angels of the silences

February 2023 - Orlando Centowski is 28, Steffi Centowski is 27, Phoebe is 2, Nate and Theo are 3 months, Elizabeth Ng is 25.

Orlando met Steffi in college. He didn't think a popular cheerleader would ever date a nerdy math major like him, but they fell in love, and he proposed to her one morning in the cafeteria.

They got married in August at the college chapel, and they moved into a nice house in Providence. She worked as a police officer, and he got a job as an oceanographer. After a few years of marriage, they had their first child, a daughter named Phoebe. It's everything he thought his adult life would be.

He's not sure why he did it, what he was thinking.  He was back on campus again that spring, around graduation, and he ran into Elizabeth Ng at the student center. They had lived in the same dorm when she was a freshman and he was a senior. They've been friends for a long time, and somehow one thing leads to another.

Afterward he can't believe what he's done. He has a daughter, and Steffi is pregnant again, this time with twins. So he goes by Elizabeth's apartment one day to talk.

"I made a mistake, and it's not going to happen again. I have kids, a family."

"So you were just acting out some college fantasy or something? We're not in college anymore! And now you're going back to your real life, and you're just going to pretend that nothing happened?"

"I have to." He sighs. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but it was a mistake. My wife is pregnant. I love my family."

He's suprised when she slaps him. She's not usually a violent or angry person, but he's never seen her like this.

"Get out of my apartment," she says. "I never want to hear from you again."

*****

Luckily, Steffi decides to have a homebirth, so he doesn't have to worry about her running into Elizabeth at the hospital. She gives birth to twin boys, Nate and Theo.

It's easier once the babies are born. He loses himself in fatherhood - changing diapers and soothing tears.

He and Steffi both work, and they trade off taking care of the kids. He goes to work early in the morning, and by early afternoon he's home to feed and play with the kids. Sometimes he thinks about Elizabeth, but whenever he sees his children smile, he knows he's made the right decision.

*****

I went to play one of the Lowell College dorm households, and while they were in the student center, Orlando came in and woohooed in the photo booth with Elizabeth Ng. I was shocked, and considered just pretending it didn't happen, but I decided that I would make myself write this into the story. My Arcadia blog got boring because the families were too happy and settled; I'm glad that this neighborhood is already full of drama. But I haven't decided yet if he and Steffi will stay together or if Steffi will even find out about it. He and Steffi have three bolts while he and Elizabeth only have two, but he rolls wants for both of them, and Elizabeth rolls wants for him, but Steffi doesn't really. I guess I'll see how things go as I keep playing them. Elizabeth actually has a higher ACR score with another married guy, so I might see what happens with her and him.