New Create a Family With a Twist

[kitkatcookie]

cw: cheating mentioned

[name_f]Alana[/name_f] [name_u]Winter[/name_u] [name_m]Jefferson[/name_m] (26) is Channing’s long-term friend, who he’s confided in about the recent turn of events following [name_u]Dani[/name_u] falling pregnant. The duo met in high school, when they were partnered up in an ill-advised drama class, which devolved into chaos quickly, but [name_f]Alana[/name_f] and [name_u]Channing[/name_u] at least got entertained witnessing the madness around them. Something that did annoy [name_f]Alana[/name_f] during the early years of their friendship, her parents were always teasing her about dating [name_u]Channing[/name_u], which absolutely was never going to happen. Their connection was strictly platonic, and [name_f]Alana[/name_f] admits she’s someone who actively tries to avoid dating friends, because she fears things going wrong and ruining a meaningful relationship in the process.

Working as a marketing assistant for an ethical produce company isn’t the be all and end all [name_f]Alana[/name_f] hopes career wise, but she’s happy to be learning more in her profession. Compared to her younger sister, she’s always been the creative type opposed to the academic, and her parents were careful in never undermining one of their daughters’ for the sake of the other’s confidence. Alana’s dad is a high school teacher - not at the one she and [name_u]Channing[/name_u] attended, that would’ve been soul destroying - which is something she still insists makes him worthy of a bravery award: she remembers how chaotic of a student she was after all.

Sibling drama is something else [name_f]Alana[/name_f] knows well, as her sister - [name_f]Serena[/name_f] - was cheated on two years ago by her girlfriend, and the revelation was devastating for her. [name_f]Serena[/name_f] almost abandoned college when she found out, after her now ex-girlfriend, [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f], got extremely drunk on a night out and broke down, confessing to the affair when she got home. The whole situation seems even more senseless and confusing in hindsight, as [name_f]Serena[/name_f] and her ex were planning for the future, so destroying everything felt twice as meaningless to [name_f]Alana[/name_f].

She’s admitted to her mom it’s another reason she keeps clear of dating most of the time: the [name_m]Jefferson[/name_m] family loved [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] and couldn’t imagine her treating [name_f]Serena[/name_f] so poorly, which once again makes [name_f]Alana[/name_f] more supportive of [name_u]Channing[/name_u], as she can see how truly he cares for [name_u]Dani[/name_u].

Thankfully, [name_f]Serena[/name_f] didn’t abandon school over Adrienne’s betrayal, and slowly but surely, she’s began rebuilding her confidence in others once more. [name_f]Alana[/name_f] suspects there may be a new woman in her sister’s life after a two year hiatus of dating, but she won’t push [name_f]Serena[/name_f] until her sister’s ready to reveal the whole story.

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Serena’s credited to @venezio

[moonwriteen]

[name_m]Rafael[/name_m] [name_m]Enrique[/name_m] Zepeda [ 27 ] is the guy [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] cheated on [name_f]Alana[/name_f] 's sister [name_f]Serena[/name_f] with and , coincidentally , the president of the ill-advised drama club they were in together. The drama ensued because one of the members - [name_u]Rafa[/name_u] 's own sister - wouldn’t quit undermining [name_u]Rafa[/name_u] 's authority on how the club should function and outed him as bisexual before the whole school when he recommended someone other than his sister should play [name_f]Desdemona[/name_f] in the drama club’s modern adaptation of [name_m]Othello[/name_m] because she could demonstrate fear better.

[name_m]Rafael[/name_m] has since forgiven his sister and doesn’t let his high school grudge ruin any family reunions , even though he is not super close with her and never entrusts her with the information about his love life. He wasn’t aware of [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] being in a relationship when sleeping with her - he was just quite taken with [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] 's beauty and could relate to the story she was telling - [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] 's family didn’t believe her when she said she was bisexual and thought that just meant gay with extra steps - to the point of it being made a joke in the family, also contributing to the spread of other harmful jokes about lesbians like the fact that [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] and [name_f]Samara[/name_f] weren’t quite sure on their future together but [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] 's family trivialized it as " something unimportant that you shouldn’t think about , just move into a U-Haul together".

She let it all out together -that she always felt like just a pretty face in her family , her modelling career makes her feel inadequate in the relationship with [name_f]Samara[/name_f] 's serious pursuit of a NASA position as an aerospace engineer , and that she just feels like she has to " prove " being bisexual…

" Well, I don’t have to prove anything… I did what I did so it is evident I like men too, right?"

[name_m]Rafael[/name_m] really liked that [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] entrusted him with serious information about her life , career and feelings. They are now dating and began doing so a few months after [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] officially broke up with [name_f]Samara[/name_f]. She gives him the meningful conversations and quality time that he needs to be fulfilled emotionally and doesn’t get from family or friends from his improv group who only ever talk about acting or parties. He gives her the energy to continue pursuing modelling without an inferiority complex by giving her compliments, cooking for her and overall caring about their physical wellness - [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] and [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] love running together and are even considering getting a dog suitable for active owners , like an [name_u]Irish[/name_u] Setter - a type of dog that [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] has always loved but never got a puppy after his childhood pet [name_f]Solita[/name_f] died of cancer at 14 years old.

As for [name_f]Alana[/name_f] , [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] has not the best opionon of her and wants to steer clear of her because of her friendship with [name_u]Channing[/name_u] - he assumes [name_f]Alana[/name_f] and [name_u]Channing[/name_u] are ableist by association with [name_u]Channing[/name_u] 's sister , and [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] 's own younger sister, the one who outed him and was in the drama club , uses a hearing aid and talks to her brother in ASL regularly even though she can read lips and talk - people often don’t even realise she’s deaf when briefly talking to her because she wears her hair very long to hide the hearing aid.

[kitkatcookie]

tw: discussions of biphobia, poor marriages

[name_f]Nadine[/name_f] [name_f]Amora[/name_f] Clarendale (19) is someone else [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] does his best to avoid, albeit for different reasons based in awkwardness and assumption. Nadine’s the best friend of [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] [name_u]Mika[/name_u], aka [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] [name_u]Mercer[/name_u], Adrienne’s younger sister who she’s had a complicated relationship with since the news of the cheating broke…both instances. Before [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] there was Jessamie, a self-centered and manipulative young woman who prayed upon Adrienne’s insecurities, and neither [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] nor [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] know how aware [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] is of her presence and influence in the whole situation.

While her best friend [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] is - a little ironically - an up-and-coming actress, Nadine’s ideas of creative expression revolve around poetry, with her currently being an [name_f]English[/name_f] Literature student, who hopes to specialise in her preferred writing style. She also knows that [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] considers her to be fairly pretentious, partly because of the whole poetry thing, but also thanks to her love of verbose and sometimes archaic language: it’s always fascinated [name_f]Nadine[/name_f], and she’s not going to change her forms of expression now.

There’s also a much more blunt side to her nature that’s led to her getting in hot water a few times - namely when she asked [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] if the real reason [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] avoids [name_f]Alana[/name_f] [name_m]Jefferson[/name_m] is because of who her sister is, and then when she queried the 7-year age gap between the couple. The second point’s more personal for [name_f]Nadine[/name_f], as she saw her aunt marry a man 9 years her senior, and he proceeded to patronise her, very much seeming to believe she was incapable of making decisions by herself. When her aunt divorced this man, it was a big source of relief for the rest of the family, although [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] tries her best to let go of her biases [easier said than done she also will fess up to].

[name_f]Nadine[/name_f] also knows that the [name_u]Mika[/name_u] family aren’t the terrible, dismissive people [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] believes them to be. The misconception around Adrienne’s sexuality wasn’t because her parents genuinely dismissed the whole concept of bisexuality, but a miscommunication bought on by tension at home: she already felt sensitive following her blowout fight with [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f], and when her parents lack of awareness that their older daughter was bi came up, it spiralled into [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] interpreting this as them not believing her sexuality [or not caring at least].

It isn’t that Nadine’s blind to her biases in this situation either: she’s been best friends with [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] since childhood and seeing her go through so much turmoil trying to figure out why [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] - who knew how much [name_f]Serena[/name_f] loved her, even reciprocating this wholeheartedly in her own way - chose to act as she did. Ophelie’s career becoming such a success has been another blessing, in that her attentions are now focused on acting, while Nadine’s continuing to work on poetry. Since her recent diagnosis of ADHD, self-discovery has become a major theme…and she hopes [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f] can accomplish this too.

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Ophelie’s credited to yours truly

Jessamie’s credited to @babynamesfactory

[moonwriteen]

(tw: addiction, financially controlling behaviour, death of a role model)
[name_f]Laura[/name_f] [name_f]Kerri[/name_f] [ Clarendale ] [name_m]Morrow[/name_m] ( 53 ) is someone who encouraged [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] to write poetry. [name_f]Laura[/name_f] used to do it herself all her life except the 12-year period between age 24 and 36 when she was married to her husband. Then , [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's creative pursuits were simply deemed as impractical and " taking the attention away from the kids" … Her husband didn’t mean their kids, because those, the marriage didn’t have , but [name_f]Laura[/name_f] chose to major in Social Work as a young woman and worked as a case worker for over 35 cases of foster kids - providing them the best emotional , medical , financial and emotional support that she could - sometimes giving out of pocket for clothes and food for them that wasn’t provided by less than ideal foster parents.

Her husband was a civil engineer who was employed by the local government on a state level in Oregon . He was a workaholic who faced a lot of preassure , including but not limited to local officials not understanding engineering, impossible deadlines , lack of funds for improvement in the local infrasturcture due to other priorities and a long commute by bus from Corvallis , OR to [name_m]Portland[/name_m] , OR where he worked. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though he was a gentle, loving husband who always did his fair share of work at the house , complimented [name_f]Laura[/name_f] on her looks , bought her expensive dresses to show off at social events in Corvallis and was overall a great companion both in crowded places and one-on-one, [name_f]Laura[/name_f] nevertheless had the feeling that he doesn’t treat her as seriously as he should just because he was 9 years older and always " knew better ". He knew that there was nothing to worry about everytime there was a health scare because he was a " tough man ", he knew which car to buy while barely consulting [name_f]Laura[/name_f] and he knew which dog breed they should get - they had 2 Rottweilers during their marriage together because her husband felt like they need something beyond an alarm scaring off pontential bulglars from their impressive house, completely disregarding [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's wish for a smaller breed . The dogs, [name_m]Hansel[/name_m] and [name_m]Otto[/name_m] were incredibly wel-trained and loving to their owners but the inital dismissal of [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's stance still bothered her for many years.

[name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's husband had the mindest that they basically live to make their community happy - attending social events, helping the pastor at a local church and giving their all to their work was their priority so there was no time for establishing a family or devoting oneself to artistry. This amount of people-pleasing and sacrificing himself for others eventually broke [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's husband and he became addicted to pain medication to the point of collapsing while working at a construction site. [name_f]Laura[/name_f] couldn’t belive that’s why he always refused to go to doctors - as long as eliminating physical pain was on the table, the problem didn’t exist to her husband.

[name_f]Laura[/name_f] couldn’t believe he would hide something like this from her. The night that she spent in the hospital with her unconcious husband was the first night since the first year of her marriage where she picked up her notebook with poems and wrote down everything that had already been engraved into her heart. After her husband woke up she read some of the poems to him and he ridiculed her as being " pathetic" , “too sensitive” and " on the emotional level of a 17-year-old. Still , [name_f]Laura[/name_f] stood behind her husband for another two years until he refused rehab and relapsed in his addiction to pain medication - mainly due to an intervention from [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's brother , Nadine’s father , who made her realise that [name_f]Laura[/name_f] can’t let herself be degraded and disregarded despite loving her husband to bits. [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's family - and [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] especially - don’t understand why [name_f]Laura[/name_f] didn’t change her surname back to her maiden name, but the fact is that she still loves her husband even after he went to 2 rehabs and she knows the information that he regrets disregarding her poetry and wishes she could be there for him during recovery - that was from his best friend, seeing as Mr. [name_m]Morrow[/name_m] never remarried.

After the divorce [name_f]Laura[/name_f] continued to work as a case worker for foster care kids but dedicated herself to her work as a poet and even sang her poetry in a country style. She also frequently covers the songs of [name_u]Lisa[/name_u] [name_u]Marie[/name_u] [name_u]Presley[/name_u] - whose marriage to [name_u]Michael[/name_u] [name_u]Jackson[/name_u] reminds [name_f]Laura[/name_f] of her own marriage , and she has the feeling that LMP’s song " Weary " perfectly describes what she went through. [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] knows frrom her father that 10 months ago , upon hearing about [name_u]Lisa[/name_u] [name_u]Marie[/name_u] [name_u]Presley[/name_u] 's death, [name_f]Laura[/name_f] didn’t contact her family nor leave her house in [name_m]Portland[/name_m] for 3 weeks - something very unsual for her extroverted self, however she suffered for the fact that she will no longer have the chance to meet her idol.

The 3 week absence from society wasn’t due to depression but rather the desire that [name_f]Laura[/name_f] had for starting her life over in a new place. After the news [name_f]Laura[/name_f] moved out of state , realising she won’t get any younger and wants to take her career as a country singer and poet seriously by moving to [name_m]Nashville[/name_m] ,which is the capital city of country music. [name_f]Laura[/name_f] even tried to convince [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] to live with her and apply for Tennesee State University or the even more prestigious [name_m]Vanderbilt[/name_m] University , however [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] still opted for studying in Oregon so as not to worry her parents or too expensive tutition. [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] however will be visiting her aunt and her friend [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] around [name_u]New[/name_u] Year’s eve. [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] is visiting her friend because [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] is shooting a Wetern in [name_m]Nashville[/name_m] after the success of her previous film The Empty [name_m]Fields[/name_m] but not wanting to be closed off in a horror film niche. [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] also invited [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] to one of Nashivlle 's country clubs for a [name_u]New[/name_u] Year’s show - [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] 's internet stalking skills revealed that [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's ex is going to be there because he wants to hear [name_f]Laura[/name_f] perform the song " Weary " and apologise to her for disregarding her passion. Despite being critical of her aunt’s ex and the marriage with a massive age gap , [name_f]Nadine[/name_f] is staritng to realise that they still love each other despite their demons and that’s why they never had another over the years.

The song " Weary " : Song link

[SummerParadise]

[name_m]Image[/name_m] by Freepik

tw: foster care, abuse, ableism
[name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] “Maddie” [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] (14) is a girl whom [name_f]Laura[/name_f] used to work with. She has suffered abuse from her biological parents and in some of her foster homes, being perceived as a “difficult” child because of her ADHD. However, she has now been adopted by a loving family and has found happiness in life despite the trauma she has been through. She still keeps in contact with [name_f]Laura[/name_f] and asks her for advice on songwriting, sharing Laura’s passion for music. [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] also likes to read and stays active through skateboarding and softball.

[moonwriteen]

(tw: animal abuse , alcohol addiction)
[name_f]Gwendolyn[/name_f] " [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] " [name_f]Summer[/name_f] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] ( 12 ) is [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] 's sister who was also adopted by the same family. She is happy that her caseworker and [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] 's caseworker [name_f]Laura[/name_f] were able to work together and make sure that the family could adopt both of them after they expressed the willingness to do so. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] goes to all of [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] 's softball matches and also frequently watches her do skateboard tricks, even though it doesn’t really interest her. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] 's ambition is to become a fashion designer one day, she’s obsessed with magazines and the embodiment of a fashoniasta. Her adoptive mom is a screenwriter , so [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] hopes that she can use her mom’s connections in showbiz to have her own fashion shows in the future.

More specifically [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] 's mom is the director the western [name_f]My[/name_f] Horse’s Calling about a cowboy who helps a female vet report the abusive behaviour of another cowboy towards his horses , but then has to save the vet when she gets kidnapped upon disovering that the animal exploitation is actually something that the local authorities make money off of by selling the horses to circuses and for meat even though the documents suggest that they should be working horses on the abusive cowboy’s ranch.

[name_f]Gwen[/name_f] really thinks that [name_f]My[/name_f] Horse’s Calling , starring [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] [name_u]Mika[/name_u] in the main role , is a romantic one with lots of masculine energy and chivalry from the male actor while saving [name_f]Ophelie[/name_f] 's character , [name_f]Willa[/name_f] , but also avoids the pitfalls of making [name_f]Willa[/name_f] a typical " damsel in distress " and a passive person while her own story is carrying out. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] has met the male actor playing the main role a few times when [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] and [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] 's mom invited him over to discuss the script . He made [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] blush everytime because he always had a new piece of clothing , a plushie or sweet treat to bring to both girls while also bringing a houseplant or another gift for the parents.

[name_f]Maddie[/name_f] laughs at it , but knows it’s natural for 12 year-olds to start developing crushes, she just likes the opportunity to playfully embarass her sister.

The only thing that [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] regrets is that the family had to move from Hillsboro to Nashivlle and she & [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] had to move schools due to her mom’s responsibilites on the set of the movie. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] and [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] 's dad had no problem moving because he works in the health sector as an insurance verification specialist and most of his work is done in home office anyway. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] didn’t trust him at first because her biological father would use the excuse of " working in home offfice " to get drunk and assult their biological mother - who 's currently in prison for embezzlement - while in reality he was not working at all and in many instances it was a sign that he just got fired from a job but doesn’t want to tell the truth. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] and [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] both love their adoptive family and don’t know whether they will ever trust their biological dad to reenter their life or if they will visit their mother in prison when they inveitably move back to Oregon after their adoptive mother 's screenwriting job expires. What [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] want to focus on is their togetherness and spreading love in their adoptive family. [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] has even spotted a leaflet for [name_f]Laura[/name_f] 's [name_u]New[/name_u] Years show when walking home from school and gave it to [name_f]Maddie[/name_f]. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though they didn’t know that [name_f]Laura[/name_f] moved as well, they would like to go there with their adoptive parents and use the opportunity to thank [name_f]Laura[/name_f] for the positive contribuiton she made in [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] 's but especially [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] 's life.

[I_meme_it]

tw: aforementioned alcohlism and abusive parenting; parental death during labour; sibling rivarly

[name_u]Tatum[/name_u] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] [name_m]Fischer[/name_m] (42), always credited by her full name, is [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] and Maddie’s adoptive mother who’s still working in the film industry, even now [name_f]My[/name_f] Horse’s Calling has finished filming. After such a positive experience directing for the first time, Tatum’s continued pursuing this and is actually currently signing up to her second gig in the chair, a psychological thriller entitled [name_m]Tip[/name_m]. It does sadden her that she can’t discuss the project as much with her girls’ - there’s some very adult content she doesn’t want them exposed to in this script - however they’ve shown absolute support, and she’s trying her best to involve them as much as possible where’s appropriate.

Motherhood is something [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] never quite felt certain about until her late 30s. It wasn’t just that her career has given so much meaning to her life, but she has her own baggage, of which she’s always been open about. Tatum’s mother died hours giving birth to her, as complications arose during the delivery, and it never quite left her mind. Her dad has always been very protective because of this incident, to the point where when he remarried, there were some spats between [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] and her stepsister, who always seemed to have more freedom.

From her stepsister’s perspective though, Tatum’s father loved her much more, and it led to a dynamic both women now acknowledge was the stereotype of blended families, where blood relation seemed to draw lines in closeness. By the time they were in their 20s though, [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] and her stepsister sat down and had a thorough discussion about their experiences, which has led to a strong bond forming subsequently. They consider one another true sister’s now, and Tatum’s always careful in how she treats [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] in comparison to her niece and nephew, not wanting that sense of disconnect to prompt conflict between the cousins.

Where [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and Gwen’s father is concerned, she’s likewise very cautious, not wanting to subject them to any more trauma. In particular she knows he was incredibly cruel towards [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] - insulting her in vile tirades while drunk - and it’s paramount to [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] that the girls’ get their say in whether or not they ever have a relationship with him. Thankfully, her own father has been able to provide a healthier paternal role in their lives, having also overcome his incessant protectiveness where [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] herself is concerned.

[moonwriteen]

[name_m]Paul[/name_m] [name_m]Simon[/name_m] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] [ 19 ] [ formely [name_m]Paul[/name_m] [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl ] is, according to documentation , the son of Tatum’s husband from a previous relationship. His mother died in a fire and he had to live with his father who was helpless in defending [name_m]Paul[/name_m] ‘s mother from the fire due to being in the office then and verifying insurance. He is the loving adoptive brother of [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and [name_f]Gwen[/name_f].
Are we done with the official version? Yes? Good.

[name_m]Paul[/name_m] is part of a witness protection program and the 19-year-old son of one of Norway ‘s richest businessmen , [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl. He was kidnapped 3 years ago along with his mother by Italian-American gangsters who wanted to know [name_m]Soren[/name_m] ‘s patent for eco-friendly disposal of waste , as the management of waste and landfills is one of the most profitable activities that organised crime rings around the world do. Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] is not only an insurance verification specialist , but also an undercover FBI agent who worked as an insider in the Italian mafia to monitor kidnapping and human trafficking cases. He contacted families who faced the mobsters demanding ransom from them. He “ watched over “ [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his mother all the while they were convinced he works for the mafia and “ helped “ the mafia communicate with [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his mother by translating from [name_f]English[/name_f] and Norwegian into Italian for them.
In the meantime he contacted FBI and [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl to convince the valuable businessman and patent holder to pay the ransom of 17 million [name_m]Euros[/name_m] and give part of the patent secrets to the mob. [name_m]Soren[/name_m] however negotiated with his lawyers and took a very long time to figure out how to give the patent to the mob so that they couldn’t construct any machines effectively. [name_m]Soren[/name_m] also really wanted to avoid taxation on the 17 million dollar transaction, which he only paid with the taxation when part of his wife and son’s ear was cut off and sent to his office in Norway [ Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] avoided considerably more harm for the two kidnapped people because the original plan was to cut off their entire right legs.]
[name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl drove to rural Oklahoma , where the mobsters had their secret location and left the 17 million dollars at a gas station where [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his mother were supposed to return to the family. However, the mobsters discovered last minute that the money was given to them without the patent. They set fire around the gas station with the fuel and a lighter. [name_m]Paul[/name_m] managed to escape the fire but his mother did not because the snack shop in the gas station fell apart and the remains of the building left her trapped despite [name_m]Paul[/name_m] running to Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and the other FBI operation agents for help.
When the operation ended , [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl asked the FBI agents to protect [name_m]Paul[/name_m] at all costs. He loved his son and wanted to protect him but wasn’t ready for a powerful piece of technology to be used for crimes , yet his wife was the person suffering and led to her demise for it. Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and his then-wife , a toxicologist who also worked for the FBI and also helped [name_m]Paul[/name_m] find an antidote for a neurotoxin-based poison the mob gave him , decided to legally adopt [name_m]Paul[/name_m] along with entirely changing his identity and the documents around it. [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl begged them to do the same for his younger son, but Mrs. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] told him it would be too risky and to simply send him to a boarding school somewhere in [name_u]England[/name_u]. Mrs. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] however ended up getting a mission to protect the younger boy by formally marrying [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl and working with both the [name_f]British[/name_f] and American authorities by watching out for possible attempts to poison either the Norwegian businessman and his younger son. This led to Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] becoming essentially a single father to [name_m]Paul[/name_m] , who fell into a deep depression after that development because he loved his former wife and co-worker and couldn’t bear [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendhal’s Norwegian social media posts which pointed to the woman really falling in love for the man she was forced to marry, even if she, too, ended up having to change her identity.
[name_m]Paul[/name_m] remained a staunch source of support for his adoptive dad and to this day feels like Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] risked a lot more for him than his own dad did. [name_m]Soren[/name_m] cared for a stupid patent more than for his family! The traumatic experience of kidnapping and getting injured by the mafia however leads to [name_m]Paul[/name_m] being very needy emotionally towards his dad and looking for his validation a little too hard. Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] got him therapy on the FBI ‘s dime , however all of the pressure as a single father rubbed off on him the wrong way. He started drinking and that’s actually how he met [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] who before making it as a director worked as a bartender. Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] told her part of the real story but she took it as a part of simple storytelling. He was charmed by the bartender and fell in love with her at first sight for patiently listening to him. [name_m]Paul[/name_m] gave him the OK when it came to pursuing dating with her. Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] knows he has to protect his wife in case she discovers that his story wasn’t a work of imagination. He signed up all of his family for self-defence classes, including [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] , [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and [name_f]Gwen[/name_f]. Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] knows that [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] thinks that [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] were adopted by them quickly due to how much of good adoptive parents they would make, but really it’s because the authorities in [name_u]Tennessee[/name_u] know who Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] is and came to the conclusion that him establishing a brand new family is likely to muddy the waters for criminals who might still try to target him or [name_m]Paul[/name_m], therefore making it harder for them to figure out who they are or even get to them – [name_u]Tennessee[/name_u] is not the Italian mob’s territory , while the former state where the family lived – Oregon – partially is, therefore Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] both try to convince [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] to stay in [name_m]Nashville[/name_m] for the duration of her next project – [name_m]Tip[/name_m].

[name_m]Tip[/name_m] was co-written by [name_m]Paul[/name_m] , being his own way for his new adoptive mother to know his story. The psychological thriller tells a story about a rich kid who’s out of touch with reality and whose biggest concern is his next vacation on the farm or the fact that his rich parents won’t let him date. After he gets kidnapped however , the psychological turmoil leads him to mature quickly and be the source of emotional support for his also kidnapped mother. The man who seems like the main kidnapper turns out the small fish in a big pond who ends up trying to help them. This is of course an attempt by [name_m]Paul[/name_m] to pay homage for his beloved adoptive father , how he makes the effort to protect the whole family by living a humble life and how he enables [name_m]Paul[/name_m] to still meet his biological father in various places in the world despite the risk. During the next meeting [name_m]Paul[/name_m] wants to tell his father [name_m]Soren[/name_m] to write him out of his will and give all of his money to [name_m]Paul[/name_m] ‘s younger biological brother. [name_m]Paul[/name_m] suspects that it won’t be a problem after it will turn out that [name_m]Paul[/name_m] disrespected his wish to go into Finance and decided to study Theatre so as to be an actor in his adoptive mother’s upcoming movies ; he also disrespected [name_m]Soren[/name_m] ‘s wish not to date. He now has a girlfriend. They connected over shared trauma and feelings of being trapped , even if the context of Paul’s girlfriend’s trauma was vastly different to his own. Much like [name_m]Paul[/name_m] ‘s sisters [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] and [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] , Paul’s girlfriend is a foster care kid from [name_m]Nashville[/name_m] instead of a Norwegian rich girl. [name_m]Paul[/name_m] longs to be a normal young adult – playing dress up with [name_f]Gwen[/name_f], going to [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] ‘s softball matches and having awkward cinema dates with his girlfriend. Cutting himself off from [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl and his bank account seems like the only viable option to achieve normalcy and protect the only family who ever paid attention to who he actually is and not who he is supposed to be because of wealth.

[name_f]Inspiration[/name_f]?

This character is based off of [name_u]Ridley[/name_u] Scott’s movie All The [name_m]Money[/name_m] in The World - [name_m]Paul[/name_m] even has the same name and is " played " by the same actor, [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] [name_m]Plummer[/name_m] , even though his story has been very significantly changed to find the balance between inspiration and fitting the characters

[SummerParadise]

Image by Racool_studio on Freepik

TW: drug addiction, abuse, mental illness
[name_f]Cassia[/name_f] [name_f]Brianne[/name_f] [name_m]Richards[/name_m] (19) is Paul’s girlfriend. She was removed from her biological mother’s house because her mother was addicted to drugs, and she experienced abuse from her foster parents. Because of these struggles, she has developed PTSD and associated anxiety and depression, and she struggles to trust people. But she cares deeply about [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and is also a role model for [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] and [name_f]Gwen[/name_f], who have gone through similar things. She is studying psychology in university and writing a fantasy novel on the side. [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] loves decorating for holidays and other traditions that make her feel like she is living the childhood she feels she never got to have. Recently she has started getting in contact with her mother, who is trying to get clean, and they are getting to know each other despite the tension.

[olivelovesnames]

tw: drug addiction, abuse, neglect, mental illness

[name_u]Hazel[/name_u] [name_f]Darlene[/name_f] [name_m]Richards[/name_m] (16) is Cassia’s little sister, who now lives with her adopted family, a couple and their two children, aged 12 and 10. [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] was 8 years old when she was taken from her mother, and she and [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] were put in the same foster home, where they were starved, beaten, and left alone for long periods of time. They would watch their older foster brothers play with the toys they got with the money that should have been put aside for [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] and [name_u]Hazel[/name_u]. They were put in different foster homes but each one was a similar story. [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] did not want to go to the family she lives with now three years ago, her PTSD was extreme and she had panic attacks everyday until she went to live with them. She was very very surprised at the kindness they showed towards her and her big sister, and she is very happy with them. They adopted her and [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] last year. [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] decided to keep their last name and the family was totally fine with this.

[name_u]Hazel[/name_u] adores her little siblings, who tell her everything. The drama in their lives are nothing compared to [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and Cassia’s, but this is good. [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] enjoys listening to the simplicity of their childish problems. She has never had that big of problems at school, except for seventh grade when people found out about her drug-addicted mother and she was treated like an outcast. She doesn’t much care for a boyfriend and it was hard for her to make friends because of her trouble with trusting people. Eventually though, she has started to warm up and has some friends but she doesn’t let anyone get to close to her. She is nervous they will end up hurting her. Her closest friend is [name_f]Cassia[/name_f].

She knows [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] is trying to know their mother again, but it isn’t as easy for [name_u]Hazel[/name_u]. The grudges she holds are long and brutal. She won’t allow people to hurt her and she is very closed off. She isn’t like [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] in the way that she forgives and allows people into her life. For [name_u]Hazel[/name_u], it’s incredibly hard to understand other people’s points of view if she thinks they’re bad. Her closest friend at school is named [name_u]Aria[/name_u] and she also has parental trauma, so [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] trusts her with her problems. Therapy has been helping [name_u]Hazel[/name_u], and she finally trusts [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. The older of her adopted siblings is in the same class as [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] has babysat for [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] and [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] a few times, more when they were younger. She likes them a lot but the fact that they have had issues like hers makes her nervous for them.

[CherryBomb50]

Warning for death of a teacher alongside aforementioned ableism, anti-natalism, and real-life death of a role model.

Christofer “ Ofie “ Jin Kwon (45) is Hazel’s adoptive father and one of her two adoptive parents. Adoption was always clear on his mind although he loved his biological children just the same. Ofie is the younger brother of his family, his elder brother having a son who’s 27! His son, Channing Baek-gyeul Kwon, is actually a father-to-be himself, with a child due this June! Ofie himself is happy for Channing but hasn’t spoken to Channing’s anti-natalist sister even if she is his niece. He doesn’t want to know if a reconnection will happen, since she’s currently living away in California anyway, but also because she’s extremely ableist too, which is even worse. In a sense, Ofie related to Hazel because he too is separated from a family member with no idea when or if they’re reconnecting. However in Ofie’s case, it’s even less likely. Likewise, he completely understands the separation of Paul from Sören even if he knows that conflict is much different. Ofie is on good terms with Laura Morrow as well and considers her an inspiration for adoptions, fostering, and other social work. He knows her life has changed but it hasn’t changed her good nature, not to mention Laura’s own inspiration, Lisa Marie Presley, passed away the previous year. He knows how Laura feels driven by LMP and he appreciates how much she cared about her. Offie worries about these things at times the older he gets and the realisation that the people he was inspired by will pass away. However he knows Lisa was far too young to die and only a little older than Laura, which makes it more bittersweet.

While Ofie thankfully never grew up with grief in a family sense, he lost one of his teachers growing up at school. He was 8 years old when news spread around the school that his teacher passed away over the weekend. His class had a temporary substitute before he and the other students of that class were randomly assigned to different classrooms teaching the same year. He and the students he was transferred with felt a sense of being outcasts but also a great sense of pain because they greatly missed their late teacher. Many of them didn’t have an experience of death like this before and the school went into mourning after this. It was a very unpleasant year and he almost didn’t make it to the next grade but barely got passable marks to do so. The school still has a memorial tree in front to honour said teacher and Ofie himself actually works at the school now. He’s a very focused individual and he supports his brother and sister-in-law’s intelligence and success as well. He’s been very close to Channing since Channing told him about his unplanned fatherhood and promises to be there for him even if others won’t. His own biological children are just gradually learning that whole “birds and the bees” stuff but it won’t change their positive moods about Channing. Ofie decided not to tell them unless Channing did so first.

Channing and Laura were created by @moonwriteen.

[I.have.no.idea]

[name_f]Karolina[/name_f] [name_u]Lian[/name_u] “Kitty” Kwon (10) is Offie’s youngest daughter. [name_u]Kitty[/name_u] is very bubbly and sweet. She really likes animals (like her mom) especially horses and loves horseback riding. She really feels a connection to the horse she is riding that she doesn’t think is possible to find any other way. [name_u]Kitty[/name_u] also feels that horses have the most pure souls and are very trustworthy. [name_u]Kitty[/name_u] values trust, recently a group of girls who she thought were her friends went behind her back and said mean things about her. [name_u]Kitty[/name_u] confided in [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] who told her that the girls were the problem and that the girls were just jealous of her. [name_u]Kitty[/name_u] knows that [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] wouldn’t lie to her and knows that [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] wants the best for her. The two are close and like going on Starbucks dates after school together and just chit chatting.

[moonwriteen]

(tw: brief mention of a real-life natural disaster ; discussion of coping mechanisms from kidnapping-related trauma )
Ewelina Róża [ Wieczorek ] Kwon [ 47 ] is Kitty 's mom and Offie ‘s wife as well as the adoptive ( formely foster ) mom of Cassia and Hazel . She and her family emigrated from Poznań , Poland in the 1970s when Ewelina was still a small child , however she knows her parents’ stories about poverty and struggling to make ends meet while working in government-run factories in communist Poland . This is why Ewelina has always been very passionate and decided to become a foster mom after having her first son , who 's now 12.

Ewelina 's parents were very critical of Ewelina 's choice to marry a foreigner and non-Catholic , wanting her to marry another Polish-American but after 4 years of dating and 2 of enagnement Ewelina put her foot down and decided to marry Offie , then move to Tennessee with him. Ewelina loves the state even though she misses her Polish-American friends from Maryland including the parents of Róża Karolczak and Tekla Kościółek , who went to the same Polish-speaking Maryland high school as Ewelina even though Róża 's parents were forced to drop out after having their daughter at 17.

Ewelina didn’t want to make the same mistake and so waited until her 30s to settle down and marry Offie . She earned a degree in Sales from one of Maryland 's universities and is now a Regional Sales Director of Tennessse in a newly-rising clothing retail chain that sells plus-size clothing. Ewelina is not plus-size herself but she has friends who are and they really like the clothes. One of Ewelina 's plus size friends is a harmonica player in Laura Morrow 's band and so Ewelina and Offie along with their kids were invited to Laura Morrow 's New Year’s Eve performance , for which 50% of the ticket sales went to the Clarksville area so as too help people affected by recent tornadoes in northern Tennessee . Of course Ewelina appreciated Laura 's gesture of charity because she is involved in it herself, even though she also has a lot of career-related ambition. After all, the more money Ewelina makes the more she can give away to charity. Her favourite kinds of charities to support are animal-related charities , especially those related to horses and cats. Ewelina is hoping Kitty will be led by example and also support charities. Ewelina told Kitty that if she wants to have her own horse in the future and not go to the stable , then the horse should be a rescue and not a pure-bred one. Ewelina doesn’t know about Karolina 's situation with the mean girls at school , because Karolina has only told her older brother, her sister Hazel , her other sister Cassia and her sister 's boyfriend, Paul ,so far , when they were all sitting at one table after Laura Morrow 's performance on New Years Eve. This was the moment when Hazel realised that if Karolina trusts Paul ,then she can, too , and that Cassia has made a good boyfriend choice. Ironically , the reason Karolina liked Paul enough to trust him was not only the fact that he is her own older sister 's boyfriend , but because Karolina and Paul have the exact same hobby - collecting Squishmallows plushies. Paul showed them to Cassia as top secret one day - the plushies being a coping mechanism for him to forget about his kidnapping-related trauma. Actually at the time Paul and his mom were kidnapped a Squishmallows plushie that Paul bought for his younger brother was the only comfort item that Paul had whilst kidnapped, even though the Italian kidnappers ridiculed him for that. Paul ended up giving it back to his biological brother , but he refused to accept the gift, understanding that after Paul 's adoption by an FBI agent they will probably rarely see each other. Of course , this was an explanation that Karolina hasn’t heard because she wasn’t there at the time of Cassia and Paul 's serious conversation, rather went to Paul 's room from Gwen 's room uninvited, shouting " Oh wow! You 've even got the big blue octopus one! So cool!" after peeking through the key hole. Now. this whole situation creates two major problems for Ewelina - for one , she cannot figure out why exactly Karolina won’t stop asking about a big blue octopus plushie even though she prefers pets and farm animals to sea animals and has never asked for a sea animal Squishmallow before and Why each time Ewelina goes to her room Karolina is either apathetic, complaining about not wanting to go to school or hugging one of the smaller plushies with a sad expression on her face.

Róża was created by @CherryBomb50
Tekla was created by @I_meme_it

[I.have.no.idea]

Aleksander Dong “Sasha” Kwon (12) is Ewelina’s son. Sasha is very witty and intelligent . He is very protective of his sisters (especially Kitty) and doesn’t want them to succumb to peer pressure and start drinking or doing drugs. Sasha was spooked by his health class teacher and Hazel and Cassias mother and doesn’t want that happening to anyone in the family. At school some kids call Sasha a goody two shoes because he is afraid of getting in trouble which has made Sasha frustrated. He doesn’t want to tell his dad because he knows that if he did he would be called a “Tattle Tale”. Sasha admits that he can be a bit pushy and a know it all but us annoyed his so called “friends” would tell him that, Sasha is only friends with them because they also play soccer and none of his close friends do. He is on the town’s travel soccer team and on the middle school team too. Sasha also enjoys building complicated Lego sets and is working on R2D2 with his best friends. When he grows up Sasha wants to be an engineer or work as a movie producer or as an architect . Sasha is very passionate about cinema and loves watching older films, he really likes the original Star Wars movie and Zoro and wants to make timeless movies like that.

Sasha has also recently started learning polish (per a request of his) which he has found fun but rewarding. He feels that having learned Latin Conjugation has helped him understand the language more and has made it easier to understand all the parts. Sasha has also grown closer to his heritage and has accompanied his mom to the polish deli to explore. Sasha has been wanting to ask his father about his heritage but wants to first focus on being polish.

[CherryBomb50]

Warning for aforementioned real-life natural disaster and teen pregnancy.

[name_m]Tadeusz[/name_m] “ [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] “ [name_m]Wincent[/name_m] Karolczak (48) is a friend of Sasha’s mother [name_f]Ewelina[/name_f] and the father of [name_f]Róża[/name_f]. [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] is a nice person but maybe not the best person for [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] however since he can be rather pressuring and gets too easily offended. He will get into debates with people when they call him “boomer” since he is not a boomer but an early [name_f]Gen[/name_f] X. He insists there should be a ban on people calling someone a “boomer” when they are not a [name_m]Boomer[/name_m], something [name_f]Róża[/name_f] laughs at but even she doesn’t know if he’s joking or not. [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] lives in [name_u]Maryland[/name_u] but since his recent divorce with his wife, he’s not sure where to go with it. He had considered moving to [name_u]Tennessee[/name_u] even if it means leaving his job, but he never cared about his job as a postal worker anyway and feels if it’s that important, he can take the move anyway since post offices are basically a universal system. Admittedly he wanted to have a more successful college life but gave this up alongside his then-girlfriend to raise their daughter. He remembers being just 17 and giving a huge part of his future up already so [name_f]Róża[/name_f] can have a better life and she respects him for it. One of the first impactful disagreements [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] had with his then-wife was the decision to have more children or not. He wanted another child but his wife didn’t and ultimately she won out. [name_f]Róża[/name_f] has been very understanding of her parents and their sacrifices for her and she often associates with her cousins to make up for siblings she wanted. She had reassured that her time in [name_u]France[/name_u] was not to get away from her family but rather to pursue new opportunities. Still, she was happy to return to [name_u]Maryland[/name_u].

[name_u]Sasha[/name_u] is gaining a lot of knowledge in health class and there’s definitely not a chance he’d grow up to be a teen father, not like that was a concern for him anyway. [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] supports [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] speaking Polish and he’s still in touch with [name_f]Ewelina[/name_f] even though he’s understanding that she is still friends with his ex-wife. There’s one concern about Tadzio’s associations and that’s him in accordance to [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. He thinks they should marry and doesn’t want them risking an unplanned unmarried baby like [name_u]Channing[/name_u] and [name_u]Dani[/name_u]. [name_f]Ewelina[/name_f] believes [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] is taking too many steps ahead with this since [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] is not pregnant and she knows [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] aren’t the type to get a pregnancy involved. She also thinks they have many things in their lives to take care of before they even think of marriage, let alone plan it. [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] has mostly been kept out of this couple’s relationship even if he’s not a huge threat, mainly to protect their privacy. [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] is good at heart, helping people affected by the tornadoes alongside [name_f]Ewelina[/name_f], and Ewelina’s neighbour has even taken a family in temporarily. He doesn’t know [name_f]Laura[/name_f] as well but supports her philanthropy. The real reason why he and his wife divorced was because they simply held on too long. They’ve withstood a lot of conflicts in their marriage, had some difficulties, some caused by his overly offended nature, plus his secret desire to leave [name_u]Maryland[/name_u] when she wanted to stay. It’s like the marriage took took much wear and tear over the years until it finally broke for good. He knows his daughter is shocked but he and his wife have taken it as amicably as they could. The hardest part was when she first mentioned it, since he wanted to stay married, but after his rants and heartbreak, he’s realised it really is time to go.

[moonwriteen]

(tw: extremely evil character - arsonist , criminal , torturer . mafia associate and control freak!)

[name_m]Salvino[/name_m] [name_m]Dante[/name_m] Pellegrini [ 47 ] is someone whom [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] knows even though he would certainly prefer not to. He is the son of the Italian-American mafia boss who orchestrated the kidnapping of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his biological mother (even though he uses the world mother in relation to 3(!) people - his current adoptive mother, [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] , his adoptive father’s previous wife before she was sent on an FBI mission to [name_u]England[/name_u] and his biological mother who was killed in the kidnapping ordeal. He considers them all mothers equally, since one birthed him and cared for him for 16 years, the other saved his life after [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] gave him literal poison and the third - [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] - embraced him as a son when he felt unworthy of love and despite the fact of him being deeply damaged by trauma, even if [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] isn’t fully aware of what that trauma is because of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's and his adoptive father’s concern for her own safety.)
The reason [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] knows [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] is a little bit complicated. [name_m]Way[/name_m] back when [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] was in his 20s he and his mafia wanted to take control of [name_u]Maryland[/name_u] , [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] reported a suspicious package being placed in the post office and it turned out that the package contained someone’s finger placed in a jar and three bags of drugs. Since it was a small town [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] figured the post office workers would simply get spooked and nobody would report that to the authorities , but they were dead wrong - because [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] did. This way [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's brother spends life in prison and even though [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] threatened [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] and then beat him along with saying he would kidnap [name_f]Róża[/name_f] or seduce his wife, [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] was relentless since he knew how much damage organised crime could do through his policeman father who died during service whilst trying to save a 20-year-old college student from getting kidnapped - unfortunately both the victim and her would-be saviour were shot. After [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] having reported the suspicious package incident to the authorities the Italian mafia would demand " protection money " from the post officers and terrorize the entire small [name_u]Maryland[/name_u] town , [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] definitely the most.
[name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] would not tell his wife that the majority of money for salaries was being given to mobsters so she would accuse him of cheating or gambling away the money, at which point he would naturally get easily offended and the defensiveness stayed with [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] for years to come concerning even the smallest things
However it all ended after [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's brother , who had contacts with the corrupt officials of the town , was imprisoned , the mafia was forced to relocate to Oregon and target foreigners instead of locals since they figured that people in tight-knit American communities can be easily spooked but it is also relatively easy for one brave person to narrowly escape execution and report it to a honest sheriff or someone in the authorities who is committed to their work. That gave way to their elaborate plan to kidnap the entire Norwegian family of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] Stendahl [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] Stendahl , [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] Stendahl , but since it was not possible due to [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl not enjoying travelling , [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] and his father figured that [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his mother would suffice , given the fact that [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's mother would often meet with American businessmen and even politicians to lobby and try to sell his eco-friendly garbage disposal machines. This was a plan that he held onto for years , even when the mafia was in shambles after the imprisonment of [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's brother and he had bigger things to worry about , like establishing himself as the de-facto boss when his father got very old and showed signs of illness , taking control of some parts of Oregon and setting up a
secret location for kidnapees over in Oklahoma, - ensuring that the 26 hours of a car ride would make the victims disoriented, scared and in turn helpless.
When [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] got to executing the plan he was ruthless - separating [name_m]Paul[/name_m] from his mother , psychologically ridiculing [name_m]Paul[/name_m] for keeping a plushie nearby, not giving him any food besides crackers and water and allowing neither victim to bathe or have a place to dispose of human waste.
The problem started when [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's wife and his then-16-year-old daughter had to move to [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's Oklahoma location because of a fire that consumed their Oregon home. This was due to a conflict with another mafia family – [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] and his wife knew that but kept their daughter oblivious. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] significantly improved the living conditions of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] Stendahl while they were living in his basement for the sake of his daughter not finding out, she eventually figured out that the noises from below her room were not mouse , fishers or other small mammals – it was a socialite popular on TikTok and his mother , no less! [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter would sneak out downstairs and bring them homecooked Italian food. Her parents kept the winery and basement where they held them hostage locked, but they were not aware of the fact that [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter was able to make a passkey out of a safety pin and therefore keep helping the kidnapped people whenever she was left home alone. She knew she couldn’t go to the police nor report her own father – it would be classified as an act of omerta, so mafia-related betrayal that has to do with “snitching” to the police with regards to your family members and lead to her execution or injury, probably at the hands of a relative. It’s through [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter that Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] was able to begin the FBI-operation, first behaving as the 16-year-old’s tutor preparing her for the IB exam , then feigning interest in joining the mafia. [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] himself isn’t as fluent in [name_f]English[/name_f] as he could be. Despite being born in the US he exclusively socialized in Italian circles throughout his life, that’s why he hired the tutor and then trusted him with his translations into [name_f]English[/name_f] when he had trouble understanding his captives , not realising that Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and Salvino’s daughter were both actively working to release the prisoners. One thing led to another between Salvino’s daughter and [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. When [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] found out that his daughter knew about the captives all along and was actively helping them, he was furious at [name_m]Paul[/name_m] for “seducing” his daughter , not realising it was a natural progression of their relationship and a manifestation of how much Salvino’s daughter began resenting and even hating her family after discovering that they were not, in fact, winemakers, but ruthless mafia affiliates. [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] gave [name_m]Paul[/name_m] poison in the food that he caught his daughter preparing for him and waited till she gives it to him to reveal that he knows the truth…At which point Salvino’s daughter revealed that she is pregnant and therefore [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] can’t kill [name_m]Paul[/name_m] because it would mean killing his own blood and committing blatant betrayal against the mafia. She also offered to have her finger severed in exchange for Paul’s and his mother’s ear , but she was quickly taken away by other mobsters and the operation proceeded. She lied about the pregnancy , but it was enough to get Mr. and Mrs. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] involved in detoxifying Paul’s organism from the poison and giving them one more opportunity to convince Mr. Stendahl that his family’s life is in immediate jeopardy, which nullifies the need to receive a tax exemption from the 17 million dollars of ransom money. The ransom money was transferred to the mobsters a few days after, however [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] was furious that Mr. Stendahl’s patent was missing and as revenge set the gas station with the kidnap victims on its premises on fire. All he meant was getting the last laugh. At that point he knew he won’t be getting what he wants and that his daughter will be an outcast in the community for having a child out of wedlock so he took it all out on his victims one last time. When Salvino’s daughter revealed that the pregnancy was a lie and that she only did it to save [name_m]Paul[/name_m] from poisoning, all they truly did was briefly kissing once , he disowned her. As a result , after turning 19 [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter ran away from home and left a note saying

Runaway note of [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's daughter

“ I need to get closure from [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. I want to apologise for developing feelings for him. You humiliated and abused him, you contributed to the death of his mother. You lied to me about being a winemaker while you were a common criminal. I have no respect for you or my mother. If I get killed for betraying this wretched family, so be it. The fact remains , [name_m]Paul[/name_m] is the only person who ever truly loved me. I want him to know that he is free to move on but I will never move on from him because he let me be free from what this family represents and from the lies I’d been fed before. The one kiss we shared between us was real even if it was covered in a veil of fear and paranoia that you sewed for both of us. Never, ever look for me or I’ll get the FBI involved.”

[name_m]Salvino[/name_m] however has no plans to listen, despite disowning his daughter he wants to still control her and make her live in shame for the rest of her life because of betraying the family. This means only one thing – he has to get accomplices who will help him look for his daughter out of fear… And who could be a better accomplice than [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] , a former victim whom [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] has been invigilating for years and knows exactly about his plans to move to [name_u]Tennessee[/name_u]?

[kitkatcookie]

tw: references to criminal activity

[name_f]Florentia[/name_f] " [name_u]Remi[/name_u] " [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] Pellegrini (19) - currently going by the alias [name_u]Remi[/name_u] DeNucci - is Salvino’s estranged daughter, the one time romantic interest of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and centre of the manhunt that’s causing dramatic retaliation plans from her father. This absolutely isn’t what [name_u]Remi[/name_u] wanted when she left, but part of her struggles to let go of hope, that at the very least [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] will tire of her and let her fade into obscurity. Now she’s had time to reflect, Remi’s recognised his displays of affection were solely based around materialistic gestures: buying love is what he’s comfortable with and accomplished in - after all, didn’t it work with Remi’s mother?

Childhood was idyllic for [name_u]Remi[/name_u] ironically. She believed her world was charmed, without a single flaw or issue, even if her parents weren’t the warmest people. This was dependent on her ignorance though, something [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] worked hard to assure, often in tandem with her mother. They’d agreed early into their relationship to only have one child together, so when [name_u]Remi[/name_u] was welcomed into the world, keeping a hold of her became a new obsession of Salvinos’, resulting in his current desire to find her, regardless of whether she likes or even tolerates him: control is paramount.

Life away from her family has been a huge culture shock to [name_u]Remi[/name_u], but she’ll take anything over returning to the despicable world [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] rules over. Since getting in contact with the FBI she’s been living in safe accommodation and is working mostly from home for a local clothing retailer. It’s the isolation that’s the hardest for [name_u]Remi[/name_u] to handle, however the fear of being dragged back to such a place is something she can’t imagine [although it plagues her nightmares on occasion].

More recently, Remi’s considered reaching out to [name_m]Paul[/name_m] for help again, however given what he was dragged into last time she can’t bear the idea of anyone dying because of her presence, so keeping distance has become paramount. She’s aware Paul’s now in a new relationship, and this is another reason she’s hesitant about speaking with him again, as obviously she won’t be someone [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] would naturally feel comfortable having around. The danger of her father is something she knows [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his father need to be aware of though…so perhaps Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] is the person she’ll reach out to, in spite of her affection for the boy she helped save.

[moonwriteen]

(warning: deceased character, arranged marriage ,eating disorder , tortures and humiliation)

[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] [name_f]Freydis[/name_f] [ Haugen-Kessler ] Stendahl [ [name_u]February[/name_u] 26th , 1980 - [name_u]July[/name_u] 1st, 2020 , died at 40, would’ve been 43 ] was [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's and his younger brother’s mother and one of the only people that never doubted [name_u]Remi[/name_u] 's true intentions towards [name_m]Paul[/name_m].
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] married [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl in what would be considered an arranged marriage by most cultures. As an heiress to the pharmaceutical Haugen-Kessler fortune - one of the largest " big pharma " companies in Europe , started by the Norwegian-German couple of chemists [name_f]Hedvig[/name_f] Haugen and [name_m]Moritz[/name_m] [name_m]Johannes[/name_m] [name_m]Kessler[/name_m] in the 19th century, [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] did not have much of a choice when it comes to what circles she was around during her childhood , shared between [name_m]Oslo[/name_m] and the Hanseatic city of Bremen, [name_u]Germany[/name_u].
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] did consider [name_m]Soren[/name_m] a childhood friend , don’t get her wrong. He was in fact the only one who understood well that [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] is not even one bit interested in chemistry as a subject - much like [name_m]Soren[/name_m] wasn’t really interested in engineering or inventing things like his dad did, but was very passionate about the environment so he decided to put two and two together and invent a way to make the world less polluted. [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] admired him greatly for coming up with the design at 17 - even though his invention was quickly stolen by his father as his own and he did make a profit off of it . In similarly cruel fashion , when Chrisitiane fell in love with a simple boy from Bremen in high school - the son of a fisherman - they did not only send Chrisitane to a boarding school in [name_m]Portland[/name_m] - Clearview Girls Academy - but also built a pharmaceutical factory in the direct proximity of the dock where the father of Christiane’s boyfriend worked so that the area was not suitable for fishing anymore - and happily paid all the financial penalties imposed by the EU for that!
Her time at the boarding school was therapeutic. [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] 's severe orthorexia was finally addressed - not classified as " just wanting to eat healthy" by [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] ‘s inattentive mother. After a few months of therapy with the school psychologist present there [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] was finally able to eat a piece of white bread or a chocolate chip cookie without guilt - after eating two such cookies at one of her friends’ birthday parties and realising she didn’t obsess over if that’s going to poison her, [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] cried tears of joy in the bathroom for 10 minutes straight after the party. The birthday girl , who noticed her in the bathroom, also had a psychological problem that the boarding school was helping her with. The girl suffered from anxious attachment disorder caused by the difficult experience she had being internationally adopted from [name_f]India[/name_f] . She was very clingy in her friendship , but [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] was grateful to her for being a good listener and not judging her for her weird [name_m]German[/name_m] accent or assuming she’s automatically stuck up because she was from a significantly wealthier background than most of the attendees. [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] and the Indian-American she befriended found a way to illegally sneak phones into the premises by hiding them between bags of tea in special cutesy containers - suddenly almost every girl in the school preferred tea to coffee and the principals began seeing the writing on the wall
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] was very happy to be able to talk to her Bremen-based boyfriend - whose father changed his line of work. However shortly after they reconnected , first through very expensive international calls and then through letters, Chrisitane and her friend’s ploy was eventually discovered and they both were expelled from the school. At that point [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] thought her family would disown her - but her father , [name_m]Moritz[/name_m] [name_m]Paul[/name_m] Haugen-Kessler , was beyond ecstatic when he found out what really happened.
“You’ve got a knack for business. [name_f]Chrissy[/name_f], you have to pursue Finance or Sales! But for now, you’re back to Norway and deserving of some relaxation!”
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] spent the entire Carnival [name_f]Season[/name_f] in [name_m]Oslo[/name_m] with her father and the Stendahl family. She was even allowed to stay for her birthday. During that time, [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] and [name_m]Soren[/name_m] visited museums all around Norway. There, Chrisitane not only opened up about her disdain for chemistry and love for art, especially painting and sculptures , but also about her orthorexia and the difficulties she faced regarding her friendship with her Indian-American friend from high school. When at the boarding school, they would be inseparable to the point of clinginess but at the time of every major break from school [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] ‘s friend would be forceful with her phone calls and messages, feeling rejection and constantly either begging for validation or becoming performatively indifferent. This made [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] want to open up to the Stendahl family and [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl even more. At the end of the vacation in [name_m]Oslo[/name_m] , just 3 days after her 18th birthday, [name_m]Soren[/name_m] proposed to her in front of his whole family to the absolute joy of the ones gathered and confusion on [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] ‘s part. With time, she recognised the whole debacle and “winter break” to be a courtship effort made by both families with no regard of the feelings that the young adults may or may not have had to each other. She felt as if it was some kind of royal court in medieval times. However, she pitied [name_m]Soren[/name_m] for what happened to him regarding his garbage disposal machine design and not getting credit for it from his father who happily profited, whilst also acknowledging that they’d always been friends and it may not turn out so bad – after all, her friend , who was adopted from [name_f]India[/name_f] by Indian-Americans, also was set up to get married in an arranged way, so why would it be so bad?
After the marriage [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] majored in Finance with a minor in [name_m]Art[/name_m] [name_m]History[/name_m]. She did everything in her power to support her husband’s environmental efforts and help him learn how to safely inherit a fortune and merge it with the Haugen-Kessler fortune. Business matters overtook her life , she spent her life between Norway, [name_u]Germany[/name_u] and the United States promoting and lobbying for businesses of her husband and father-in-law. She also gathered a massive art collection – including mostly modern artists and sculptors with great technique , not really focusing on the “ prestige” of the artists themselves. Now, many of the artists [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] noticed first are highly regarded by art collectors and her Bremen-based collection is worth several million. Her family refused to sell it after she was kidnapped. The Haugen-Kesslers barely paid attention to [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] ‘s kidnapping , more concerned with beating competitors over whose company will win the race of developing the COVID-19 vaccine and selling it to the EU market. [name_u]Karma[/name_u] hit them hard because they obviously lost to those competitors. [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl was also reluctant to help because he didn’t want his technology to be used for organised crime , however [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] knew there might be another reason.
She cheated on [name_m]Soren[/name_m] with her old flame from Bremen and Paul’s younger brother is probably his half-brother. What only Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and [name_u]Remi[/name_u] truly know is that [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl only paid 2,2 million dollars eligible for the tax write-off, while the remaining 15 million was received by the mobsters from the donation by a certain anonymous person, with the caption “ Release my dearest friend and her baby”.
[name_u]Remi[/name_u] knows that it was probably the doing of Chrisitane’s old high school friend, who herself became a massively successful doctor and more or less a celebrity in her own right. [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] would never know this. She died 2 days after the money was transferred , after sharing countless conversations with [name_u]Remi[/name_u] , her father, Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and being isolated from her son the entire time. She told [name_u]Remi[/name_u] a lot about the value of true love and how , while she regrets cheating, she never loved [name_m]Soren[/name_m], only viewing him as a friend. [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] never once cried during her captivity, was extremely brave in standing up for herself whenever she could and even making fun of her captors while being eternally grateful for [name_u]Remi[/name_u] and Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] – especially for Remi’s delicious pasta that she brought them and the wounds she always wanted to treat in natural ways after the Stendahls were beaten and injured. Once [name_u]Remi[/name_u] confessed her pregnancy, she had to keep the lie going… But [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] seemed happy about the prospect of [name_u]Remi[/name_u] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] having a child together, even asking what would they name the baby.
“ [name_m]Paul[/name_m] said he would name a boy [name_u]Skyler[/name_u] [name_m]Florentino[/name_m], and a girl [name_f]Chrissy[/name_f] [name_f]Fay[/name_f], after you. At least in front of my father. I think it…. It made my father believe it’s true. I’m glad he did that. We could both not be here otherwise.”
“ Those are beautiful names. [name_u]Will[/name_u] you two take care of the family? You know you have to love each other for that , right?”
“ Miss Stendahl… I’ve loved your son from the very first time I saw him. I know the circumstances, I know it did not develop in a normal way. I am sorry. I can’t deny what I feel.”
“Remi, dear. Be strong for the two of them. For my son and grandchild. This is the one thing you have to promise.”
“I promise, Miss Stendahl. I love you.”
“ I love you too” She hugged [name_u]Remi[/name_u] and added “ Talk about Stockholm syndrome, right?” with a painful smile on her face.
That painful smile haunts [name_u]Remi[/name_u] in her dreams, but the presence of Miss Stendahl there is comforting. One time when [name_u]Remi[/name_u] was almost sure a man in a black coat was following her to the house, a brick fell onto his head , slightly injuring him and giving her time to rush into the building and close the door… Only for [name_u]Remi[/name_u] to realise there was no wind and the building was new. This shouldn’t have happened and must’ve been some kind of ghostly intervention on Christiane’s part, at least in Remi’s mind. With this kind of guardian angel [name_u]Remi[/name_u] does feel like she’s going crazy, but she also feels weirdly safe. She constantly wonders if [name_m]Paul[/name_m] , his brother, Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and others involved in the whole debacle see [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] in their dreams too. [name_u]Remi[/name_u] suspects she’ll never know.

[CherryBomb50]

Warning for aforementioned deceased character and affairs.

[name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] [name_m]Ben[/name_m] [name_m]Hein[/name_m] (44) has been a familiar face to [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] throughout her life and has considered ways to converse with [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] and her adoptive parents. [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] naturally dislikes it’s justified on her end - he’s stated she and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] wouldn’t last and it’s better to leave now. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] was completely soft and understanding of this now, he knows he has a strict side and people in the community call him “Stricklaus”. He doesn’t quite know what happened with [name_f]Florentia[/name_f], which he hardly knew she and [name_f]Remi[/name_f] were one in the same. [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] knew there was a baby involved, the piece of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] still left to remain of her, alongside [name_m]Paul[/name_m] himself. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] wouldn’t have known how [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] knew, or even why [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] refused to harm [name_m]Paul[/name_m] despite loathing him severely. Salvino’s influences have made [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] more stern but he knew not to take any paths [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] did. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] overheard [name_f]Róża[/name_f] states she had a secret love taken by secret crime to keep a dirty affair, and that she still flies over on his birthday to put geraniums on his grave…but then reassured it had nothing to do with the Mafia and that his birthday isn’t coming up in another 7 months anyway. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] remembered this and stated, “I wish I had that dedication. I need to get a gift for my lover.” “But it’s not even her birthday! It’s not even Valentine’s Day!” a close relative replied to [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] to which he replied swiftly, “I’m doing it anyway.”

So with that, [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] came with a bouquet of mixed flowers and a piece of vintage art…to her grave. He stated right to the stone of [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] Stendahl, “I know it isn’t the best idea to leave this painting, but it means so much that you loved it.” He left the flowers and painting by the grave before eating some chocolate chip cookies. “I knew you loved cookies. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if you felt awful eating them the first time we met, your strength in battling and winning against your eating disorder isn’t a strength to be ignored.” Behind him, he heard a voice, “What are you talking about my mother for?” [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] looked behind him. Was this [name_m]Paul[/name_m]? No, it wasn’t; it was Paul’s brother! He had no idea what Paul’s brother was doing here, believing he lived in Denmark; although it was likely he could have been adopted or fostered too, or was just visiting the States like [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] himself was. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] was about to tense up like he normally does, but he paused and didn’t answer. Paul’s brother just relaxed himself and [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] did too and responded, “I’ve always loved her. And while I haven’t always been the most committed and stable person, we’ve had long history. I was based in Bremen and I still live there. But I still enjoy a good travel, for my career but especially for her.” [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] could tell this other guy wasn’t too comfortable with [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] talking about his love to a married woman and the boy seemed to have skipped over that part and asked about Niklaus’s career. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] respected that and told him, “I am a fisherman. I fish in several harbours and have made it my life to never stop. Unfortunately my father was not the same way. He used to love fishing and was passionate for the sport, but left it after his business was taken over by a factory. I feel if I never left my hobby, one day he would see the importance of trying again, to not give up no matter what was smacked in front of you.” [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] refused to name names on what happened years ago, now was definitely not the time to insult Christiane’s widower [name_m]Soren[/name_m] or either the Haugen-Kessler or Stendahl family. Especially since [name_m]Paul[/name_m] [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] let his brother be the sole beneficiary to [name_m]Soren[/name_m] himself. That is, if Paul’s brother was truly Soren’s child…

[name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] remembers the time [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] came back to him. He was truly feeling blessed, like the connection would work after all, even despite the fact [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] got expelled for her contacts to [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m]. But things weren’t the same. There was no true attempts to get back together and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] had already been a mother to her first son [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] regrets his role in the affair. It would be different if he didn’t know she was married. But he knew. And if anyone were to find out, he’d take equal blame. However, he truly believed nobody found out, not true as [name_f]Remi[/name_f] would end up finding out. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] didn’t leave Bremen for many months after that affair, often going back and forth on whether to go back to [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] or not. He did secretly send messages but they were never responded to, not because [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] ignored them, but because they were likely blocked before she heard them. So he believed he had to move on, [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] was wonderful, but there was no sense putting time and energy into a married woman’s life. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though she did see [name_m]Soren[/name_m] in a more friendly and less romantic way and her love for [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] could have stayed if it weren’t for her family. At that point, [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] felt something with the timing was off in terms of Christiane’s younger son, the only information he managed to know about her, and that maybe he was the father of that son. “Maybe that would bring her back to me,” [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] thought, even if the belief was incredibly naïve after what she went through. While he knew he and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] would have a wonderful life together in Bremen away from the crime wars, it’s never a fair world when the best thing and the least attainable thing are the same. At least she had solace in her Indian-American friend, whose close bond with her was a light in her darkness. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] knew very briefly about her friend, but always wished her well and considered talking to her someday, believing she too had entered an arranged marriage and hoped her life was at least substantial. But right now, here he was at Christiane’s grave still, talking to the boy he never knew but could end up being his son. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] regrets not coming to the States to seek out [name_f]Christiane[/name_f], even if he likely wouldn’t be safe there. It was a dark and empty feeling knowing why he wanted to go to her grave despite it not being her birthday or Valentine’s [name_f]Day[/name_f] yet. It was the only way to reach her. Well, the closest thing to reaching her. He had to accept she was gone. He’d been to her grave before, but this was the first time someone else in her life interacted with him, even though it was likely people who knew her have seen him there before. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] was always adamant to state he was [name_m]German[/name_m], not German-American, and that visits to the States were strictly visits.

But he had no reason or desire to force facts on the boy who met him just to see his mother’s grave. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] saw in the boy’s face that the two had clear visible similarities. But also saw in the boy’s face that the boy was no longer feeling a stranger vibe and could understand some things in Niklaus’s perspective, even if he didn’t know everything. The two had only met moments ago, but they hugged. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if the boy was Soren’s biological son, he at least a wonderful connection with this piece of [name_f]Christiane[/name_f]. He loved that the boy didn’t interrogate him, though it seemed he never wanted to and would rather do the opposite. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] felt that after all he’s witnessed, everything he knew and some dark secrets he didn’t know, when he was in this moment that he could just feel okay. That he could grieve [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] how he wanted and that someone else could feel it with him, regardless of how much he understood [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m]. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] felt selfish and wrong for this, but he hoped Paul’s biological brother was his son after all. He felt truly saddened to see the boy go, and he thanked him for the conversation they had before he left. [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] stayed at Christiane’s grave, thought deeply into this for a peroid of time where he mourned her, then spent the day with another person he would just meet from Christiane’s life, her Indian-American friend.

[moonwriteen]

[name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] [name_m]Kurt[/name_m] Stendahl [ 16 ] is [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's younger brother. Admittedly, he felt a little flabbergasted upon meeting [name_m]Niklaus[/name_m] in the US. The previous three years have been hell for him - he lost his beloved mother, another woman lives in the house with his father and poses as his biological parent due to FBI operations , while he is separated from his family at a boarding school in [name_f]England[/name_f] , barely talking to the family outside of letters. To make matters worse, his brother [name_m]Paul[/name_m] seems to want to have nothing to do with him and seems to have built a separate life for himself as if his new FBI-formed family was the more real one to him. He received a letter recently informing him about the fact that [name_m]Paul[/name_m] wants to be written out of their father’s will and so he would be the sole beneficiary of the Stendahl family fortune. [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] takes a lot from his grandfather in the sense that he wants to be an engineer when he reaches adulthood and wants to make environmentally friendly but also profitable projects. Despite the fact that [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] could spend the family fortune on whatever investment he wishes and pay for whichever prestigious schools he would like to go to, including MIT itself, it doesn’t really make him happy because as much as him and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] would bicker , argue and call eachother names , losing him to all of that mess is more painfult than the joy of getting the entirety of the inheritance. He wrote a letter to his father about the weird encounter with [name_m]Nicklaus[/name_m] where he claimed to have had long history with [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] ’ mother and asked about details , at which point his father told him that [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] probably cheated on him and demanded his own son do a gentic test, however at the same time [name_m]Soren[/name_m] assured him that genetic connection or lack thereof wouldn’t matter at all on who gets the inheritance because [name_m]Paul[/name_m] wouldn’t get a dime anyway, considering how blatantly he broke his promise not to date by going out with [name_f]Cassia[/name_f] and refusing to go into finance at university. [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] sometimes feels like it’s all [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's fault that the family fell apart , however he also recognises that he hadn’t been kidnapped so he doesn’t really know the scope of the trauma [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] went through. When getting the DNA test he witnessed [name_m]Soren[/name_m] and his new wife arguing in the room so loudly that the walls were shaking - the woman had just discovered that [name_m]Soren[/name_m] was secretly meeting [name_m]Paul[/name_m] throughout the years and revealed the truth about [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] ’ disputed heritage, which could ruin their potential safety. That woman always seemed cold and emotionless to [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] through letters as if she had only one mission that mattered and it seemed to always expect nothing but the best from [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] academically even though she wasn’t even his mother. However, at that time in their home she seemed genuinely concerned for both [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] even saw her cry and saw his father console her by softly hugging, stroking her hair and kissing her on the forehead, which made [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] super uncomfortable to think he could be developing feelings for someone who he had literally no say in legally marrying, only to remember it wasn’t the first time for [name_m]Soren[/name_m] when this happened. [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] took the DNA test and… It turned out that he was , in fact , [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl 's biological son in spite of what they both were afraid of. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that his family fell apart and he would still want to know more about [name_m]Nicklaus[/name_m] or [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] 's Indian-American friend… [name_m]Or[/name_m] maybe he would be better off being like [name_m]Paul[/name_m] , living as if he never had a brother in the first place and casually referring as " mother " to a strange woman who 3 years prior had nothing to do with him? He doesn’t know all that and at this point the only joyful part of his life is his passion for engineering and the vision of many innovative start-ups he could invest in as a millionaire. He also has a few " posh " friends from [name_f]English[/name_f] boarding school who go swimming or horse riding with him without asking stupid questions about his background , so he holds onto them as " the bro code" would dictate.