremely angry about Kitty’s comparison of him and Louis. He was really starting to hate that pampered brat. Too angry to speak, Marcus stomped out, leaving Kitty in rare form. She felt dizzy and quickly sat down, trying to calm herself. She had to think of the baby. Her marriage may be over, but her baby’s health was paramount.
It was all she had left.
Marcus hadn’t been innocent, either. He’d been seeing several women on the side. He realized that once he had Kitty, he no longer wanted her. He knew she didn’t have eyes for anyone but Louis, and therefore, was a challenge. The challenge was gone, and so was his attraction.
After storming out of the house, he went on a date with one of his many ‘lady friends’. She did an extremely good job of cooling him off. They didn’t part ways until early in the AM.
Unfortunately for Marcus, he was quite blitzed when he stumbled home and saw a strange gift standing on the lawn. In his drunken stupor, he began talking and petting the strange lighted deer, thinking it a gift from one of his lovers. He was wrong. As he came in contact with it, an electric current shot through him like lightning. He was dead in a second. Kitty and Serena heard the commotion and came running out, but it was too late. Marcus was gone.
Kitty sobbed. She hadn’t wanted him to die. Where had that deer come from? It wasn’t there earlier. Serena just sighed, glancing now and again over at Kitty. She frowned, thoughts she wanted to ignore running through her mind.
The months after Marcus’ unexpected death were filled with pensive quiet. Kitty was now a windowed soon-to-be mom and Serena hadn’t spoken a sentence since the incident. She couldn’t even seem to look Kitty in the eye. Kitty was far too lost in her own thoughts to notice. She missed Louis and she was tired of being pregnant.
Finally her time came, she gave birth to a girl she named Lila. She gave her the Prescott name in hopes of hiding her under the guise of being Marcus’ daughter. It wouldn’t last long. Soon, Lila would go to school and the children would see her eye color. Only the Proudmoores of the Valley had that distinct mix of blue, green, and gray…
Serena, despite the child’s questionable roots, took an instant liking to the small tot. As she looked into the small girl’s eyes, her heart ached. She had her doubts, and now they had become concrete. She couldn’t do it, she wouldn’t do it. It ended here, with this child.
Louis had tried to call Kitty, but she didn’t return his messages. She couldn’t. She knew there was no way she could tell him now, Loraine would go crazy. So she ignored Louis and let that part of her heart locked away. She focused entirely on Lila.
Years passed and Kitty found herself taking the role of single mom to her darling daughter like water to the ocean. She loved little Lila and doted on her every moment she could. On her third birthday, she baked her a little cake and helped her blow out her candles. As she looked at Lila the toddler, she could only think about how much she wished she could let her daughter know her father, or vice versa… but the lies were too great in number. There were too many people who’d be hurt.
Lila had to be kept a secret. Her little, lovely secret.
Meanwhile, Serena was on her cellphone, speaking in a low voice. Her niece was too busy with her daughter to notice. She looked gravely at the scene before her, whispering into the receiver, “It’s over. I’m out.”