They waited at the bus stop for five minutes before the right bus arrived. They got on, Joey paid the fare, and they took their seats at the back of the bus. Joey noticed how empty the streets were. He guessed it must have something to do with how early it was.

The minute the bus started moving, Serenity sat up on her knees and was watching the world go by out of the window. Joey watched her with a smile. It felt good to see her so happy. But Joey knew there was something he had to talk to her about, even if it would ruin her carefree mood.

"Serenity?"

Serenity turned around to her brother. "Isn't it a lovely day, Joey?"

"It sure is, sis." Joey nodded. "But, Serenity, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Serenity sat down next to her brother and looked curious. She didn't like the sincerity in his voice.

Joey gulped. It was now or never. Serenity needed to hear it from him, not his mom or dad. She needed to hear it from the one person who understands her, her big brother. He had seen all the obvious signs, so Joey knew it was coming. Serenity needed to know before it actually happened.

"Listen, sis." Joey sighed. "I know this might be hard for you to understand. In fact, I'm not sure I even understand it myself right now. But I need you to listen and just try, okay?"

Serenity nodded, a little hesitantly, but she seemed to understand so far.

Joey cast his gaze away from his sister's face and looked out of the window instead. "I think...I think mom and dad...might be getting..." he didn't want to say the word; it made the whole scary situation seem too real, but he gathered up his courage for Serenity's sake. "I think mom and dad might be getting a divorce."

Serenity continued to stare up at her brother, waiting for something more, some kind of explanation. When one didn't come, she blinked up at her brother. "Is that good?" she asked, quietly and innocently.

Joey shook his head, still gazing out of the window. He felt sorry for Serenity; being so young, and not being able to understand that her whole little world was going to come crashing down around her. "It's not good, Serenity." Joey sighed again, wishing he had wings to swoop out of that window with Serenity in his arms, and fly away to better place, to start again. He wished he could take care of her by himself. "If mom and dad get divorced, they'll move away and live apart. I've seen it happen on TV."

Serenity gripped her brother's arm and Joey looked into her tear-filled eyes. "But...I'll still have you, won't I, Joey?"

Joey reached out and pulled Serenity closer. "Don't worry about it, sis." Then he smiled. "Let's just forget about it and have a good day, right? Let's just forget mom and dad and everything else for today and have fun, just the two of us!"

Serenity grinned and sat on her brother's lap, where she stayed for the rest of the journey, just having fun, like Joey told her to.