Chapter 437: Bedtime Stories

Chapter 437: Bedtime Stories

Tom eyed Jamal with mock annoyance as Lucy lay on the bed beside him, reading a bedtime story while Jamal giggled each time Lucy switched her voice to suit the character she was reading about.

Tom sighed when Lucy finished the second story and Jamal was still wide awake, "Shouldn't you be fast asleep now, young man?" Tom asked, and Jamal shook his head.

"No. I love listening to Lucy's voice," Jamal said, and Tom scowled at him

"Aww!" Lucy exclaimed with a giggle as she leaned forward to kiss his forehead and cheeks.

"You seem to like everything about her. Is there anything you don't like about her?" Tom asked, and Jamal bobbed his head, surprising both Tom and Lucy.

"And what may that be?" Lucy asked curiously, and Jamal pointed at Tom.

"Your boyfriend. I don't like that you have a boyfriend," Jamal said with a grin, and Lucy burst into a peal of laughter, while Tom chuckled at Jamal's sense of humor.

"You got jokes, huh?" Tom asked as he poked Jamal's abdomen, making him squeal with laughter as he scrambled closer to Lucy.

"Can you sleep here tonight?" Jamal asked Lucy with puppy eyes, but before Lucy could respond, Tom responded.

"No!"

"Why? Because you want to do adult stuff?" Jamal asked, making Tom and Lucy's exchange amused glances.

"What do you mean by adult stuff?"

"Where did you hear that from?" Tom and Lucy asked simultaneously, and Jamal shrugged.

"Preston always talks about how he hears his parents doing adult stuff at night," Jamal whispered conspiratorially, and Lucy looked at him with amused interest.

"I assume Preston is your friend?" She asked curiously.

"Preston is my best friend in school," Jamal said, and Lucy nodded thoughtfully.

"Does your mom know about Preston?" Lucy asked, and Jamal gave her a nod.

"That's good then," Lucy said as she glanced at the hour hand of the clock which was almost hitting ten.

Who would ever have thought that her once ordinary life would become so filled with activities? From the moment they had gotten out of the car to meet Jamal, until this very moment she had barely had a minute to herself apart from the time she spent in the shower freshening up before dinner.

After freshening up she had gone to take over from Tom in helping Jamal with his school work, while Tom went in to freshen up. And when Tom returned they had to have dinner.

From the dinner table, they had gone to the Den to have dessert while watching Tom and Jerry. While they were doing that, Lucas called to inform her that he was on his way to the airport to visit Tyler.

She had offered to go see him off at the airport but he had insisted that there was no need for that.

She had then asked for details of his date with Miley, but he had said he wasn't in the mood to talk about it, but had promised to call her after he arrived.

He had asked for her permission to send her phone number to Tyler, and she had been more than happy to let him do that since she missed Tyler too.

After her phone call with Lucas, she had also received a phone call from Sonia asking her when she would be able to talk so they would have a conference call with Jade, and she had promised to call them back after putting Jamal to bed.

So here she was now, trying to get the kid, who was most likely her relation, to sleep so she could return Sonia's phone call before going to bed.

"You have to go to sleep now, Jam. It's late," Lucy said as she patted his hair.

"Can you sleep here tonight? I can let Tom sleep with us if you want, but I will sleep in the middle," Jamal offered, and Tom chuckled.

"Did you just say, LET? This is my house, buddy. I can sleep wherever I want without your permission," Tom pointed out.

"But this is my bedroom. You can't stay unless I want you to," Jamal countered matter-of-factly, and Lucy giggled.

"Okay, boys. No fighting. We can do this," Lucy said, and they all glanced at her phone when it started ringing.

"I have to take the call. It's my mom. Read him another story, Ace. I'm sure your voice will put him to sleep," Lucy said with a wink at Jamal before walking away with her phone to receive her mother's call.

"Hello, mom!" Lucy greeted cheerfully immediately after she received the call, and walked into Tom's bedroom.

"Lucas called..."

"Lucinda Perry!" Janet interrupted in a tight scolding tone, that made Lucy snap her mouth shut, while Andrew who was listening to the call since it was on speaker, shook his head at Janet.

Lucy knew that tone. Her mother only referred to her that way when she was upset. Did she do something wrong? Lucy mused.

"Did I do something wrong?" Lucy asked with a slight frown.

"Did you meet with Sara today despite my warning to you?" Janet asked harshly, ignoring Andrew's warning to her not to overreact.

The crease between Lucy's brows deepened in confusion. She hadn't expected Sara to do that.

"She told you about our meeting? I thought you said you were not taking her calls?" Lucy asked in surprise, and Janet prayed for patience not to yell.

"Do you mean you had no intention of telling me that you met with her?" Janet asked in a controlled voice.

"Calm down, mom. Trust me, I had good reasons for meeting with her and not telling you about it yet," Lucy said, and before Janet could snap at her, Andrew snatched the phone from her.

"Hey, Princess! I trust you're good? Listen, we trust you, and we know you must have your reasons for doing whatever you did or are doing. But can you tell us why you chose to meet with her and what you both talked about?" Andrew asked, and Lucy shook her head.

"It is complicated, dad. I can't tell you about it yet," Lucy said apologetically.

"Lucy..."

"Can you tell me what she said? Did she tell you how and why we met?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Lucy, we called to hear from you not to be questioned by you. We want to know why you met with her despite your mom's warning," Andrew said in a disapproving tone.

Lucy sighed, and after a moment's hesitation, she decided to tell them why she met with Sara without mentioning Harry even though they had only heard of him without seeing him.

"I can't give you all the details right now. But somehow I'm friends with her husband and son whom she abandoned over twenty-eight years ago and I only just realized it today..."

"What?" Janet and Andrew asked in disbelief as Janet took the phone back from Andrew.

"What are you talking about? Sara got married?" Janet asked in disbelief.

She was more shocked by the fact that Sara with all her selfishness had gotten married in the first place than by the fact that Sara abandoned her husband and kid.