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Chapter 709  Stubborn

"No. I just wanted to find out how you were doing and you know, chat with you," she said with a shrug and he sighed.

"I\'m okay. I have just sent Harry what I need him to put out there. I\'m not going to let this affect me or my reputation," Tom said as he headed for the patio and Jade nodded as she followed him.

"The comments online about Lucy were very unpleasant. I had to respond to a couple of them," Jade said and Tom scowled.

"Maybe I need to find just one person who I would make an example of to serve as a deterrent to all others not to speak ill of Lucy," Tom said in annoyance.

"If you want me to, I could find the most insulting comment on the comment thread and I could file a case against them," Jade offered but Tom shook his head.

"Thanks. Lucy wouldn\'t want us to do that. Besides, we already have enough going on," Tom said and Jade nodded as they both sat on the swings.

"I\'m glad you didn\'t agree to take responsibility for the child. Knowing you, if Lucy wasn\'t in your life, you probably would have done that," Jade said and Tom raised a brow.

"Why do you say that?"

could argue.

"Because some times you don\'t know when to draw the line. The same way you weren\'t going to do anything about all of this had Lucy not stepped up," Jade said and she raised a finger before Tom could argue.

"That\'s not to say you are incapable of doing anything. It\'s just that you seem to have a weakness when it comes to mom and you\'d rather do nothing than hurt her feeling. It\'s only changing right now because of Lucy. If Lucy wasn\'t here and mom had asked you to claim the kid, you most likely would have done that just to make her happy," Jade said and this time Tom said nothing until he thought about it.

"If you\'ve always thought this way, why did you have to wait until Lucy spoke up before speaking yourself?" Tom asked and Jade shrugged.

"I never really gave it much thought until today. And even if I had, I probably wouldn\'t have thought it was a big deal as long as you were doing you. I guess I thought about it from Lucy\'s point of view today," she said with a shrug.

"I see."

"So, what happens if her parents refuse to accept the child and she has to remain here?" Jade asked, switching back to Dawn and Kimberly.

Tom shrugged, "That has nothing to do with me. That\'s left for dad and mom to handle. As soon as the funeral is over, I\'m returning to my life in Ludus," Tom said and Jade nodded.

Although Jade was feeling very tempted to ask Tom what had transpired between him and Lucy earlier that triggered her outburst, and to tell him what she had overheard Lucy say, she refrained from doing so.

Instead, she reached out a hand and squeezed his shoulder, "Everything will be alright. Hang in there and try not to be mad at Lucy…"

"Why would I be mad at Lucy?" He asked with a raised brow and she shrugged.

"I don\'t know. I\'m just speaking generally. I figured you might be upset that she raised the subject that way during breakfast," Jade said casually.

"I\'m not mad at her," Tom said firmly and Jade nodded as she rose.

"That\'s fine then. I should get back inside to check on the kid and see if Lucy is with her," Jade said and Tom raised a brow.

"Why would Lucy be with her?" He asked as he rose.

"She said she wanted to check in on her since she was yet to see her," Jade explained and Tom frowned.

"Why didn\'t you tell me earlier? Where is the kid?" He asked and immediately Jade told him, he hurried away to go see what Lucy was up to.

"What is the rush? The kid won\'t bite her," Jade called after Tom but he had disappeared already.

As Tom headed for the steps he stopped when he saw Lucy\'s parents seated in the living room with his parents.

"Tom, how are you doing?" Andrew asked as Tom went over to greet them and Jade joined them.

"I\'m alright. I didn\'t realize you were here," he said wondering if they had also seen the news.

"We only just got here. Accept our condolences," Janet said as she embraced him.

Tom gave them a nod, "Thanks. I will go get Lucy and we will join you shortly…"

"I already sent for her. She should be down soon," Evelyn said and they all looked up at the staircase when they heard footsteps followed by a childish giggle.

They were all surprised to see Lucy coming down with Dawn\'s hand tucked in hers as the kid laughed at something Lucy was saying.

The moment Dawn realized they had an audience, she stopped laughing and looked down immediately as she tried to get behind Lucy.

Seeing this, Jade raised a brow, wondering why the kid seemed so friendly with Lucy but had been silent the whole time when she was with her.

"Hello, dad! Mom!" Lucy greeted as she placed a protective hand around Dawn\'s shoulder and urged her on so they could join the others.

"How are you doing, sweety?" Janet asked as she looked away from the kid to her daughter.

"I\'m alright, mom," Lucy said as she embraced her mom and then kissed her dad\'s cheek before looking at Tom who had a frown between his brows as he watched her as though he was trying to figure out what was going on.

She flashed him a smile as she sat down, beside her parents and pulled Dawn down to sit beside her with her arm still around Dawn\'s little shoulder.

"I thought she was sleeping," Evelyn asked as her eyes remained on the kid.

"No, she wasn\'t. She was uncomfortable so she stayed back in the room to cry," Lucy responded honestly, wanting them to understand how their behaviour was affecting the child.

Evelyn\'s brows pulled together as she looked at Dawn, and then she looked at Desmond who looked totally clueless for the first time in a long time. He didn\'t seem to know how to handle the kid.

"She is such a pretty little one, isn\'t she?" Janet asked with pleasant smile when she sensed the tension in the room.

"Yes, she is," Andrew said with a nod.

"She should be hungry by now. Why don\'t I take her to the kitchen to find some snacks for her? Do you want cookies?" Jade asked wanting to take Dawn away so she could give them room to talk, but Dawn tightened her hold on Lucy\'s finger as she shook her head.

Lucy looked down at Dawn, "I\'m pretty sure you are hungry, and I\'m hungry myself. Let\'s go get something to eat," Lucy suggested and to their amazement Dawn gave her a nod and let Lucy lead her away while Jade followed with a scowl.

"Did you ask Lucy to do that?" Desmond asked Tom who had a confused frown on his face as he watched Lucy and the kid leave, while wondering when they became such close pals.

"I didn\'t. Did you?" Tom asked his mother and she shook her head.

"I didn\'t. I\'m just as confused as you are," Evelyn said since the last thing she had expected was that Lucy would get close to the kid considering how mad she had been about the prank.

"Lucy has always had a soft spot for kids, and kids are naturally drawn to her. She has always been that way since she was young so "I should go check on her," Tom said as he excused himself and 09:11

I don\'t think this kid is an exception," Janet said with a small smile.

"I should go check on her," Tom said as he excused himself and went to the kitchen to meet them.

"Let\'s speak privately," Tom said, and Lucy looked down at Dawn.

"Why don\'t you stay here for a moment while I step out briefly? I will be right back," Lucy said, and although Dawn was hesitant to let go of her hand, she did and watched as Lucy walked away with Tom while Jade checked in the refrigerator for something they could eat.

"What\'s going on?" Tom asked Lucy the moment they were alone.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"One minute I leave you alone in the bedroom to receive a phone call, and the next you\'re best friends with the kid? What is going on?" Tom asked again, and Lucy shrugged.

"Nothing. Like you just said, she is a kid and none of all this mess is her fault. There is no reason for her be left to feel alone and confused," Lucy said and Tom looked at her for a moment.

"Are you sure that call earlier was from your therapist or was it from Kimberly?" He asked suspiciously.

"It was my therapist calling to know if I would be available for tomorrow\'s session," Lucy said, not wanting to tell him she had also heard from Kimberly.

There was no point in doing so when she knew it would only annoy him and make him want her to stay away from Dawn.

"You shouldn\'t get too close to the kid. I don\'t like it and I don\'t want it," Tom said and Lucy raised a brow.

"Why not?"

"Because it makes me uncomfortable. You should feel so too," Tom said and Lucy raised a brow once again.

"Why? Because she is not your kid? If she was, would you want me to stay away from her?" Lucy asked and Tom frowned, wondering what had gotten into her.

"We both know that is completely different. Why are you being stubborn over this?" Tom asked in confusion and Lucy went closer to him and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"I\'m not being stubborn, Tom. I\'m just trying to say you all need to cut the kid some slack. None of this is her fault and she is having a hard enough time already being here in the midst of strangers without her mom. She didn\'t plan for any of this to happen, so why can\'t you just treat her as you would treat any other normal visiting kid her age?" Lucy asked softly and Tom shook his head.

"I don\'t trust the kid…."

"C\'mon, Tom! How can you not trust her? What did she do to you?"

"You heard me. I can\'t trust her. She was in on the prank with her mom and my grandfather. She even called me dad, and let me take a sample for DNA without batting an eye. How do I know Kimberly didn\'t put her up to this to make you love her and…"

"And then ask you to adopt her?" Lucy cut in.

"Yes. I don\'t know what you\'re thinking," Tom said and Lucy smiled.

"Calm down, Tom. I will never make such a request. I understand that you have every reason to feel the way you do, but you can\'t blame the kid for that. She must have done whatever she did because her mom asked her to. It\'s a shame on Kimberly for using her daughter that way. We can\'t let that affect how we treat the innocent child. We are better than that," Lucy said as she took Tom\'s hand and beseeched him with her eyes.

Tom sighed, "I don\'t like this, Lucy," he said and she hugged him.

"All I\'m asking is that we treat her as the kid she is and not ignore her simply because she is Kimberly\'s daughter," Lucy said softly as she patted his back.

"So, what? You want me to be best friends with her too?" Tom asked and Lucy smiled as she pulled away from him.

"I believe the others would feel more comfortable and be more accepting of her if you take the lead. They are all probably holding back because of you," Lucy suggested, and Tom sighed.

"I\'m still not sure this is a good idea," Tom said and Lucy raised his hand to her lips as he usually did to her.

"What harm could come from being kind to such a pretty little girl?" She asked and he shrugged.

"Alright. If that will make you happy. Let\'s go back to her then," Tom suggested, and Lucy beamed a smile at him as she stood on her toes to kiss him.

"Thanks. I love you," she said and before she could pull away he pulled her close and kissed her again.

"I love you more."

As they both returned to join them, Dawn who was already seated at the dining with Jade but waiting for Lucy\'s return before she would eat, looked from Tom to Lucy, and then back again, and Tom flashed her a smile when Lucy nudged his side.

*********

Hello Everyone!

I welcomed my Babygirl on the 29th of September hence the break. We are both taking our time to recuperate. I can\'t say I\'m fully back but I can assure you that I will write whenever and as much as I can.

Dearest privilege readers, you don\'t have to purchase privilege chapters as I don\'t want you to not get your money\'s worth and I don\'t want to have to feel guilty about you being cheated. I\'m sorry if you\'ve purchased some already as I\'ve noticed some of you have done.

I will do my best to release a minimum of two chapters weekly. It could be more. But won\'t be less than two. Thanks for your understanding and patience. Much love from my baby and I.