Eva

　　Eva was in a park, it was just a regular Sunday afternoon. The weather was pleasant this time around the year.

　　A cool breeze was blowing, Emma's black curls were waving with the gush of the wind. She was swinging on a swing. Eva was sitting nearby on a blanket laid on the ground. There was a picnic basket beside her and she was arranging the items from the basket into the plates she had brought along with her. His

　　She was checking on Emma after every few seconds, Emma was gaily swinging on the swing. Eva smiled at Emma and waved her hand at her. Emma waved backed at Eva giggling.

　　Eva then looked around for Mateo, she found him playing football with a bunch of kids a little far from them. Eva could see the smile on his face, Mateo just loved kids and got along so well with them. Eva could never do that, even Emma was more close to Mateo then she was with Eva.

　　Eva kept looking in the direction of Mateo, he was a very fine football player. And he loved playing football, Mateo was even training Emma to play football.

　　Mateo passed the ball to the kid near him and when the kid started running forward with the ball to the goal post the kids from the opposite team started chasing him. When the kid with the ball was near the post and the kid behind him was close enough to get the ball from him, Mateo whistled to the kid and he passed the ball to Mateo who was just standing near to the right of the goal post. It was a cross pass, Mateo got the possession of the ball before any other player could intercept and he hit a goal with a sidekick.

　　The kids in whose team Mateo was playing bounced on Mateo with joy and they tumbled to the ground with him. Eva smiled at them, Mateo still was a kid at heart. Mateo shot Eva a glance as he stood from the ground and winked at her. Eva couldn't help the blush on her cheek, Mateo could still make her blush even after two years of marriage.

　　Eva then looked back in the direction of Emma and was startled to find Emma was not on the swing. She looked around in search of her. But Emma was nowhere near, she stood up from the blanket and almost ran to the swing, she checked the other slide and swing where other children were playing.

　　Eva then asked a lady standing near to a slide if she had seen a girl in a white top and yellow shorts?

　　The lady just shook her head and pointed in the direction of the ice cream cart, Eva looked in the direction where the lady had pointed. There she found Emma standing with a man who was sitting on his knees and offering Emma an ice cream.

　　Eva found her temper rising, she had told Emma thousands of times to never talk to strangers and never to take anything from a stranger. She hurried to Emma who was now licking the ice cream with a wide grin on her face.

　　Eva couldn't see the face of the man because his back was to her, but she felt he looked familiar. Was he Mateo's friend or his colleague, she scanned her mind to find anyone who could match the physique of the man with Emma, but she couldn't remember anyone.

　　As she came close to them the man stood up on his feet and turned towards Eva. Eva froze when she saw the face of the man who was now holding Emma's finger. She was looking at him petrified, Taimur just gave her a smirk and Emma spoke at the same instant "Mommy, I found daddy".

　　Eva sat up on the bed with a jolt, she was panting heavily. Her throat was dry and she could feel the racing of her heart.

　　She looked at Mateo, who was in deep sleep beside her. Eva checked the time on the clock on the side table, it was 5 O'Clock in the morning. This was the second time she had the same dream in a week.

　　It was the mental stress eating at her mind which had triggered these dreams. Since the night Mateo had told her Taimur was coming to New York she was panicking.

　　Eva knew her worry was unnecessary, Taimur and her world never met. He had a completely different circle than Eva, and it was nearly impossible for their paths to ever cross. And even if they came face to face there was no reason for her to be afraid because no one other than Eva knew that Taimur was Emma's father.

　　Eva had always kept the identity of Emma's father a secret. No one, not even her parents and best friend knew about it. She was not able to trust even Mateo with this secret.

　　Then why was her sixth sense warning her that something dreadful was going to happen? Why was she getting those negative vibes? And why was she dreaming about him after so many years?

　　She poured a glass of water and drank it in a single breath. Eva knew she won't be able to sleep now, and anyway she had to wake up again in an hour. So she just left the bed and walked to Emma's room.

　　She opened the door and entered the room which belonged to Emma and which Emma and Mateo had decorated with their own hands. They had even painted the walls with impressions of Emma's favorite cartoon characters.

　　Mateo had bought a princess bed for Emma with images of all the Disney princesses along with a matching closet and dresser. Emma's dollhouse was standing in a corner of the room near the window that Mateo had brought for her from London.

　　Emma was sleeping with her arms wrapped around her alligator. It was her favorite soft toy. Mateo had brought it from Australia when he was on a work trip, Eva could never understand why Emma liked the ugly alligator so much? She had so many pretty dolls and other cute soft toys but she would only sleep with her arms wrapped around that alligator.

　　She smiled at her little bundle of joy, Emma was the most precious thing for her in the world. Eva wanted her to be safe from everything, she was too overprotective of Emma. If Emma would get a single scratch Eva would start panicking, Mateo used to laugh at Eva when she fussed about Emma so much.

　　"She is just a kid, give her space to grow. Let her get hurt once so that she will learn, if you will be so fussy about her, Emma will never learn to handle stress in her life" Mateo would always try to stop Emma for being so overprotective.

　　Emma understood that Mateo was right, but she couldn't help it. Eva was afraid if anything happened to Emma and Taimur would ever find out about it he would use it against Eva to get Emma.

　　Sometimes Eva used to get tired of dreading about what will happen if Taimur found out the truth about Emma. She used to regret why she didn't tell Taimur in the first place about Emma when she found out she was pregnant with his child. But there was no use crying, over spilled milk.

　　Eva had to make sure that her path never crossed with Taimur in this life. Because it would not be difficult for anyone to put two and two together. She had even ended her friendship with Laila and Ayesha. She ceased all contact with them because if they ever saw Emma it would be nearly impossible for them not to figure out who her father was.

　　Emma was so much like Taimur not just in looks, but in disposition and the way she carried herself. Though she was a mere 5 yrs old she had an air of authority and a commanding tone. Emma would dominate all her friends, she was a born leader.

　　Eva always wondered, how things might have been if they were with Taimur? Taimur would have adored Emma, Eva knew he didn't have any daughter, he had three sons with his wife Alia.

　　Think whatever you like but she still followed every news article and social media post about Taimur. Hardly a day went when she didn't think about Taimur. Sometimes she used to get mad at herself for not able to forget that arrogant and selfish bastard.

　　Taimur had completely destroyed the peace of her mind if not for Mateo she would never have been able to get back to a normal life.

　　Eva carefully straightened the folds of the quilt covering Emma. Then with her fingers, she brushed aside Emma's black curls which spread on her cheeks. Eva kissed her forehead and left her room.

　　Eva came to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker, she brewed a mug of coffee for herself. The dream had given her a headache, she knew she had a long day ahead and she had to be at her best today.

　　Eva had just finished preparing sandwiches for lunch and the batter of pancakes for breakfast when Mateo walked in the kitchen.

　　"Good Morning" he greeted her.

　　"Up so early?"

　　"Morning honey, yeah just had a bad dream, couldn't sleep after it" Eva replied, keeping the sandwiches in the three lunch boxes.

　　"You look a little stressed lately," Mateo said looking at Eva with an expression of concern on his face.

　　"Yeah, I have been busy at school. All the assessment of test papers and preparing of mark sheets. You know how much I hate it", Eva said smiling.

　　Eva didn't want Mateo to find out the real reason for her stress and worry. She tried to shift his mind on another issue.

　　" You don't have to work, you know, I earn more than enough to afford you both", Mateo said to Eva.

　　"I know Mateo, your pay is very good. It's just that I can't sit around idle. I am waiting for a vacancy in the history museum so I could apply for a job there. But till then I have to keep myself busy in something", Eva said, washing her hands in the kitchen sink and then drying with a towel.