15 15: She Didn’t Attend

"Are you alright, Daddy," I ask as we dance at the wedding reception.

"I'm alright," he assures me. "I just can't believe she didn't want anything, just out. I offered her the house, but she just wanted out. The marriage counseling, her individual therapy, none of it helped. I couldn't trust her anymore and she wasn't willing to change. She wouldn't admit she was wrong or accept responsibility for any of her actions. It became final last week, but she had moved out a month before that and put in for a transfer with her job."

"So, how does it feel to be single again," I ask Dad.

"Scary," he admits, "I don't know if I should try to actively date or just wait and see who fate places in my path."

"The actively dating thing didn't work for me," I share with Dad.

"I think I'm just going to enjoy being by myself for a while," says Dad. "Let the house get dirty. And I think I'll get a dog."

"Thank you for giving me away with Papa, Daddy," I tell him appreciatively.

"It was my honor to give you away with Tin," Dad smiling at me. "After all, you're the best daughter we've got."

Laura didn't come to our wedding and she's not here at the reception either. I invited her even though Xanthus wasn't sure it was a good idea to invite her. She still doesn't call her family and just seems to have decided not to have anything to do with any of us.

"Oh, I need to sit down," putting a hand to the small of my back and resting the other on my seven month pregnant belly.

"Well, let's get you seated," Daddy guiding me back to the head table.

"You did it, Dan," says Papa ecstatic, "Because of you, we walked our little girl down the aisle today, gave her away to Xanthus, and now she and Xanthus are legally married."

"I couldn't have done it without Eli and Xan," shares Dad. "They convinced the Zuguki family to share that Dr. Zuguki had actually used human DNA to alter the chimps and gorillas. That advance chimps and gorillas are now technically human."

"He just wanted to make sure the human race didn't become extinct," shares Xanthus, "So he souped us up with human DNA. We're stronger, faster and more disease resistant than regular humans. We're meant to be able to interbreed and have children with each other."

"Where are you, Eli," Mama ask me.

"What," I ask.

"You looked very far away," Mama tells me. "Where did you go?"

"She didn't come," I answer a little sad, "I'm not sure I wanted her to come, but I invited her... It's my wedding day and I guess I'm actually a little disappointed she didn't come. I haven't seen her since that first time I came to Jersey to see you. That was nearly three years ago."

"Maybe it's for the best," says Xanthus with a reassuring loving kiss.

I still love her, but maybe it is for the best, only time will tell. I did get my master thesis written, but it was a very different thesis than I had originally planned. Of course, in many ways I am a very different person than I was when Xanthus and I re-found each other. I'm not all about anthropology and zoology anymore. It's still a big part of my life, but not as big as Xanthus and the family we're starting together.

I love my life with Xanthus. And we are looking forward to the birth of our first child in two months. I never imagined that I would ever be this happy.