One Wild Night

Aaron’s body shook violently as he wept in Candace’s arm, and before long, Candace found herself crying too, while Lucy watched them both with tears in her eyes.

Thankfully, Candace had led Aaron back into the room, and they were seated on his bed now, where he sat sobbing uncontrollably. Anyone could tell by the way he wept that he was deeply sad.

“I’m sorry,” Aaron cried.

“I’m so sorry,” Aaron kept crying.

She didn’t know what to say or how to respond to his apology. She was too overwhelmed by her emotions to say anything. A huge lump had lodged in her throat, making it impossible for her to say anything other than cry.

Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, and she didn’t know if it was because she was hurting or if it was because of the love she felt for Aaron at that moment.

Even though she knew deep down that none of all that happened was his fault and that life had happened to them all, she was deeply touched by how he was willing to take responsibility for it and how unashamedly he displayed his emotion. And that was the reason her heart overflowed with love for him.

“I had no idea that she lied. I should never have believed her,” Aaron cried while Candace held on to him as she tried to comfort him and draw comfort from him at the same time.

It was that scene that greeted Tom and Jamal when they joined them.

“Why is everyone crying?” Jamal asked in confusion as he looked up at Tom, who had become both his mentor and role model in the last couple of minutes.

Tom glanced at Lucy curiously, and when she gave him a nod, he understood that Harry had told his dad about Candace.

“You should go and console them,” Tom suggested, gently pushing Jamal towards the bed where his mother and grandfather were weeping.

Once they sensed his presence, Candace and Aaron pulled away from each other to look at Jamal, who was staring at them in confusion since he couldn’t understand why his mother was crying.

Candace pulled Jamal and held him to herself as she dried her tears while Aaron’s gaze remained fixed on her.

His baby girl, who he had not once laid eyes on since her birth, was not only an adult now, but a mother. He had missed out on her childhood and growing up, and from the little he had gathered from observing her earlier and his discussion with her, he could tell that life had been hard on her.

“Are you okay?” Jamal asked his mother as he looked into her face with concerned eyes.

“I’m fine,” Candace assured him with a shaky smile, but Jamal looked unconvinced as his gaze moved to Aaron.

“Then why are you both crying?”

How could they explain the situation to a child? Even though Jamal acted all mature, he was still a kid, and this was going to be too complex for him.

“Are you feeling sad for grandpa Aaron?” Jamal asked when his mom failed to answer his question.

“Give me a hug,” Aaron said quietly, and Jamal moved away from his mother and went to embrace Aaron, who wrapped both arms around him.

Tom held out a hand to Lucy and led her to the door so they could give them the needed privacy to discuss whatever they had to discuss.

“Please take Jamal with you,” Candace called out to them before they could leave.

Understanding that she needed to talk things out with Aaron privately before bringing Jamal into the picture, Lucy held out her hand to Jamal.

“Jamal, I need to speak with him privately. I will explain it all to you when I’m done,” Candace promised as she kissed his forehead before letting him go to Lucy.

After they left, Aaron and Candace sat in silence for a while as each of them tried to gather their thoughts and figure out what to say to the other.

Aaron had no idea what to say or do to make up for everything. Even though he was happy that she was alive and was here with him, he couldn’t help feeling responsible for all that had happened to her.

He couldn’t exactly say he regretted meeting Sara, but just maybe there was something he could have done to stop her from doing all she did to him and his babies.

As upset as Candace was on the other hand, she knew her pain, but she also understood his pain. She tried to put herself in his shoe as a parent. She thought about what she would want her child to say to her if the situation was reversed.

She knew how much pain she had felt each time Jero separated her from Jamal to punish her for something. She couldn’t compare it to what Sara had done to Aaron. She couldn’t imagine how she would have felt had Jero sold off Jamal and lied that he was dead.

She could imagine the pain of never setting eyes on Jamal from birth until he was an adult. She couldn’t imagine missing out on these whole stages of his life and growth. No, the thought of that was much too painful.

Seeing Aaron this way had increased her anger and hatred for Sara.

“I’m sorry for…”

“It’s not your fault,” they both spoke simultaneously and then looked at each other.

“Maybe I could have…”

“No,” Candace cut in as she rose from the bed.

“I don’t know the whole story yet, but after meeting you… After seeing you this way, I don’t think there is anything you wouldn’t have done to keep me if you knew about my existence,” Candace said with a sniffle, and tears gathered in Aaron’s eyes again.

“For a moment, I blamed you. I mean after Jade told me about you and Harry. I felt hurt. Naturally, I was upset that you all had a good life…” Candace paused and drew in a shaky breath.

“I spent the whole time on the flight thinking about it, and I came here wanting to be mad at you. I felt fully justified to be mad. But right now, it’s so hard to be mad at you. It’s unreasonable to be upset when you’re already this upset. I can’t blame you when you already blame yourself this way. Maybe I feel this way because I’m a parent, and I can understand the helplessness of your situation,” Candace said as tears dropped from her eyes, but she didn’t look away from him.

“You can be mad at me. You should blame me. I’m your father, and I failed to protect you,” Aaron said with tears in his eyes as he got off the bed and reached out to wipe the tears on her cheeks.

“No. I’m just trying to say, as much as I feel hurt, I don’t blame you for this, and I don’t think you should blame yourself either,” Candace said as she also reached out to wipe his tears.

“I know it’s shameless of me to say this right now. I may not have any right to say this, but thank you for staying alive,” Aaron cried on a shaky breath.

“I know things must have been hard on you…” Aaron’s voice hitched, and he paused to put his emotion under control while Candace shook her head.

“You need to rest. I don’t think you should keep talking. Let’s focus on your recovery. Any other conversation can come later,” Candace suggested as she led him back to the bed, worried that at the rate he was crying, he was going to trigger another heart attack.

Outside the room, Jade and Harry walked into the hospital and stopped when they saw Tom, Lucy, and Jamal standing outside Aaron’s door.

“Tom,” Jade called out as she went to them and embraced him before embracing Lucy too, and then ruffling Jamal’s hair.

“How is he doing?” Harry asked Lucy as he looked at his father’s door with uncertainty. Through the little glass window in the door, he could see Candace leading his father to the bed.

“You can go in and see for yourself,” Lucy said, and Harry gave her a nod as he tried to make up his mind if he should go in to join them or not.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to say or do in there. And he didn’t know if it was okay to interrupt them. He felt they needed a private father-daughter moment.

Jade gently nudged him towards the door, “Go in,” she said as if she could read his mind, and both Tom and Lucy gave him an encouraging nod.

Once he walked into the room and shut the door behind him, Tom turned to Jade with concerned eyes, “How is he doing?”

Jade sighed as she shrugged, “He keeps acting as if nothing happened. He says he’s not hurt but only feels sad for his dad and Candace. I think he is in denial. He hasn’t fully accepted it all yet. Or maybe he just hasn’t digested it,” Jade said, and Lucy sighed.

“Harry loves to take care of his loved ones and solve their problems, so maybe he just doesn’t want to let himself feel anything. That’s the only way he might be able to do what he needs to do,” Lucy said, and Jade’s eyes narrowed when she remembered everything Harry had told her.

“So you are Harry’s cousin? I can’t believe you were taking information from me and hoarding yours. I feel offended,” Jade said, and Lucy glanced at Tom, thinking he was the one who had told Jade about her relationship with Harry, before looking back at Jade.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I felt it wasn’t in my place to tell you about it. I’m sorry you feel this way,” Lucy said apologetically, and Jade scowled.

“It wasn’t in my place to tell you everything I said either, yet I told you anyway,” Jade said, and Tom raised a brow at Jade.

“She just said she is sorry. Let it go,” Tom said, and Jade glared at him.

“This is between Lucy and me. Stay out of it,” she hissed at him in annoyance.

“Please, don’t be mad at Lucy. I’m sure she meant no harm,” Jamal said before anyone else could speak, and all eyes turned to him since they had forgotten for a moment that he was still standing there with them.

“Such a sweet boy. I’ll forgive her for your sake,” Jade said as she smiled at him while thinking that Lucy seemed to have all the men wrapped around her fingers. Why was everyone so protective of her?