Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 387: Family Dynamics

By the time Jamal and the others returned from their stroll, the house had grown quieter.

The grandparents had left already, and Dawn, Candace, and Mila were talking in the living room.

Josh had fallen asleep on the couch with his head on a throw pillow. Dawn sat beside him, one hand gently stroking his hair.

Dawn glanced up and smiled softly as Jamal walked in. "He tried to stay awake," she whispered. "He fought it."

Jamal smiled faintly. "He always does."

"I’ll carry him to the car," Jamal replied, reaching for Josh.

Dawn shook her head gently. "It’s okay. I’ve got him."

She slid one arm under Josh’s knees and the other behind his back.

Jamal instinctively moved closer in case she needed help, but she lifted him carefully and stood.

Josh stirred, then rested his head against her shoulder again.

Matt watched quietly from the doorway. "Are you sure you don’t want Jamal taking him to the call?"

Dawn smiled softly. "He feels light."

"He won’t be light for long," Matt said with a chuckle as they all walked outside together.

When they got to the car, Jamal opened the back passenger car door for Dawn to get in with Josh.

Candace stepped forward.

"You both should visit us often," she said warmly to Dawn. "I really enjoy his company."

Mila folded her arms and scoffed. "Don’t listen to that," she muttered.

Everyone paused and looked at Mila.

Candace frowned slightly. "Mila."

Mila shrugged. "It’s true. You rarely have time," she told her mother, then turned to Dawn. "Even if you come visiting, you won’t see her. All you’ll get are excuses about meetings with clients that ran late and blah blah. This dinner was a rare event."

Candace’s face tightened. "That’s not true," she said quietly and looked at Presley for support.

Presley shifted his weight and looked away. "It is true," he said under his breath.

"I’d rather visit Dawn at Tom’s or Jamal’s place," Mila added. "At least they’re home."

Dawn felt her chest tighten at their critical tone, and she glanced at Candace, whose eyes had dimmed a little.

"Now that’s enough, guys. If you badmouth your mum this way, I can only imagine what you say about me too," Matt chided, placing his arm around his wife’s shoulder.

"Your case is understandable. Everyone knows you’re an actor, and it is unavoidable," Mila muttered.

Dawn looked at Jamal, not sure what she was supposed to say in such a situation.

Jamal stepped forward before his father could say anything else. "It’s true that Mum is busy," he said calmly, and both his siblings looked at him.

"But the fact that she’s helping so many women get free from abusive marriages should make you really proud," he continued. "Everyone else’s mum is busy too. When we were younger, she wasn’t this busy. The only reason she can take this liberty now is because you’re teenagers. She trusts you’re smart enough to understand and take care of yourselves on days when she can’t be there."

Mila crossed her arms tighter. Presley frowned. Matt nodded in agreement. Candace swallowed.

Jamal continued. "She can’t put her life on hold and take care of you until you’re adults and forget her dreams. That won’t be fair to her," Jamal said, giving his mother a small smile. "She’s human too. She deserves her dreams. Considering what it took her to get here."

Candace blinked quickly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You’re doing a great job, Mum," Jamal said softly. "I’m proud of you."

Mila’s jaw tightened, and before anyone could respond, she blew up. "Do not invalidate our feelings. I didn’t say she wasn’t doing a great job, and no one said we weren’t proud of her."

Jamal frowned slightly. "I’m not invalidating your feelings."

"That’s exactly what you’re doing," Mila shot back.

Dawn stood frozen beside the car, Josh asleep in her arms. She felt like she was standing in the middle of something private and wasn’t sure whether she should interfere or just watch silently from the side.

"Mila, you’ve spoken enough," Matt snapped.

"No, I haven’t! We’re not all going to be like you, the sweet, perfect golden boy that everyone loves."

Jamal blinked, taken aback by Mila’s anger. Presley looked uncomfortable.

"Mila, stop it," Candace said, but Mila ignored both her parents.

"You had it easy," she said. "You had Mum’s full attention for years. You had everyone: Grandpa, Uncle Harry, Uncle Tom, and even Aunt Andy." Mila added, but her voice shook now, and her eyes filled. "All we have is Mum. Everyone else is busy with their own lives and their own kids now. So having at least one present parent isn’t too much to ask."

Having said that, she turned and stormed off towards the side of the house before the tears began to fall.

Candace stepped forward quickly. "Mila—"

"I’ll go," Matt said gently and followed after her.

Jamal frowned. "What did I say wrong?" He asked Presley.

Presley shrugged but said nothing.

Candace forced a small smile. "Don’t worry about it. Teenage emotions," she said softly, but her eyes did not fully agree with her words.

"Drive them home," she added gently. "Josh should be in bed."

Dawn shifted Josh carefully and got into the car. She did not know what to say or where to look. She felt embarrassed on behalf of Candace.

Jamal got into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

No one spoke for the first few minutes. Streetlights passed over the windshield in slow patterns.

She glanced at Jamal’s reflection through the rearview mirror as she adjusted Josh’s head on her shoulder.

His brows were drawn together in a frown.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded once. "Yes." But he did not look okay.

"Are you upset because of Mila’s outburst?" Dawn pressed.

He was silent for some seconds. "I was just trying to defend Mum," he said quietly. "I know how worried she is about Mila and Presley and how she tries her best to be there for them."

"I understand," Dawn replied.

"I don’t get it," he continued. "What did I invalidate?"

She watched him quietly. "Maybe you spoke from your experience," she said gently. "And they spoke from theirs."

"I didn’t have it easy either," he muttered. "Growing up, there were lots of times when she’d leave me with a nanny so she could work both during the day and night and also go to school. There were times she was so busy that I only ever saw her for breakfast. Aunt Andy sometimes had to watch me so that they wouldn’t have to pay the nanny so much. I didn’t even have a Dad. And when she finally got reunited with her family, much didn’t change. She had to focus on school and career and I had to move around a lot. When she got married, I spent time with my Dad whenever he was around, but when Presley was born their attention was divided and even more so after Mila was born. They had to split what little time they had between their career and us three. Despite all this I never once spoke to my Mum so disrespectfully the way Mila did. Instead I always tried to see how I could help reduce her stress."

"I understand," Dawn said, thinking that Josh was just as thoughtful as his father. "But maybe you need to remember that she is both your mum and theirs, Jam. And just maybe your Mum didn’t need defending from her. She is their mum, too. Maybe you could have allowed Mila to have her say and then later talk to her in private, not let her feel like the bad child for airing her view."

He was silent for a while. He didn’t like that Dawn was taking Mila’s side.

"But she could get away with making her mother feel like a bad mom that way? In front of you? She couldn’t talk to Mom privately?" Jamal asked, his tone tinged with annoyance.

Dawn took a deep breath. "How old is she, Jamal?"

"Fourteen. Why?"

"And how old are you?" She asked without responding to his question.

Jamal scowled at her through the rearview mirror. "You know my age. What has that got to do with anything?"

"Well, I’m just surprised that you are twenty-seven, yet somehow you expect a fourteen year old to reason and act the way you would. I’m not saying she was right to go off on you that way, I’m just saying maybe she felt attacked by your response and she reacted defensively. Don’t take it personal."

Jamal was silent for a long time then he exhaled slowly. "I just don’t like seeing my Mom hurt."

Dawn reached across carefully and touched his shoulder. "I’m sure Mila and Presley feel the same way. If someone else attacked your mom, I believe Mila would come to her defense just like you did. Don’t beat yourself over it. I’m sure they will handle it. Your mom is a wise woman," Dawn said softly.

He nodded faintly but his eyes were still distant.

The rest of the drive was quiet.

Jamal thought about what Mila had said about him being the golden boy who everyone loved and he wondered if she had said that from a place of anger or if that was how she saw him and what she thought of him.

While Jamal thought of that, Dawn thought of her discussion with Tom about finding the balance between ambition and family and she wondered how Candace and Matt would handle the situation.