Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

A little flashback

Steve and his parents were sitting outside in the Wilsons' backyard.
"How come you never told me, Steve?" Adam asked, drinking a cup of Earl Gray tea. "Oi! You knew all along, didn't, you?"
"Have you ever compared your face with grandpa's?" Steve asked, pouring himself some tea too. "Or hasn't anyone told you two that you look alike? Or did you think I didn't notice how you guys have the same surname?"
Nina snickered as she poured some milk into her cup of tea.
"Adam, it's pretty obvious," Nina said while mixing her tea. "Look at them. And look at you. I like how they still call you Addy when you're a 46-year-old grown man..."
"Do I look fourth-six?" Adam asked, grinning.
"No," Steve said, taking the milk pitcher from Nina to pour himself some milk too. "You look twenty-seven and act like a ten-year-old..."
"Steve's right on the last one," Nina said, grinning. "And then you sleep so heavily that you didn't even flinch when Alisa did your makeup..."
"Hey, how did you know that?" Adam asked, surprised.
"Alisa told me," Nina said with a smirk. "She told me how she even put liquid foundation on your face. How do you not wake up with that on your face?"
"Mom always told me I had the special skill of sleeping through even an apocalypse," Adam said with a sheepish grin. "She told me that I wouldn't even know it if the world ended around me and when I wake up, I'd be floating in space!"
"Why am I actually able to imagine it?" Steve said with a chuckle. "I imagine dad waking up with pyjamas in outer space!"
Nina started snickering when she imagined Adam actually waking up like that.
"Oh my gosh, you guys..." Nina said, putting her cup down so that she could laugh. "I can't."
Adam's dad came to join them.
"I see you're reminiscing about Adam's old times?" Jacob said, pouring himself some tea too. "Hah there's a lot more. Oh you didn't hear of what he did when he was small!"
"Dad!" Adam exclaimed with a frown, trying to stop his father from telling them. "No!"
"Oh come on, Dad," Steve said, grinning. "I'd love to hear them!"
"Me too!" Nina said, grinning.
Jacob grinned mischievously at Adam. He turned back to the mother and son and started telling them about all of Adam's embarrassing moments when he was young.
"You should've seen his face when he came home after that," Jacob said, laughing at the memory. "He looked like a ghost!"
"I didn't!" Adam retorted.
"You did," Jacob said with a grin. "Wait, I even have a picture of it."
He rushed inside and found the photo album. He brought it to them and showed them the picture. The two of them screamed with laughter while Adam just sat there with a scowl. Harper came in with a large bowl of potato chips.
"Crisps, anyone?" Harper said, putting the bowl on the centre of the table. She then realised that everyone were laughing while Adam was scowling. "What did you do, Addy?"
"Nothing!" Adam said, frantically waving his hands. "All I did was sit here and drink tea!"
"Let me guess, Jacob is exposing your embarrassing moments?" Harper guessed to which Adam sighed in reply. "I knew it..."
"Oh come on, dad, they're funny!" Steve said between laughter. "It's nice to hear embarrassing stories about you, especially since I never really grow up with you. Well, at least I grew up with grandma and grandpa."
"How did you actually come across Steve?" Nina asked, puzzled. "Like, he was born in Japan, and then he suddenly ended up here. How...?"
Harper and Jacob smiled at each other.

Flashback
"What happened to Adam?" Harper asked, worried. "He said he would visit that doctor, but... it's been weeks!"
"He didn't give us his Japanese phone number," Jacob said, thoughtfully. "Relax, Harper. I don't think anything has happened to Addy. He'll be fine, don't worry."
But Jacob couldn't help feeling a little worried himself. It just wasn't like Adam to not answer his calls or not call back. They were both worried for him.
Weeks turned into months, and months eventually became years. Harper became really scared.
"Jacob, I can't take it anymore," Harper finally said one day. "We're going to Japan."
Jacob was kinda surprised, but said nothing. He was just as worried about Adam as she was.
So, the next day the two of them booked a flight to Tokyo. They tried to find Doctor Bosconovitch but they couldn't since Heihachi kept him secret. He didn't let anyone know that Doctor Bosconovitch was working for him.
"How do we find that old doctor?" Harper asked, slumping down on the bed in defeat. "How...?"
"I don't know," Jacob admitted. "We need to try..."
They searched high and low for Doctor Bosconovitch. But unfortunately, they found no trace of him.
"What are we gonna do?" Harper asked hopelessly. "We can't find him anywhere!"
"We'll find him," Jacob said assuringly. "I'm sure he'll return. Someday he will."
Harper sighed. They continued walking along the street and passed by an orphanage. There were children playing outside and the two Wilson's glanced at them. They were mostly Japanese kids but one kid stood out.
One boy sat alone while grasping onto a piece of paper with a childishly drawn picture. He had golden-blond hair and he definitely wasn't Japanese. Harper stopped in her tracks.
"Jacob, look at that boy," Harper said, pointing to the little boy. "He doesn't look like he belongs here, does he?"
"No," Jacob said thoughtfully. "I don't know why, but he feels familiar."
"Especially his hair," Harper agreed. "He kinda reminds me of Adam when he was young."
Jacob nodded too. They entered the orphanage and went to that boy. He looked up at them when they approached him.
"Hi there," Harper said, crouching down in front of him. "What's your name?"
"Steve... Fox," the boy said.
"That's a nice name," Harper said softly. "How did you end up here?"
"I...I don't know," Steve said hesitantly. "I think someone left me here when I was a baby."
He was lying and Harper saw through it. She took a good look at the little boy and saw that his left arm was fully bandaged.
"What happened to your arm?" Harper asked, examining his bandaged arm. "Were you beaten?"
Steve stayed silent. He hid his left arm behind his back, together with the drawing he was holding. Harper realised that he has been through something painful and gently stroked his blond hair.
"Everything is alright now, don't worry," Harper said gently. "Would you like to come with me?"
"Harper..." Jacob said behind her.
"Jacob, let's face it," Harper said, glancing back at her husband. "We lost our son. Lets at least raise this boy as our own."
Jacob sighed. It was true after all. They have no idea where he was or how he is. They actually lost hope since it wasn't like their son to not at least call them. That meant that he was either dead, or not in the position to speak to them.
She turned back to Steve and smiled. "I will give you a home, your own room, endless love, everything you want. Will you come with me?"
Steve hesitated. He looked at the drawing he was holding. It was a drawing of three stick figures, labelled family. He looked back up at Harper who gave him a fond smile. He then glanced at Jacob behind her. He smiled gently too.
He looked back at the drawing and realised that they were willing to accept him as one of them.
"I will," Steve said, getting up.
Harper smiled and brought him into the orphanage to do the necessary procedures to adopt him. They were soon done and they took the little boy back to their hotel.
Harper realised how alike he was with her own son. He may not look much like him, but the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he sat down and playfully shook his legs, it all reminded her of her own son. She sat down next to him on the bed and put her arm around him.
"Do you know who your parents are?" Harper asked gently.
Steve looked up at her and shook his head.
"I never saw them," Steve said. "I... came from a lab."
"Lab...?" Jacob asked from behind them. "Steve, how did you end up in the orphanage?"
He hesitated and stayed silent. Tears started rolling down his cheeks. Harper realised and wiped his tears.
"Jacob, he must've gone through something painful," Harper said, glancing back at her husband. "Let's not remind him of it. Let him tell us when he can."
She hugged Steve and took him out around Tokyo. They went to a mall and treated Steve. He warmed up to them and they saw him as their own son. They asked him to call them grandma and grandpa. They were not sure why, but they felt like that.