Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY

When it came to his romantic life, Kyle couldn't actively decide whether he wanted butterflies or electricity. On the one hand the butterflies made him weak in the knees and feel all mushy and romantic. On the other, he felt almost like an animal. All he seemed to want was touch and feel, skin to skin preferably.

Maybe the typical guy would have no trouble choosing between the sweet Amanda Bloom and the spicy Jessie Trager. No, he thought, it would likely be an easy decision for about 98% of males, if not even higher. They'd go sex appeal all the way, even if logic made it relatively clear the spice wouldn't last long term.

But he was no normal guy. When he so much as kissed Jessi they made lights flicker and there were general electrical surges in the entire house. It would make making out a little bit more risqué to be sure, but how was the situation likely to progress?

It could remain the same. Every time they kissed, however innocently, would have the potential to burn out fuses and light bulbs. If they did so while in the company of others, it would be not only dangerous to the bystander for electric shock, but it would also almost certainly compromise whatever family they tried to bring into the world. He smiled as he thought of making babies with Jessi. Somehow he didn't believe the electricity would simply stay the same…

He dreaded the very real possibility that pursuing Jessi and the promise of a highly charged sexual relationship could do real damage to electrical components and circuits dozens if not hundreds of meters away. What if their bodies became so in tuned to each other that they couldn't even touch each other without setting off a massive charge? They'd literally have to live apart or risk the lives of countless innocents. If he chose Jessi and this happened it would break his heart and break up any family he had with her.

Finally it was entirely possible that their bodies would come to predict the other's movements and charges, effectively annulling them before they could even be generated. Half the fun of being with Jessi was the unknown, the electric potential they so clearly possessed. If the spark simply disappeared, would she leave him in search of that spark? There was clear evidence that some normal humans behaved this way despite being clearly incapable of generating real electricity. Jessi behaved a lot more "normal" than he ever had, and so it was conceivable she'd do the same.

However, if he chose the girl next door, the sweet and adorable Amanda Bloom, he'd have to tell her everything about his past wouldn't he? As Dekeman had once pointed out to him, the major source of conflict for comic superheroes was that their spouses didn't know they were superheroes. This was not an issue with Jessi because she was exactly like him. They'd both been incubated in steel and glass tubes for 16 years before being artificially – and quite accidentally – born into the world.

If he refused to tell her everything she might accept it for a few years, or even a dozen or twenty, but eventually certain questions would build so much doubt and uncertainty that even Amanda, who was quick to forgive and easy to love, would likely experience a general souring of her love. It was entirely probable that she would feel used while he was off "to work," whatever that happened to be.

If he kept her in the dark about his past – how he marveled that he finally understood many common expressions – it was a one way road to either divorce or an ugly separation. Knowing Amanda as he did, she'd probably refuse to divorce him under almost any circumstance, unless she found herself or her children in mortal danger. If he did enlighten her about his past, that danger would certainly not disappear, and she might choose to either not have a family or leave him completely.

But then she had always been quick to accept his quirks, his talents. It had been clear to him that she liked and had the distinct possibility to love him even when she'd been seriously dating Charlie. It was almost like they were magnets that were completely drawn to each other. They were of like mentality on quite a number of subjects, and even though she was a normally bred human with average intelligence, she had clear passion in her heart. There was no doubt in his mind she wanted to share it all with the person she would marry.

Just because their love was innocent and carefree now didn't mean they wouldn't experience plenty of spice in the bedroom. In fact, he thought the most likely of the two to give everything every time was Amanda, only because she wouldn't have a perfect memory of each and every time. Sex might eventually become a sad and predictable routine between him and Jessi while he could certainly revel in the newness Amanda would feel, even if he'd remember every little nip and tug.

For what seemed the thousandth time, he summarized the pros and cons to both women. Amanda was like maple syrup, sweet and sticky, but he had to dive right in and expose that sensitive fly in his ointment. She might not appreciate the danger he carried simply by his continued existence. She might leave him if he so much as told her the truth.

That was the reason why he kept waffling about it so much. He dreaded her discarding him because of the potential of danger. He admitted there had already been plenty of danger already with Latnok, and it seemed unlikely to slow down.

Jessi on the other hand was like a spicy exotic fruit, and yet surprisingly domestic, because she knew everything about him because she was exactly like him. The main drawback with her was the uncertainty of the progression of their love life. Well, that and the highly probable parental disapproval for getting busy with one's legal relative.

There was that too, even if they weren't by blood brother and sister. It was legally wrong for them to hook up.

He idly wondered why Jessi pursued him at all. Yes the attraction was most definitely there and the electricity was phenomenal, beyond imagining even. But she too knew of the social constraints on their relationship. Why wasn't she fazed by the daunting prospects their love represented? Unless she had already planned a way to erase all record of ever having been adopted by the Trager family, which was almost a certainty now that he thought about it.

Such a plan would surely fix the legal aspects, but the familial ones would be much harder to fix. He didn't want there to be a wedge between him and the other people he loved, primarily his family.

It was for these reasons that he'd never proclaimed to have made a choice in the matter of Amanda Bloom versus Jessi Trager. He couldn't make the choices without realistically hurting a portion of himself. By choosing Amanda, even if he told her the truth and she stayed with him – the best case scenario – Jessi would likely forever shun him, and quite possibly become a worse person without his direct influence.

He sighed as he thought of how rebellious Jessi could be. It could be nasty indeed.

If he chose Jessi, he'd lose his family, or at least his parents' support. That would hurt him more than he thought Jessi realized. He needed his family's love, support, and acceptance to keep him grounded. Amanda might even learn to accept him if he chose Jessi but it would doubtlessly be rough on Jessi if she stuck around.

So he was back to the beginning, still unable – or perhaps unwilling – to make a final choice between the sugar and the spice. He sighed heavily.

There were two other possibilities that he generally avoided out of principle. He could remain alone by choice, for his entire life. Or he could choose another, perhaps less sweet or less spicy, maybe even bitter. He realized there might even be the potential to "go gay", despite his lack of feelings. He could surely convince himself such an arrangement was best, but he also knew he'd be deluding himself, skirting the issue. He found he particularly enjoyed the company of women, in a vastly different way than the guys on the basketball team, Declan included. So no, he wasn't really gay.

The main issue was that even though he'd just turned 20, he already felt his biological clock ticking. He wanted babies of his own. Conventionally that would require a girlfriend or a wife, and only Amanda was likely to desire children this soon, but only if they were married.

His thoughts drifted to the people who'd created him: Adam Baylin and Grace Kingsley. That was another choice, and was fraught with one main danger: he'd lose himself to the power he would cultivate. Very, very easily, he could create an army of children, of super human children. Even with the best intentions, someone inside Latnok could almost certainly get him to do somewhat questionable things to the least promising children, and he would start a cycle that would end in the loss of his humanity altogether.

He absolutely couldn't abide that idea at all, and therefore came back to the problem at hand: Amanda, Jessi, or another girl, somewhere in the middle? Maybe he could go for an ugly duckling perhaps, to ease the pain to their egos? Alternatively, he could always befriend a rich model type and say he'd been swept off his feet?

Kyle only didn't have more romantic prospects because he didn't allow them to happen in the first place. He even saw relationship potential with Hillary, but that too would be fairly high energy relationship, prone to burning out quickly. It was also compounded by the facts they were near opposites and that he'd probably have to tell her the truth about himself too at some point.

He knew 184 girls at school alone who looked at him in that special way, and twelve guys that did too. These figures didn't even take into account adults he'd met at the University and in the general population.

He sighed again, even more heavily than before. Another girl wouldn't work, because he was already too attached to both Jessi and Amanda.

Inspiration struck. Was it possible? Could it work?

He examined the solution for its benefits in detail then contrasted them against the costs. Some of the costs were pretty high, but he had Adam's estate to himself, and it was considerable nearly beyond imagining. With his skills and talents he could undoubtedly keep ahead of the growing costs by doing what he did best: solving problems.

The only problems that commonly eluded him were matters of the heart.

He knew well that he might lose Amanda with this option, but there were already 185 other girls, including Jessi, including Hillary, who would likely jump at such an opportunity. And yet maybe Amanda could be a willing participant too, and she'd almost certainly pass the second stage as well, unlike 70-80% of the others.

Yes, he thought, nodding, that was a viable option. It only wasn't pretty, and would cause some family stress, but not quite as much as choosing Jessi exclusively.

He would accept any healthy female and would implant his seed within them whether they required "protection" or not. He could easily manipulate water after all; what would the effort be in moving a single thing toward a much bigger spherical thing while he was supposed to be madly thrashing around? He could even make sure otherwise sterile women would get pregnant.

That would open the doors that much wider. He could have as many children legitimately as he wanted. He would only need to do Amanda first, to ensure he didn't lie to anyone. Having seen how Charlie had done it, among others, it would be easy to advertise a good time to the general female population.

It would be easy as Pi. He laughed at his math joke, thinking it uniquely his.

Even if both Jessi and Amanda leave him after the fact, with his perfect memory he could always revisit his memory and experience sugar and spice whenever he craved it.