Mail Ordered Clone

“Mason, you can’t possibly think that this is a good idea,” I say to my fiancé.
“Come on Alice, this is a great idea. I’m only a teacher and another one of me would bring in more income for us,” he replies.
I think about this. With him being a teacher and I being a waitress, we don’t bring in a lot of money. If Mason clones himself, which is not an uncommon thing to do in 2045, we will have an extra flow of cash. What I’m worried about is how Mason will react if he sees the clone with me. The brochure says that the Replica will act the same as the person whom they were cloned from, and with Mason’s jealous tendencies, I’m not sure if the clone will stay long. Also, I might not be able to tell between the two of them, and it’s not my fault if they act the same way, do the same stuff, and talk the same way; I’m only human.
“We can’t afford the procedure, Honey.”
“We can; look at this,” he says, pointing at the brochure. “The first twenty people at Doctor Valsten’s office will get cloned for free!”
I stare at him and finally give in. “What time does his office open?”
“Nine o’ clock; Thanks Alice, I knew you’d think it was a good idea.”

The next morning we get up and seven A.M. and drive to the doctor’s office. It’s a good thing that we woke up early because there is already a line forming. We run to stand in line.
“Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, I’m nineteenth! I just made it!”
“Great Mason, soon you’ll get cloned.”
We stand in line and wait out the passing hours by playing games. We play the Alphabet game where you have to find words that go through the alphabet. The first word that I see is Arbys, but Mason gets Applebee’s, Blockbuster, CarMax, and Downtown; I am quickly down by three. The game passes the time like we wanted it to and Mason is the next person to go in. A man in hospital scrubs stops me from following Mason inside the office.
“I’m sorry ma’am; only one person can be cloned at a time.”
“I’m not getting cloned; I’m just going to support my fiancé.”
“Doctor Valsten only wants the person being cloned to go inside. You’ll have to wait outside.”
“It’s fine, Alice. Just go back to the car and I’ll be there soon.”

Hours pass and I’m almost bored to death when my fiancé walks toward me. I notice that there is only one Mason.
“Where’s your clone?” I ask.
“The Doc says that it might take a couple of weeks for the clone to arrive at our house.”
“Like in the mail? That’s strange.”
“Well, really, all I did today was get asked a bunch of questions and they took some DNA samples. I’ll get the clone soon.” He wraps me tight in his arms and hugs me. “And it’ll get a job to help with money.” He kisses my head and we go home.

“Mason, I’m home!” I enter our house at five thirty and smell the crisp smell of hamburgers. I go into the kitchen and see him flipping the patties.
“Hey, honey. How was the restaurant?”
“It was really busy today,” I reply, dropping my purse on the table and laying my coat on a chair. “How was school?”
“It was good. Can you go get my grade book out of my briefcase and put it on the table? I have to grade papers during dinner.”
“Okay, is it in the bedroom?”
“Yea.”
I walk toward the bedroom and remember back to two weeks ago. Mason had just gone into the office to be tested for cloning. I wonder when we’ll finally get the clone, although, I kind of anxious about it. What if the clone isn’t everything that Mason wanted? Or what if it is and more? Mason’s jealousy might cause trouble. I hear a bang in the bedroom and run into it. Mason is there.
“Mason, how’d you get in here? Weren’t you just in the kitchen?”
“I wasn’t in the kitchen.”
“Yea you were. You were cooking burgers and asked me to get you grade book so that you could grade papers.”
“Oh, you must be talking about Original.”
“What?”
“I am not your real husband; I am a clone.”
I stumble backwards, but Mason is standing in the doorway and catches me.
“Haha, I didn’t need my book; I just wanted you to see what came today. Look! He looks and acts just like me!” Mason says with glee.
I stare at the two Masons and move away. “This is kind of freaky, I’m not gonna lie.”
“Doctor Valsten says that the family will take a while to get used to a clones presence. I suspect this is true with you, Alice.”
“It knows my name?”
“Well, yea. The doctors and nurses asked me if I had anyone special and I said you, of course.”
The clone looks at me, and I look at Mason. They are so similar, like twins, but I guess that was the point of this thing. They have the same shaggy brown hair that falls into their faces, covering their bright blue eyes. They even stand the same. Mason fell out of a tree when he was younger and ever since he has always favored his right foot for standing, walking, anything. The clone does the same.
“You have to admit, Mason, this is kind of weird.”
“It is, but we’ll get used to it.”
I hope so.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” I say to my fiancé, kissing him.
“Thanks.” He returns the kiss.
“Alice! What are you doing?”
I break away from the kiss and turn to see the clone. He charges over to Mason and I and pushes Mason against the wall.
“Stop it, Clone! Stop this right now!”
He turns to face me. “You think I’m the clone? Are you crazy? Can you not even tell that I’m your husband?”
“You’re not! That’s my husband!” I shout, pointing at Mason getting up from the wall.
“A.J. that’s not me, I’m me! I’m the real Mason.”
He said my nickname. Only he knows my middle name, Jane, besides my parents.
“Mason?”
“Don’t listen to him! I’m your husband, not him!” He pulls me back and kisses me again. Mason, or the clone, whichever one screamed at me first, tackles the other to the ground and starts punching him.
“Stop it, guys. Just stop! I’m sorry I made a mistake!”
One of them broke away from the quarrel. “You didn’t make a mistake, A.J.! You were kissing the real Mason!”
Crap. Now they both said my nickname. The continue fighting. Blood spatters along the walls as one of them punches the other hard across the jaw.
“Oh my gosh!”
He doesn’t move. The other one rises and walks to me; I back away.
“Alice. It’s okay. That was the clone.” He holds up his hand and shows me a ring. “Did the clone have a ring? No. I’m your husband.”
I look askance at him, and then run to him for a hug.
“I’m so sorry,” I whimper. “I didn’t mean to confuse you two.”
“It’s okay. He’s gone now. You shouldn’t have seen that fight, go lay down in, I’ll be there in a minute.”
I walk into the hall, but remember that I forgot my phone on the counter. I turn around and see Mason on the phone. I listen intently.
“Doctor Valsten,” I hear him. He must be calling to tell him about the dead clone. “Everything is going as plan; the Original has been dealt with. No, he wasn’t much of a hassle. I’ll begin plan Life Takeover when I go to his work tomorrow and be him. No, the woman doesn’t know; and she never will.”