"I'm home!"
Kieran closed the front door loudly and waltzed into the living room, dropping his black sports bag on the carpet next to the table with a heavy thud. Without pausing his motion, he pulled a chair from the table and took a seat, grabbing the darkest green apple from the fruit bowl with his left hand, and taking his phone from his pocket with his right hand.
His parents shuffled to the frame of the door, surprise written all over their aged faces to see their only son lounging so casually in the front room as if it was nothing. They whispered between themselves as they stared at him, yet Kieran barely paid them any mind as he took a bite into his apple. He had always been a man of his own mind, but ever since his twentieth birthday, his presence in the house had become more and more flaky, and his unexplained absences grew longer and longer. Now that he was just three weeks shy of his twenty-first birthday, they had grown more than used to it. At least, his father had, but Kieran was too old for his parents to question his lifestyle anymore.
"I was worried you had forgotten about us," his mother said, as her face lit up in excitement, and she turned to her husband. "I told you he would come. I can start cooking now."
Kieran looked over at them and smiled. "Mum, don't cook anything tonight," he told her. "I'm going to take us all out for a meal."
His father shook his head without uttering a word, before turning around and shuffling towards the staircase. His mother still gazed down on him in awe. He was sporting an expensive-looking black leather jacket, black jeans and trainers which were clearly brand new and designer. She watched him glance to his wrist where a genuine silver Rolex watch sat coolly. As far as she was aware, Kieran was unemployed, and the small allowance that they continued to wire him each month was nowhere near enough to provide for such expensive items, not even if he had saved every penny for the last three months he had been away.
"Kieran..."
"Where's Phoenix?" he interrupted abruptly as his gaze shifted from his watch to his phone. "There's someone I want you all to meet."
Kieran's words were met with a scoff as the raven-haired girl peered over their mother's shoulders on cue to gaze at her brother. Her hair was soaked, sticking to her face, as she stood there with a white towel wrapped lazily around her petite body. She rolled her eyes with a hint of a small smile emerging at the corner of her lips.
"You mean to meet the chick you screw occasionally?" she quipped. "Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."
As soon as he heard her voice, Kieran glanced over to the door, unable to hide the smile beginning to creep onto his own face. He laughed off her snarky remark without a response, although their mother turned to glare at her.
