Post by starletinwaiting on Apr 30, 2019 16:07:39 GMT -8
Hi, I'm Eric Brendan Matthew McFarland (4/22/1965). I have had a full life and a full last five years. I lost my wife, Lyra, a couple years ago and have been struggling to get back on my feet since. All of my kids have been tremendously helpful in keeping me and my youngest afloat in our time of need.
When Lyra died, I had to take some time off to be with the triplets, who were only two at the time. A higher up in a corporate tech company, my boss told me I could have all the time off I needed but when I returned to my workplace several months later, they had filled my position. From then, I have run a small computer repairs business out of my house, as encouraged by my eldest.
Eric Thomas Luis McFarland (5/1/1982), my eldest, was the result of a prom fling in high school. His mother abandoned him and my parents practically forced me to raise him. I figured I ought to honor his heritage, thus choosing to give him a Spanish name for one of his two middle names.
When he was offered the chance to transfer to a social working office in Berkshire Glen, Eric Jr. took a lot of time to consider it. A small town, it would be less busy. But maybe it was time for him to slow down, he told me when he revealed the news. I encouraged him to take the position.
He eventually said yes, immediately offering to bring me and the triplets along with him. When his stepmother Lyra passed away and I lost my job, he stepped up and helped us get back on our feet. He took us in so we wouldn't have to worry about paying rent.
My eldest daughter, Brenda Tracy Jia McFarland (12/28/1984), was the first child of me and my first wife, Olivia Yung. Still in college, my proposal came quickly after Olivia found out she was expecting Brenda and Olivia stupidly said yes. We fought our whole nine years of marriage. I'm afraid it affected our children.
Brenda has had a bit of a rough go. She got married in her mid twenties, taking time off from working as a makeup artist to stay at home with the daughter she had a year or so later. By the time her daughter, Jiana, turned five, Brenda discovered her husband was cheating on her when she found dirty pictures of the other woman on his phone. It was her best friend who lived just down the street. Brenda packed herself and Jiana up and left him, moving in with Eric Jr.
Jiana Reese McFarland (2/25/2011) was born to my daughter, Brenda, and her now ex-husband. A sprightly energetic young thing, she loves her mother very much and is almost as protective of her mother as her mother is of her. Even before the divorce became official, the observant little girl knew that something was off with her mother. And when the divorce did finally go through, Jiana insisted she wanted nothing to do with her dad because she knew that he had hurt her mother.
Matthew Axton Bo McFarland (2/27/1988), my second child with Olivia, has worked successfully as a news anchor. On the quieter side, he has lived alone since college, only going out occasionally. He has never kept a relationship for longer than a few months. We all know it has nothing to do with any inherited playboy tendencies, because Matt is one of the most gentlemanly people I know. I blame my volatile relationship with his mother.
Matt has always been able to skate through life. His charisma and his brains and his natural good looks helped him bypass a lot of troubles he might have had if he wasn't all those things. It helped him land his first job, first girlfriend, first car, first apartment. It helped him find his place in this world easily. It helped him make the decision to move along with us. We are his only friends that he really has, despite his oodles and gobs of charisma. The news channel in Neighboring City quickly accepted his job application.
Emily Vivian Lian McFarland (4/6/1991) is the youngest of my children with my first wife. A journalist for an online magazine, she conducts most of her business via the internet and received special permission from her boss to work entirely remotely. A good thing for her, as she has a special connection with her older brother Matt.
Vivacious and bubbly, Emily lives her life to the fullest. She's always making the boldest moves and wearing the brightest colors. She always manages to make everyone around her smile. Like her brother Matt, she has the charisma of an angel. However, unlike her brother, Em is a true extrovert so working from home is sometimes a bit of a drag for her, so she dabbles in portrait photography as well as volunteering any free time she has at hospitals in the area.
Langdon Oliver Digby McFarland (6/23/1995) is the first child I had with my second wife, Lyra, the only woman I've ever actually loved. And if my oldest four are strong as hell because of the problems I had with their mothers, my youngest children are strong as hell because of the love I shared with theirs. Langdon is no different.
He fell in love with a beautiful young woman who he married right out of college. They got pregnant right away. Chasing after a career in technology like his old man, he started creating websites and helping on the advertising slash social media side of things in order to support his quickly growing family. Just a few months before their daughter's first birthday, however, his wife was in a terrible car accident, leaving him to raise Annika on his own.
Annika Mariah McFarland (12/13/2017) is a perfect little child. Langdon has done well raising the little thing. Bubbly like her Auntie Em but a little shy like her Uncle Matt, she loves to move and make a mess unless there's someone looking. She's already a little dancer, bobbing around to whatever music comes on the radio. And when her daddy's around? Forget trying to get her attention. Annika is the biggest daddy's girl, a fact that Langdon cherishes.
Leah Marigold Regan McFarland (1/1/1998) is my second child with Lyra. She's always been a little bit of an eccentric, from the way she dresses to the the music she listens to. In true eccentric form, Leah chose not to go to college and instead travel while writing her debut novel (a move I totally supported). She funded her travels all on her own, finishing her first draft before returning home to us. All before her twentieth birthday. She is currently in the process of finding a publisher while doubling as a freelance writer for any and all mediums (prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, stage, etc.) and as a nanny for her little niece.
We always knew that Leah was going to be the free spirit. She would go off on her own for hours as a child and return with an entire story outlined in pictures drawn in crayon and marker. Whereas her older siblings bonded with each other, she preferred to play on her own. She's passionate and on fire for so many things, so watch out world! Leah McFarland is gonna conquer a your problems and make you a much better place for future generations.
Lawrence Andrew Darcy McFarland (3/14/2000) is my third child with Lyra and probably the one who has been the most vocal about the struggles he's had in life. In high school, he hit a terrible low. He ended up in the hospital after a suicide attempt a total of three times throughout his four years in high school. It all began to make sense when he started seeing a therapist and he started to talk about the traumas he'd endured as a kid.
Despite all that, Laurie tries his hardest to push through. He decided against college for now in order to focus on his own self improvement. There must be something in the McFarland blood that makes all my kids strong, because this son of mine is just as strong as his siblings despite everything he has gone through and he makes me so proud.
Lindsey Jasmine Sinclair McFarland (10/21/2001) is Number Four with Lyra. A current junior in high school, Lindsey tends to be rather quiet, like Matt. Unfortunately, she doesn't have her older brother's charisma. Instead, in her words, she ends up “bumbling around like a blind idiot.” She definitely takes after Emily and Leah in having a way with words, running an anonymous advice column in the school newspaper, the only place at school she really feels she has a voice.
Lindsey took her mother's passing hard, working her feelings out in her writing. She really disconnected herself from the family, spending more and more time by herself in her room. I'm hoping the move helps her find a new community where people don't know her as the quiet girl whose mother passed away.
Lucian Dominic Grover McFarland (8/12/2005) was the baby in the family for ten years. A rambunctious, outgoing kid, he has more guts than the rest of my kids combined, and my kids have a lot of guts. The only time his courage disappears? Around girls. Especially girls he likes. He can have a swagger in his step as he walks down the street and then a girl turns the corner and he all of a sudden shrinks and practically disappears.
I was a little scared of how Lucian would react when Lyra got pregnant with the triplets. He'd been the baby for so long that having three younger siblings all at once seemed like it might throw the kid off, but he took it all in stride and is an incredible big brother. He's so gentle with the triplets that he is one of their favorite babysitters, unless he's busy which he often is what with school and track.
Lavender Chiara Emery McFarland (11/11/2015) is the oldest and the biggest of the triplets, born several minutes before Levi showed his head. Despite this, she is far from being the “alpha.” She has a lot of personality, but she needs a lot of time to warm up to somebody before she'll show any of her big character. I sense a shy little charismatic in the vein of Matt with a hint of Em coming.
Lavender is very much a girly girl. She loves to dance and sing and comes alive when she can do anything performative. She sometimes works with Logan to write little skits for her and her triplets to perform for us (which Logan of course directs). Lav has already started dressing herself, selecting her outfits with extreme attention. Pink is her favorite color and she'll always have something pink in her outfit, even if it's just a pink crunchie or hairbow.
Levi Benedict Remington McFarland (11/11/2015) is the second of the triplets and by far the quietest. He tends to play by himself unless Logan or Lavender joins him of their own choice. He Will never ask them to play and he doesn't usually ask for anything that he wants or needs.
I think losing his mother took a huge toll on the poor kid. Levi was never rambunctious but he had a lot more energy and was a lot more alive before Lyra passed. He was a huge mama's boy and I've heard him crying in the night, crying out for her. I know his sisters worry about him, as do I, but I think he'll be okay. I've been giving him the space to grieve. Even a child deserves that.
Logan Alicia Merrick McFarland (11/11/2015) is the youngest of the triplets and the one we almost lost. Weighing in at just over three pounds, she was very touch and go for the first several months of her life but the girl has always been a fighter. She came out stronger than ever with a laugh and a smile for everyone around her.
Still the smallest of the three, she is definitely not the weakest. She takes charge and gets what she wants. Despite being the youngest, Logan is the “alpha” triplet. She loves to run around, make noise, and play with her dolls. She always knows how to put a smile on my face, a skill she has had to use too many times since her mother's passing. She keeps the whole family running.
All in all, it's good to be making a fresh start in a new place. It's something I should have done when Lyra first passed, but put off due to excuse after excuse after excuse. I'm glad that Eric Jr. talked me into it and I'm glad that my whole family decided to tag along. It'll be good to be closer to my brother, Brian, again. Thanks for the warm welcome!