My name is Cassandra Lark Hennessy, or Cassie, and I am twenty years old. My parents are Magnus Leonard Hennessy and Pippa Mabel Hennessy and I am the youngest of two daughters. I have one older sister, Penelope Dove Hennessy (likes to be called Penny).
My sister and I are very close and she has been my rock while I am currently studying, now midway through college. I already have a job lined up and plan on becoming a nurse.
I've been dating my boyfriend since my first year of college. His name is Micah Gunnar Atkinson. He's a year older than me and he's planning to be a social worker.
I have recently found out that I am pregnant. My boyfriend is worried, not sure he's ready to be a father, but we agree that we are both in it for the long haul, planning to raise the baby together. After my twenty-first birthday and my third year of college begins, I give birth to a healthy baby girl. We name her Arabella Iris Hennessy-Atkinson. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and I promise to love and cherish her.
After two years of amiably living together and raising our daughter, my boyfriend and I have decided not to live together anymore. There was no cheating, there were no fights--we simply realized that we no longer love each other. We maintain a friendly relationship but don't really spend time together unless it is to drop off Bella at one another's home.
I now live in an apartment, sharing my daughter's time with my ex. I am twenty-five, and Bella is four. She is very outgoing, loves attention and active things.
When I enroll Bella in preschool, I am a little surprised to find that the teacher is a young, attractive man, one that many of the (married) mothers take notice of. His name is Kevin Theodore Linwood. He's great with Bella, and after he realizes I am a single mom, he seems to take an interest in me--being extra friendly, making jokes, taking a bit longer to talk to me before I leave. One day, I arrive while the children are still busy playing a game outside with the teacher's assistant, and after talking for a few minutes, Bella's preschool teacher says, "I hope this isn't awkward, but I'd like to take you out on a date."
Worried it might make things awkward, I accept, figuring that if one date goes badly, I can stop. Otherwise... he's very handsome, very kind, and he makes me laugh. I decide I have nothing to lose. I tell my daughter about my plan to go on a date with her teacher, and she is a little confused on the whole idea, but doesn't seem completely opposed to it.
Our first date goes surprisingly well, and we continue to date, even after Bella finishes preschool. My boyfriend, Kevin, has told Bella that when she's not at school (and now that she's finished with preschool) that she can call him by his first name. As our relationship matures, Bella and Kevin grow close, as I'd hoped.
After two years of dating, Kevin and I are now living together in my apartment. I am 27, my daughter is 6 and my boyfriend is 29. One Friday night, I arrive home from work to Kevin has already picked Bella up from her father's house and there are flowers on the table. When I ask what they are for, Kevin goes into a short, romantic speech about how he much he loves Bella and I and could not imagine spending the rest of his life without me. Then he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him.
I start crying tears of happiness, and look at Bella, who has been there the whole time, and is smiling. My boyfriend says that he asked Bella ahead of time if she thought it was okay, and that she had kept the secret from me all week. Knowing now that Bella has agreed, I give an enthusiastic yes.
A year later, when I am 28, Bella is 7, and my fiancé is 30, we get married. Our wedding is in a church, small and intimate, with only close family and friends.
Only a couple months after we get married and moved into a new house, I discover that I am pregnant. I had talked about kids with my newlywed husband, but hadn't planned on it happening right away. Nonetheless, we are excited, and when Bella is eight years old and my husband and I are 29 and 31, I give birth to my second child, though it is my first with Kevin. I give birth to a handsome baby boy named Jonah Maxwell Linwood.
It has been three years since my last baby was born. My daughter is now 11, my son is now 3, and my husband and I are 32 and 34.
I am content with my small, somewhat unconventional family--still only seeing my daughter about half the time since I have to share with her dad--but as my son grows older, my husband and I started talking about having more kids. I was okay with just the two, but hubby really wanted another one, and the more he talked about it the more I liked the idea of having another baby. After a couple months of trying, I conceive, and about a month after my son's third birthday I give birth to another handsome baby boy. His name is Callum Edmund Linwood.
After this baby is born, my husband and I decide that we are content with three children.
The Hennessy Family
DH: Magnus Leonard Hennessy {65}
DW: Pippa Mabel Hennessy (née Farley) {64}
DD1: Penelope 'Penny' Dove Hennessy {35}
DD2: Cassandra 'Cassie' Lark Hennessy {32} - me
Magnus and Pippa; with Penny & Cassie
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The Linwood/Hennessy-Atkinson Family
DD2: Cassandra 'Cassie' Lark Linwood (née Hennessy) {32} [nurse]
DH: Kevin Theodore Linwood {34} [preschool teacher]
Ex-DBF: Micah Gunnar Atkinson {33} [social worker]
DD1: Arabella 'Bella' Iris Hennessy-Atkinson {11}
DS1: Jonah Maxwell Linwood {3}
DS2: Callum 'Cal' Edmund Linwood {0}
Cassie and Kevin; with Bella, Jonah & Cal