One Wild Night

Chapter 975: Moving To Ludus

When she opened the door, she found Candace standing there with Jamal by her side.

"Where did you drop your stupid phone? You seem to always forget how to use a phone whenever he\'s around," Candace snapped, and Andy giggled.

"Sorry. I\'ve been busy. Come in!" Andy greeted them warmly. "I\'m so glad you could make it, Jam. How are you feeling today?" she asked Jamal who was unusually quiet.

"I\'m fine," he said as he took the hand she held out.

Andy led them inside, and Candace paused when she spotted Alex standing by the staircase. She looked at him for a moment, unsure how to greet him.

"Alex, you know my sister, Candace. This is my nephew, Jamal," Andy said, and Alex looked at Candace, not sure how to greet her too.

Andy looked between them both and rolled her eyes, "Jamal, meet my boyfriend, Alex," Andy said, and Alex shifted his gaze to Jamal since it was easier.

"Hello. It\'s nice to meet you, Jamal," he greeted, curious to know the kid, who would be Mari\'s friend.

Before Jamal could say anything, Susan descended the stairs with Mari, who had gone up to change her dress because she spilled juice on it.

Jamal\'s brows pulled together as he looked at Mari, "And this is Susan. She takes care of Mari and Alex. Susan, this is my sister, Candace," Andy said, and Susan smiled and nodded at Candace.

"It\'s nice to meet you, Susan," Candace said to Susan while Alex remained where he stood awkwardly.

"And this," Andy continued, gesturing to the shy little Mari who was now hiding behind her leg away from Jamal, "is my little doll, Mari. Mari, this is Jamal."

Jamal stepped forward with a serious expression on his face. Mari peeked out from behind Andy, her glasses perched on her nose as she looked at Jamal shyly.

Andy knelt down beside Mari. "Jamal is going to be a great big brother, and I hope you two can be best of friends."

Jamal, still thinking about Dawn, looked at Andy with sad eyes. "I can be a good big brother," he said, his voice small. "But Dawn is my only best friend."

Andy smiled and patted his shoulder. "That\'s okay. As long as you\'re kind to Mari, that\'s what matters."

"She wears glasses like Lucy," Jamal said, and Candace smiled, realizing the reason he had been staring at her so intently.

"Yes, she does," Andy said with a soft smile as she exchanged a look with Alex.

Jamal thought for a moment, remembering his first encounter with Dawn and how they had argued. Not wanting a repeat of that with Mari, he held out his hand to her. "Don\'t be scared," he said softly. "I will be nice to you."

Mari hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took his hand. She smiled shyly at him, and Andy\'s heart melted at the sight.

Andy stood up and beamed at the two children, knowing that this was the beginning of something special for both of them.

As Andy ushered the kids away to go bake cookies with her, Susan excused herself, and Alex was left alone with Candace who was watching him.

"I know you probably don\'t approve of my relationship with her," Alex started, and Candace raised a brow.

"Why wouldn\'t I approve? Andy is a big girl. She knows what she wants and if she says you\'re what she wants, I have nothing to say about that," Candace said, and Alex nodded.

"But you have something to say, don\'t you?" Alex asked, and Candace nodded.

"As much as I support her decision, I know she\'s in love and might not be thinking too clearly. So, if you know that your being here is going to put her in danger whether now or in the long run, I think you should put an end to this, unless you have a way of making sure no one traces you to her. We\'ve been through a lot. Andy has been through so much. She deserves a break. So, if you won\'t be able to keep her happy, don\'t start what you can\'t finish," Candace said firmly, and Alex nodded.

"I\'m glad she has you to do this..."

"Not just me. Our Dad and brother actually asked me to pass the message to you," Candace said with a sweet smile. "Our father wanted to come, and so did Harry, but they didn\'t want to make you or Andy uncomfortable, so I was sent to relay the news to you," Candace said, and took out her phone from her handbag.

Alex couldn\'t help but be amused as he listened to the recorded voice message.

"Wait. I just started recording..."

"Why do you need to record when you can just relay the message?" Aaron asked Candace.

"Because I might not remember everything..."

"Yeah. That\'s the downside of having twins. One gets all the brain and the other is left empty," Harry said, and Aaron chuckled.

"Yeah. Too bad you were left empty. Thankfully Jade is smart and she will make up for you in your areas of lack," Candace said, and Harry chuckled.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I\'m not the one who can\'t remember everything..."

"Okay, now you two, stop bickering. Candace, tell that young man that the Andy he knew in the past isn\'t the same Andy now. She has a father and a brother, so he shouldn\'t think of messing with her else I\'ll make sure he disappears for real. And if he knows that being in her life is going to endanger her, he should do what\'s best for her and let her go. She has a brilliant future ahead of her," Aaron said, all trace of amusement gone from his voice now. "Also tell him that as much as we support them, if he won\'t be able to keep this relationship up, he shouldn\'t start it. We would have had this conversation with him in person, but Andy wouldn\'t want us to show up that way. So, make sure you pass the message to him. Andy has men in her life now, so he should keep that in mind," Harry added.

"Okay. I\'ll just play this to him," Candace said before stopping the recorder.

"I see," Alex said, amused as he met her gaze.

"So, do you have a response for them?" Candace asked as she held out her phone like she was waiting for his go ahead so she could record what he wanted to say.

"Tell them they don\'t have to worry or fear anything. I will protect Andy with my life and I won\'t do anything to hurt her," Alex promised.

Candace nodded as she smiled at him, "Then I guess we are good," she said extending a hand to him, and he shook her hand.

Satisfied, Candace went in search of Andy and the kids, and to her relieve she found Jamal getting along with Mari as they assisted Andy in making cookies.

Although Candace had questions for Andy, she held back, since they couldn\'t talk right there.

"So, will you be able to attend the wedding?"

"Of course. Why not?" Andy asked, looking up at Candace with a raised brow.

"Just asking. You seem to have a full house," Candace said, and Andy smiled.

"I do, don\'t I? Now I wish you would move to Ludus with Jamal so that they can both attend

the same school. When you get married to Matt, you\'d move into his house here in Ludus, right? I should ask him to marry you soon instead of flying around the world shooting

movies," Andy said, and Candace giggled.

"That is not happening. We already agreed to settle down after I\'m done with school. And that\'s in some years from now," Candace said, and Andy raised a brow.

"You both discussed marriage already, huh?" she asked, and Candace shrugged.

"It\'s not like we are dating for fun. He has made his intention known from the start," she said,

and Andy nodded.

"Yeah. I guess so. Do you think I would be able to convince Dad to move down to Ludus? His girlfriend is here after all," Andy asked and Candace eyed her with partial amusement. "And what happens to HAJ studios?" Candace asked, and Jamal raised his head at the mention

of HAJ studios.

"Did something happen to HAJ studios?" He asked, sounding alarmed since he was now the J

in HAJ.

"No. No. Nothing happened, sweetheart," Candace rushed to assure him and he relaxed and then returned his attention to Mari as he began to tell her about HAJ Studios and how he

planned to be very rich and get married to Dawn.

"It\'s not like Dad goes to the company daily. He has people taking care of it..."

"And you forget that Jamal goes there weekly for his succession training. We can\'t move to

Ludus..."

"Can we move HAJ studios to Ludus?" Jamal asked curiously.

"It doesn\'t work that way, Jam. But you can build another HAJ here in Ludus when you take

over. If you want to," Candace assured him.

"I will do that," Jamal said with nod as he imagined having a company as big as I-Global, having Dawn with him like Tom has Lucy, and then they would both be close to Lucy here in

Ludus.

"Seeing how you\'re talking about schooling, I guess Alex is leaving her with you as you wanted," Candace said, and Andy nodded.

"Yes. Don\'t say anything negative, Candace. Please. This is what I want," Andy said, and

Candace smiled.

"Sure. As long as you\'re happy, that\'s all that matters. If you\'re looking for a friend for her, you can ask Sharon. Her daughter is around the same age, I believe," Candace said, and Andy

smiled happily.

"You\'re right. Why didn\'t I think of that? I\'ll just ask her at the wedding," Andy said excitedly.

Watching Andy, Candace smiled, happy that even though Cassidy wasn\'t exactly the ideal partner she would have wanted for her sister, Andy was happy. That was all that mattered.