#Dwight Akiyama

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1678

TW/CW: Death Mention, Miscarriage

The began with the Ludovici family making preparations for Benetta's thirteenth birthday in October but with that also came talks of future matches though through talks with the Collari family between Leonardo and Alessandra it was agreed that Benetta would marry Jolene's son from her first marriage since he had a noble background but no titles for his own. Alessandra was the one who broke the news to Benetta who admitted that the match was a good one for them and the Collari family who wished to strengthen their ties with their family even if the bond would be indirect with the young man marrying into the Ludovici family.

By February the youngest Morosini boys were roaming the home chasing after their older siblings to the family's joy.

April brought with it Jolene's oldest son turning thirteen as he grew into a rather studious young man.

With Tala gone for nearly a year, Alessandro was once again pushed to marry though given his track record with his wives, he worried but he knew his children needed a mother and his own simply couldn't keep up with three children while he hand his father worked. So he discussed his plight with his daughter hoping for her blessing to remarry though he secretly hoped that she would refuse so that he wouldn't risk the loss of a third wife but Marina hoped her father would find a more permanent happiness and gave her approval.

In late July, Alessandro married Alessandra both of which had little illusions of the practicality of their union. For Alessandro, a wife would be good help for his children and the land and her high status background meant that her connections could lead to his children finding better matches in the future. While Alessandra married lower than her status to remove herself from succession since she had a reasonable claim to her household just like her young niece but she wished to leave that to the one who wanted it and not be a threat going forward besides, her actual lover was already married so it made sense that she should marry as well.

Taking heavily after the Carlisle side of the family more each day, Luisa celebrated her thirteenth birthday in Newcrest as her little sister grew into a little girl.

Sadly, Ashley was gripped with pains one day in early August only to find that she had lost a pregnancy before she had even known about it.

But despite the loss, the family was happy to celebrate Bastiano and Borthola turning six. Both children grew into traits that didn't necessarily suit their farm life as Bastiano had a love for the arts and Borthola was enamored with books and now that she was old enough to do things on her own she spent most of her time reading when she could.

While the older children could not get along when they were younger, the twins were practically attached at the hip all the time.

Back at the Rossi home, Alessandra learned that she was with child as September came though she was confident that the child was Alessandro's given the fact her love was elsewhere for the past weeks, she was disappointed that her child was not her lover's despite the fact that problems would arise for both of them since they were both married to other people. Still, it was more practical that her child was Alessandro's since she had nothing against the man.

At the Collari home, Cristofolo celebrated his thirteenth birthday as well. Though the puppy love he shared with a village girl had secretly bloomed into a silent romance as after the celebrations with his family he snuck out to see her. His love, Antea.

Still, in a way Cristofolo was also grateful to his little cousin since while he was more ambitious than his brother, Cristofolo being third-in-line to the head of house position was more than happy to hand it off if it meant that he could marry for himself.

Giulia was saddened by the news of Orion's passing in Newcrest shortly before Cristofolo's birthday though news didn't reach Tartosa until October.

At the Ludovici household, Benetta celebrated her thirteenth birthday with her brother, his wife and their son.

Borthola lamented that there was no way she'd be able to do much studying in the future when she grew up when Giovanni Cesare made an offhand comment specifying unless with the church. But the comment when he spoke it felt like a light had been raised in Borthola's mind towards the future. Giovanni Cesare could see the visible shift in his niece at his words when her mind registered his statement and went to his brother to tell him his thoughts. It seemed that Giovanni Cesare's slip of the tongue wasn't a foreign thought when Giuliano mentioned it to his wife and after a brief discussion that Ashley relayed to Borthola they decided that if this love for study persisted then perhaps in a few years down the line she would join the church and live in the nearby convent.

Late October, Giovanni Cesare ran home from his work in a hurry a foreign ship was taking servants to the colonies and had room for a few willing participants. With Marcello having to wait to even get the chance to go and even then might take years, Giovanni Cesare knew that this opportunity might not come again and so he spoke to the man in charge and signed up for a few years of labor once he got there but in a week's time he'd be headed to a new land with new people. Giulia was not pleased with her son's course of action, ships wrecked often and the labor he had signed himself into was long and had little reward but the deed was already done. As much as she wished to fight, she chose instead to spend her last moments with her son cherishing him and using what money she had set aside on new clothes and as a gift for his journey so he could start a life when his service was done with.

After his family went to sleep Giovanni Cesare spent his nights just walking through Tartosa, he'd miss it but he couldn't help but feel excited for his new life. November came with Giovanni Cesare's departure on the boat and for the next several weeks through the end of the year, the boat was his home.

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1671 - Part 1

Even though the family in Tartosa had grown closer following the loss of Osana, her death was still felt deeply by each of them.

Little Juliette grew into a calm infant now that she was old enough to focus more on things besides napping and eating. Francois was glad for his daughter's health though he had wished for a son and the more he thought on it now that Juliette was able to give him the time to think the more he resented the fact that he didn't have another son with Osana.

Gianna's pregnancy was progressing well despite her advanced age but when her husband and Alessandro had left town to sell their wares, she was a fixture in the Carlisle-Rossi home. Orsa was happy to have the help of two experienced hands while she tended to her daughter and it was nice to be able to help with her mother-in-law's pregnancy as well.

It was one of those times when their husbands were out of town when Gianna went into labor, Orsa was quick to help and on January 12, Alba Rossi was born.

With the older Morosini children dealing with their own children now or marriage prospects, the gap between them and the younger ones deepened considerably but with both children being old enough for lessons they could bond over that. Giovanni Cesare was glad to show his little sister the ropes in caring for the garden though that was also because he didn't really want to do it himself.

At the Collari home, Jolene's son turned six and was more than happy to spend time with Orsolina's boys between their classes. He was also more than happy to spend time with the other members of the household as well.

Though all was not well between Landon and Jolene because after years of marriage the two who had originally got on well together were very much at odds at all times.

The start of summer brought with it the fact that Giuliano had reached his goal to officially marry Ashley but after speaking with Giulia, she advised him not to marry until things slow down in the winter that way they'd both have more funds for the harvest this year and they could spend more time together during the downtime and Giuliano, while impatient, couldn't exactly argue with her logic.

A letter came in from Antonio cheerfully announcing his youngest daughter's sixth birthday hopefully as a distraction from all the loss the previous year.

As summer came to an end, it was time to start seriously considering Giuliano's marriage and after talking it over with his sister and mother Giuliano presented his case to Gabriella and once again asked for Ashley's hand to which she agreed knowing the young man had exceeded her expectations. From there most of the talks at the Morosini home had been about wedding plans. Olimpia was excited to have a new sister while Giovanni Cesare was confused as to why it was such a big deal when the couple were visiting each other so often anyways that they might as well have been married already.

Cristofolo celebrated his sixth birthday with his family although the tense atmosphere between his aunt and uncle did sour a lot of the feelings of joy he felt.

Back at the Arnault household, Osana was horrified to see her daughter left to her own devices while her husband had remarried to his noble lover who the pair of them felt it fine to neglect her daughter while the two children they shared were living lavishly. She was angry at her husband but more she was ashamed for thinking he was worth the time of day anymore than Landon was. She spent her time as a spirit caring for her young daughter and worrying for her.

With the preparations all set, one of the last things to do was to officially ask the question to Ashley. Though that itself was just a formality as she was already saying yes to the question before Giuliano could even open his mouth.

Benetta celebrated her sixth birthday in the midst of her cousin's wedding planning and her older brother's wedding planning though her older brother wasn't as in a rush to wed as her cousin.

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1666

In the early days of January, Landon's noble bride arrived in Tartosa with her son from her first marriage. Both of the betrothed were excited to meet one another and quickly arranged for their wedding to go ahead with minimal fanfare especially in the wake of the disaster the plague had brought with it.

At the Ludovici household, Benetta grew into a darling baby who was thankfully a calm child which helped the household adjust to the changes the previous year had caused better.

Leonardo grew into a fun-loving young man with a penchant for parties. While his grandmother would have refused to have him as the heir to the family due to his Laurent mother her passing made it easy for his father to ignore that but his personality was rather irresponsible so the Ludovici head decided that his new daughter was more likely to inherit which honestly relieved Leonardo.

February brought with it Giulia's twin daughter's birthday as they turned eighteen.

In a lot of ways the older girls' birthday was rather bittersweet as it was wonderful that they had reached a new milestone but it was also proof that Giulia's children were growing up very fast. Giulia was ever more aware that little Olimpia would soon not be so little anymore.

In early March, Tala approached Giulia with a proposal. Tala was getting on in years and needed more consistent help with the Carlisle home and now that Felicita was gone and Vincente was gone long enough to have no more say in the land, Tala wanted to leave the land to the grandchild that would truly appreciate it, Orsa. Of course, Giuliano would appreciate the land too but he was to inherit the Morosini home and both him and Orsa loved the farming life deeply and the Carlisle home was a bit easier to maintain to be honest. Giulia was floored at the idea of course she had wondered what Tala was planning with her childhood home but to give it to her daughter was touching. Giulia was saddened at the thought of another one of her daughters leaving home but she also knew that her daughter would be happy with that.

As expected, when Tala brought up the idea to Orsa after getting Giulia's approval, Orsa was thrilled after she got over the initial disbelief. Orsa asked why Orelia wasn't chosen since she had started helping first but Tala reminded her that Orelia wasn't the type to want to be a farmer she just wanted to help, Orsa actually wanted it. There was little fault that Orsa could find in that.

Over the next few days, the Morosini family helped move Orsa's belongings to the Carlisle home and Orsa couldn't help but feel like this is where she belonged.

Olimpia grew into a little girl to the delight of her family.

Giulia might have missed how little her children used to be but with them getting older the little ones weren't any less affectionate, in fact, they seemed to be more insistent on getting her attention.

With Orsa being more independent and her home being less chaotic, she found more time to spend with her oldest sister and nephews. It felt like it had been way too long since they had been able to spend any proper length of time together.

While Orsa was getting used to her own household with her grandmother, Giuliano and his outgoing nature had led to him getting close to some girls in town specifically a pair of cousins, Ashley and Katharine. He had known Ashley for years since she grew up in Tartosa but Katharine recently moved in with her maternal aunt following the loss of her father and brother to the plague. It was sad that the reason they met was because of the circumstances but Giuliano cherished both of his relationships with the girls.

Katharine was a passionate young woman who had a tendency to get carried away and while Giulia kept an eye on the teens to make sure nothing inappropriate occurred, Giuliano wasn't interested in her in that way and Katherine was well aware that nothing would come of any attraction she had towards him.

Katherine was certain of it because Giuliano and Ashley were as close as could be without getting into improper territory. Katherine was happy for her cousin though mostly she was annoyed with chaperoning the pair since it was very easy for them to get caught up with each other leaving her to feel rather left out of their friendship.

October brought with it Jolene's son becoming a little boy which, despite Orsolina's initial reluctance to accept the stepchild of the man who broke her sister's heart, she couldn't bring herself to deny the boy or his mother for an arrangement that unbeknownst to them hurt Osana. So by the time the boy was old enough to play with the Collari boys, he was welcomed by them openly.