August, 2040
„I heard noises tonight,“ Josh said with full mouth.
He was sitting with Eve and Jake at the dining table. Lisa was still tired and skipped breakfast this morning.
„What kind of noises?“ Jake asked, enjoying his fried eggs.
„Like someone was at the porch roof.“
„Did you check?“ Eve wanted to know.
„No. I was too lazy standing up.“
„Really, dad? You believed hearing someone on our roof and decided it was a better idea returning back to sleep?“ Jake blamed his father.
Eve shook her head, also giving him a blaming look.
„Maybe I just dreamed it, as no one of you heard anything,“ Josh tried playing the situation down.
„Looks like you’re the man in the house, Jakey,“ Eve said cynically.
„We could check the front camera,“ Jake suggested.
„Um… about that… it’s broken…“ Josh confessed.
„Since when?“ Eve asked.
„Since that nasty bird attacked it.“
„That was three years ago, dad!“ Jake blamed him again. „Why you didn’t replace it?“
„Didn’t you hear what your mom said? You’re the man in the house.“
Jake rolled his eyes and continued eating.
At the same time in the Timberlake’s house everybody was enjoying breakfast together as well at the patio.
„You look tired, Si. Returned home late, hm?“ Justin said to his son, while sipping his coffee.
Silas glanced at his father, feeling caught.
„Um… ya… I was out…“ he replied, just finishing his pancakes.
„With who?“ Phin asked curiously.
„Netflix people.“
„How’s your co main actor? I bet she’s hot,“ Phin continued asking.
„She’s okay.“
„Just okay?“
Silas gave his brother an annoyed look.
„Why you act so grumpy, hm? I didn’t do anything,“ Phin said next.
Jessica cleared her throat to get everybody’s attention. She glanced at Justin, before she started to talk.
„We need to tell you something.“
„Sounds serious, mom,“ Phin replied.
Again she glanced at Justin. He nodded to encourage her moving on. Jessica took a deep breath.
„Your father and I agreed to part ways.“
Phin immediately turned pale, staring at his mother in pure disbelief. Silas turned sick, also staring at her like seeing a ghost. Both didn’t know what to say.
„I’m gonna move out shortly,“ Jessica added, feeling terribly tensed, seeing her son’s shocked faces.
„Why?“ Phin stammered.
„Our feelings for each other changed over the years. We realized they are not strong enough anymore to move on.“
Silas suddenly scoffed.
„You’re saying, you noticed out of the blue being together makes no sense and give up on each other just like that, without even trying to work things out?“ he blamed his parents.
Justin bent in his direction, giving him a deep look.
„You can’t force feelings to come back, Si.“
Silas turned even more upset.
„I don’t buy that shit! Tell us what really happened!“ he almost yelled.
Jessica and Justin exchanged glances.
„I understand this is a lot to handle…“ Jessica tried to calm him down.
„You put me trough this before and now YOU DARE doing it again!“ he interrupted his mother.
Phin looked at his brother, being irritated about his outburst. Of course Phin knew, that his parents got divorced when he was a toddler. But he couldn’t remember anything from that time. He never asked for the reason why they broke up back in those days. Silas on the other hand remembered everything. Mostly he remembered his mother’s desperation when she moved out of their house. He remembered his own pain he felt seeing her suffering. He also remembered his deep confusion when his father told to him about his relationship with Eve. Nothing made sense to him at that time.
Silas stood up and rushed inside the house.
„Is that true? Are you hiding something? Is one of you seeing someone else?“ Phin asked his parents.
„No,“ Justin immediately answered.
„Don’t you see any chance to make things work again?“
„I’ll always love your mom for the person she is and the wonderful time I’ve spent with her. But I need you and your brother to respect our decision, that our love isn’t strong enough anymore to move on,“ Justin answered.
Phin looked at his dad for a moment. Then he nodded.
„You should look for Si,“ Jessica said to Justin.
