Core friendship: Penelope, Josie, Landon, Hope, MG , Lizzie. They went to high school together and they managed to remain close and there for each other even when it was hard and when they had ups and downs in their personal lives and even their friendships. But no matter what happened, they remained strong and inseparable. They were pretty sure nothing could break their bond. This is a back story on the characters, for you to know where each of them is in life at the moment when the story starts. This is Penelope and Josie story, so other characters would just interact with them or maybe get their chaprer(s), but primary focus are two of them and their relationship with other characters… So, let's start…
Penelope (lawyer) – Josie (stay at home mom (history of art major) ; 3 kids ( Helena 16 ( adopted) twins Jason and Dylan who are six years old (Josie was birth mother, Penelope gave her eggs)
Penelope and Josie got married when they were close to the end of the college. They were dating when they were in high school and they went to college together. They were head over heels in love and they eloped for Josie's twenty first birthday. They got married in the city hall and didn't tell anyone for weeks. Lizzie found out by accident when she was going through Josie's things and found their marriage certificate. She freaked out and got on their case. Josie's parents were not really happy about the secret wedding, but they learned to accept it. Together, Penelope and Josie built nice life in Boston. It started in a small apartment when Penelope was intern in a law firm and Josie was working in the kindergarten with kids. She was not really their teacher, but some sort of assistant. She was doing with them all sorts of art projects and she loved it. She was surrounded by kids and she was happier than ever. She and Penelope wanted family so when she came home one day with a kid involved in the case she was on, Josie knew Helena was supposed to stay with them. She noticed how the girl bonded with Penelope and how Penelope grew to love her fast. Helena and Penelope shared some dark moments of childhood and Josie knew Penelope would do anything to protect the girl since no one ever took care of her. Turning sixteen and getting emancipated was what saved Penelope's life. Penelope feared that Helena didn't have that much time and she wanted to do all she could to help. By some miracle, they managed to get Helena and there was no one happier than the trio. Helena finally had a safe home and two mothers who loved her so much. She was even very excited when Josie told her that she and Penelope want to try for a baby. Penelope told her that she is not going to be replaced by the new baby and that she is stuck with them no matter what. To Josie the fact that Helena will not be replaced was something normal and she didn't see the need for it to be often repeated. On the other hand, Penelope was doing everything to show Helena that she is loved, wanted and family. She tried to explain to Josie that for kids like her and Helena, love is not something that you take easily and as a fact. To them it was not a fact that mom and dad HAVE to love you. To Penelope and Helena, parents were the worst possible people they ever met and cause of so much emotional and physical pain. Both Penelope and Helena had bodies covered in small scars that were self-inflicted or made by some of the family members. Josie knew about what Penelope lived before she came into their school and now she was getting bits and paces from what Helena lived. She was sometimes a bit jealous how easy it was to Helena to bond with Penelope and not with her. She knew girl loved them both, but her connection to Penelope was stronger. Josie had twins few weeks after Helena turned twelve. That was a bit darker time of their lives because Josie had bad postpartum depression and Penelope had to take her to some facility to help her get out of it. Josie spent three months there and during her stay Penelope and Helena took care of the twins with some help from the family and their friends. When Josie came back, she felt guilty for leaving kids and letting everyone down. She quit her job and decided to be full time mom and made promise to herself that she will never leave her children alone. Not having Josie's income took a serious toll on Penelope because now she had to provide for all of them. It got her to turn into someone who puts in long work hours and misses school events and kindergarten events. In Penelope's eyes, she was doing all she could to keep the family afloat, but in Josie eyes, she became distant and someone who became absent in the family life. Josie was angry and often said that Penelope's ambition got them to the place where little kids often go to bed before she comes home. Penelope believed that her long working hours got family to have very nice and comfortable life.
Josie often respected what Penelope was doing for the family, but she felt abandoned, lonely, forgotten and felt like they were losing their connection. Penelope was all of the sudden so wanted and so busy and she was barely seeing her. She had insane hours and she worked like crazy. Her boss practically adopted her and because she believed she would be perfect heir to her legal empire. Elizabeth Cooper took Penelope to her big meetings, she took her shopping and got her clothes she and Josie could never afford in the beginning when their family was struggling when she stopped working. She explained Penelope that clothes also sell a lot of service in the law branch. Looks mattered and Penelope had looks, and now she had all the fancy brands of shoes and clothes to sell expertise with. From Gap and Old Navy, Penelope Park graduated to Gucci, Chanel , Luis Vuitton , Louboutins and Manolos. Her clients became very popular and powerful people from the politicians to business moguls and they spent good money for her to keep them out of prison and look for loopholes in the laws to keep them out of trouble.
MG (music producer) – Nya ( marketing expert) ; no children
MG and Nya met at some event and they hit it off pretty fast. After his epic fail romance with Lizzie, he was not looking for another partner but he found Nya. They were very happy and had amazing life filled with travels, amazing opportunities and they were in papers and magazines all the time, and their friends teased them about it all the time. As soon as they got married, they agreed that they didn't want kids and that they wanted career. MG was sure they could change their mind in the future, but Nya was not on the same page. To her, work was everything. She was also invested in some outsource program to help young kids from the bad neighborhoods. MG was part of that too and he often organized concerts of some of the artists he worked for and fundraisers to help the kids. Biggest events were when MG made concerts of the artists in the neighborhoods they came from. He believed, and Nya agreed that that is one of the ways to show kids that they can make it. Thar they can change their lives and get something more than what stereotypes told them they would be. They also helped with fixing schools in poor neighborhoods, getting them music programs where they would get visits from some of his artist and make music with him or them. Nya was in charge to spread the word and they got offers from some pretty fancy schools to include them into their programs. They worked pretty well and they believed they found good combination in working together and being a couple.
To MG's surprise, Nya never had issues with Lizzie and never made any comment that could indicate she was insecure or jealous. She supported his decision to invest in her restaurant and often took her clients to lunch there. She and Lizzie were not close, but they kept it nice and friendly. Nothing to draw too much attention or be topic of the gossip in their circle. Out of the group, she felt closest to Penelope and Marry, they were her kind of people. Hard workers and they knew what they wanted.
Lizzie( chef) - Sebastian ( lawyer) ; eight months old daughter Linda
Lizzie met Sebastian before she broke up with MG. She didn't cheat, but she was close to it. She was tempted but she broke it off before she did anything. It took some time for friends and family to accept who she was dating and that MG and she were over. Their friends believed that MG and her were endgame, just like Josie and Penelope. Josie even teased him about possible having the ring stashed somewhere. MG never really responded to that, so Penelope was pretty sure he had the ring. Later on he showed her the ring and they put it in his safe and he promised he will not pine after Lizzie anymore. After meeting Nya he realized that what he felt for Lizzie was not real love so they mended the friendship part of the relationship and he even helped her with the money to open up the restaurant. Lizzie and Sebastian dated for few years before they got married and got a baby. Lizzie was over the moon to have a baby and Sebastian was good husband and father. Lizzie found it to be challenging to juggle work and family and she was often so tired and sick of it all. She was lucky to have an amazing nanny who took care of Stella and their home. Josie and her often got into small arguments about her putting her family on a back burner over the restaurant and Lizzie would tell her that she shouldn't speak to her like that and that she had to address her shit to PENELOPE, not her. Realization that Lizzie was having understanding for Penelope's crazy hours and that she actually believed she IS a good mother to their kids, hit her like train. It was pretty much one of the few times Lizzie Saltzman was not keeping her sister's side. So next time Josie started calling her a bad mother and telling her she is just like Penelope, Lizzie lost it and told her she has no idea how it is to be mother like her and Penelope. She told her that it's not easy to be a working mom and to know you are missing so much. She also said that Penelope would me home more if she moved her ass and found work. It hurt Josie to hear those words from her sister's mouth. It made her feel useless, but she had no courage to try to go back to work.
Landon (teaches music at school) – Marry ( prosecutor) ; two children ( Brandon 6 and Douglas 4)
Landon and Marry met at the party where he played with his band. Marry was young prosecutor with ambition and strong political views and Landon was someone who just finished music college and had no ambition but to enjoy life and search for happiness. No one could ever imagine what brought two of them together and how they managed to stay married for almost seven years. He proposed to her after she won a case with a cupcake that said Marry me Marry… and she simply said yes. They got married few days later in Lizzie's restaurant and they had pretty decent life. It was clear that Marry was the one who was the head of the household and the bread winner so Landon was the one to take care of the kids and work 9-4 job. Marry and Penelope sometimes faced in court, but not too often. Their winning score was very tight and both women were competitive and sometimes ruthless in the court room. But out of it, they shared some very special understanding. They knew how much they were missing from their children's lives and they respected the sacrifice other woman made for her family. They were the ones missing children plays, missing birthdays, sleepovers, excursions, short trips, even birthdays sometimes. That was what those two shared and why there was a lot of mutual respect. They were not close or even too friendly, but they simply knew how the other woman felt most of the time. Those feelings of guilt, remorse and cold shoulders from spouse and children were what Penelope and Marry knew too well.
Hope (real-estate consultant)- Raphael (owns construction company) ; no children
Hope and Raphael knew each other for more than ten years and they worked closely for all that time. It took them eight years and Raphael's failed marriage to start dating and since few months ago start planning their wedding. During the time Raphael was married; he and Hope were just working together and being friends. After his wife left and took their son, they started talking more and their relationship started. Before they dated, Hope was engaged to a man she worked with and they were good together. Their relationship ended with funeral instead of the wedding. Jake died in a car crash few weeks before the wedding. It took some time for Hope to open up to possibility of dating and when she did, Raphael was there. Sometimes she couldn't believe how lucky she was and how happy they were and how her life finally had some sense out of work. She was smiling again and she felt like she could do anything. She believed two of them were lucky to have each other in their lives and even Raphael's son Keith was happy for them getting married. His ex was trying to get him to get back together, but Raphael didn't want it. He knew that he and Hope had something good and he didn't want to ruin that. He was finally over the betrayal of his ex and he didn't want to go back into it. He wanted new life, clean slate and life with Hope and Keith when he comes to spend time with them. Best part of their love was that it was mature, safe and somehow…easy. They didn't argue much, they had so many things in common that they made decisions easy. They liked same movies, same books, loved to hike at the same places… Hope and Raph were just…gliding through life together. Probably that ease came from long friendship and really knowing one another.