Catrina Morera

**Through children**:

* Reina Barnes (2073)

**Catrina Joy Morera** is a part-time Warehouse Agent and Innkeeper of "Leena's Bed & Breakfast". She lives in South Dakota with her daughter and boyfriend, and also works side by side with her step-brother, Eddie.

## Catrina's Story

### Childhood

Even though her parents hadn't lived in Russia for a long time by the moment, Catrina was born in St. Petersburg, while her mother was studying at the university. Following their five years in Russia, they went to Romania to reside in the home that belonged to Catrina's paternal grandfather after her father was discharged from the military.

Paul, Lana, and Catrina moved to Bucharest formally in September 2021, which quickly caught the attention of the residents. Paul Morera's father, Mirko Morera, was a well-known Gypsy baron, but his sons were scarcely going to lead his community. Because of this, Catrina succeeded her grandfather to the title, commonly being called the "Gypsy Princess", as her uncle had no offspring. It didn't cause trouble for a very long time. The entire family enjoyed prosperity, and everyone showed them respect, especially young Cat. However, soon after, something happened that caused Catrina's mother to change her mind about their entire way of life.

Mirko stated that he had already found a fiancé for his cherished granddaughter Catrina when she just turned ten. It was a young boy named Vano who was only fifteen years old and the son of his longtime friend. Lana found this out and was enraged. She was overwhelmed by the idea that her daughter was a commodity and would eventually marry someone she doesn't even know. Her husband, who spent all of his free time in the pub with his older brother, didn't understand her irritation at all and couldn't do anything about it either. Later that day, Lana filed for divorce from her husband after gathering her belongings, taking her kid to live with her parents in Sweden. Catrina hasn't seen her father since relocating to Scandinavia, and she never will.

### Scandinavia, 2026-2031

Catrina struggled mightily to adjust to her new environment. She could speak English, Russian, and Romanian with ease, but she had no idea what Swedish was like. The only way out was to attend an English-speaking school. This is where she met Edward Nelson for the first time.

When a twelve-year-old boy stumbled onto this school by mistake while exploring the city, the local students were more than glad to welcome a visitor. Everyone but Catrina. While Cat waited for her mother to arrive in the headmaster's office, Eddie appeared to be excessively haughty and self-assured. A few inappropriate remarks later, he was in the hospital with a broken nose. Even though her family will remember this incident for years, it wasn't the best first day of school. Lana had an unpleasant dialogue with the boy's father, Mr. Nelson, but it turned out that he was entirely in agreement with Catrina's actions. He was a little taken aback by what she had done, and even managed to compliment the young lady by adding that his son had earned all he had gotten. It's easy to assume that, from Catrina's perspective, the man was the friendliest person she had met in Sweden thus far. Catrina had to later apologise to Eddie because her mother obviously didn't share the man's optimistic perspective on the matter. (However, she didn't hide the fact that she was entirely satisfied with herself as a result of what she had done.)

Their lives returned to normal after that. While spending time with her aunt and grandparents, studying at school, and learning Swedish with her mother's family, Catrina entirely forgot about this weird day at school. And so it was until Lana revealed one day that her "new friend" had asked their entire family to a restaurant. What a shock it was to learn that her mother's new friend was none other than Jonathan Nelson, who had also brought his annoying kid there. The man was entertaining Lana's parents and younger sister, but the kids thought differently. They were blatantly waging war. They never intended to conceal the fact that they didn't get along.

A few months passed before Lana made another announcement: she accepted Jonathan's marriage proposal, and he suggested they should move to Norway with Catrina. The girl was in despair. She liked Jonathan a lot, on the one hand. He looked after her, assisted her in everything, and even showed an interest in her hobbies. On the other side, the girl was still extremely concerned about his son, who was obviously around, too. Although Catrina didn't want to share a house with Eddie, she knew that her mother was happy with him, and she didn't want to get in the way of that. Lana and Cat went to Bergen in November 2028, and one month later, the Nelsons moved to Tromsø.

The following three years posed serious difficulties for Jonathan and Lana. Although their kids were well-behaved around other people, they consistently managed to ruin each other's lives. She kicked him at every opportunity and prevented any of his potential girlfriends from showing up nearby after Eddie took her writing notes and ruined her relationships with the few friends she had. Overall, it lasted until Jonathan announced that the entire family was relocating to his native New Jersey in 2031.

### Moving to the US

> ***"Oh. And there's finally something we both agree on."***
>
>

When "great news" hit Catrina's entire family, she had barely turned 15 years old. The least she wanted right now was to go to another country because she had barely been able to adjust to a measured life in Norway that had only been spoilt by her insufferable stepbrother. She had already spent enough time in Russia, Romania, Sweden, and Norway at this point. She had also made arrangements to complete high school and enroll in a university in one of the Scandinavian countries, but now everything was being destroyed by their move to the United States. Surprisingly, her stepbrother fully agreed with her on this matter.

In Norway, Catrina had friends and a boyfriend. Eddie started attending law school without telling his father after he met a nice girl. Additionally, neither teenager wanted to change anything about their lives. But this time, Lana and Jonathan weren't really going to take them into consideration.

A few months later, the family had moved to Jersey City, and the younger member of the family gave the elder official notice of the boycott. Cat totally backed Eddie and dove headfirst into her writing as he spent his days and nights in the garage playing guitar and not letting his father or stepmother around. Time has proven that it was this confrontation that compelled them to make the initial move toward putting their long-standing rivalry to an end.

The first piece of good news for Cat was that she managed to meet someone who was mostly decent in a setting that to her seemed completely insane. She attended the same school as Xander, but even though they had a few classes together, they didn't even notice one another. They were first officially introduced when Catrina was looking for at least one of the disappointed players to interview for the school newspaper following a disastrous basketball game. Being the team captain, Xander made the decision to deal with the journalist girl himself; yet, to his surprise, the interview went really smoothly. The brunette tried her best to formulate her questions properly, and she generally focused on the background of the school team and the stats from previous games. Awhile later, the irritating elderly janitor rudely asked the young people to leave the room since they were so immersed in their chat that they were unaware that the gym was absolutely empty at this point. However, this didn't damper their positive mood, and after exchanging phone numbers, the teenagers decided to meet up later to carry on their talk.

They kept meeting, stubbornly convincing everybody around them that they were only friends and nothing more. They just spent the majority of the day together at school, then went to the cinema or cafe together, and when they returned home, they chatted till the early morning. All friends act in this way, Cat stated, sincerely trying to believe in the legend herself. But obviously, it couldn't last forever.

John invited an old school friend to visit them one evening near Christmas. What he didn't say was that his friend was a woman who would bring her entire family, including a sometimes too noisy husband and two sons, one of whom Cat was all too familiar with. Unable to hide their embarrassment, the teenagers had to quickly come up with an excuse to leave the house so that they could discuss everything. The talk did not go well from the start, but when the girl was about to return to the house, she was stunned by the unexpected act of her friend, who suddenly decided to kiss her. She ignored the fact that they were standing in the cold without any outerwear, and that any of their family members may see them through the living room window at any time. None of that mattered since everything that had happened between them in the previous few months was finally starting to make sense.

Despite not publicly revealing it to anyone, they went back to school as a couple. The following several months were truly lovely, despite her stepbrother's unending jokes about her stumbling into a romance with the basketball team captain. But, of course, things couldn't stay perfect forever.

Cat "met" someone who would later play a vital part in her life just as their relationship with Xander was reaching its boiling point. She was always cautious of meeting people online since she didn't believe in the honesty of such things, and she didn't like confiding in strangers in general. However, something made her start a conversation that day. Lila was different from the other teenagers at her school, largely because she could listen and wasn't afraid to voice what she truly thought. The brunette felt secure chatting with her new friend right away, something she wasn't used to in real life, and she tried to hold on to it as long as she could.

Meanwhile, her relationship with Xander appeared to be on the verge of collapse. He was working hard to prepare himself to perform well in the next game against the opposition school team while she was preoccupied with studying for the final exams and working on her writing. Despite the fact that the teenagers did not keep in touch, Cat understood how crucial it was, especially for Xander, and she even attended his game despite her nonstop studying. She struggled to confess, more so to herself than to those who tried endlessly to help her realize it, how much she truly missed Xander, and this feeling was killing her from the inside. Of course, the fact that they continued to attend the same school and somehow managed to cross paths on a daily basis didn't really help, and one day, Cat found herself crying in the women's restroom in the middle of chemistry class when she lost her cool after their latest silent argument. She eventually made up her mind to talk openly with a young man later this week. Catrina didn't generally initiate these types of conversations, but she also knew that she was beginning to miss him more than she could bear, and if there was no other option, she was ready to make the first move.

She waited till the end of the day's classes to start a conversation with Xander while he wasn't joined by his friends, which was a rare occurrence lately. She found it to be much more difficult than she had anticipated, but at least he listened and appeared to share her enthusiasm for their reconciliation. She wasn't the only one who spoke up in this conversation, which was fortunate because it turned out to be much harder to express her thoughts than to write them on paper. They both felt a lot better after acknowledging their faults, promising (at least to themselves) that they would think about how to prevent them in the future. After weeks of separation that Cat would never want to go through again, the couple ultimately got back together, and that was good news.

### Family breakdown

Over time, Cat noticed that her stepbrother had changed. He became too silent and withdrawn, and although he had done this previously with other people, he started to hold secrets from her as well. Talking to his friends had little to no effect, and since it was pointless to question their parents, Cat turned directly to Eddie for the answers she so desperately needed. The young man did not deny that he did have a secret, a plan for the promising future that he wasn't yet ready to reveal in order to avoid putting her in danger in case of failure. Although reluctantly, the girl believed him, taking his word that he would reveal everything later, but she was still worried about the situation.

Eddie's brilliant plan was revealed weeks later, when he broke out of the house in the middle of the night with a bag in his hands, much to his father's anger, vowing never to let the young man into his house or his life again. Contrary to John's desires, Eddie continued to study law in America, and when he had a genuine opportunity to grow in this field, John opposed it. Eddie, like his father, did not hold back his emotions and ran away from home, expressing everything to him. Watching this scene from the stairs, Cat tried to convince herself that this was just a temporary situation, that they would both cool off and Eddie would return home. But as time passed, the young man didn't show up or return her calls, and John banned his family members from even mentioning his name. The situation escalated quickly, and Catrina's refusal to put up with it severely harmed her relationship with her stepfather. Cat packed her possessions and some money she managed to save and defiantly left their house in response to John's ban. Still failing to comprehend the seriousness of the situation, she headed to the nearest hotel, calling her boyfriend's number as she went. She was certain that Xander was the one person who could help her get over it right now.

Cat started to consider her options, fully aware that she would not be able to go back home even if she got called there because she did not want to be around her family right now. She still had a few months before graduation and the leaving for college, but it was obvious that her money wouldn't be enough to even rent a room for that long. The solution to the problem appeared out of nowhere. Xander offered she move into their home, at least until things calmed down a little. It wouldn't be a problem because his parents adored her and they always had a spare guest room. Cat had no choice but to agree, despite her discomfort. She assured herself that it wouldn't last long and that she would leave as soon as she found a job and was able to rent at least some housing, but knowing she wasn't alone in dealing with this problem made her feel a lot better.

The following few months were generally routine. Because her finances were starting to dry up and she didn't want to burden a family that had done too much for her already, Cat found a part-time job. She occasionally babysat little Carter which also made things a little easier for Mr. and Mrs. Grey. However, her bond with Xander was what bothered her the most. She was spending time with his younger brother, his parents, and her customers at the coffee shop where she worked, but not with him, her boyfriend, which upset the young man. He initially kept his anger to himself, rationalizing that she was going through a terrible time in her life and that things will improve as soon as they had more freedom. But nothing changed as time went by. Catrina herself started to realize that their relationship had gotten quite terrible, but she chose to keep quiet and trust fate out of fear of another breakup.

Lila, with whom Cat shared all of her worries, and Mrs. Grey, who was deeply concerned about the changes in the relationship between her son and his girlfriend, both agreed that this decision was rather hasty. The brunette became very close to Jane throughout her time with them, and even though she generally tried to follow the older woman's advice, this time she was unable to find the strength needed to make a change. Quite predictably, it all escalated into a major conflict, and on the day of graduation, Xander suggested that they take a break. The teenager was deeply heartbroken, but she also realized that given their circumstances, it was the only sensible decision to make.

### New York, 2034-2038

Although it was challenging at first, Cat and Xander ultimately came to the conclusion that their breakup shouldn't hinder their future. When they planned to move to New York for further education, they had intended to share an apartment there, and this still looked like the most beneficial plan for both of them.

The brunette initially found being around her ex-boyfriend to be as awkward as imaginable, but thankfully, her classes soon consumed all of her thoughts. Because their study and job schedules didn't overlap at all, they rarely stayed in the apartment together, which gave the young people time to get over their embaressment and reestablish their friendship as it had been when they first met. It even started to seem like nothing ever happened between the two of them as they began spending time together again, mostly at night for a late dinner or watching their favorite TV shows. Even though Catrina was getting used to what was happening, she was also well aware that, sooner or later, their loved ones will have questions about their new relationship.

In 2036, Catrina faced another issue. After her scholarship, which had mostly funded her tuition, was canceled, she was no longer able to afford to continue her studies. Even her job and the money she had saved during the past two years wouldn't have been enough to make a difference. The fact that she couldn't even turn to her mother or stepfather because she had, due to her stubbornness, limited their communication for the previous two years didn't help either. She had already mentally prepared herself for the idea that she would have to return to her hometown, and had even begun to carefully pack her belongings, unsure of what to do next, when she was informed one day that all the costs of her training had already been covered. Cat returned home, not knowing how this could have happened and convinced that it was all a mistake, only to discover that Xander had paid for the remainder of her studies. When she asked where he got the money, the young man confessed that it was meant for his own studies, which he wasn't going to continue at this time. Xander decided to enlist instead because he thought - or at least tried to make Cat believe - that this was what he really wanted to do with his life.

## "Hearts & Minds" Book Series

### Main Characters

* **Josephine Saunders** (aka Catrina Morera)
* **Maxine Morgenstern-Ramírez** (aka Lila Kingswell)
* **Liam Foster** (aka Xander Grey)

## Trivia

* As a teenager, Catrina temporarily took her stepfather's last name, not wanting to have anything to do with her paternal family.
* Catrina is fluent in Russian, Romanian and English, and can speak a little Swedish and German. She also took a Latin class when she was in school.