#brugman

Early sixties, a boy and his twin sister (Brugman and Beladona) are adopted by a young woman and older man (Perse and Dion) who cannot have children of their own (trauma on her end and infertility on his)

They also have another set of Boy/Girl twins that were adopted around the same time, Addonis and Ezalea.

They move from the city to a farmhouse; their father steps down as founding chairman of his company into a smaller, more comfortable position that allows him to rear his children.

Beladonna (least favorite child, odd one out) marries a gentle, soft and hardworking man named Maxium, and they have a daughter, Chamillus. Chami takes up her mother and fathers’ doll business after their death (his father built the dolls and her mother sewed their clothes, so Chami learned both skills)

Brugman (mechanist) does not speak about his dead wife or their dead child. (He is much like Perse in this way. She never spoke of her first husband or their dead son)

Addonis (failed medical practitioner) marries a woman named Petunia (successful, fashion savvy), and they have a daughter named Delphine.

Ezalea (vineyard operator) does not marry, but has a “close female roommate/platonic life partner/various euphemisms for girlfriend” who has a daughter named Elowen

All their names save for a few are based on flowers

Brugman comes from angels trumpet, which is described as having “tan rough bark, with alternating leaves that can be hairy and have toothed edges” which I thought was very fitting for him

Beladona/Ezalea is obvious, no?

Addonis is named so because he has a large growth protruding from the side of his jaw/neck and his mother wanted something about him to be beautiful

Delphine comes from delphinium/larkspur. They are perennials, which is very accurate because Delphine also “dies” during the winter (seasonal depression coupled with the anniversary of her parents’ death)

Elowen means elm!

Brugman blames himself for his siblings’ deaths (he patented the device that killed them)

He and Ezalea are the only ones left after the Accident

They have rotating custody of the girls

Brugman has a far-too-close relationship with Delphine

Chami has definitely caught them fucking in their Uncle’s garage. She finds their relationship thrilling and amusing and psychologically fascinating.