BREAKEVEN

BREAKEVEN Part 1

Traffic.....!God she hated it!Especially when she had good news to share with her family at home.No amount of humming her favourite songs could get her mind off the hooting from the other equally agitated drivers.The lights turned green just as she started chatting up with another lady in the next car and she forgot all about the conversation and stepped on the gas.

She got home in record time,thanks to the little overtaking skills she had acquired from her friends.Laden with two large pizza boxes,her laptop and her bag,she slamped her car door shut with her foot and walked into the house,her parents' house.

"Dinner's home." her twin sisters ambushed her and disappeared with the pizza.

"Guys,i'm not dinner." Marion scolded and followed them to the living room. "I'm just doing the deliveries!"

Addey,the second Whatley daughter walked in. "Like they care who does what.I wish you two had gone to some fancy boarding school far away from home.Maybe you'd not be pains!!"

"Yeah,yeah!" Sierra,the outspoken of the twins shot out."Dad wouldnt allow it."

Savannah,her twin also joined in. "Mom too."

“Ok people, enough.”Marion cut them short. “No one’s going anywhere. It’s Friday, family day so everyone relax. I didn’t ditch my place to come here and fight. Where’s the hot couple.”

“Dad and mom? In the study.” Savannah and Sierra looked at each other and smiled. “Doing you know what.”

“Guys! Just because you caught them making out once, which you shouldn’t have, by the way, doesn’t mean that they always do that!” Marion told them

“See what I have to put up with?” Addey shook her head and left the room, emerging later with their parents. The two hugged Marion and took separate seats. This would have been the first sign that something was off but Marion was just too excited about the surprise she had for them to notice. To her, her parents were the hottest couple she had ever seen or heard of. With her turning 27, Addey 22 and the twins 17, one would expect their romance to have dwindled. That, however wasn’t the case with Grant and Adele Whatley.The two still had romantic getaways, still left notes and cards for each other in the house and still talked on the phone for hours when the other was away and when Addey brought home the idea of internet and chat sites, their parents had readily taken that option, skypping their nights away.

The night went on as expected. The twins seated on the floor, Marion in her usual seat, Addey busy on her laptop chatting on whatever site she was on and her mother repeatedly asking her to switch it off. Marion waited until they were almost done and stood up.

 “Mom, dad. I have a surprise for your silver anniversary”

“It’s in two months, “Savannah told her.

 “I know, dummy!”Marion replied, turning to her parents once again. “It never killed anyone to do anything in advance.”

“Ok, whatever you say. What is it?”

“Open it.”Marion gave him the envelope. He read the contents in silence then passed it to their mother who in turn went through it with the same plain expression.

“Well?”Marion asked excitedly.

“Umm……about this,” her dad started, “your mum and I have been meaning to talk to you girls…..”

“Are we moving? Because if so, you guys better know I’m not going anywhere.”Addey shot.

“No, Addison! We are not moving.”

“That’s fine by me.”

“What is it then?”

Their parents paused.