His Proposal (Mature Content)

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?"