His Clone (COMPLETE✔️)

01 || The Never-Die Company

     "Mom! Dad got me a new kitty!" I called out.

     Mom kept hold of Evan's hand and stood in the entryway to the kitchen. My Dad took a seat at the kitchen table and appeared very proud of himself for this birthday gift. He made me proud too.

     "You know I'm a Geneticist, Maggie," Dad said, but I continued hugging my new cat instead of listening to him. "I have been working with a new company owned by Paulsen Genetic Research. The company is called Never-Die. Can you guess why?"

     I tilted my head. I thought I was a smart ten-year-old, but right then I felt pretty stupid.

     He looked calm and patient with my slowness. "At our company, we ensure that no one's pets ever have to die and no animal will never go extinct again. The reason that kitty looks, smells, and feels so much like Yam is because she is Yam. We were able to grow and age her to exactly the age she was when died."

     Suddenly, a wave of emotions came over me—mostly fear, but some joy and sadness too. I watched Yam die, how could she not be dead? I examined the cat in my arms. She had a mole on her lower lip just like Yam, and her unique little signature white mustache. It really was Yam—or at least it looked just like Yam.

     "Yam?" I asked the cat.

     The cat stared up at me. No signs of recognition reflected in her eyes, only curiosity. That was not how Yam used to respond to hearing her name. The real Yam would meow and try to paw at my nose. I became angry.

     "It's not Yam!" I said tearfully.

     Dad turned less patient, he tried to pat my arm and turn his warm gaze into a serious stare. "Yes, it is, Maggie. This is Yam. She just needs time to relearn and remember everything you shared together."

     I shook my head and refused it all. "It's not Yam! Yam is dead!"

      I left the cat on top of the kitchen table and did the only thing my ten-year-old mind could handle—ran to my room. I slammed my door shut and threw myself onto my bed and sunk into a mass of stuffed unicorns and penguins.

      There were three small taps against my door.

     "Can I come in?"

      My mother's voice.

      I tried to wipe all the tears off my face.    "Yeah."

      My mother was a sweet-faced woman of Filipino descent. She made sure that I knew nothing in the world was more important to her than Evan and I. Whenever there would be a disagreement or I'd get upset, my mother usually fixed everything.

      She sat on the bed with me and rubbed at my back.

      "It's not Yam, mom," I said.

     "So don't call her Yam, think of her as Yam's twin sister. You know how there are twins that look the same?"

     I nodded.

     "Okay, so this is her sister. She needs a good home. What can we name her?"

     I looked upward thoughtfully. "Hm . . . maybe Cindy?"

     She laughed. "Wow, okay, that's nothing even close to sounding like Yam."

     "That's why it's perfect, mom. She is not ever going to be Yam, she is Cindy . . . "