The Marina Legacy – Chapter 4.0 – It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid …

Hello and welcome to a rather belated Christmas chapter of the Marinas. Hope you enjoy.

The middle of December marked the time for the Christmas decorations to go up around the Marina household. Xenophillius was left to complete this ritual as Xiu Mei was still grieving her late husband and his father, Yorath Ebony, was nowhere to be seen.

The first day after coming home from the hospital, Xiu slept. She was exhausted from the overlong stay at the hospital, but it also numbed her pain. She stayed in her room, with the curtains drawn and lights turned out.  The next day, she locked herself in her room and lay in her bed. She didn’t move an inch and thoughts raced around her head about the new baby and her late husband.

Finally, after two days of isolating herself, Xiu resurfaced from her bedroom and walked into the skills quarters. She started to finish the painting she started on her wedding day. The painting of her husband.

A few hours later and the painting was finished. Xiu signed and hung it in the basement, where the rest of the family portraits hung. She then walked up the two flights of stairs and into her bedroom. She quickly got changed and threw herself under the covers once again.

She awoke, just as the sun was arising, and started to feel pains in her lower stomach. With her father still missing and brother fast asleep, Xiu endured the long and painful labour on her own. Whilst in labour, she broke down, crying out for her dead husband. After 3 hours of pain and stress, she finally delivered a baby boy. She smiled for the first time in 3 days and said;

“I shall name you Wilbur Lewis Marina*!” She said whilst inhaling sharply.

She walked over to the newly brought crib, that her brother had brought and constructed for her, and placed little Wilbur beneath the blankets.

*= Wilbur and Lewis Robinson are from Disney’s Meet the Robinsons.

As little Wilbur was sleeping, Xiu went outside. She breathed in all the smells of the outdoors that she had missed and loved. She walked across the moss ridden path towards her garden and started to tend to her wilting plants. She still grieved for her husband inside, but she now had a beautiful little son to fill the empty void in her heart.

A couple of days later and a slim, small looking girl got out of a taxi and the front of the house. She walked up the path towards the house and rung the doorbell.

In her arms, was a small bundle.

As Xenophillius opened the door and saw his lover and the baby in her arms, her knew the baby was his. She smiled at him and he beamed at her.

“Hi” he said awkwardly.

“Hey there!” She said laughing.

He invited the girl inside and she started to explain.

“I’m so sorry! I would have come to you sooner, but I didn’t know where you lived . I had to go to City Hall and ask them.” she apologized.

“No, No. I knew where you lived, I should have come a visited you! I’m sorry, life has been complicated these last few days.” Xenophillius replied, nervously.

The girl smiled at him and said

“Her name is Wilhelmina Christina Marina-Barker” the girl said sweetly.

Xenophillius smiled back and replied;

“She’s beautiful” he exclaimed. “I know we don’t really know each other, but we have a daughter now. So would you like to move in with me.” he asked, smiling at the seemingly innocent girl.

She beamed.

“Oh! Of course!” She squealed. “I’ll just go and get my things from my house!”

She handed Xenophillius their daughter and kissed him on the cheek, she then turned around and ran out the door to flag down a taxi.

Xenophillius stood there with his new daughter and smiled.

“Hello princess!” He whispered whilst snuggling her.

That night, it was time for Wilbur and Wilhelmina’s birthdays. Wilbur went first and Xiu excitedly rushed him to his cake.

Wilhelmina quickly followed Wilbur into toddlerhood. Wilbur has Yorath’s hair and his late fathers eyes. And Wilhelmina has Graciela’s hair and her mother’s eyes.

After the children’s birthdays, Xenophillius and his lover retreated to the bedroom.

“So, I was thinking we could start to get to know each other a little better, seeing as we don’t know each other’s names” he said whilst laughing.

“Sure!” She replied. “I’ll start. My name is Odile Rosie Barker. My mother died, a few months ago and I’ve lived with a family friend since” she said starting to look glum.

Xenophillius looked at her sympathetically. “Well, I’m Xenophillius Travers. My mother died about a week ago, as did my brother in-law. And my father is currently missing!” he said.

“Shit! Are you ok?” she asked, sounding worried.

He smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine! I’ve still got my sister!”

It was silent for a while, but the awkward silence was broken by Xeno.

“So, I know how you said the other night that you hated how people thought of you as a chav, but you had no money to change that. So, I’ve got some new clothes for you and I’ll also pay for you to have a haircut too, If you want?” he asked sweetly.

Odile screamed in excitement. She leapt into Xeno’s arms and kissed him.

The next day, Odile looked a completely different woman. He hair was just below the shoulder and curly and her clothes were casual and normal. She was so happy and couldn’t stop thanking Xeno for what he had done for her.

At about 3am the next morning, an elderly man walked up to the door of the house. He pulled out a silver key and inserted it into the lock. He turned the key and the door clicked open.

He walked into the kitchen and jumped when he saw a woman standing there. He didn’t recognise her, but she looked familiar, like an old friend.

Odile saw Yorath and smiled. She ran over to introduce herself.

“Hi, I’m Odile Rosie Barington! I’m your son’s girlfriend!” She said, whilst holding out her hand.

“Ahh, Hello! As you already know, I’m Xeno’s father, Yorath!” Yorath exclaimed smiling.

“Where’ve you been?” she asked inquisitively.

Yorath looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out if he could trust the newcomer to the household. After a few moments, he decided that she was now part of the family and he could most definitely trust her.

He looked into the deep sapphire eyes and said

“After I recieved the news of my wife’s car crash, I decided to take a quick break. I managed to get myself together and now I’m back to continue with my life here. Just in time for Christmas!”

Odile smirked. She had him now. Xeno, Xiu and the children were all upstairs asleep. They wouldn’t wake up for a few hours, this was her one chance for revenge.

“Wow! Well, I’m glad your back, I was just about to cook something, do you want some waffles?” she asked him.

“That would be great! I’m starving!”

Odile nodded and smiled at Yorath. She then went to the fridge and got out all of the required ingredients. Yorath walked to the table and sat down. He picked up the paper on the table and started to read.

The sounds of Odile cooking echoed around the kitchen walls. The sun was starting to rise now. After a few minutes if silence, Yorath said

“Woah! It seems I’ve missed a lot while I’ve been away!”

Odile looked up from the cooking, “Yeah, A lot has happened this past week!”

Odile eventually finished prepping the waffles and put the snacks into the oven.

After 10 minutes of cooking, the timer started to beep. Odile quickly rushed the waffles out of the oven and served them on a small plate. She turned around and saw that Yorath was still engrossed in this weeks news. She pulled a small vial from her jeans pocket and tipped two drops of the green liquid onto one of the plates.

Odile placed the plate in front of Yorath and smiled at him. He quickly grabbed his knife and fork and smiled back. He then begun to dig into his breakfast.

eWhile he was eating his waffles, Yorath got a sour taste in his mouth. He didn’t take much notice of it though as he was starving and just wanted to fill his stomach. Only when he finished, did he notice the taste was still not going. He got up and started to walk towards the sink. His legs seemed unstable and weak, he collapsed on the floor just as a sharp pain started in his stomach. He fell on his back and looked up towards Odile.

“H…H…E..lp me!” he managed to stutter out.

She smirked at him.

“Now you know what it feels like to die alone, just like my mother” she sneered.

The image of Ivy’s body flashed in Yorath’s mind and it was the last image he saw.

At 6.55am, Odile ran down into the basement and placed Yorath’s grave on the table. She quickly returned upstairs and into the kitchen just as Xeno was waking up.

When he came downstairs, Odile had to break the news.

“Xeno?” she said nervously. “The police came round this morning, they found your father dead at a country home in Riverview. He seems to have died of a heart attack and old age. I’m sorry” she said trying to comfort him.

She then tried to cheer him up.

“Come on! Think about it, he’s with your mother and grandparents now. He’s probably happy!”

“Yeah, I suppose!” He sniffled.

The next day was Christmas Eve and Xiu Mei wanted to organise a party. It would bring the family together for Yorath’s death and let them celebrate Christmas together.

That night, the guests arrived and everyone started to talk and get into the Christmas spirit.

Daphne Taylor was there and it was the first time Xiu had seen her since Boyd’s death. They mourned for him and Xiu showed Daphne her nephew.

After the party, Xiu went upstairs to check on Wilbur. He was still awake so she cuddled him and whispered.

“Come on sweetie! Go to sleep and tomorrow Santa will have been and given you lots of presents!”

She gave him one last kiss and pulled the blankets up over he body. She then left him and walked into her own room and started to get ready for bed.

That’s it for this update!

Thanks for reading guys!