He told them that Elora had pulled through, they had managed to resuscitate her, however, she was still in pretty bad shape. Already weakened from her illnesses and the stress of the c-section, her body sustained even more stress-injury and would take even longer for her to recover - at minimum, several weeks.
The family was relieved, however, that relief was short-lived as Elora ended up having a heart attack during the night that followed. She never got to meet and fall in love with the doting Deputy Boyd, never got to re-establish a relationship with her parents, never got to get to know her younger brother or his wife and children, and as fate would have it, she never got to meet her precious twins - later named by their grandparents - Ellarian and Ellarain - beautiful sweet babies who inherited their mother's mesmerizing green eyes, lovely dark hair, and indomitable spirit.
Elidry and Eunice did what they could for the twins, tried as they could to love them as they would their own children, but it was hard for them. As the girls grew older and their features developed, they looked more and more like their mother, and every day was a struggle for the elder couple as the twins were a constant reminder of Elora and the past.
Deputy Boyd became like an uncle to them, he made sure to be a part of their lives, bringing them gifts, taking them out to play, doing fun activities with them. He never got married and never had children of his own. In part it was like he was trying to fill the void that Elora had suddenly placed in his heart by her act - however unbeknownst as it was to her - of coming back into his life so quickly and leaving just as quick. The girls loved him, he was the only real male figure they had in their lives. He was killed on duty while responding to a bank heist in progress, the twins had just turned ten the week prior.
Their real uncle, Uncle Evindal, though a nice man, kept his distance from the twins, never really taking to them, nor allowing them to get to know his side of the family. He always made excuses.
Aside from the losses, the vacancy of real affection from their grandparents, and the absence of their biological father that they had no clue about, the girls didn't lack for anything - they had everything they asked for that money could buy. When they came of age and graduated from high school, their grandparents setup a trust fund for them that they could use at their leisure. It wasn't long after graduation that Elidry and Eunice passed away.
The Straeth Estate was left to Evindal, of course, and since he had an aversion to the twins, he found the girls a place far from Abbotsford where they could move to and "thrive" in - as he had put it.
He had an extended contact, a developer, who had just opened up a new mountain village called Neverglade. In the village, more like a massive town, currently and literally empty of residents at the moment as the population had yet to begin to fill, the girls would have their pick of any place they wanted. Uncle Evindal, ever practical, thought it was the best decision for everyone that they move there and start their lives anew.
Ellarian and Ellarain, though saddened by the thought of leaving behind what little friends they had made through school, were also excited about the prospect of a new adventure away from the small resistant town that seemed to be ladened down by heavy baggage - old, raggedy and vintage, no less. They didn't have anyone in Abbotsford that cared for them, they only had each other. Neverglade seemed like an opportunity to "thrive" like their Uncle had suggested (even though they knew that it was his way of getting rid of them - out of sight, out of mind).
And so... Welcome to Neverglade.
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| [Just a small portion of Neverglade.] |
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