Warning for dishonest parenting.
[name_m]Marko[/name_m] [name_m]Josip[/name_m] [name_u]Green[/name_u] (28) is Lila’s friend, who’s also had difficult parent circumstances. He doesn’t hate his family but he’s bothered by his past. His father divorced his wife before [name_m]Marko[/name_m] was in his life, but [name_m]Marko[/name_m] had never met her in person. He was adopted from Montenegro as a baby but wasn’t told he was adopted until he was 12. Marko’s father remarried and had another son, this time biologically. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] assumed his name was just his parents’ naming style, seeing they named his brother [name_u]Ryker[/name_u]. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] did grow up with most people not noticing although a few people, particularly other of Balkan heritage, asking where he was from and [name_m]Marko[/name_m] simply answering, “Oh just here.” One day after [name_m]Marko[/name_m] told his father this, his father admitted he was adopted from Montenegro and that only his brother [name_u]Ryker[/name_u] was biological. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] knew his father seemed to favour [name_u]Ryker[/name_u] more but [name_m]Marko[/name_m] never would have guessed it was because [name_u]Ryker[/name_u] was the only biological child he had. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] felt a disdain on his father for passively misleading him all those years and [name_m]Marko[/name_m] grew up in his teenage years holding some hostility on [name_u]Ryker[/name_u]. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] has since made amends, he knows [name_u]Ryker[/name_u] is not at fault with this, and the two love bonding over music.
[name_m]Marko[/name_m] is on-again-off-again with his adoptive parents. He’s closer with his culture now and he spends his days “making up for lost time” given how long he’s been stripped away from that as a child. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] has been understanding to both [name_u]Brady[/name_u] and [name_f]Viv[/name_f] following the dilemma of having children or not. His adoptive father never told him or [name_u]Ryker[/name_u] about his past divorce given he felt it was “irrelevant” since he was with his current wife. [name_m]Marko[/name_m] only found out from his father’s second wife, Marko’s stepmother, who he assumed was his true mother. From what [name_m]Marko[/name_m] knows about his adoptive father, he finds him selfish, and honestly he is. He claimed the reason he divorced his first wife is because she didn’t want children and he did, but he misled [name_m]Marko[/name_m] and [name_u]Ryker[/name_u] into thinking she never existed in their father’s life just so they’d not have desire to look for her. Much like not telling [name_m]Marko[/name_m] he was adopted so he wouldn’t try to contact his birth parents. He was a person so fixated on people focusing on him that he often got jealous simply if his children were close with other adults besides him and his wife guiding their lives. Before moving into the neighborhood with [name_f]Lila[/name_f], he used to work as a tattoo artist alongside [name_u]Josie[/name_u] Featherly. He learned about her twins [name_u]Jett[/name_u] and [name_f]Joanie[/name_f] and [name_m]Marko[/name_m] has been proud of the former’s improvement to change for the better. [name_u]Jett[/name_u] recently had a setback after making lots of progress to change but [name_m]Marko[/name_m] is determined to see him get back up because [name_m]Marko[/name_m] feels a sense of his old self in [name_u]Jett[/name_u], although [name_m]Marko[/name_m] was more bitter at age 20 than a troublemaker.
[name_m]Marko[/name_m] has been reminding Lila’s ex to stay involved in Noah’s life and at least let the boy know where he stands. He’s often been the one there helping Lila’s ex raise [name_u]Noah[/name_u] when Lila’s ex is around [name_u]Noah[/name_u]. It’s awkward for [name_m]Marko[/name_m] to be around Noah’s father when [name_f]Lila[/name_f] isn’t there but it’s helped [name_f]Lila[/name_f] deal with her ex. Plus [name_m]Marko[/name_m] is getting paid as a babysitter, which he needs because he’s losing his current job in 2 months because the store he works at is running out of business and announced it will close. As for the conflict of [name_u]Brady[/name_u] and [name_f]Viv[/name_f], [name_m]Marko[/name_m] hopes that they can come down to a decision on children and they can have an honest and meaningful conversation. He’s been understanding with both of them and both he and [name_f]Lila[/name_f] have been supportive given their recent decision now to attend couples’ counsel.
Ryker was created by @Lily_Grace.
Josie was created by @kitkatcookie.
Jett & Joanie were created by @rachelheth.