prequel stories #8: reconstructing the founders, part 2

In April of 2006, a group of young college graduates decided to start their brand new lives by settling in a once-quiet little town called Lakeside Heights. Until now, there has been little record of who these people were, apart from a few aged photos and the basic public record of their family tree. This effort is to reconstruct their lives as best we can, through their family who might remember them.

school extras, picspam

This post was scheduled ahead for Sunday, so I guess if you're reading it, that means it worked. I should be back online some time Monday to respond to comments... you know, if everything goes according to plans, which is always questionable in moving...

Scheduling entries ahead always makes me nervous, since you'll be reading it before I get a chance to see it published myself, and it could be loaded up with glaring horrible typos 'n stuff, lol! So good thing it's just a fluff post ;)

The extras are coming before the actual school update this time, but these aren't really the spoilery kind of outtakes. I just wanted to separate all this picspam and administrative stuff, so I could keep the story stuff all flowy and nice.

the great 2083 playdate

September 2083 - toddler playdate picspam!

This update is inspired by Emily Miller and Aaron Phoenix. You barely ever get to see them because of their parents' absolute lack of drama, so I figured they deserved a little picspam because they're just so CUTE!

If I were the kind of player that set up kids from the moment they're born, these two would SO be married already, lol!

come undone, extras

Psst, Lara... that's not your husband...

After what was the longest "chapter" I've ever written for this story (totally got carried away there, lol!), I've decided to start doing these extras by chapter from now on, instead of by year.

Okay, so let's see what other extras, misfits, and outcasts we might have from the spring/summer 2083, "come undone" chapter...

here on dirt

March 2083 - Jeremy Nova is 67, Alice is 61, Jeremiah Day is 26, Stephanie is 23, Willow is 7 months. (Justin Kim is 23.) Last update, June 2082.

He's at Fort Bluewater, and he has an appointment with General Deppiesse. Of course, he didn't give his real name. This is where they had him wait, a library of sorts, not a typical waiting room. Outside there are soldiers playing basketball, but that isn't even the interesting thing. Jeremiah doesn't wonder why he isn't waiting in the perfectly good waiting room. He doesn't worry about the fact that he is an army deserter waiting to speak with a top military general. What's killing Jeremiah, more than anything is, what is that thing on the table?

2082, we don't need no education

Whoa! Who the heck are all these kids??? Let's see who all is growing up this year.

prequel stories #4: the cutest couples never meant to be

Okay, so some of these ended up being much sadder than I'd anticipated. I should have anticipated it. It's about heartbreak, duh! ;) But some of them are happy as well, since you're not only seeing the endings, but in some cases, the beginnings of the relationships that were meant to work out.

These stories are a little more current, a lot of them taking place just before I started blogging about the neighborhood, and even overlapping with some of the early stories.

The cutest couples never meant to be, countdown style...

prequel stories #3: young loves

So I've gotten kind of carried away with these, lol! Looking back through two years worth of pictures, and I've found so many stories I'd like to tell! Most of those stories will have to wait for another time, but I've come up with three more, for now, and then I promise we'll start round 2082! And I want to start round 2082, because I have some good stuff planned, but I figure we'll get these out of the way first.

The "young loves" theme ended up being really huge, so I've broken it in half, loosely divided between the couples who worked out, and the couples who didn't. So part 2 will be prequel story #4: the cutest couples never meant to be. Which in turn inspired prequel story #5: what ever happened to Samantha Bradshaw?

But first, prequel story #3: young loves :)

this rustic life

March 2082 - Jeremiah Day is 25, Stephanie is 22. (via phone, Bella Bradshaw is 25). Welcome to Lakeside Heights, baby Skye. Last update, March 2080.

Stephanie is talking to her brother, long distance, while Jeremiah sets lunch out on the table. Lara had the baby - it was a girl, and they named her Skye. Stephanie can't even believe how much she's missed. She has four little nieces and nephews now, who aren't so little anymore. Liza is in junior high now, Shaun just started preschool, and Raine is starting preschool next year! Stephanie says, "The last time I saw Raine, she was still in diapers!" Oh, Patrick mentions, Raine still is in diapers, they've got to get that potty training done before the fall. Still potty training at three and a half! Sheesh! And they say girls potty train faster?

Stephanie says, "I can't wait to meet Skye!"

"Are you coming home then?" Patrick asks.

"Well, we kind of have to, I think. I'm kind of pregnant."

"Well, either you are or you're not," he says. "There's really no kind of about it."

"I am then," she says. "Yeah, I guess I am."

national female appreciation month

November 2081 - Jack and Nessa Phoenix are 32, Aaron is three weeks old. Last update, April 2080.

Aaron Phoenix is three weeks old now, and his mommy is absolutely in love! Nessa has to go back to work in a few weeks, and she doesn't know how she'll do it. She can hardly even put little Aaron down for a second! Everybody knows you're not supposed to wake a sleeping baby, but she's been known to pick him up sometimes, just to hold him a little bit more, sneaking her fingers underneath him while he sleeps, carefully, so not to wake him.

But they've already filled out the paperwork, and Jack is going to stay home with Aaron. Nessa has places to go in her career, like executive vice president. She always knew she would be happy to become a mother, but she didn't think she wanted anything to slow her down.

summer song

June 2081 - Patrick Nova is 30, Lara is 28, Raine is 2 1/2. Last update, April 2080.

They're cousins, you know, closer than any other family he has. Jackson just walks over anytime he wants from next door. They're best friends, like brothers even. But Patrick gets kind of touchy when people mess around with his baby grand. Lara even knows better. Patrick says, "Dude, you're using my piano!"

Jackson says, "Sorry man, did you want to play? I figured you spent all day playing, maybe you wanted a break or something?"

playdates

April 2080 - Jackson and Nessa Phoenix are 30, Patrick Nova is 28, Lara is 26, Raine is 18 months.

(Spring Break 2072 - This bunch was a fun group of college kids, back in their day! Probably as much fun as the Bradshaw cousins are at LCU now. The girl in pink is Patrick's high school sweetheart - oh how he broke her heart when he met Lara! Carly and Joseph are still around the neighborhood. They actually started dating during this spring break trip. Carly works for Aurora Miguel at Jolie, Jolie, and Joseph used to DJ at Maxwell Shaw's club, and Stephanie (Nova) Day had a crush on him for a minute.)Jackson Phoenix was always closer to his cousin Patrick than he was to his own twin brother Hayden. Even though they shared a womb, they looked nothing alike, and shared almost nothing in common. Jackson and Hayden led completely different lives, Jackson excelling in school and going to college, and Hayden getting himself into just about every kind of trouble imaginable. Maybe there has always been a little bit of resentment on Jackson's part, for Hayden being the one always getting their parents attention... even now that they're thirty years old. So how ironic that Jackson would be the one to pull Hayden out of the swimming pool?

aftershocks, like ripples in water

February 2080 - Jeremy Nova is 64, Alice is 58, Stephanie is 20. Talin Collins is 65, Abigail is 64.

content warnings: suicide attempt, death mention, grief, depression.

 
A quick synopsis of the Nova family tree, if you need it ;)

• Jeremy Nova, (married/deceased Trista) married to Alice
• (by T.) Patrick Nova, married to Lara
• Raine
• (by T.) Riley (Nova) Hathe, married to Chad
• Liza
• Shaun
• (by J.) Stephanie Nova
• Abigail (Nova) Collins, married to Talin
• Sophie (Nova) Phoenix, married to Micah
• Jackson Phoenix, married to Nessa
• Hayden Phoenix, (married/deceased Rhianna)
• Summer
• Ryanne

the lofts, big fat chances

August 2079 - Paul Gallagher is 29, Cameron Gibson is 28, Charlotte Centowski is 25, Amelia Bradshaw is 24, Bella Bradshaw and Jeremiah Day are 23.

Bella and Amelia are actually getting along here in the lofts together. They're becoming almost something like friends. They never imagined the day would come, when Alon Hutchins had become inconsequential to them both, and long forgotten. We suppose that's part of growing up.

LCU, the end of an era

LCU, spring semester, 2079

LONG post! Take a potty break if you need one! :)

At the start of spring semester, the most pressing matter for Bella and Mariah is to win a dance competition. James was there to root for Mariah.

(Joel and Aurora Harris were there, on their first date night since baby Zachary was born, watching at first, but then they got bored and decide to flirt with each other instead.)

happy new year, 2079!

Happy New Year, 2079!

Adam and Heather Thompson host this year's New Year's Eve party. It's aiming to be a bit of a stuffy party, since Adam and Heather are kind of stuffy people. Or well, it was going to be stuffy, until Aurora Miguel brought the keg.

happy birthday to you...

August 2078, welcome to Lakeside Heights: Raine and Felicity!

Patrick composes an ode to baby Nova, hoping to encourage her to come on out into the world. At the insistence of his father, Patrick did finally find a more respectable shirt to wear.

fertile gardens

June 2078 - Brady Lind is 63, Meadow is 62. (Nathan Lind is 27, Allegra is 24, Bianca is 10 months. Joel Harris is 36, Aurora is 32.)

Meadow and Brady Lind have been married 32 years this summer, and are finally getting around to throwing a little Golden Anniversary celebration this weekend.

may, in bloom

May 2078 - Jeremy Nova is 62, Alice is 56, Patrick is 26, Lara is 24, Stephanie is 18. Keri Riley is 17. Tyler Jackson is 14.

Patrick Nova squeezes in a few last shows for some extra money, because his wife, Lara, is expecting in August.

old friends and a little bit of nostalgia

January 2078, Micah Phoenix is 55, Sophie is 56. Talin Collins is 63, Abigail is 62.

Sophie and Micah have been together since high school - and what a little rebel Micah was back then! They're going on thirty years together soon.