One Wild Night

Aaron was the first to wake up from the nap, and he smiled when the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes was Candace and Jamal sleeping on the bed beside him.

As hard as he had tried to stay awake while chatting with Candace, he had dozed off at some point in the middle of their conversation, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that Candace and Jamal had also slept off on his bed.

Jamal, who was sleeping between him and Candace, was snuggled closely against his mother, but even in his sleep, he was holding on to Aaron's hand. Aaron smiled as he looked down at his hand. Jamal was holding onto his thumb.

His heart ached, and tears gathered in his eyes when his gaze shifted to Candace's beautiful sleeping face. She looked tired and pale. She was not well rested yet, Aaron observed.

"My poor baby," he murmured softly. It would take her a long time to recover from all the hardships she had endured.

Despite how hard she had tried to convince him that her life had not been very hard, he knew better than to take her word for it, especially seeing how she couldn't really come up with any exciting stories of her life.

She had made the most she could out of life, but from all the stories she had shared, the only thing he had picked out was that she had been struggling through life and the only bright spots in her life were Jamal and Andy.

What could be harder than being raised in an orphanage home when your parents were still alive, getting involved with a drug dealer who was obsessed with you, being on the run from criminals, and stripping to make ends meet for your son?

As far as he was concerned, she had lived a hard life, and he mostly blamed himself for it. He wished there was something he could do to make up for it, but he didn't know what to do.

Perhaps it was time for him to resign as president of HAJ studios. He could resign now and live the rest of his life as a doting father and grandfather. It was not too late to fulfill all his fatherly responsibilities to her.

Maybe he could transfer all he had, including HAJ studios, to Candace. Harry was doing pretty well for himself, and knowing Harry, he was sure Harry wouldn't mind.

Although, from the little he had come to know about Candace, she wouldn't be comfortable if he handed it all to her, even if they all knew she needed it.

He smiled as his gaze moved to Jamal, who suddenly laughed in his sleep as though he could hear what his grandfather was thinking.

Aaron sighed softly as he reached out and touched Jamal's hair as if to assure himself that Jamal was real and he wasn't dreaming. A part of him still couldn't believe he had such a beautiful daughter and a precious grandson.

Or maybe he could pass HAJ studios to Jamal since he wasn't sure Candace would be interested in it or know how to run it. Candace would need a lot of training to be able to run HAJ studios, and she didn't exactly have the time to do that now. Not when she needed to focus fully on law school now.

There was no way he could resign and hand over the studios without a good plan. He still had to answer to the shareholders. He would just keep working and also work on training Jamal. Jamal had a sharp mind, and he had no doubt that he would learn very fast. He only hoped that Jamal would be interested in the company and would love the place as much as he did. Maybe Jamal would be the best person to hand over to as it would help Jamal, who had taken a keen interest in Tom and had decided that he wanted to own his own company with multiple subsidiaries like Tom.

He paused in his musings when he heard the sound of the doorbell, and his gaze shifted back to Candace, who stirred in her sleep.

"It's probably the nurse. You don't have to wake up yet," he murmured as he patted her arm so she would go back to sleep.

She smiled at him sleepily, and just as her eyes drifted shut, the door opened, and Harry poked his head in, "You're awake...."

"Sshh!" Aaron hushed, raising his forefinger to his lips.

"Dont disturb their sleep," he whispered, and Harry rolled his eyes as he walked into the bedroom.

"Why? They are going to have to wake up either way. Tom's parents are here with Lucy's parents. They will want to see Jamal," Harry explained, and Aaron sighed.

"They're here?" Candace asked as she opened her eyes and sat up.

"Yes. You might want to freshen up before coming out. You can use the room down the hallway," Harry suggested, and Candace nodded as she yawned.

"Did you sleep well?" Aaron asked, looking at her with loving eyes, and she smiled as she gave him a nod.

"Yes, thanks. How do you feel now? Should I fix your lunch?" Candace asked, but Aaron shook his head.

"Don't worry about that," Aaron said as he turned to Harry, "What about the nurse? Is she not here yet?"

"She will be here soon," Harry said as his gaze shifted to Jamal.

"Just to be clear, I don't have to worry about Jamal telling them about the incident earlier, right?" Harry asked, and both Candace and Aaron chuckled.

"Don't worry, he won't," Candace said as she softly tapped Jamal to wake him up.

"Jam?" Candace called softly as she tapped him until Jamal opened his eyes.

"Wake up. Grandma Janet and Evelyn are here," Candace said, and almost immediately, Jamal sat bolt upright.

"They're here?" He asked, glancing at the door while Harry and Aaron watched in amusement.

"Yes. They're in the living room," Harry was still speaking when Jamal rolled off the bed and started heading for the door excitedly.

"Jam?" Candace stopped him.

"Remember what I told you earlier about finding Aunt Jade's undies in Uncle Harry's bedroom?" Candace asked, and Jamal gave her a nod.

"You said I must not talk about it again or tell anyone because it's an embracing subject...."

"Embarrassing," Candace and Aaron corrected at the same time, and Jamal nodded.

"Good. So be a good boy and do not mention it when you speak with them. Else Uncle Harry and Aunt Jade will be mad at you. And I won't be pleased either," Candace said, and for extra effect, Aaron added.

"Lucy won't like that either. And I'm sure you won't want to lose points," Aaron said, and Jamal bobbed his head.

"I won't talk about it," Jamal promised Harry, and he gave him a thumbs up.

"Good. You can leave now," Candace said, and Jamal zipped past Harry and ran out of the bedroom.

Candace rose from the bed, "I will join you after I wash my face," Candace said as she excused herself, leaving Harry and Aaron.

Once she shut the door behind her, father and son looked at each other, "How did your bonding go?" Harry asked, and Aaron sighed.

"Life hasn't been easy on her," Aaron said, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah. And none of that is your fault. We will do all we can to make sure she is fine. Just don't go blaming yourself silently for it. It's time for you to also leave the past behind," Harry said as he rolled the wheelchair closer to the bed.

"You should say hello to our guests," Harry said as he helped his dad get into the wheelchair.

"Did you say Lucy's mom is here too?" Aaron asked, and Harry nodded.

"Seeing how Jamal loves them, she must be nothing like her sister," Aaron said, and Harry nodded.

"She is a victim too," Harry reminded his father.

"Yeah. You're right. Let's not keep them waiting," Aaron said, and Harry maneuvered the wheelchair out of the room.

As they approached the living room, they could hear Jamal narrating how Harry had rushed out of the office carrying Aaron and how he had followed them to the hospital and held Aaron's hand until he felt all better.

"Harry darling!" Evelyn called as she stood, and her husband and the Perrys did the same when they saw Harry approaching with his father.

"Mrs. Hank...."

"Don't be silly, Harry. We are way past the formalities. How have you been, darling?" She asked as she went to embrace him, and she kissed his cheeks.

"It's been too long since I last saw you," she said with a fond smile as she stepped back and patted his cheek fondly while Harry smiled at her politely.

"It's good to see you again. How was your flight?" Harry asked as he looked from her to Desmond and the Perrys. He met Janet's gaze and noticed the way she was observing him.

"The flight was fun. Hello, Aaron!" Evelyn greeted, moving away from Harry to greet his father.

Seeing that Harry was already acquainted with Tom's family, Jamal, who was still holding onto Janet's hand, decided to do the honors for Lucy's family.

"Uncle Harry, this is grandmum Janet, Lucy's mom. And this is Andrew, Lucy's dad...."

"She gets to be grandmum Janet, and I get to be just Andrew? Really, lad?" Andrew asked, tugging on Jamal's ear, and he chuckled.

"I will ask grandpa Aaron if it's okay to call you grandad," Jamal said, and Andrew chuckled.

"Who did you ask before calling my wife grandmum Janet?" Andrew inquired.

"Shouldn't you be nicer to him since you want Lucy to be your girlfriend, and he is Lucy's dad?" Harry asked, surprising Desmond, Evelyn, and the Perrys, who burst into laughter when Jamal nodded.

"I will call you granddad Andrew for now," Jamal said, ignoring their laughter.

"Jamal has a crush on Lucy?" Evelyn asked in amusement.

"For now?" Andrew asked, and Jamal gave him a nod.

"With your blessing, I'm going to marry Lucy when I grow up. I won't call you granddad Andrew then," Jamal said, looking at Andrew with such a serious expression that Andrew resisted the urge to laugh.

Andrew cleared his throat, "Of course, if she would have you, and your mother permits it...."

"That's not going to happen. Don't give him such false hope," Janet chided as she lifted Jamal and balanced him on her waist.

Evelyn nodded in agreement, "Lucy is taken, and you, my sweet boy, have your life ahead of you. Don't waste it dreaming on meaningless...."

"Women! They won't let the young man enjoy his harmless fantasy in peace," Aaron muttered, and the men laughed in agreement.

"Took the words right out from my mouth," Desmond and Andrew chorused.

"Yet neither of you said a thing," Jade, who had been silently watching the exchange, pointed out.

"Because they obviously don't want to get into trouble. But Aaron has no problem saying what he thinks," Candace said as she joined them, and the man chuckled.

"Oh, Candace!" Evelyn cooed as she went to embrace her.

"Hello!" Candace greeted with a pleasant smile as she embraced Evelyn.

"Hello, Harry!" Janet greeted with an awkward smile as she looked at Harry while Jade rose from where she sat and took Jamal from Janet so there wouldn't be any distractions.

"It's nice to meet you," Harry said with a pleasant smile. He could understand that she was probably feeling sort of uncomfortable about meeting her sister's ex-husband and son, just as they were about meeting Sara's twin sister, there was no reason to make it any more awkward than it already was for everyone.

"And you too, Mr. Perry," Harry said as he extended his hand to Andrew for a handshake.

"Please call me Andrew. I must say I'm surprised that someone as despicable as Sara is capable of birthing such a fine young man...."

"Andrew!" Janet called in a warning tone, but Andrew ignored her.

"I'm positive you turned out this fine because of your dad. You are probably the only ones that must hate her almost as much as Janet does. Or maybe not. There could be even more people out there she must have stolen from. What is that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Let's all stick closely together," Andrew proposed as he shook Harry's hand.

"Please don't mind him...."

"Why not?" Aaron asked, and Janet shrugged as she glanced at him.

"I'm just not sure you'd want us to talk about her...."

"Don't worry. I'm fine. You're all welcome. Please sit down," Aaron said, and just as they all settled on the couch, he looked around the apartment.

"Why don't I see Tom around?" He asked Harry curiously.

"Oh! I forgot to mention it. He flew down to Heden with Bryan. He to surprise Lucy and go on a date with her," Harry said, and Aaron grinned while Andrew shot Desmond a look, but Desmond pretended not to notice as he stifled his chuckle.

"That's nice. Those two can't seem to stay away from each other. I'm waiting for the time when I will see you make such romantic gestures," Aaron said, and Harry glared at his father.

"Very soon, Aaron. And trust me, Harry is very romantic," Jade said with a grin, and Aaron chuckled while the others looked at them with interest.

"What is romantic?" Jamal asked, looking at Jade, who was still holding him closely.

"Uhm... I think your mom should answer that," Jade said, looking at Candace with an awkward smile.

"Romantic means those adult stuff that people in relationship do to make their partners love them more," Evelyn explained, and Jamal nodded thoughtfully.

"Like traveling like Tom to see Lucy?" Jamal asked.

"Exactly!" Evelyn said, and Candace smiled.

"That was easy," Candace observed.

"I raised three kids. You have no idea the sort of questions I had to answer. Bryan once asked me why his penis stands erect every morning," Evelyn said, and they all burst into laughter.

"How did you answer that?" Candace asked curiously.

"Sent him straight to his father. I told him his father would have the perfect answer since he had a penis too," Evelyn said, and they all laughed.

"Please, no one should ask me what I told him," Desmond said when all eyes turned to him, and thankfully the doorbell rang before anyone could ask him any question.

"It's probably the nurse. I will get the door," Harry said as he walked over to get the door, and Jamal followed, while Desmond and Andrew exchanged a look.

"Lucy!" Jamal screeched happily.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Harry asked in surprise when he saw Lucy and Sonia standing at the door.

"Lucy?" Jade asked as she rose and both Evelyn and Janet did the same but the men remained seated, and from the look on their faces Aaron could tell them were not surprised.

"Why do you all look so surprised?" Sonia asked in amusement when she noticed how they were all staring at them.

"I need to see Bryan. Where is he?" Sonia asked as she walked past them into the apartment, and they all followed.

"You came here to find Bryan?" Evelyn asked, while Desmond fought the urge to stifle his laughter.

"Yes. Desmond said you would all be here. Did Bryan leave already?" Sonia asked when she noticed that Bryan wasn't in the apartment.

"Are you aware that Tom is not here?" Janet asked Lucy.

"Is Tom aware that you're in Ludus?"

"When last did you talk to Tom?" Harry and Jade asked simultaneously.

"No. We wanted to surprise them," Lucy explained with a sheepish smile, wondering what the whole questioning was about.

"Desmond told you Bryan would be here? When?" Evelyn asked, looking from Sonia to Desmond who was beginning to shake with laughter.

"Bryan is not here! Bryan and Tom flew to Heden to surprise you," Jade announced, and Lucy's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Tom flew to Heden?"

"Bryan flew to Heden?" Lucy and Sonia asked, their jaws dropped in disbelief, and immediately Desmond roared with laughter as he yelled.

"SURPRISE!" and both Andrew and Aaron joined in his laughter.