He belched a little and the taste of acid filled the back of his throat permeating his taste buds causing him to have a sour expression. He quickly moved on to the next picture; he didn't want to linger too much on thoughts of Marla and her son. What was his name? He couldn't even recall the name of the child that he sent eighty dollars a month to for child support. No bother, he thought- at least he was doing his part.
The next picture he laid eyes on was at a family picnic that she invited him to for the 4th of July. It was the first time that he met Markus and Dinah. He smiled at the picture. Markus was still in diapers and Dinah was an arm baby not even six months old. It was their first family picture. That thought made his heart lighten up. His former smile returned to his face as his eyes quickly made their way across his desk looking at the rest of the pictures. There were pictures of the kids first day in kindergarten, little league, soccer and basketball pictures of Markus; ballet, piano recital and gymnastic pictures of Dinah. Then his eyes rested on his own college graduation picture and he couldn't help but choking up. That was one of the happiest days in his life- receiving his law degree; and the next picture of him passing the bar exam was another happy occasion.
"Dad! We're waiting." His daughter came bursting in through his office door dressed in her Sunday's best with her hair freshly done. Since this would be the last family portrait of them for a while considering the fact that Markus was heading off to college soon, they had decided to make it a special memory. They had marked the event by splitting up and sharing mother/daughter and father/son day together. She and her mother had spent a mother and daughter day together at the spa yesterday getting all dolled up for the family portrait today while Markus and he had spent a father and son day together shopping for new suits and having lunch together.
"I'm coming buttercup…" He called out lovingly as he got up from behind his desk and began to put on his suit jacket so that they could mark the happy occasion with a family portrait. He couldn't believe that they were celebrating their 14th anniversary already; where had the time gone he wondered.
* * * * * * *
Jacob lived in an upper-upper middle class neighborhood where 99% of the community drove and only used public transportation for going to work in the city. Because this community primary source of transportation was driving; public transportation in the area was nil. Golden rain trees littered the outlining curbs of the streets and finely manicured lawns with half-mile long driveways were the perfect setting for the mansion-like houses that set off afar in the backdrop. The two teens marveled at the neighborhood. They could tell this wasn't the average working class neighborhood by far.