Reynoso Family

Origins
The Reynoso family is a picture perfect example of things not always being as they appear. Aviva Reynoso was first seen in 2007 as a happy-go-lucky English Literature professor at CUNY Hunter College. Aviva's relationship with younger sister Carina appeared strained on Carina's side, but Aviva pluckily pursued a relationship with her embittered sibling. The root cause of the animosity from Carina was unknown at first, but she made it clear to colleague Dr. Julia Lawless at St. Vincent's Hospital (where Carina toiled as an orderly) that her parents weren't nearly as invested in Carina as Julia's mother was invested in her. Over time, Carina was a victim of a hit-and-run that pegged Eleanor Halperin as the drunk driver behind the wheel, Aviva's boyfriend Ramon Valdez cheated with vixenous Private Investigator Rachel Marks, and Aviva's mental state began to deteriorate, revealing that the roots of the Reynoso family tree are rotten to the core, with many skeletons in the family's closet that led to the family falling apart, and to Aviva shattering into several distinct alternate personalities.

Dissolution
In February 2009, some details of the downfall of the Reynoso family were revealed in a therapy session between Aviva's alternate personality Ava, Dr. Lynn West, and Aviva's mother Lucia. According to Ava, Reynoso patriarch Cesar Manuel Reynoso sexually abused her as a child, and allowed other men to abuse her as well, in exchange for money. Ava firmly believed Lucia knew about the abuse but retreated into denial and enabled the behavior. Lucia, plagued with guilt, admitted to the denial, and begged for forgiveness, which Ava refused to bestow.

Lucia allowed herself to believe Cesar's stories about taking Aviva to the movies, the park, or for ice cream, because of physical evidence of the trips, but Ava countered that there were ticket stubs because Cesar would go to the movies when he left her with other abusers. Ava said there were grass stains on her clothes because she was abused by men in parks, backyards, or by the side of the road. Ava admitted there was ice cream, to cool her face down from crying, and would keep her quiet about Cesar's threats to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse.

Lucia was truly stunned when Ava revealed she became pregnant, and, based on "probability" believed the child was Cesar's. Ava said she had to steal money that Cesar had made from selling her to other men in order to afford a secret abortion. Lucia finally had to admit to herself that things weren't right when Aviva would return from time with her father and she was "different", and Cesar had photos that he "shouldn't have had." Manny was growing suspicious and Carina was so young, Lucia sent Aviva away to school to protect her, which angered Cesar so much he made Lucia "pay for it."

As Manny started acting out and Carina was getting older, Lucia feared for what else Cesar might do, so she took the children and left him, never telling her kids the real reason she left their father. Carina believed Cesar had an affair, and resented Aviva for being away at school and not having to watch the family break up. Lucia later went to unburden herself to Ramon, and Carina arrived to overhear the truth, and angrily disowned her mother, also blaming Lucia for being the reason Manny's been in prison for years. Official details about the reasons and timeline for Manny's imprisonment have not been established as of yet. Also, the status of Cesar's whereabouts, of if he's still alive or roaming free in the world have not been established.

Aviva, Ramon, & Rachel
English Literature professor Aviva Reynoso was dating sexy bartender Ramon Valdez in November 2007, and trying to reconnect with her wallflower sister Carina. Carina despised Aviva's unwavering bubbly outlook, and herself was perpetually single, and suffering as an orderly at St. Vincent's Hospital. Carina was used to just getting by and had discovered no personal passions to bring meaning to her life. While Aviva felt her life was ideal, Ramon's relationship with Aviva apparently lacked a certain passion as well, which left him vulnerable to aggressive, abrasive, and undeniably sexy private investigator Rachel Marks.

Ramon and Rachel had several illicit encounters, and Ramon couldn't deny the magnetic pull Rachel had on him, as much as he hated betraying Aviva... but couldn't stop. Rachel "befriended" Aviva, hoping to understand her rival better, and also understand why Ramon wouldn't leave her for Rachel. On Thanksgiving night, Aviva was invited to the Baldwin family dinner by her colleague Theodore Baldwin, and brought Ramon as her date. Aviva set Carina up on a blind date with Theodore's hunky son James Baldwin at the same dinner, but sparks failed to fly between them. Theodore's eldest daughter Jenna's date was Shawn Marks, who included his sister Rachel in the the family gathering, bringing Rachel into contact with Aviva, Ramon, and Carina. Carina sensed a particular vibe between Rachel and Ramon and became suspicious about the nature of their familiarity with each other.

Carina's suspicions about Ramon and Rachel were confirmed when she caught the two having a rendezvous in a supply closet at the hospital (where Ramon came and went frequently as a recently-certified EMT). Ramon realized Carina caught him in the compromising position and Carina gleefully ran off to shatter her sister's world with the news of Ramon's infidelity. Ramon chased after her, and watched as a wayward car ran Carina down in the street outside the hospital at the stroke of midnight, and as the new year, 2008, dawned, Carina fell into a coma.

Aviva sat vigil at her sister's hospital bedside and led the charge against Eleanor Halperin who was (wrongly) accused of being the drunk driver that ran Carina down. Meanwhile, Ramon tried to resist his pull toward Rachel, but Rachel supported Aviva during her crisis as any good "friend" would. As Aviva hoped for Carina's recovery, Ramon secretly wished she would remain silent in order to protect his secret affair with Rachel. As Ramon's brother Rolo learned the truth about Ramon's affair with Rachel, and Carina started to show signs of emerging from the coma, Rachel began receiving threats in the forms of a doll resembling her hanging from a noose from Rachel's bedroom ceiling, and a message written in pig's blood across her bedsheets. Meanwhile, Aviva began receiving anonymous notes warning her about who she trusts. When Carina fully emerged from the coma, she decided not to expose the affair yet, and Rolo swore he was innocent. It was eventually revealed that Aviva herself had been sending the notes to Rachel, and to herself... or was it really Aviva?

Aviva's Alters
Referring to herself in the third person, and then calling herself Ava, it was obvious that Ms. Reynoso had a lot more bubbling under the surface than anyone knew. Making it her mission to exact revenge on anyone who wronged Aviva, Ava systematically set out to target everyone close to her. Ava seduced Aviva's student and Ramon's brother Rolo Valdez on Aviva's classroom desk, breaking his girlfriend Tiffany's heart in the process and indirectly leading to Rolo's near-fatal stabbing. When Ava was close to being caught as Rachel's stalker by NYPD Detective Nathan Weber, she took him hostage in her apartment and chained him to a pipe in her bedroom! Ramon was Ava's next victim, also taken hostage when he discovered the kidnapped Det. Weber! Ava changed tactics and seduced attorney Evan Royale to keep him from discovering her hostages, but when Rachel was the next to interfere, Ava knocked her out, giving her a hairline skull fracture! Theodore Baldwin caught on to Aviva's identity crisis, so Ava didn't think twice about tossing the elderly man down a staircase at Hunter College!

Theodore fingered Aviva as the culprit behind his attack, so she went into hiding, crossing paths with local criminal Ford Collins, who showed her nothing but kindness and gave her a place to hide from authorities. Ava joined forces with him to burglarize the penthouse of the wealthy Von Stadt family, hoping to obtain enough to secure a flight to a non-extradition country, only to be apprehended when Hattie Wilson, secretary for Von Stadt International, discovered the burglary in progress.

Carina & Lauren
When a fluke caused Carina to lose her job as an orderly at the hospital because of her excessive absences (while comatose!), Carina didn't miss her job but was at loose ends about where to take her life. Carina saw her near-death experience as a chance to reinvent herself, take a new direction in life, but unsure of exactly which direction, since she was never particularly good at any one thing. Everything changed for Carina in July 2008 when she saw a news piece on television about self-made business mogul Lauren Sapphyre, and immediately wanted to work for her. Carina was drawn to someone who was so decisive, powerful, and sure of themselves, that she was certain working closely with her would help her find direction in her own life.

Coming upon Lauren by chance at The Redeye, Carina wanted to schedule an interview to become Lauren's personal assistant, or work for her in any capacity. Lauren laughed Carina off, immediately deciding Carina was unqualified to work for her. Carina lashed out at Lauren, furious over the outright rejection, and the fire in Carina's eyes caught Lauren by surprise. Lauren saw Carina in a new light and decided to craft a new campaign, making Carina the face of Sapphyre Cosmetics' new"Artemis" fragrance line!

Carina by no means ever considered herself "model" material, but Lauren's confidence in her buoyed Carina's spirits. Swept up in Lauren's fast-moving, glamorous world, Carina was overcome by emotions she'd never felt before, including an attraction to the passionate and alluring Lauren. Though wary of these unfamiliar feelings, Carina embraced them and shrugged off anyone who was surprised at the "new" Carina Reynoso.

As Carina's life continued to expand and improve, her sister Aviva's life continued to crumble as she was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and apprehended after a crime spree. Carina, almost coldly, remained focused on her own life, not wanting to allow her newfound joy to be eclipsed by her sister's unrelenting drama. Over time, Lauren began to let Carina into her heart, after their sexual relationship had already started.

Carina was stunned when her mother Lucia Reynoso arrived in New York after years of separation, to help with Aviva's therapy at Shady Glen Sanitarium. Lucia didn't even visit when Carina was in a coma for months! Lucia reached out to Carina to get to know her youngest daughter again, but Carina rejected her mother, throwing her new sexual identity in her mother's face and claiming there was no room left in her life for her biological family.

Lauren supported Carina's decisions, and they grew closer, but when Carina found a file on a woman named Linda, Carina suspected she had a rival for Lauren's affection, only to learn from Lauren that Linda was Lauren's birth name! Lauren was furious at Carina's snooping, but Carina refused to be shut out of Lauren's life and Lauren finally opened up about her past. Lauren admitted that she separated from her family early because she lost a brother to the war, when that brother only enlisted in the military to please the family, not for his own beliefs. Not wanting to live a life her family planned for her, but to forge her own, Lauren left home, changed her name and proceeded to build the life she wanted for herself, cutting her family out of her life completely. Carina was taken aback when she learned Lauren had a child as a result of marital rape from a short-lived marriage. The husband died soon after the rape and Lauren gave the child up for adoption, unable to separate her feelings about the circumstances of conception from her feelings about the child.

Lauren had yet to decide whether she wanted to find or know her long lost child, but Carina stood by Lauren to support her in whatever she'd decide.

Shady Glen Sanitarium
Declared unfit to stand trial, Ava was sent to Shady Glen Sanitarium to undergo psychiatric treatment for Dissociative Identity Disorder. There, Dr. Lynn West not only got to know the wild, unpredictable, sarcastic Ava, but also the violently aggressive teenage boy alter, Manny. Dr. West hoped to help Aviva's alters cooperate with each other to make it safe for Aviva to return to consciousness. Meanwhile, Ramon, feeling responsible for Aviva's unspooling, hoped to be an active part in her healing and recovery, despite Dr. West's urgings that he keep his distance because he was a trigger for Aviva's latest series of dissociations. Ramon sought out Aviva's mother, Lucia Reynoso, who was living a quiet life in Texas, and convinced her to travel to New York to aid in Aviva's recovery. Though Lucia came to New York, she has resisted revealing what she knows of Aviva's prior mental difficulties to the inquiring Ramon and Carina.

As if having three personalities in one body wasn’t complicated enough, it was soon discovered that Ava was pregnant. Ava wanted to terminate the pregnancy, but Dr. West felt it should be Aviva’s decision. Aviva’s mother Lucia was willing to care for her unborn grandchild until Aviva was ready, perhaps to repent for the sins of Lucia’s past. But what did the baby’s father want? Or, more to the point, who was the father? Playboy Evan Royale, carefree Rolo Valdez, or remorseful Ramon?

Ava's pregnancy & Hattie Wilson
Ava befriended fellow mental patient Esther Wilson at Shady Glen, who advised her on weaknesses in the Sanitarium's security that would allow Ava to escape. Esther's advice was sound, and Ava fled the institution to try to obtain an abortion. Ava hid out on the docks, hoping to come across her friend Ford, but was discovered by rival Rachel instead. Ava saw no choice but to take Rachel hostage with a broken bottle and get Rachel to drive her to a clinic where Ava could terminate her pregnancy.

While Shady Glen discovered Ava had escaped, Rachel and Ava drove to a clinic, and Rachel was uncharacteristically supportive, implying she herself had had an abortion in the past. Ramon and Det. Weber picked up on Ava's trail and intercepted her before she could go through with the abortion, returning her to the custody of Shady Glen.

Meanwhile, Ford Collins set in motion a chain of events that led to an explosion at the Heart Healthy Ball, causing Hattie Wilson to miscarry a baby she was planning to pass off as wealthy Henry Von Stadt (though Evan Royale was the true biological father). Devastated with grief, Hattie insisted Ford rectify the situation by replacing the baby she would never bring into the world. Ford remembered his friend Ava was suffering through her unwanted pregnancy, offered to connect the two women and he was rewarded with an escape from New York to avoid the repercussions from the explosion he set off. Hattie then turned to her mother Esther for help in brokering a deal with Ava that would secure her a brand new baby.