They say that lightning never strikes in the same place twice..
To say that Rowan’s life went downhill from the day that she had to leave the group home and school to support herself after ageing out, would be a bit of an understatement. With no diploma, GED or any other kind of skills, she had to rely on sheer luck and a lot of doing whatever she could to make money in order to get by. She spent the first six months moving between couches and cheap motel rooms, and eventually through stealing, pick pocketing and other things that she’d never admit to, managed to get an apartment on the shittier side of town which she called home. It had roaches, mold and nothing worked, but it was a roof over her head and she wasn’t about to complain.
By the time she was nineteen, she had been ducking the cops in town for a while, and it came as a surprise to absolutely no one when she was finally booked on multiple counts of burglary and resisting arrest. She was sentenced to five years in the state pen, and it was there she found out the news that changed her life. She had gotten pregnant.
While Rowan had been trying to earn money, she had lost all sense of dignity. She did whatever she had to do to get by, and that included sleeping with men she wasn’t interested in to get a free meal, or to steal their wallets. One of these encounters resulted in her son, Dylan, who she had originally decided to give up for adoption, but changed her mind at the last minute, instead surrendering him to foster care, where he would end up in the hands of non other than her ex flame, Maria Serrell.
When Rowan got out, the first thing she did was start fighting for Dylan to be returned to her, an endeavour that ended up not working out, as she saw the now four year old was desperate to stay with the only mother he’d ever known, even though throughout his life there were multiple periods of time where Dylan would be given to Rowan, which usually ended when she got in trouble with the law again.
It was when Dylan was six that the real irony begun. On a mission to secure a free meal, Rowan slept with the first person she could. She was cold, hungry and desperate. What she hadn’t expected was to see the plus sign on the pee stick a few months later. This time she resolved to be different. She gained the support of the father, who helped her to move into a decent apartment. She made sure every outstanding charge she had against her was cleared, and in 2027, Amaya was born with both her parents happy to see her. Fast forward nine years, and very little has gotten worse in Rowan’s life.
The birth of her daughter has helped her to remain focused on staying legit, something she hasn’t done before. She is fierce in making sure Amaya gets everything she needs, and makes sure she sees her father regularly. The same can’t be said for her relationship with Dylan, which, if anything has gotten 150 times worse since his half sister was born. Now, Amaya is a well adjusted nine year old, who adores her brother, even as he ignores her. Rowan’s life remains complicated, especially when it comes to her relationship with Maria, who mysteriously, has not been able to maintain a relationship since Rowan got out of jail..