View Message

Matilda and Phoebe immediately befriended Estelle, and have settled in wonderfully at their new school! Luckily, the girls are from the Republic (Galway in particular) it wasn’t too much of a culture shock. Ivy wants nothing more than to be an author, so she loves to follow Nick around as he’s working, while Phoebe in contrast begged for gymnastics lessons (no doubt inspired by Isobel’s skill). Willow, meanwhile, has a love for fashion and music, and will be often found singing Taylor Swift songs to the cats. Nadia and Olga were originally perturbed by more loud, excitable humans, but with time (and some bribes of cat food) they grew to love the girls. Despite this, Matilda and Phoebe have joined Estelle’s begging for a dog, although they are mostly satisfied by Nick occasionally taking them to dog parks and visiting Isobel’s sister, Eloise, who has a dachshund (although Isobel is quick to point out that she doesn’t want to take antihistamines to enter her own house).

10 years ago, Sanel and Mila brought twins Viktoriya and Nikol home to Zagreb. The girls were quiet and vigilant to begin with, adjusting to a new country and language. Viktoriya picked it up first, with remarkable ease, Nikol took a bit longer. Sanel and Mila were determined to teach the girls Croatian while also retaining knowledge of their heritage, so the my grew up in a house filled with Croatian and Bulgarian storybooks. The couple took Bulgarian lessons so they would speak their daughters' native language: Mila would take them on walks and teach them the Croatian and Bulgarian names of plants and animals. Viktoriya was fascinated with butterflies, Nikol preferred frogs and lizards.

---

By the time they started primary school, the girls had settled in and spoke Croatian well. Viktoriya was a social butterfly, while Nikol was quieter, with a knack for academics. Viktoriya joined the school choir and later took up theatre, whereas Nikol was drawn more to the sciences, taking after Mila.

---

The Horvats wanted Viktoriya and Nikol to remain connected to their Bulgarian roots, so they visited Sofia every summer. Mila learned to make banitsa (a traditional Bulgarian pastry) from an elderly neighbour in their block of flats, and taught Viktoriya, who now makes it with her mother every Christmas. Nikol took an interest in Bulgarian folklore, and spent hours staying up reading about samodivi and kukeri.

---

The twins are 14 now. Viktoriya is a popular, bubbly, and immensely stylish teenager who wants to become a designer like her father - she often sketches outfits in a notebook she carries around with her at all times. Nikol wants to be a conservationist - she has started volunteering at a local wildlife centre, and wants to study zoology like her mother.

The Flynn-Peters family are doing well! While Danny was excited to be adopted and move to a new country, he had a little difficulty adjusting to the culture shock. Luckily, Oslo is a small but diverse city, and he's been gradually able to adjust and love his new home and family. Ozzy and April made every effort to install proper accommodations in the home before Danny moved in, and they've proved very successful. While the extra light around the house was a difficult adjustment for Ozzy and Russell, who are both autistic, they have been able to adjust well (though they sometimes wear sunglasses inside). And though they sometimes bicker as brothers do, Danny, Sammy, and Russell are almost like triplets now. Russell likes to find good e-books of his favorite books for Danny to read, and Sammy loves guiding Danny on family hikes outside of Oslo. Nessa is very close to Danny and loves to chat with him about her hyperfixations - currently, she's very interested in red pandas. All in all, the Flynn-Peters family are doing fantastic and wouldn't trade Danny for the world!

---

Ozzy Flynn-Peters and April Flynn-Peters with Danny Flynn-Peters, Sammy Flynn-Peters, Russell Flynn-Peters, and Nessa Flynn-Peters

This message was edited 3/20/2025, 1:04 PM