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Chapter 333 Birthday Surprise

　　"I think the kids are back," Evelyn announced when Adolf parked the limo, and she caught sight of the two cars parked in front of the house, which hadn\'t been there before.

　　"Let\'s just go in there, get our stuff, and..."

　　"I don\'t know about you folks, but I had too much fun," Andrew cut in before Desmond could finish, wanting them to focus on the pleasant experience they had just shared.

　　"There is nothing like too much fun. It\'s been a while since we went bowling. I felt like a teenager," Janet said with a wide smile as her husband took her hand and tucked it under his arm.

　　"You looked way better than all those teenagers we saw there. You\'re like fine wine. You look and taste better with age," Andrew whispered for her ears alone, and she giggled girlishly as they headed for the main door.

　　"I love bowling," Jamal announced excitedly as he slipped his hand into Janet\'s other hand. He couldn\'t wait to tell his mom about all the fun things he had done with the adults who kept fussing over him.

　　"We all do, darling. But I mostly enjoyed the karaoke," Evelyn said with a soft smile as she turned to her husband with amused eyes, "Who knew you still had it in you to sing?"

　　"Was I supposed to lose my voice because I\'ve grown older?" He asked gruffly, and they all stopped abruptly when the main door suddenly opened from inside, and Samantha stepped outside panting and looking sort of flustered.

　　"I\'m sorry, but you will have to wait at the patio. The fire sprinkler broke. We are trying to clean up the place," Samantha said apologetically, and Desmond frowned. That didn\'t make sense.

　　"Was there a fire outbreak?"

　　"Are the kids okay?" Evelyn asked with a worried frown as she stepped forward. 

　　"They\'re fine, ma\'am. They\'re at the patio waiting while we clean the house. You can join them there," Samantha said with a shaky smile.

　　"We should come in and see for..."

　　"Let\'s just go over to the patio. I\'m sure we can find out what happened from the kids," Andrew interrupted Desmond, suspecting that his surprise was waiting for him on the patio. 

　　Desmond looked unconvinced but nodded his head as he and his wife quickened their pace to go around the house to find out what was going on, while Andrew and Janet smiled at each other knowingly as they followed at a more relaxed pace with Jamal.

　　"Grandmum Janet?" Jamal called.

　　"Yes, pumpkin?"

　　"What does a fire spinka do?" He asked, looking up at her with curious eyes, and Janet laughed softly.

　　"It\'s called sprinkler, Jamal. When there is a fire outbreak, it automatically goes off and lets down water to put out the fire," Janet explained patiently.

　　"Where does the water come from? The sky?" Jamal asked, and Andrew chuckled.

　　"I almost forgot how curious kids can be around this age. Reminds me of Lucas and Lucy. Growing up, those two almost drove me crazy with their questions," Andrew said, and Janet laughed softly until Jamal tugged her arm to remind her that he was waiting for an answer, and she patiently explained to him. 

　　Ahead of them, Desmond stopped in his track when he rounded the corner and saw the \'Happy Birthday Dad\' display, with Jade standing in the center of the arc with a happy welcoming smile on her face, "Happy Sixtieth Birthday, Daddy," she screeched as she ran to him and flung herself at him. 

　　"Jady!" Desmond laughed heartily as he swept Jade off her feet in the same manner Bryan and Tom had done the previous day, and he spun her around in circles.

　　"Jade!" Evelyn exclaimed happily and then frowned in concern when her husband continued to swirl her around in circles, "You shouldn\'t do that, Desmond. You\'re not as strong as you used to be," Evelyn cautioned, and he set Jade on her feet while panting slightly.

　　"I can never be too old to lift my only baby girl," Desmond said with a happy smile that replaced the annoyance and irritation in his eyes earlier.

　　"Hey, Mom!" Jade said as she stepped away from her father to embrace her mother.

　　"You are all bones," Evelyn complained when she embraced Jade, and all she felt were bones.

　　"Geez! Thanks for the compliment, mom," Jade said with a roll of her eyes as she moved away from her mother to look at Andrew and Janet, who were standing behind her parents with a broad smiles on their faces.

　　"This is..."

　　"I know who they are, dad," Jade cut off her father as she flashed them a grin, "I\'ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Perry."

　　"I hope you only heard good things? And please call me Andrew," Andrew said as she embraced him.

　　"I must say you look even more handsome and charming than I imagined," Jade said with a charming smile.

　　"Thanks, Jade. You look lovely yourself, but I\'m not surprised. Your mother is an angel after all," Andrew complimented with a grin and then stepped aside to let his wife welcome her too.

　　"It\'s good to finally meet you, Jade," Janet said with a wide smile as she embraced her.

　　"Same here," Jade said as she broke the hug and looked down at Jamal, who was looking at her as though he was trying to figure out something, "Hi, there! Do you remember me?" She asked with a friendly smile.

　　"You are my mum\'s friend, aren\'t you?" Jamal asked thoughtfully, and Jade gave him a nod, impressed that he still remembered.

　　"Yes. It\'s nice to meet you again," she said as she crouched in front of him to embrace him.

　　"Is Grandma Evelyn your mummy?" Jamal asked curiously, and Jade nodded.

　　"Yes. Grandma Evelyn, huh? I guess that makes me your aunt now, doesn\'t it?"

　　"I already have an aunt. You know her. Aunt Andy," Jamal reminded her. 

　　"Yes, I do know her. But, it never hurts to have more than one aunt. It means more adults to spoil you silly," she said with a wide smile that made him laugh as she ruffled his hair.

　　Jade straightened up and returned to her father\'s side. She took his hands, "I missed you so much my heart was aching," she said as she led him to a chair, "What took you so long?"

　　"We were having so much fun that we lost track of time. You could have called me the moment you arrived," Desmond pointed out as he sat down.

　　"And miss the happy surprise I just saw on your face? Not a chance," Jade said as she sat on his lap like a little girl.

　　"Aren\'t you too old for that now?" Evelyn asked as she and the others sat down.

　　"I can never be too old to be my dad\'s baby girl," Jade said with a grin.

　　"What about the others? Where are they?" Andrew asked curiously.

　　"They got tired of waiting. But I\'m sure they will join us soon now that they know you\'re back," Jade said with an easy smile, hoping that everything was fine upstairs.

　　"I suppose there was no fire sprinkler incident?" Evelyn asked, eyeing Samantha, who was now standing by the patio door, and Jade blinked at her in confusion before giggling with understanding.

　　"None at all. I didn\'t know you guys were visiting Tom until yesterday. I can\'t believe you guys left me out of all the fun," Jade said with a pout, and her father patted her hair fondly.

　　"It wasn\'t fun without you," Desmond assured her dutifully.

　　"We didn\'t come for fun. We came because of the news and because Tom wasn\'t taking my call. Don\'t worry. We still have our family vacation to plan for. Just make sure you clear out your schedule before then," Evelyn said as she looked around the patio.

　　"You guys did a good job," she said with approval.

　　"When did you get here?" Desmond asked curiously as he looked at his daughter with unconditional love in his eyes.

　　Thinking that it was best to tell the truth at this point, Jade shrugged, "Early hours of yesterday," Jade said, and her parents looked at her with confused surprise.

　　"You were hiding in the house?" Evelyn asked.

　　"No. I was at Harry\'s..."

　　"Harry? Tom\'s best friend? Are you seeing him?" Desmond cut in, and Jade rolled her eyes.

　　"No, I\'m not. I had to wait there until your birthday to surprise you..." Jade stopped talking when her brothers and their girlfriends joined them on the patio.

　　"Happy birthday, Dad," Tom and Bryan chorused.

　　Desmond glared at his boys, irritated that they had to make him angry all day in order to surprise him like this, "Why did you both leave all the work to Jade?"

　　"Is that what she told you?" Bryan asked with a scoff as they sat down while Jade giggled.

　　"Happy birthday, Desmond," Sonia and Lucy joined. 

　　Desmond\'s eyes softened when his gaze fell on Sonia and Lucy, "Thanks, girls. I suppose you\'ve met Jade?" He asked, and they both nodded before he returned his attention to his daughter.

　　"I suppose you\'ll be around for the next couple of days then? Cause I see no reason you had to spend a day at Harry\'s just to surprise me and not spend that time with me," Desmond said, and Jade kissed his cheek.

　　"I\'m leaving tomorrow to wrap up an important case. I don\'t know how long it\'ll take, but I\'ll visit and spend time with you after it. I promise," Jade said, knowing fully well that despite all the evidence she had against the cartel now, the case could still drag on for months if care was not taken.

　　While Jade and her father argued about the duration of her stay, the others around the table ate and engaged in small talk as Lucy\'s parents told them all about their outing and how much fun they had, while little Jamal climbed out of Janet\'s thighs to sit on Tom\'s thighs. 

　　Tom looked down at the little boy in surprise, wondering what had prompted him to do that since they both didn\'t exactly have that kind of relationship, and then he almost chuckled when the kid reached for the tray of canapes closest to him and took a piece of spring roll.

　　He let the child remain on his thighs as they all continued with the small talk and food. Soon Candace brought in the cake with lit candles, and Jamal shrieked excitedly as he got off Tom\'s thighs to meet his mother and the cake.

　　"Happy birthday, Desmond," Jade said with a polite smile as she set down the cake in front of him, and Jade got off her father\'s thigh to give him room to make his wish and blow off the candles. 

　　"I had a lot of fun, mum!" Jamal told his mother happily as he embraced her legs, and she lifted him off the ground.

　　"You\'ve had enough fun for one day, now come inside," Candace said, wanting to spend some time alone with her son since she would be leaving him the next day.

　　"But I\'ve not had any cake yet," Jamal protested, wanting to get down.

　　"You will have some tomorrow. I\'m sure you had lots of candies and chocolates and ice cream. That, my charming young man is enough sugar for one day," Candace said as she held on firmly and walked away with him. 

　　"I think you should tell them now," Tom whispered to Lucy after his dad finished making his wish, and some of the household staff came to clear up the hors d\'oeuvres and appetizers to serve the main dish, while Samantha took the cake to cut it into slices for dessert.

　　"Is it just me, or our girl doesn\'t look fine?" Andrew whispered to his wife as he watched Lucy and Tom whispering to each other.

　　 Initially, he had assumed she wasn\'t eating and was wearing a false smile because she had a misunderstanding with Tom, but watching them communicate, especially with Tom\'s hand covering hers in a supportive gesture, he doubted that whatever was wrong with her had anything to do with Tom.

　　"Yeah, I noticed too," Janet whispered back with a concerned frown. After what happened to her, they had learned to be more observant when it came to the well-being of their children and to never ignore even the slightest changes in their mood, "Are you okay, darling?" Janet asked, 

　　"Are you okay, baby? How was work today?" Andrew asked, hiding his concern in an easy smile. 

　　Lucy cleared her throat, "Work was fine. I need to speak with you," Lucy said, and her parents exchanged a look. They knew that by \'you\' she meant them since they had raised their kids to always confide in them together, but they were curious to know what it was that couldn\'t wait until after dinner.

　　"In private or right here?" Andrew asked with concern.

　　"In private," Lucy said, looking at Desmond and Evelyn apologetically, but they didn\'t seem to mind.

　　"Let\'s go talk then. Please excuse us," Janet said politely as they stood up, and Janet turned to Sonia when she didn\'t move.

　　"Why is Sonia not coming with us? Is this not a family discussion?" Janet asked Lucy, and Sonia stood up immediately and went with them. 

　　"Did something happen between you two? Is everything okay?" Evelyn asked Tom once they were all alone, and Tom shook his head.

　　"Nothing happened. We are fine. But there is something we also need to tell you," Tom said, and Desmond frowned when he saw the seriousness in all three of his children.

　　"It\'s about me and Sonia\'s scandal, and also Lucy\'s," Bryan added to get their mother\'s complete attention, and she dropped the glass of wine she was holding.

　　"Thanks for letting me cut my cake before bringing this up. You should probably tell Samantha to hold off on serving dinner. There\'s no need for us to waste the food," Desmond suggested, and Jade nodded as she hurried away to deliver the message.