Naomi Hedison

*"Carter, mind your manners. Father would have disapproved your impudence." - Naomi Hedison*

**Naomi Hedison** is a member of the wealthy and affluent Hedison Family of New York. Her brother is Carter Hedison, the owner and chief stock-holder of Hedison Pharmaceuticals. She is also known as a noted activist in women, family and children's rights.

Born in 1925, Naomi was the youngest child of Lincoln Hedison and his wife, Elizabeth Hedison. Besides Carter, she has a unidentified brother who mysteriously disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1933. She attended Ashford Falls High School in the Forties where she became friends with Anna Waverly, the member of another wealthy local family, and was often wooed by her brothers. Albert and Jerrold Waverly. However, at the time, Naomi only had eyes for Edward Ashworth, the dashing British manservant hired by her parents to replace Luther Hegg, their previous retainer. Although he was two years older than her, Naomi openly flirted with him for years, but Edward remained entirely professional with her.

During high school, Naomi was invited to work with Anna at Ludlow's Candy Shop during which time she met and was romanced by James Larabee, the scion of another wealthy New England family. They married in 1945, slightly ahead of the birth of their son, Bradley Larabee, but James wanted Naomi to live closer to the family estate in Stratford, Connecticutt and they moved there shortly after they married.

Over the years, Naomi returned several times to Ashford Falls. She returned in 1959 when Carter married Monica Winchester, with whom she became friends, and stayed around for the birth of their children, Blake Hedison and Rachel Hedison. She became very close to Rachel as a young girl and encouraged her dancing abilities, but she never had much of a bond with Blake who Carter was already grooming to be a successor in his business. When their marriage became estranged, Carter claimed to Naomi that Monica had deserted him for another man. Naomi also heard about the candy shop closing down in 1967 after the previous owner was retiring and purchased it, remembering the fun she had in owning it. She turned it over to Dr. Alan Fairwood in 1987.

In 1989, James passed away and Naomi again visited amidst the financial struggles at Hedison Pharmaceuticals while considering moving back home to be closer to Carter. During her visit, she was charmed and courted by businessman Nathan Featherstone. In order to raise funds to keep his company going, Carter tried selling off the Winchester Hotel owned by his late wife to cover business interests and placate investors, but to do so he had to falsify the ownership papers. He then turned to Naomi to encourage Nathan to buy the old derelict hotel, and while Nathan was originally intrigued to buy it, Naomi talked him out of it. She was also embittered to hear Rachel had not followed up on becoming a dancer and that Carter had never bonded with his step-son, Ty Hedison, making the young man unstable and anti-social. With Naomi asking uncomfortable questions about Monica's death in 1987, he conspired with psychologist Dr. Felix Osmond to have Naomi committed at Ardmore Sanitarium. When Bradley, now a successful North Dakota horse rancher, learned of his mother's forced commitment, he had her papers over-turned and had her released, later punching out Carter and threatening to kill him if he ever came after his mother again.

Refusing to press charges on his nephew to avoid the real facts from getting out, Carter didn't talk to Naomi for several years, but she struggled to get Rachel to re-bond with her through letters for several years. She did re-establish a relationship with Blake during the 90s, briefly visiting him in 1995 while Carter was living in France. For a short time, she was in a relationship with Victor Redding, an wine connoisseur from Southern California, but they have since separated.