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Thank you again for playing in the last round. It was even harder to choose this time, so once again a few names have snuck into my back pocket.

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5 years have passed
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DF (34): James Eugene Hall (RowenaRavenclaw)
DF (34): Alexia Cosmina Vidraru (skinnyminnie)
DD (7): Sofia Victoria Hall (JuliaF)
DD (3):
DDog (9): Lucky (Story)

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The Hall family have achieved their goal of moving into a bigger apartment, though not without some difficulty. Their old home was sold before the deal on a new home was completed, and when it fell through, they were forced to split up and stay with relatives as the frantic hunt for a new place began. Due to his greater flexibility, James took Lucky to stay with his cousin Anthony (Amoret) while Alexia and Sofia went to her mother’s house, and then her sister’s, in order to stay close to work and have assistance. Sofia regarded the whole thing as a great adventure and loved being doted on by her cousins, Angelica and Sabina (.) She was less enamoured with the long, boring process of actual house hunting.

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After a lot of searching that saw Sofia beg her parents from the back seat to just buy something already, the family have found the perfect new home with two spacious bedrooms, a large open plan living area and a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking…a car park. One can’t have everything, but even Lucky has given her approval, although the old dog is happy anywhere with a comfortable sofa. The last box was unpacked just in time for Sofia to start attending the local school, and for James and Alexia to find out that their family would soon grow again.

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Since Sofia began school, she has revealed herself to be prodigiously intelligent, though less adept at social skills. Her teacher describes her as a delight to have in class, which is code for ‘she sits in the corner reading and doesn’t talk to anyone’. She has also developed a deep love for music and began piano lessons two years ago, with the tutor remarking on her talent. She is already talking about joining an orchestra when she grows up, and failing that she wants to be a scientist – in her mind, someone who stays in a room by themselves and writes things on a blackboard, which sounds ideal. She remains close to her father, with both of them being quiet souls who can ponder books for hours, but has also grown closer to her mother. Alexia is the only person who is treated to Sofia’s sense of humour, and the two also share a love for animals, although Sofia is unnerved by the boisterousness of dogs and prefers cats. At her request, the family briefly fostered a sweet-natured kitten named Sunny (. & Cinnabar), but this endeavour revealed that James is allergic, so Sofia’s dreams of having her own pet will have to wait.

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Although Sofia has all the tools to find success, her parents are concerned about the possibility of her being lonely as she gets older and so it was good news to discover that she would soon have a sibling. Sofia was less pleased at the thought of having to share her space, but her easygoing nature came through and she adapted well to her sister’s arrival. This early success was undone when DD2 began to walk and was able to start annoying her for attention. Sofia spent several weeks trying to run away, hide and do anything to avoid the toddling intruder in her home, imploring James and Alexia to make her sister stop following her – until one afternoon when DD2 entered the living room and, rather than demand attention, lay quietly on the sofa and watched a children’s show with Sofia. Somehow this broke the ice and the two have lived in peace ever since, with their only disagreement being who is in charge of making up rules for the games they play.

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The answer, if you ask her, is DD2. In contrast to her older sister, DD2 is a tiny boss with very strict ideas of how things should be done. This has caused some headaches for her parents as she insists on ‘helping’ by doing such things as turning off wall plugs that don’t appear to be in use in order to save electricity, screaming a warning when there is a red light within 100 metres of the car, and on one occasion placing her teddy on the stove to warm it up on a cold day. (The teddy now sports a giant burn on its fur, which has not diminished DD2’s affection for it.) She briefly attended piano lessons with Sofia, but has now been expelled as she preferred doing laps of the tutor’s living room. Perhaps a greater appreciation for music, or at least a longer attention span, will come with age. For the moment her most time-consuming hobby is a quest to force two magnets with repellent poles to stick together.

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DD2 has a short internationally used name that goes well with Sofia. Her middle name was chosen by her sister and comes from Sofia’s favourite film (a Disney movie released no later than 2004.)