One Wild Night

"Hm?" he asked distractedly, and Candace smiled at how adult-like he sounded.

"Why are you so silent? What are you thinking about?" she asked, and he gazed at her.

"I was just wondering if grandpa Aaron is okay. Do you think I should hold his hands again when we get to the hospital?" Jamal asked, and Candace smiled.

"You seem to care about him a lot."

"Yes, I do," Jamal said as he tried to stay still while his mother brushed his hair.

"Why is that?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"Lucy and Tom care about him," he said simply, and Candace giggled, wondering what she had been expecting to hear.

Of course, he cared about Aaron because the two people he loved had shown him Aaron was important to them.

"Do you think he is a good person?" Candace asked, and Jamal bobbed his head.

"He asked them to get me Ice cream and chocolate," Jamal said, and Candace doubled over with laughter.

"I guess that makes him a good person," she said in amusement. She often forgot that Jamal was a kid because of the way he acted matured most times. It was only at times like this, when he said such childish things, that she remembered he was only a kid.

"Do you like him?" Jamal asked in return.

"Aaron?"

"Yes. You hugged him, and you cried with him," Jamal reminded her.

"Yes, I did. I think he is a good person," she said softly, and Jamal nodded his head in agreement while Candace tried to figure out how to ease into what she wanted to say to him.

"Do you think Andy is going to like him too?" Jamal asked, and Candace bobbed her head.

"Yes, she will."

"Is she going to come and live with us here?" Jamal asked, and Candace sighed inwardly.

"She traveled. So we won\'t be able to see her until she returns from her trip," Candace said, and Jamal looked at her curiously as he sat on the edge of the bed since she was done combing his hair.

"Where did she travel to?"

"I don\'t know yet."

"She didn\'t tell you where she was going? I thought you told each other everything?" Jamal asked, and Candace nodded.

"We do, but this trip was unplanned."

"She is okay, right?" Jamal asked with a worried frown.

"I believe she is," Candace answered as honestly as she could, and Jamal sighed.

"Jam?" Candace called again after he had been silent for some seconds with a thoughtful look on his face.

Jamal looked at her, and she took his hand, "Remember what I told you when we talked about my parents?" she asked, and he bobbed his head.

"Can you tell me what I said?" she asked, and he gave her a nod.

"You said that you are an orphan, and your parents are the sisters at the orphanage home," Jamal said, and Candace cleared her throat.

"I found out that I\'m not an orphan," she said and watched as surprise and confusion flickered in Jamal\'s eyes.

"You now have real parents?" he asked in surprise, and Candace gave him a nod.

"I found out that grandpa Aaron is my father," she said, and Jamal\'s eyes widened in surprise as he let out a loud gasp.

"You are kidding, right?" Jamal asked in disbelief after some seconds.

Candace would have been amused by his reaction if the topic wasn\'t an important one.

"I\'m not."

"But he is Harry\'s daddy. How can he be your dad too?" Jamal pointed out.

"I found out Harry is my twin brother," Candace said, and Jamal raised his hand to his lips as he looked at her with wide eyes.

Candace wished she could know what he was thinking as he looked at her, but apart from the obvious surprise on his face, his face wasn\'t revealing any other emotion.

"You should Say something, pumpkin," Candace urged him when he remained quiet.

"I don\'t know what to say," he said with a slight frown.

"You can tell me what you are thinking," Candace said, wanting to understand him since his opinion mattered.

"Was that why you were both crying?" Jamal asked, and Candace gave him a nod.

"What about your mommy? Why did you grow up alone?" he asked, and Candace shook her head.

"Remember the bad lady that made his heart hurt?" she asked, and when Jamal gave her a nod, she went on, "That\'s the lady that gave birth to Harry and me. She separated us after giving birth to us," Candace said, not wanting to give Jamal the details.

That would be too harsh for a child. That wasn\'t the kind of world she wanted her son to know. Experiencing Jamal was enough.

Jamal looked at his mother with sad eyes, "She must be very bad," he said quietly, and Candace nodded.

"How do you feel about this?" she asked curiously.

If she was going to be accepting Aaron and Harry as her family, too, as they had accepted her, Jamal had to understand and be in support since they were a pair.

"How do you feel?" Jamal asked back, surprising her.

"Why are you asking me that?" Candace asked, and Jamal shrugged.

"I want to know if you are happy. Are you happy to have them?" Jamal asked with concern, and Candace felt tears rush to her eyes.

"Grandpa Aaron and Harry are good people, and they are Lucy\'s friends. I don\'t mind them being your family," Jamal said, and Candace touched his hair.

"They are not going to be just my family, Jam. They are your family too. Aaron is your granddad, and Harry is your uncle," Candace pointed out, and Jamal\'s eyes lit up as though he had not thought of that.

"I can have my own granddad and an uncle now?" he asked excitedly, and Candace gave him a nod.

"Yes," she said and laughed out loud when Jamal screeched happily as he jumped on her and embraced her fiercely, making a tear drop from her eyes as she laughed.

"Are you that happy?" Candace asked with a smile as she buried her face in his hair.

"Can I tell Lucy about it?" Jamal asked as he pulled away from her and got off the bed.

"Lucy is aware. And she traveled," Candace reminded him with a smile.

"What about Samantha? Can I tell her?" he asked as he adjusted his hair. He wanted nothing more than to go out and share the good news with someone.

"Did I mention that Lucy is my cousin?" Candace asked, and he paused.

"Lucy? How?" he asked with a confused frown.

"Janet is my aunt. She is my mother\'s twin sister," Candace said, and Jamal paused for a moment, not sure whether or not he should be happy about this piece of information.

"But she is not my cousin," Jamal said thoughtfully, and Candace laughed.

"She is your cousin."

"Can my cousin be my girlfriend?" he asked curiously, and Candace laughed even harder.

"No."

"But I want her to be my girlfriend, not my cousin," he complained.

"Sorry, pumpkin. That can\'t be helped. Besides, she already has a boyfriend, remember?" she asked, and Jamal sighed.

"Yeah."

"You should be happy Lucy is family. Don\'t worry, when it\'s time for you to get a girlfriend, you\'d find someone as beautiful and nice as Lucy, okay?" she assured him, and although Jamal wasn\'t convinced that there was any girl more beautiful or nice than Lucy, he gave his mother a nod.

"Can I go down to meet Samantha now?" he asked, and Candace smiled at him.

"Yeah. I will join you after I freshen up," she said as she watched him leave.

"Don\'t run down the stairs, Jam," she called out to him, but before she could get the words out, Jamal had shot down the hallway like a rocket.

Some minutes later, as Candace made her way down the stairs to see if Tom was back and also check in on how far Jamal had spread the news, she faltered in her steps when she saw Bryan seated with Mia and Jeff and having breakfast at the dining.

"You are back," Bryan said when he saw Candace.

"Yes. I came back yesterday. Good morning," Candace said with an awkward smile, not sure if Bryan had heard the news about her and the Jonas yet. Although, she doubted he had since he had his own scandals to worry about.

"Good morning. Pardon my manners. This is Jeff and Mia. Meet Candace," Bryan said casually, and they all exchanged pleasantries.

"What about Sonia? Didn\'t she come with you?" Candace asked when she noticed Sonia\'s absence.

"No. We are taking a break," Bryan said so casually that Candace frowned while Mia and Jeff exchanged an awkward look.

"Sonia had something to do, so we had to leave without her," Jeff explained awkwardly, and Bryan glared at him.

"Says who?" Bryan asked in annoyance while Candace looked at them as she shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

Mia cleared her throat, "Bryan, you need to calm down."

"I\'m calm," Bryan said before looking at Candace.

"Sorry about that. As I was saying, Sonia and I are taking a break. Or maybe it\'s a breakup. I\'m not exactly sure which it is yet..."

"So much unnecessary information no one asked to know," Tom said, and they all looked up to see him standing in the living room.

"My business is always public business anyway, so there\'s no need to keep any information private," Bryan said as he continued to eat while Jeff and Mia stood up.

Candace immediately excused herself and went to the kitchen to find Jamal.

"Please, you can enjoy your breakfast," Tom said to Mia and Jeff, but they remained where they stood.

"Bryan, come with me," Tom said as he turned and walked away from there to the Den, expecting Bryan to follow him.

Once Bryan walked into the Den and shut the door behind him, Tom faced him, "Do you mind telling me what is going on?" he asked calmly.

"I\'m sure you must have heard from mom or dad. There is no reason to bore you with any unnecessary detail, so I will give you the summary. I got into a fight with Sonia\'s ex. Got arrested and then broke up with Sonia," Bryan said as though it was the most natural thing in the world, and Tom\'s temper flared.

"Are you out of your mind? Don\'t you realize the sort of damage your action can do to your career?" He growled at him, and Bryan snorted.

"Don\'t sound like you are really concerned about my career. You are only worried about your company and how this might affect your plans," Bryan said, and Tom\'s hand balled into a fist beside him.

"And what is wrong with that? As your brother, I have every right to worry about the damage you are doing to your career, and as the CEO of I-Global, I have as much right to worry about the effect of your actions on the company. It would do you well to remember both and not mix them up," Tom snarled at him.

"Why are you so mad? Wait, let me guess. Because I\'m the only one, this scandal is about and not your girlfriend, right? When she was in the news a short while ago, you weren\'t this mad at her or worried about the effect of that scandal on my career. But since it\'s just me..."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Tom asked angrily as he roughly grabbed Bryan\'s shirt and pushed him onto the couch before clenching his fists beside him to stop himself from hitting him.

"Why? Am I lying? Is the truth too bitter for you to swallow? Go on. Be honest. If Lucy was also involved in this scandal, would you have been so mad at me or worried about your company?" Bryan asked bitterly as he tried to sit up.

"What has Lucy got to do with your bullshit? Are you out of your mind?" Tom asked as he looked at him incredulously.

"I\'m not even allowed to talk about her? I hope she breaks up with you and goes to be with Sonia now that she needs her. Or is Sonia the only one that puts friendship and loyalty above her relationship?"

"You should be ashamed of yourself. Cause right now, I\'m ashamed of the words coming from you. Let\'s talk when you return to your senses," Tom said with a shake of his head as he walked out of the Den.