One Wild Night

Chapter 956: Mummy Issues

The house was alive with the usual Saturday morning activity- Candace setting the table, Andy answering Jamal\'s endless list of questions as she assisted Candace, Aaron laughing as he listened to them while he awaited the first meal of the day.

Jamal, already full of energy, was chattering animatedly about the upcoming weekend plans, his young voice a cheerful m background sound for the scene.

They had all decided to travel to Ludus the coming weekend, and Jamal was over the moon at the thought of seeing Lucy, Tom and his uncle Harry again.

As Candace moved to pour Jamal a glass of orange juice, the doorbell rang, startling them all since they were not expecting anyone until noon when the cleaner was to arrive.

Candace glanced at the clock, a bit puzzled by the early visitor, and Andy grinned, "Could be Matt pulling one of his surprise visits," Andy suggested with a wink.

"Uncle Matt!" Jamal screeched happily at the thought.

"Hold your horses, boy...."

"I don\'t have any horses to hold," Jamal said, and Aaron chuckled and went on to explain what it meant, while Candace went to see who was at the door.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The moment she opened the door, her eyes rounded in disbelief before she shrieked with delight, her hand still on the doorknob.

Standing on the doorstep, with a wide grin on his face, was Harry, and beside him was Jade, looking a little tired but smiling warmly.

"Harry! Oh my God, Harry!" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him.

Harry chuckled, catching her in a tight embrace. "Did you miss me that much, Sis?" he teased, his voice filled with affection.

Candace swatted his arm playfully. "Shut up! Of course, I did, you idiot!" She turned to Jade who was now laughing and wrapped her in a hug as well. "Jade, it\'s so good to see you! What a wonderful surprise!"

Before Jade could respond, the commotion had drawn the attention of the rest of the household. Aaron, Andy, and Jamal came rushing to the entryway, curious about the source of Candace\'s excited squeals.

When they saw Harry and Jade, their faces lit up. "Harry!" Andy shouted happily as she embraced him.

"What are you both doing here?" Aaron asked happily as he embraced Jade.

Jamal, not to be outdone, ran straight for Harry, his small arms outstretched. "Uncle Harry!" he yelled, his excitement overflowing.

Harry\'s face softened as he scooped him up, lifting him high into the air and twirling him around. Jamal\'s laughter rang through the house, the sound infectious and pure.

"Look how big you\'re getting, Jamal! I\'m gonna need to start lifting weights just to carry you," Harry joked, bringing him down to eye level. "Did you miss me?"

Jamal nodded enthusiastically, his eyes bright with joy. "Yeah! I missed you a lot, Uncle Harry!" Jamal said and Harry grinned as he set Jamal back on the floor, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"I missed you, too," Harry assured him as he straightened.

As they all moved inside, the family\'s chatter filled the hallway, voices overlapping in a joyful noise.

"What are you doing here?" Candace asked, still beaming. "We were all planning to visit Ludus within the week!" Candace said, her voice still tinged with surprise.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what was bringing all of you to Ludus?"

Andy grinned, crossing her arms. "Well, we all had different reasons. Jamal wanted to see Lucy, Candace and I were coming for Aurora\'s wedding, I\'m also expecting Alex, and Dad..." Andy trailed off, glancing at Aaron with a smirk.

Candace giggled. "Dad wanted to see his woman friend."

"Girlfriend," Aaron corrected.

"Someone tell him that she\'s too old to be called a girlfriend," Candace said and they all laughed, apart from Aaron who scowled at her.

"She\'s my age, that means she\'s girlfriend to me," Aaron said and they all laughed.

"Girlfriend, woman friend, lady friend, it\'s all the same. What\'s important is that she makes you happy," Harry said, and Aaron nodded.

"I knew you\'d understand," Aaron said, clapping him on the back.

Harry put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I\'m hurt though! I thought I\'d be one of the reasons you\'d visit Ludus. So, no one was coming to see me?"

Aaron smiled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Well, I did want to see my lovely

girlfriend, but seeing my handsome son was also a part of it."

Jamal tugged at Harry\'s sleeve, looking up at him earnestly. "I wanted to see you too, Uncle Harry! But after I see Lucy."

"Gee. Thanks, Jamal," he said, ruffling the boy\'s hair again as everyone laughed.

"We were just about to have breakfast when you arrived. Let\'s go to the dining before everything gets cold," Candace suggested and they all moved to the dining area.

As they all settled on the dining, Aaron smiled, his gaze soft as he looked at his son. "It\'s good to have you home, Harry," he said, and then turned to Jade, who had been unusually quiet all along with a wide smile on her face as she watched the interactions.

"Jade, it\'s so wonderful to see you again. How are you doing?" He asked with a warm smile.

Jade grinned, feeling the genuine affection in Aaron\'s voice. "I\'m fine, thank you. It\'s good to see you too."

Aaron held her gaze, "I\'m glad to hear that. I\'m glad you\'re here. I always knew you and Harry would sort things out. He\'s too stubborn to let go of an intelligent beauty like you," he said, and Jade giggled, remembering the first time she heard that. (Chapter 186) Harry groaned, rolling his eyes. "Dad, why do you always have to bring that up?" Harry asked, and Candace and Andy chuckled, and even Jamal who didn\'t understand joined in the laughter. Aaron, unbothered by Harry\'s irritation, continued. "You know I\'m just happy to see that things have been resolved. But Jade, make sure Harry goes for therapy too before he starts thinking about marrying you."

Harry blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in the conversation. "What is that

supposed to mean, Dad?"

Aaron shrugged, but his expression grew more serious, even though his tone remained gentle. "It means you have your own trauma to unpack, Harry."

"No, I don\'t," Harry said, and Aaron chuckled.

"Yes, you do. Think about what happened between you to, and I\'m sure you will see your

trauma played a role too. It\'s not a big deal, Harry. You are not the only one, you know. We have all been getting therapy, and it\'s been helping. Candace, Andy, Jamal... even me."

"What does Jamal need therapy for?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Jamal, do you like Ms Betty?" Aaron asked, and Jamal bobbed his head.

"She is fun to talk to," Jamal said, and Aaron gave Harry an I-told-you-so look.

"Therapy is not about talking to a fun person," Harry argued. "Jamal, is Lucy not fun to talk

to?" Harry asked, and Jamal grinned.

"She is."

"Lucy is not even a therapist," Harry said, giving back Aaron his I-told-you-so look.

They all laughed softly but Candace held Harry\'s gaze, "Dad is right, though. We all have things we\'re working through."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Is everyone I know seeing a therapist these days?"

Andy chuckled. "Pretty much. It\'s kind of the thing to do if you want to deal with your issues

and not bleed on others."

Aaron\'s voice was soft but firm. "A lot of people in life have problems, Harry, but only a few get help. That\'s why the world is so messed up. People who refuse to get help end up making life hard on others and traumatizing them too."

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I didn\'t come for a lecture on therapy and trauma, Dad. I came because I missed you guys. I just want to spend time with my family."

Aaron\'s gaze softened. "We\'ve missed you too, son. And we\'re glad you\'re here, both of you." He looked at Jade and then back at Harry, his eyes twinkling. "Now, why don\'t we focus on our breakfast? You can tell us more about all that\'s been going on in Ludus."

As they ate, Harry felt a sense of relief wash over him. Being home, surrounded by his family, he felt like he could finally breathe. He glanced over at Jade, who was chatting excitedly with Candace and telling her about her role at I-Global, and he smiled.

"If I had known you were all coming, I wouldn\'t have made this stressful trip," Harry said after some time and Aaron chuckled.

"True. We wanted to surprise you, but you surprised us. Perhaps we can all travel back together," Aaron suggested.

"Will you be staying at my place?" Harry asked, and Aaron grinned.

"No. I don\'t think so," he said, and Harry chuckled when his father\'s ears flushed red.

"When are we going to meet this girlfriend of yours?" Harry asked with an amused smile. "Not any time soon. We are taking things slowly," Aaron said, and Candace rolled her eyes. "Like you both have all the time in the world at your age," she said dryly.

"Yes, we do. We don\'t have any reason to be in haste. We have kids, we have grandkids. All we want is to enjoy each other\'s company, and we are doing just that. No pressure, no expectation. As a matter of fact, there is no reason for you to meet her unless there\'s an

occasion and I\'m inviting her over as a guest," Aaron said and Harry nodded before Candace

could say anything.

"Well, that\'s your call. As long as you\'re happy, you can do whatever you want. You deserve to be happy," Harry said, and they all nodded in agreement.

After breakfast, Harry and Jade went up to Harry\'s room to freshen up, and as they got into the bathroom, Harry turned to Jade, who was unusually silent.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, knowing that she was thinking about something.

"I was thinking about what your Dad said. You know your Dad is right, don\'t you?" Jade asked,

and Harry turned to her.

"About?"

"About you needing therapy too," Jade said and Harry groaned.

"Not you too."

"Yes me too. I didn\'t really think about it before, but after he mentioned it I thought about it.

The incident at the resort. I was wrong. I reacted the way I did because of my past, and you did

so too. Seeing me pack up and thinking I was going to leave like Sara did, triggered you," Jade said before Harry could interrupt.

"You know, it\'s funny how we all go through life getting triggered by things we least suspect and reacting due to unsuspected trauma. You could be traumatized by something and not even know it," Jade said, and Harry eyed her skeptically.

"Are you saying I need therapy?" He asked, and she giggled.

"Going for therapy won\'t make you less cool than you already are, I promise," she said, and

he chuckled.

"So, you\'re going to listen to him and not marry me unless I go for therapy?" He asked, and

she grinned. "What\'s good for the goose, is good for the gander," she said, and Harry chuckled. "Doesn\'t our couple counseling count?" He asked, and she raised a brow. "How does that deal with your own mummy issues?" She asked, and he winced.

"Please don\'t call it that," he said with a pained expression and she giggled. "Alright. What about Sara issues?" She joked, and Harry chuckled.

"I don\'t have any issues, but I\'ll go for therapy just to prove you all wrong," he said, and she

nodded. "Yeah. You do that," Jade said, and smiled when Harry pulled her against himself.

"I will do just that," he said suggestively, and she giggled.

"That\'s not the THAT I meant," she said and he grinned.

"Well, this is the that I\'m doing," he said playfully making her laugh as he pulled her close to

kiss her.

"Just so you know, I\'ll do whatever it takes to be whole and perfect for you," he said, and she

smiled.

"Yeah. I know. Me too."