Looking over at Aleysa, she's lying in bed and hooked to wires. Her eyes are sunken in and purple bags are underneath them.

A hospice nurse to standing close by and adjusting stuff on the machine. "I'll leave you to talk to your sister." She opens the door and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with my sister.

Aleysa places her head on my shoulder. "Chloe, I don't want to leave you without telling you something. You're the best sister in the entire world. You took a whole heap of things on this year, starting with being a guardian for Nate and I. You brought us a whole new family, it made it easier when I was missing Mom and Dad. Veronica and Ricky were here to fill the parent's role for us. Jai and you were great parental figures as well. You're going to be a great Mom when the time comes."

"Thank you, Aleysa. I was lucky that I got to spend time with you and that it ended with a proposal for me, that you helped Jai with. It meant the world to me. Your birthday will always hold a special place in my heart, especially since it was the night of the proposal." Climbing off the bed I walk out the door. "Bye, Aleysa."

"Bye, Chloe." She looks at the door. "If you see a butterfly, that's me saying 'hello and I love you at the same time."

A tear falls down my face and I embrace my little sister for the last time. "I love you, Aleysa."

Pulling my Nissan Versa into the driveway of my parent's place in Los Angeles. I see the house is shrouded in darkness. Looking at the dashboard the red digits read. 22:30.

I was supposed to be home hours ago, but I was stuck in traffic on the I-80 into Los Angeles. During the trip, there was an announcement on the radio that said a truck ran into twelve cars before tipping over and landing on its side. Blocking most of the lanes, leaving one open for us to drive on.

When I drove past the accident scene the truck was still overturned, but most of the cars involved were cleared away by tow-trucks.

There were five deaths due to the accident and twelve other people were injured and taken to the closest hospital to be treated.

Reaching into the back I pull my overnight bag towards me. I step out of the car and head towards the house. In the background I can hear cicadas and a few cars driving past the cul-de-sac street I grew up in. Other than that everything is quiet.

When I reach the front door I knock it and wait for someone to open the door for me. I hear the chain slide across the lock. The door opens, revealing Dad.

He's wearing a pair of grey boxers and a white t-shirt. His light brown hair is sticking up and his light blue eyes are slightly closed. Giving him the 'I just woke up look.'

A smile spreads across his face. "Hello, sweetheart." He pulls me in for a hug and I wrap my arms around him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise Mom for her birthday." I enter the house and walk to the living room, where there are heaps of family photos.

Dad follows me, and we sit next to each other on the couch. He takes my hand into his. "How's work going?"

A smile spreads across my face. "I got a promotion at Wilson Inc. I'm now a team leader. I train the new recruits and get to boss them around." I look at the stairs before asking about my siblings. "How's Nate and Aleysa?"

Dad laughs. "You can't wait long enough to ask about your siblings can you?" He looks towards the stairs. "Aleysa has her good days and bad. Just like any twelve year old. I prefer her good days. Nate, well he prefers to hang out with his friends and party on the weekends."

I miss my family.

"I told Mom and you that I could come home more often and help."

He places his warm hands on my face. "You're young, Chloe. You need to live your life and not worry too much about us." He smiles. "I would love it if you come home more often."

Hugging him I whisper. "When I come home you have to take a Mom out for the day and I will take care of Aleysa. The two of you need a break at times." I turn towards the stairs and see Mom. She's wearing a pink bathrobe.

Me, too.

"I couldn't miss your birthday, Mom."

My parents and I stay up for another hour talking, before calling it a night. We go in separate directions once we've made up the stairs.

Walking down the hall I stop in front of a brown wooden door that still has my name on it. I pull the door open and see that my room hasn't been touched since I moved out. Everything is still where I kept.

On the nightstand, I see a piece of paper with my name on it, neatly folded and it has my sister's handwriting scrawled on it. Opening the letter I read.

Dear Chloe,

聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽聽 I'm glad you're home for Mom's Birthday. I hope she really liked our early Birthday present to her. I can't wait to see you, big sis.

Love

Aleysa

Xoxo

The early birthday present Aleysa was referring to was me. It was a secret between her and I that I was coming home to celebrate this year.

Ding.

A message pops up on the work iPad screen. Swiping my finger across the screen I look at the message.

From: jsmith@wilsoninc.com

To: c.knight@wilsoninc.com

Subject: Workload

Dear Chloe,

聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 I know you're supposed to be enjoying your break in Los Angeles. However, I know you're a work-a-holic that would rather be in the office than at home. I was hoping that you could help me with this load.

Regards

John.

Seriously? This guy knows I'm visiting my parents and he wants to dump all this onto me.

Looking at the attachments I see twelve files on it. Opening the first one I see that it's going to take me hours to go through it all.

There's no way I'm going to do this for him. This workload was given to him for a reason and he can do it himself.

Dear John,

聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 I told you that I was going to my parent's place to celebrate my mother's birthday. Taking time off from work doesn't mean that I'll be helping you with the workload you were given. I'm going to relax and spend as much time with my family as I can. I don't know when I'll take more time off work.

Good luck.

Chloe.

Once the message is sent I pull kindle up on the iPad and look for a book to read from one of my favourite indie authors. When I find the book I click on it and start reading.

As I continue to read my eyes begin to droop. Before I fully fall asleep my device hits me in the face causing a tingling sensation at that spot. Picking up the iPad I place it on the nightstand and reach across to the lamp and turn the light off.

The main light in the bedroom is still on and I say into the room. 'Hey, Google. Turn off light.' The light turns off and I pull the covers over my body. It doesn't take long before I fall asleep.