Catrina Morera

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.

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. Together they lived in Russia for the next five years, and after her father was released from military service, they moved to Romania to live at the mansion owned by Catrina's paternal grandfather.

In September 2021, Paul, Lana and Catrina officially settled in Bucharest, almost immediately attracting the attention of the locals. Mirko Morera, Paul's father, was a famous Gypsy baron, but his sons were hardly going to stand at the head of their community. Thus, since her uncle had no children, it was Catrina who became the main heiress of her grandfather to the post of "Gypsy Princess". For quite a long time, it didn't bring inconvenience. The whole family lived in prosperity, everyone treated them with respect, especially little Cat, but soon there was something that made Catrina's mother reconsider her views on their whole life.

As soon as Сatrina turned ten, Mirko announced that he had already found a fiancé for his beloved granddaughter. It was the son of his long-time comrade, a boy named Vano, who was barely fifteen years old. Finding this out, Lana became furious. She was beside herself with the thought that her daughter was a commodity and was meant to become a teenage boy's wife. Her father-in-law didn't understand her displeasure at all, and her husband simply wasn't around to make stop it, spending all his free time with his older brother in the pub. That same day, Lana collected her things and took her daughter to Sweden to her parents, and soon afterward filed for divorce from her husband. Since moving to Scandinavia, Catrina has never seen her father again.

2026-2031
It took Catrina a long time to adapt to the new country. She was fluent in Russian and Romanian, she could speak English, but she absolutely didn't understand Swedish. The only way out was to attend an English-speaking school. This is where she met Edward Nelson for the first time.

A twelve-year-old boy accidentally stumbled upon this school while walking around the city, and the local kids were more than happy to greet a foreigner. All of them but Catrina. Eddie seemed to be too arrogant and self-confident, and a couple of inappropriate jokes later he was sitting in the medical center with a broken nose, while Cat sat in the headmaster's office, waiting for her mother to come. It wasn't the best first day at school, but it was this event that her whole family remembered for many years. Lana had to have a bad conversation with the father of the beaten boy, but Mr. Nelson turned out to be completely okay with what Catrina has done. He was rather impressed by her actions and even managed to praise the girl, saying that his son fully deserved what he received. It's easy to guess that, from Catrina's point of view, the man was the most pleasant person of everyone she met in Sweden so far. Of course, her mother didn't share the man's positive view on the situation, and therefore Catrina had to apologize to Eddie later. (She made no secret that she was absolutely satisfied with herself because of what she's done, though.)

After that, their life became normal again. Catrina studied at school and learned Swedish with her grandparents, spent time with her aunt and completely forgot about this weird day in school. And so it was, until one day Lana announced that her "new friend" invited their entire family to a restaurant. And what was the surprise when the new friend of her mother was none other than Jonathan Nelson, who also brought his intolerable son with him. Lana's parents and younger sister enjoyed the company of the man, and the newly appeared couple did it, too, but the children had a different opinion. They were literally on the warpath. They didn't like each other and never intended to hide it. A few months passed by before Lana made a new announcement: Jonathan proposed to her and suggested that she and Catrina moved with him to Norway. The girl was shocked. On the one hand, she really liked Jonathan. He took care of her, helped her in everything, and was even interested in her hobbies. But on the other hand, there was his son, who still bothered the girl a lot. She didn't want to live under the same roof with Eddie, but her mother was definitely happy with this man and this was something Catrina didn't want to interfere with. In November 2028, Lana and Cat moved to Bergen, and one more month later the Nelsons moved to Troms.

The next three years were a real challenge for Lana and Jonathan. Their children behaved well with others, but they managed to ruin each other's lives every other day. Eddie stole his step-sister's writing notes and spoiled her relationship with a few friends she had, and she beat him at every possible opportunity and didn't allow his potential girlfriends to appear nearby. Overall, it lasted until 2031, when Jonathan announced that their whole family was moving to his hometown in New Jersey.

Moving to the US
"'Oh. And there's finally something we both agree on.'"

Catrina hardly turned 15, when a "great news" hit her whole family. She barely managed to get used to a measured life, spoiled only by her intolerable step-brother, and the least she wanted at the moment was a move to another country. By this time, she had already lived long enough in Russia, Romania, Sweden and Norway, and had made plans to finish high school and enter a university somewhere in Scandinavia, and the States were destroying everything. Surprisingly, her step-brother absolutely agreed with her here.

Catrina had friends and a boyfriend in Norway. Eddie met a good girl and began, secretly from his father, to attend law school. And both teenagers didn't want to change something in their lives. However, Lana and Jonathan were hardly going to listen to them this time.

A few months later, the family had already settled in Jersey City, and the younger half of the family officially declared the boycott to the elder. Eddie spent his days and nights in the garage, playing the guitar and not letting his father or step-mother around, and Cat fully supported him, plunging headlong into writing. As time has shown, it was precisely this confrontation that forced them to take the first step towards ending a long-lasting rivalry.

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.