Five years later
"Dad! Wake up! Dad! Dad!"
Bill's eyes shot open as he let out a small gasp. He swiftly sat up in his bed and sighed, rubbing his head. "Ugh, how long have I been asleep?" He asked.
"It's almost noon." Cricket responded, "Come on, we're supposed to meet up with Mom for lunch!"
Bill stood up and stretched, "Shoot, son. Why didn't ya wake me up sooner, then?" He asked with a yawn.
Cricket shrugged, "Meh, couldn't be bothered. Now hurry up and get dressed! Gramma's hungry and Mom's probably already on her way!"
Bill scoffed and shook his head as his son darted out of the room. "It's Nancy. She's always late." He murmured in amusement to himself. He walked over to his dresser to pull out a fresh pair of underwear, as well as a clean t-shirt and blue jeans. "Hell, the woman was nearly late to our wedding. She'll be late to her own funeral. And yet—"
He sighed when realizing he was rambling to himself for no reason. He wasn't even sure why he was talking about his ex in the first place. Perhaps it was the dream he had that had made him sleep in late in the first place. It wasn't so much a dream as it was just a memory. Oh, that was a good time. Bill would be lying through his teeth if he ever said he didn't miss living out in the country, still happily married with his children still young and playful. Cricket and Tilly were kids, but for how much longer? And yes, Bill had mended his bond with Nancy again, but it wasn't the same raising the kids as a divorced couple. And on top of it all, they were now living in the city where it was hard to be taken seriously as farm folk.
Bill soon finished getting ready and walked over to the front door, seeing the rest of his family waiting for him on the porch. He grabbed his jacket and hat, then joined them outside. They walked over to get in the truck—the old Kludge. If there was one thing in Bill's life that never changed, it was his truck. It'd been his for as long as he could remember, and he'd never willfully give it up.
As they drove out into the streets, Bill took notice to his daughter in the backseat, reading what appeared to be a magazine of some sort. "Whatcha got there, sweetie?" He asked her curiously.
"I found this in my friend, Andromeda's house." Tilly responded, "It's very intriguing. It has a quiz to see who your soulmate is!"
"Very neat, Tilly." Bill nodded.
"Heck, there ain't no such thing as soulmates. That's just a ploy to get you to buy more of their balderdash magazines." Alice scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Ma, just let her read it." Bill murmured to her, a bit annoyed.
"Do you believe in soulmates, Papa?" Tilly asked him curiously, finally looking up from the magazine.
Bill pursed his lips, unsure on how to answer her question. While he didn't think it was necessarily a 'powerful' sort of thing, he didn't think it couldn't be possibly. "Well, Uh- I do believe that there is someone out there you're meant to be with." He answered.
"Bleh, gross." Cricket grimaced. But it didn't surprise anyone. He wasn't necessarily a romantic type of person, the idea tended to make him vomit (well, more like pretend to vomit).
Tilly ignored her brother and looked up at her dad, "Did you think Mama was the one for you?"
"Um, at one point, I did." He answered truthfully yet awkwardly, since he wasn't liking where this conversation was going.
Alice laughed, "Is that why you divorced her?" She asked with a knowing look.
"It was a mutual decision." Bill sighed.
"Well, if Mama's not the one for you, then your real soulmate must still be out there, right?" Tilly spoke, "You said there's always someone out there."
"I..did." Bill acknowledged with a slow nod, "But I'm not interested in lookin' for a life partner right now, sweetie. I'm a happy man with a great house, great kids, a great ex-wife—"
"Ahem." Alice glared at him. "Forgettin' about the woman who gave birth to you?"
"I was gettin' to you, Ma." He rolled his eyes.
"You got to Nancy before you got to me, huh?" She raised a brow, crossing her arms over her chest.
Bill scoffed, "You mean the mother of my children? Yes, I got to her first."
"I feel like this conversation's gotten nowhere." Cricket spoke up, "And I'm not even apart of it."
Tilly shook her head, "But Papa, wouldn't you be even happier if you met the woman of your dreams?"
Bill sighed, staring off at the street ahead of him. Even though he'd never admit it out loud, a small part of him really didn't want to admit that his ex-wife wasn't the one he was supposed to be with. But he couldn't ever say something like that in front of his kids, or his mother for that matter. Thankfully, he was able to avoid answering the question, as they soon pulled up to the restaurant.
After parking at the curb, the Greens walked into the restaurant, looking out for Nancy, since they'd spotted her bike outside. As Bill was about to look around, he flinched and yelped when he felt something grab his shoulders from behind. But his panic quickly seized once he heard a familiar laugh and realized it was just his ex.
"Scared ya?" Nancy asked as she stepped in front of him.
"It wasn't funny when I was sawin' wood, and it ain't funny now." Bill said knowingly.
Nancy rolled her eyes before the kids excitedly ran up to hug her. The family walked over to sit at the table near one of the windows, having a perfect view of the city. Cricket practically hogged all the chips and salsa while they were scanning the menus to decide what they wanted.
"So Mama, we were talkin' about the idea of soulmates." Tilly spoke up, which made Bill internally sigh.
"I still say it's a load of hogwash." Alice chimed in.
Tilly ignored her grandmother and proceeded to ask Nancy, "What do you think of it? Do you believe in soulmates?"
The redhead shrugged, still looking over the menu. "I'm not sure, hun. A lot of people always think they've found their soulmate only find out they didn't." She responded.
Bill looked over at her, feeling as if her response was directed at him. But he didn't want to question it, since the last thing he wanted was to start something tense.
"I suppose that's true." Tilly sighed, taking a sip. "But ya never know."
"I guess you don't." Nancy responded nonchalantly.
