As Jade ran up the stairs to her bedroom ahead of Tom, she ran into Candace at the top of the stairs.


    "Seeing the smile on your face I guess you both made up," Candace said, and seeing that Jamal was nowhere in sight, Jade took Candace''s arm and pulled her with her.


    "Yes, we did," Jade said with a happy smile.


    "Why are you pulling me with you?" Candace asked as she let Jade pull her along.


    "Because I need someone to listen to me gush about how much I am in love with Harry. And since you are his twin sister and you happen to be avable, you are the perfect person to tell," Jade said excitedly, and Candaceughed.


    "I''m sorry, but I''m not avable. I was on my way downstairs to meet with Lucy''s mom. She asked me to join her at the patio after putting Jamal to sleep," Candace said, and Jade pouted as she let go of her arm.


    "What about Sonia? Is she back yet?" Jade asked, and Candace gave her a nod.


    "Yes. They came back some time ago. Sheined of being tired so she retired to her bedroom after dinner," Candace said, and Jade remembered that Harry had asked her to get something to eat.


    "I should probably see if there is anything left for me to eat," Jade said as she turned to go back downstairs with Candace.


    "Is Lucy alright?" Candace asked with concern when Tom approached them carrying Lucy who was giggling into Tom''s chest.


    "She is drunk," Jade whispered.


    "Hello, Harry''s twin!" Tom greeted Candace, and Lucy looked up.


    "Hello, cousin! Where is my munchkin?" Lucy asked with a wide smile, and Candace grinned.


    "He has gone to bed. I think you should too, seeing how drunk you are," Candace said, and Lucy strained in Tom''s arms to look back at Candace as Tom walked past them.


    "I''m not drunk. I''m just a weeny bit tipsy and I''m not going to bed yet, I want to put your lessons into practice," Lucy called back to Candace with a wink, and Tom chuckled while Candace giggled.


    "She is definitely drunk," Candace muttered as she and Jade watched them disappear into Tom''s room.


    "What lesson is she putting into practice?" Jade asked with interest.


    "Lapdancing and stripteasing. I taught her and Sonia a bit about it," Candace said, and Jade giggled.


    "I guess someone is about to have a fun night," Jade said as they resumed walking down the stairs and they both giggled.


    "So when am I going to receive my lessons?" Jade asked, and Candace rolled her eyes.


    "You can get it from Lucy after she is done tonight. If she remembers what she did," Candace said, and they both giggled.


    "You will stop by my bedroom after speaking with Lucy''s mom, right?" Jade asked, and Candace shook her head.


    "I don''t know how long it will take so I can''t promise you anything, but I will try," Candace said before walking away to go meet J, while Jade went to find herself something to eat.


    J was seated alone on the patio when Candace got there, and she said nothing as Candace sat down opposite her with the table between them.


    "Lucy is back," Candace informed J forck of anything else to say as she was ufortable by the way J was staring at her.


    "That''s good to know," J said as she sat up.


    "I''m sure this must be awkward for you, and you''re wondering why I asked to see you," J said, and Candace nodded without meeting her gaze.


    "It''s sort of awkward for me too. Meeting my full-grown niece this way," J said with a strained smile.


    "I want to say so much to you, yet I have no idea what to say," J confessed, and Candace met her gaze.


    "You don''t have to say anything," Candace pointed out, and J smiled.


    "I do. I owe it to myself and to you to say something. So I will start by apologizing to you. I''m sorry Sara did that to you," J started.


    "You did not deserve that. No child deserves that. I''m sorry you had the misfortune of being born by someone like her. And I''m sorry for all the hardships you must have faced as a result of this," J said, while Candace stared at her.


    "Why are you apologizing?"


    "Because Sara is my sister."


    "I thought you cut her off and you both are estranged?"


    "No matter how much I hate her or how angry I am, there is nothing I can do to change the fact that she is my sister. I may have cut her off physically but we are still rted by blood, and it is that blood that makes you my niece," J exined, and Candace sighed.


    "I guess I understand," Candace murmured.


    "We can''t choose the people we are connected to by blood, but we can choose whether or not we want tomunicate with them and keep them in our life. I would love to be an active part of Jamal''s life and yours. I may have cut off Sara, but I want you both to ept me as your family," J said, and Candace shrugged.


    "Jamal already sees you as his grandma."


    "Grandmum you mean?" J asked, and Candaceughed softly.


    "What about you, Candace? Would you let me be a mother to you? I know you have a father and a brother, but would you mind if I treat you as my daughter?" J asked, and Candaceughed unexpectedly.


    "I won''t call you, mom. I''m too old for all of that now. You can just treat me as you would a niece. It would be too weird and awkward for me to refer to you as anything else other than Lucy''s mom or J. Maybe with time that could happen, but not right now. I''m still trying to figure out things," Candace said as honestly as she could, and J smiled.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "That''s fine. There is no hurry. You don''t have to treat me as your mom or call me anything. I''m only asking that you open your heart to be loved by me. We can take every other thing one step at a time," J said as she passed her phone to Candace.


    "Can I have your contact details? I would love to be able tomunicate with you and Jamal even after I return to Heden," J said, and just as Candace reached to pick up the phone, it started ringing.


    "Please give me a moment," J said to Candace as she picked up her phone, and when she saw that it was a foreign line she received the call since she was still expecting a call from Lucas.


    "Hello, mom! It''s Lucas. I hope I did not disturb your sleep," Lucas greeted, and J smiled.


    "No. I''m still wide awake, sweetheart. I was almost beginning to worry about you. How are you? When did you arrive there? And how is Tyler doing?" J asked excitedly.


    "Tyler is fine, as I am. There was a slight dy in my flight so I only just got here. This is Tyler''s line. You can reach me through him," Lucas said with a yawn.


    "Why? Did you lose your phone?" J asked while Candace looked around the patio, not wanting to stare at J directly as it would be rude to make it obvious she was listening to the conversation. And she couldn''t leave either since they were not done yet.


    "No, I didn''t. I''m just not going to turn it on for some time. I need to stay off the grid until I''m in a good ce psychologically. Is dad there with you? I should say hello to him before giving Lucy a call," Lucas said as he nced at his wristwatch, rethinking his decision to give Lucy a call until morning.


    Unlike his parents who could receive his call at any moment, he knew that Lucy was most likely with Tom, and he didn''t want to interrupt anything in case they were ''busy''.


    "No. He isn''t here right now. He is at the Den watching a football game with Desmond."


    "Desmond? Tom''s father? Are they visiting?"


    "We are back in Ludus right now," J exined, and Lucas'' brow pulled together.


    "Is everything alright? Did something happen to Lucy?" he asked with concern, and it urred to J that he wasn''t aware of all that was happening.


    "No, dear. Lucy is fine. Something came up so we had toe back," J rushed to assure him, but Lucas found that hard to believe.


    "Are you sure? Did Rachel or her cousin cause any more problems?" Lucas asked, and even though J was tempted to tell Lucas that J had gotten her arrested, she chose not to add to his worries.


    "No. It''s not that. Everything is alright. You said you just arrived, didn''t you? You must be exhausted. You should freshen up and get some rest. Let''s talk sometimeter," J said, and although Lucas wanted to know what was going on, he was exhausted and needed to get some rest.


    "Everything is fine, right?" Lucas asked one more time, and when J assured him that everything was okay, he hung up, promising to call back after he was well rested.


    "That was Lucas, my son. You met him thest time we were here, remember?" J asked, and Candace gave her a nod.


    "I''m only just hearing from him now since he left the country, so he isn''t aware of the whole ''Sara'' situation," J exined as she returned her phone to Candace to input her number.


    After Candace had typed in her number, J smiled at her, "Thanks, dear. It''ste. I shouldn''t take up any more of your time. I''m pretty sure you need to go in and get some rest. Let''s talk again tomorrow," J said, and Candace gave her a nod as she rose and walked away from there.


    Although she genuinely liked J, this was still very awkward for her. For some reason, it had been easier to connect with Aaron and Harry. Perhaps it was because they were her direct family, she couldn''t tell.


    The discoveries of thest couple of days had been really tough and emotionally draining for her and she couldn''t wait for them to deal with Sara so she could leave everything behind her and start afresh with her newfound nosy family and friends.


    As she returned upstairs, she made her first stop at Jade''s bedroom, but before she could knock on the door she heard Jade''s voice like she was on phone with someone.


    She waited for some seconds to be sure, and she smiled when she heard Jade''s girlishughter and it urred to her that Jade was on the phone with Harry. She decided to retire to her bedroom instead and leave the lovers to their romance.


    As she walked further down the hallway, she heard Sonia moaning loudly, and she grinned. So much for being exhausted and retiring early. She was obviously not too exhausted to go some rounds.


    It seemed like everyone was having a fun time with their partners, Candace thought with an amused smile.


    ''Everyone but you'' a voice in her head whispered, and she sighed.


    "Yeah. Everyone but me, and that ispletely fine. I have enough on my te already," she muttered to herself as she walked into the bedroom she shared with Jamal.


    ''Enough on your te won''t keep you warm at night'' the voice came again.


    "I have Jamal to keep me warm at night," Candace said as her gaze moved to her bundle of delight who was soundly asleep.


    ''Jamal won''t make you moan like you heard Sonia do. What you need is a man'' the voice said dryly, and Candace scrunched up her nose in disapproval at her internal dialogue.


    She knew where the conversation was going and she needed to put a stop to it.


    "Alright, enough! Shut up!" Candace hissed at herself impatiently as she got on the bed beside Jamal. She wasn''t going to think of anything, and just go to sleep.


    She wasn''t going to think about the fact that everyone kept talking about Matt and making her feel like she was throwing away something good.


    She had no regrets for pushing him away. She had made the right call to focus on herself and her son. At least for now, Candace tried to assure herself.


    She wasn''t going to think of Matt either and wonder what went wrong with his date. She was going to sleep away her curiosity, and by the time she woke up in the morning, her mind would be clear enough for her to decide on her next course of action and whether or not she wanted to remain in Ludus.


    Although from all indications, she was most likely not going to stay here. If anything, she was going to live with Aaron.


    They had lost so much time already and she would rather move in with Aaron when he returns to his base than live here in Ludus with Harry, where she would most likely be running into Matt often.


    Yes. That was it. She would leave with Aaron, after all, he lived in Sogal just like her. That way she wouldn''t need to transfer schools, and Jamal would have a good male figure like Aaron around him.


    Any man that could raise an admirable person like Harry was more than perfect to be Jamal''s role model. It would be a win-win for her and Aaron, who she knew without a doubt would love to have them live with him. Apart from Jamal of course who wouldn''t be so pleased about leaving Lucy, Candace thought with an amused smile as she slowly drifted off to sleep.