She never saw this for herself when she imagined her future; kids had never come into the equation, and even if they had have done being a single parent definitely would not have done.

She'd been living in France for just under 4 years now and she had to admit that she loved it. When she'd taken the job she hadn't envisaged it turning out as well as it had and perhaps well was an understatement. She had done well for herself and then there was her daughter, Olivia, who was just over three years old. Olivia was the spitting image of Sandra and had a lovely personality, she never stopped smiling and the sound of her laughing and become the soundtrack to Sandra's life in the years since having her.

The two of them were settled in France in the quiet countryside. Sandra had never pictured herself in the countryside either but after Olivia was born she saw it as safer for them and it would give her daughter more room to play. Since moving her French had become near fluent and even Olivia, who had seemed to have mastered the English language as much as a three year old can and never shut up, was now picking up the odd French word.

When teaching Olivia to talk she'd reached the dilemma of teaching her English and possibly putting her at a disadvantage to other kids or teach her French and have her unable to communicate with family. In the end she'd gone for English because although the extent of Sandra's family was Grace, if Grace couldn't communicate with her granddaughter then she'd have never heard the last of it. Grace made the trip over to France three times a year to see Sandra and Olivia and they all loved it. Since having Olivia, Sandra's relationship with her mother had changed significantly and for the better, although every trip one question came up, who's Olivia's dad?

The question was one that only Sandra knew the answer to and she intended on keeping it that way. Sandra and Olivia had never gone back to London purely because Sandra didn't want to run into Olivia's father, if it happened she'd have a lot of explaining to do as he didn't know of Olivia's existence. It was easier this way, his and Sandra's relationship hadn't ended well and it wasn't until she'd moved that she found out that the end of that relationship had left her more than bad memories. Saying that though, Olivia was the best thing to happen to Sandra and it had completely changed her and for the better, apart from her paranoia when it came to speaking to, or even her mum speaking to, anyone back home.

"Baby girl it's bed time. " Sandra told Olivia as she snuck up behind her and lifted her into the air.

"No mummy!" Olivia laughed as Sandra tickled her lightly while carrying the small girl through to her bedroom. She helped Olivia get changed before tucking her into bed, accepting that this would be another round to their bedtime game.

"Night night Liv, I love you. Sleep tight." Sandra said as she kissed her daughters cheek and walked out turning the light off as she did so.

It wasn't even five minutes later that she heard the light padding of feet on the stairs, she pretended not to notice her daughter's presence until the three year old flung herself into her mother's arms. Being a little madam, that was another quality that both mother and daughter shared, Sandra was about to try and put Olivia back to bed when her home phone rang. The phone very rarely rang and even then it was her work when she couldn't be reached on her mobile and work didn't ring after 6 so that they didn't wake Olivia.

Sandra answered the phone and immediately and face dropped.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."