Chapter 522: I Want You

After dinner, Dawn rose to clear the dishes, and Jamal rose as well.

“I will do the dishes,” he offered.

“I got it. You look exhausted. You should go get some rest,” Dawn said softly.

“I will do it,” Jamal insisted.

“You can do it together,” Josh piped up.

Dawn smiled at Josh. “That’s a brilliant idea. It’s faster that way.”

Without a word, Jamal took some of the dishes to the kitchen, and Dawn followed with the others.

Josh sat on the island in the kitchen, watching them as they worked.

While Jamal washed the dishes, Dawn rinsed and dried them. They both worked in silence.

“Daddy?” Josh called after a moment.

“Yes, buddy?”

“When are you going to marry my mummy like Uncle Stefan and Aunt Genny?”

Jamal turned to look at Josh, wondering if he was in some sort of league with Dawn.

Dawn turned to look at Josh as well. “Why are you asking, baby?”

“We will always live together this way, right?” Josh asked, and this time Dawn looked at Jamal before responding.

“Of course, baby. This is our home.”

“Go brush your teeth, buddy. I’ll come read you a bedtime story when I’m done.”

Josh rose and left.

Immediately, Jamal was sure he was out of earshot, he looked at Dawn.

“What did you say to him?”

Dawn shook her head. “I didn’t ask him to ask you any of those questions if that’s what you’re asking.”

Jamal looked at her for a moment, then dried his hands. “I will go tuck him in.”

Dawn sighed as she watched him go.

When Jamal got to Josh’s bedroom, Josh was already in bed.

Jamal got in beside him and reached for one of the books Dawn had arranged on the nightstand.

“Can we wait for Mommy? I want her to read too,” Josh said as Jamal opened the book.

Jamal paused. “Okay.”

As they sat there in silence, Jamal noticed Josh staring at him like he had something on his mind to say.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Jamal asked, smoothing the crease between Josh’s brow.

“Are you very sad?” Josh asked softly.

Jamal raised a brow. “Sad? I’m not sad. I’m very happy.”

“You don’t look happy. You did not play with me,” Josh pointed out.

Jamal narrowed his eyes. “Did your Mommy say something to you?”

“Mommy said she hurt your feelings and you are sad. She is sad too. She was crying.”

Jamal frowned, wondering why Dawn chose to burden Josh with such information.

Dawn peeked into the room just then, and immediately Josh waved her over.

“We were waiting for you,” Josh said as Dawn joined them.

While Jamal sat on Josh’s right side, Dawn sat on the left and together they read Josh a bedtime story.

When Josh finally slept off, they tucked him in and headed for their bedroom in silence.

The moment they walked inside, Jamal turned to Dawn.

“What is all this, Dawn? Why are you here?”

Dawn moved closer to him. “What do you mean why am I here? Why else will I be here? Isn’t this our home anymore? Or has that changed? Am I no longer welcome here?”

Jamal’s heart cut at her words.

He wanted so badly to accept her words.

Jamal exhaled deeply. “Dawn, we agreed to take a break…”

“No, Jamal, we didn’t agree. You made that decision yourself, and I don’t agree with you,” she said, stopping in front of him.

When Jamal said nothing, she stepped closer to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Until now, we’ve done everything in agreement. When I approached you at the club, you agreed to be with me that night. We had consensual sex, and that resulted in Josh. When our relationship started back then in West End, we were in agreement. It happened because you wanted me as much as I wanted you. You can’t just make a major decision for us now without caring what I think or how I feel.”

Jamal rubbed his eyes. “Dawn, I’m exhausted.”

Dawn nodded in understanding. “You look exhausted. We should go to bed.”

That wasn’t the response he expected. Instead of going to bed, Jamal inhaled deeply. “Why did you tell Josh I was upset with you?”

“Because he deserves to know why you might not welcome us or why you’d refuse to let us stay.”

Jamal frowned, wondering why she would think he’d do something like that. “I would never do that to you or Josh. This is still your home,” Jamal admitted quietly as he turned away from her.

Dawn felt a spark of hope. She went around to stand in front of him again.

“Good. Because we are not leaving. No matter what you say or do, I’m not leaving. This is our home. I know how I feel about you, whether you believe it or not.

“You can have this room. I’ll…”

“You’ll what? Sleep in the living room or the spare bedrooms?” Dawn cut in before he could finish.

“Yes, Dawn. I’ll sleep in one of the other rooms. I really don’t have the energy to deal with any of this right now.”

Dawn shook her head. “You’re not sleeping anywhere else, Jamal. This is our bedroom. That is our bed. You are my husband. I am your wife. We will treat each other as such. You are emotionally exhausted, I get it. I’ll handle the emotional aspect of our relationship while you get all the rest you need…”

“Dawn…”

Dawn hugged him. “All I’m asking is that you don’t push me away, babe. Don’t ask for a break-up. Don’t ask me to go be with anyone else. You are not convinced that I am in love with you, right? Allow me to show you that I know what I want.”

“Do you really know what you want?” Jamal asked, wondering if she really wanted to be with a man she didn’t feel any sparks for.

She pulled back to look into his face. “I want you, Jamal Jonas. I already made my choice to be with you a very long time ago, and I believe strongly we’ve had all the break-away from each other that we need in our lives. We are destined to be together, Jamal. How can you think otherwise when the universe has shown us over and over again that we belong to each other?”

When Jamal stared at her without responding, she asked, “Remember our reunion at the airport? When I asked for your number?” (Chapter 33)

Jamal nodded slowly.

“Do you have any idea how heartbroken I was when I thought you were married? Do you remember how I refused to talk to you during the flight until you kept poking and frustrating me?”

A reluctant smile tugged at Jamal’s lips at the memory. (Chapter 34-35)

“Think about it, Jam. We’ve come a long way. If we were officially married, would you end our marriage because you saw me holding hands with another guy?” Dawn asked, holding his gaze.

“That’s different…”

“No, it’s not. You’ve been calling me your wife this whole time. Didn’t you mean it?”

“I’ve always meant it. But…”

“No buts, Jamal. If you meant it, then now is the time to prove it. Because right now I’m beginning to doubt your love for me too…”

Jamal glared at her. “Dawn…”

“We are going to treat our relationship like we are married, Jamal. I’ve been thinking about you as my husband since we reunited, and that was the reason I never really cared about who got married before us. I mean, why should I worry when we have a beautiful son together?”

Jamal opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Dawn kissed him softly, then pulled back.

She held his gaze. “If you did something to hurt me and I asked for a break, would you accept it and let me be?”

Jamal opened his mouth again, then shut it.

“Good. I thought so too. I’m not asking you to forgive me right now. Just allow me to make it up to you. That’s all.”

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Dawn, are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m very sure. Now, let’s go to bed. You need to get some rest. I’m not here to add to your stress,” Dawn said, rubbing his arm.

With a sigh, Jamal headed for the bed, and Dawn got in beside him.

She snuggled close, placing her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him.

Despite how exhausted he was, Dawn slept off before him.

It was only when Jamal was certain that she was sound asleep that he finally allowed himself to smile.