Monster Slayer's MC Book 3

MSMC Bk 3 - Chapter 11

 Chapter 11-The Wedding

Manuel Perez's POV

I sat on the bride's side and so far, Annalisa's eyes were only for Eagle, as it should be, and she had not even noticed Helena, who quietly cried almost all the way through the ceremony, and Greggory yet. It was plain to everyone watching them that these four truly loved each other. I had been surprised at first when I met Eagle and Hulk, not only by their names but by their sheer size. While Eagle was not nearly as big as Hulk, he still looked like he was someone who was fully capable of taking care of my daughter.

I had been so entranced with watching the ceremony that I had not really been paying much attention to the other guest but when one of the children began to get fussy, I turned my head to look and nearly fell out of my chair when I spotted a little girl that looked exactly like Annalisa had when she was that age.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her and when she saw me looking, she gave me the sweetest smile, waved and when I waved back she hid her face against the teddy bear that she kept clutched tightly in her little arms. She didn't look like either the man holding her or the woman sitting next to him. They were both blondes with blue eyes and the beautiful little girl had dark chocolate brown hair and big brown eyes.

From that point on, I only heard about half of what was being said between the couples at the altar as my mind raced. Is it possible that I have a granddaughter? My wife, Isabella, never said anything about it and she had always been the one to deal with Annalisa when she called and would always hang up without giving me a chance to talk to her. That has caused many of the arguments between us over the past few years. I just happened to catch the phone the day Nessa called because Isabella had just left the house to go to her "ladies club meeting".

My wife is big into keeping up with the Jones' and we had to join all of the "elite" couples for their activities to keep up appearances. Isabella had grown up in a middle class family that were parvenues. Her mother had been like that and drove her father into an early grave.

I had never wanted to marry Isabella but our parents had arranged our marriage for us and we both grew up in a time when that was still socially acceptable in "high society" and I foolishly accepted it because my father had threatened to disown me if I did not marry soon and produce an heir and my mother had not approved of the girl I was dating at the time because she was not "of our class" and selected the beautiful Isabella.

It had broken my heart to break up with my girlfriend at the time but after a final threat from my parents, I had finally accepted that I would have to adhere to their wishes or I would have been homeless and penniless and my father would not allow me to continue to work for him so I would not have been able to provide for us. I just couldn't do that to her. I had wanted to give her everything.

I have to admit, Isabella was an incredibly beautiful woman when we first married but I soon discovered that she was a cold, selfish, vindictive and abusive person who had treated our staff poorly and was unliked by many, especially if she felt they were "beneath" her or our social level. I tried to make the most of it but my heart had never loved her. She would only be affectionate towards me when she wanted something but was never passionate, just submissive.

Annalisa knew nothing about our history and I had always sworn to myself to keep it between the two of us but now she was driving my children away from me and I realized something has got to change. My son was always so much like her that I have always had a hard time getting close to him but my little Annalisa had always been my little princess and I had missed her dearly after she ran away.