Dr. Pascal Mendez often slept in his study because as a sensitive and considerate husband, he avoided disturbing Rosie, as he fondly addressed his loving wife, unnecessarily when he worked late at the hospital or at home. She used to protest it in the beginning but then began to understand his motives.

"It's alright Pascu; come to bed even if you are late; I miss you not being here next to me."
"No dear; you are a nurse. You work harder than I do, and need full eight hours of sleep. I am never away from you; am I?"
He had grabbed her and kissed passionately. The lovemaking following that, had settled the issue once for all. Same understanding about early rising applied to their routine.

Doctors have abnormal routines and depending on the demands for their services, they had to organize their daily life. Dr. Pascal often left home before anyone was awake in his household. From the early childhood, he had done the 'early to rise,' routine to assist mother when she was managing the Mendez Farm in Goa. The firstborn child was indeed a blessing to Miriam. He had replaced Frank Mendez the Sailor man dad in assisting mom. Before leaving for school at eight in the morning, he used to do small chores and as he grew up, gave her hand on managing the laborers, buyers and vendors. All seem to have early morning routines to visit the farm and conduct business before nine to catch the riverboat to take the produce to markets. That routine helped Pascu throughout his life as a Medical Student, Intern and now a full-fledge Psychiatrist. Obviously, he had become the head of the household after Frank Mendez disappeared over the horizon and step dad-A Portuguese official, who took his mother to the Alter. After that, he moved to Bombay (Mumbai Now), for the admission in the Grand Medical College.

That morning was one of those days when he had to be up early even though he had worked late the previous night. To his surprise, he found Rosita sitting at the dinette in the kitchen sipping coffee.

"What's the matter sweetie; early shift today?" He was pleased to see her and kissed her lightly before proceeding to the coffee percolator.

"No, I have my usual afternoon shift," She responded in a low voice and he picked up the scent of a troubled mind.

"What happened yesterday? Did Francis go into a tail-spin after meeting the Barracuda?" He made the usual reference to Miranda.

"No, that encounter was not as bad as what happened after she left."

Rosita found an opening to bring the conversation to that point, where she could begin the discussion about the presence of Frank Mendez in their lives. Since she woke up that morning, she was struggling to find a soft landing for herself and her husband. This was that lucky break.

"Please sit down, I need to speak to you and this is very important to all of us." She implored.
Pascal came around and did just that in front of her. He reached out for her hands and they linked with each other as if performing some sort of psychic game.
"I want to know all about it; don't hold anything back love; I am here for you." He glanced at his wristwatch as he spoke.

"Francis discovered your long lost father- Frank Mendez. He lives with two sons in the Praça Benedito Calixto Squaro. There is a Goan Restaurant after the Farmers' Market and they live behind in a shack like structure. I didn't know how to react to him as it happened so quickly and I am afraid, perhaps I made him feel unwelcoming in our home. I am sorry, but I just couldn't face a stranger who looked like he came from the slums of Rio and claimed to be my father in law. I hope you will understand my predicament."

"Oh my God; what an extraordinary event! My father living in such a distressed condition in my own town and no Goan person in Sao Paulo knew about it. Indeed this is a tragic situation. Where is Francis? Let me wake him up and we can decide what to do."

Dr. Pascal tried to minimize impact of the news he wished had not come out in the open at that time when he was getting ready to close an important chapter in their lives. He wanted to speak to Francis and their siblings about the two legal matters; the Will and Testament of their mother, Mariam, and stepfather, Count Alphonso. With the reappearance of Frank Mendez, all that work of twenty some years of legal wrangling between the Attorneys of Goa and their Brazilian counterparts had to be rehashed. Sometimes it seems destiny likes to play with the human lives that strange board game of Snake and Ladders. One can never be sure how long one can keep climbing up and up and then, a throw of dice lands him in a place, where a snake swallows the player and push down all the way to the starting box.
Rosita responded quickly,

"Francis did not come home with me; he stayed with Mr. Frank. He insisted on doing that."

She was in tears out of some senses of failing her husband which really was not her fault, nor Pascu had accused her in any way.

Thoughtfully he came around, held her in his arms, wiped her tears, and in a gentle voice said:

"Rosie, don't let that doubt about our past bother you. Today you will learn entire story from very beginning. Nothing I told you about who we the Mendez are will change by finding of a man who may be our long lost dad. Francis is naive and does not know the ways of our world. The man may be an impostor. Someone who knew my family back in Goa and that is not impossible to happen. My family has been one of the oldest and the richest landlords of the Portuguese Colony in India.

Relax; I am going to get to the bottom of all this business today. I assure you, my dad, if he is alive today, he would not have stayed away from his family owned lands and real estate. Today, that property is worth Millions of US Dollars. I must leave for clinic immediately, but I will meet Frank Mendez this afternoon and we will meet tonight after dinner. I will bring Francis back with me. Now you go and get ready for your work without worrying about a thing. As caregivers, we both have special duties to perform."

He kissed her forehead, gave her a reassuring hug and left for the clinic.

Wearily, Rosita got up from her chair. She had lot to unload on Pascu but then, there were his patients waiting to do the same in his clinic and their problems took precedence over hers; she knew that by her experiences since the time they dated in the early years of their courtship. Her mind was not settled as she would have liked and there were anxiety-causing thoughts still swarming in her head. How to prepare her home to handle a father in law along with Francis had become a bewildering subject that had no clear solution she had planned to get out of Pascu that morning but failed. Although it remained an unfinished business, she was sure of a quick resolution her husband had promised. He did not let her down before and she hoped for a reasonably acceptable outcome.

Then, she too had her own sanctuary to run and hide. As a Director of Nursing, she had her daily goals and clinical challenges to meet. She picked up the phone and called the hospital to check on some of the care related issues. As day advanced, she got ready and left for the work. Frank Mendez affair was not forgotten; just pushed aside by the both clinicians. Taking care of their patients gave them the escape they needed at that moment.

By four in the evening, Dr. Pascal Mendez headed for the restaurant to meet the man who claimed to be Frank Mendez of Panjim, Goa, India. There were many angles to this story and the most complicated one related to the legal domain and that too in a faraway land. It so happened that the issue at hand was almost resolved after a long legal battle of probating a Will made in Rome but involved assets in Goa. The land and the structure over it were located in an ideal place for a Beach Resort. In fact, another native Goan person who shared the last name- Mendez, with Frank, had claimed a stake the property. He had built a consortium of small landowners surrounding the Mendez real estate and together, they had obtained a Tourist Resort building plan from an Australian developer. The major hitch in the scheme was the absent owners of the prime property-The Mendez Clan.

The Indian Land Reform initiative adopted in sixties, wiped out the centuries old feudal, Landlord-Tenant -lease systems and gave the lands to the tillers, if the owners failed to demonstrate the claimant were servants and not tenants. The well-intended, Socialistic plan had its unintended consequences. It had become a favorite tool for grabbing the Agricultural holdings. All a land mafia had to do was to find a person living adjacent to the targeted property, preferably a former servant, or a distant relative or anyone sharing a family name. If a person with the knowledge of the farming operations was found, then make him farm the land as if it belongs to him and finance the farming with a loan. If the landowners ignore that for a year or two, then help the so-called tenant, file a claim under the Tenancy Reform Act. If the owners are out of the country and decide not to fool with the arcane Indian Civil Courts, then, by default, the land changed hands. After that, the mafia gives the new owner some pocket change and grab the property.

In case of Dr. Mendez and his clan's property, one prospective owner, Emanuel Mendez was in Mumbai and used to visit the family's real estate frequently. Second stroke of good luck was the government's restrictions on conversion of arable lands used in the food productions. It had become difficult to convert such a land in any commercial holdings. Mariam had a keen mind in doing business and in fact, she had taken charge of the property after marriage. Meticulous record keeping was her strength and keeping government dues in line had firmly kept the property in Mendez family.

Before leaving Goa, she had put it in the, 'Inter- Vivo --Trust' arrangement and rented out the Mendez Villa to the church on a nominal rent with on demand vacating clause in the lease. Nevertheless, a Mendez showed up to claim the stake. It took some ten or fifteen years to shake his claim off and the property value skyrocketed.

When Mariam realized the shadow of death was eminent, she prepared a will and distributed the property between three older children, leaving Francis out. Part of Rosita's anxiety stemmed out of the fear that property worth several millions, just freed from the unsubstantiated claims, may get bogged down in another court battle because of this resurrection of Frank Mendez from the grave. A thought of him challenging the Mariam's will, sounded real and ominous. Francis on the other hand was full of joy. Sense of possessing something had never entered in his mind and like his father; he was sailing on the ocean of peace, containment and a renewed sense of purpose. In an unique way, both the father and the son were happy to be poor. Father was aware of the value of his real estate but did not care and the son had taken a vow of poverty when adorned a collar