The Billionaire Playboy’s Secret Family
Chapter 26

"Here we are Mister Avery. Let me introduce you to the other judges," the principal said as they reached a small refreshment table. "This is Doctor Emily Schrodin. She's a forensic engineer. And Henry Solomon, our superintendent. Henry, Emily, Mister Marcus Avery." Henry shook his hand and gave him a formal greeting. He was not very tall and slightly overweight. Though what left a real impression on Marcus was that his toupee was well made. Emily on the other hand almost seemed giddy. Her auburn hair was tamed in a bun and she studied him through the lenses of her glasses, "You really are Marcus Avery! I can't believe it! I thought it was a joke when they told us you were going to be our third!"

"Is that so?" Marcus couldn't help but be amused. He could hardly blame her for her disbelief.

"Well, this isn't your usual crowd."

"Doctor Schrodin," Henry admonished.

"It's all right," Marcus chuckled. He was expecting this kind of reaction. It was best just to roll with it. "Let's face it. I did make quite a name for myself."

He accepted a purple ribbon with gold lettering that said Judge from the principal. Pinning it to his jacket like the others he accepted a clipboard and a glass of punch.

"I'll try my best though...I kind of failed science."

Emily chuckled, "Oh, don't worry about it. Judging a science fair isn't about how well you know the science."

"That's a relief. So what is it about?"

"We're here to see how well the kids know the material," Henry said.

"Right," Emily added. "We'll look at their overall presentation, how neat and concise it is as well as how well the kids relay the information and their creativity." "Creativity? At a science fair?"

"Naturally," Emily looked suitably aghast at his disbelief. "Did the child just print off some graphs and slap them onto a board or did they spend time creating something that illustrates their work? How well do they convey their knowledge to us? In a sense, you are the perfect judge. How well do they teach you their knowledge?"

Marcus nodded taking her advice to heart. That actually didn't sound too bad at all. Looking at his clipboard he saw it had several pieces of paper. On it were several categories: scientist, age, topic, presentation, notes. It looked like there was plenty of room for him to write down his impressions as they viewed the different exhibits.

"I'll make the announcement that we are starting," the principal said. "You can decide where you wish to start."

"Thank you, David," Henry nodded.

"He's not judging?" Marcus asked as the lanky man walked to the stage.

"Well, that wouldn't be very fair," Henry said. "Some of the kids are from this school after all."

Marcus nodded. Of course they wouldn't want to play favorites.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Emily shrugged. "I'm usually harder on people I know because I know how much potential they have." "My grandfather is too," Marcus said.

"Really? I always thought he was pretty easy going," Emily said.

"You've met him?"

"Sure. This isn't the first time I've been asked to judge," she answered. "I love to see what our future scientists are going to be like."

"Attention everyone!" the principal spoke over the loudspeaker drawing the milling crowd's attention. "Students, parents, families....thank you for coming here today in support of our budding scientists. We are thrilled to be the host this year and know that you are as proud of all these young people as we are. The judges this year are: Superintendent Henry Solomon, Doctor Emily Schrodin and a new judge, Marcus Avery."

A gasp went through the crowd and many strained their necks trying to locate the infamous billionaire. Marcus took it with a grain of salt and ignored those close by who now turned their attention on him. More than a few took out their phones and tried to snap discrete photos. He wasn't sure if they were trying to be supportive or just waiting for him to cause a scene.

"You're popular," Emily nudged him.

"As the judges make their rounds please be respectful of them and our students' presentations." "Okay, show time," Emily smiled. "Let's start by the door and work our way around."

Neither of the men had an issue with her suggestion. The trio headed to the booth nearest the door. It was manned by a young boy wearing a white button-up shirt with a polka-dot bow tie. He stood in front of a large display asking: Whatever happened to Pluto? Nervously fidgeting he announced, "My name is Tanner Fawkes. I am nine-year-old...Um...Oh...Since its discovery in 1930 Pluto was labeled the ninth planet in our solar system. However it has since been classified as a dwarf planet. Why is that?" Marcus listened to the presentation making notes. Though nervous in the beginning, the boy gained confidence as he went but it was easy to see he was still anxious. Emily offered a question or two before they moved on to the next booth, this one manned by a boy with an impressively large volcano.

Marcus found himself relaxing and enjoying the event as they progressed and even offered his own questions here or there. Many of the parents and teachers stared at him and one or two offered a flirty smile but they were easy to ignore. Despite the anxiousness of some of the kids most were quite energetic and excited. He found himself missing the DaLair kids a little less. If all charity events were like this he certainly wouldn't mind attending more of them.

"Having a good time?" Emily asked.

"I am actually," Marcus said.

"I thought so. You were nervous in the beginning but you have a big smile on your face now."

"Kids must be rubbing off on me," Marcus shrugged.

They moved to the next booth where a young girl waited. Her lightly tan skin, deep brown eyes and dark hair spoke of her Hispanic heritage. She wore a white dress with a knitted top. Over that she wore a white lab coat setting her apart from the others. Her hair was tamed with blue and pink butterfly barrettes.

Her presentation board was clean with several large colorful pictures. In front of it was a handmade DNA model made from wooden dowels of a Tinkertoy construction set and papier-mâché bulbs. In front of it was a collection of materials: cups, plastic bags, plastic utensils, chopping board, sieve, filter, rubbing alcohol in a cup filled with ice water, salt, liquid soap, water and bamboo skewers as well as a bowl filled with bananas and blueberries.

She smiled brightly as they reached her lacking the anxiousness of many of her competitors. As soon as they were situated she said, "I'm Savannah Torres, ten years old."

She paused as they made notes.

"Genes are the building blocks of who and what we are. They determine everything from hair and eye color to height but what impact do they have on our health? There are many diseases that have a genetic basis which makes treating them difficult. To understand how our genes affect us and our health first we must isolate the genes. If that sounds difficult...it's not as complicated as you might think..."

She stepped toward the table putting on a pair of safety glasses and explaining as she cut up one of the bananas and placed the slices into a bag. Then she squished it smooth. Leaving it for the moment she mixed salt into a glass of warm water and added the liquid soap before pouring it into the bag with the banana.

"After ten minutes it is time to move to the next step," Savannah explained picking up a bag she had prepared ahead of time. She placed the sieve and filter over another glass and poured the bag's contents into it. "Let it drain. This might take a while." Again she had a gla's prepared.

"And now you add the alcohol. Watch the glass carefully for white strands. This is our banana DNA," she smiled using a bamboo skewer to carefully pick out the strands for them to see.

Marcus watched thoroughly impressed and he wasn't the only one. His fellow judges and the kids were also enraptured.

"Very nice," Emily said once Savannah finished her presentation. "I usually see this experiment with strawberries. Any reason you decided to go with bananas?"

"Actually, my brothers are allergic to strawberries," Savannah said, "but this method will work with just about any soft fruit."

"Allergic?" Marcus repeated. "Me too so I appreciate the no strawberries."

Savannah gave him a pleasant smile as the judges moved away and she turned her attention to her classmates who wanted to try the experiment as well. "You're allergic to strawberries?" Emily asked.

"Nothing deadly but they make me sick, even just the smell," Marcus nodded.

"Interesting. Who would have thought?"