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The Twins 5 Years Old

Jolie

The new investors arrived ten minutes ago, and nerves hit my stomach. It has taken us so long to give Olympia the overhaul it needed. We no longer only take children whose parents are rich enough to line our pockets. If we really want Olympia to reach its full potential, we need to focus on the science, not the money.

Here at Olympia babies are created.

Most won’t think it’s ethical, but our process looks out for the children, not greedy adults taking in kids for a payday. Our new facilities house the children where they are loved and cared by long-term caregivers, who will move up through the stages with the children.

The children will be split into age groups as they grow. Once they hit preschool—the equivalent to prep here in Australia—this is where they will come the year before grade one.

Mr Z left us a lot to clean up after his death. Not only did he impregnate myself and my friends, but there were also files upon files of additional surrogates and families.

We now want to nurture those children’s abilities, not force them to be soldiers.Preschool will be where we learn about what they are capable of through observation. So, once they enter school, we can cater to them in specialised classes. If, at the end of their schooling, they no longer wish to be part of Olympia, they will be free to live their lives. But if they want to continue to the university stage, they will be trained in whatever field they wish. Teams no longer need to wait for all their members to graduate before being sent on assignments, and every assignment we take on is for good.

Melinda walks through the large glass doors—two men in their fifties, and a woman who looks slightly younger, listening intently to what she says. I stand and button my suit jacket.

“This is Jolie, my daughter. She is the owner of Olympia and will take you on a tour of the facility.”

“Hi, welcome. I’m so glad you could all make it today.”

The woman steps forward and extends her hand. “We are excited to be here. I’m Marissa, and these are my business associates, Scott and Alister.”

I shake her hand, then both men’s. “If you want to follow me.”

I nod at Melinda as I exit the room. “For the last few years, we have been rebuilding and restructuring how Olympia will work. I understand my mother has given you a tour of the facilities where the younger children will be housed on the grounds. We have segregated areas for the smaller children. From birth until the end of primary school, they will all reside here. Once they reach high school age, we have secured Northwood Pines High School for our students to attend, to give them a more normal education experience.”

“And where will the children stay when they reach that age?” Marissa asks.

“We not only secured Northwood Pines campus, but there was a plot of neighbouring land where we have built dormitories.”

“And will these schools allow normal children?”

“As of right now, only the high school will allow them. While we will not discriminate, our children have exceptionally high IQs. So any student considered would need to be interviewed to make sure they could keep up with our curriculum. Both schools will be open to siblings of the gifted children. We know some families will go on to have more children, and obviously, we do not want to separate siblings.”

“And talking about the future, your students would all have specialist lessons aimed at their abilities. How would the normal children fit into those?”

“Specialist classes would not be a requirement for those with no abilities. They instead would have more elective subjects, but again, no one would be excluded so long as they could keep up. We would also have additional classes to even the playing field. This school will give children who grew up outside of Olympia a chance to shine, to be among peers that can push them to reach their potential.”

“It sounds like an interesting idea. I know Mr Myers emailed us your business plan, and we are extremely impressed. We read that once they reach university level, again you would consider taking students who do not have abilities.”

“Yes, we would consider it. At Olympia, we understand some people are naturally gifted, and we want them to be part of our vision.”

“But how would they fit into the whole assignment aspect? Would they also be placed in teams?”

“There will be numerous opportunities for them. We will always need handlers for the younger teams until their group handler is trained. We will also have spots for solo assignments, replacement members, and so forth. Who knows, we might even see natural groups form.”

We all stop walking, and I scan my card that opens to the art block. I know Kai will be here with Zadom—that child loves to draw. By two, he had drawn all over the walls of his room, and now at five, he is an exceptional artist. I was worried his anger wouldn’t have an outlet, just like Chester’s when we first got together. I was the one to calm him, but Zadom doesn’t have that. He can calm his sister, and she has her team. But Zadom has had to adapt to being her protector.

Just as I thought, Kai and Zadom are standing at the easels, and they both turn as we enter. Kai’s face lights up, the same way it has for years. I expected it to wear off, but every single time I walk into the room, he still looks at me as if it’s the first time he realised he loves me. I will never get enough of that feeling.

“Marrisa, Scott, and Alister, this is one of my husbands, Kai.”

“Hi, I would shake your hand, but I’m covered in paint.”

“And that is Zadom, one of my sons.”

“Ahh yes, we read about the children. Do you plan to make any more like them?”

“At this stage, we are not sure. There has not been enough research done into what it will be like for them. And I will not allow my children or any others to be put through what my team and I were, even if it was for the greater good of the company. We have the best scientists in the world observing them. We might consider it in the future, but we feel like the current technology is safer.”

The doors to the room open, and Zhavia comes racing in. She is dressed as a princess, but has her combat boots on underneath.

“Hide me,” she squeals, and stands behind Alister. He reaches behind himself, moving her gently to the side.

Zadom moves just like Creed, so quick that you could miss it. He kicks the man in the shins. “Don’t touch my sister,” he seethes.

“Example A of why we are not ready to move forward with the science behind my children. Kai, can you please take Zadom to calm down?” Kai nods, but before he gets the chance to leave, Creed and Chester waltz into the room. Both sport bright-pink tutus, princess crowns, and makeup obviously done by a five-year-old. I snort at the sight of them, and tears well in my eyes.

“Uh... Creed and Chester, meet the investors we organised to come today.”

“Nice to meet you,” Creed says. Chester is staring down at the man to my right. Kai also notices and moves with Zadom, placing him in Chester’s arms.

“Take him to calm down, big man. You look very pretty today.”

Chester growls at Kai, which makes him laugh. Chester storms out of the room with Zadom in his arms, who protests about leaving his sister with these men.

Zhavia comes to stand next to me with her arms crossed. Scott squats down to be eye level with her, and I grab Creed’s hand to reassure him it’s okay. She is extremely close with Creed; she has him wrapped around her little finger, and she knows it.

“And who might you be?” Scott asks.

“I’m a princess, and I will kick your ass,” she says, and Kai laughs again. Scott also laughs.

“Good to know. It’s important that girls know how to protect themselves in this world. I have a daughter around your age. Do you like tea parties?”

Zhavia nods. Sinclair comes into the room and looks around. “There you are, Zhavia. You have your self-defence class.”

Zhavia claps. “I’m going to kick Kyro’s ass,” she says with a smile, making Sinclair laugh.

Kyro is a lot like his father, and Colt is a lot to handle at the best of times. They are learning to work as a team, which has its ups and downs, given that they’re only five. They are way too young to understand how their dynamic is going to work, and we have to play it by ear when we will explain it to them.

Zhavia goes with Sinclair, and Kai follows them.

Creed comes along with me for the rest of the tour in his pink tutu and princess crown. We show them the classrooms, and the style of dorms we have for the smaller children, each room having their own caregiver. We don’t have many students here yet, since we have not had our official opening, but we decided against our children going to a regular school. Between us all, we are home-schooling, and once we have enough students, we will employ teachers—some from within Olympia and some outside.

By the end of the tour, the investors are happy with our plans and tell me they will be in touch with Brennan since he handles the behind-the-scenes stuff. We all play our part, but he is the people person.

We have split up how things work, money-wise. Everything raised from the investors helps to run Olympia. Everything the teams earn from their assignments will be negotiated, the majority going to the team, but Olympia also takes a small portion, which funnels back into the company. We came to find out that Mr Z was taking seventy per cent to line his own pockets. All of that came to me in the end, and I put it back towards rebuilding—I want a legacy my children can be proud of. I want the Olympia name to be remembered for good.

After I found out the truth about Mr Z, my feelings towards him changed. I suffered guilt over his death in the beginning, but if he had just been truthful, I might have felt differently now. But in the end, he was still a villain—he would never have run Olympia for good. He got too lost in the greed.

Creed pulls me into his arms and places his hand on my barely visible baby bump. He is convinced it was him who knocked me up. I never wanted children, and since the birth of the twins, it’s all I want. We have a three-year-old son named Kenji, which means strong in Japanese, and it fits. We also have a one-year-old daughter, Aya, and the guys are just as wrapped around her finger as they are Zhavia’s.