#othergen1

[oasisfrontier]

1855, Oasis Outpost

When Lily wasn't half-drunk to numb the pain, her only thought was: How long, O Lord? How long?

[oasisfrontier]

1855, Springscape Farm

Mila and her sons moved into Bjorn's farmhouse right away. He felt a little guilty being intimate with Mila in the bed he had shared with Clara. Did Mila compare him to her late husband? He decided to send for some new fabric back East so Mila could redecorate the home to her tastes.

The children would not get along, no matter how hard Bjorn and Mila tried to bring peace. Bjorn was often gloomy and convinced that they would never get along, but Mila assured him it would just take time. But he hoped it wouldn't take much longer, as Mila was already expecting.

[oasisfrontier]

1854, Mormon Homestead

After a year, things were finally looking up for Lorena Swann. Out of her limited options on the homestead, a potential suitor finally materialized -- Jacob Kizer. Lorena had the sneaking suspicion that it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time; she knew that Jacob's wife Emilie was exhausted raising their rambunctious toddler. But what was love for anyone, really, other than being in the right place at the right time? Lorena had high hopes, but without a father to protect her she needed to be on her guard more than ever.

[oasisfrontier]

1854, Springscape Farm

Bjorn Bjergsen was not made to be a widower. He had more respect for Clara now than he ever did when she was alive. How had she known what to do with these children? He could run the General Store, manage employees, navigate supply chains... but when it came to potty training little Elsa he was lost.

So his businessman brain started running the cost-benefit analysis. Mila Munch, a widow with three children, was his closest neighbor. She was struggling without a husband; her house was still unfinished after four years. They were from the same country-- Windenberg-- so why shouldn't they get married?

Mila willingly accepted his proposal, but they decided to keep it private until over a year after Clara's death to look respectable. Sofia was extremely upset when Bjorn told her what he thought was happy news. Why wouldn't she want to have a mother?

[oasisfrontier]

1854, Oasis Outpost

Lily often wondered how she had ended up in this line of work. She hated it so thoroughly, but the money was better than what Angela made at the school. Plus, there was no going back for her.

The men disgusted her with their open pawing and sweaty stench. Still, she flirted with them at the card table and kept them entertained upstairs. What else what she was supposed to do?

Lily was especially sad to miss Clara Bjergsen's funeral. She had always liked Clara; they had been friends before... well. After that, no woman in town would speak to Lily. They treated her like a disease to be avoided. So, she just listened to the men talking about the funeral that night at the saloon, and tried not to cry when they joked that Bjorn just needed to visit her to cheer himself up.

[oasisfrontier]

1853, Mormon Homestead

Lorena Swann had not wanted to come quite so far west, but her father had left her with no choice. Lorena's mother had died in childbirth a year after she had Lorena, along with the stillborn. Lorena's father had been too heartbroken to ever remarry, so for her whole life all they had was each other. She understood that they had to move west for their safety, but it was her father who had wanted a large plot of land. And then he had gone and died along the way, leaving Lorena all alone.

The other families on the homestead were kind to her, but they were no replacement for her father; she so desperately wanted to get married and it was mortifying trying to make her own match. Lorena tried to make herself attractive to the men by improving her womanly skills, but no one seemed to want her.

She was very close friends with John Shaffer--probably closer than they should be. She became very entrenched in his family and learned all about the struggle of his first wife, Marjorie, to embrace his second wife Mary. His daughter even told Lorena that she wished Lorena had married her daddy; when Lorena told John that, waiting for a proposal, he was horrified. Only then did the spell finally break, and Lorena wondered if she would be alone forever.

[oasisfrontier]

1853, Michaelson Manor

After almost three years of construction, the Michaelson family finally completed construction on their manor! Christopher immediately got to work setting up a schoolroom.

He was especially worried about Martha Pancakes, as he knew it was an understatement to say she'd had a difficult childhood. Christopher committed himself to giving her extra lessons, and he also decided he needed to learn Spanish to teach Aurelio Robles more effectively. More than anything, he wanted to benefit the community around him.