Appaloosa Plains was quiet, even quieter than the island. I suppose that was the general idea, but sometimes, the lack of sound was the loudest sound of all.
Rosi, Daddy, Archer, who had silently grown older and wiser right before our eyes, and Lars tried to make things normal, but beneath that, we all knew that it would never be normal again. Cora was almost mute, no longer her bubbly self. It killed Lars. He was her brother, and, in the past, had always been there for her. But now, he was like a stranger to her. 
I understood her silence. I hated it, but I understood. Maybe, because I had the same silence she did. The same moments of blank stares, and hearing things that aren’t there. 
Lars had managed to find solace not in his sister, but with mine. Rosi and Lars could always be seen together. They made each other smile despite the tragedy that had taken place. Even though I didn’t like the fact that my sister was close to any male, I, along with my father, let it slide because: A. They were happy. B. She was older than he was. One day, Lars approached me, looking as though he was at wit’s end. 
“Talk to her. Please,” He begged, his eyes pleading.
“What makes you think I can do anything?”
“You’re the same. You both float around aimlessly with blank looks in your eyes. You understand her.” He wasn’t wrong. His intentions were in the right place, but he didn’t carry around the same grief that Cora and I did. The same guilt. I didn’t answer, and he seemed to take this as a sign of me refusing.
“Please. If not for me, then for her.” 
I looked at him and gave a slight nod. “I’ll try.”
—————————— 
True to my word, I made my way to Cora’s room and knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” I heard her call out. Her voice was louder than I had heard in a while. I opened the door to see Cora standing right in front of it. 
Without warning, she put her arms around me and pulled me into a deeper kiss then I had had in a while. Not knowing how to react, I decided to go with my instinctual reaction and kiss her back. 
She soon broke the kiss and put her hands on my cheeks, and I, unsure of where to put mine, gently place my hands on her waist.
“He thinks there’s something wrong with me. That’s why you’re here.” She said, her grey eyes full of more emotion than I had seen in a while. “I need to forget, Uriah. Help me forget.” 
She sounds desperate, almost as desperate as I feel. I nod as my answer, and she begins to kiss me once more. But now I understand, and she allows me take control. I am soon holding her against the wall, and her legs are wrapped around my waist.
“Are you sure?” I manage to ask between kisses of desperation. 
“Always.” With that word, our fate is sealed and I carry her to the bed where we continue our affair of desperation, loneliness, and guilt.
———————————————–
Afterwards, I notice in the next few weeks the change in the house’s atmosphere. It’s easier to breath in now. Cora has begun talking again, as have I. The normal that we pretended was there for so long seems natural now. No longer forced. 
To be honest, one of my favorite past times has become just sitting and talking with Cora, along with listening to her play the violin she had found at a garage sale. Of course, the first few weeks, it sounded like a dying cat, but afterwards she improved greatly. 
It was during one of her ‘sessions’ that she suddenly ceased playing and looked at me nervously. 
“Cora, what’s wrong?”
“Uriah, I have something to tell you, just don’t, don’t hate me,” She stuttered, looking down at her hands as she spoke.
“I could never hate you,” I say, and I mean it. I’ve been through so much with her that I doubt anything could make me hate her. Though I’m wasn’t sure of anything, I think I was in love with her. She smiles, though she still doesn’t look at me.
“Uriah, I’m pregnant.”
“Oh,” I say dumbly, staring at her stomach as if a baby bump was going to spontaneously emerge. From everything I thought she could have told me, that hadn’t crossed my mind. 
“Oh? Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad ‘oh’?” She asks, staring at me with wide eyes.
“Um…I don’t know. I’ll be back in a few hours.” I quickly made my way from the room before she could respond, and rushed out of the house headed towards the only bar in town.
————————–
My head was fuzzy after the many drinks I’d consumed. Why did I need them? My habits with alcohol had all but ceased when I had begun my ‘work’, and now, here I was, using it as a crutch once more. 
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” A voice says beside me. I look over to see Lars standing over me.
“At the moment, I’m trying to see how many of these pretty drinks it will take before I realize how stupid I am.”
“The answer is none. Now stand up.”
“No,” I respond, sounding like a spoiled child. Lars didn’t like my answer and proceeded to pull me out the barstool so that I was facing him.
“Face me like a man.” Lars says calmly. I roll my eyes and continue to look at him dumbly, the many drinks swirling in my head. The next thing I feel is Lars’ fist connecting with my cheek, and me staggering in a sluggish motion from the impact. 
“Bastard! What the hell?” I shout. The other patrons in the bar look at us with amused looks on their drunken faces. Sleepy Appaloosa Plains doesn’t have much drama to deal with.
“That’s for getting my sister pregnant.”
“You think that was appropriate?!?”
“Considering the fact that your reaction was to come here and drown in alcohol, I believe my my reaction was more than appropriate.” 
Even with my fuzzy head, I had to agree with him there. I let out a loud huff, and sit back down while rubbing my throbbing cheek. Lars sits down beside me, takes my drink from out of my reach, and proceeds to drink the rest of it.
“Really?” I ask, my voice frustrated.
“It’s not like you needed it. Now, what’s your whole problem?” He asks, his attention focused entirely on me. 
“I don’t know, I just. I’m not the greatest person in the world. I’ve done bad things. What if I screw up my kid? I mean…I don’t know.”
“Uriah, I’ve just gotten to know you well, and I’d like to believe that we’re friends. I didn’t know you well before, but I remember how Cora used to talk about you, and I remember how much grief you had when your brother died. Anyone like that, like you would make a brilliant father.”
“But-”
“But if you do happen to screw up, the kid’ll have a whole line of defense in relatives to sort it out.” I look at Lars, and for a second I am reminded of Rowan. This was exactly like something he would have said to me.
“Thanks man.” Lars began to rise from his seat.
“Wait, I forgot to mention something. You’re going to be an uncle.” 
At his words, I hop from the seat, the alcohol not hindering me a bit this time around, and connect my fist with his own cheek.
“Damn, that’s a nice hook you’ve got there,” He says as soon as he regains himself.
“Shut up! Why would you punch me if both of our sisters were pregnant??”
“Had I told you first, you would’ve hit me first, so I figured this would stall the pain.” I give Lars a long, hard look before we both burst out in loud laughter. “You know, you’re alright!”
————————-
Lars and I get home late, and discover the whole house is already asleep. I crept into Cora’s room to find her fast asleep on the bed. 
“Cora,” I whisper, gently shaking her. She stirs and looks at me after a few seconds and I hear the small whisper of “Uriah” coming from her mouth. She sits up quietly.
“I’m sorry.”
“About,” Cora asks, her facial expression confused.
“Being an ass.”
“You can be a bit of an ass,” She whispers, and lets out a slight giggle.
“I want you, I want the baby, and I want you to know that I love you, God I love you. So much.” 
Cora grinned, and gave me large kiss.”I love you too.” She then got a clear look at my face and frowned.
“What happened?!?”
“Your brother’s a bastard.”
“I know.”
———————————- 
Over the next few months, Cora and Rosi seemed to grow right before all of our eyes.
Cora would always light up with excitement when the baby kicked, and would always call me over quickly so that I could feel it. 
She also insisted that I talk to her stomach, assuring me that it would help the baby recognize me better when it was born. It didn’t make me feel any less stupid.
The real kicker was when, after eight months, Cora and Rosi went into labor at the same time. We all stood frantically in the living room, unsure of how to react. Rosi and Cora remained calm, and managed to somehow snap us out of our trance to drive them to the hospital.
After 4 hours of labor, My nephew, Drake Anderson was born with my daddy’s hair and Lars’ eyes. 
And after 5 hours, my daughter Paxton Lea de Marco was born with my mother’s hair and my daddy’s eyes. 
The de Marco Legacy for Sims 3 