Her eldest sister was laughing, smiling- floating around the room as if fluffy clouds lay beneath her feet with her newly married husband on her arm. Isabella contained a nasty eye roll inside of her champagne flute. Her sister was lovely, really, but this was the third wedding this year and it shaped up to be just as lulling as all the others. Pictures, flowers, more pictures, uncomfortable dresses, bridesmaids, more pictures- it was tiresome to say the least.
"Bella!" The drunken shriek came from the very same sister she was trying to avoid, but she turned around anyway and smiled in response. "Come!" And like a stupid fool, she obliged.
Only, she hadn't expected what she saw.
A revealing blush crept up her neck all the way to her cheeks, and although she had seen this man before, he had never been this real or this close. He seemed so much taller and so much more... perfect than Rosalina described him.
"I was just telling Emateo about our summer in Spain- oh, Bella was so wild then!" Rosalina cackled and leaned in auspiciously. "Keep the margaritas away from her!" Her new husband laughed along with his wife, and at Bella's awkward silence the man didn't seem to join in. Rosalina loved to make jokes at her little sister's expense anytime there was an opportunity, and her wedding would be no different. Isabella's first reaction was to yank her sister by her hair and get into a wrestling match, but everyone's grandparents and business partners were here so she would have to find another time to do that. "Where are my manners? Isabella, this is Emateo's best friend Eduardo! Eddie, this is my little sister Bella-"
"Isabella." She bit out coolly, ignoring her sister's flippant way of trying to play Social Networker. Their parents were well-connected enough, so their lives had always been privileged and until recently Isabella hadn't had to deal with the social latter. But it was like a light switch, once you turn twenty-three an unwritten rule reveals itself to tell you that you must have important friends and you must be in a courtship or looking to be in a courtship and you absolutely must look forward to children.
Rosalina had been in a few before she finally snagged Emateo, the son of a Formula 1 driver in Spain. It was all the celebrity, status, and fame her sister could have dreamed for, and the night he proposed to her she could have died happy at the prospect of it all.
Eduardo was tall and dark, seemingly looming over all of the other males in the crowd. His brownish hair was slicked back and the ends laid in coiled curls at the very nape of his neck, a shy second away from his collar- Isabella skirted her eyes away from his form to not be caught staring so unabashedly. He was handsome, he was sheikh, he was… kind of beautiful.
Instead of shaking her hand, he merely nodded in her direction and took another sip of the whiskey he had in his hand. She held back a pang of contempt but checked it before it could show on her face- had he no experience in social circles, or was he blatantly rude? She certainly wasn't the queen of England, but men did occasionally line up to kiss her hand and engage in mediocre conversation- this was Southern California and the Lopes-Aguirre family deserved more than a stupid, dismissive nod!
Isabella gave him a small look- his suit didn't look very expensive at all, and certainly didn't fit him the way everyone's did in the room. Perhaps he wasn't as rich or fancy as Emateo, maybe he was another friend from his hometown that he paid to fly out for the wedding? Not that it mattered to her, this wedding was one big waste of a Friday night anyhow.
Emateo pulled his friend to the side and Rosalina took that as a moment to pull Isabella in. "Would you mind checking on the babies? Everyone's having such a good time, and who knows if Berta's taking a nap in there." Her sister's eye roll was strong, but not as strong as the smell of tequila on her breath. "Please? You like kids anyway."
Isabella wanted to object and remind her sister that she wasn't hired help, she had hired help, but then again it was a way to sneak away from the wedding and not be bothered. So, without another word she slipped out of the main room and followed a small hall into the guest room where Berta had been instructed to keep the children company so as not to be seen running rampant through her sister's newly acquired penthouse.
If not for their mother's severe indignance, Rosalina would have wholly preferred to have one of those "no kids allowed" weddings- according to their mom, "what will people think of you if you seem as if you don't like kids?" The truth was that her sister hated kids but it was every Hispanic woman's duty to be maternal and soft and warm, and so her dutiful sister would pretend… even if it killed her.
Not that locking all of the kids up in a guestroom with a narcoleptic old lady was very convincing- Rosalina lived on her own planet sometimes.
"You're in for a shock." Isabella muttered lowly and pushed open the door. These white carpets and marble top furniture would not last when offspring would come.
She undimmed the lights to the room to be met with three children total, two infants laying in a cot and one kid laying on the bed. She tiptoed through the room and checked on all of the children sleeping to find one infant wide awake, quietly kicking his feet and reaching his arms out. Her smile couldn't be smothered, and she reached for some stranger's baby without another thought.
"Hey you." She cooed softly and he cooed back.
It put a stupid grin on her face as she sat down on the nearest rest chair with him in her arms. She might be frigid and withdrawn around adults, but kids and babies were her niche- they were always so cute and soft, forever caring less how much your net income was that year.
Did she see herself with babies of her own? Probably not... she had to witness firsthand how much kids complicated her parents' lives and had always thought they might have been much happier people if they hadn't had four tots trailing behind them. All four siblings were mere years a part, what were Renee and Phillipe Lopes-Aguirre thinking anyway?
"I'm Anabella!" A squeaky voice pipped up from the bed, breaking Isabella's train of thought.
Bella peered over the corner of the chair she was in and gave a soft smile. "I'm Isabella." At the mention of her name, the sleeping girl shot up from bed with a grin.
"Matching names!" She exclaimed.
"How lucky is that?" Isabella put more enthusiasm into her words, remembering how her favorite nanny used to make her feel as a little girl. Nanny Georgina only lasted two years at the Estate, but those were the best two years of her childhood.
"Are you his new mommy?" The little girl's question took Bella by surprise for a fraction of a second.
"No, I'm sure his mommy is outside enjoying the wedding-" Before she could finish her sentence, the energetic little girl was standing six inches from her.
"Nope! His mom escaped when he was born. His name's Sebastián." The way the Spanish name rolled off her tongue was so natural that Bella was almost jealous. "My mami says that he's my cousin, but he's not really my cousin but I should treat him like mifamilia." I hummed in agreement and ran a finger along the baby's hairline down to his cheek, earning another toothless grin. His curly locks were a russet brown, catching all the fluorescent light in the room as he wiggled in her arms. "Mami says that Sebastián needs a new mommy, even if his papa has to buy one- "
A drunken gaggle interrupted Anabella's story time and not soon enough, either- this little baby's business was none of hers, but darn it kids had such interesting stories to tell. She remembered being five or so and telling all of her mom and dad's business to her grandparents. "Oh, hello! How was my tot?" A woman with dirty blonde hair and a sequined dress stepped in clumsily, the faint smell of Pinot Grigio hanging in the air the more that she spoke. "She's been teething- heavens, I'm never drinking a '04 ever again!" The woman stumbled to the cot before scooping up her baby and as much as Bella wanted to step in and make the drunken lass go away, she couldn't necessarily keep a mom away from her daughter.
"Quiet as a mouse." Isabella mumbled softly and looked back to Sebastián who was cooing happily, his stubby arms and legs wriggling around.
"Gracias, Berta!" Isabella almost winced at the way this uncultured white lady could butcher such a small word, then winced again realizing she had been mistaken for a sixty-year-old woman. "Finally, a party I could enjoy without this crying guy! Also, I need a job I can show up looking like that to! I'm sure you're employed by dads regularly." She looked Isabella up and down before stumbling out of the room again, and although she had wanted to spit nails at the drunk slob's heeled feet for pretending to mistake her Berta, (knowing damn well she was the sister of the bride and had made a stupid little speech) she digressed.
"Ewe, she thinks you're Berta?" Anabella scrunched her nose and plopped down next to her. "Berta smells like tamale water, but you smell like-" She leaned in and took a small whiff, "roses."
"Thank you for that." Bella smiled in return and felt the baby in her arms start to wiggle more, signaling it was time for a change of scenery. "How about let's take a walk?"
"Oooh yes! A snack? I'm so hungry." Anabella was already on her feet holding the door open, her chattering faster than even Rosalina could go. "I'm six by the way, how old are you? Twenty-nine? Thirty-six?" Isabella peered over at her in a playful warning, hoping she wouldn't be mistaken for someone older a second time for the night. "Mami says ladies don't say their age, but she says ladies don't lie either- but mami lies a lot, so who knows what the real rule is?"
Isabella let out a genuine laugh as they walked down the winding hallway, sneaking past the loud party going on through the double doors ahead. Anabella reminded of her of her own fiery sister Rosalina, and how much more endearing the gabbing & preciousness was before her spirit had been broken by... life. "Rules are... bendable sometimes." Isabella said carefully.
"No, rules are dumb! And I don't like the ones for girls only! Do you know my brother can say cuss words but I can't? And he stays up way later than me-" Anabella ticked off all of the reasons boys were inferior and had it easier to which Isabella gave a nod in agreement.
Your list will only get longer, kid.
Sebastián gave a chortle as he pulled at the silk straps of her dress- or was it a gown? It was short and thin and not enough fabric to be considered a gown but what her sister made her pay for it, Bella would have to wear this to her own wedding in order to see any kind of return on the cost. "...and Sebastián's papa is kinda grumpy, so it's so lucky he's a happy baby." Anabella ended her rant just as they made it to the kitchen.
Bella highly doubted her sister ever made use of this room in the penthouse, but with caters and bussers filling out the place for the party, trays upon trays of snacks and leftovers were galore. Bella slid Sebastián along her hip as she had watched Nanny Georgina do to her baby brother when she was multitasking- it was much more natural than she imagined. "How old is Sebastián?" Isabella inquired softly, feeling slightly guilty for milking the young girl for even more information.
"I think he's... almost one." She said in between bites of mozzarella squares. "But he's not having a birthday, mami says it's very wrong. Babies need birthdays."
Bella looked down at Sebastián differently then. Was he the neglected child of an overworked single dad, or was he loved endlessly but without any privileges? Not all single parents could afford lavish birthdays for their kids... and even parents that could easily afford it chose not to still. The only two truly nice birthdays had been her 6th and 7th when Georgina was still employed at the Estate, and all it consisted of was handmade gifts wrapped haphazardly & a candle blowing ceremony that made her feel more special than Miss America being crowned.
Bella spent the most blissful hour entertaining Sebastián & Anabella in the kitchen, filling all hands with snacks and sweets and listened attentively to the small girl's ramblings. So far she had learned Anabella's dad was a banker, her mom was a magazine editor, they vacationed during the winter, and if pressed Anabella would gladly disclose the family vault code & some more genial gossip. "...and my Tia Angelina got drunk and my papa made her leave the New Year's party early-"
"Ana!" The Spanish accented name whipped out fast and fierce, the way only a mother could. "Your mouth!" The voice was high pitched but very strong, and the way Anabella straightened made her reminiscent of her younger years.
They both whipped around at the stern tone and for a second, Isabella was back to her childhood cowering from her own mother's yelling. "Oh, hello!" Isabella spluttered awkwardly. "I'm- uh, I'm Isabella. I went to check on the kids and we just kind of got hungry." How else did you explain taking strangers' kids around on a tour of your sister's home and feeding them adult appetizers without their parents' permission or knowledge?
Anabella's mom did a quick one over of her before nodding towards her daughter. "Rosalina's sister?" The woman spoke with a deep accent just as most of Emateo's family and friends, adding to the exotic look the small woman had. When at boarding school if she had been approached with the question "You're Rosalina's sister?" she knew a catfight was coming… her sister had always been beautiful and carefree to the point where she pissed off every classmate off at one point or another.
Before she could answer, Anabella's mom looked towards the baby on her hip then looked back to Bella's reddened face with a mischievous smirk. "Single?" Bella's face burned for the second time that night, and again before she could respond the woman smiled again. "No ring, single." Was it an inherently Spanish concept to see no ring as single no matter what status of relationship you were in? "Do you have ninos of your own?"
Isabella swallowed a particularly dry piece of crab cracker and looked down at Sebastián before answering. "No, no kids for me. This is- um, he's not my baby." She felt stupid saying it in the first place and even more dumb when the woman laughed melodically and walked around the marble island to be next to her daughter.
"Yes, that's my nephew- my name is Alice Paredes, me and my husband are childhood friends of Emateo's." Bella nodded politely, but she really didn't know much about Emateo or any of his people and didn't really care to know. Anyone that willingly wanted to spend the rest of their life with psychotic Rosalina probably wasn't the kind of person she cared to know. Alice snapped her from her thoughts with the clearing of her throat. "Can I ask why you are not enjoying the fiesta and instead burrowed in the kitchen with kids like a true abuelita?"
Isabella smiled sheepishly and readjusted the baby on her hip before pushing a stand of her thick brown hair from her face. "I don't really like my family... or friends."
Alice laughed again, her voice like a melody. "Weddings, eh? My husband and I ran away for ours." She was a breath of fresh air and although she was strikingly beautiful, she was so full of energy and outwardly kind. They walked together back to the spare room where the kids had slept and before leaving with her daughter, she gave her sincere departing words. "Motherhood would look ravishing on you, Isabella." And like the swift breeze filtering through the penthouse's halls, she and her daughter were gone from sight.
Would motherhood really do her justice?
Her mother had hated it and pushed her and her siblings off to nannies when they could keep them on payroll- Julio, Rosalina, Isabella, & Roberto equally terrorized their parents and caretakers from toddlerhood all the way into their teens.
Julio was the eldest and the one to inherit everything, Rosalina was the second born and the star of the family, Isabella was the awkward middle child and annoyingly stubborn, and Robbie was well, the baby. Isabella mused some more as she located the baby's knapsack and changed him, wondering idly if she could make it as a nanny herself. She loved kids, sure- but they weren't all as adorable as Sebastián or as sweet.
She was trying her hardest to make him giggle when the footsteps snapped her attention to the doorway. Her heart did a little pitter patter when she met his eyes- they were such a captivating shade of green against the darkness of his skin and even though he was looking past her as if she were invisible, she suddenly felt like he was the entire room.
He stepped forward without another sound and collected the baby bag and carelessly tossed baby items in as though he were doing a grueling chore instead of packing a baby bag. Was this his baby? Was he always this pissy?
Isabella tried to clear her throat, which suspiciously ran dry the closer he got to her. "He- he was such a happy baby." It sounded stupid but she felt the need to pay a compliment and she surely couldn't say you're drop dead gorgeous, care for a nightcap?
Eduardo spared her a short glance and another nod before going back to his task. "Yes, thank you for looking after my son." He reached forward and gestured for the baby, which she promptly handed over, but Sebastián had other plans. His little fingers held tightly onto her shoulder strap, so tightly that when his dad pulled him forward the flimsy string nearly snapped, emitting a small gasp from her lips.
Not only did she nearly have a nip slip in front of a baby and his beautiful father, but this dress had cost more than her monthly rent. "My apologies, you can bill me for the repairs." His voice was strained, and she took it as discomfort from speaking a certain way- perhaps being so formal was foreign to him?
His English was impeccable with a slight accent, so he surely couldn't have been one of the friends Emateo paid to fly in from another country for the wedding? According to Rosalina, her fiancé had spared no expense when it came to including his family and friends from his hometown in Spain- and Rosalina spared no dollar of their dad's on all of the lavish novelties of the day, either.
Isabella held the strap for support and waved with her other hand. "Oh, no worries! I can afford it." The words sounded harsh to her ears as soon as she said them, so much so that she had the urge to slap her own mouth. A tight look went over his face, any semblance of a cordial interaction exiting. "Um, I just wanted to mention that babies really do enjoy medial things like being talked to and laughed with and..."
His look intensified ten times over as she babbled on, and when her throat tightened again she almost shut up all together- but she didn't have enough sense for that. "And even if it seems like they won't remember or enjoy parties like a birthday- um, they do. Even if it's just a cake and some candles, that costs like ten bucks and it will be a memory forever..."
Nanny Georgina could make mountains out of a mole hill like ten dollars when they were kids.
Eduardo sent her an amused smirk let his eyes roam down from her face, lingering on the Cartier watch on her wrist and the small diamond pendant adorning her neck. "Ten dollars… I could never afford it. Perhaps your father could foot this bill as well? Unless you and your sister have sucked that well dry?" His venom-filled words bit at her, leaving her speechless. His green orbs that were once bright and roving turned dark and distant, and they were the last things she saw of him that night.
Even as he left out of the door with the happy baby in his arms, she still had no words or snapping retort like she usually did.
Had she come off snobbish? She replayed her words over in her head for the rest of the night, caring little for the party anyway.
She detested her parents and her older brother for being the status quo rich pricks, but had she been one in the same this whole time? She had a trust fund available if times ever got rough, tuition had always been paid on time, she always lived in nice homes, traveled extensively as a child... of course she was a snob!
Doing community service and living like the rest of society in a shoebox apartment didn't make her normal, as much as she wanted to believe it did. Maybe she thought because she devoted her life to a not-for-profit and hadn't touched the money yet that it made up for her siblings purchasing their first yachts during the recession-
Oh well, why dwell over words from a man whose wife had to escape in the first place?
But as much as Bella desperately wanted to write off the rude stranger, she couldn't help but imagine the green-eyed monster with the adorable baby in his arms standing in front of her.
Eduardo.
An interesting creature if there ever was one.