So here's the morning after the wedding, no descriptions of the night here either.

To answer some reviews again:

DoubleKK: Well no i wasn't planning on having Karen jump off Mother's hill... good idea though... Well this chapter the whole KarenxRick thing starts to go downhill (if it was ever uphill) and then... well you'll see. But i swear it won't last.

Kumiko Katawa: Well as you can read... yeah Karen didn't stop the wedding... poor her. Ooh, a story of your own eh? Well i'll have to read that and review :).

Thanks again guys!


16. Married life

Karen blinked, it was morning and she was lying in bed with Rick wrapped around her. Birds were singing and the atmosphere was so calm, but a nervous calm, like the calm before a storm. She yawned, and shifted away from Rick, all she wanted to do was have a shower. She felt so unclean, like she had done the wrong thing. She unwrapped Rick from around her and shifted to the edge of the bed, Rick stirred.

"Morning sweetie." He said, kissing her on the cheek. She cringed but he didn't seem to notice.

"Morning. I'm gonna go get dressed and have a shower..." She told him, sitting up.

"Alright, but how about first you go make me some breakfast. I'd love some scrambled eggs on toast." He said pointing at the door.

"Excuse me?" Karen asked shocked, she hoped desperately that he was joking.

"Well we should start as we mean to continue... and the wife's place is in the kitchen... so..." He said. Karen's jaw dropped, he had to be joking. He couldn't mean what he was saying.

"Come again?" She asked, checking for a final time that he wasn't serious. Rick sighed impatiently.

"Look if I'm going to work to bring the food, you have to make the food and as my new wife you should make me some breakfast... I'm hungry." He told her, he sounded as though he were talking to a four year old.

"As your new wife, I feel it's fair to warn you that I'll divorce you in a second if you keep saying that." She said angrily. Rick looked disgusted, and she folded her arms.

"Look let's not argue, you go and have your shower. I'm going to go and feed the chickens. When I come back I expect food." He said, shoving some clothes on. He then stormed out of the door. Karen stared blankly at the door, her eyes filled with angry tears, this was not how she'd imagined her first day of marriage. She headed to the shower and turned it on, she then tested the water to see if it was hot. The warm water wouldn't seem to wash the dirt away, no matter how hard she scrubbed and she was scrubbing hard. Her tears were mixing with the water as she cried, how dare Rick treat her like that.

After she dressed she headed down the stairs and began to cook the eggs. She had no idea why she was submitting to him, ordinarily she would have told him to stuff it, but suddenly she felt so powerless. He was her husband and she'd been taught it was the wife's duty to take care of him. She finished cooking the eggs and placed them delicately onto a plate, laying the table so a napkin was placed neatly by the side along with knives and forks. Rick then strolled in humming a happy tune and he smiled to see his breakfast on the table. He sat down and gestured for Karen to sit down and eat breakfast too. While he ate he didn't saw a word to her so they ate in silence. After the meal Karen cleaned up the plates while Rick reclined on the couch. Shaking with anger, she finished clearing up and headed over to sit down next to him.

"Rick... you didn't mean what you said, did you?" She asked timidly.

"Course." He grunted. She felt her eye twitch as she struggled to remain calm.

"But Honey, you can't expect it to be like that... I mean... I'm happy to cook you meals on occasion, in fact a lot of the time, but I don't expect you to force me to make you breakfast first thing in the morning..." She said, trying to find a basis for her argument.

"What do you mean, if I work all day and my moms gonna continue to run the shop, your job is to cook and clean. Marriage is a partnership." He told her. Suddenly she felt stupid and the basis for her argument seemed to fade.

"You're right. Sorry Honey, I'm just tired." She said, giving up. Rick smiled contently, he'd won.

"Sure sweetie. Why don't you go for a walk and calm down? I've got to clean the chicken pens." He said. Karen nodded and slipped on a coat. She then stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air. She walked over to the inn, she needed her friends to reassure her that Rick had been right. She knew she couldn't just take his word for it, he was wrong to order her about. She found Ann and Popuri lying on Ann's bed talking, they had a basket of cookies and three glasses of milk out, they'd been expecting her.

"Hey Karen, how was last night?" Ann asked slyly, a stupid grin on her face.

"Fine." Karen said unenthusiastically. Ann and Popuri shrugged her lack of caring off and exchanged excited glances.

"Erm, Popuri I have to ask you, in the morning did Kai tell you to make breakfast?" She asked. Popuri shook her head and grinned dreamily.

"No, he went downstairs and brought me up pancakes." She said, drooling at the memory.

"Okay, but now, you cook him breakfast every morning right?" She asked. Popuri shook her head and smiled again.

"No, we made a deal, he cooks breakfast because he's so good at it and I cook everything else, because he works and I don't."

"Oh... because this morning Rick told me to cook him breakfast and when I refused to be ordered around by him, he told me it was my job because he works and I don't." Karen said angrily. Popuri furrowed her brow and shook her head.

"That's not right. He should cook at least one meal for you and you can do the housework if you don't work." She said. Karen smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, don't let him take advantage of you Kar, make him cook you breakfast." Ann said winking. Karen smiled, glad that her friends were so understanding.

"Thanks guys, I'll tell him." She replied with determination, no man would push her around. She then enjoyed the comfort of chatting with her friends whilst wondering what Rick was doing.

"Hey Karen, do you want lunch here or do you wanna go home and cook for Rick?" Ann asked smiling. Karen grinned maliciously.

"Let's let him cook his own lunch. Can I eat here?"

"Of course, I'll go cook, you guys can stay here."

"Thanks Ann." Popuri and Karen chorused.

After a proper lunch Karen trudged home, unwilling to face Rick again. She found him angrily clearing up his plate after eating what she guessed had been a sandwich.

"Where in God's name have you been?" He demanded. Karen looked at him worriedly, why was he so angry?

"Out walking like you told me to." She said calmly.

"For four hours?" He asked incredulously, spit flying out of his mouth. She nodded coolly and helped him to wash up his plate.

"Look, I had lunch with Ann. I was still angry about you ordering me to make you breakfast... really not a great start to our first day of marriage. So can we make a deal, I was thinking that you could make breakfast since you have to get up to feed the chickens anyway and I can make lunch and dinner and do the housework." She suggested hopefully. Rick looked angry for a second and then calmed down, he nodded slowly.

"Fine. Popuri did tell me that that worked well with Kai and her, so... fine. I'm sorry sweetie." He said sweetly.

"Me too." She said smiling. "Oh well tomorrow's a new start, it should be better."

"Yeah, for now let's just have a nice peaceful dinner."

"Yeah, I'll go make it honey."

"Thanks sweetie."

"Uh-huh." Karen said turning on the oven. After having some well made pasta that's deliciousness surprised even Karen they went to bed. The first day of marriage had been terrible, but she hoped in the future it'd get better. After all, it had to... right?

The next day she set about cleaning the house, Lillia had moved back in and was glad to no longer have to do the housework. Karen hoped that the relaxation would help her to heal better, so maybe she could live a good long time. She was a good mother-in-law and she continued to run the shop, while Karen tried to get the hang of cleaning. Every so often she had had to clean her room, but that was nothing compared to cleaning a whole house for the first time.

First the vacuum cleaner backfired sending dust flying all over the house, then she found them to be completely out of polishes so she had to go out and buy new ones and to top it off when Rick came home he trailed mud all over the house. Finally when the cleaning day was finished she collapsed into bed, she wouldn't have to clean for another week. But then came the washing and the ironing and more cooking, she was wondering how much more she could take of being a housewife.

Rick was still refusing to help her and she was becoming sick of him already. She wondered how long it would take until her life became on big rut, all routine and nothing new happening, and that scared her. She realised that she needed to find a hobby that would become her thing to do when she wasn't being a housewife, so she decided she would go out and find it.

For a whole week she tried out different hobbies. First of all she tried bird watching, but she got bored searching for the rare brown-crested tit. When she found it she watched it for a few hours, before discovering it was truly the most boring thing she could do. Then she tried reading books, which originally she enjoyed, before discovering that the town library only held one or two good books. Next she tried finding herbs, but really identifying different plants was not her cup of tea, she'd always found it boring when Basil talked to her about it. She tried joining her Mom's hobby, the gossip group, but she found their tedious bitching annoying. So in the end she began to give up, finding something for her just wasn't working. At the end of a long day's hobby finding she collapsed into bed, tired and miserable.

"Rick, I need a hobby." She whined.

"I'll say..." Rick joked, Karen's face went sour. "Still no luck, huh?"

"Nope."

"You could work at the poultry farm and help me with the chickens or my Mom with the selling." He said. Karen made a face, hating his idea. Being a chicken farmer was worse than death.

"No, the point of this is it's something for me... you know... a non-marriage thing." She said. Rick looked a little hurt but he nodded understandingly.

"A "you thing"? Well I don't know, I've always just been content with my chickens and you... what did you used to do before." He asked. Karen shrugged, she used to just be content with hanging out with her friends and festivals.

"Oh well, try again tomorrow." He said yawning. He then turned the light off and rolled over to sleep.

"I will." Karen told herself before lying down to sleep.

The next day she walked frantically through the streets of Mineral town, making her final attempts to find a hobby. After hours of no luck she gave up, it seemed she'd be just a housewife forever. She headed home glumly, but couldn't face going in there having failed in finding a hobby. She then looked over at Jack's old farm, still no one had bought it, sighing she entered.

The once beautiful grassy ground was bare and stumps and weeds lurked everywhere. Rocks had caused plenty of damage to the farm house and littered the ground. She sat on a fence and observed it some more, she found it sad that it would become even more of a wreck over time. The finally, when the new owner came, they would have the problem of overcoming the damage done to the farm. She wished she could have it now, just to fix it up and return it to its former glory. Suddenly her eyes widened, she'd found her hobby, fixing up Jack's beloved farm. Grinning she hurried to the Mayor's house to request that she be allowed to fix up the farm.

Luckily the Mayor was almost always in his house, being a person of little interest and much laziness, he never really left. She found him reclined on a small and dirty couch listening to the radio.

"Ahem." She coughed, making the Mayor jump up, his tall red hat hitting the ceiling. His glasses fell off the end of his tomato shaped nose and he hurried to find them on the floor. Karen picked them up and handed them to him and he placed them back on his strange shaped nose.

"Ah Karen, what can I do for you?" He asked, sitting back comfortably on his couch and running a hand through his odd, greasy hair.

"Erm, you know Jack's old farm?" She asked shuffling her feet nervously.

"Oh of course my dear, big tragedy, and the farm is in disarray, no one will buy it how it is. Quite sad really, quite sad." He said nodding his head back and forth, like one of those little car dogs. Karen found herself nodding too.

"Yeah, but I was wondering... if maybe... you know I could maybe fix up the farm. Maybe return it to its former glory, just as a hobby." She suggested hopefully, fixing him with big, doe eyes. The Mayor's eyes widened and then he smiled, to Karen's relief.

"Why Karen, that'd be wonderful! A great service to the town! In fact the farm will be your property... seeing as... hmmm." He said sadly, she knew he was thinking about Jack. "So you decide who we sell to, if we sell to anyone."

"Oh thank you Thomas!" Karen exclaimed throwing her arms around him joyfully.

"I'll make the farm beautiful again... you'll see! Thank you, thank you, thank you." She squealed happily. The Mayor nodded kindly and then sat further into the couch.

"Well go ahead and start."

"I will."

"Okay then."

"Right."

"Bye."

"Bye."

After the awkward conversation Karen headed over to the farm, she had a lot of work ahead of her, but it'd be worth it. She also felt like it was her duty, since Jack was dead, that she should fulfil his Grandpa's dream. She'd known him personally, a kind man who'd always given her treats whenever she popped around to visit. She remembered one time when he'd let her ride his horse and when she fell off and cried he then gave her a beautiful doll to make her feel better. So it was time she gave him something back.

"Jack and Jack's Grandpa, this is for you." She whispered. She then went into Jack's house to find some tools. It was completely empty and filled with dust and cobwebs, it was haunting how silent it was. Everything was gone except for an old toolbox and tools. The box had moved and she wondered if one of the town members had taken the box and then thought better of it. Soon she discovered why, the tools were all rusty and incredibly heavy. She sighed, this was going to be harder than she'd thought. She decided she'd first start with the weeding, she spent all day pulling hard at the weeds and finally they were all cleared, she smiled at her work.

That night she collapsed into bed and drifted off while Rick described his day to her, bit by bit. When he realised she was asleep he shook her awake quickly.

"What? What? Where's the fire?" She asked jumping up.

"Nothing. I just wanted to ask you about your day sweetie." He said smiling.

"You woke me up for that?" She snarled grumpily. Rick nodded innocently.

"Fine." She said sitting up in bed. Rick smiled and snuggled up in the blankets.

"Well the Mayor gave me the farm, so I get to choose who it's sold to. So my hobby is to fix up the farm. Okay honey?" She asked, wondering if Rick would be angry that she was fixing up Jack's old farm. She looked over and found that he was fast asleep, grumbling she switched off the bedside lamp and fell back to sleep.

The next day however, she found to her dismay, that some of the weeds that she had so gallantly slaughtered had grown back. Her hard work undone! Snarling she picked up the weeds that had fought back and chucked them into a compost heap. That was the easy job. Next she took the rusty, heavy axe and started hacking away at the smaller stumps. Putting the lumber in the lumber shed, she'd need it later to fix any damages. After hours of work she sat down for a lunch break. Smiling she spotted Ann and Popuri heading over with a picnic basket of goodies.

"Hey, Rick told us where you'd be, we brought you some lunch." Popuri said, putting the basket on the ground.

"You're doing a good job." Ann said approvingly.

"Thanks." Karen said wiping the sweat from her forehead. She collapsed down on the picnic basket and helped herself to the sandwiches inside. Ann and Popuri joined her, wolfing down the entire contents of the picnic basket.

"So what are your plans?" Ann asked surveying the farm.

"Well first I'll get rid of all the stuff on the ground. Then I'll sell some of the herbs I've found around here, then hopefully I'll be able to ditch these old tools and buy some new ones." Karen said after gulping down some pineapple juice.

"Won't Rick give you some money?" Popuri asked. Karen shook her head.

"I'm not even going to ask him. He won't dish out money for me to restore my ex's farm. Besides this is an independent project, so I'll manage on my own. Besides, I think I'll start growing some crops in the summer, so I can earn some money back." She told them excitedly.

"But won't you neglect your housework?" Popuri asked worriedly. Karen was about to say who cares but she thought better of it, Popuri was obsessed with being a good housewife.

"No, I'm gonna take Saturday and Sunday off to be a housewife." She told her.

"So when are you gonna have time for us?" Ann demanded. Karen sighed, she didn't have time.

"Why don't you visit me on the farm and help? It'll be fun." Karen coaxed, thinking of getting free lunches everyday.

"That sounds great, to have a picnic in the fresh air everyday!" Popuri exclaimed. Ann agreed, they liked the idea of being even more like country gals.

"Sounds great. But Karen if you're going to be a proper farmer you can't wear the clothes you have now!" Ann said looking at Karen's jean shorts and purple jacket with white cotton shirt.

"Why not?" Karen asked, her clothes seemed fine to her.

"You'll end up ruining them! Leave it to me and Poe, we'll have you some farmers clothes made in a jiffy. Popuri grinned and nodded and Karen smiled, her friends were the best! A few days later Popuri and Ann arrived at the poultry farm with her farm outfit. Karen grinned when she saw it, it was perfect. They were some purple dyed dungarees with a blue cotton shirt. They also presented her with big farmer boots which Karen thought would be great for squashing the rebellious weeds.

A month of work later the farm looked a lot better. The ground was completely clear and Karen was growing some pineapples as summer had arrived. The weather was hotter and there was more work to do, but it was getting easier. After using the tools for so long Karen was beginning to look well toned and she was a lot stronger, perhaps, she mused, stronger than Rick. Farming was great for the body and the soul as it took away any of her stress built up by Rick.

Their relationship was not going well and she still found it hard to juggle the housework and the farm. But she made sure the farm always took priority as it always made her feel better. Once the pineapples were fat and juicy she could sell them and buy new and better tools. She hadn't even had to buy the seeds, because Won gave them to her for free during golden service time, what a great store! Zack had grinned to her and told her later that no one else got anything free, apparently beauty pays. She was beginning to realise why Jack had always been so happy, the farm was amazing, seeing what she'd achieved every day made her feel incredibly contented.

Karen wandered home from the farm after yet another hard day's work, the pineapples were harvested and she would soon buy the better tools, perhaps even a fishing rod! Fishing sounded great, to relax by a lake for hours just waiting for something to bite... okay so it sounded a little boring, but fish! With the better tools she could finally remove the big stumps and the big rocks from her field and then she could pay for the repairs to the farmhouse. She arrived at the door and walked in, she found Lillia collapsed on the couch barely breathing.

"Lillia? LILLIA!" She shouted, praying that her mother-in-law wasn't dead. She picked her up quickly, collapsing under the weight. She determinedly hurried to the hospital, trying not to drop her. Her back was aching and sweat was pouring down her face, her heart beating fast. Zack spotted her heading carrying Lillia and jogged over to her.

"Karen, is Lillia alright?" Zack asked worriedly.

"I... don't know." Karen told him gasping for breath. Zack took Lillia out of her arms with the slightest amount of effort, lifting around produce all day sure came in handy. He had huge muscles and could easily carry delicate Lillia. Karen gasped for breath, a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"To the hospital!" She announced and they began to head quickly there. Zack flung open the door and placed Lillia on the bed shouting "Doctor!"

"What seems to be the matter?" The Doctor asked calmly, then he spotted Lillia and his grey eyes widened. "Oh dear god."

"I found her collapsed on the couch. I don't know how long she'd been like that..." Karen said worriedly.

"Elli, come quick, it's Lillia, I think she's gone into a state of paralysis. She's just about breathing." The Doctor said. Karen gazed worriedly at Lillia, she had gone deathly pale. Her eyes were shut down hard and her body had gone completely stiff. The Doctor injected her with some amber coloured fluid and he opened her eyes and checked them.

"She's stopping breathing, she'd going to need some help, attach her to the respirator." The Doctor shouted. Elli obediently wheeled through a large machine with big pumps either side. She placed a mask over Lillia's mouth and some plastic tubes in her nose.

"Karen, I think it's best you leave this to us. Go and find Rick and Popuri, tell them their mother is here."

"Right," Karen nodded and hurried off through the streets. She hadn't realised how late it was getting, it was already turning dark. The mild summer air swept across her skin gently, tickling her lightly. She hurried into the inn and found Rick gulping down a bottle of wine.

"Rick, it's Lillia, she's become paralysed." Karen told him, Rick's eyes widened and he stood up immediately. He'd drunk a lot and he was a little bit tipsy.

"Rick, are you drunk?" Karen asked angrily. Rick hiccupped and nodded.

"I'm going to Mom!" He announced almost falling over. Karen sighed angrily and headed over to find Popuri. She was at home having dinner with Kai, and when Karen told her, tears began to form in her big red-brown eyes.

"But she'll be alright?" Popuri asked, her eyes begging someone to tell her that everything would be alright.

"I don't know." Karen told her and Popuri began to cry harder. "I'm sure she'll be fine." Karen said quickly. Popuri smiled and they headed off to the hospital.

They waited until the early hours of the morning before the Doctor gave them any news. He walked out, big bags under his eyes, he looked exhausted.

"She's alive." He said, but he didn't sound hopeful. He made it sound like she wouldn't be alive much longer. Elli then came out looking equally miserable and tired.

"She's still paralysed, she's in a sort of coma. All we can do now is pray." She told them. Popuri began to cry into Kai's shoulder and Rick began to cry too. There was a huge lump in Karen's throat, she felt as though she couldn't breathe. For years Lillia had been the mother she'd always wanted, but now she was dying. They had all known her illness would make her die young, but no one had expected this to happen so soon. They walked into the room where Lillia lay motionless, as good as dead. Popuri and Rick hugged their mother and Karen saw the exact moment, the Iris children gave up hope.

They left the hospital heart-broken and tired, Kai then went around the town to tell people the news. Karen tucked Rick into bed and gave him a mug of hot chocolate, she then kissed him on the cheek and told him she was heading over to the goddess pond. He didn't seem to care, his whole life had seemed to fall away when he saw his mother on the hospital bed. Karen fed the chickens, because she knew Rick wouldn't remember as he was too miserable. She then headed over to the goddess pond. She sat on the dewy grass and pulled out a flower. She threw it onto the water and watched it float there for a while. She then looked over at the water and began to pray for Lillia.

"Please Goddess, don't let her die, let her heal. You took Jack from me, please don't take Lillia too." Karen moaned crying. The water continued to babble serenely. No mystical appearance of the goddess, nothing to bring great hope in Karen's heart.

"Well thank you." Karen murmured, unsure of what to say next. She stood up, brushing the grass from her shorts. She hoped desperately that Lillia wouldn't die, she couldn't take another death of someone so close to her. She couldn't stand Rick and Popuri suffering too.

Popuri was such a sensitive girl, if her mother died so early in her life it would make her completely crazy. She wouldn't be able to get over it, Karen shuddered at the thought. When she was completely distraught, Popuri had been the one to cheer her up, her constant cheerfulness was partly what made people love her. Without that she would cease to be Popuri. Karen broke down into tears.

"Goddess, you bring Lillia back! Please!" Karen begged. A wind stroked Karen's cheek gently, seemingly to tell her that her wish would be granted.