The pages are yellower than my blonde hair. But I haven't touched this in 3 years, so you can't blame me.
I'm 16 now, and Zinnia gave me this book I never touched. Well, after finding it stashed away somewhere and reading it. She is 22, and annoying as ever. I thought getting a bachelor's degree would probably mellow her but that is not the case.
I think my life has sort of normalized since dad's death. High school is going well - I topped the class again. You would think my classmates consider me a huge nerd but they don't seem to consider me as existent in the first place.
Just the way I like it. People are problematic and commitment is disastrous. Take my dad, when he cheated on his wife. I thought he was the most amazing man on the planet until I found this out.
I have never been known to cry, but that time... I did. I think that was around the time I stopped writing in this book.
If I cried, I can only imagine how mom must have cried out an ocean when she got the DNA test results and found out whose child I really am.
I never bothered to look at those - not to this day. Hell, I'm ACTUALLY willing to bet money that she thinks I don't know.
After rereading this, I can't think about anything else, honestly. Those damn DNA results, flooding my brain. I need that closure but there won't be anything I don't know. There's no hope that I've been over thinking Zinnia's casual statement. I know genes can end up mutating (I'm not sure), but what are the odds that two black-haired parents had a child with blonde hair? Really, REALLY low.
I have researched Dr. Oxide though. Personality wise, she reminds me of a fictional character from my parents' era, Wednesday.
She (Aurelia, not Wednesday) looks like me - blondie with blue eyes, but her blank stare into the camera is what sealed the deal. She's like me. A bit dead inside.
I stared blankly at the pictures of the scientist, from a baby picture from the mid '00s to her present. She's around the same age as my mom - born in the same year. My dad was born in 2005 though - he's a year older than them both.
None of the important lab pictures from 2036-37 show her pregnant though. It's all very confusing. Maybe she figured out a way to fake it without having to wear baggy clothes?
My brain continued processing several what-ifs until I heard a voice from the next room. "Aura!"
I turned instinctively. "Yeah, mom?" I called out in reply.
"Could you come over here? I need some help." came the reply.
I walked into the room where Mom was, finding her standing by the door with a strange, almost hesitant expression on her face.
“I need you to grab a box from the attic,” she said, her voice steadier than her eyes. “It’s labeled with your father’s name. Be careful with it, okay?”
I nodded, the curiosity and apprehension gnawing at me. Climbing up to the attic, I rummaged through the stacks of boxes until I found the one she mentioned. Inside, there were various documents, photos, and at the very bottom, a sealed envelope.
My breath hitched as I saw my name written on it. With trembling hands, I tore open the envelope and unfolded the DNA test results.
My eyes scanned the words quickly, my heart pounding louder with each line. The results were clear: I was 100% genetically identical to Aurelia Oxide.
I felt a wave of emotions wash over me—shock, confusion, betrayal. It all made sense now. The resemblance, the secrets. I wasn’t just an ordinary child. I was a clone of Dr. Aurelia Oxide.
I sat back, trying to process the truth. The woman who was so much like me wasn’t just a stranger; she was, in a way, my genetic template. Everything I knew about myself had shifted in an instant.
Taking a deep breath, I closed the box and headed back downstairs. Mom was waiting, her eyes searching mine for any sign of what I had discovered.
“Did you find it?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
I nodded slowly, holding up the envelope. “I found the truth,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I know who I really am.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears, and she reached out to hold my hand. “I’m so sorry, Aura. I never wanted you to find out this way.”
“It’s okay,” I replied, squeezing her hand. “I needed to know. Now, we can figure out what this means for all of us."
"I'm surprised how well you're taking this." came a third voice, followed by the sound of crumbling potato chips. "Finding out all this stuff. I read some of your old stuff, and I had to ask mom the truth. That's around a year after she sent out the test."
Zinnia was here, with a bag of barbecue flavored chips, her favorite.
"And," Mom continued, "I figured it was time I tell Zinnia. Your dad was innocent, just..." she sighed. "It's all confusing, and I don't know the details." She turned to my sister, a pleading look in her tear-filled eyes - a cue for her to take over.
"All mom knows is that she was 7 months pregnant when she found out about her miscarriage, and the child had to be removed artificially." Zinnia was cringing in between, not knowing the best way to say this. "Dad had returned to work after a week of staying at home and taking care of her after this huge bomb was dropped. I don't know what happened next but he came home late, a whole day since he left. He said there was some woman from a charity the lab helps who recently had a child and didn't want her. Aura, you were two days old and mom was in a wrecking ball phase."
Mom didn't seem too impressed by the statement but stayed quiet. "He brought you home that night. I was still asleep, but mom woke up. The moment she saw you, she said she fell in love. She didn't worry too much about the details - they just set you up with the documents and introduced you as their own."
While I may have botched the words and sentences up, I got the content in.
I sat there, absorbing the weight of Zinnia's words. The truth was laid bare before me, and it was both a relief and a burden.
Mom's eyes met mine, filled with a mix of sorrow and love. "Aura, we may not share the same DNA, but you are our daughter in every way that matters. Your father loved you deeply, and so do I."
I nodded, feeling a lump in my throat. "I know, Mom. Thank you for telling me the truth."
Zinnia reached out, offering me a chip. "Hey, you're still my annoying little sister, clone or not."
I couldn't help but smile at her attempt to lighten the mood. "Thanks, Zin."
We sat in silence for a moment, the gravity of the revelation settling in. I glanced at the journal in my hands, the pages now more meaningful than ever as I continued documenting this.
"I'm going to find out more about Dr. Oxide," I said, determination in my voice. "I need to understand my origins, but I also need to know that it won't change who I am."
Mom squeezed my hand. "We'll support you every step of the way, Aura. No matter what you find, you're still a part of this family."
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