View Message

Five years have passed.

---

Family 1 - London, England
DH [38]: Evander Thomas Calderbrook Hazelden (Genevieve)
DW [38]: Madelina Daffodil "Lina" Hazelden, née Dunhill-Missington (Lumi)

---

DS1 [9]: Sandro Thomas David Hazelden (RowenaRavenclaw)
DD1 [6]: Lilac May Helen Hazelden (cher529s)
DS2 [4]:

---

Life is fairly quiet in London. Much to Evander’s relief, Sandro has grown out of his passion for playing ‘builders’, and is thriving at school, playing on several different sports teams. Lilac, in a mild case of nominative determinism, is proving herself to be a keen little artist. Their younger brother has proven himself an energetic and rambunctious child who did everything in his power to make life difficult for Lina when Evander left to go on a two-month tour promoting Tiziano, the sequel to his beloved Sandro.

---

DS2’s first name has a link to art history but is not an Italian name; his first middle name is a diminutive which is currently popular in England; his second middle name is a very traditional English name. He has his father’s surname.

---

Family 2 - New York City, NY
DH [43]: Pierre Sabri Amjad (Laura B.)
DW [44]: Cristina Svetlana Nancy Amjad, née Buono (Nix)

---

DD1 [14]: Lili Maïssa Francisca Amjad (Wordsmith)
DD2 [11]: Esti Amore Laila Amjad (Darkbone)
DD3 [8]: Juni Chanel Basma Amjad (RowenaRavenclaw)
DD4 [4]: Verdi Liviana Ambre Amjad (Amoret)
DD5 [exp]:

---

Pierre and Cristina thought they were done at four daughters, but life has surprised them with a fifth daughter on the way. Lili recently signed the contract for her first modelling job, and is constantly nagging her parents to let her move to Paris, where she believes the fashion will be more to her taste and she could book more jobs. Pierre and Cristina are certain she’s too young, and are relieved that Esti seems to be a quiet girl with a good head for numbers. Juni and Verdi are not entirely convinced by the prospect of a baby sister, but Cristina’s confident they’ll come around in the end.

---

DD5’s first name will be similar to those of her older sisters; her first middle name will be an English name which was (quite clearly) chosen by her sisters; her second middle name will be a long French name. She will have her father’s surname.

---

Family 3 - Geneva, Switzerland / Los Angeles, CA
ExH [51]: Oskar Juste Messerli (Cinnabar)
ExW [40]: Reva Kumar, formerly Messerli (Amoret)

---

DH’s DS [18]: Nico Florian Messerli (cher529s)
- DGF [18]:

---

DD1 [9]: Lea-Rani Margarethe Messerli (Wordsmith)
DS1 [7]: Jules-Amar Benoît Messerli (Cinnabar)
—
ExW’s DBF [36]:

---

Oskar’s reluctance to leave Switzerland and Reva’s craving for the California sun eventually became a point of total incompatibility, and the couple split three years ago. Lea-Rani and Jules-Amar spend term-time in California, attending an academically rigorous private elementary school, and split the holidays between visiting their father in Switzerland and exploring their mother’s family estate in India. Reva has struck up a romance with a wealthy American tech entrepreneur, with whom she travels Europe while her children are visiting their father. Nico, meanwhile, is finishing up his education, and is due to follow in his father’s footsteps and study finance. He recently brought home his first serious girlfriend, a classmate who hopes to become a doctor.

---

Nico’s DGF’s first name is a somewhat old-fashioned German name; her middle name is Albanian; and her surname is also Albanian.
Reva’s DBF’s first name is an occupational surname; his middle name is a traditional Biblical name; his surname is more commonly a given name.

---

Family 4 - London, England / Saffron Walden, England
ExH [46]: Peregrine Cuthbert Oliver Braswell (molly)
ExW [45]: Charity Fairbairn Olayinka (Lumi)

---

DD1 [13]: Helena Dayo Scarlett Braswell-Olayinka (ari.)
DD2/DS1 [8]: Pearl Ekundayo Medea Braswell-Olayinka (RowenaRavenclaw) & Jude Abidemi Fairbairn Braswell-Olayinka (ari.)
—
ExH’s ExGF [30]: Amelia Rose Welch (Darkbone)

---

DD3 [4]:
—
ExW’s DGF [46]:

---

ExW’s DGF’s DS [17]:

---

Peregrine and Amelia managed to make things work for longer than anyone expected — almost three years, in which time they welcomed a daughter. In the end, though, when Peregrine tried to propose, Amelia realised that she didn’t want to be tied to him forever, and she called things off. Charity privately feels rather bad for DD3, whom she suspects was not truly wanted by either of her parents. For her party, Charity reconnected with one of her childhood best friends shortly after her divorce, and a few years ago realised that the lingering fondness may have been more than just friendly affection. Charity’s DGF and her teenage son — who gets on surprisingly well with Helena and the twins — moved in two years ago.

---

DD3’s first name is an English name which ends in -a; her first middle name is her maternal grandmother’s name, which was popular in the 1970s; her second middle name is a variant on Rose, her mother’s middle name. She has her father’s surname.
Charity’s DGF’s first name is a very common English name; her first middle name ends in -ia; her second middle name is that of a Catholic saint. Her surname is a short English name.
Charity’s DGF’s DS’ first name is a gender-neutral English name; his first middle name is shared with a famous Shakespeare character; his second middle name is his mother’s surname. He has his father’s surname, which is shared with a prominent English writer.

---

"Do you not find it happens very often, that you are as gay as Garrick at dinner and then by supper-time you wonder why God made the world?"