One Wild Night

As Harry walked into the living room, all eyes turned to him, and he could see the gleam in their eyes as though they all wanted to say something but couldn't because Jamal was present.

"I had no idea you had a similar taste in undies as Candace," Aaron, who was seated in a wheelchair, said with a grin, and Harry sighed.

"Dad..."

"Don't worry. I love you the way you are. I don't mind getting you some for Christmas...."

"Jamal, that isn't mine. It belongs to a friend," Harry cut in through gritted teeth, ignoring the chuckle of the others as he focused on the kid.

The last thing he wanted was for Jamal to tell Lucy and the others that he wore feminine undies. He needed to clear that up immediately.

"Tom?" Jamal asked, and Tom shook his head immediately.

"Nah. There is no way that is mine. I don't wear female undies like your uncle," Tom said, and Harry threw the empty plastic bottle of water on the table at Tom as Candace and Aaron laughed.

"Then who?" Jamal asked curiously.

"Not that it is your business, but it belongs to a female friend," Harry said, and Jamal nodded.

"Is it the lawyer lady? Does your female friend live in your bedroom? Why are her undies on the floor of your bedroom? Is she your girlfriend?" Jamal asked, and Harry turned to Candace for help.

Maybe he didn't really know much about kids, but he wasn't sure it was normal for a child of Jamal's age to be asking so many questions or such questions in the first place.

"Tell us, Harry," Aaron urged him in a taunting tone.

"It's mine. It fell off the laundry basket when I went to drop off Harry's clothes in his bedroom. Thanks for helping me find it," Jade said from the doorway, and all eyes turned to her.

"Laundry? They must have fixed the washing machine in my absence...."

"Dad, one more word, and I'm going to kick you out of my house. Maybe you will feel better living with Tom," Harry threatened, and Aaron chuckled.

"It's not a big deal, Jamal. We are used to things like this happening all the time. Jade is like a sister to Harry in almost the same way she is to me. Jade's undies fall off the laundry basket often and litter even my bedroom. My bedroom is crawling with them...."

"Tom!" Jade called in a warning hiss.

"Harry said you are like a sister ...."

"You bast..." Harry let the rest of the cuss trail off because of Jamal, who was watching, and he lunged at Tom, but Tom was quick to move away, and Jamal laughed as Harry tried to catch Tom and went to help his uncle.

"You don't have to feel too embarrassed. We all know nothing happened. We just wanted to ruffle his feathers and make him uncomfortable," Aaron winked at Jade, and she smiled.

"Don't you think you went too far, especially with Jamal present?" Jade asked as she sat on the space beside Candace.

"He will be fine," Aaron said with a grin as he watched Harry throw things at Tom. He was relieved that they could all be laughing this way in such a short time.

Although Jade wanted to tell Candace to caution Jamal and teach him how not to pry into people's private business or share details of a person's life without their permission, she refrained from doing so.

She knew how touchy mothers could be when told they were not raising their kids properly.

Besides, she was in no position to point out such a flaw in anyone when she had been mad at Lucy for being tight-lipped and hoarding Harry's private information.

So instead, she said, "Can you ask Jamal not to tell everyone else about this? It's embarrassing enough as it is," Jade said, and Candace smiled.

"Don't worry, he won't," she assured her.

"By the way, why don't I see the nurse Harry mentioned would be coming with you?" Jade asked, looking around as she wondered why the nurse wasn't with them.

"She will come over later in the day," Aaron said, and Jade nodded.

"We haven't had enough time to talk alone. How are you?" Jade asked in a quiet voice as she focused on Candace.

"Not bad, I guess. Can you show me to the kitchen? I need to put the leftover breakfast away," Candace said, and they both rose as Jade led her to the kitchen.

Candace paused in the dining to pick up the food pack, "You told him how you feel already?" Candace asked immediately as they walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah. I sort of did so last night. Why?" Jade asked as she watched Candace store the food in the refrigerator.

"I told him about Aurora shopping for wedding dresses," Candace said, and Jade giggled.

"She never said she was shopping for wedding dresses," Jade said in Aurora's defence.

"Not from the way I heard it. She sounded like she would shop for wedding dresses if Harry so much as kissed her cheeks. I had to let him know," Candace said as she turned to look at Jade.

"Well, from our brief conversation, I found out that Harry likes you too. So you shouldn't hold back in going for him. Not that I think you're holding back anyway, seeing how you're already leaving your thong in his bedroom and showering in his bathroom," Candace said with a knowing grin.

"Did he tell you I showered in his bathroom?" Jade asked, wondering how she knew.

"He didn't have to unless you are telling me Harry uses body care products that smell like you," Candace said with a wink, and Jade giggled.

"Were you there when he saw it? What was his reaction?" Jade asked, and Candace giggled as she told her how Harry had looked very embarrassed and sent her out of his bedroom for teasing him.

"It wasn't intentional, though. It fell off while I was taking my stuff to the guest room," Jade explained with a grin.

"I thought so too seeing how shocked he was when Jamal found it, and how you hid inside. He seems like a very decent guy. You'd be good for each other," Candace said, and Jade flashed her a happy smile.

"I know, right? All I'm waiting for is for the anniversary to be over so he can ask me to be his girlfriend officially," Jade said dreamily, and Candace smiled.

"I could teach you a thing or two if you want to seduce him into asking you to be his girlfriend sooner," Candace offered, and Jade laughed softly.

"At this point, it's safe to say I'm the one being seduced. Harry can't be seduced into changing his mind," Jade said, and Candace laughed.

"That's good to know," Candace said with a sigh, and then she looked at Jade with serious eyes.

"Thank you, Jade," Candace said, and Jade raised a brow.

"What for?"

"For convincing me to come to Ludus to meet them. I know it's probably too soon to say this, but I'm glad I listened to you. They are wonderful and more receptive than I could have expected. I may not have known them for up to twenty-four hours but I feel so comfortable. They feel like home already. It's all so perfect that I still can't believe it," Candace said, and Jade smiled as she stepped closer and brushed away the tears that had dropped from Candace's eyes.

"You are welcome, twin sister-in-law," Jade whispered as she embraced her, and Candace giggled as she pulled away.

"So now that we've cleared that up. We still have some unfinished business," Jade said, and Candace looked at her with questioning eyes.

"The case?"

"No. First, we have to go clubbing, and now that things have turned out this way, you have to reconsider your relationship with Matt," Jade said, and Candace shook her head.

"There is no relationship to reconsider. He has moved on. He only came to the hospital to find closure," Candace said, and Jade raised a brow.

"Was that what he told you?"

"Yeah. So you see? There is nothing left to reconsider," Candace said with a shrug, and Jade sighed.

She had thought there was more to their relationship than that. Could Matt really have moved on so quickly? She would have to ask Bryan about that.

"Fine. Who needs men anyway? Let's plan to go clubbing. You need some time off to celebrate," Jade said and then paused when something else occurred to her.

She cocked her head to the side as she looked at Candace, "By the way, what's your plan now? Do you want to move in with Harry or return to Varis?" Jade asked, and Candace sighed.

"I still need to give that some thought. Although I like that Jamal might have a lot of positive male influence being here, but I have to think about law school and Jamal's school," Candace explained, and Jade nodded.

"You could apply for a transfer if you want to. I'm sure Tom or Harry could help you get it done very quickly," Jade said, and Candace sighed.

"I will still need some time to think about it. In the meantime, we will remain at Tom's house if he doesn't mind having us there," Candace said, and Jade nodded.

"Tom won't mind. You can remain at my brother's house while I remain at your brother's house," Jade said with a wink as she linked their arms together, and Candace laughed as Jade pulled her out of the kitchen back to the living room where Harry and Tom were already seated playing PS.

"Where are they?" Candace asked when she noticed that Aaron and Jamal were missing.

"In Dad's bedroom. Dad wanted to get some rest, so Jamal decided to stay with him," Harry said as he focused on the game.

"I should probably check on them," Candace said as she stood up.

"The third room down the hall," Harry called to her as she walked away while Jade settled down on the couch beside Tom.