One Wild Night

While Andy was busy setting up an Instagram profile for Jamal with her phone so they could use his account to send Dawn a message request, Jamal was busy checking out the pictures on Dawn's profile.

"Aunt Andy, Dawn is so pretty," Jamal said for the hundredth time and Andy giggled amused by how smitten he was.

"Yes, she is," Andy said for the hundredth time as well.

"Look, she is laughing here," Jamal said happily and Andy looked at the video and smiled at Dawn's infectious laughter.

"She is so adorable," Andy said and even though Jamal didn't quite understand the meaning of the word, he knew it was a nice compliment so he nodded in agreement.

They both looked up at Candace when she walked into the house, and slumped on the couch.

"Welcome. Why did you come back so late?" Andy asked distractedly while Jamal, after taking one look at his mom, walked away.

"You won't believe what happened to me today," Candace said, and Andy looked at her when she heard the tiredness in her voice.

"What happened?" She asked, wondering why Candace looked so exhausted.

"I was hounded by reporters," Candace said and she smiled when Jamal returned with a glass of water.

"Welcome, mummy. How was school today? Are you alright?" He asked as he handed the glass to her.

Candace said nothing as she drank from it and when she was done she looked at him, "I have no idea what I did right in my life to deserve you, Jam. But you're the best son any mother could ask for. Thanks. I feel quite better now," she said and Jamal smiled as he sat down beside her.

"And the best nephew any aunt could ask for," Andy said, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"So, what happened with the reporters?" Andy asked and Candace shook her head as she recounted what had happened that morning.

"…I thought it was over. But when I came out after my classes, I saw a couple of them waiting around by my car," Candace said with a slight frown.

"What did you do then?" Andy asked, amused.

"I left the car. A course mate was kind enough to offer me a ride. She brought her car around and I got into it before they could spot me. Where is dad? I'm hoping he can send someone to get the car," Candace said while Jamal listened to her with interest.

"I'm sure he can do that. He is upstairs. He spent the day tending to his flowers," Andy explained.

"You know, now I think I can pretty much understand why Tom didn't want to be on the spotlight and hid his identity for years. I do not like this attention," Candace stated.

"What is a spotlight?" Jamal asked with interest.

Andy turned on the flashlight on her phone and shone it on Jamal's face making him laugh, "When everywhere is dark and the light is shining on you this way, you are in the spotlight. It means everyone can see you even when you can't see them all," Andy explained.

"I don't like it. I'm going hide like Tom," Jamal said with a frown.

"Why not? You wanted to be an actor, didn't you? That would have put you in the spotlight," Candace reminded him.

"Now I don't want to be an actor. I want to be rich…"

"Like Tom," Candace and Andy said simultaneously, completing his sentence and they all laughed.

"You both don't have to worry. I'm going to be on the spotlight enough for everyone in the family. Next time I will drop you off at school and take all that attention you don't want. You should have called me to pick you up anyway," Andy said and Candace shook her head.

"Next time I will tell them where to find you so they can leave me alone," Candace said and Andy gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't you think you should start getting used to this, though? I mean, your man is in the spotlight…"

"There are actors whose partners are not in the spotlight. I'd love to live lowkey," Candace maintained.

"Good luck with that," Andy said and seeing that it seemed like they were done with the serious conversation, Jamal looked at him mom.

"I talked to Tom and Lucy," Jamal announced.

"You did? When?" Candace asked with a wide smile since she knew how much Jamal loved to talk to them.

"Not long ago. Lucy said they will visit soon. And then I saw pretty pictures of Dawn. Do you want to see?" Jamal asked as he reached for Andy's phone to show his mom the pictures.

"By the way, Jam, if you want to hide your identity like Tom, maybe we shouldn't create an Instagram account for you," Andy said and Candace frowned.

"What Instagram account?" She asked in confusion as Jamal showed her the pictures.

"I remembered what you and Lucy said about Dawn having an Instagram account, so we were creating an account so that Jamal can reach her through it," Andy explained.

Candace who was distractedly looking at the pictures and listening to Andy frowned, "You know how I feel about putting kids on the social media space, Andy…"

"We don't have to put up his pictures or put out any private detail. It's just an avenue for him to check on her that's all," Andy said and Candace sighed.

"And you think her mother is going to allow an anonymous account user talk to her little kid? Why don't we chat the mom up directly? That way she can let us know if she wants them to keep in touch or not. I'm sure Dawn doesn't have direct access to her instagram," Candace said as she rose.

"You are right. Why didn't I think of that?" Andy asked as she took her phone from Jamal to search for Kimberly's profile.

"Her name is Kimberly Moore. I'm sure you can easily find her on Instagram since she has a verified account," Candace said to Andy and then turned to Jamal, "We can look at Dawn's pictures after I freshen up," she promised before walking away.

After Candace left, Andy found Kimberly's account and she sent her a message, [Hello, Kimberly! I'm Andy Jonas. Lucy's cousin. My nephew, Jamal, is Dawn's friend and would like to say hello.]

Kimberly who was lying on her bed and thinking about her decision to get married to Ryan sighed when her phone buzzed with a message notification and she reluctantly picked it up to see what it was.

At first she wanted to ignore the message, but then she remembered that Dawn had mentioned something about a kid who was close to Lucy and something about fighting with the kid called Jamal.

Dawn had never really mixed up with other kids before now, and now that Dawn was so lonely, she figured that it wouldn't be a bad idea to let him get in touch with Dawn until she brought Dawn home.

[Hello! Dawn isn't here at the moment. I will find out from her if she wants to talk to Jamal and will have her governess give you a call. But can I call you on video call? I should know Jamal before letting him speak with Dawn.] Kimberly texted back.

"Jam! Dawn's mom just texted back," Andy informed Jamal who was now looking at Dawn's pictures on Andy's laptop, and immediately Jamal ran over to her side.

"What did she say? Is Dawn there?" Jamal asked happily.

"Dawn's mom wants to say hello to you first. Do you want to say hello to her?" Andy asked, and Jamal bobbed his head.

Andy texted back, letting Kimberly know that it was okay for her to call, and immediately Kimberly called Andy on video call.

"Hello! I'm Andy. And this is my nephew, Jamal. Jam, say hello," Andy said as she pulled Jamal closer and Kimberly smiled when she saw Jamal's handsome face.

"Hello! It's nice meeting you both. Jamal, Dawn told me you fought with her," Kimberly said, wanting to judge Jamal's personality through his response.

"She fought with me. I didn't want to fight her. But we made up. We are friends now. And I like her. I miss her," Jamal said and Kimberly smiled.

"That's good to know. Dawn isn't with me right now but I will let her know you want to speak with her and get her governess to give you a call. Please be good to her, okay?" Kimberly said and Jamal nodded.

"I promise to be good to her," he said and Kimberly nodded.

"Thank you for reaching out," Kimberly said to both Andy and Jamal before hanging up.

She dialed Dawn's governess line and the lady received the call on the third ring.

"Good day, ma'am. Do you want me to put Ms Dawn on the line?" She asked politely as she headed for the music room where Dawn was being taught how to play the piano.

"Yes. But not yet. How is she doing?" Kimberly asked, her heart aching at the thought that Dawn was lonely and sad.

"She is doing well. She hasn't cried for you since the last time," she said and Kimberly sighed.

"Let me talk to her," Kimberly said and the governess stepped inside the music room.

"Ms Dawn, your mother is on the phone for you," she said politely and Dawn politely excused herself from her music teacher before going to take the phone from her governess.

"Hello, mommy," Dawn said unenthusiastically.

"Hey, darling! You don't sound excited to hear from mommy," Kimberly said but Dawn said nothing.

"Are you mad at mummy?" Kimberly asked but Dawn remained mute.

"Well, I have news that might cheer you up. I just spoke with your friend. Can you guess who?"

Who?" Dawn asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Jamal! Do you know him?" She asked, and Dawn's face lit up with a smile as she bobbed her head.

There was a brief pause, then a delighted squeal erupted from the other end of the line causing Kimberly to smile.

Kimberly's heart swelled. Dawn's innocent excitement caused a flood of relief to wash over her, mixed with a bittersweet pang.

"Yes. Jamal. I know him."

"He wants to talk to you. He said he misses you," Kimberly said and Dawn pursed her lips.

"What about Lucy? Did she call too?" She asked hopefully.

"Would you like to talk to Jamal?" Kimberly asked, ignoring Dawn's question since she couldn't explain to Dawn that Lucy probably wasn't going to call to check on her because of what she had done.

"Yes, please. Yes," Dawn said, happy at the prospect of hearing from Jamal.

"Alright then. Give the phone to your governess. And don't worry, sweetheart. Mommy will be there to get you soon, okay?" Kimberly promised.

"Okay, mommy," Dawn said before handing the phone to her governess.

Kimberly instructed the governess on what to do and then sent Andy's instagram handle to her to enable her reach out to them.

Dawn stood there, moving from foot to foot as she waited impatiently for her governess to give Jamal a call.

Although they had done more of arguing and bickering during their time together. She missed Jamal a lot.

She blushed when she remembered what Jamal had whispered to her when she was leaving.

He was so silly. What made him think she was going to get married to him when they grew up?