get to know delilah tramp deare :
born to jim and darlene deare, lilah grew up in a fairly comfortable home. the deare family weren’t anything to special - not involved in politics or the royal council in any way - but they were well known and respected around the isle. jim being a doctor and darlene being heavily involved with different charities and organizations around echo.
A lot of expectations were placed on lilah since she was young, always supposed to be the good little daughter, both at home and in public, of course. It wasn’t something that she really realized was happening - she didn’t know any better at the time. Everyone in her friend group for all of elementary, middle, and most of high school all ran in the same social circle as her and her parents – there was no one to show her that there was any other type of life or make her realize she didn’t need to always be perfectly pristine. And her parents were hardly the strictest, nor did they put nearly as much pressure on her as some of her friend’s parents did, so it wasn’t like it was a bad life or childhood. It helped a lot that Lilah simply had no desire to rebel or fight against the expectations placed on her. She liked her piano and dance lessons, she liked her fancy dresses and special tea parties and such she attended with her mom, she liked her life.
Until it was that she met Tristan Tramp the summer before her senior year of high school. Her parents were away for the summer visiting family off of the Isle, and while Lilah had been invited - she wanted her last summer before senior year to be spent with her friends and stayed behind with her Aunt Sarah. Now Aunt Sarah wanted nothing to do with Lilah, too invested in her own teenage daughters to care - which at first was a let down, but Lilah got over it quickly enough, spending almost all of her days and then nights out around the Isle with her friends. For once in her life, without her parents constantly around to remind her how she should behave, Lilah was free to do whatever she wanted. Which is how she ended up attending a house party one night for the first time. It was there that she met Tristan and for a brief time, Lilah really thought it was love at first sight.
They had their ups and downs over the summer, but stuck it out through the few months her parents were gone. It wasn’t until they returned that Lilah started to have stronger doubts about whether she should stay with him or not. She loved him yes, but there were so many things about him that she knew her parents would never accept - his drinking, his smoking, the fact that he was a high school drop out and runaway, had no real name for himself nor future plans. But before Lilah could decide what she was going to do, the choice was made for her in the form of a positive pregnancy test.
Surprisingly jim and darlene took the announcement that their only daughter was pregnant quite well. They were angry and upset at her at first, of course, but they didn’t throw her out or send her away like she had fully expected them to. Instead they supported her, on the condition that she not let this derail her from her future and college. Not that Lilah ever would have let that happen. Or at least, that’s what she likes to think - realistically, if she had been thrown out there would have been no way she could have continued with her education, but thankfully it didn’t come to that.
With the support of her parents she didn’t really need to keep Tristan in her life, but it felt wrong to cut him out when this was going to be his kid too. And when he was so excited when she told him about her pregnancy, lilah didn’t have the heart to break up with him - despite her doubts on the two of them together.
She was pregnant all of her senior year of high school and many people started seeing her differently because of that, but lilah kept her head held high and didn’t let it get to her. She had her parents, tristan, and the babies - that was all that mattered. She was going to graduate in the top percent of her class just like she’d always intended and then attend Echo Isle University and study pre-law and philosophy. It was a minor derailing of her original plans, considering she had hoped to leave the isle for college, but that was simply a technicality.
Gave birth to samuel tramp and danielle tramp when she was 18, at some point before starting college. Tristan got an official job at the junkyard, no longer simply just running errands for the owner at the time - but really working there legally and fully. He claimed he was done with all the illegal aspects of the junkyard that he used to get into, and lilah chose to believe him for the longest time.
With the help of her parents, the two got a small apartment right across from campus where they lived together. Though lilah was more often than not at her parents house, needing help with the twins for the first year of their life.
she met Collin Hopper when she was 19 in a gen ed course. A friendship kindled quickly between them and in complete honesty, if she weren’t already in a relationship with tristan - she likely would have wanted to pursue something with him. But she never did and she kept everything platonic for the entire time she was still with tramp. However, he was one of the only people she ever fully opened up to about the truth in her life. About how she wasn’t as ridiculously happy as she always acted like she was – about how hard things were at home with Tristan – about just everything that she never felt like she could tell any of her friends or family out of fear of being judged or told she was complaining too much or being ungrateful. Collin was the first person that she felt she could truly just be herself around without being judged or looked down upon.
it wasn’t until tristan got arrested for the first time that she learned the truth. He’d still been dealing with all of the less than legal sides of the junkyard. That was the first time that lilah broke up with him, moreso because she was angry and hurt that he had so openly lied to her for years rather than the fact that he was breaking the law. She had expected everyone to be on her side, but surprisingly her parents were against the break up and urged lilah to give him another shot - claiming that he was better with her and she could help him find the correct path in life, that it was her responsibility to help him through this, and what would the kids do without their parents together. She was 20 when this all happened.
Despite what her parents wanted, lilah didn’t get back with tristan. At least not right away. Instead, she started indeed pursuing the interest and spark she had with collin. They never openly got together, lilah too scared to jump into another committed relationship after being so unhappy for the longest time and stuck with tramp for years. But they were practically dating, yeah. Lilah knew at least somewhat about his second life as she liked to call it. She was aware he didn’t work in the most legal of realms, and while it did slightly bother her, she had learned from tristan a long time ago that the world wasn’t all black and white like she used to think it was. And Collin was honest about it. He may not have told her all the details or everything about what he did - but when she asked he didn’t lie. And that was mattered the most to her. That was the difference between him and Tramp.
it was fine until the night she was sleeping at his place, the twins staying with her parents for the night, and everything changed. Something happened, what exactly it was Lilah still to this day isn’t entirely one hundred percent sure - but it was clear that she was not safe. That Collin was not safe. That there were people in the apartment, there to get something or someone. He told her to go out the back door, to run and drive away from the place. And while god she wished she was brave enough to say - she wasn’t. She left. It was the most terrifying night of her life. She ran to Tristan’s, having no clue where else to go. She didn’t want any of her other friends or her parents to see her as shaken up as she did – and despite everything between them, Tramp was still one of her best friends.
And two days later, she found out at what was supposed to be a generic OBGYN check up that she was pregnant. Her doctor asked when her last period was and Lilah realized she’d missed it, and sure enough from the test… she was pregnant.
It was Collin’s - there wasn’t a doubt in her mind about that. With no clue how to tell him after everything that had happened, she once again found herself on Tristan’s door. The nights before she had told him what happened at Collin’s place and he was the only one that knew how terrified she was of it all - surely he’d understand at least somewhat the confusion she was in right now. And he did. He understood it far better than Lilah had expected him to. In fact - he was the one who presented her with a solution. A shitty solution, but a solution none the less.
Tristan made it clear to Lilah that there was no way Collin could be involved in the baby’s life. Not as a parent at least. That it wouldn’t be safe for the baby, wouldn’t be safe for the two kids she already had, and wouldn’t be safe for Lilah herself. He convinced her that there was no way Collin would ever change and even if he did he was too deep in this shit for him to haunt him. Tristan claimed he knew more about what Collin really did and that none of it was good and would only lead them to danger. So instead… they should say it’s his. Get back together and then wait a few months before announcing she was pregnant with his child. He’d take full responsibility and raise the baby as his own. It was a ridiculous idea and Lilah hated it at first - but eventually he convinced her it was for the best. And well… there was a part of her that missed having Tristan around all the time. And she was so scared that really, she would have eventually agreed to any plan that felt solid enough to protect this baby… She refused at first to really get back together with him though, deciding that they’d just pretend to be together for a few months before telling everyone they’d broken up again… but after two months of pretending to be together, when Tristan asked her if he could get a real second change, she gave it to him.
after deciding she was going to pretend the baby was Tristan’s, she returned to Collin. Told him that she couldn’t do this anymore after what happened that night and that she was leaving, getting back together with Tramp. He tried to fight it - promised he’d be able to protect her, but as much as she wanted to believe that - Tristan’s words rang too loudly in her ears, and she couldn’t risk their baby’s life on just a promise. Not after what happened the other night. So she gathered her things and left with no explanation of where she was going. That was one of the last times she ever saw him. The whole situation that went down with Collin is one of her biggest regrets to this day. She can’t ever say she wishes she did it differently, because she truly feels like she had little to no other choice, but she so deeply wishes it could have been different.
At age 21, Lilah gave birth to Annette Tramp. The Deares rejoiced as did practically everyone in Lilah’s life. She loves her daughter and is so thankful to have her in her life, despite the complicated way she got here.
At her college graduation a year or so later, Tristan got down on one knee and proposed. Everyone cheered and looking over at her parents, Lilah saw how ridiculously happy they were… so despite the screaming in the back of her head that told her no, no, no… she said yes.
They planned their wedding in a matter of a few months, married a week before Lilah started law school. Delilah Deare was now legally and officially Delilah Tramp.
She was one of the top students at Echo Law School, focusing her studies on both civil and family law. After graduating she started an internship at Carrera Law - where she continues to work and grow in her position to this day.
For the longest time, Lilah was content. She wasn’t extremely happy - but she wasn’t upset about her life by any means either. She had everything anyone could ever ask for… to complain would be wrong. She loved her job, she loved her kids, and she even loved her husband - despite knowing she wasn’t madly and truly in love with him like she once thought she was. Just because she lacked any real spark in her life didn’t mean it was bad. Or at least that’s what she always told herself.
It wasn’t until she was twenty-eight that she started to have a quarter life crisis and wonder if she had messed everything up. If her life was an entire lie and she wasn’t nearly as happy as she thought she was… The stress she was under led her to missing a few days of her birth control, which then led to bam. Another pregnancy. A very, very unplanned pregnancy. Lilah had been certain three kids was enough - she had no intentions of ever having another kid… yet here she was, pregnant for the third time.
At age 29 Lilah gave birth to Colette Tramp. And that was it. She was done having kids, for certain.Tristan got a vasectomy and Lilah got an implant to ensure it never happened again.
Life continued on - Lilah kept working for the law firm and the Tramp family was as close as ever. Too busy dealing with two pre-teens, a middle schooler, and a baby - Lilah’s crisis and doubts about her life faded away.
It wasn’t until again when she was about 35 that she started questioning it again. She was in talks of becoming partner and while he claimed to always be supportive of her, Tristan wasn’t that into the idea. He claimed to worry she’d pull away from the family too much if she was a partner and argued that she already did that now half the time - which was a shock for her to hear, considering Lilah tried her damned hardest not to let work get between her and the kids and had dropped several potential cases and clients over the years to put the family first. Lilah would have been made partner years ago really, she thought if it weren’t for the sacrifices she had made for the kids. The arguments they had over this reopened her eyes to how unhappy she was with her life – how for all she absolutely adored her kids, she felt like she was boxed in and had been thrown into this happy little home without any option or chance to expand upon herself at any point. She was living the dream she’d always had as a kid, what her parents had always wanted for her. Only… she was starting to realize this fantasy wasn’t what she really wanted at all.
Lilah and Tristan went to couples therapy for a few years. It was hard and a rough time for them, Tramp not wanting to face the reality of the fact that Lilah wanted out… that she never really wanted to be in all that much in the first place. He had done so much changing for her and the kids and it felt like a slap in the face that she wanted out after that. It took about two years before they finally decided they needed to try separating. It was almost humorous and was something Tramp threw in her face multiple times during their more heated sessions – everyone had doubted whether he’d be the one that could handle being settled down, but in the end it was Lilah who couldn’t take it and wanted out.
It was hard to explain to the kids but it was for the best. And after the trial period of being separate and feeling so much freer no longer tied down to Tristan, it was clear to Lilah this was what they needed to do. So they decided to divorce. It wasn’t the cleanest of breaks but it wasn’t the messiest either, and they tried their damned hardest to keep the arguing and fighting behind closed doors of the kids.
At 39 she was officially divorced, having shared custody with Tramp of their youngest daughter, considering the rest of the kids were over 18 at the time. The first thing Lilah did after the divorce was finalized was put in a legal name change back to Delilah Deare.
She turned down the offer of partner, or at least told Sally Carrera she wasn’t ready for it quite yet. She’d been held down for too long in her marriage, she wasn’t about to let herself get sucked into work and never get the chance to explore herself and everything the world (or just the isle, considering the eventual lock down) had to offer. She still works for the firm though and is one of their top lawyers - taking most of the family law cases, but dabbling in other fields as needed as well.
Her favorite color is a soft blue.
She loves the aesthetics of the 50s and 60s a lot - loves movies from and set in those times.
Loves her kids more than absolutely anything in this world - would do absolutely anything for them.


















