A massive shout out to imexal. Dushka, thanks for reading this and sharing it with other readers! It means a lot.
           ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
     "Where were you when this happened huh?!" Zara's ever cold tone reverberated throughout the room.
   Nathanael looked up from the white sauce and gave her a genuinely confused look.
     "Weren't you the one who was supposed to look after that?" He pointed at the now black steel pot in her hands with his spatula.
     She took in deep breaths to keep her simmering anger from boiling over. "When you are in a kitchen, you are in a kitchen. Whatever happens in there is your responsibility whether you are the one cooking it or not." Zara dropped the utensil that once held a delicious beef sauce in the sink.
     "Yes, Master Chef." She ignored his smart comeback and took the spatula from his hands to stir the bechemel sauce. She sniffed at it and licked off some from her hands. "Hmm, add some black pepper,it is almost done. Don't forget to add an egg right after you turn off the heat. There is something missing though..." She went outside and came back a minute later, green leafed weed looking thing in hand.
    Nathanael watched curiously as she washed the dirt off of the roots and chopped it to bits on the cutting board. She brought the board to the food he was taking care of and slid the chopped stuff into it.
   "Um,Zara, what did you add in this?"
  "It is called khuzbara. It is like Presley but with more flavor and taste."
    Nathanael slowly left the stage for a mastered performer and stood aside to watch her do her magic. He never imagined his Saturday evening spent like this. Cooking a dish he has never heard of before with his little sister. She had said she will make dinner and he had offered to help. Turns out he is more of a nuisance than a help. He knew his mother will be extremely pleased when she comes to a set up dinner. She is always happy when Zara breaths into the kitchen.
     "Hey Nathanael, boil some water for the pasta."
    He silently did as he was told. Zara had started remaking the beef sauce. "Where did you learn to cook like this?"
    She acted like she didn't hear him.
"Was it your biological mother who taught you?"
   Her head snapped to him and there was an almost pained look on her face.
    "I am so sorry Zara. I was out of line."
"No you were not actually. You seem to forget what I told you once. I never knew my biological mother. I was raised by two sweet old couple before they died in a car accident and I had no where to go. Somehow I ended up at the orphanage." She said it so monotonously, it felt like she was reciting from a well studied script.
    He sighed defeated and went back to stirring the bechemel sauce.

                ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~
  "I am home! Wow! Something smells really good in here! What are you guys up to?" Samantha handed her coat and purse to the housekeeper who came to the door to receive her and went to the dining room to find her children setting up utensils for dinner.
     Zara and Nathanael murmured their 'Good Evenings' but their mum was having none of it. She pulled her son into a bear hug that was too tight and she did the same to her daughter, kissing her temple afterwards.
     "Zara, you made dinner! Sweetheart!" Her daughter fidgeted,trying to keep an impending blush at bay.
   "Yes mum, we did. Now, go upstairs,refresh and come down quickly before it gets cold." Nathanael jumped in.
     "Oooh! Yes, sir!"

      Samantha looked into the mirror and the honey brown eyes that had captivated many and made one particularly a prisoner. At certain angle and light,flecks of gold could be seen in them. She smiled bitterly at them and then cursed them to hell and back. If it weren't for you-
     "Mum! Are you okay in there? What is taking you so long?"
    Her son's voice shook her out from her momentary nightmare.
      "I will be right out baby!"
  She splashed cold water on her face and walked out of the bathroom. Her pantsuit and blouse were exchanged for two piece silk pajama in under a minute before she went downstairs.
     "Pasta al Furno! I haven't had one in quite a while. You made all of this by yourself?" She looked at her daughter in surprise and admiration.
       "Mum,you know what this is? You never made it before." Nathanael cut a slice and brought it to his mouth. He moaned audibly. "Diz dadez do good." His mother scolded him about his table manners with a smile on her face.
       After the table was cleared and Nathanael did the dishes( Zara insisted on doing it instead of the maids for some reason and Nathanael offered to do it), Samantha retired to bed and the children huddled around the tv in the living room.
   Zara immediately claimed the remote which her brother didn't object about, in fact he was surprised she didn't run to her room like she always did after dinner. She surfed the news channels and finally settled for her favorite.
     "Are you sure you are not a fifty year old man stuck in a teenage girl's body?"
    She glared at him and increased the volume.
     "I am not watching this. Good night."
     "Night."
"Really,that is what I get. Aren't you going to try make me stay by changing the channel?"
    "No."
   "I give up." He started ascending the stairs  to his bedroom.

   "No! I am not going to let you do that! You can't do that! You have no right! You are not taking her from me!" Something fragile crashed on the floor.The shrill shrieking coming from their mother's room startled both of them to stillness for a moment.
  
     Nathanael took two steps at a time and Zara jumped from the coach. They consecutively burst into the room. Zara was very confused while her brother's face was contorted into shock and worry.
    Their mother stood at the far side of the room,bloodied hands grasping the lamp stand. The lamp shade was laying on the floor in pieces. "Mum?" Her son called out, his voice cautious, tasting the waters.
    "I said no!"
He took a step into the vast room.
     "Don't come any closer! I am warning you!" She swung the slender steel in her hands for effect.
      Nathanael raised his hands in front of his face, showing he didn't come to bring harm. Zara curiously watched the exchange. She started calculating. She was a precision processor.  Which means she can dissolve problems into equations and solve them.
    "Mum, it is me Nathanael. No one is taking anything from you. Calm down. Deep breathes. Take deep breathes. Look straight into my eyes and inhale,exhale."
   Deranged Samantha stared at the strange boy's face intently. Fleet of recognition came and went, came and went.
    Just when he thought she was coming back and let his guard down, she let out an agonizing scream. He jumped back in surprise but his sister stood calmly, planning her move.
    When the screaming subsided Zara's frightened voice followed. "No! You are not taking me! I will be with my mum. I have to. Mum! I want to be with you! Don't let them take me please!" Her voice was so convincing, Nathanael didn't know what to do. What has gotten into her?
   "Zara?" He called out, now bracing himself for any psychotic reply. She looked at him with a completely calm aura and winked. What the hell?
   She took uncertain steps towards her mum. "Mum! Hold me! Don't let me go! I want to be with you!"
    She eased into her mother's outstretched hands. It felt like coming home. The hands tightened around her painfully.
   "Baby! I won't let you go,ever. Zara,Cara Mia!" Nathanael gaped at the endearment his mum used. It has been a long time since she used it. The last time was when -when Zara was still with us.
     Samantha was sobbing hysterically so he went to the medicine cabinet and brought the needles containing sedatives. He handed it to his sister and she slowly eased it into the arm around her through the thin clothing. They stood like that for a good ten minutes until the drug kicked in. They carried her to the bed and laid her drowsy form softly.
  
      Zara started pulling her arms away but her mother's hands held onto her like a lifeline. She slowly crawled in the bed next to her smelling in the soft  pineapple and musk scent that belonged only to her mother. It had a priceless value of calming her down.

    She waited until her mother's breath deepened before she climbed out. When she reached the door, she backtracked her steps and went to the med kit. She rummaged for a while before she produced a folder with the name of a very popular mental hospital printed in block letters across its front.
    Patient's Identification Code: 093375p
   Underneath it was a black and white photo of her mother. She read on until she found what she was looking for.
     Diagnosis concluded PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
    She nodded her head,guessed as much. She had seen her mum take pills every night but didn't look into it.
        She has PTSD alright, but what triggered tonight's episode?
    
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    Eyyo dodos! I brought you wings so c'ummon flap'em. I was super busy I didn't have time to cry about it. Seriously, I was pitiful still am. I can't update regularly like I used to cause am busy.
     I love all those of you who voted,shared and commented, seriously,I 😍. Keep them up.
            
         P. S. For those(you know yourselves ;) )who were spamming my comment section, I like the new style of spamming. 💋.

     Legends out! *Drops mic and leave the stage.