CHAPTER 23: A BRIGHT IDEA

Jason stood frozen in front of Regina, who hurried up the stairs and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly as she whispered words of affection. He looked down at the young girl, now about five foot one despite being only thirteen. It had been a long time since they last met, and much had changed. Even her face had taken on a more mature softness.

Unconsciously, Jason smiled and hugged her back. The tension that had seized him moments earlier melted away in her embrace. After a brief moment of affection between uncle and niece, he stepped back, gently patting her head as if she were a small puppy, then bent slightly to meet her eyes.

"Hey, Regina. It’s been a while. How have you been?" he asked warmly. Though he wasn’t truly the uncle she remembered, he did his best to act the part.

Regina replied with a cheerful tilt of her lips.

"I’ve been well, Uncle J."

Jason resisted the urge to grimace. He disliked honorifics, finding them unnecessary and aging.

’Yeah, that’s not going to work. I can’t have her calling me that,’ he thought.

With a gentle tone, he said, "Come on, you’re a big girl now. You don’t need to use ’uncle’ when you call me. It might sound strange to your friends, don’t you think? Just call me by my name, alright?"

Regina tilted her head, narrowed her eyes slightly, and pointed a finger at him.

"...You’re not my uncle."

Jason’s eyes widened, and a chill ran through him.

"What!?"

...How did she know he wasn’t her uncle?

Was it true that children could see a person’s soul? No, that was ridiculous. She was a teenager, not some mystical prodigy. It was impossible for her to know something like that.

Seeing her uncle’s confused expression, Regina laughed softly and began walking back down the stairs while Jason stood frozen, watching her retreating figure.

"I remember you always scolded me for not putting ’Uncle’ before your name," she said with a teasing grin. "And even when I started shortening your name, you complained. But now you’re telling me not to say ’Uncle’ at all? Hahaha, you’ve changed so much, Jason."

The little brat spoke casually, almost playfully, as she reached the bottom of the stairs and strolled away to find her mother.

Marinette had already gone to the kitchen to prepare food.

Jason’s face turned expressionless. Relief washed over him when he realized Regina hadn’t uncovered his secret. Still, her confidence was exactly as he remembered, and the ease with which she dropped the honorific startled him. She had used it for years through her entire childhood, yet now she let it go in an instant.

He was genuinely taken aback.

’Teenage rebellion traits? Isn’t it a bit early for that? Ugh, whatever... At least she doesn’t seem to remember that stupid slave bet. And even if she does, there’s no way I’m doing it. For this body to react so strongly just to her presence says a lot about her...’

With a quiet exhale, Jason composed himself and headed downstairs to join the family reunion.

***

Hours later, at night, everyone had finished dinner. Catherine had gone out with her two friends for a girls’ night, while Daisy sat in the living room with Marinette, the two engrossed in a discussion about an upcoming event.

Meanwhile, Jason and Regina were upstairs in his room. Normally, the little brat would have been driving him insane with chatter or mischief, but tonight she was uncharacteristically quiet, tapping away on her phone. The silence stretched so long that Jason nearly forgot she was even there.

He was about to turn off the light and rest for a while, his mind having been occupied for hours with thoughts of Daisy and how to approach her, especially now that her daughter was home for the summer holidays. That complication made things even trickier than before.

’Shit... I need a miracle at this point.’

Jason stood and switched off the light. The room sank into uneven darkness. He rubbed his face, muttered Daisy’s name under his breath, and reached for the edge of the bed.

Just as he was about to lie down, a soft sound reached his ears from the corner. It was faint and quick, like someone shifting in a chair. He froze mid-motion, his pulse quickening, though he told himself it was probably nothing.

Then came another sound, a faint vibration followed by a small giggle.

Jason’s mind went blank.

For a full second, he was certain something unholy had chosen this particular night to crawl into his room. His hand fumbled for his phone, his thumb hovering over the flashlight icon as if it were a trigger.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered. "Not tonight. I’ve paid rent. I’ve prayed. I’ve done nothing wrong."

Another little giggle came from the corner, followed by the faint glow of a phone screen. Jason’s chest tightened as he watched the light dance over a face he could barely discern. He was two seconds away from sprinting out of the room barefoot when Regina spoke.

"Why are you standing like that?" she asked flatly, removing the pink cat headphones from her ears and placing them around her neck.

Jason blinked several times before realizing who it was. His shoulders loosened, and he released a shaky laugh that came out more like a cough.

"I thought you were a ghost, you little menace."

Regina looked up from her phone, unimpressed.

"Then you’d be the first person I haunt with Wi-Fi."

He shook his head and sat down on the bed, trying to calm his racing pulse.

"You should warn people when you’re that quiet. My heart just ran a full marathon."

She shrugged and went back to her phone.

"You’re just old. Ghosts don’t get scared that easily."

’You damn brat. Ugh, I hate kids, especially when they’re in this era of phone addiction with the attention span of pandas.’

Jason looked at her for a moment, then grabbed his pillow and tossed it at her. She dodged it with an eye roll, still tapping away. He lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling both foolish and strangely relieved.

With a sigh, Jason said:

"Next time, try to make some noise before I call a priest."

Regina didn’t even look up.

"Next time, keep the lights on, coward."

"Shut up, freak!"

Jason covered his face with the pillow and laughed quietly, realizing he had just lost a round to a teenager who had nearly given him a heart attack. Still, she had changed quite a lot, and he couldn’t deny he partly admired her new attitude, except for the fact that she no longer seemed to have any fondness for numbers or finance as she once did when she was younger.

Everything changes once children are exposed to the wider world.

"Besides, aren’t you going to your room now?" Jason asked, hoping she would leave and give him back his space to think and rest.

Regina waved her hand dismissively and placed her headphones back over her head.

He rolled his eyes and went to sleep.

***

The next day, Jason woke with the sunrise and checked his phone to find four missed calls from Daniel. He pouted, not bothering to return them yet, as he had no desire to discuss business until he dealt with the quest at hand.

And that meant not setting a single foot outside the city until then.

"I’ll call him later," he muttered to himself before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth, take a bath, and dress in casual attire.

After all that, which took him about an hour, he finally decided to call Daniel, assuming it might be something important. Just as he was about to, a loud, energetic knock echoed against his door.

Regina’s voice followed:

"Jason, good news! We’re going to the beach tomorrow!"

His expression darkened as he walked to the door, opened it, and looked down at the little brat standing there.

"Hey, next time, try saying good morning before the good news."

She giggled, pulled out her phone, typed good morning, and held it up for him to see. He scowled, unable to gauge her ridiculousness, and simply ignored it.

"So, what about..."

Jason paused for a moment as his mind began to stir with countless thoughts, the words beach and sex repeating at every turn. He couldn’t help but grin, making Regina stare at him in mild confusion. In truth, he had just devised the perfect plan, and a beach trip was the ideal opportunity for a double strike.

"Reg, do you want to go shopping to prepare for the beach?" he asked brightly.

Regina scoffed.

"I don’t have money."

He grimaced.

"I’m the one paying."

The girl’s eyes brightened instantly. She stepped back and covered her mouth in exaggerated surprise.

"You actually have money now? Like, real cash? You’re not broke anymore?"

Jason raised a brow.

"What the hell do you mean by that, you little menace?"

Catherine was climbing the stairs to meet him when she overheard their conversation and light argument. She couldn’t help but laugh quietly, though she suddenly paused mid-step.

"That reminds me... when did Jason..."