Aaron was the first to wake up from the nap, and he smiled when the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes was Candace and Jamal sleeping on the bed beside him.
As hard as he had tried to stay awake while chatting with Candace, he had dozed off at some point in the middle of their conversation, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that Candace and Jamal had also slept off on his bed.
Jamal, who was sleeping between him and Candace, was snuggled closely against his mother, but even in his sleep, he was holding on to Aaron's hand. Aaron smiled as he looked down at his hand. Jamal was holding onto his thumb.
His heart ached, and tears gathered in his eyes when his gaze shifted to Candace's beautiful sleeping face. She looked tired and pale. She was not well rested yet, Aaron observed.
"My poor baby," he murmured softly. It would take her a long time to recover from all the hardships she had endured.
