Chapter 55.3

Briefly kissing Elizabeth goodbye, Jason returned to the mansion after dropping her off at Hotel Belvedere. Upon arriving back though, Jason was surprised as he noticed all three kids, Alina, Alice, and Maple, eating ice cream in the living room while watching a cartoon show. Jason sent Alice an exasperated glance full of reproach, knowing full well that she could be the only one shrewd enough to suggest eating ice cream again.

"Oh, hey," Alina said as she licked a spoon of ice cream. "Want some?"

"No, thanks. We already had some," Jason stressed the last few words while staring at a guilty Alice who looked away. "Outside. Less than an hour ago."

"Ahaha, crafty little fellow, isn't she?" Alina chuckled when she realized she had been tricked by Alice. She turned to grin at Jason before saying, "Guess she inherited that from you."

"What?" Jason pointed at himself as he asked Alina, "Why are you pointing a finger at me?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Alina rhetorically asked with a roll of her eyes.

". . . No."

"There you go," Alina said before patting Alice's head. "As long as you don't follow your dad and use your charm to control the boys around you, it's fine and all."

Both Alice and Maple exchanged glances before each of them sheepishly looked away.

"No way . . ." Alina noticed it and muttered with an incredulous gaze.

"She can get all the boys to give her their sweets," Maple explained in a barely audible whisper.

Alina was stunned for a moment before turning to Jason with disdain.

"See what you've done? You've led her astray!" Alina reprimanded.

"How is that my fault?!" Jason asked before turning to glare at Alice. "And if those boys go near you again, I swear I'm gonna . . ."

"It's not my fault that they want to be my friends!" Alice hastily explained, worried that she would lose her sweets 'factory'. "And I can't help it if they want to give me their snacks!"

Jason silently watched Alice and realized that she was just using the boys to get more food and sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," he said as he turned to Alina. "This is probably my fault."

"Yep."

"Who'd have thought that my incredibly awesome genes could create such a gorgeous kid that absolutely nobody - nobody, not even me - can say no to? Hah, even being amazingly dashing is sometimes oh-so tiring."

". . . You shamelessly narcissistic piece of -"

After joking around a bit more, Jason clapped his hands and picked up both Alice and Maple.

"Alright kids. Time to go to bed," he said. "But first, we need to take a shower."

"Yah, bath time!" Alice raised her hands and cheered before asking Jason in an excited voice, "Daddy, can we use the giant bath? I wanna go swimming!"

"Sure, sweetie. Anything for you," Jason agreed easily.

"Well, you're right on one thing. Looks like not even you can say no to her," Alina muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Jason asked with a smile that was not a smile, despite hearing her clearly.

"You're a jerk and a horndog," Alina answered with a roll of her eyes before changing the subject. "Right, then I'll use the shower in my room. Wanna come, Maple?"

"No, it's okay," Maple replied after thinking it over. "I wanna swim with Alice!"

"Alright," Alina said before turning to Jason. "Make sure you watch over both of them. I know Alice knows how to swim but Maple . . ."

"I know, I'll be careful," Jason replied with a nod before leading the kids upstairs.

"Alright kids," Jason paused outside the large bathroom and turned around to Alice and Maple. "I need to go and look for some clothes for you two. Don't go into the pool while I'm not around. Wait for me, Alice."

Jason sent Alice a knowing look when he saw her pout; he could tell that she was planning on ignoring his advice and reminded her not to before quickly heading out to search for some clothes.

"I need a maid," Jason muttered to himself as he searched a big drawer full of Alice's clothes.

"Jason," a voice from behind him called out.

Turning around, Jason saw Ava standing with two sets of pajamas in her hands.  With a smile, he took the pajamas from her, gazing at her softly with appreciation.

"Where would I be without you?" Jason asked merrily.

"In bed with a redhead?" Ava suggested in faux mirth, the smile not reaching her eyes.

"Ah," Jason's smile faced as he noticed Ava's displeasure. He watched her carefully for a moment, studying her stoic facial expression before grinning even more widely. "Why Ava, dear . . . are you . . . jealous?"

". . . No," Ava answered calmly after a moment of consideration.

"Oh? Then why the new style?" Jason teased as he glanced at her flamingly dark red hair before reaching out and stroking it.

Damn. I really am a sucker for redheads, Jason thought as he appreciated the red hair. He then gently gazed into her baby blue eyes as she spoke, mesmerized by the unique color of her eyes as well as the touch of coldness it emanated.

They're like Elizabeth and Katelyn's all at once, he thought. She's really going all out this time. Must feel threatened somehow.

"I've been meaning to change my hair color."

"Hm? Does that include your new blue optics?" Jason asked as he leaned closer to study her new eyes.

Ava, in response, took a step forward and gently, almost lovingly, brushed Jason's cheek with a hand. The synthetic skin was cold to the touch, but Jason closed his eyes as he felt his cheek warming her hand.

"Maybe I just wanted to keep your eyes on me alone," she finally said.

Hmm, Jason groaned, his eyes still closed. She's taking her droid's subroutines a little too seriously.

Although Jason had developed Ava, her robotic machine was a custom built order. The body was a fully functional humanoid that had all the features, including sexual subroutines, installed from the manufacturer. After adding some additional improvements to the body, Jason had connected Ava to it but discovered, much to his initial dismay, that she was interested in the subroutines. Particularly - especially - the sexual ones. One thing led to another and this resulted in Ava testing the subroutines . . . physically. Since then, Jason noticed that Ava held an even deeper interest in lovemaking, even spying on his trysts with other women for, as she put it, experience.

Maybe it's cause I haven't touched her in while? Jason thought. And she's probably curious about my affections for Elizabeth. Either way, this is good. It will allow her feelings to grow more exponentially, resulting in an expansive growth of her humanity.

"Thanks for the PJs," Jason said as he waved the clothes to her in an attempt to draw her attention away from the previous discussion. "I'd better get back to the kids."

"Jason," Ava called out to Jason who was leaving. "You created me. I will never betray you . . . Nor am I bound by destiny. And I will never be held back by a curse."

Jason paused, shocked that she knew his secret despite him never telling her. He failed to realize that Ava had been with him for a while now, and had noticed his occasional bouts with his previous incarnations. Although she could only hear Jason and not their response, the human part of her analytical electronic mind was able to deduce the correct hypothesis, despite her programming of logic disagreeing.

Jason began to slowly digest the meaning behind her words before turning and smiling at her, a weight lifted from his shoulders.

"I know," he finally replied softly. "We're together in this. Till the end."

"Till the very end," Ava nodded and repeated quietly as Jason left. Her mechanical eyes whirled as she frowned and raised a hand to her forehead.

"I-it's get-getting wor-worse," Ava muttered to herself, stuttering inconsistently in a garbled voice that broke down several times as her head twitched and hand spasmed.