#Faustina Jaleel

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1609 Part 1:

Birthdays rolled around for the family as Paolo appeared to look quite a bit like his mother Matilda as opposed to his father when he turned one after Philip’s eighteenth birthday passed. 

Adrien took after his mother as he grew older himself. 

Mathias and his sister looked more similar each day though perhaps that was to be expected since they were in fact siblings. 

While Susanna and Takuya continued to grow more distant their son grew up looking like the spitting image of his father to Takuya’s delight and Susanna’s slight disappointment. 

Back in Tartosa, Faustina had her sixth birthday and grew up looking more like her mother. But with her birthday it became clearer that William had more expectations in the house as the eldest while the only child of Barnaby’s late brother was doted on and given far few responsibilities. 

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1604 Part 1:

TW/CW: Infant Death

In January, Parnell’s son Philip became a teenager. 

Adrian made sure to spend as much time as he could with his younger grandchildren in the hope that they won’t forget him once he passes. 

Unfortunately, Brooklyn went into labor early in February which was far too soon and their son Angelo died shortly after birth from being premature. 

While that news was tragic, Melrose had gotten married marking the passage of time for Ambrose. 

Faustina celebrated her first birthday being doted on by her Aunt and Uncle which gave a nice distraction from their loss. 

Florence went into labor and had a son that her husband named, George, that April. 

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1603 Part 1:

TW/CW: Death, Murder, Suicide

After the terrible year the family had faced last year, they were hopeful that things would look up for the future. With Arthur Kibo turning eighteen and Adrian and Ashlie expecting, it was really starting to look like it. 

But that was not the case, when Ashlie went into labor that March she transformed into a beast, one that was out of her mind with rage and the pain of labor. She delivered her daughter Faustina but when Adrian came to investigate the source of the growling coming from the room he discovered a beast out of control in the place of his wife. In a sense of misplaced protection, Ashlie attacked the intruder and only when she came to her senses did she learn that the intruder was her husband and he was already gone. 

Barnaby and the Laurents, unknowing the werewolf was Ashlie, were riled into a frenzy and swore to hunt down the beast that had killed his brother. While he was blinded by rage and grief, Brooklyn realized that the culprit was among them and gave Ashlie the choice to stay or protect her daughter who might be caught up in the hunt when they inevitably learned Ashlie was the wolf. Ashlie instead chose to end her own life citing grief but in truth it was to keep her child from living on the run or tearing her from her family. 

The two were buried side by side while Barnaby and Brooklyn took in their newborn niece with the determination to do their best for the child. 

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1621

Frideswide was enjoying her time at the Robles home especially with the girls around her who grew up with her sister. It made her feel close to Grace having her little sister-in-law and daughters around who had taken on some her mannerisms.

Back in Tartosa with Sofia Laurent married, Soren took the opportunity to ask her lady-in-waiting to marry him. Faustina was charmed by the young man and accepted with the blessing of her Lady and cousin.

The young lovers chose to live in the family home Faustina grew up in while Faustina's younger cousin Gabrielle took over as Sofia's Lady-in-Waiting since she wasn't of marrying age. The two decided to wait for their wedding though until after Gabrielle was settled in.

After Soren had moved out with his wife, Alexis learned that she was once again expecting. After her loss the previous summer, she was actually looking forward to the idea of a child though the loss had scared her about losing this pregnancy as well.

This time around Vincente was more accepting of the pregnancy though he still wasn't excited to be a father, he knew that the loss hurt his wife and at least on that front he would pray for a healthy pregnancy.

Due to her pregnancy, the call of her lycanthropy would frequently overtake Alexis and while she had been doing a decent job of hiding it, she would be in her wolf form in the privacy of the home while Adrian was in town selling his wares and Vincente was hunting.

Aurelio was comforted by how well Frideswide managed the household in his grief. It was nice to be able to share the love of the kids and the grief of his wife with someone who felt the same.

It didn't take long for Aurelio to decide to propose to Frideswide. He still loved Grace but Frideswide was also widowed and was already doing so much for his little family that it would be improper to have an unmarried woman living in his home for so long. Luckily Frideswide accepted and the two married in October.

As the end of Alexis' pregnancy drew closer, she was filled with anticipation at meeting her newborn.

Though the labor pains quelled some of her excitement. The pain was immense and after knowing Vincente's sister had died from birth complications she couldn't help but be filled with fear as the early stages of her labor wracked her body.

Still, it wasn't as if she had much of a choice as to whether or not she wished to continue with laboring. Midday rolled around and November 24th became the day, Giulia Carlisle was born.

As much as Vincente had been upset at the idea of fatherhood and the inherit responsibilities that came with it, the moment he held his daughter he was smitten with her.

The Carlisles had thought that Giulia was going to be the biggest surprise of the year so when Francisco returned home on the final day of the year no one was prepared and even less so when he introduced the young lady with him as his wife, Karmine. He explained that they had met while he was studying and they were drawn to one another, he realized that he was meant to study so that the pair would meet. The two were clearly in love so Adrian made sure to celebrate them. Karmine was as bit shy about it as she felt a little out of her depth with her new in-laws but Francisco was relieved that his family wasn't mad at him for leaving his plans of joining the church.

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1616:

TW/CW: Death

Faustina turned thirteen herself and grew up looking like a lovely blend of her parent's which made Barnaby and Brooklyn's heart ache when they saw their niece.

Still, life went on as William also became an adult not long after though William had been travelling during his birthday given his involvement in the family's merchant trade but he did stop by the Carlisle home often before he had left since he was friends with the boys due to their close age.

The boys had gone back to taking lessons at home with Adrian but the older boys had more knowledge to share given they had been expressly learning for the better part four years. They all chose to study together and Francisco especially helped Vincente out.

July brought with it unfortunate news that Adrian's niece, Isabel, had passed away. It was times like this that younger people than him were passing of old age that made him question whether or not it was the right decision to extend his own life with magic but Frideswide comforted him by expressing that they were grateful to have him around still.

Vincente began taking his role around the house more seriously now that his father was gone. He knew his brothers being home was only temporary since their time away seemed to only solidify their drive to join the church in the future. This was his home and it was going to be his future so he had to take care of it.

Thomasin's spirit was glad to have all her surviving children under one roof again whenever Grace and Aurelio visited the home with their little daughter since they lived so close.

Though Frideswide was a lot happier at home she did miss her own children. She and Vincente talked at length about how miserable Frideswide was in Henford but it had been over a year since she had been back at this point. Vincente hated knowing his sister's life hadn't gone so well in Henford and as much as he wanted to comfort her, he didn't have much advice to give except to listen to her vent.

Not only had Vincente been working hard in the garden but under Adrian's guidance he had taken up woodworking to the point where he was starting to work at it on his own. The quality of his work wasn't great but it was a work in progress.

Adrian was able to see the growth his grandson was showing. Seventeen years old, Adrian still couldn't believe he was almost an adult. It felt like barely anytime had passed but with new great-grandchildren, weddings, and life, Adrian was feeling more and more secure about the future of the family. Especially as news came in that William Jaleel had gotten married.

Rachel's daughter, Liona became a teenager which made things more difficult for her household as she had no interest in her younger brothers since she was greatly adverse to children in general.

As the year drew to a close, Frideswide decided that it was time for her to return home to Henford if only for her children though she'd return in time since being home in Tartosa was infinitely better than being in Henford in her opinion. Vincente agreed but told her she was always welcome back if things didn't pan out.

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1606 Part 3:

Parnell and Hobart’s son, Daichi turned one and the young family decided to officially leave Mt.Komorebi.

Marion celebrated her first birthday surrounded by the love of her parents and grandmother as she became the first of Samuel and Aniyah’s children to survive to a year. 

Philip and his wife Cristina became the parents of twins, Ralph and Ellen, on September 17th. While Brooklyn finally had the daughter she had wanted, Gabriella, on the 6th of October. 

Rachel and Rodrigo had their son Carlo on November third which was a nice way for the Maeda’s to spend the rest of the year considering their recent losses. 

[sweet-vanilla-sims]

Year 1619

TW/CW: Death, Child Death

With war on things had felt normal for only the briefest of moments since it was being fought so far away but news began to come in through Talia's Tome of deaths, most of which Vincente had no clue of who they were aside from distantly related. That said, he began to exchange notes with a young woman who lived far away which became the highlight of his day.

Perhaps it was rash but after the tragedy struck close with Samuel's death in February and then Margaret and Satoshi's in April, Vincente began to feel that life was fleeting. Frideswide advised him to follow what he thought would be best for him.

After taking the time to think it over, Vincente was convinced that waiting would be akin to tempting fate to torment his peaceful life and so he decided to bring up his idea to Adrian. He had decided that he was going to travel and bring home the young lady he had be exchanging letters with for the past few months. Adrian thought the idea was insane to travel so far for a person that his grandson hardly knew especially when he still wasn't certain what he wanted from his future but it wasn't as if Adrian could say too much about his grandson's love life considering he was chased out of his hometown for good reason because of his.

All Adrian could do for his grandson was give his blessing and prayers that his no longer very little grandson would have safe travels and the young woman would be a good match for him. Vincente appreciated his grandfather's support and that June he set off to bring home his love.

The house felt empty with just Adrian. Frideswide did blow through randomly but it was remarkably lonely. The famine in Mt.Komorebi took both Terric's wife and youngest daughter while the war in the west took his grandson Barnaby. So much death in other places made the tranquility of Tartosa feel surreal.

A new guest arrived at the home in early August as Frideswide was shocked to find her brother-in-law at her door. He explained that with Watson fighting at the front his parents were wanting him to take over the farm but he felt it wasn't his place since the home should have gone to Watson and therefore, Angus and Ferdinando. So he decided to head to Tartosa since it was peaceful and he could keep clear of being given something he felt shouldn't be his.

Frideswide was glad for his company. After catching up about the state of the Carlisles he had left back in Henford, Frideswide took it upon herself to introduce him to the people she knew in Tartosa if only to ignore the fact that Soren had grown up to be quite handsome, that was a line she was not going to cross. Luckily, Soren felt the same and soon found himself daydreaming about the women of the Laurent family. There was the lovely noblewoman herself, Sofia, and there was her lady-in-waiting, Faustina Jaleel. Both of the women had caught Soren's eye and he could only dream of catching their attention.

November came around and it was clear that after trying again, Grace and Aurelio were expecting their third child. Ignacio had made it clear he wished for a boy but after two girls, Grace was also hoping for a son if only for the novelty.

December brought with it terrible news for Frideswide and Soren, Watson had died in the war. From what they gathered from his parents through Talia's tome, he had gotten injured but the method didn't matter too much since for them it was heartbreaking to know he was gone. Frideswide never really thought herself as old enough to be a widow but now she was one. The war was making war widows left and right.

Adrian tried to cheer her up but it was hard to all things considered.

What really lifted the spirits of the home was Vincente coming home with his love, Alexis Akiyama. The young woman was still a stranger to the household but after months of travel with Vincente the pair were close and the love between the two was sickly sweet.

Alexis did her best around the household from making fast friends with Frideswide to getting into the habit of tending the crops.

Vincente had waited until Alexis had settled into his home before formally proposing though the entire household knew that it was merely a formality since he had literally travelled months just to bring her home with him.

Adrian knew Alexis the second he saw her but it took him a few days for the realization to set in. His niece Rebecca was the girl's grandmother. It was weird to think that the little girl he had left behind in Henford had not only passed a long while back but was the grandmother of a child of marrying age even though he knew that there was a lot more he had missed from back home. Life went on with his family when he wasn't paying attention and the girl before him was proof of it.

Surprising no one four days after Vincente and Alexis had arrived in Tartosa, the two wed on December 6th. Thankfully no other news in the family had come through and so the Carlisles were glad that despite the losses, the decade at least ended with a union of young love.