"But Mommy!", the three-year-old little girl whined with annoyance in her voice, "Auntie Em'ly likes cheese".
"I know she does dear but I highly doubt that she wants cheese for her birthday", Miranda replied to the little one.
The small child was pouting and highly resembled her biological mother; Andrea Sachs. The woman had gotten pregnant shortly before going to Paris with Runway and when Miranda had found her throwing up on three different occasions she encouraged the younger woman to take a pregnancy test. It had, of course, been positive, but despite Andrea's worries, Miranda was there for her every step of the way.
It was a slight surprise to Andrea because she did not expect so much support from anyone and especially not Miranda, however, if she was to sit back and think about it properly then it should not have come as a surprise to her at all. Miranda never treated her like just another assistant, she never would have sent Emily after any other candidate and yet she did for Andrea.
Miranda had been there for her through the morning sickness and rubbed her back each time as well as banning certain foods that made the woman nauseated. She had also become rather protective of her and refused to allow her to run around the city on errands, instead preferring her to remain by her side whenever possible. Andrea even attended meetings that she had no need to but the Editor-in-Chief claimed that she needed someone to take notes and nobody dared question the white-haired woman about it. In addition to this, the older woman did whatever she could to ensure that she attended each and every appointment, throughout the pregnancy, she did not miss a single one.
The first pregnancy scan had consequently meant that Miranda cancelled a lunch meeting in order to attend, that was something that Andrea was extremely grateful for as she had been so terribly nervous before the appointment. That day, Miranda left the hospital with her own copy of the scan photo of 'Baby Sachs' and found herself smiling at it when nobody else was looking, not that it looked like a full baby at only 10 weeks gestation but Miranda had insisted that her Doctor, who was not accepting new patients, do a full scan on the pregnant women to ensure the health of the baby within a couple of days of arriving back in the USA.
The Editor-in-Chief attended everything she possibly could with Andrea and was even there at the birth. Although, Andrea's replacement at Runway was fired on the day of Caitlin's birth after she almost made Miranda miss the birth of the baby by not passing on the message that Andrea had gone into labour. She did not discover that fact until Serena burst into her meeting in a fluster about Andrea's phone call to her. Andrea had attempted to call Miranda's phone but she had accidentally left it in her office.
Andrea was sat on the hospital bed with the covers up to her waist, her hair slightly sweaty and skin glistening slightly as she leaned back against the pillows in exhaustion. In her arms was a pink bundle that had now latched on to her breast in order to get the vital nutrients that it needed. Beside her on the bed, Miranda was sat with her arm around her lover as she pressed a loving kiss to the woman's head, "She's beautiful, Andrea", the older woman said softly. "Are you going to tell me the name that you've decided upon yet?", she asked her softly as Andrea had refused to tell anyone until the birth.
Andrea smiled and nodded as she looked down at the little girl before saying, "Caitlin Miriam Priestly, if… if that's okay?".
Miranda's beautiful blue eyes filled with tears as she nodded, "That, my love, is more than okay", she said before cupping the woman's cheek in order to kiss her gently on the lips.
"I love you", Andrea said softly to the woman beside her.
"I love you too", she replied before pressing a brief kiss to her lips, "And you too, Caitlin". Miranda was truly happy and she was looking forward to Caroline and Cassidy arriving at the hospital to see their new baby sister.
Miranda had not shied away after the birth either and had been there for the night feeds, diaper changes, and everything in between. She even shocked everyone by taking off the maternity leave that was allowed for her and was now limiting her work hours in order to spend more time with her family. It helped them all that Andrea had moved into the townhouse during the eighth month of her pregnancy as it meant that they got to spend more time together.
Now, three-year-old Caitlin had heard her Mamma mention Emily's birthday and she was insistent that the woman would want cheese for her birthday. To be honest it was Emily's fault when it came to that because the little girl consistently saw her with cheese and when Caitlin suggested that she must really like it to eat so much of it, Emily had nodded and agreed.
"We looked on the 'puter", the little girl said as she looked up at her Mommy, "Cass and Caro helped me find cheese things".
"Oh, did they now?", Miranda asked with a slightly raised eyebrow as she sat at her desk with her daughter on her lap.
Caitlin nodded, "Uh huh", she confirmed.
"And what exactly did you all decide upon for Emily's birthday?", the Editor-in-Chief asked softly, in a calm voice only used for her three children.
"Well, we found a hat that looks like a triangle of cheese", Caitlin said with a smile, "I thought it was funny and I think Auntie 'rena will laugh too".
Miranda chuckled at the image of the fashion conscious woman wearing a cheese hat, "Oh, I bet she will dear", she said with amusement in her voice, "What else did you find?".
"We found a cheese board with lots of different cheeses on it", she continued, "We thought she might want to try other types instead of just those same cubes".
"Well, variety can be a good thing, I agree", Miranda said with a nod of her head.
"We found a pair of pyjamas with a mouse on the t-shirt that is eating cheese and then it has cheese all over the trousers", Caitlin said, apparently liking the pyjama set, "Not real cheese though, just pictures".
"That's good", Miranda stated, "Or she'll eat her own pyjamas".
Caitlin burst into giggles at what her Mommy had said to her, clearly very amused.
"Was there anything else that you wish to buy for Emily's birthday?", the woman questioned.
"There was a stress ball shaped like cheese", Caitlin said softly, "and a post it note block shaped like cheese too, I thought that she might like those for at work because maybe if she has a stress ball she'll stop talking to herself".
"Ah yes, her repeating of how she loves her job", Miranda commented.
"She sure does love it doesn't she Mommy", Caitlin said with a shake of her head, clearly her way of saying that the woman was crazy.
Miranda smiled, despite the woman moving to another department she still apparently found the need to repeat her strange mantra and obsess over cheese, "Was there anything else?".
"No Mommy", she said softly before finishing with a, "That's all".
The Editor-in-Chief grinned before kissing the girl's head knowing that it was not the dismissal that she herself usually used the words as.
"So can we?", Caitlin asked as she looked up at her mother.
Miranda smirked, she could not wait to see Emily's face when the little one gave her the gifts, "Of course we can", she agreed, "We can even find some wrapping paper with pictures of cheese on it and some yellow ribbon to decorate it with".
Caitlin was quite excited at that and a slightly loud, "Yay!", escaped from her lips.
The woman simply laughed and shook her head in amusement as she held the child close, "I love you Caitlin".
"I love you too, Mommy", the little girl said rather happily as she snuggled up against her mother.
As predicted, Emily's reaction was, in fact, rather amusing but a lot tamer than they had expected. The English woman had opened the presents in front of a few of her colleagues after the three-year-old little girl of her boss had given her the gifts.
She had raised her eyebrow at the decoration of the wrapped gifts but thanked the little girl, even giving the child a kiss to the head. She was rather fond of the little one which had been a surprise as she had never been too fond of the twins until recently when they stopped playing pranks on her and it appeared that having a little sister had calmed the two older girls considerably.
Emily had originally attempted to appear distant from the children, even the baby but all it took was one cuddle with the little one to simply decide that she was, in fact, rather fond of the baby. When Caitlin grew, she herself also decided that she liked Emily and would happily go to the woman which made it much easier for the woman to like her even more. Now, there was not much that Emily would not do for her goddaughter.
When she had opened each of the gifts, she had been unsure as to whether to be annoyed or amused, she did, however, find herself glaring at Serena who was bent over laughing. Emily decided that she should not show annoyance as it was the sweet little girl in front of her that was smiling brightly up at her as she opened them.
"Mommy let me choose", Caitlin announced, "Did I choose okay?".
Emily was slightly shocked and it showed on her face to know that Miranda had allowed this and most likely encouraged it too. "Yes, sweetheart", she said as she looked down at Caitlin, "But I do believe that I will need your help to eat the cheese, can you do that?".
Caitlin thought for a moment before nodding, it wouldn't be the first time that the woman shared her cheese with the child. The first time had been when she tugged on Emily's skirt and simply smacked her lips as she looked up at the woman who was eating cubes of cheese, she was not even a year old at that point in time.
Emily smiled brightly at her and put the cheese hat on the girl, "You've got to wear the hat if you're going to help me".
"Okay Em'ly", she said with a smile.
Those that had watched Emily open her presents all wondered what on Earth the little girl would manage to choose for theirs.