I figured I would surprise you all and give you an update a day early, my daughter has a dance recital school tomorrow night and I know that I wouldn't be getting home until late and I would rather post early instead of late.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, this one will only be about Estefania's story. The next chapter will go back to having both sides again.

Thank you to everyone that is still continuing to read this story, you have no idea how honored I am every time I get that notification that someone has made a comment, favorite or follow either the story or myself. I appreciate all of them.

I have to continue to thank my best friend for reviewing each chapter and making sure all mistakes are minimal and for giving me feedback to help me be a better writer.

All the familiar characters belong to J.E. I don't own them and I'm not making any money from them, I'm just playing with them for a little bit. However the story line and original characters are mine.

Authors Note: Spanish conversations are italicized.

Puerto Cabello, Venezuela – Estefania Finding Happiness

Over time Osvaldo still had to go out of town for business, but after the first time from being away from Estefania he always tried to make it for only one or two days. Sometimes he would have to be away a few days longer. However, it was never as long as the first time. After Osvaldo and Stephanie had gone on their first father daughter date, Osvaldo felt a closeness to her that he never wanted to let go. He knew that he wanted to go out with her more often but knew he what it took the one time they did go out. He had to send some of his guards there early to secure the place an then they had to be extra careful that no one of importance saw them. She never knew it but there were armed guards all around them making sure that she was protected no matter what. It ended up exactly as he had hope but he knew if he wasn't careful this whole thing could blow up in his face and he was far too attached to Estefania to let that happen. He was amazed that he loved her as if she was really his child and had started living that life.

Of course he has done and would do anything in his power to make sure that no one would be able to be able to track her down and take her from him. He made sure to know everything that her other family was doing, he had known that very moment when they had finally truly believed that she was dead. He had made sure that the pictures that he had told his team to take of the plane were included with the reports. He also knows that they even had a service for her. He was also smart enough to know that certain people still tracking him and watching what he does. He knows that someone has also watched his house but as let it been well known that one of his maids has a daughter that age and has produced documents as proof. The pictures that have been provided are of course not of Estefania but those of another little girl in the city. He knows that it will be only a matter of time before they will leave him alone and stop looking at him, those agencies often tire of looking at the same information over and over and since that's all that they are being feed. He's confident that when that happens nothing would stop him from showing Estefania all the sights and sounds of their city and the other cities around them have to offer.

Then one day after a few months had past, Osvaldo was in the living room sitting with Estefania on the couch watching TV when he heard the front door open, they both got up to see who it was since only a few people were allowed to just walk in like that. They walked into the hallway and saw Osvaldo's second in command, Estefania took a running leap as she always when she saw him and jumped into his arms. When he caught her, she looked up at him and said "Hi, Uncle Eric. You're back. What did you bring me?"

He laughed at her since that was her usual greeting when one of the guys she was close to went away on either personal or a business trip. He kissed her on the cheek and said "Of course I brought the little princess something. What man in their right mind wouldn't bring you something?"

She laughed and held out her hand. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a long velvet box. She knew by now that it was a jewelry box, her uncles liked to spoil her as much as her Papi. She had a lot of necklaces and bracelets from all over the world. He held it out so she could open it. She lifted the top and saw it was a pretty necklace. It was a yellow and white gold thin twisted chain and hanging in the center of the chain was a solid rose gold heart. In the middle of the heart engraved was her initials EMJ. She looked at it and ran her fingers over the initials and said "Estefania Michele Jimenez" She looked back up at him and said "Thank you Uncle Eric, it's beautiful. Look at what he brought me Papi."

He said "I saw my princess, it's beautiful. Maybe you should go show it to Maria and if you want you can have her put it on you." She replied "Ok Papi."

She kissed Eric on the cheek as he closed the box handing to her. He set her down on the ground and she ran upstairs yelling "Bye Uncle Eric." and disappeared into her room.

Osvaldo laughed at the antics of his daughter and then walked up to Eric and said "Good to see you my friend and I know she said it but thank you for her gift. You all spoil her"

Eric replied "She's as much as ours as she is yours even though she has your name and calls you Papi there isn't anything any of us wouldn't do for her. She is our niece. I come back with good news. Your worries are over. No one is looking at you anymore. The ones that were watching believe that you didn't fake her death to keep her. The reports that we sent out saying the little girl living in your house is one of your maid's children along with the picture proof that she didn't look any like Estefania made them finally believe. They've pulled all inquiries and all sounds are silent. We'll continue to monitor but as for now everything is good."

Osvaldo replied out loud "That's wonderful news, now I will be able to show off my Estefania. Again I have to thank you my friend. There is a reason I made you my second in command and you prove it to me over and over."

Eric laughed and said "Yeah yeah, you only keep me around to handle the work you don't want to do or to run the business while you're busy playing with your daughter. Which by the way is still weird to say, I never thought you would ever open your heart long enough to let anyone in. But in all honestly I couldn't be happier for you and she has definitely changed you for the better." Osvaldo really didn't know what to say to that so he just gave him a manly hug with a huge pat on his back.

As they were pulling away Estefania came barreling down the stairs, Osvaldo said "Estefania, how many times have I told you not to run in the house"

She said "Sorry Papi, I was just so excited to show you my necklace. Maria put it on me and I wanted to make sure that I got back down here before Uncle Eric left."

He replied "What am I going to do with you my princess, just be more careful OK?"

She nodded her head and then went up to Eric and put her neck out and showed him that she had his gift on. He bent down and gave her a huge and then said "That looks even more beautiful on you than I thought it would, but now I have to go because your Papi has news he wants to share with you." With that he waved to them and walked out. Estefania looked at Osvaldo and said "What's the news Papi?"

He replied "How would you like to go into the city with me tomorrow?"

She replied "I would love that, can I really go out with you? Does this mean that I can now find some friends I can play with, I mean I love playing with you, Tomas, Maria and the guys but a girl needs someone her own age" He laughed and thought that's one of the things he loved about her was that she was never afraid to speak her mind and tell him like it is.

He replied "Of course we can go out and see if find you some new friends."

The following morning while Estefania was having her breakfast, Osvaldo met up with Tomas and Franco and explained that the situation and how according to Eric the coast is clear and that the threat of someone finding out about Estefania is gone. They still had to be careful because of Osvaldo's enemies but they would now be allowed to move about more freely. They both were happy about that because so far neither had been used very much. Franco hadn't been used at all because she was on lock down and Tomas was only used to play with her and the beach.

Osvaldo then said "With today being Saturday, we know that there is a street festival going on and I think she would like that. What do you think? Between the 3 of us do you think we can protect her at something like that?"

They both nodded their heads and said "Yes we can protect her."

After Estefania finished she ran into the living room where the men were waiting for her. Osvaldo gave her a look, but she just gave him a huge smiled and said "I know. So where are we going and when can we go?"

He told her "Of course you know but it's never going to change is it and this is going to be an ongoing battle between us isn't it."

She smiled at him again and said "YEP! Now when are where are we going?"

He laughed and shook his head and said "We'll leave as soon as you are dressed and ready to go."

Then she quickly left and ran up the stairs, all 3 of the men yelled "Walk" at the same time and then started laughing. A few minutes later she yelled "I'm ready" and she started to run down the stairs, seeing the men waiting for her at the bottom she stopped and then walked quickly down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she gave them a look that said see I can walk if I want to and then grabbed Tomas and Osvaldo's hands and dragged them to the front door.

Osvaldo put her in the car seat and climbed in on the other side of her, Tomas climbed in the front passenger side and of course Franco was driving.

Osvaldo asked Estefania "My princess would you like to know where we are going? "

She smile brightly and said "Oh yes, please." He said "There is a street festival going on in the middle of the city and they have all kinds of food, games, and shows for little kids. There is also a big park with a huge playground. Does that sound like something you would like to do?" She began jumping up and down in her seat and screamed "YES!"

They decided the best place to start would be at the park with the playground. This would give them the best chance to see how people would react when they saw Osvaldo with Estefania. People here know how powerful he is and they aren't sure what they will think with him having a child. As soon as the car stopped and Osvaldo picked Estefania up to get her out of the car and she saw all the kids playing she got really excited. He could barely hold on to her, she was trying to push herself out of his arms so she could get down.

Finally he set her down but grabbed her hand. He walked her over to one of the benches that was empty and said "I know you want to go play with the kids but I need you to just sit here with me for a few minutes OK?"

She nodded her head as she watched Franco and Tomas come up beside them. She looked around and noticed all the adults were staring at them. Some of them were staring at them with mean faces. Estefania didn't understand that so she asked "Papi, why do some people have mean looks on their faces?"

He replied "Estefania, I am a very powerful man and most of the adults here know who I am. Because of that there will be people who will not be nice to us when we are out and most likely will not allow their children to be near you. As well as sometimes when I see someone that I don't like, I won't want you to play with their children."

She got a sad look on her face but said "OK, how will I know who I can and can't play with?"

Osvaldo told her "That's what I am here for, as well as Maria and Tomas, but there will be one day where you will have to make that decision for yourself as well."

Just as she was about to answer him she saw 4 kids who looked to be around her age running towards them. She looked up at Osvaldo and saw he was looking around trying to see who was watching the 2 boys and 2 girls headed their way, once he found them he looked over at Tomas and then at Franco. They silently communicated and determined the kids were OK. Osvaldo then looked down at her and nodded his approval.

She hopped off the bench just when they got to her and one of the boys said "Hi. We haven't seen you before are you new?" She said "Yes. I've only lived here for a little bit. I used to live with my mama but she couldn't take care of me anymore so I moved in with my Papi." Looking behind her at Osvaldo, he nodded at her happy that she had remembered the story that they had worked on explaining why all of sudden she was living with him.

She said "My name is Estefania and this is my Papi,."

The kids looking at Osvaldo said "Hi Papi."

He laughed and said "Hello children."

Then they looked at Tomas and Franco standing there and their eyes went wide with how big they were. Estefania laughed said "That's Tomas and Franco they protect me, but they're big softies."

They looked shyly at the guys and softly said "Hi" and then looked back at Estefania.

The boy who had spoken to her first said "I'm Diego I'm 6 and this is my sister Isabella, she's 4." He pointed to the other boy and said "These are our cousins Nicolas and twin sister Nikole, they're 5. How old are you?"

She smiled at him and said "I'm 4."

Isabella said "How come we haven't seen you at school? You would be in the same class as me."

Osvaldo spoke up and said "She's home school. She won't be attending regular school."

All the kids looked sad about that, but then Nikole said "Well you can play with us now and maybe we can play together other times." Looking at Osvaldo she continued "Would that be ok?"

He said "Yes that would be fine, but I would have to speak with your parents first."

Before anyone could do anything or say anything else Diego screamed really loud "Mama, Papa and Tia Ana Sofia and Tio Manny." They all rushed over to where they were with questioning looks on their face. They all knew who that man was but no one had known that he had a little girl. When they reached them Diego said "We want to play with Estefania but in order for us to do that they need to meet you all. Say hi to him, his name is Papi."

At that all the adults laughed Osvaldo reached his hand out to shake Diego's father's hand and said "Hello, I'm Osvaldo Jimenez and this is my daughter Estefania." Pointing to the guys behind him he said "These are my colleagues Tomas and Franco. I'm sorry young Diego scared you all, the children were asking how come they hadn't seen Estefania in school since her and Isabella would be in the same class. When I explained that she's home schooled and wouldn't be going to a regular school they were disappointed and wanted to set up a time they could play with her after today. I felt that I needed to make sure that you were OK with it that before it went any further."

Diego's father gave a Tomas and Franco a knowingly nod and said "I'm Diego and Isabella's father Juan Barros and this is my wife Rosalind and this is my younger brother Emmanuel and his wife Ana Sofia. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we understand the position that this will put us all in and we definitely know who you are but we've never had any problems with you" He turned to look at the kids, they were all huddled together on the grass talking quietly to each other, so he continued "and by looking at them it would be pretty much impossible to separate them now."

Osvaldo said "I appreciate you allowing your children to play with my princess. She's only been with me for a short time and has been pretty much stayed in the house. Today is her first day being able to come into the city. She was living with her mama in another country and when she could no longer take care of her I made the decision to bring her here to live with me." They all gave him a sympathetic nod. He continued "We came to the park to see who would be receptive and who wouldn't be and she noticed some of the looks she was getting and was starting to get upset, that was until your children came over and talked to her. This is one of the happiest moments for her other than the first time she saw the ocean, since she's arrived. I was planning on taking her to the street festival after this, but I don't know if she still wants to go."

Suddenly out of nowhere Estefania yelled "Yes Papi, I still want to go. Isabella said they paint faces, can I have my face painted please Papi, please?" As she said that she'd given him her puppy dog eyes that she always gave him whenever she wanted something.

He shook his head and said "Of course my princess whatever you want? Do you want to play here for a little longer or do you want to head over to the festival?"

She got up from her circle and walked over to him climbed up on the bench and motioned for him to bend down and then she whispered into his ear. After she was done he looked at her questioningly and she nodded her head.

Wrapping his arm around her and picking her up he looked at the parents and said "Estefania would like to invite all you to join us in going to the festival and then afterwards out to dinner, she's knows this really nice restaurant and she would love for her new friends to go with her. Of course everything would be our treat."

Emmanuel spoke up and said "Mr. Jimenez we couldn't allow you to do that. It would be too much."

Osvaldo replied "Please call me Osvaldo and my princess is being insistent. I honestly don't think that she will allow you to say no." He laughed and said "Believe me I've tried over and over and I haven't been able to yet."

At that Estefania turned her eyes on to the man in question and said "Nicolas and Nikole's Papi please come with us. I really like Nicolas, Nikole, Isabella, and Diego. They are my first friends that I've made since I've been here and I want to have a good time with you all. If you don't want to come can we take them with us, we'll bring them home, please?"

He looked over at Osvaldo and said "You weren't kidding were you. OK Estefania, we'd be honored to go with you."

She gave him her megawatt smile and maneuvered her way out of Osvaldo's arms and ran over to her new friends and then excitedly told them what the plans were. The kids came back over to the adults talking a mile a minute and excited about going to the festival and then to dinner. The parents laughed as they guided the kids down to the festival. All the parents pretty much stayed in one spot talking while the kids played all kinds of games and looked at all the different crafts that people were selling. Franco or Tomas was always with the kids so they weren't really worried about them. Estefania went to one booth and saw these beautiful bracelets and turned around to see Tomas watching her. She smiled at him and he walked up to her. She pointed out the bracelets that she was looking at, there were 3 for girls and 2 for boys. She looked up at him and he just shook his head paid the woman.

She walked up to Osvaldo and said "Papi, look what I got. I got one for each of us. Do you think they will like them?"

At that moment the other kids walked up with Franco and Osvaldo said "I don't know, you should ask them."

So she walked over to them and showed the bracelets to them. They got excited and immediately put them on. The next thing they did was to get their faces painted. Estefania went first and she got the Wonder Woman symbol painted on her forehead, Isabella went next and got a puppy dog face, Nikole was after her and got a butterfly, then Nicolas got a tiger face and lastly Diego got the Batman symbol.

Estefania laughed at him and said "Look we match."

Diego grabbed her hand smiled at her and said "Yeah we do."

Osvaldo, Juan, and Rosalind all looked at each other and smiled.

While the kids were getting their faces painted Osvaldo knew Estefania would be safe with all of them watching so he sent Franco home to get the really big car, he made sure to tell him to add additional car seats for the little ones. By the time the kids were done, Franco had returned and just nodded at Osvaldo. The adults had determined that it was time for dinner and were getting ready to tell the kids, when they all heard a loud roar. Everyone except for Estefania, Osvaldo, Tomas, and Franco jumped.

Estefania started laughing and Diego asked her "What's so funny?"

She said proudly "That was my stomach."

He laughed and said "Well let's get a move on then, we've got to feed that monster."

They all started to head to their cars when Osvaldo explained that he had a car that was big enough for them all to fit in and then after dinner he would drop them off. They all agreed that it would be easier.

They got into the car and Franco drove them to the only restaurant that Estefania had been too, and she told all the other kids about it. The Barros had never been there so this was a treat for them as well. Once again Osvaldo ordered everything on the menu so that everyone could taste everything. Estefania made sure to tell the kids not to each too much so they could play on the playground and told them all about the last time. They enjoyed the food and after they were done, the waitress asked if they wanted coffee and Osvaldo made the suggestion that they have some so the kids would have time to play. They agreed and the kids hopped down off the chairs and headed towards the playground.

On the way Diego grabbed Estefania's hand and Osvaldo commented "Do you think we need to keep an eye on those two?"

Rosalind spoke up and said "I think they are very cute together and as long as it's just holding hands I can handle that."

They laughed at that. 30 minutes later they gathered the kids from the playground and headed home. When they reached the park where the Barros' car was, they got out and thanked Osvaldo for a wonderful day. They all said their goodbyes and Osvaldo and Estefania pulled away. She had a smile on her face leaned over as far as she could to Osvaldo and said "Thank you Papi for a fantastic day."

Estefania had made some new friends and was very happy.