Michael Salvatore had always been a man who was looking for adventure. Born and raised in Washington, his biggest desire was to save up money to travel the world. He wanted to see every sight, experience every culture, taste every type of food, and explore all the hidden little mysteries that different landmarks had to offer. So it didn't come as a shock to anyone that he hopped on a plane once he was out of college. He started off in South America, went through Russia and Asia, stopped off in Australia and New Zealand, and ended up in Europe where it all came to a startling halt the second he met the gorgeous Petra Kostas. She was still a student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, studying medicine, and he was absolutely smitten with her. His original plan had been to travel west to visit the UK, but those plans were quickly derailed now that he'd fallen head over feet for this Greecian beauty. And while she hadn't immediately fallen for his charms, she was intrigued by the American man who seemed to have such a zest for life and adventure.

They were married six months later in Athens. It was exactly ten months after that when their first born, Nicole Giselle, was brought into the world. The two newly weds were thrilled by this little addition. They couldn't have been any more happy once their little girl was in their arms, even if she was a bit of a fussy baby. They started calling her Nicky, a nickname that's stuck to this day. When she was a year old they had another little girl by the name of Maria, and the two were instantly connected at the hip. When Nicky was three years old, her parents decided to move to the States - back to Washington where their father was originally from. Although it was difficult for Petra to leave her beloved homeland and family, she made the sacrifice for her husband in order for him to persue his career in firefighting. While she was first and foremost a stay-at-home mother to her little girls, she did take classes on the side in hopes to become a registered nurse in America.

Nicky doesn't remember Greece from when she was little, but she does remember the transition that they made once they were in Centralia, Washington. She was a bright and friendly child, and she'd been bilingual from the moment she began to speak. It wasn't difficult for her to start favoring English instead of Greek - even though her mother mostly kept to her native tongue at home. She remembers quite fondly her younger days because she was daddy's little girl back then. Sadly, that dynamic changed when she was five years old, and her twin brothers Adrian and Anthony were born. She loved her baby brothers to itty bitty pieces, but they were Michael's little boys. They did everything together, which pushed Nicky into being more of a loner within her family. Being the oldest child, she was more independent than her siblings and was often the one that was given most of the responsibility. While her sister and brothers would complain about her being bossy, Nicky would simply say that she was looking out for their well being. Maybe she liked the power a little too much, but she'd just tell you she was looking out for their best interest.

Nicky was in her element when she got into high school. Popularity was something that she hadn't been searching for or even wanting to be a part of, but it was inevitable with all of the sports she was a part of. She was involved in swimming, track & field, and basketball, along with gymnastics outside of school. While she was a smart girl and could get good grades if she applied herself, homework and tests were the last thing on her mind once she started dating a boy named Jonny during her Junior year. Some might have said that theirs was a 'puppy love', but she would have sworn that it was true love. Not the kind of thing they'd throw away once they went to college. She was absolutely positive that she was going to marry that boy. But something horrible happened when she was a senior. Her father left the family without warning; packed up his bags and disappeared. It was so unexpected and so out of the blue and so heart wrenching that Nicky just shut down. She pulled away from all of her loved ones, her boyfriend included. Something snapped inside of her when her father left. She felt determined to deal with her own issues all by herself, but in so doing it only managed to ostracize her from everyone.

It wasn't until the summer after she had graduated that she found out that Jonny had fallen in love with her sister Maria, and vice versa. The two had apparently gotten close after Michael's departure. The two had found in one another the things that they couldn't find in Nicky. Neither had known how to bring the matter up to her, neither wanted to hurt her, but when they came to the point where they could no longer deny their feelings they sat her down and told her the story. They knew she would be hurt, but what they didn't know was how angry and bitter she would get. After a lot of yelling, she told them both they were dead to her and to this day she still hasn't fully forgiven them.

But it was pure torture living in her house seeing them nearly every day, with the constant reminder that two of her closest loved ones had betrayed her. They tried to keep their distance, and she certainly did her best to avoid them at all costs, but that still couldn't stop her from seeing them together. That was the biggest reason she decided to go to school on the other side of the country. She started at NYU, thanks to a sports scholarship, but all she ended up doing was frittering it away. Many nights were spent at parties or sitting in her locked room with a bottle of tequila, just trying to escape from her pain. She couldn't keep up with her studies with this lifestyle, and eventually she would drop out of college her Sophomore year.

Nicky spent most of her early to mid-twenties trying to fill the chasm in her heart that had been created when her dad left. Try as she might, she just ended up in a downward spiral. She thought that if she could only get away then she'd start feeling better. She'd debated about enlisting into the army, but in the end she decided to go the route of the Peace Corps. She applied when she was twenty-five. After she was accepted she took the opportunity to first travel around Europe for a little over a month. She was then sent as a volunteer for two years to Albania and two years to Thailand. These were some of the best times in her life, though they were incredibly challenging. Her father had given her a flair for adventure and travel, being a part of the Peace Corps satiated some of that desire in her. It also made her feel like she was accomplishing something huge, it was an amazing feeling to be a part of something much bigger than herself. Doing things for other people, helping them better their living conditions and educating them helped her to take her mind off of her own life. She realized that so many other people were in worse positions than her.

But after awhile you have to come back to reality. Rather than return home to Washington once her volunteering was through, Nicky decided to move to Boston to experience something entirely new. She enrolled back into school while working as a bartender and began studying fire science. It wasn't ever her own goal to become a firefighter, but the longing she had for her father compelled her to follow in his footsteps. Now she's been firefighting for just over three years and she loves every second of it. She also has a side job as a modern dance instructor for kids - it's fun and helps balance out the stress of her career. She has a dog, an apartment with one roommate, and overall she's feeling more settled than ever before.