J writes:
I’m wondering if it was ever mentioned what had happened to end the Penelope’s PI career?
This question popped up again in Facebook fan group. Facebook is just not set up to be a fan forum, so people keep missing things. We’ve posted it before, but just in case, here it is again for those of you who missed it.
Gisella was a terrible mother. After Bern was born, she would drop him off with Penelope and then vanish for months. Then she would come back and want to be the mother of the year and get sentimental and weepy about her baby. It would last for a month or two, until she found a new guy, and then she would vanish again.
Things got worse after Leon was born. She would come back, take the kids, and then drop them off, dirty, malnourished, and sometimes bruised. When Leon was five, one of Gisella’s boyfriends beat him so severely, Leon passed out. Bern called 911. When the cops showed up, Gisella attacked them. The kids were taken away and placed with Penelope, and Gisella caught some jail time. It was an ugly thing. She told Bern that he was dead to her, and she wished she never gave birth to a snitch.
While she was in jail, James and Penelope decided to get the kids away from her. Gisella is very stubborn, spiteful, and excellent at pretending to be whoever she needs to be, so they knew she would fight them for custody tooth and claw. Penelope, being Penelope, wanted to crush her, but James convinced her that there was a better way.
When Gisella got out, James told her that she deserves a vacation. He handed her $25K and the keys to a convertible and convinced her that she needed to sign adoption papers so CPS wouldn’t take the kids away from them while she was gone. Gisella isn’t dumb. She knew James was buying the kids, but she had been locked up for awhile and itching for good time. She signed the papers, reasoning she could always find a way around it later, took the money, and left.
Fast-forward several years, and Gisella shows up on the back of her boyfriend’s Harley and announces that she came to pick up “her boys.” Only Leon, who skipped school because he was sick, and Penelope were home. Leon had a panic attack. He just froze like a baby rabbit. Penelope told her that they wouldn’t be going with her. Her boyfriend, who was on the large side, lumbered off his bike and at that point Penelope beat the hell out of him and her sister. The whole thing was recorded in the surveillance video.
Charges were filed. It got ugly again, because Penelope was undergoing therapy for PTSD after being a prisoner of war and the prosecutor used it to pressure for jail time. In the end Penelope got probation on the condition she surrendered her PI license, did a lot of community service, and attended an anger management course.
(In Texas, holding a PI license comes with some requirements: you must be an adult, you can’t have felonies or Class A misdemeanors on your record, you cannot be a sex offender, and must not be ruled incompetent because of mental defect or disease.)
Gisella came back home one more time while Penelope and James were out. This time Bern was home. He came out, put his hand around her throat, and lifted her off the ground. He didn’t say anything. She looked into his eyes and whatever she saw in there scared her so badly, that she took off permanently. Gisella spent her whole life mixing with the rough crowd. She’d seen torture, she witnessed murders, but there is nobody she fears more than her oldest son.
rightfully so, Bern made a calculation, and little emotion was involved.
Certified 🥇
And now I have to go and do a Hidden Legacy re-read because it’s been long enough since my last re-read that snippet felt fresh again
Just be warned. I just did reread them all and honestly I kinda got mad that the books were over. And I got mad at House Andrews. I’ve gotten past it, but only recently.
Same happens to me everytime I reread it 😉
It is like cliffhanger
House Andrews are very happy with how they ended the series 🙂
All the main storylines are tied up satisfactorily, the Baylors are safe and set on their path, there is room for future development if they decide to return to it.
There are ideas for an Arabella series, but this was never guaranteed – it’s more a reader decision that it was going to happen 🙂
For now, we will likely get an Augustine novella with a few surprises in it, and we are getting Maggie!
Well I’m certified BDH fanatic and had never read that! I love these wonderful characters that protect the children at all costs! Blessing to the good guys and the writers who bring them to the page. Mwah xoxoxo
Not sure I’d seen this before. Thanks for sharing.
I’d seen it before but I don’t remember the bit about Texas requirements for PIs.
Someone required clarification in the fan group about the link between Penelope’s behaviour in her “off time” and her professional licence. Ilona is heading the same questions at the pass 🙂
First? Ooooh….
Thanks for sharing! It makes me want to read the series again!
Penelope is such a badass, a short with her and Benjiro would be 🎉💥💖, and probably in that order too lol
+1
hope this happens esp the jealous kind..
Thanks for resharing.
Everytime something is shared I enjoy reading it again.
Thanks. Great Christmas Present. It was Orthodox Christmas just this Wed. Great that I can celebrate two Christmases per year.
Thanks for posting. So glad Bern and Leon ended up with their stable loving family. ❤️
There’s nothing I love more than a gentle giant, but when they decide to lay down the law, consider it matter closed! Go Bern!
New to me. Loved to dip my toe in that world again!
Thank you for filling out the hints we got reading through the Baylor Family adventures. Bern is a HERO!!
Between Penelope and Bern, they got their point across to Gisella. Don’t mess with the Baylors!
Thank you for the snippet!
The boyfriend should be glad Penelope didn’t get her sniper rifle out instead of getting the kicking of his life.
Now the questions.
I know both Penelope and Grandma have their own talents. Significant?
Leo is might be an upgrading of Penelope’s.
Bern’s pattern mage talent might be some sort of extension of Penelope’s situational awareness?
But might it also be that the sperm donors had talents themselves?
p.s. Penelope put saving children over herself. Then Bern demonstrated care for his brother too. House Baylor forever!
I find this post helps: (hope it posts the link properly)
https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/baylor-family-tree/
Thx muchly, Joey. I needed the refresher and since I love reading thoroughbred horse pedigrees, these diagrams are great!
Grandfather Leon, Frida’s husband, was a Sagittarius Notable. His daughters and 3 of his grandchildren have inherited it, but at different levels.
Bern is Magus Exemplaria because he takes after Grandma Frida – it’s in the books 🙂
““That’s a hell of a shot,” Rogan’s man said.
Mom turned to Grandma Frida. “Threat-based?”
“Probably.” Grandma Frida grimaced. “Well, at least Bernard takes after me.”
“I don’t get it,” I said.
“Pause it,” Mom said. The woman paused the recording.
“You and your mom get your shooting from your grandfather,” Grandma Frida said. “You more than her. Your Grandpa Leon was crap with a sniper rifle, but if he were under fire, he returned it with deadly accuracy. That’s the way his magic worked. Penelope lies there with her rifle and goes to her happy place, but you have to have people shooting at you to hit the target.”
Andrews, Ilona. White Hot, Hidden Legacy 2. Avon 2017. Kindle edition, Chapter 6, 33%
Thx, ModR
this does beg the question of whether Arabela is a dual like her sisters. I am going with Magus Exemplaria in accounting. Nothing says Jeckyl/Hyde like the accountant that transforms into the Hulk.
No, this is clarified in the books and in A Misunderstanding 🙂. Metamorphosis mages only have one talent, it’s a “jealous” magic.
Actually Bern’s magic is a branch of Grandma’s. I guess Exemplaria helps mechanics figure out how to rebuild engines. When Nevada displayed Leon’s Sagittarius skills Grandma said something along the lines of “at least Bern takes after me.”
I didn’t remember all these details (the last one with Bern I somehow lost!?)
Thanks for reposting.
I remembered the gist, but forgot details. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! I stalk this website but I had not read that before (or I need to take some fish oil…)
Happy new year <3
It wasn’t posted here, but in the Facebook fan group 🙂
I think I’ve read this before, but it’s lovely to read it again. I love Penelope she’s a very real character. She’s not perfect, but she strives to be the best person she can. She makes mistakes accepts consequences and learns from them.
I also adore Grandma Frieda. So much. She reminds me of Grandma Mauzer from the Stephanie Plum’s series.
Speaking of backstory type things– I’ve always wondered if Arland and Sean ever had a conversation about him being Turan Adin and fighting on Nexus. I thought it might be a brothers-in-law (to be) friendship conversation. I can NOT wait for Maud’s wedding.
1) Penelope couldn’t get off with self defense & defending a minor? big guy getting off motorcycle with threats to take children counts (at least here) as a threat.
2) Yup, I’m hooked into everything & have never seen this somehow. Thank you.
3) Go Bern! Oldest siblings are the only people that get to rib on our youngers. And threats are NEVER ribbing.
There was context around that and the prosecutor clearly wanted her in jail 😞
Something I’m sure Rogan could speak to, but prosecutors often have it out for a vet in a violent situation. There’s a certain type of person who wants the military to exist, but doesn’t ever want to deal with the people it creates after they leave the military. And tend to assume the worst of them.
I assume that’s what happened here, plus maybe a little bit of “District Attorney needs good numbers and good PR to run for reelection.”
So if Bern and Leon have talents/gifts…does Gisela also have one?
Thank you for posting it here!
I’m part of the FB group and agree it’s not set up to be a fan forum.
I’m not on FB much anymore in general so miss a lot of things posted there.
The very hardworking volunteer mods try their best, digging up links where feasible, fighting meme spams and teaching search function awareness – but the Meta platform just isn’t a match for BDH thirst for knowledge and chalance 🙂
I don’t think any website (except this one) is a match for BDH thirst for knowledge and chalance. 😁
Thank goodness for you even more for keeping us connected to all the goodies from FB!!🤗
Seriously love that last line. Love Bern. Love that Leon loves Bern. Also love Leon . . . especially when he narrates. 🙂
Oh and obviously love the Bern loves Leon. Love the brother love.
That woman was something else. I feel also like you are writing from experience as well. When someone tells a story from “imagination” so convincingly it feels real, I can relate so well. Been there.
Real people are infinitely more complex than characters. For example, Ted Bundy saved a child from drowning. As writers, we steal bits and pieces from real life and weave them together and then you, the readers, add the other 50% from your life experience. So no, we didn’t have a Gisella in our lives. We are just good at retaining information and creating convincing humans. 🙂 It was very flattering though that something we made up resonated that deeply. Thank you.
Honestly, everything HA makes up resonates very deeply with me. I get so involved in the stories that I always forget I am reading about fictional characters and not real people! That doesn’t happen very often, even with other writers that I like.
And that right there would be why Ilona Andrews are my favorite authors! 🥰💕💕💕
+1 Well said!
I didn’t know that about Ted Bundy, and, IMO, this is the scariest thing you ever wrote (or typed). It’s so easy to think Evil people are just evil, and good people are good.
My family had our own complicated monster* (which I luckily found about after his death so I didn’t have to confront with him) so I know that, but somehow, it’s scariest when it’s someone you didn’t grow up loving.
*war crimes
There are a lot more complicated humans running around than almost anyone wants to know. If they were all one thing, good or evil, it would be easy to tell who has monstrous tendencies. And some of those complicated humans are very, very adept at masking their inclinations.
When I look at monstrous behavior in my own family history, it was all driven by generational trauma. Damaged children became damaging adults. They had no access to appropriate resources for processing their own trauma, so they proceeded to traumatize others.
Intellectually I recognize this, but it’s much easier to process emotionally after they’re gone and can no longer continue wreaking havoc.
I saw an interview with his younger brother. Quite interesting. Poor guy has been really damaged He loved his brother and Ted was good with him
Also saw one with his female cousin Also interesting bu I did wonder if she kind of exaggerated some
I dont know how i missed a post about this before. This is the first time I’m getting the backstory. Love it.
Me too!
And I thought I was a pretty good blog stalker!😂
I’m not sure if it was put in the blog originally but I know that it was in the HL FAQ. Except for that part about Bern picking his egg donor up by the neck.
Ohhh. I definitely missed this before! Thanks for sharing it again ❤️
I really liked this back story…reminder of her badassery.
I just tear up reading what happened to those boys.
And THIS is why you’re the best.
All that backstory, making Bern and Leon the people they are. Not even the 3rd tier characters (like Gisella) are a sketch. They are all fully thought out.
Which is why I still want Jack to get a book or three!!!
If you’re taking signatures on that petition 🙋♀️
Nalini Singh is the same way. She introduces a minor character and everyone is “yeah, we’re going to need a full book for them.”
I’ll also sign the petition for Jack. I also want more of my beloved Gaston, but honestly, I’d love just to have him pop up EVERYWHERE. Little Gaston cameos across the HouseAndrewsVerse (which doesn’t technically exist except in the fevered imaginations of the BDH. Like fetch, we are trying to make it happen.)
Oh, no. It’s a thing! And I refuse to believe otherwise. 😄 The Andrews-verse (Mod R, do we have a better name for it?) is real, no matter how many times the beloved authors try to deny it. But really, the end of Inheritance just made the call of the ‘verse that much stronger. 🤣
(Sticks fingers in ears 🙉. Oh, wait, I’m reading, covers eyes to not see the denial 🙈.)
It’s commonly referred to as the Ilonaverse 😉
Thanks! 🤗
That does sound better, but I feel like we’re leaving Gordon out? Maybe he doesn’t care what we call this thing that they deny? 🤷♀️😄
Who is Jack?
Jack is from the Edge and Innkeeper Chronicles series, the younger brother of George Camarine, the Arbitrator 🙂
thanks for sharing! Gisella is piece of work. sadly, there are parents like this in the real world
Thank you!
Not on FB, so glad to get this back story! Thank you!
I had missed an original post before too and am seeing this the first time – love it – thank you.
Yep, Gisella is definitely a contender for the Mother of the Year award.
I love this so much. Thank you, House Andrews, for all the back stories you write for us.
Love Bern to bits<3. I have had the privilege of working with many similar to him (the Dev's who have to start at the beginning, or will get distracted). His love for Leon is one of the most explicit examples of the Baylor family's love for each other.
That and the Brother – Cousin joke!
Yep, he doesn’t get mad often, but when he does, it’s ice and deadly! Such a good guy!
what a sad story. I’m glad that Bern and Leon “found” the Baylors.
Look at me, writing about them as if they were real-life people. Lol.
So… any chance we ever get to find out more about Bern’s and Leon’s dads?
Just… asking.
Nonchalantly.
+∞
I think Leon’s father is Gabriel Baranovsky, the oneiromancer who is murdered during his fancy charity ball in “White Hot”.
As written in “White Hot”: 1) GB was “a very accurate short-term precog” who predicted the future by dreaming (whereas Leon predicts the short-term future of gunfire), 2) “Rumor has it, there is a bastard child, But nobody’s ever seen him or her.”, 3) GB sleeps around a lot, as in “He was likely Elena’s only lover, but for him she was one of many. It’s a compulsion.” 4) Leon is built exactly like GB, who was described as “slender, almost slight… a habitual runner…” (and Leon runs cross-country).
To me, it’s obvious 😉
It “seems” obvious… but I want to watch hotshot PI Leon crack that case for himself. 🙂
LOL, this is awesome.
Thank you. That was interesting. I wish that all the kids who needed defending had a defender.
Thank you for this because I did miss it earlier.
I didn’t miss it the first time. But it still hit me like a brick. I know it’s just a background story, if HA wanted to really write it, it would be 10 times more gut wrenching, but it’s plenty gut wrenching as is.
There’s a reason Leon adores his big brother Bern, and this is part of that.
One of these days, Gisella will come back, and there will be an end.
Catalina might have her taken care of.
Or Arabella. Or Rogan. Or the incredibly lethal not-related-to-Gisella grandparents.
Or any of the security teams from House Baylor/House Rogan. Sargent Heart in particular.
Thank you!
Thank you! I had missed this but often wondered.
Time to reread the series. That scene was soooo good.
Thank you!
Oh my goodness, somehow I have not seen this before. Thank you.
Wow. I thought I kept on things, but I hadn’t seen this. I don’t care for Facebook, and I know stuff gets posted there I miss. I knew Gisella was ugly about giving up the boys, but didn’t know the details. She apparently skipped Bern’s wedding, so maybe she really is gone.
Gisella left that last time convinced that if she ever showed up again, she was dead meat. Attend that son’s wedding? She’d sooner live.
Yay Bern!!!!! As they say, good riddance to bad rubbish….buh-bye Gisella!!!!! 👍😁
wow
I have to admit I never saw this whole story before.
Thank you
Ohhhhhh that’s heavy!!!!
I don’t want to sound greedy, but it makes me want more. More on Leon & Bern.
SORRY! No pressure.
Ohhhhhh that’s heavy!!!!
I don’t want to sound greedy, but it makes me want more. More on Leon & Bern.
SORRY! No pressure.
That is a well known situation in child protective. My heart cries for Bern and Leon. Some people should be neutered at birth.
I want to congratulate you on writing something so realistic that I could see it happening.
Thanks!
I sometimes forgot all the kids (5) were trained since younge age by Penelope, grandma Frida and James.
So I was mowing my yard, since it was a relatively dry day and found a four leaf clover! ☘
BTW has anyone else suddenly thought while reading “I need to comment on this chapter! It is so good/funny/exciting!” only to realize that you are reading an actual book you bought/checked out of the library instead of a web novel that you’re reading on a site?
I’m rereading this series again right now. Love the flash back. Thanks!
Thank you!! I was always wondering about this too!
Happy New Year everyone 🎆
Wow, great backstory. Thanks for filling the blank spots. I love that Bern and Leon ended up in a loving family.
Oh! Feel the Bern!
Whoa, don’t know how I missed this backstory! Go Penelope, go Bern!!
Started happily rereading HL, thanks to your recent snippets. Am excited for Maggie, but also hope to get a new HL book. No pressure, just being hopeful!
The Augustine novella is coming 🙂
Well.
God damn, Bern. 😳
I want Grandma Victoria to have a chat with Gisella. She’s the one who can inspire fear in every prime in an entire continent. Whatever lies Gisella likes to tell herself, they would fall apart as Victoria poured tea.