Royale Family

Evan Royale
The Applewhite family was always a close one, with Terrence Applewhite and Emma Bailey bonding over their love of the theatre, Terrence's work as a renowned producer, Emma as a famous Broadway actress, and their strong creative genes inspiring their eldest son Rodney to pursue his love of writing. Daughter Fiona was the more practical one, pursuing a law degree from Fordham University.

"Countless Adoptions"
The Applewhites were dealt a crushing blow when Terrence couldn't hide the truth any longer. In 2006, Terrence confessed to his wife that he was gay. Devastated and humiliated, Emma left town and filed for divorce, with Terrence served papers in August 2007. Though Rod and Fiona were heartbroken at their mother's abandonment, they still stuck by their father and supported his brave choice to accept his own truth, despite his own loss of the wife he did truly love and consider a best friend.

Evan & Christian
Terrence developed feelings for Christian Avery Field, a much younger actor who he had cast in the play he was working on in 2007, and Christian reciprocated his feelings. With the dissolution of Terrence's marriage, Terrence and Christian's relationship progressed quickly, with Christian moving into the Applewhite brownstone (coincidentally) on the one-year anniversary of the date Emma moved out. Rod and Fiona initially vehemently opposed the romance, questioning Christian's motives, believing Christian only planned to use the older, vulnerable Terrence to further his own career and achieve wealth and stardom. After Christian accidentally came upon a nude Rod as he was leaving the shower, Rod went so far as to hire Rachel Marks to investigate Christian's background to prove he was not to be trusted. Rachel told Rod that Christian's foster parents died suddenly after their legal adoption of him came through, reinforcing Rod's belief that Christian was nefarious, but his reveal of Christian's checkered past at Thanksgiving dinner backfired when Terrence revealed he already knew about the tragic death of Christian's adoptive parents.

Terrence and Christian's relationship deepened, and Rod's obsession with breaking them up intensified. Rod took his girlfriend Crystal Halperin to the Applewhite cabin for Valentine's Day to ruin Terrence and Christian's plans, but a distracted Rod shouted Christian's name accidentally, while sleeping with Crystal, which Terrence and Christian overheard when they arrived.

Gradually, Christian's unwavering loyalty to Terrence became evident, winning the trust of Rod and Fiona. Christian and Rod were bonded when masked gunmen held them hostage at Large Bar, and one of the gunmen accidentally shot Rod. Unbeknownst to them, one of the gunmen was Dominic Soletti, Christian's one-time foster brother and childhood best friend.

Evan & Trevor
Just as Rod and Fiona came to accept the unconventional relationship between Christian and Terrence, everyone was devastated to learn that Terrence was diagnosed with advanced AIDS and had months left to live. Terrence and Emma hadn't been intimate in the last several years of their marriage, and in weak moments, Terrence gave into his repressed desires, sometimes having unsafe sex with casual partners. Fortunately Christian and Terrence had used protection and Christian tested negative for HIV, but the notion of losing Terrence was difficult for the family to come to grips with. Rod withdrew from the Applewhites, not wanting to watch his father die. Dominic advised Christian to bail, but Christian held close to Terrence and they agreed to marry, in Canada, where it would be a legal ceremony. Rod first refused to attend the wedding, blaming Terrence's homosexuality for his terminal diagnosis, but came to realize he was squandering the last few months he would have with his father. Terrence and Christian married in Quebec, Ontario, in August 2008.

Evan, Hattie, & "The Lost Royale"
Terrence rapidly declined upon the family's return to New York, and passed away in September 2008. Devastated at the loss of Terrence, Christian and Rod bonded in their grief and their feelings erupted in passionate sex after Terrence's memorial service. Rod decided to end things with Crystal to pursue the feelings that had been growing for Christian over the past year, while Christian pulled back from Rod, feeling disloyal to his late husband's memory. Crystal was heartbroken and furious over being dumped by Rod, especially for a man, particularly for Christian, who Rod had claimed to despise all this time. Crystal learned at this time she was pregnant with Rod's child and chose to first keep the pregnancy a secret from Rod, and then to pass the child off as belonging to Trevor Allen her talent manager, who went along with her scheme to capitalize on the trust fund that would soon become available to Crystal by having a child and getting married.

Christian fled New York with Dominic to try to uncover the truth about their biological roots, and Rod tracked him down, convincing him to return and continue the search for his biological parents in New York, with Rod's help. Meanwhile, Rod wasn't fooled by Crystal's scheme and was determined to prove that her child was his. Gradually Rod and Christian started to explore their feelings for each other, with Fiona's support.

Investigating Christian's roots, Rod and Fiona discovered that his biological father was Evan Royale, Fiona's boss at her internship with Royale & Klein Law Offices. Christian learned that Evan had fathered numerous children and used his connections as an attorney to have them all put up for adoption or into foster care. Christian and Evan may never have a father/son relationship, and Evan revealed Christian's mother was an African-American woman who died in childbirth with Christian.