#juniper intro.

BIOGRAPHY !

When Catherine Edwards was nineteen years old, she entered a whirlwind romance with Liam Baker, an twenty five year old man who she met at a dinner party of a mutual friend. The two of them immediately hit it off and started dating, but the relationship fizzled out only two years later, as Catherine was heading off to graduate school at Oxford. Not long after arriving at Oxford did Catherine find out she was pregnant. Although she knew it would make graduate school tougher, she decided to keep the baby. Catherine's parents moved to Oxford to help her take care of Juniper so she could keep going to school, concerned that if Catherine didn't have help, she'd drop out. Catherine kept in touch with Liam after she had the baby, but he didn't seem to have an opinion on how his daughter was raised, so he became a distant figure in Catherine's life; although Liam made an effort with Juniper.

By the time Catherine was ready to graduate, she'd met another man, Oliver Fitzgeorge. The two fell in love and while Oliver's parents didn't approve of Catherine already having a child, the two of them got married when June was three. The family moved to London where Oliver's career took him. By then, Catherine had an offer to work in an art museum library archive. The little family flourished in their new life in London. Two years later, when little June was five, they welcomed Audrey and Arthur into the world. June was enthralled by her new siblings, helping her mother care for them where she could. She dressed them both up in cute outfits, read stories to them every night, helped her mother pick out toys for them. Even for a young age, June loved growing up caring for her two siblings. They grew up close to each other, June protective of the two of them.

Juniper's relationship with her birth father was an interesting one. He tried his best to keep in touch, but since his job kept him traveling most of the year, she didn't see a lot of Liam. By the age of nine, June had started to consider Oliver her father. After all, it was Oliver that was there when she first walked, when she cried over her first relationship, when she got caught shoplifting mascara from the corner store. Although her relationship with her birth father was solid, June realized she would rather put effort into a relationship that mattered to her. Her mother didn't pressure her to stop talking to her father at any point, knowing that it wasn't her place to make that decision for June. She ended up seeing him as often as his job would allow him to drop by, but she also didn't put extra effort into meeting up with him. To June, that was for the best because she did care about Oliver.

Like her mother, Juniper loved school. From a very young age, she enjoyed getting to go to class and learn. At first, June's mother wanted her in a public school, but that quickly changed with the arrival of the twins and Oliver's instance on the three of them going to a private school. June didn't care where she got to learn as long as she got to go to class every day. She was the type that even when she wasn't feeling well, she'd try to fake that she was fine in order to go to class—it never worked. After graduating from primary school, June knew she wanted to go to college at Oxford, like her mother. She got a degree in English Literature and got a job at a publishing company in Oxford while she worked on getting her master's degree. By the time Juniper was twenty six, she had her two degrees and a promising degree in publishing, but she knew the career wouldn't keep her happy long term.

It was her mother that pushed her to make the change. At twenty nine, June moved to London to get a master's degree so she could teach. A year and a half into her program, Juniper met Autumn Thorne on campus. The young woman was charismatic to a fault and June found herself falling in love. June and Autumn finished their respective programs, moved in together, and knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Autumn proposed on a vacation in Paris—maybe a little too on the nose for June, but she was happy so she didn't care. After a careful amount of time debating, she let Oliver walk her down the aisle. June found herself happy in her new life, teaching English Literature to university students, watching her wife succeed as a litigator, the promise of a bright future. She was happy.

However, something soured in their relationship. June and Autumn had always planned on starting a family. They made a plan for everything: who would carry the baby (June because Autumn couldn't), names, how many children they wanted, how far apart they'd like them to be. But what they didn't plan for was the heartbreak that came along the way. June struggled with through three pregnancies before she knew she couldn't go on. To her credit, Autumn didn't pressure her to keep trying, but it changed something in their relationship. They hadn't discussed the possibility of adoption, June was too fragile to think about it. When June turned thirty five, her mother passed away and it took an even bigger toll on her mental health. Autumn became distant and when they were together, fights seemed to start up for no reason. June let the fights go on for a lot longer than she should have, but finally filed for divorce when she was thirty eight.

After the divorce, she tried to get a routine going with her life but struggled. She moved in with her sister Audrey for a couple of months, but felt like she was in the way of her sister's life. Then she back in with Oliver who was happy to take care of her, though June still felt like she was a burden on his life. She considered reaching out to Liam to try and rekindle a relationship that had lapsed over the years. In the end, she realized needed a big change. Seeing an open position in a college in America, June decided to take the position. While it meant moving away from her dad, she was happy to finally feel somewhat free of all the negative emotions she felt like had been building up. So far, her first eight months in Aurora Bay have been a wonderful breath of fresh air.

HEADCANONS !

To be written

CONNECTION IDEAS !