"The hell?" Jason stared at Alina who lowered the fist she aimed at him with once he dodged her punch. "What was that for?!"
"For being an ass!" Alina hissed and Alice looked at her with a shocked expression. She didn't expect her aunt, who was normally so nice, to be so ferocious. Sure, it was fine to punish bullies, Alice had no qualms about that, but why attack her dad?
"What? I'm always an ass," Jason replied confusedly, unaware he was digging the hole deeper. "That never bothered you."
"Alice, stay with Michelle. You, with me, mister," Alina gestured at Jason, telling him to follow her before stomping off.
Jason looked at Michelle with a questioning gaze, silently asking her what was wrong. To his surprise, Michelle refused to look at him. Instead, she smiled at Alice and walked off while holding her hand.
Man, Jason thought as he followed Alina. Must be a bad hair day I'm having. Or maybe Alle's got her period and Michelle's finding it awkward? Yeah, that should be it. Fuck, I don't have chocolate with me.
"So?" Alina asked. Her arms were crossed and she was staring at Jason as though she had caught him in the middle of a crime red-handed.
"... So …" Jason repeated bemusedly. "So what now?"
"Alice," Alina said quietly. "When were you gonna tell me she was your daughter? Why didn't you tell me that Katelyn had a clo -"
Alina stopped when her voice broke, it was taking every ounce of her being to not snap and yell at Jason. She wanted to hear his excuses before she condemned him.
"I know she's a clone, Jason," Alina finally said once she calmed her nerves.
Jason's smile faded and he looked at Alina with a levelled gaze. He put two and two together and figured that Alina must have overheard his singing.
"Who else knows?" He asked with a sigh.
"Michelle and Asami," Alina replied and Jason looked away, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
No wonder Michelle refused to look at him. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that Michelle was infatuated with him, but he assumed it was just like every other teenage girl when they're young; it was just a simple crush, similar to the ones girls had for idols, rockstars, or whatever they were into.
"And yeah, it was hard. For all of us," Alina added as he sighed. They both understood what she implied but neither of them elaborated. Instead, Jason tried to explain the situation.
"I didn't want to tell you so soon," Jason said in a low voice, trying to explain his reasoning. "I … I know Katelyn's a … it's difficult to talk about her and I didn't -"
Jason stopped and took a breath before continuing. "I didn't want to open that wound again."
"Well, good job in failing so spectacularly," Alina said, sarcastic admiration apparent in her voice while she clapped 'gleefully'. "Are you still gonna keep me in the dark?"
Jason looked around for a moment, trying to buy time as he mulled over how to tell her. "I don't know much -"
"But you have a guess, as always," Alina interrupted in an unamused voice. "So just spit it out."
"She's not a clone," Jason replied slowly and Alina raised her eyebrows.
"Then is she your real …?" Alina asked before her eyes widened. "No way … you and Katie were ... you guys had a kid before we even meet?!"
"No!" Jason shook his head, his brows furrowed at her comment. "Katelyn was what? Fourteen at the time? There's no way she - we - No. No, she's a homunculus."
"An … alchemical clone?" Alina asked for verification in a bemused voice. At the same time, she looked over at Alice who was with Michelle.
"Yes, the alchemical product. But no, not a clone," Jason explained quietly. "A clone is an exact duplicate of the donor's DNA while a homunculus is a variety of genes spliced together, like - like Frankenstein. She has mostly her mother's DNA, but there are some of mine added along with other … stuff."
"Stuff?" Alina repeated in a disbelieving voice.
Jason forwarded the DNA test he had conducted on Alice to Alina. As she read on Jason pointed out the discrepancies. "See that? About thirty percent of her DNA is unknown, it's not human. That's why she looks like her mother but appears to look older than she is. And it's also why she looks so … perfect. Almost like a doll."
"... Does she know?" Alina finally asked while biting her lower lip.
"She's a bright one, so … she probably figured it out," Jason said with a hint of a sigh. "She's amazing, that kid."
He turned to look at Alice with gentle eyes full of proudness and Alina lost herself in his smile. She felt happy at seeing his genuine smile, one that showed that he was progressing into a better person. His smile faded when he saw Alina staring at him with a slight smirk.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"Is … is that a grin I see on your face? Not a fake one? Ah, oh my god … you're genuinely … you can actually smile! Wow!" Alina said in mock surprise as she gasped, the grin on her face also prominent as she started to laugh at Jason's awkward eyebrow twitches.
Alina's anger against him had simmered down and her face softened when she realized that he had only discovered the truth about Alice recently and that he didn't hide it from her for long. There were still many unanswered questions, like who created her and why but Alina was willing to let it go for now and instead tease Jason who seemed more alive than she had ever seen before.
"Haha, that's, that's real cute," Jason said before looking at Alice. His smile faded as he thought of Katelyn and turned to look at Alina, he was still hesitant to tell her the truth about Katelyn.
"And there it goes, never to return again," Alina said when she noticed his pensive stare and the frown that came along with it. "What are you worried about now?"
Jason moved his eyes between Alice and Alina before clearing his throat. Again, due to his fear and shame, he decided to tell her later rather than sooner.
"It's just … I've never … this is … it's all really ... daunting," Jason finally said. "I am happy to be a father, thrilled even. But, I won't lie and say I'm not apprehensive about it."
Although he avoided admitting to her his mistakes again, Jason wasn't lying. From this morning, when he realized the truth about Alice, he had been worrying about this nonstop, especially after Alice told him that she would be leaving soon. He turned to look at Alice who was having a silent staring contest with Michelle.
Despite liking Emily more than the others, Jason noted that Alice seemed to also like Michelle as well, but in a more subtle way. Perhaps it was because Michelle was similar to Katelyn, her mother. The two had the same stoic expressions and quiet demeanour, only one was a staunch unyielding soldier and the other was a formerly submissive maid.
"I've always wanted parents," Jason explained as he looked back at Alina. "But, I don't - I don't know what parents do. How - what am I supposed to - how am I going to raise her? You know better than anyone how lousy of a brother I am, and now? Me, a dad? I just … I don't know if I'm ready for this."