• The Beginning Of The End

• Chapter I •

- THE DAY OF THE OUTBREAK –

CHAPTER I

Caroline POV

19th of July 2010

Living with your sister can be a pain in the ass sometimes. – I thought while I started picking up fashion magazines scattered all around the room. My sister is such a mess, I truly don't know how we get along. But surprisingly we do. I'm very organised person, I need to have everything planned. It's kind of annoying sometimes, but at the same time it helped me in life. It helped me with my 8 year old daughter. So a little bit of mess and craziness from my sister side is a nice addition. We're like two pieces that make each other whole.

I make my way to the kitchen and look at the calendar hanging on the wall. Our brother has his 30th birthday in three days. It's crazy how the time flies. I still remember when we were teenagers and he always used to pick us up from school. I really want to celebrate this day with him, but God knows where he even is. My brother is a free spilit, he has always been like this. Visiting places, running away from home and travel different cities. There's literally nothing that can hold him down. That's why he's thirty and single, I mean – obviously. It's kind of funny, we're like complete opposites, he's always a kid not willing to start a grown up life, I on the other hand started the adult life way too soon. But as it turns out we don't always have an impact on our life.

I pick up my cell phone as I go through the contact list searching for my ex-husband's number. I start calling him while I'm making myself a cup of coffee.

- Hey, Carebear. What's up? – I hear him pick up.

I smile to myself when I hear him use that nickname. A normal person would be probably very shocked to see how our relationship works, after all - we had a divorce. Most of the people can't stand each other after divorce. That's not the thing in our case. We started our relationship as friendship and that's exactly how we ended it. Just because we didn't work out romantically doesn't mean we have to stop caring for each other. Especially now that we have a daughter together.

- Hi, Luke. I know it's your week with Sophie, but I need you to drop her off today at my place. Her best friend is organizing a birthday party and I promised I would take her there. Is it okay with you? – I ask nervously, because I really don't like to take his time with her away from him. We have clear boundaries and together we decided that we would equally share our time with Sophie, so she has both parents, just like nothing would have happened. Like we would still be one big happy family.

- Okay, no problem. I will drop her off after I finish my shift at work. – I exhale with relief and smile again. I swear to God, I was so blessed to have such unproblematic co-parent.

- Thank you. Stop by for a dinner when you drop Sophie. I will be making one anyways and you shouldn't live on takeout food every day. – I laugh under my nose and take a sip of coffee.