Prologue
October, 2026
A man sat on the couch, browsing real estate listing on his phone. His wife was next to him, watching the Food Network, volume low. The kids were asleep in their room, all three of them. The room was dark.
"I should've bought in 2000," the man mumbled.
"You were fourteen in 2000, dear." His wife gently reached over and turned his phone off.
He rested his head on her shoulder. "2010, then. The market was still okay then. We could've gone to that new construction place out in Mason."
"But it was far, Tom. And we'd just had Jason."
"Yeah, but, then he could've grown up in a house with a yard, and the girls too. Maybe then they wouldn't be so…" Tom gestured vaugely with his free hand.
She was quiet for a moment. "The market will change, we'll move, the kids will be fine."
He opened the listings on his phone again. "The moment I find a place, we're going."