Crashing Love [COMPLETE/PUBLISHED]

Prologue

It was a typical Saturday morning for the Carter household, which means I am the only one who gets up and moving before 10 AM. Anyways, I thought that since it is my daughter, Willow's birthday tomorrow, I would go and pick up everything that we need for her party tomorrow, even if it is Daniel, my husband, and her best friend that will be celebrating. I grab my car keys and I slip on my jacket since it is starting to get chilly outside, it is the end of August.

Best time of year, in my opinion, and it is not because of the weather. Kids go back to school and that means empty house!

Anyways, the drive to the grocery store is normal, minus the 2-car accident I passed along the entrance to the interstate. I walk into the store with a list of all that I need and all of a sudden I start to peruse the aisles looking for the best deals. I never said that I'm the perfect shopper. I push my cart down to the meat section and I start to look at the different cuts of chicken that they have, ignoring the obvious stares from the men. Do I not look like a 40-year-old mother? I keep walking through the store telling a couple of people to back off because I have a husband and daughter waiting at home. I find myself in the chip and cracker aisle and I see Ava standing there looking at the different chips, who I assume would be for Elijah. She looks up and sees me walking towards her and she waves at me.

"Hey, Aria! How's Willow? Ready for her 18th?" Ava asks placing a bag of chips in her cart alongside the produce.

"I assume so, but I can't be too sure since she never gets out of bed before 10 AM," I say grabbing a bag of chips off the shelves and putting it in my cart.

"Must be a teenage thing, because Elijah does the same thing," she says. We both chuckled at that thought. They are best friends for a reason. Who knows maybe they will be something more? My husband and I started the same way. 

"I don't know, because Daniel does the same thing, but maybe he learned from our kids."

"Maybe, anyways, I would love to talk but I have to go drag Elijah out of bed for a dentist appointment."

"It was great to see you. Don't forget to send Elijah to our house tomorrow for Willow's birthday," I say pushing my cart away.

"I will." We both walk in opposite directions and I continue shopping for the items on my list even though at this point I have maybe looked at it once. About an hour later I finish shopping and I pay and bag up all my items. I load up the trunk to the car and I pop into the drivers and start the car. The fan blasts out warm air as I buckle my seatbelt. I twist the knob for the radio and the local radio starts to come out of the speakers. I back out of my parking spot and I make my way out of the parking lot. Being the first to turn after a red light, I am super cautious, because there is always someone who is going to try and run the red light. I start to pull out in the intersection, since I'm making a left, and the next thing I hear is the crunching of metal. I'm slammed against the pole that is in the median. I can't feel parts of my body and I try to wiggle myself out, but I look around with my foggy vision and see people running to help me and the other driver. I feel my eyes start to droop and then... Everything goes black.

All I can think about is I hope I can be there for Willow's 18th birthday.