I can't believe you." Manny said to Zoe who was holding his arm.
"Me either." Zoe replied with a smile.
"Zoe this isn't funny." Manny growls.
"I know. It's just I'm excited!"
"Let's just get this day over with." They walked into history class.
She sits uncomfortably close to him and acts all cuddly, embarrassing him, especially when everyone starts looking at them.
"Miss. Avez that is not your assigned seat." said their teacher, Mrs. Posada.
"I know but a girl really should stay close to her fiancé."
"Not everyone has to find out about it." Manny hisses in embarrassment while shrinking in his seat.
"You two are engaged?" the teacher questioned.
"We'll be married by tonight." Zoe kissed him.
Manny shifts away from her with disgust. "Long story." he mutters bitterly,
Later at lunch Manny didn't feel he had much of an appetite so he sat sat at one of the less crowded tables. "Man this bites."
Zoe hands him over a lunch. "Here I made this for you."
"I'm not hungry Zoe." Manny looked away. He was betrayed by his empty stomach growling.
"Come on Manny, we will be married by the end of the day so I should start taking my housewife duty seriously considering I'll have to hang up my jetpack."
"Why?" the questioned. "I thought you liked the criminal life?"
"Not so loud," she looked around them "Of course I like it, but seeing as everyone know you're El Tigre, they might connect the pieces to me being Black Cuervo if I continue being a criminal."
"True." admitted Manny.
She turned his head so he was facing her. "Besides our marriage will be enough to satisfy my Mami and Grandmami's hunger for vendetta."
He groaned and pulled out a sandwich. After taking a bite a part of him actually wanted to comment on how it was actually pretty good. But was squashed like a bug under the boot heel of his anger.
"Thanks." He says simply. He crumpled up the empty bag a chucked it into a fresh can before walking off.
She just stays there wondering what else she could do to win his affection.
Manny walked through the schools empty halls, some of them flickering off and on.
"Hola Rivera." came a familiar voice male accompanied by the strumming of guitar strings.
"Oh, no! Not you again!" Manny said in frustration..
He turned to none other than Django of the dead. "Having trouble Tigre?"
"It's none of your business!"
"Relax mi amigo. Let's make a deal." Django said with a smile. "I can make all your troubles go away of you swear to serve me after your death."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Come now Tigre, you know you're not the father type. What other choice do you have? I'll get rid of the brat and if you want then I'll 'take care' of Zoe too. Falling down a flight of stairs is excellent for miscarriage, Zoe might even break her neck."
"Woah! I might not be into what's going on, but letting you kill them just to escape is going too far." he glared at the skeleton.
"Your loss amigo, but just remember the offer still stands." he gave Manny an evil grin before vanishing as the lights flickered again
"He's loco if he thinks I'll make a deal like that." muttered Manny.
later that day The final bell rang and the students stampeded out. Some of the faculty jumped on lockers or drinking fountains to avoid being trampled. The janitor however wasn't so lucky.
"Help!" he cried out as the mass of students carried him away like a wave.
Bringing up the rear was the bride and groom to be. Zoe hugging Manny's arm with said boy feeling like the sand in his hourglass of life running close to empty.
"So Manny, what do you feel like dinner tonight?"
"How about real imitation crab?" Maria spoke as they came to the edge of the school grounds.
"Hello Mrs. Rivera." greeted Zoe.
"Hello to you too, future Mrs. Rivera." Maria giggled.
"Mom." groaned Manny.
"I have a Taxi ready to take us to City Hall where we'll meet the Avez."
"That sounds wonderful." smiled Zoe hugging Manny's arm closer.
They filed in the taxi and rode to city hall where the Rivera men and Avez women were waiting. The three stepped out as both families turned to them.
"Ah! Good, now we can get this show on the road." Carmelita smiled.
Manny frowned as both families made their way inside the building. 'This REALLY bites.' soon he was standing next to his 'bride' at the desk.
"Let me guess, you got her pregnant?" the woman asked.
"Yeah." he nodded.
"Alright then, just sign these." the woman brought out the paperwork.
Zoe looked it over before writing her name down and turned to Many with the pen held out. "Go ahead lover boy."
Manny sighed before taking it and wrote his name down on the line. He felt like he was selling his soul to the devil.
"Congratulations, you two are married now." spoke the woman.
"Yay!" As Zoe hugged Manny's arm the Avez women just wanted to scream with joy at finally winning while the Rivera men wanted to cry.
'I wonder if I can move to another city.'
"Alright you two, let's get you home." maria put her arms on their shoulders. "I have a room set up for you two."
"Thank you." nodded Zoe with a smile while dragging Manny as they left the building.
Zoe hugged her mother and grandmother goodbye before leaving for Casa De Mariachi, and when they arrived Manny kept his hands in his pockets and lagged behind.
'Can this day get any worse?'
"Manny, I bought a bed for you and Zoe to sleep in, now that you're married."
'Yup, a whole lot worse.' he shook his head "Uh, you two talk for awhile. I'm gonna do a sweep of the city, or two dozen." he reached for his belt and spun the buckle. He transformed before jumping up and climbed a building before going off around the city.
"Just like his father." Maria sighed and shook her head. "Come, let me show you something and see if you think it fits."
"Fits?" Zoe asked.
"With you two sleeping in the same room, I want you two to be as comfortable as possible."
Out in the city with the sun setting, Manny hopped from rooftop to rooftop until he got too tired to continue and just sat on his knees. He stared at the rooftop and gripped his claws. "This is the worst day of my life."
"It can't be that bad Tigre." spoke a feminine voice.
He turned and saw Chief Montoya with her hand on her hips. "Oh, hey Molly." he greeted with a sigh.
"I heard you got married today, congratulations."
"Trust me, it's far from a happy one." He turned away. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I could ask you the same question seeing as this is the Police Station."
El Tigre walked over to the side and saw the sign and cars and sighed. "I take it you won't lock me up for about….thirty years or so?"
"No, come on inside, we can talk." she spoke walking over to the roof entrance to get down inside.
In the Chief's office, Manny leaned over her desk. "I go to ONE party, get drunk, and apparently I got a girl pregnant."
"Calm down and enjoy a drink." Molina spoke reached below the desk.
"No thanks, I'm done with alcohol."
"How about soda." she said holding up a two liter of orange soda. "I never touch alcohol of any kind unless its evidence."
"Soda I can do." he spoke excepting a glass. She poured it fully before he started guzzling it down.
The two talked for at least another half hour, and went through most of the soda.
"Ugh, what am I supposed to do, I can't be a father yet." Manny rubbed his temples. "I don't even know if it's mine."
The chief tapped her chin. "Should we have a dna test be done on her?
"Maybe, but that might make me look like a schmuck."
"Personally I envy you and Zoe."
"Say what now?"
"All the good guys think that a curvaceous woman who's the chief of police is unattainable." she admitted. "They think just walking up and asking me personal questions is enough to get me steamed up. Every time I see a family on the streets, I wish from the bottom of my heart that I might have something like that."
"Ah, you worry too much. I bet there's some guy out there just waiting to come up to you and ask you out."
"Maybe, but I hope you and Black Cuervo can make it work.
"I don't really- Wait you knew she was Black Cuervo!"
"In case you never noticed, both are the same height, have similiar skin complexions, and similar colors. Honestly, did you not know? Not to mention their home has a giant bird figure head. I just kept quiet to preserve some level of the public's dignity."
El Tigre groaned for feeling even more of an idiot for not noticing.
"You should get home tigre. It's your wedding night, and your wife might get a little upset if your out all night."
"You sure I can't get locked up for about a week?"
"Go on." Molina smiled and waved him off.
El Tigre stood up and walked out of the station.
"I'm home!" Manny called out walking in the house. He sniffed the air and noticed the scent of food. "Mhh, real imitation crab."
He walked towards the kitchen and saw the dirty dishes and groaned as it looked like he missed dinner. "Dang."
He looked at the time and saw it was starting to get pretty late.
"Well guess I should go to bed and TRY to sleep." he sighed before walking up the stairs.
"Manny, good to see your back." Maria said as she saw her son. "Sorry we had dinner without you."
"That's okay, so… where's Zoe?"
"She's waiting for you in your new bedroom just down the hall." his mother pointed down the hall to the floor on the right and was the last one.
"Thanks." he waved and made his way down the hall and reached the door. He slowly opened it and looked at the room.
"Hola, Tigre." Zoe spoke making Manny cringe. "Have a nice patrol?"
"Yeah guess s-" He went completely silent seeing the young woman in bed. She was sitting on the edge with one leg over the other while wearing a black nightgown that clung to her form.
"Woah!" he blinked. 'Well...at least she's attractive. Thats an upside to all this.'
"See something you like?" she spoke as one of the straps fell shamelessly from her shoulder.
"Well… Can't really say I don't." he admitted entering the room fully and shut the door.
"First night sharing a bed, as husband and wife of course." She pat her stomach.
Manny sighed before walking over and climbed into bed while Zoe got under the sheets. 'Guess I better get use to this.' He thought as she turned out the light