Babette Morenos

> “What is meant to be is bound to happen, whether or not you approve.”
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> ― Alice Hoffman, The Rules of Magic
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**Babette Victoria Morenos-Carbajal** is the youngest child and daughter between Josephine Morenos and her partner Laure Desjardins and is the younger twin sister to Suzette. Babette was married to James Carbajal and had three daughters named Isabella, Jessica and Thomasina.

## Personality

According to Thomasina, Babette was a proud, strict, terrifying woman with a horrible temper (a trait common to the Morenos family). Despite being raised in a free and loving home with a mother who deeply loved her she hated magic and strongly rejects and opposes anything associated with magic or the Magi community. Despite this, she still utilizes protective enchantments.

While she is well-meaning in her intentions, she often lets her resentment get the better of her, to the point of becoming cold and antagonistic. Babette is very restrictive of what her children can and cannot do. Motherhood had been a trial for Babette who was not suited to domestic life.

## Appearance

Babette even in her old age was described as strikingly beautiful with ink black hair and intense green eyes according to her daughter Bella resembled an owl. Babette possessed high cheekbones, a straight nose, and hooded eyes, in her youth she wore her hair in a bob cut and later in life wore it in a tight high bun. When the Neapolitan Sisters discovered old photos of their family, Leta though she looked Native American, possibly indicating her heritage. He also thought her face had a "carved quality", and noted her expression as being "formally composed".

In her true form Babette skin turns in a shiny bluish-green color with little white spots, pointed ears and deep red eyes and her hair turns into a thin grey. Like other Magi's Babette has a birthmark of a M underneath her tongue.

## Abilities and Skills

* **Witch Physiology** - Babette was a pureblooded hereditary witch with the ability to use magic but since she rejected it Babette rarely used spells and potions and never revealed her personal abilities. She did practice the superstitions, like checking to see if someone is in love with a butter in a bowl, wearing blue for protection, and stuffing packets of lavender in pockets.
* **Familiar Contracts** - Babette did have a familiar, two rats named Brown Jenkins and Little Lady.

## Etymology

* Babette is the French diminutive of Elizabeth and Barbara.
	+ Elizabeth is from *Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet)*, the Greek form of the Hebrew name *אֱלִישֶׁבַע ('Elisheva')* meaning "my God is an oath", derived from the roots *אֵל ('el)* referring to the Hebrew God and *שָׁבַע (shava')* meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist.
	+ Barbara is derived from Greek *βάρβαρος (barbaros)* meaning "foreign". According to legend, Saint Barbara was a young woman killed by her father Dioscorus, who was then killed by a bolt of lightning. She is the patron of architects, geologists, stonemasons and artillerymen. Because of her renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. In England it became rare after the Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century.
* Victoria means "victory" in Latin, being borne by the Roman goddess of victory. It is also a feminine form of *Victorius*. This name was borne by a 4th-century saint and martyr from North Africa. Though in use elsewhere in Europe, the name was very rare in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when Queen Victoria began her long rule of Britain. She was named after her mother, who was of German royalty. Many geographic areas are named after the queen, including an Australian state and a Canadian city.
* Morenos is a variant of Moreno which is from a nickname meaning "dark" in Spanish and Portuguese.
* Carbajal is probably a habitational name demoting someone originally from any of the multiple locations called *Carbajal* in León, Asturias, or Zamora in Spain. Alternatively, it may be of pre-Roman origin from the word *carbalio* meaning "oak", denoting someone who either lived near an oak tree or who was like an oak tree in some way. This was the name of a family of Marranos (Crypto Jews) in Mexico at the end of the 16th-century through at the beginning of the 17th-century, several were executed for "Judaizing."

## Trivia

* Babette is of Spanish, Portuguese, and Romani descent.
* She was a terrible cook and seemed puzzled by all household duties.
* Babette hates cream corn.