cw: cheating, mentioned previous non-violent spousal abuse
[name_u]Harvest[/name_u] ‘Harvey’ [name_f]Eliana[/name_f] Rossum [23] and [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] Rossum [1mos] are the former nanny and secret half-sister to [name_f]Lyja[/name_f] and her other siblings. Initially Mr. [name_m]Arnold[/name_m] was pretty opposed to having help for the kids “They have us! Isn’t that enough?” he would always say. Though when [name_f]Clara[/name_f] had to have an unplanned c-section to deliver [name_u]Reese[/name_u] and therefore needed to reduce her home workload, he caved and hired [name_m]Harvey[/name_m]. The young and chipper woman fit into the family with ease. She had been a babysitter all through high school and college so she was no stranger to the needs of a family such as the Arnolds.
Though she would soon fit in a little too well. Mr. [name_m]Arnold[/name_m] had taken their professional and friendly relationship into a more inappropriate one, making frequent passes at her as soon as [name_f]Clara[/name_f] or the kids were out of hear shot. She tried to write it off as him being overly kind, but being young and naive, as well as having only ever had one steady relationship in her life (her high school sweetheart) she soon fell for his tricks.
They began to see each other frequently in secret, [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] found it sort of thrilling. She had seen how [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and her husband were clearly falling out of love but begrudgingly stayed together for the kids, she thought that her relationship with him was ‘saving’ him from a bad marriage while allowing him to keep up appearances. Mr. [name_m]Arnold[/name_m] kept her loyalty by dangling the proverbial carrot of promising that he would eventually leave [name_f]Clara[/name_f] for her in front of her, allowing their secret to continue. Of course he never had any intention of divorcing [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and was shocked when she herself filed for the split. In truth he had been prolonging their marriage by tampering with the condoms they used unknown to [name_f]Clara[/name_f], which resulted in Reese’s conception.
Speaking of conceptions, after about a year of working for the Arnolds and sleeping with her boss, [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] found out that she was pregnant. She had hoped it would be the catalyst for her future with him to take off, but when she told him he was furious and took out his wallet, throwing a large chunk of cash at her feet and telling her to do whatever she wanted with it, pay for an abortion or consider it a down payment of child support (though he obviously hoped for the former). Heartbroken by his actions, but still wanting to keep the man she loved’s life intact, she took the money and quit. Telling the other family members that she needed to go back home to her older sister due to a family emergency. Which wasn’t technically a lie, she did end up going to life with her sister, and an unplanned pregnancy is kind of an emergency. Hey, she never said the emergency was her sister’s.
Her sister was supportive of her during her pregnancy, but wasn’t really shy about criticizing her for being silly enough to sleep with, fall in love with, and get pregnant by a married man. Frequently chastising her over the subject. It wasn’t out of malice, more so that due to their own parents being absent much like Mr. [name_m]Arnold[/name_m] for most of their childhoods, she ended up raising [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] practically all by herself. Seeing that she hadn’t managed to instill enough wisdom into her for her to have avoided this whole mess felt like a personal failing that she wasn’t sure how to cope with, except by voicing her disappointment.
As her pregnancy progressed Mr. [name_m]Arnold[/name_m] kept up his promise to pay child support and would wire money into her account monthly, writing it off as ‘consulting fees’ so as to hide it form his family. [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] attempted to send him ultrasound photos or pictures of herself and her growing bump but after the first few he had called her screaming to tell her to stop since leaving a digital trail made it easier for them to be exposed. Reluctantly, she apologized and ceased the image sharing.
When the time came that she went into labor she tried to contact him, but received nothing in response. That was really the moment when she realized that she had been played, that he didn’t really love her, and that she was truly on her own as a mother. Her sister acted as her support person during her labor as [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] was welcomed into the world. While holding her daughter for the first time, [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] took out her phone and sent a final message to Mr. [name_m]Arnold[/name_m], telling him to never contact her again or send her money every again, threatening legal action if he did. Finally cutting him from her life so she could focus on the new portion of her life before her.
As far as she knows, the identity of Rowan’s father is just between her and him, but as the divorce proceedings progress and the lawyers dig deeper into their lives. One of Clara’s attorneys has been looking into the matter of a uniform sum coming out of their joint banking account that lasted approximately nine months before stopping…