Jay's Pov
The text came at 7 AM.
ARIES: Can we talk? Just you and Jare. No Keifer. No Mia. Just us.
I stared at it for five minutes.
Jare was still asleep in the next room. I could hear his gentle snoring through the wall.
ME: About what?
ARIES: Our mother.
My heart stopped.
ARIES: She wants to meet you. Both of you. But only if you're ready.
ME: She's HERE?
ARIES: In the Philippines. She's been here for years. She just... didn't know how to reach out.
I didn't know what to feel. Anger? Sadness? Curiosity?
All of the above.
ME: Give us an hour.
I woke Jare up by throwing a pillow at his face.
"OW! What the—"
"Get up. We need to talk."
He saw my face and immediately sat up. "What happened?"
"Aries texted. Our... mother. Jeana. She wants to meet us."
Jare was quiet for a long moment.
Then: "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. Okay. Let's go."
"That's it? That's your reaction?"
"What else should I feel? I don't know her. I've never known her. I need to actually MEET her before I can decide how to feel."
I stared at my twin. The calm one. The sensible one.
"How are you so chill about this?"
"I'm not chill. I'm just better at hiding it."
"...Fair."
We met Aries at a small café near the Watson mansion.
He was already there, looking nervous. Actually nervous. The cold, untouchable Section A president, fidgeting with a coffee cup.
"Hey," he said when we walked in.
"Hey."
Jare nodded.
We sat down. Awkward silence.
"She's really nervous," Aries finally said. "She's been waiting for this day for years. But she didn't know how to approach you. Didn't know if you'd even want to see her."
"Do YOU want us to see her?" I asked.
Aries met my eyes. "I want whatever YOU want. She's my mom, but she's YOUR mom too. Even if you never knew it."
Something in his voice. Soft. Vulnerable.
"You're really our brother," Jare said quietly.
"I'm really your brother."
"Half-brother."
"Half-brother. But still. Brother."
Jare nodded slowly. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay. Let's meet her."
Jeana Fernandez was waiting in a small park nearby.
When I first saw her, my breath caught.
She was beautiful. Not in an obvious way, but in a soft, warm way. She had my eyes. Jare's nose. Aries's smile.
And she was crying before we even reached her.
"Jay," she whispered. "Jare."
I didn't know what to do. Hug her? Shake her hand? Run away?
Jare solved the problem by stepping forward and pulling her into a hug.
Just like that. No hesitation.
I watched my twin hug the mother we never knew, and something in my chest cracked.
Then Jeana looked at me. Reached out a hand.
"Jay? Can I... can I hug you too?"
I nodded. Couldn't speak.
And then I was in her arms.
She smelled like flowers. Like something soft and familiar. Like something I'd been missing my whole life without knowing it.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."
We sat on a park bench. Jare on one side of her. Me on the other. Aries across from us.
She told us everything.
How she met our father. How they fell in love. How she already had Aries from a previous relationship.
How things fell apart.
How she got sick—really sick—and couldn't take care of us.
How Papa and Mama Reycee stepped in. How they offered to raise us in London, give us a better life.
How she agreed because she loved us too much to let us watch her waste away.
"I got better," she said quietly. "Eventually. But by then, you were already in London. Already calling Reycee 'Mama.' Already building a life without me."
"We didn't know," I said. "They never told us."
"I know. I asked them not to."
I blinked. "What?"
"I asked them not to tell you. Not until you were older. Not until I was... ready. And then years passed, and I didn't know how to reach out, and—" Her voice broke. "I was a coward."
"You were sick," Jare said quietly.
"Sick and scared. And cowardly."
"You're here now."
She looked at him. At both of us.
"You're not angry?"
I thought about it.
Was I angry?
At Papa and Mama Reycee for lying? Yes.
At this woman for leaving? Maybe.
But looking at her—really looking—all I felt was sadness. For her. For us. For all the years we lost.
"I don't know what I feel yet," I admitted. "But I'm not angry. Not right now. Maybe later. But right now, I'm just... glad to meet you."
She cried again. Jare put an arm around her.
Aries caught my eye across the bench. Nodded. Thank you, he mouthed.
I nodded back.
We had a lot to figure out. A lot to process. A lot to forgive.
But for now, sitting in the park with my brother—both of them—and the mother I never knew, I felt something I hadn't felt in days.
Peace.
Later, at the Residence
Mia was waiting on the couch when we got back.
"Well?!"
I collapsed next to her. "Well what?"
"HOW WAS IT?!"
"Intense."
"Good intense or bad intense?"
"Both? Neither? I don't know."
She grabbed my hand. "Talk to me."
So I did.
I told her everything. Jeana's face. Her voice. Her tears. The way Jare hugged her without hesitation. The way Aries watched us like he was afraid we'd disappear.
When I finished, Mia was quiet.
"That's a lot," she finally said.
"Yeah."
"How do you feel?"
"I don't know. Confused. Sad. Hopeful. All of it."
"That's valid."
"Is it?"
"Yeah. You're allowed to feel everything."
I leaned my head on her shoulder. "When did you get so wise?"
"I've always been wise. You just never listened."
"Fair."
My phone buzzed.
GAGONG BALIW: How was it?
ME: How did you know?
GAGONG BALIW: Aries told Yuri. Yuri told me.
ME: Of course he did.
GAGONG BALIW: You okay?
ME: I don't know. Maybe? It's a lot.
GAGONG BALIW: Want me to come over?
ME: You'd do that?
GAGONG BALIW: For you? Always.
My heart did that thing again.
ME: Yeah. Come over.
GAGONG BALIW: On my way.
He showed up twenty minutes later with food.
"Eman sent cookies. Dave sent chips. Felix sent a note that says 'HUSBAND AND WIFE SUPPORT.'"
I laughed. Actually laughed.
"Your friends are insane."
"OUR friends. And yes. Completely insane."
He sat next to me. Didn't push. Didn't ask questions. Just... sat.
After a while, I leaned against him.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For coming. For not making it weird."
"Jay, I've been making things weird since the day we met. It's my brand."
"True."
We sat in comfortable silence.
Then: "I met my real mom today."
"I know."
"She's... nice. Sad. But nice."
"That's good."
"I think. I don't know yet."
"You don't have to know yet."
I looked up at him. "How do you always know what to say?"
"I don't. I just say what feels right."
"And if it's wrong?"
"Then you yell at me and I learn."
I smiled. "You're a good boyfriend."
"World's okayest boyfriend."
"The BEST boyfriend."
"Sure."
"STOP."
"Make me."
I kissed him instead.
When I pulled back, his ears were pink.
"Best punishment ever," he murmured.
"Idiot."
"Your idiot."
That Night
Jare found me on the balcony.
"Hey."
"Hey."
He leaned against the railing next to me.
"You doing okay?"
"I'm the one who should be asking YOU that."
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
He smiled slightly. "Okay, maybe not fine. But okay-ish."
"Same."
We stood there, looking at the city lights.
"She seemed nice," Jare said.
"Jeana?"
"Yeah."
"She did."
"Do you think... do you think we could have a relationship with her? Like, actually?"
"I don't know. Maybe? If we want to."
"Do you want to?"
I thought about it.
"I think so. Eventually. When I'm ready."
Jare nodded. "Me too."
We were quiet for a moment.
Then: "We have another brother now."
"Aries."
"Yeah. Aries."
"Weird."
"Very weird."
"But not bad weird?"
"Not bad weird at all."
I looked at my twin. My other half. The person who'd been with me through everything.
"We're going to be okay," I said.
"Are we?"
"Yeah. We have each other. We have Mia and Keifer and the chaos squad. And now we have... more family. Even if it's complicated."
Jare smiled. "When did you get so wise?"
"Always been wise. You just never listened."
He laughed. "Shut up."
"Make me."
"Using Keifer's lines?"
"THEY'RE MY LINES NOW."
We both laughed. And for a moment, everything felt right.