A Slice of Simericana: The Hemlock Chronicles: Updates

A lot has happened in the little family since the last chapter, but not all of it makes good story additions (or at least, I can't think of a way to make it into one, so I'm probably just having writer's block), so I thought I'd just do a quick picture post and update between chapter ten and the next.

Moriah

Despite being heavily pregnant (again!) while taking care of her already large family, Moriah has been hard at work trying to improve her grasp on her magical talent in case Buster's sinister intentions come back to haunt her.

A beautiful bride.

Turns out the baby was actually triplets, so life got awfully busy after that, and poor Moriah's good intentions to improve on her magic (and go back to work) remained only that: intentions.

You'd think after having three kids already, Xander would stop freaking out whenever Moriah goes into labor...

Xander

With three new babies in the house, and three teenagers as well, plus being the major breadwinner in the household, poor Xander has been working hard to just keep his head above water and hasn't had much time to focus on personal stuff (thus the lack of good pictures of him). He's still a sweet daddy and husband, just busy busy busy! He's definitely getting on in years, and I had to really rush to get in birthday parties and Moriah's bridal shower in before the wedding and his age transition!

With a wife and now at least one child who are wizards, Xander got curious. This didn't turn out well, but at least he tried! LOL

The Triplets

The triplets were born just before the twins aged up. Their names are Isabella, Inigo, and Ilian. Mainly because I liked Isabella, and then I discovered there were two more and I couldn't think of anything for the boys. Inigo is, of course, a reference to The Princess Bride, which is one of my favorite movies. Ilian is the only other boy's name I could come up with that sounded vaguely Romani. I probably should have used a baby name websites or something, but... I was feeling lazy. Yep. And since I am again feeling lazy, I won't tell you anything about their traits and whatnot just yet.

Ilian

Inigo

Isabella

Lilah

Poor Lilah! This girl just can't catch a break. As the oldest, Moriah and Xander expect her to take up a lot of responsibility around the house, but meanwhile she's also dealing with personal problems of her own, which you'll see in the next couple chapters.

She is pretty much constantly grounded, and the house is always so crazy that she can't manage to get her grades up because she never has time to do her homework. Not to mention she has fallen for a friend who just won't return her feelings (you'll find out more about that in chapters to come), and who grew up too fast for Lilah to have a chance with her. True, Lilah is Evil and Insane, so you can't feel too sorry for her, but still... she holds a special place in my heart. She definitely hasn't shown any signs of magical talent thus far either, so one more downside to being her. Poor girl.

She did however, have a great time at her prom, at least initially.

She was even voted prom queen, which was a brief shining moment for her. Then it all went downhill. She offered to dance with a guy because she felt sorry for him, but he turned her down, and then she managed to get into a fight, so she came home in kind of a funk.

Timo

Timo is an odd one. He was the only one of the kids to really form a strong relationship with the “toy/imaginary friend” sent him by a long lost aunt, and he and Peaches have stayed close well into his teen years.

Aside from his relationship with Peaches, you'd almost think he was a Loner, since he tends not to interact much with the rest of the family, even his twin, Mattei, aside from the mandatory helping with the triplets.

But when Xander and Moriah went away for a spur of the moment vacation, Timo was the one who promptly threw a teen party and started flirting with a girl, though he was so tired he didn't really get anywhere with her. The cops actually ended up being called, and he got a pretty little lecture.

However, he didn't end up getting in trouble with his parents at all, though Lilah did, so he may be sneakier than he lets on.

Timo is definitely a wizard, and was already flying around on a broomstick as a child, so he may end up being the heir in this family (if I can get over my love of poor picked-on Lilah).

Mattei

Mattei is the quiet, studious, good child in the family. He's friendly to everyone, helps his parents around the house, always does his homework, and even taught two of the triplets how to walk and go on the potty. He's sweet, but he doesn't have a whole lot of personality aside from being sweet and helpful, so I probably won't focus a whole lot on him. Characters without drama don't add a whole lot to my story. LOL.