Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 520: Welcome Home

Dawn did not sleep for most of the night. She spent her time packing up all that belonged to her.

From the moment she made up her mind that she was not going to leave Jamal alone, she had become restless and unable to stay still.

If it were possible to move in with him that very night, she would have done so, but a lot needed to be done.

And she wanted to go over there while Jamal was at the office and Josh was in school so that she could have enough time to unpack and get everything settled at the house before she picked Josh from school the next day.

Dawn smiled as she remembered how excited Josh had been the moment she told him that they would be moving in with Jamal the next day.

There was no way she was going to deprive herself, Jamal, and Josh of the happiness of being together as a family.

No absolute way.

If Jamal wanted space, he could get as much of it while being under the same roof with her.

If he was emotionally exhausted, that was fine. He could get all the rest he needed emotionally while giving her the chance to love him enough for two of them.

It was the early hours of the morning when she finally dozed off.

She had barely slept for two hours when her alarm went off and she woke up to get herself ready for the day.

Although her eyes felt heavy and salty, she didn’t mind. She was too excited about moving in with Jamal to stay exhausted.

With the help of two housekeepers, she moved her and Josh’s bags outside into one of the cars, and then she went in to freshen up.

Once she was ready, she roused Josh from sleep and got him ready for school.

By the time they got downstairs for breakfast, Lucy was surprisingly seated at the dining table.

“Good morning,” Dawn greeted pleasantly as she took her seat.

Josh walked over to sit beside Lucy.

Lucy kissed the top of Josh’s head before looking at Dawn. “For some reason I feel both anxious and excited about your plan.”

“Why are you anxious?” Dawn asked as she reached for a piece of toast.

She had not been able to eat all through the previous day because she had been very worried, but now that she had a clear plan in mind, she was hungry and needed energy to face the day squarely.

Lucy shook her head. “Jamal has never been this way before. We don’t know how he’s going to react to you ignoring what he said he wants.”

Dawn shrugged. “I guess we will all find out.”

Lucy smiled. “That’s why I’m excited.”

“Did you tell Tom?” Dawn asked after a moment of eating in silence.

She was a little concerned that Tom would be upset she was ignoring his advice.

“Yeah.”

“And?”

Lucy shrugged. “He says he will sit out of this one and watch you both handle it.”

Dawn nodded slowly. “But he’s not mad at me?”

“Why should he be? He’s rooting for you,” Lucy assured her, but didn’t bother to mention that Harry wasn’t in support of her decision.

After breakfast, Dawn drove Josh to school, and after dropping him off, she went grocery shopping to while away the time until she was certain Jamal would be out of the house.

By the time she was done, the time was far spent, so she drove over to Jamal’s and let herself in, grateful that he was yet to change the passcode.

Immediately she took their bags in and unpacked hers in Jamal’s bedroom, rearranging his clothes to make more room for hers.

When she was satisfied, she took Josh’s to his bedroom and after unpacking his bags there, she went into the kitchen to begin the preparation for dinner.

After she had prepared the vegetables, she went in to freshen up and relax for a bit.

As she lay on the bed, she thought about Jamal and prayed that she was doing the right thing and he wouldn’t ask her to leave.

Picking up her phone, she looked at her unread message notifications and dropped the phone again.

She had messages from Bella and Brenda, and there were others from the soul sisters group and Genevieve.

She wasn’t ready to talk to anyone yet. She wasn’t in the mood. Not until she fixed things with Jamal.

When it was time to get Josh from school, she went to pick him up, and she listened to his endless chatter all through the drive.

She stopped by a snack shop so they could have lunch before going home, and as they ate, she stared at Josh.

“Baby?”

Josh looked at her, his mouth full as he chewed.

“I hurt your Daddy’s feelings and now he’s sad,” Dawn said, and watched as Josh’s brows pulled together.

“I want him to stop being sad.”

Josh swallowed. “Tell Daddy you are sorry and he will stop being sad.”

Dawn smiled, wishing it were that simple.

“Yes, I will. But I’m also going to need your help to make him happy. Will you help me?”

Josh bobbed his head.

******

Later that evening, as Jamal drove home from work, he thought about Dawn and Josh and wondered how they were doing.

He missed them.

He missed Dawn.

He’d missed her all day and hoped she was fine and not crying anymore.

He had done his best to keep himself occupied both physically and mentally so he wouldn’t think about her.

He’d deliberately overworked himself so that by the time he got home, he would be too exhausted to stay awake.

This had been one of those days he would have driven over to Tom’s place to spend the night with them, but now he couldn’t do so.

He let out a deep sigh as he parked his car in front of the house.

He didn’t come down immediately after turning off the engine. For a long time, he remained seated inside with his head resting on the steering wheel.

After a while, he got out of the car and dragged himself inside.

The moment he opened the door and stepped inside the dark house, he paused when the aroma of dinner hit him.

His brows drew together as he wondered if his mother had visited like the last time.

Had someone told her about what was going on?

Before he could finish processing the thought, the light came on, and he blinked when he saw Dawn standing by the switch a few feet away from him.

Josh was standing beside her.

He looked from Dawn to Josh, wondering if he was seeing things.

Had he missed them so much that it had messed with his brain?

“Daddy!” Josh exclaimed as he ran forward to embrace Jamal.

When Josh’s arms wrapped around his thighs, he realised he was not seeing things and looked at Dawn again.

“Welcome home, babe. How was your day?”