CARLY SIMPSON

carly ayla simpson was born to nina simpson and beau simpson in savannah, georgia. she was the couple’s first child, born less than a year into their marriage. carly’s father was in the navy, and this was something the small family had to account for. they moved when he did, and stayed in one place when he was deployed. for the first seven years of carly’s life she was an only child. then, her mother and father had a second child, a daughter named faye. they stayed together only two more years after faye’s birth, but cracks were already starting to show.

nina was raised in an incredibly strict and traditional southern home, and her style of parenting and her husband’s didn’t mesh well together. having a second child didn’t fix their relationship, in fact it made it worse because they were both stressed and having sleepless nights. when carly was nine and faye was two, beau and nina began divorce proceedings. beau had come out to his wife as bisexual and she reacted badly. the divorce was messy and by trying to demand full custody of her daughters because of her ex’s sexuality and other shortcomings, beau managed to win nearly full custody. the girls only had to see their mother five weeks out of the year.

from then on, carly and faye lived with their father on base housing. they always had someone taking care of them. their grandparents were incredibly involved in their early childhood and when their grandparents weren’t available, there were babysitters and other kids to keep them company.

growing up, carly was truly a daddy's girl. she and her sister were raised in a strict home. growing up, carly and faye had to ask before going to a friend's house and at least one gaurdian, be it her father or grandparent had to meet the friend's parents prior. they had curfews throughout middle and high school. beau, known within the navy by his callsign 'cyclone', made sure to bond with his daughters when he was home and regularly took them to father daughter dances, ice skating at christmas time, boating during the summer and even brought them on flights around the world when he could.

carly went on to attend the university of north carolina. she went into school undecided (though interested in marine biology), however she chose to major in mathematics in her second year. she spent her college years working hard at her school work, sailing, going to the beach and getting her helicopter pilot's liscense. she had a group of friends she met there and became close with. one of these friends was dinah webster. she and dinah began dating in their junior year of school and lived together their senior year. when they graduated, carly had registered for navy flight school and intended to follow in her father's footsteps.

carly hadn't always wanted to join the navy. she'd been raised with it and thought that she would never join growing up. she didn't think it was 'her thing.' she'd gotten her helicopter pilot's license during college at her friend's urging to try it out. carly had wanted to be a helicoptor pilot on and off as a kid, but didn't see herself flying for the navy, she thought she might be a stunt pilot or maybe just have it be a hobby. after college though, her father encouraged her to join as he saw her potential.

after passing all her training with flying colors, carly was sent to a base in florida. before her move to the base, carly proposed to dinah. they got engaged and moved to the naval base together

while in the service, carly got her callsign from a maneuver she pulled in her helicopter, that her fellow junior officers decided looked a lot like the shaking of a rattlesnake's tail before attack. unfortunately, the shaking of the helicopter's tail was not a good thing and carly, as well as her co-pilot, had to evacuate the helicopter.

after a five and half year relationship, dinah and carly divorced. although dinah was proud of her wife for working her way up in the navy, she worried about her a lot and eventually that worry became too much for her. extended deployment put a strain on their relationship and dinah found herself wanting something more stable, and wondering what her life would have been like if the two hadn't gotten married so soon after college. although she was hurt, carly saw the strain that she'd put on their relationship and didn't want dinah to feel suffocated. their divorce was amicable and quick and the two remained friends. after the divorce, dinah moved to seatlle to start anew.

after her divorce, carly was stationed at the san diego naval base. she learned this was her father's doing. he wanted her to be closer to home while she was going through such a tough time. although she protested, carly was always her father's daughter and appreciated the gesture.