Open the present

A pair of strong hands caught her just in time. Sefi closed her eyes and instinctively leaned against it for support. Grateful someone was here to help her.

Behind her, someone shouted, "time for the presents!" This was followed by more cheering.

Nathan's eyes darkened as he stared at the pair with their arms around each other. How dare they behave like that in public? He wasn't dead yet! He clenched his fists tightly. It was all it took for him to resist the urge to pull them apart.

Just as he was about to march over there, Mrs Tang handed him and Eve a beautifully wrapped little box each. His had a blue bow at the top whilst Eve's was a pink coloured bow.

Eve's little heart shaped face instantly filled with excitement, she loved opening presents. Picking up the box, she brought it to her ear and shook it a few times to see if she could tell what was inside. It felt quite light and rattled a little.

Was it jewellery? She wondered, she did see a bracelet she quite liked from Cartier. But her and Nathan usually got identical gifts so it was hard to imagine him getting the same thing.

Her sense of curiosity wasn't shared by Nathan, he merely glanced at the box briefly and his thoughts returned to Sefi and Jin, who had just left the room together. His imagination was playing the worst tricks on him as he thought of what they were getting up to.

This was not the first time tonight he had caught his son in a daydream, Mr Tang felt the corner of his mouth rising. It was a rare sight seeing him like this. Nathan has always been a focused and meticulous child, stubborn to a fault yet absolutely brilliant. His IQ was the level of a genius, but perhaps borelined being autistic...

Young love was special and unwavering. Mr Tang thought of the time when he was young and how relentless he was at pursuing the twins' mother. He simply wasn't taking "no" for an answer and eventually his hard work paid off, she agreed to marry him in the end.

Mrs Tang noticed the expression on her husband's face and knew he was thinking of that woman again. Hiding her displeasure, she placed her hand on his arm, successfully pulling his attention to her again.

She gazed up at him with bright adoring eyes, she smiled. It was a cute and innocent smile that provoked the feelings of first love.

It worked every time and this time was no exception, because Mr Tang immediately covered her hand with his and patted it gently in a reassuring manner. Silently promising her whatever happened was in the past, she was the one and only woman for him now. No one could jeopardise her position as Mrs Tang.

Pleased with his answer, the smile on Mrs Tang's face grew even more radiant and child-like. She had him exactly where she wanted him.

"Why don't we open the presents, kids?" He urged.

"Are you ready?" Eve turned to look at Nathan, her eyes shined brightly like stars.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Nathan nodded. It was a habit of theirs ever since they were small, to open their presents at the same time.

Their parents raised them based on the principles of treating them equally, no favouritism, that was their idea of being good parents. It did mean that they got the same things.

He opened the box on autopilot mode, seeing what was inside, he became momentarily stunned. Was he seeing things correctly?

Looking at Eve, she was also stunned for words. Her long eyelashes fluttered up and down like a little butterfly and her mouth hung open slightly in shock.

Some of the guests standing nearby came up for a closer look and gasped in awe when they saw what it was.

Mrs Tang leaned against her husband and gushed excitedly, "your father and I love you two more than anything in this world, we want this day to be a very special and memorable day, we hope you will love your presents!"

Holding it in his hand, Nathan studied the key that was shaped like a little silver sports car. There was no mistaking what it was judging by the black horse in the middle of the logo.

"What do you think? Do you like it?" Mr Tang asked, his voice quivering slightly with emotion. It was thanks to them that he gained the title of being called a father. He was immensely proud of his title, but he was even more proud of his wonderful children.

" Yes, thank you. I like it." Nathan answered, his face didn't show an ounce of excitement.

Eve didn't bother with the pleasantries, she was still frowning.

"I don't know how to drive." She finally said, tossing the keys aside as if it was a piece of rubbish. The difference with her keys was that it was a little red Porsche instead of silver.

Mrs Tang's smile froze, but she tried her best to regain composure. It wasn't easy being a stepmother and she had long since learnt to stay out of Eve's way.

Mr Tang said to her once when they were still courting, "I'm not looking for someone to be the mother of my children, they've got a mum already."

Well, it was no business of hers when it came down to discipling his children.

"Didn't you mention the other day that you wanted to learn how to drive?" Mr Tang asked. He specifically remembered her complaining about not having her own freedom because she needed a chauffeur to take her places.

"I don't like driving instructors!" Eve mopped.

You've never had a driving instructor before! Mr Tang wanted to say, but decided against it. Eve was his little princess, the apple of his eye.

"Nathan can teach you. He is a racing driver, it'll be a piece of cake for him." Mr Tang turned to Nathan. "Isn't that right?"