Mason paused, then nodded. “Yes, he couldn’t forgive her for what she…what we, did. But know that she loved you regardless, Kai. And if it makes it any easier for you…you were conceived with a great depth of love, on both sides.” His other hand came up to rest on Kai’s shoulders and Kai closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door.
Sympathy flooded Mason as he felt the young man shaking. For the first time ever, Mason wanted to embrace his son, show him the warmth he’d felt building for a while now, warmth that he now recognized as a similar but different version of what he’d felt for Leilani. Mason wasn’t sure when, but somewhere along the way, he had grown to love the man before him.
His voice came out thick with emotion, as he spoke his heart to his long lost child. “I didn’t want to tell you this, Kai. Honestly, at first, I didn’t want to be bothered with it.” Kai’s eyes flew open as he stared at Mason. Mason squeezed his shoulders. “I’ve spent the bulk of my life alone. I know nothing about kids.” He smiled warmly at Kai, feeling his own tears stinging him. His rational brain thought that was a curious reaction. His emotional mind was too busy connecting with his son to care. “But meeting you, working with you…I’ve grown to respect and admire you, and I would be proud to call you son.” His voice broke after he squeezed that out.
Kai blinked, a tear almost escaping his eye as he did. “But you hate me,” he whispered.
Now Mason blinked. Taking a step back from Kai, he dropped his hands from his shoulders and ran them through his hair again. “Oh, no, I never hated you, Kai.” He shrugged. “You were just…thrust upon me, and I didn’t know what to do with the situation.” Looking down at the floor, he sighed. “I had a hard time dealing with what I knew I needed to do.” He peeked back up at Kai’s pale face, “But I never hated you. Ever. And I’m sorry if you felt that way.” Smiling he added, “You’re an incredible asset here. I hope you’ll stay.”
Kai seemed to ignore that remark as his head drifted back to hit the door again. “I don’t believe this…” His hands came up to run through his hair, then his head snapped down. “Did you see the test results?”
Mason blinked, then shook his head. “No…but, I don’t really need to.”
Kai narrowed his matching eyes. “Why?”
Mason smiled wryly. He pointed at their shared feature. “Let’s just say I see a lot of similarities.”
Kai’s brow pushed to a deep point. “Because of our eye color?” He shook his head. “That’s not good enough.” Stammering a bit, he looked around the room, almost like he was seeing through it. “I need proof. I need to see a test.”
Mason smiled and slowly shook his head. “Always the scientist…yet another way we’re alike.”
Kai cast him an odd glance and Mason shrugged. “We have the machines here. I could test us now, Kai, if that would ease your mind.”
Kai started nodding as he moved away from the door. “Nothing right now is going to ease my mind.” He yanked open the door. “But it will end the doubt.” Without meeting Mason’s eyes, he stormed through the door.
Mason paused before following him. “Yes…yes it will, son. But are you ready for that?”
(Cut scene #7. This is at the end of chapter 23. Mason has just finished his heart to heart with Kai, and asks him about staying.)
Mason shook his son’s hand as he stood to leave. That had gone smoother than he’d ever hoped it would. Kai constantly surprised him, and his willingness to let a complete stranger into his life, into his heart, warmed Mason in a way that he’d never expected. A rush of pride swept through Mason as he smiled at the attractive man in front of him. While Kai’s looks were clearly Leilani’s, Mason thought he saw a bit of himself mixed in there too, and not just in the lookalike eyes. There was something in the jaw, the eyebrows, the slant of his nose, some small trace of his lineage that couldn’t quite be hidden.
And the boy was smart, talented. Mason liked to think that he’d played a part in that department, if not in the physical one. Kai could make big strides in their relatively small community, and Mason had every intention of helping him, if he could.
But all of those things weren’t really what gave Mason the swell of fatherly pride. No, Mason was proud of Kai because he was a good man. Maybe that part had more to do with his upbringing, Mason wasn’t sure. The studies of nature versus nurture were open to far too much interpretation. But regardless of how he had come to be such a fine example of the male species, he was, and Mason’s ego swelled a little over that fact.
“Will you be staying with us then, Kai?” he asked, his head tilted inquisitively. He wanted to hold his breath as he hoped that Kai would choose to stay, choose to build on the relationship they’d started today. It never failed to surprise him just how much he wanted a lasting connection with his son.