Chapter 39:Hide and seek

Gabrielle POV

"Gab?"

"Yes sweetie!"

Eve was looking out the window. That's what she had been doing almost every single minute of that day, hardly wanting to eat anything and definitely refusing to go to sleep. Almost a week had passed since Aphrodite had transported us there and we hadn't heard a thing from Xena and Ares….Truth was that I had started to worry too about them and little Adam.

"I miss mommy and daddy. When are they coming to us?" she asked, fixing me with those mesmerizing, pleading eyes of hers.

I carefully took the food that I was preparing that evening for us from the cooking place and approach her.

"Evie…" I began explaining it to her again while caressing her beautiful chocolate, long hair.

"I'm sure that they miss you too. I've told you before sweetie, that mommy is a little busy right now but she will come back soon, you will see, ok?"

She just nodded and returned her eyes to the window.

"Do you believe that she thinks of me too?"

"Of course she does. She loves you very much…they both love you."

"But why Adam is with them and I'm not?"

"Well…see...Adam is a baby, he needs his mommy. If you were a baby, you would have been with her too."

"Ah…so it is because I'm big now and my brother is so little?"

"Yeah...you could say that."

"I want to be little too then."

"Come sweetie...you need to eat something."

I bent my hand and waited for her to take it. She wondered a little if she should accept my invitation or not but then she wrapped her little fingers around my palm.

I placed her on a chair at the table and placed the omelet in front of her.

"Eat now Eve." I said to her after taking a few bites of my own omelet.

"I don't really want to."

"Baby you hardly ate anything all day. You will get sick and mommy would be really upset to see you like that….Do you want to upset her?"

"I'm just not hungry." She replied, while she kept looking at the window.

"I promise you that if you eat, we will go outside for awhile."

Her face lit up at the idea and she looked at me, enthusiasm written all over her face.

"Playing hide and seek?"

"If you want to, but you must eat first."

"Ok than, I will eat."

"Everything ."

"Everything?"

She gave me a disappointed gaze at first but once she started eating there was no stopping her any more. She was indeed hungry.

"I'm done aunt Gabby."

"That's a good little girl!"

"I'm not little you said."

"Yes...you are right …Come..."

"Yey!" She jumped out of her chair and in less than a second she was standing in front of the door.

We played for hours till the dark settled.

"Eve…come now...it's time for bed. Evie?" I yelled at her but she didn't come out from her hiding place and my heart began a race marathon. What if something had happened to her?

"Eve, auntie Gabrielle is done playing now…come out baby!"

I looked around the house with care making sure that I didn't miss a spot when I felt my hand being gripped. I turned prepared to smack somebody in the head but when I saw her little body placed next to mine and looking away, I felt relieved first and then worried.

"I'm afraid Gabby."

"Eve…look at me. Go inside, put your pajamas on and wait for me in bed. I'm going to tell you a beautiful story ok?"

She nodded and I opened the door for her.

"Go now. I will come right away."

After I closed the door after her, I redirected my gaze towards the non ending place where she was looking. Someone was coming and I hoped that it was my friend with Ares but what if it wasn't? What if Athena had found us?