Chapter 3: Legends and Magic
Just as we were, finishing everything for lunch and setting the table the doorbell rang, not the buzzer from the front door of the building but the front door of the apartment, which was odd. With a questioning glace at each other, we headed to see who was there together. All the doors in the building had metal doors with no peephole but beside the door was a video monitor that was repositioned when someone would buzz from the lobby. When we got to the door, the monitor showed nothing, doing us no good. The atmosphere in the room was stressful, as if we were on edge, waiting for someone to attack us. I forced myself to open the door a crack just to look on the other side, there were four large male bodies blocking out the hall and most of the light in the hallway caused me to yelp and try to push the door closed. The door would not budge. Rick quickly looked over my shoulder into the hallway and smiled. Pulling the door open, he placed his hand on the small of my back in a protective and comforting move that I did not think was necessary.
"Alex, Will, Henry, Father so glad that you could find the place alright, meet Isabella Wren. Isa meet my Father George, My baby brother Alex, my older brother Will and my younger brother Henry." As he introduced me to the men, each man walked inside the apartment pausing in front of me to give a small bow. The only one that looked like Rick was his youngest brother Alex, except their eyes where Rick had rich dark brown eyes; Alex has dark navy blue eyes. His father and Will looked like twins with jet-black hair that reached just above their ears, bright green eyes and a tall stocky build. Henry was the odd man out so to speak, with white blond hair, shorter than the rest by at least four inches, pale skin, and light grey almost silver eyes. I had never seen eyes like that before they were absolutely beautiful.
"Oh, Mother, Retta, Katherine; you did come. I'm glad. Isa this is my mother Anissa, my older sister Retta, and my younger sister Katherine."
I smiled as the three gorgeous model looking women walked through my door my ego went on a nosedive. They all looked very similar. Anissa was the first to walk through the door; she was a tall willowy woman with golden blond hair that reached her mid-back, clear sea green eyes and a small heart shaped face and sun-kissed skin. She smiled the same smile Rick did, as she came inside. Retta the next woman to walk in and smiled the same enduring smile was tall willowy woman with medium length light brown hair like Rick and Alex's as well as the same dark navy blue eyes as Alex, and sun-kissed tan like her mother's. Katherine was the last to enter and she was as different from the former too as could be. She was shorter like me but with the same willowy figure as the other women in her family but she had short jet-black hair like a raven's almost blue at times, dark grey eyes, and the darker tan like her father and brothers.
"Oh, Isa you look just like you mother, Casimira. We have not seen you since you were a baby, although your parents did write and when you hit maturity, they sent a lovely portrait of you. Although at that time, I think your eyes were violet. They were a wonderful deep purple. The portrait did not do you justice that is for sure. Oh what did Leonardo know anyway?" Anissa smiled as her husband put his arms around her tiny waist. What was left of my ego took another hit.
"It is nice to finally meet you all. Rick has been telling me some stories about you while we made lunch. Which if you will follow us we can eat in the now. I think we all will be comfortable in there." I said as I walked around the group that had gathered just inside my apartment.
I stopped when I realized no one was following me. Did I say something wrong? I turned around and looked at the group. They were looking at me oddly. "Is something wrong?"
"No, dear. It is just that no one knows who Rick is." said Anissa in a kind motherly tone. That made me feel like they all thought I was crazy.
"I am sorry. Frederick said that some of you call him Freddy and I feel Frederick is a too formal name, and thought Rick would suit him well. I have been calling him Rick in my head all morning and never thought about saying it aloud until now. I am sorry if you prefer I will call you Frederick from now on." I said to Rick in a sincere tone. Hope I did not upset anyone with my silly nickname. I am always doing that. In an effort to help myself remember people I give them nicknames and I usually keep them to myself until now. Wonderful!
