much more than a hunch

May 3006: Faithbucks household
last update/next update
Blake is 34, Becca is 33, Alexander is 2, Layla is 9 months. Also Nichole is 11, Alicia is 9, Lauren is 7, Victoria Juarez is 37.

narrated by Becca

With Layla almost to toddlerhood, I have been busy getting my own law practice off the ground. It is much more professional having my own office, but Blake and I just do not have the money yet. Between his divorce settlement to his ex-wife and my being bought out on my partnership at my last law firm when I was pregnant with Alex, money had been really tight. We were able to move into a bigger home that is next door to his sister with my buyout money and have a little bit of savings. But after being home with Alex and later having Layla I realized that I really needed to return to my career. So I set up a home office and got to work, reconnecting with former clients, building my network up again. I stretched out my legs with minor services such as wills and prenuptial agreements. That is the light side of family law and I was anxious to get back into major cases again.

So I was very elated when Victoria Juarez obtained my services for her divorce to her husband Diego. Victoria was very upset at her husband, like most split couples, but it was almost over-the-top. She accused him of emotional abuse, infidelity and a list of other things which I had considered rather petty.

In the court of law, however, I couldn’t just take her word for it, so I advised that we could obtain the services of a private detective. That way, we will have background checks and photographed proof of his infidelities.

What surprised me what her eagerness to find dirt on her husband. She swore that he was having several affairs and that she was fully prepared to ruin him financially as recompense to her pain and suffering in their marriage.

She definitely sounded like a woman scorned, but I had to remind her that divorces by nature were meant to be tough for both sides, especially so on the children. Any decisions she would take from then on would need to be made on the best interest of their children.

Victoria was able to reel herself in, but I wasn’t particularly looking forward to taking this case. This woman seemed petty, vindictive and narcissistic. But I am building my law practice; I cannot afford to be picky with my client list just yet.

The consultation with Victoria made me all the more appreciative with my marriage to Blake. The beginning of our relationship wasn’t ideal, but I am glad I didn’t have too much drama with his ex-wife like most divorced couples. We have a cordial relationship with Deidre. And with our house being down the street from ours and much larger than our townhome, the girls visit much more often. They still don’t like to stay the night, but I am planning to decorate a room for them to stay overnight.

Blake is very frugal but I convinced him that they need their own room to stay in when they come over. It is not right to have them in sleeping bags or air mattresses if they decided to spend the night. It has taken us a long while to build up a good relationship with the girls since the divorce. Nichole will be soon be a teenager and enter high school next year. Blake doesn’t have too much time to waste to have a great relationship with her, Alicia and Lauren.

Despite being their father, Blake admittedly is not as close to them as he should me. I’m sure part of that is guilt from the split from their mother. He wasn’t around much the years following the divorce but thankfully that has changed since Alex was born. The girls come over every other weekend, albeit just on Saturdays for now.

They were particularly excited about getting a new brother though. They spend more time with him than they do with their dad. I tell Blake all the time that it’s because it’s the most kid friendly room in the house, with all of the toys. It was one of my arguments to convince him to set up the spare bedroom for the kids.

They’re not really close with Layla but that’s because she’s an infant. They can’t exactly play with her yet. But they love playing with Alex. I am pleased that he gets along with his big sisters.

I did notice Alicia being extra clingy with Blake, but he’s not worried. Out of all of them, Alicia was the one who was the most withdrawn with him, and she is now opening up to him more. He says it’s middle-child syndrome, but I just think it’s plain sibling rivalry with our children.

We usually finish their visits with dinner, normally pizza, as it’s quick and easy and requires little clean up. The dinner table is more loud and crazy than I’m used to, but I suppose I should. Soon Alex and Layla will be at the age, but they’ll definitely have better manners. I’ll see to it that they’ll have the proper training.

With my practice taking off, I don’t have as much time to spend with the kids, so we use a nanny. But I feel that we should be planning their futures rather than later. They are expected to attend an Académie Society school, and we had to look into prep schools leading up to that.

Mr. Scrooge reacted as expected. He just didn’t see the use of private school education, especially since the school in Laurel Crossing were already really good. And he felt that it would be too expensive to pay for prep school for five children.

Admittedly, I wasn’t even considering putting his girls in private school. I felt that that was their mother and her husband’s responsibility. But I knew that saying that out loud he may take it the wrong way. So I went on to try to convince him that it would be the best option for their futures. But like a mountain, Blake would not be moved.

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• The title is from the lyrics of the Brady Bunch theme song.
• I hate to admit this, but I actually enjoyed playing their household this time around. Their house is a good size and layout for them. And I have to admit that Blake and Becca mesh well together. They are also very loving parents, autonomously interacting with them. I am still sore that Blake is a very good father to Alex. He feeds and bathes him autonomously, constantly playing and snuggling with him. He never did this when the oldest were little. Not once. I suppose that it is because he got his prized son. At least he is maintaining a better relationship with his oldest. He had a want to invite Lauren over, so I teleported all three in. I had him interact with them individually and had no negative interactions. I needed to teleport them in anyway, so they can officially meet Alex in game. I’ll do the same thing when Layla becomes a toddler. Lauren loves her little brother the most; she hogged all his attention during their visit.
• Their house is for the most part fully furnished. There is a very large bedroom on the top floor that is empty and I am decided to make that the girls’ room. I don’t believe that it would have been Becca’s idea to have a room for them particularly. Although she encourages Blake to be more active in the girls’ lives, she still sees them as HIS kids, and as such, his responsibility. She doesn’t roll any wants for them, and don’t have a relationship with at all. She comes across with this “her kids (Deidre) vs. my kids” mentality. I’m sure she’d rather they did not exist but she acknowledges that she accepted them as a package deal when she married him. She believes for Deidre and the girls to be jealous of her family and fully expects some rivalry between Dee’s girls and her kids. She’s waiting for any conflict so she can feel vindicated and have an excuse to not blend families. She believes this, because that’s how she would feel if she was the first wife, especially knowing the history of Blake and Dee. Hopefully, she doesn’t try to make him choose between families, although she’s not above playing favorites.
• I have only two LC residents in the law career, Becca and Deidre’s new husband Corey Tyler. I debated on who would represent Victoria in the divorce. I decided that it would be Victoria for a couple of reasons. One, they know mutual people. The Faithbucks used to live in the townhome next door to her brother- and sister-in-law, Dominic and Tamara. Two, as Blake is the city treasurer and the president at River Union Bank, the Faithbucks’ social status is near her own. And three, as Becca was willing to represent the “bad guy” in the divorce before, she might as well again. So by default, Diego will be represented by Corey. Becca thought it would be a textbook divorce case, where the wronged wife is divorcing the jerk husband, but she soon realized how petty Victoria is. But Becca is building her client list, so beggars cannot be choosy. 
• Thanks for reading!