Family Planning

From Candypedia
Family Planning
PublishedMarch 18, 2026 (2026-03-18)
Page count25
Major charactersPaulo, Daisy
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Family Planning is a non-canon Bittersweet Club International comic that jumps eight years into a future where Paulo married Daisy and followed her overseas. She’s chasing a research career while he works two jobs and runs the house. Do they still have time for each other? And whose fault is that?

Partial synopsis

Daisy tells Paulo that she got in and starts in the fall. Her father has bought her ticket, so she begins suggesting long-distance.[1] Before she can finish, Paulo kneels among the falling leaves and explains that her father bought him a ticket too. “Wherever you go, I’ll follow,” he promises. Daisy tackles him, crying “I do!!”[2]

Eight years later, Paulo wakes at 5:15AM beside the empty half of the bed. Last night’s dishes wait in the sink, and he plans his day around two jobs, bills, and making Daisy dinner.[3] At the lab, Daisy dozes at her desk. A coworker says she works harder than anyone there, and when her texts will not send, she angrily concludes that Paulo forgot the phone bill again.[4]

At Vinnie’s, Christi criticises Paulo for always skipping drinks with his coworkers. When he says he has to make dinner for his wife, she says Daisy “treats you like a slave” and that Paulo deserves better. He curtly tells her not to talk about Daisy that way.[5]

Paulo once promised to follow Daisy anywhere. Eight years in, the harder question is what following her has left of him...

Character dynamics

Paulo, in a waiter's vest and bow tie, orders "Two Walking on Sunshines" from Christi, who smirks behind the bar.
The vest and bow tie mean Paulo is already on job number two.
  • Paulo and Daisy: In the main comic, they have only just started dating.[6] Here, Paulo follows Daisy overseas as she pursues the career she planned in Scenic Route.[7] Eight years later, her lab work and his two jobs put them on separate schedules.[3][4]

Trivia & observations

  • The release announcement calls the story non-canon in explicit terms. “Paulo and Daisy are in love. This couldn’t actually happen. It’s not like, the actual story.” It also says the comic had been “in the tank” for a while and was delayed because releasing it during Paulo and Daisy’s romantic period in the main comic felt “a little rude”.
  • Christi’s “You deserve a lot better”[5] resembles Lucy’s earlier advice to Mike about Sandy: “Don’t you know you deserve better than that? Stupid idiot.”[8]
  • Christi and the Vinnie’s restaurant are both original to this story.

Related chapters

  • Scenic Route: Daisy tells Paulo that her top pre-med school is overseas. He says he’d “better save a LOT of money to go visit”.[7] Here, he moves overseas with her.
  • College Material: Paulo declines Daisy’s offer to help him study, saying “You got cancers to cure. Not hopeless cases like me.”[9] Eight years later, she works at a lab while he holds two jobs and handles the bills.[3][4]
  • Rain Check: Paulo realizes “It’s really not that hard falling in love with your best friend” as he and Daisy get together.[6] Here, Paulo proposes, and the next scene takes place eight years later.

References