The wait felt excruciating for Jamal. He fidgeted in his seat, bouncing his leg and chewing his bottom lip.
Finally, the phone buzzed in Andy's hand, the notification announcing a video call. "It's her!" she exclaid, a wide grin splitting her face.
Jamal, who had been bouncing on the balls of his feet with anticipation, practically shoved himself into Andy's lap. The screen flickered to life, revealing a woman with a stern looking face, followed by a small girl with bright hazel eyes and a head full of dark curls.
Jamal's face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw her face, "Dawn?" Jamal bood into the receiver, his voice a stark contrast to the tiny, hesitant voice that ca through on the other end.
Dawn's eyes widened as she saw Jamal. "Jamal?" Dawn's voice was barely a whisper, laced with a shyness that made Andy grin.
"Dawn! Is that really you?" Jamal's voice practically vibrated with excitent as he waved enthusiastically.
"Guess what?" Jamal asked with a grin.
Dawn tilted her head, her gaze flickering between Jamal and her governess. "What?" she whispered, a shy smile gracing her lips.
"I miss you!" Jamal blurted, his voice brimming with sincerity.
A giggle escaped Dawn's lips, and she ducked her head shyly. "I miss you too," she mumbled, then quickly hid behind her hand, suddenly overwheld by the enormity of actually talking to Jamal.
Andy felt a warm glow spread through her chest. This was exactly what she'd hoped for when she set up the phone call. These two little ones getting to chat and keep their friendship alive.
"Can you believe it?" Jamal continued, oblivious to Dawn's shyness. "We finally get to talk! Aunt Andy let see all your pictures on your Instagram. You're so pretty!"
Dawn's cheeks flushed a rosy pink. "Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
The conversation wasn't much more than shy greetings and awkward giggles at first. Jamal excitedly told Dawn about his aunt Andy, and his new house and starting a new school. And he told her about his new bicycle and his grandfather's company.
And when he ran out of things to tell her, he peppered her with questions about her day and all she was up to and Dawn, in turn, described her latest piano lesson.
Andy watched the exchange with amusent. This was adorable. On one hand, there was Jamal, practically bursting with news and boundless energy. On the other, there was Dawn, a shy little flower slowly unfolding under Jamal's infectious enthusiasm.
His relentless enthusiasm drew out a few more words from her with each passing minute. Andy watched, impressed with Jamal's patience. He clearly understood that Dawn needed a little coaxing to co out of her shell.
"Are you happy?" Jamal asked, and even though Dawn had not been happy since she left the Hank ho, she bobbed her head because she was very happy talking to Jamal.
"And guess what?" Jamal declared triumphantly, "Lucy and Tom are going to visit soon! They said so!"
Dawn's eyes widened, "Are they going to visit too?" She asked hopefully, her voice small but determined.
"When they co see , I'm going to ask them to bring to you so we can play together and then you can teach how to play your piano and I will teach you how to ride your bike," Jamal said and Dawn giggled, a sound like tinkling bells.
"Maybe."
As the conversation continued, Andy noticed Dawn becoming more comfortable, her voice growing a little bolder.
Dawn's smile faded slightly when her governess announced that she had chatted enough and it was ti to return to her lessons, but she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she turned back to Jamal, her eyes bright. "Will you call again soon?"
"Of course!" Jamal exclaid, practically vibrating with excitent. "My aunt Andy made an Instagram account for . You can call and I can call you too!"
A hesitant smile blood on Dawn's face. "Okay," she agreed, her voice barely a whisper.
"She has to go now. Say goodbye," Andy told Jamal and he nodded.
"Dawn? Rember what I told you when you were leaving?" Jamal asked, and Dawn blushed, making Andy wonder what Jamal had told Dawn.
"I'm going to be very rich when I grow up and I will buy you a house and a car and take care of you," Jamal promised and Andy's heart lted.
"I'm going to be rich too," Dawn said confidently.
"I will still take care of you," Jamal said and before Dawn could say anything else, the governess took the phone from her.
"Ms Dawn needs to return to her piano lesson. She will talk to you so other ti. Thanks for calling," the governess said and hung up the call.
As the call ended, Andy could tell that Jamal wasn't too happy about it so she ruffled his hair. "Wasn't that fun? You finally got to talk to Dawn," she said, wanting him to focus on the bright side.
Jamal bead. "Yeah! And I have Dawn's Instagram now! I can talk to her whenever I want to, right?"
"I don't think you can," Andy said honestly.
Judging by the behavior of her governess, Andy knew that they might need to reach out to Kimberly before the governess would let Dawn take their calls whenever they called.
"But you heard Dawn…"
"Dawn doesn't have control over her device. Her governess does. And if you call when she is supposed to be having her lessons, she might not be allowed to talk to you," Andy explained calmly and Jamal sighed deeply.
"What did you tell her when she was leaving?" Andy asked and Jamal shook his head.
"It is a secret. It's between the two of us," he said and Andy arched an eyebrow.
"Really? Your favorite aunt doesn't deserve to know? After all the ti I spent trying to help you contact her?" She asked and Jamal looked at her for a mont before deciding that she deserved to be let in on the secret.
"You can't tell anyone else, okay?" Jamal said and Andy nodded solemnly.
"I won't tell. I promise."
"I told her she is my Lucy. And she is the one I'm going to get married to when I grow up," Jamal said and Andy giggled.
"Why are you keeping it a secret? You already told everyone you're going to marry her," Andy reminded him.
"I didn't tell anyone what I told her," he pointed out and Andy grinned.
"I see. I guess you've proposed in advance. So, did she accept?"
"I didn't ask. I told her," Jamal said and Andy chuckled.
"What if she doesn't want to?" Andy asked curiously.
"She is going to want to. You heard her say she missed too," Jamal said confidently.
"I want to grow up quickly," Jamal said and Andy laughed.
"Slow down champ. Don't be in a haste to grow up. I'm not in haste to grow old," Andy said and when Candace called out to Jamal from the top of the staircase, Jamal ran off to answer his mom leaving Andy alone.
Alone, Andy sighed deeply. The little girl had sowhat reminded her of Cassidy's daughter, Maribel. She couldn't help but wonder how the little doll was doing. And how her father was doing too.
Was he ever going to reach out to her? And if even he did, what was the possibility of them being together?
Cassidy was supposed to be a dead man, so he couldnt possibly co live with her here, and she couldn't imagine spending her life on that island either, so was there really any hope of being with him? She didn't think so.
Why did things have to be so complicated? She mused wearily.
Away from there, in Sonia's ho, Bryan, Sonia, and Jeff were seated in the living room discussing the way forward.
"You know what I think? If Jeff has to go to Mia, we need soone who looks a bit like him to pass as his replacent. It would be super suspicious if Jeff disappears shortly after Mia. Think about it this way, if Mia's husband were to see Jeff in the house and think he looks familiar, he might send those n to check if Jeff is still here. What do you think will happen?" Sonia asked, looking from Bryan to Jeff.
"You have a point. But how do we get soone that looks just like him?" Bryan asked thoughtfully.
"It doesn't have to be a doppelgänger. Soone of the sa body build, and similar features is good enough. All the person has to do is assu his identity for so ti. Wear his clothes. Live in the apartnt…"
"Like that girl did for Candace?" Bryan cut in and Sonia nodded.
"Precisely. The plan has to be foolproof, else Mia and Jeff would be walking into a deathtrap," Sonia said and they all went quiet for a mont as they thought about everything.
"Maybe we can ask Harry to help us find soone," Bryan suggested.
"I think I know soone that can do it. My cousin. He can easily pass for unless you look closely," Jeff, who had been quiet, finally spoke.
Sonia looked at him hopefully, "Really? That's good then. But doesn't he have a job and stuff?"
"He won't mind coming over to help. Besides, he's going to get paid," Jeff said and they all nodded.
"Why not try contacting him now let's see if he's up for it?" Bryan suggested and Jeff took out his phone and called his cousin.
The mont the call connected, Jeff dove right down to business. "Hey, Joe! Quick one. I have an important job for you. Pay is good. It's going to take a couple months and you have to move down to Ludus for the ti being. Can you do it?" Jeff asked.
"How soon do you want to co over? And what do I need to do?" He asked and Jeff smiled.
"If you can get into the next flight available flight, I will owe you for life. I'm going on a trip in a couple of days, I don't want Bryan or anyone else to find out. Can you cover for and pretend to be more while I'm away?" Jeff asked and Bryan and Sonia exchanged a look, wondering why he lied.
"C'mon Jeff. We might look a little alike, but there is no way they're not going to know I am soone else," he pointed out, "Besides, I can't begin to train my beards and stuff to look like you in such a short ti."
"You don't have to worry about that. I got rid of my beards already. I still look a little strange to them right now because I did that. And if you do a good job, no one is going to know that you're soone else," Jeff promised.
"Are you sure? I don't want to be charged with impersonation…"
"Do you trust ?" Jeff asked and he sighed.
"With my life."
"Then do this for ," Jeff said and after he agreed to co the next day, Jeff thanked him and hung up the call.
"Why did you lie to him?" Bryan asked curiously.
"He will do a better job if he doesn't know the truth. Besides, he might try to stop if he knows how dangerous this might be. It's best he doesn't know and just focuses on deceiving everyone," Jeff explained.
"So? Is he coming tomorrow?" Sonia asked since she had heard Jeff talk about the next available flight.
"Yes. But that would be late in the evening since he needs to take care of so personal business and wrap up loose ends," Jeff said and they nodded in understanding.
Sonia sighed, "I wonder how Mia is doing. They should have arrived by now," she said and picked up her phone to check if there was any news online about Vanessa Rosewood and Henry Rosewood.
It didn't take a minute before the images popped up, "He took her ho dressed this way?" Sonia asked in disbelief when she saw how vulnerable Mia looked in her sleeping clothes and indoor footwear at thr airport.
Imdiately, Jeff and Bryan moved close to her to see what she was saying and Jeff gritted his teeth when he saw how uncomfortable Mia looked.
"I'm going to kill that bastard with my own hands," Jeff promised, his face dark with anger when they saw more pictures of Mia, especially at the welco back party in the mansion.
"He clearly did this to humiliate her. He knew they were coming ho to reporters and to a welco party, yet he didn't think to bring her more befitting clothes," Sonia said, feeling very annoyed.
"Calm down, babe," Bryan said, holding her hand.
"I'm trying to. Maybe we shouldn't have let her leave with him. Maybe we should have all put up a fight and shown him we were behind Mia. Maybe he would have changed his mind and…"
"You told Mia it was a good idea," Bryan reminded her calmly.
"Maybe I was wrong. I have been known to be wrong. What if he hurts her? What if he breaks her again?" Sonia asked, tears in her eyes.
"As much as I hate to say this, Mia knew what she was getting into when she chose to go back ho with him. She will take care of herself until we are able to help her, so trust her and don't worry too much," Jeff said and Bryan nodded in agreent.
"Let's trust Mia, and wait until Jeff can go over to join her, okay?" Bryan said and Sonia sighed.
"Let's not go easy on him. Okay, Jeff?" Sonia said, and Jeff gave her a nod.
There was no way he was going to go easy on Henry. Not after all he had done to Mia.
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