"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.
"Don't be so vulgar, Phoenix!"
Their smiles widened at their mother's words, and widened even more when their eyes met, but when Kieran moved to stand up from his seat and approach her, Phoenix suddenly twisted around on her feet and made her way up the stairs. He sighed as his mother's attention fell back onto him and her glare softened into a worried frown. She seemed to want to approach him and hug him, but he seemed uninterested enough for her not to attempt it. Kieran instead leaned down to grab his sports bag and heaved it into the air by the straps.
"Excuse me, Mum," he said, as he made his way past her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Good to see you." Once he had shuffled past her, Kieran hurried up the stairs, following the trail of dark wet patches towards his sister's room. "Hurry up, Phoenix. We can't keep her waiting."
Her door opened slightly as she peered her head out to look at him. The white towel that was wrapped so loosely around her body was in a heap on the floor behind her, but he could see that she was wearing a black swimsuit. The contrast between the black of her hair and of her swimsuit with the milky paleness of her skin was alluring. Phoenix rolled her eyes, her earlier smile now replaced with an angry scowl. "I'm sorry that I'm a girl and take time. But thanks for the idea of making her wait." Kieran grinned, stepping towards her door as if he was going to say something back, but she placed a hand out in front of her. "I've been waiting for you all day, Kieran. And for what?" She shook her head in frustration before gesturing to shut the door.
"Just... wait a second," he said, as he moved to unzip a side pocket in his sports bag and remove a small gift-wrapped box. Her scowl quickly softened at the sight of the box, and she opened the door slightly once again. She couldn't stop herself from beaming a smile as she reached out and snatched the box from his hand.
"It better be expensive," she said with a grin, eyeing his watch. "You only turn eighteen once, you know, and I've already wasted the first seventeen hours."
