If someone had told Caroline 5 years ago where she would be at this exact moment, she would have laughed loudly and suddenly, sure they were joking.
5 years ago Caroline was married to a man, had two sons, a cat, and a dark cloud that traveled everywhere with her. She still had glimpses of happiness, but on the whole she was just going through the motions, and expected to be going through the motions until she died. She went to work, she got home, she cooked dinner, she went to bed, she got up for work. On weekends, there was sports, recitals, paperwork, wine. Then the work week started again.
Today, the woman born Caroline Dawson was currently sitting at a cafe with a pram on one side of her, and a filthy woman on the other side. Filthy clothing, though Caroline knew filthy could probably be used to describe many facets of the woman's personality. As for the pram, it was currently occupied by a young blonde girl who was fast asleep, her feet resting against the dog who sat beside her and kept its head resting on the pram in the hope of catching crumbs. In her arms was another sleeping girl, snoring and full of cold. She had brown hair that made tiny little ringlets and lips that pouted just like Caroline's did when she didn't get her own way.
"Have you got sunscreen on?"
"No."
"Then sit in the ruddy shade, or you'll be complaining about sunburn for the rest of the week!"
"I'm not one to complain."
After a beat, both women laughed.
"What's funny?"
Caroline smiled up at her wife as she set out the coffees and cake on the table and then sat down in the shade. "Just making fun of myself." She replied as she moved seats so she was in the shade as well.
"Speaking of making fun of you, a new kid at Raffs job came from your school. Raff said to him he was amazed you didn't have a nickname yet, and the kid said you do."
"Oh god. What is it?" Caroline wrinkled her nose.
"It's a clever one. MD squared. Because you're a doctor and your surname initials are MD."
"..I'm not that sort of doctor. They need to work on it."
"I think it's pretty impressive, actually." Caroline's wife interjected.
"Me too." Offered the filthy trailer trash beside her.
"I was just thinking to myself that if someone had told me 5 years ago that I'd be sitting here like this, I would have laughed thinking it was all a joke, because Caroline Dawson was never destined to be happy. But now I'm reconsidering. If I had been told I would be sat here being ganged up upon by my two closest friends, I would have been horrified."
"I'm not your friend." Her wife offered. "I'm your wife."
"I'm not your friend, either." Replied the filthy woman. "I'm your sister."
With a grumpy sigh, Caroline slipped her sunglasses back on. She glanced at both children to make sure they were asleep before she said "Fuck off." She successfully held back a smile at the laugh it produced.
Five years ago, Caroline had a husband, two sons, a cat, a good job, a huge mortgage,a set life timeline in her head, and a dark cloud that traveled everywhere with her.
Two years ago she had two sons, a wife, a baby on the way, a cat, a huge mortgage, and a daily panic.
One year ago, she had two sons, a baby daughter, a cat, a new job, a tiny mortgage, and a wife who cried more often than she smiled.
Six months ago to the day, she had a wife, two sons, two daughters, a cat, a dog, no mortgage, a challenging job, and a smile every day as soon as she woke, usually because of the sound of her wife's laughter.
Today, she had too many blessings to name them all instead of just enjoying her day. So she ate the cake, drank the coffee, and smiled up at the cloud of happiness that hovered over her.
But back to the beginning…
