One Wild Night

"I guess the vacation is over. I had a swell time with the lot of you," Andrew said as he stood by the car with his wife, where Adolf was waiting to take them to the airport.

"This wasn't a vacation," Janet said, elbowing his side. They had come to be here for Lucy because of the scandal but had ended up spending time with Tom's family after all.

"Then we should plan a family vacation for us all. Preferably at a time when all the kids will be available like now," Evelyn piped up, thinking that it would be great to spend time with them all again.

"Yes, let's do that," Desmond nodded in agreement.

"I think Christmas would be the best time for such a family vacation. What do you think?" Sonia suggested, thinking that it would fit into her story perfectly.

"Christmas is still so far away," Desmond complained.

"Maybe. But hopefully, Lucas would be fine by then so he can join us, and we would have taken care of that brat, Anita, and everyone else we need to handle," Sonia pointed out.

"That's correct," Janet said with a nod.

"Jady, is that okay with you? Do you think you'll be available for a Christmas vacation?" Desmond asked Jade hopefully.

Jade smiled at him, "I should be. Let's hope I can wrap up this case by then," Jade said, and Evelyn turned to Bryan.

"What about you, Bryan?"

"I will try to leave that period work free. Tom is now my boss, after all, so I'm sure he won't mind," Bryan said with a grin.

"What about you, Sonia?"

"As long as I'm there, she will be there, right baby?" Bryan said, and Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Let the girl speak for herself, Mr. Lover boy," Andrew said dryly, and the others laughed when Bryan scowled at him.

"Let the boy be, Andy," Janet scolded.

"I'm the one that suggested Christmas. Besides, I work remotely, remember? So I will definitely be there with Bryan," she said with a grin, and Evelyn smiled.

"Good. Now let's hope that Tom and Lucy will be able to free up their schedule too," Evelyn said with a satisfied smile, thinking about how great it would be to spend the holidays together.

"Do you think maybe we can include Harry too? He has been working so hard," Sonia said, and before Jade could respond, Evelyn nodded in agreement.

"Sure. Harry is already a part of the family anyway," Evelyn said, happy that Sonia was wise and thoughtful enough to include Harry.

"Okay. Christmas it is then. I'm looking forward to it already," Andrew said as his gaze moved to the door which just opened. He was relieved to see Lucy coming out with Tom.

"Sorry we took so long," Tom said as they got to where the others stood.

"Princess," Andrew said as he looked at Lucy apologetically, and she smiled at him as she embraced him.

"Take good care of Lucas, and make sure he doesn't leave your sight unless, of course, he's coming to be with me," Lucy said, and Andrew nodded as he kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said in a low voice, but she shook her head.

"It's fine, dad. Let's forget about that," Lucy said as she stepped away from him to say goodbye to her mother.

Janet still had a guilty expression on her face even though she was glad that Lucy had come to see them off. "Have a safe trip, mom," Lucy said with a smile as she embraced her mother.

"I love you, baby," Janet said as she patted Lucy's hair before letting her step away.

"As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to miss you," Bryan said, and Andrew chuckled as he clapped him on the shoulder.

"You didn't have to say it aloud, boy. I know you will. You can't know me and not miss me," Andrew said with a smile tinged with arrogance, and Bryan scowled at him.

"I wasn't referring to you. I was talking to your wife," Bryan said, making them laugh as he stepped forward to kiss Janet's cheeks.

"Ever heard of the phrase two shall become one? You were definitely talking to me, my boy, and you just kissed my cheek too," Andrew said as he rubbed his cheeks, and this time even Bryan laughed at the funny comeback.

"You do too much, Andy," his wife said in amusement.

"Sony girl," Andrew said as he looked at her with a fond smile, "Make sure you take care of yourself as always. And for my sake, try not to give Bryan an easy time," he said as he embraced her.

"I vow never to," Sonia assured him with a grin as she pulled away from him to embrace Janet.

"I barely just said hi, and now I have to say bye. I didn't even have enough time to fall for your charms," Jade complained with a pout, and Andrew grinned.

"Don't worry. You still have another chance to fall for my charms. I will definitely sweep you off your feet when next we meet again," Andrew promised as he embraced her while his wife said goodbye to the others.

"Thank you for everything, Tom," Andrew said as he shook hands with Tom, "I believe I don't need to tell you boys to take care of my girls," Andrew said, looking from Tom to Bryan and then back again.

"You don't need to," Tom assured him before Bryan could come up with a smart response, and with a nod, Andrew held out the car door for Janet to get into the car.

"Wait!" Candace called out breathlessly as she ran out of the house carrying Jamal, who was crying, and Janet turned back to look at them.

"You didn't tell us you were leaving tonight," Candace said with a slight frown, even though she knew they didn't exactly owe her an explanation.

Jamal had grown fond of them during the little time he had spent in their company, so she expected them to have at least said goodbye to the kid that considered them as some sort of grandparents.

She had been reading him his bedtime stories when Samantha sent one of the housekeepers to inform them that Janet and Andrew were leaving, and Jamal had insisted on seeing them.

"We are sorry about that. It's an impromptu departure. Something urgent came up at home, so we had to leave," Andrew told Candace apologetically as he ruffled Jamal's hair.

Candace let Jamal down, and he sniffled as he embraced Janet, "You were not going to say goodbye?" he asked as he looked from her to Andrew with hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, darling!" Janet said with a distressed frown as she bent forward and carried him, balancing him on her waist. She had been so worried about her kids that she had forgotten about Jamal.

"When are you coming back?" Jamal asked, and Evelyn stepped forward to take him from Janet when she looked at him helplessly.

"We don't know yet. But I'm sure we can always work out something with your mom for you to visit if you miss them too much. Now no more tears, pumpkin. Say goodbye to them like a big boy," Evelyn said as she brushed away his tears with her thumb.

"You can visit us whenever you want, and I'll take you bowling and get you lots of that sweet stuff you love," Janet promised as she kissed his face, and Evelyn took the kid from her.

"I will miss you both," Jamal said as he looked at Andrew.

"We will miss you too, kiddo," Andrew said with a small smile and patted the kid's back.

"Make sure you call me when you arrive. And don't forget to give my love to Lucas," Evelyn said with a wave at them as they got into the car.

They all stood there watching and waving until the car disappeared from view, and then they all turned to return inside.

"It's past his bedtime now," Candace said as she took Jamal from Evelyn, "Say goodnight to everyone, Jam," Candace said, and once the kid did so, she returned inside the house ahead of them.

"What now?" Desmond asked no one in particular.

"Since we've gotten all the unpleasant topics out of the way, let's celebrate your birthday!" Jade said with a wiggle of her body, and when the others agreed, they all returned to the porch.

"Bryan, can you please ask Samantha to serve dinner? And you, Tommy, excuse me for a minute," Jade said once they got to the porch and the others started to sit down.

Tom stepped to the side with Jade, while Bryan glared at her before going to do as she had requested.

"What's up?" Tom asked curiously.

Jade pulled her ear as she looked at him, not knowing how to present her request, "I'm still in need of your help," she said apologetically.

Tom's face was carefully blank as he looked at her, "What an interesting opening statement. Get straight to the point, Jady," Tom urged her.

"Candace wants Jamal to remain here when she leaves with me... Wait! Just let me finish," Jade said before Tom could interrupt.

"The kid's father is a dangerous criminal, and I can assure you that he won't be winning any father of the year awards. He asked to see Candace and Jamal before he would help me close my case, but she doesn't want her son anywhere near him. She is willing to go with me only if Jamal can stay here. This is the only place she believes he would be safe," Jade surmised as best as she could.

"Doesn't she have any family relations she can send the kid to? Wouldn't she feel better if her family is watching over her kid in her absence rather than a bunch of strangers?"

"She's an orphan," Jade said, hoping that would strike a chord of sympathy in Tom while also leaving out the fact that the only person she had who was family to her had been kidnapped by a sexy drug lord.

Why did that suddenly make her think of Massimo? Hot!

Tom pinched the bridge of his nose, "For how long will she be gone? And who is supposed to watch after him in her absence? We both know I will be going to work, and you know the others are traveling back tomorrow," Tom pointed out, referring to their parents, Bryan and Sonia.

"I'm sure Samantha and the others won't mind. I will ask them just to be sure. I just wanted to get your approval first," Jade said, and Tom sighed.

"Fine. Just make sure she writes a list of the dos, don'ts, eats, eat nots, or whatever else the kid needs," Tom said, making Jade smile at him as she stretched and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, Tommy. You're so dependable," Jade said as she tucked her hand under his and led him back to join the others.

"Harry was here a while ago," Tom said conversationally, and Jade stopped to glare at him.

"And you're only just mentioning it now? Why didn't I see him?" Jade asked, and Tom chuckled.

"Relax. I didn't see him either. He didn't even drive through the gate. He said his dad is in town, so he had to go home," Tom explained.

"Oh, yeah!"

"Oh, yeah? You were aware that his dad was around?" Tom asked curiously.

"Yeah. I met him at Harry's apartment when I went to get my stuff. You can't let Harry know I met his father, though," Jade warned.

"Interesting. Care to share what you both discussed?"

"Nothing serious. I told him who I was, and he asked after you, and then I grabbed my stuff and left," Jade lied, feeling too embarrassed to mention that she had been snooping through his best friend's bedroom and had been caught in the act by the man.

"Are you in love with him, Jade? Or are you just curious about him? Or maybe you are infatuated with him because you spent the last couple of days with him," Tom asked with serious eyes.

Jade sighed, "I can't exactly say that I'm in love with him. I like him, no doubt, and I am undeniably attracted to him. He seems like a very decent guy, and he is different from other guys I know. So let's just say I like him enough to want to pursue a romantic relationship with him," Jade said with a shrug.

"I see. I think I'm going to really enjoy watching you both. Just do us both a favor and don't let him know you are interested in him in that manner yet," Tom suggested, and Jade raised a brow.

"Why not?"

How could he explain this to her without telling her about his discussion with Harry? That was his private business with Harry, and he couldn't tell her about it, the same way he wouldn't tell Harry about his conversation with Jade.

He believed that if she told Harry she liked him immediately, he would continue to do his best to avoid her because, for his weird reasons, he didn't want to date his best friend's younger sister even if it was crystal clear that he was liked her. So maybe the best way to get him to face his feelings and push him to accept them and act on them was to make it too hard for him to resist.

"Just trust me on this, okay? I'm not saying you should stop talking to him or anything. And I'm not asking you to lie to him about anything either. Harry hates lies..."

Jade winced, and Tom narrowed his eyes, "You lied to him already?"

"Kind of. I was hoping to tell him the truth tonight when I see him. And please don't ask me what I lied about," Jade said, and Tom just looked at her without saying a word for a moment.

"Do me a favor. Tell him the truth. And please don't lie to him next time, and don't mess with his emotions. Before you rush to point out that I lied to Lucy, I know so already, so do not waste your breath. Just don't do that to Harry," Tom advised, and Jade nodded.

"Are you both going to stand there and talk all night, or will you join the party?" Evelyn called to them as she dished the food.

"We are coming," Tom called back to her as he walked away from Jade.

"I will tell him the truth," Jade promised as she followed him.

Now all she had to do was figure out a way to tell him the truth without revealing that she was interested in him.

Should she do so over the phone tonight or just stop by his office and tell him the truth before leaving? How would he react?