Biography - Anya Jakes (Hagen)
Gina Holden
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Full Name: Anya Elizabeth Jakes (Hagen)
Nickname: n/a
DOB: March 27, 1977
Height/Weight: 5'11" / 115lbs
Hair/Eye Colour: Blue / Red
Glasses/Contacts: Neither
Parents: Terence Carson Jakes and Emily Elizabeth Jakes (nee Carlson)
Siblings: Doctor Charlotte Anne "Charlie" Jakes-Kane, Margaret Cynthia "Maggie" Park, Harold Dwayne Jakes
Other family: Rodney Lemar Kane (brother-in-law), Caleb Vern Kane (nephew), Maryanne Hilary Jakes (sister-in-law; married to Harold), Min "Julie" Park (sister-in-law; partner of Maggie)
Relationship Status: Married
Occupation: Detective, New Orleans Police Department
Born in Brookehaven, Mississippi to Terence and Emily Jakes on March 27, 1977 and is the second oldest of four. When Anya was six years old her father's construction company fell through after his partner made more than a few bad business deals and stole thousands from the company. With no where else to turn, the family of six tried their best to survive on Emily's nursing salary but there were just too many bills. A few years later, an old Army buddy of her father's came into town and told her father about a job that he'd just gotten on an oil rig. The company was still looking to hire some guys on for a two year contract and the money would be enough to square away the debts left over by her father's ex-partner and set the family up for a while. Knowing that they didn't have much choice, Terence signed on for the job.
After that first year they were caught up on all their bills and the debt was paid off, but having been gone for over a year was starting to put a strain on her parents marriage. After the two years were up, Anya's father came home, but announced that he wasn't planning to stay for very long. The same company had offered him a job on another rig of theirs and it was going to start in just a few months, this time for three years. Emily was convinced that she wouldn't be able to raise the four children by herself for three more years and left the family to go back to West Virgina where she was originally from. Her father tried to get out of the contract he'd signed, but the company wouldn't let him. Thankfully, his father Alexander stepped in and agreed to take the children while his son was away.
During the time she spent living with her grandfather, Anya become very close to him and after time grew respect him and love him more like a father than a grandfather. Every night before bed, he would tell her stories of his youth as Sheriff of Brookehaven and how it was the most rewarding job he'd ever had.
During the last six months of his stint on the rig, there was an accident and Anya's father broke his back. It took two surgeries for him to be able to walk again without any serious pain. The company paid for all his medical expenses and even offered him compensation , because the accident could have been prevented if the company had just taken the time to properly replace some faulty safety equipment, instead of just patching it up. The compensation wasn't much, but it was enough to send Anya's oldest sister to college and pay for part of medical school.
When Anya was 17, her grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. Less than a year later he died. For a long time she considered following in her sister's footsteps and becoming a doctor, so she could find a cure to cancer, but eventually she remembered all the stories her grandfather had told her and decided to follow in his footsteps. Thanks to her straight A's, she was able to apply for all kinds of grants and scholarships to pay for college. She graduated from MSU with a BA in Criminology, before applying for the police academy.
At the time, Anya was the only female rookie, but she used her drive to make her grandfather proud and proved herself to be just as hard assed as her male colleagues, even managing to show a few of them up in the processes. Her captain was so impressed that when a detectives spot opened up, he suggested that Anya take the test and apply. Which she did.
Her Captain and the Captain of the 8th district in New Orleans were old college buddies, and when her Captain found out that he was looking for a new detective to work closely with the Crime Lab, be suggested Anya, knowing it would work out well for her career, which it did. Professionally as well as personally. She really found a niche with the 8th District Labs and all the people who worked there and became one of the regular detectives that they worked with. She also found love, in the form of Detective Drew Hagen. At first she didn't want to get involved with anyone at work, but she couldn't get over her attraction to Drew and it was fairly obvious that he felt the same way. So she made him work for it and eventually they started officially dating. A year or so later they were married.
Now they have twin boys and a daughter on the way.
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Random facts about Anya:
- Drew asked her out about fifteen times before she finally agreed to have dinner with him, just to get him to stop asking.
- Despite what happened between her parents, Anya has always had a good relationship with her mother.
- She was the one who suggested that they switch their eldest twin's name around so it would be Andrew Jonathan instead of Jonathan Andrew, which would have made him Jr since it was also Samantha's brother's name.
Random facts about the other children:
- They all have blue eyes like their parents.
- Charlie is a doctor (OBGYN), Maggie is a paramedic and Robert a landscape architect.
- Maggie and Julie met when they became work partners over ten years ago and started dating a few years after. They're civil partners because they don't believe that they should have to travel to another state just to do something that other people get to do in every state.
- Charlie was Rodney's wife's doctor and actually delivered his son Caleb. She remained close with the family and when his first wife died of cancer, she was there to help him with Caleb. Eventually their relationship grew into something more and when Caleb was eight years old they married.
- Maryanne is about five years older than Harold and was a friend of Maggie's in high school. They met in a coffee shop in San Fransisco six years ago and started dating. They've been married for four.