Well, things are finally calm and quiet around here again. But somehow, it doesn’t feel as nice as it did before.
I guess it’s like this every year around Christmastime. For all of us. We get used to all the company – all the talking, and laughing, and playing with Stefan’s kids… We love it. Especially Mama.
She spends weeks and weeks stressing and freaking out about getting the house ready for company, of course. Poor Papa goes crazy trying to calm her down and remind her to just breathe.
But when the time comes for everyone to go back home, she cries and cries and tells them to stay longer next time. You’d think after all these years it would get easier, wouldn’t you? But it doesn’t.
Not for any of us.
But every time we say goodbye, I try not to think about how much it’ll suck not seeing everyone for a while… I just try to focus on what a great time we had. And this Christmas was definitely no exception.
Not only did I get to see Stefan and Josh and their families, but we all finally got to see Clara for the first time since we found out she’s pregnant. I still can’t really believe it! Seeing her like that was pretty surreal… Mama was practically beside herself.
The other big highlight (besides Lucas finally being home!) was finally getting to meet the famous Hazel. She really is such a sweet girl, and when I see my son with her… Well, it’s clear he’s totally smitten. And I love seeing him like that.
Though I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about them living together so soon… They already found a place, and moved in together last week. I talked to her Papa about it, and he agreed it was a little sudden… But who are we to stop them, I guess?
Still, it was kinda nice to know that Mark and I are on the same page. He seems like a really great guy, and it was kind of a shock to realize that we already knew more about him than we thought we did… Who would have guessed that the boss Jocelyne was always talking about was Hazel’s Papa?
Anyway, the point is, we had a great Christmas and New Year, and everything finally seems to be going well for the kids. Things with Clara and Florian are getting better and better, Lucas and Hazel are clearly head-over-heels, and it sounds like Gus has been talking to some boy from school a lot… Noah? We don’t know much about him yet… But Lettie and I are definitely keeping an eye.
The only one I’m still kind of worried about is Jocelyne… We don’t really know much about what’s going on with her lately. She told us she’d broken up with Elliot, and quit her job at the library last month. Something about being too overwhelmed with theater? Nothing too outrageous or anything, I guess. And she seemed fine when she first got home.
But the night of the Christmas party, things started getting kinda weird, I guess. She was really distant from everyone, and I have no clue why. And she spent the rest of her time at home acting the same way – spending lots of time in her room, and not really talking to anyone, except Clara.
She kept telling us she was just stressed out about the new semester starting, but I’m not sure if I really buy it. It’s not like my Jocelyne to panic so easily, especially about school.
I hope she’ll be okay. We’ve all seen before how devastating a breakup can be… Maybe it was just hard for her to see Lucas and Hazel together? Or Clara and Florian? It couldn’t have been easy after how things ended with Elliot…
But I know I’m worrying too much about this whole thing. It might take some time, but everything will be okay. My Jocelyne is such a wonderful girl. She’ll bounce back from this. She’ll meet other guys, start dating again…
And someday, she’ll find the one.
——————————————–
Author’s Note: I am 15 chapters ahead on my writing/screenshotting and have exactly ZERO self-control… So starting this week, we’re back to five chapters a week instead of four. If I start catching up too much I’ll cut back to four. And as always, I will let you know! 😀 We’ll now have Wednesday chapters. Mondays and Fridays are still my “days off” 😛
Oh Tobi you already met him! And what’s this I hear Noah huh? He better not hurt my Little Gus Gus or he’ll have hell to pay. Extra chapter a week that means Clarian nooboos are slightly closer yay! As for Luzel you do you if it feels right and you’re both comfortable with the change go for it. Aw Stefan you and your family will be missed.
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Hahaha hopefully if this Noah guy turns out to be anyone significant he will be good to Gus! 😛 And yeah, Luzel definitely feel ready to take it to the next level and be together ❤
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Hahaha I can send you a full-sized version of it if you want 😛
And yes, the whole family really loves Hazel 😀 And hahaha yup, I’m sure the right guy for Joce is out there SOMEWHERE 😉
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Hahaha that shot is back at Mark’s apartment, so after Christmas. Wayyyy too risky to try to pull that at Joce’s house! 😛
I will PM you a link to the full sized pic later this afternoon when I’m home from work 🙂 I’ll send you the color version
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Lol you wrote this while I was responding to you hehe
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“Precious gay cinnamon roll” is the best thing I’ve ever heard 😂
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This is ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! The irony of Tobi’s last line is so absurd! And this family tree is getting utterly bizarre!
(Take that as a compliment. XD )
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Hahahaha it was supposed to be ironic 😛 And hey, no one in gen 4 is married or had kids yet, so technically the tree is still fine Hahahaha 😛
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Yay for going back to five chapter a week!! *hands still raised in joy even though enough time has passed and now it’s just awkward*
I can’ t help but go broken record here, I really really wish I could hear Mari’s perspective on everything!
This was a great round up of the Christmas holiday though. I can’t wait to get more chapters from the other family members and see what they thought of the big family gathering.
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Cece you get so much credit, because I think you’re my only reader who actually misses Mari hahaha (and I miss her too! 😦 Like I said, there’s a chance we will hear from her in gen 5, so all is not lost!)
We won’t really hear much more about Christmas, unfortunately… We are kinda moving back to our regularly scheduled Marklyne drama 😂 But everyone loved Christmas except for Jocelyne, basically 😛 Hehehe
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Christmas is my favorite holiday (NYE too), so I’m going to have a sad moment that that’s it for Christmas for now…. sigh….
Okay, I guess I’ll be satisfied with Marklyne drama until the next winter… I tell ya… the sacrifices I make…
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I miss Mari too!
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Aw yay 🙂 Thank you Azzy!
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I actually miss hearing from her too! I think I said that once.
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Oh, you might have and I forgot! Haha Cece has mentioned it like three times within this gen haha so I guess she’s the one who stands out the most in that regard.
I miss writing Mari so much. Hopefully she’ll get a couple chapters in Gen 5!
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She better *glares*
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I miss Mari too 🙂
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Oh, Tobi. If only you knew…
It is really sweet to me how much he worries about his daughter. I’m really interested to see how Joce and Mark will handle this situation. Although I can imagine that Tobi would take this news better than Colette, maybe? He likes Mark and trusts him, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? Or he might have learned from his mistakes when Gus came out. We’ll see!
(Sorry if my comment seems a bit all over the place, it’s been a long week at uni haha)
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Hahahaha it’s ok, I liked your comment! 😛
Tobi definitely spends a lot of time worrying about Joce… He definitely loves her and is very concerned for her well-being haha
As for how he’ll take the Marklyne news… We’ll see! It could honestly go either way. On the one hand (as you mentioned) we’ve seen that he worries a lot of his daughter and seems uncomfortable with his kids ‘coming out’ as having romantic interests outside-the-norm, so he could react horribly. On the other hand, he really likes Mark and also has learned to accept Gus (and, like you said, potentially learned from his mistake from when he first reacted to that).
Or maybe he will fall somewhere in-between? We will see eventually 😀
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Oh Tobi…you and your hands-off parenting again. lol
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Hahahaha he’s trying! But Joce won’t say what’s wrong, of course. 😛
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Of course. And the cycle continues!
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However…on this one…I’m with her LOL. Can you say COMPLICATED?!
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Lmao so true XD I think she’s still trying to figure out how the hell to tell her family…
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Good luck with that, Joce. You’ll need it. You’re on your own, girl.
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I second to that 😄 can i have a full sized pic as well? Though i’d like it both in colir and in black and white, so i can see which i like the best 😉
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Hahahaha sure 🙂 do you use the forums still? Or I’ll be on origin in a while haha
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I do use the forum occasionally, but only to check messages 😊 better on origin i believe.I miss Mari too 🙂
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Woops! Don’t know how the mari stuff popped in there!
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I snortled when I read: “Still, it was kinda nice to know that Mark and I are on the same page.” I was like: “He’s gonna punch you, Mark! He’s gonna punch you when he finds out!” 😀 We’ll see if you’re still on the same page then.
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Hahaha this comment amused me 😛
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Great chapter, as always, but something occurred to me…
So if Luzel and Marklyne were to (hypothetically) have children, the kids would be what, cousins AND Marklyne’s kids would be the aunts or uncles of the others?
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It would be pretty messed up haha. It kinda hurts my head to think about it. But basically Marklyne and Luzel’s kids would be cousins because of Joce and Luc being siblings. And then because of Mark and Hazel being father and daughter, Hazel’s nieces/nephews (by marriage) would also be her half-siblings, which would technically make them the aunts/uncles of their cousins (Luzel’s kids)… And Luzel’s kids would be Mark’s grandchildren, but would also be his nieces and nephews by marriage…
This is so fucked up. LMAO
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Oh god… my brain is melting….
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Aww, Mari! We need to talk again sometime, girl! 😉
YAS, Luzel getting the parental approval! ❤
This Noah guy.. sounds promising… Do I see a ship in our future? 😛
Oh man, that ironic writing though. I just want to shout, "TOBI, HE'S RIGHT THERE!" LOL
Great chapter as always
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Thanks, Ninja! 😀 ToCo definitely approve of Luzel 😛 Noah… well, we’ll see 😉 And yes, oh the irony! LOL Poor Tobi… He has no idea…
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I can’t imagine how Tobi’s gonna react when Joce finally lets the secret out 🤔 but YES to 5 chapters a week. – pops 🍾 –
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😀 Glad you’re excited about the update schedule! Thanks to that, we will get to see Tobi’s reaction a bit sooner… 😛
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I really enjoyed seeing Mari with the grands – they are so beautiful and she looks so happy!!
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Mari adores her grandbabies, young and old 😉 I love seeing her so happy. She deserves it 😀
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Tobi’s last remark just hits in the heart .. 😦
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Oh I can totally relate to the bit with saying goodbyes after visiting family who live far away being hard, I always feel so guilty after visiting my parents (and they don’t cry, unlike Mari – thankfully – at least I hope not! They do always say I need to stay for longer though!)
Can’t say I share the enthusiasm that some people have expressed about it being a good sign that Tobi likes Mark. He likes him as a fellow parent. Thinks they’re on the same page. That’s bound to cause more of an ossue rather than an advantage one the cat’s out of the bag.
Yay for Auggy and Emma reconnecting. I just love her smile 🙂
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Yeah, poor Mari, though more mentally stable, is still quite emotional haha I imagine she always sheds a few tears when she says goodbye to Stefan!
And you make an excellent point about Tobi liking Mark. He’s definitely not liking him in the way he should like his daughter’s boyfriend haha so I’m not sure it really means much…
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Oh I forgot to mention – I wonder what the relationship between Tobi and Stefan is like these days. They used to be so close, but I don’t really get that feeling anymore. Of course, a part of it is growing up in general, and perhaps it’s just because their relationship isn’t really shown much as opposed to them no longer having one, but it’s sad the twins lives seem so separate now. (Not saying they don’t get along, obviously they clearly do, it’s more that the bond they once shared doesn’t quite seem to be there anymore)
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Unfortunately this is very true. Tobi and Stefan used to be best friends, but I don’t think they are anymore 😦 Part of the consequence of Stefan moving thousands of miles away, unfortunately.
They still love each other, but like you said, the bond they once had has definitely faded over the years. They’ve grown apart. 😦 And it saddens me a lot!
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Oh and I’m glad you love Emma still ^_^ Her and Auggy are definitely besties again!
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I demand a Noah-Auggy spin-off story. I want to see them meet and date and get their hearts broken. 🙂 (Since you’ll be writing it).
Ah Tobi – you’re probably right that this is the calm before the storm. Joce is hiding something from you – like Auggy was when he was all distant. Like Clara was. Hopefully you can see the signs and brace yourself.
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I don’t typically read the other comments, but I saw the top one. Someone else calls him Gus Gus too XD I just did that because of the mouse from Cinderella, and since Gus is such a little cinnamon bun I thought it fit. XD
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Hahaha I approve of the Gus Gus name 😛
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