Title: And...Action!
Author: Fab_fan
Fandom: All My Children
Pairing: Bianca/Frankie
Rating: PGish
Disclaimer: Not my characters, sadly enough.
Summary: Miranda has to complete an assignment for school. Takes place after Five Years Later. (Which takes place after Arms of an Angel and So Close.)
The screen flickered to life, a few black and white fuzzy lines screeching before the shot came into focus.
"Is this dumb thing on?" a voice muttered, the sounds of mechanical fiddling echoing as the view filled with what looked to be a bed. It was a crumpled mess of cream colored sheets rolled into a ball. The purple comforter dangled precariously off the edge. Pillows were thrown around, and what looked to be a stuffed bear sat regally lording over it all at the headboard. And by regally, his tiny bear head had a crown on top of it that went along well with the human sized ray bans slipped over its eyes and the teddy sized brown leather jacket. "God, this stuff is so old. Why we even have to...there." Something clicked and...nothing changed.
There was a rustling and contemplative brown eyes suddenly appeared.
It was a teenage girl.
She bit her lip thoughtfully as she scanned whatever it was she was looking at. With a firm nod to herself, she stepped back, plopping down onto the bed and criss-crossing her legs. The shoulder of her pink and black streaked shirt fell even further down her arm, exposing the black strap of her bra and the gleam of a gold heart shaped locket. The artfully ripped edges of her shirt flapped around her stomach. Her knee jutted out sharply from a hole in her tight blue jeans, and her black socks peeked out from beneath her thighs. Her long light brown hair was messily tied up on top of her head, strands sticking out every which way.
"Hey," a mischievous smirk beamed at the camera. She reached behind her to grab the teddy bear and brought it to her lap, fingers playing with the tiny zippers of his jacket. "My name is Miranda Montgomery-Stone. And this is my entry for Mr. Jamison's class. He ordered us to do a documentary on our daily lives." She snorted, "Clearly, he's never picked up a tabloid before. But, my parents would kill me if I skipped out on an assignment, no matter how lame it was, so here it goes." She waved her hands, "This is my room." She pointed at the bear, "This is FJ or Frankie Junior. My mom loves that, by the way." She clasped her hands around the bear, "I live in Paris with my little sister and our parents. I have two moms. Bianca Montgomery-Stone and Frankie Montgomery-Stone. They've been married for, like, six years or something now." She shrugged, "It feels like they've been together forever." She stared into the camera and deadpanned, "Yes, they're gay. And if you have anything against that, you don't know what you're talking about."
"My little sister is Gabby or Gabrielle Montgomery-Stone. She's probably going to take over the world by the time I'm done with this stupid class. She's extremely smart and driven. She is going to be interning at Cambias this summer, and she's not even driving yet." A proud smile beamed out, "She's really cool."
"Oh, um, Cambias is our family's business. It's a big corporate behemoth that does a bunch of boring business stuff. I'm not really interested in it all. That's Gab's forte. I like the arts. I'm going to be an artist. I like sketching the best, with charcoal, but I don't mind watercolors too much either. My grandmother about had a coronary when I told her, but my parents are ok with it. Well, Maggie was a bit put off. But, she got over it." Miranda held up a hand, "Not that Maggie's my parents. Ok, wait. For those of who you don't know me and/or don't follow those trashy tabloids, which you shouldn't, here's the breakdown." She looked around her room, "I probably should have made a graph for this." Her head swiveled back, "Oh well. So, here's the deal. My mom is Bianca Montgomery-Stone. She gave birth to me. My other mom is Frankie. She obviously didn't give birth to me, but she's been there for me since I was a little kid. Before that, my mom dated a few other women. She even married one. One of those was Maggie. They weren't married, but Maggie was a part of my life. She's like an aunt to me now...which she technically is...but whatever. Maggie is married to Ally, who's a painter. Which is cool. Um, my aunt Kendall and uncle Zach are married and live in the States with my cousins Spike and Ian. My grandmother Erica also lives there. As for a grandfather...well...that can get complicated. There's Jack. Michaels is something like one, which can be fun, especially when he and my grandma get in the same room. Or when I see him with Opal. He so likes her but tries to act all gruff. It's hilarious. He and Jones used to work with Frankie. Jones is like an uncle, too. We're not related at all, though. The main thing to know is that my family is awesome and kind of nuts."
Miranda stood up, hands reaching for the camera, "How about we take a little tour of Casa de Montgomery-Stone?" The camera clicked off it's tripod and the screen jerked around as Miranda brought the camera in front of her. "Ok, so, you've seen my room. Now, onward!" Shakily, the shot moved along, Miranda trying her best to hold it still but not doing very well. "Let's go find someone." She hummed along as they walked, "Mom should be home. I think Frankie had to go in to the office for something, but she'll be back. Gabby is probably in her room planning total domination of the corporate world." A giggle, "Oh, great story. So, Frankie, she's my other mom, right? Well, Gabby's known Frankie basically all her life. Frankie came around when I was five or six or something. Gabby was a baby back then. We all called Frankie - Frankie. That's her name. One day Frankie was talking to Gabby about something. It was most likely how Gabby wanted to attend something boring like a business conference because she was really into it and stuff. Well, she was trying to get Frankie to agree to something, and she called Frankie, 'Mom.' I swear, Frankie walked into the frame of a door. Smack! She was down before anyone knew what happened. Funniest thing ever. We all thought Gabby killed her."
Miranda's voice softened, "It was really cool, though. Frankie is mom. We tend to call her that, or well maman, and she gets this happy look whenever we do, though she pretends it's normal. Mom says Frankie didn't have the best life growing up, so having a family like us makes her extremely happy. I get it."
The camera turned a corner and haphazardly focused in on a girl sitting at a desk in what seemed to be a sunlit bedroom. Her hair was slightly lighter in color than Miranda's, and she hadn't fully grown into her beauty, but it was obviously there. Unlike her sister, her white shirt was crisply pressed and minimal makeup accented her features, "Speaking of losers, here's my sister Gabby."
Gabby finished writing whatever she was writing before glancing over at her sister. She blanched at the sight of the camera, "Miranda!"
"What?" Miranda laughed as Gabby turned away, "Come on, it's for my school project."
"I don't care. I told you I didn't want to be in it."
"You have to be, squirt! You're my little sis."
"Don't call me that." grumbled Gabby.
"Aww, please?" Miranda juggled the camera around until it pointed at her own face, "Gabs is a bit camera shy."
"Go away, Miranda!"
"I'm making you a star! Ready for your close-up?"
"I have important things to do! You're bothering me."
"Do it later." She flipped the camera around and stalked toward the younger girl.
"Miranda..." Gabby held her hand up to cover her face.
"Just for a minute. Please? Pretty please? Pretty pretty please?" Miranda teasingly begged.
Gabby let out a sigh, "Fine."
"Aces." Miranda focused the camera so it framed the girl's face.
"Where did you even find that camera?" Gabby hesitantly pushed her neatly combed hair behind one ear.
"Box in storage." Miranda answered. "Now smile for me, squirt."
An irritated glare was sent out before a shy smile graced the view, "Hi."
Miranda's hand appeared, urging her on. "Tell them about yourself."
"My name is Gabrielle Montgomery-Stone, and I'm thirteen years old."
"What do you think about being my little sister?"
"I think it's a burden I must bear."
"What? Gabby!"
"I didn't mean that...much." Gabby's gaze turned playful for a moment. "I love my sister. She can be a pain, especially when she's arguing with our moms about staying out late and going to parties, but she also is a really good big sister. I know I can count on her to always be there for me, and she can do the same with me. We've been through a lot together, and there's no one else I'd rather be my sister."
The camera couldn't see Miranda, but it was obvious the sisters were sharing a heartfelt look.
"Ok, enough of that." a slight sniffle, "Tell the people watching about the parentals."
Gabby folded her arms across her chest, "Mom and Maman," her voice taking on a nasally french accent as she pronounced the second term, "are great. I love them." She looked past the camera to her sister, "Have you told them about dating Felix yet?"
"What? No!" Miranda shushed, "Not yet."
"When are you going to? You've been together how long now?"
"It just hasn't been the right time."
"There's never going to be a right or wrong time, Mimo." Gabby leaned back in her chair, "You have to tell them. Aren't you guys planning on backpacking through Germany during the summer?"
"Yes, but that's not for a few months."
A pointed glance, "Tell them. Otherwise, you and mom are going to have a diva standoff, and I really don't want to have to deal with that. Neither does maman." Her voice quieted, "You don't want to give her too much surprise."
The mood in the room quickly shifted, "She's ok, Gabs." The tone trembled with uncertainty.
A scoff, "You heard them. She has to up her medication. That's not a sign for ok."
"It's Frankie. She can get through anything. It's just a precaution."
Gabby ducked her head, but a glimmer of tears sparkled in the light before she could hide it, "Whatever."
"No, listen." the camera was hastily put down, the shot skewing to the left. Miranda appeared in the frame, kneeling down next to the chair, "Frankie will be fine. They'd tell us if something was really wrong."
"You don't believe that. You were the one who freaked out when we overheard them talking about it."
"I know but...Frankie loves us. She wouldn't keep that from us. Not after everything from when we were young. Everyone knows maman can't lie to us. Mom's busted on her about it a billion times."
A sniff, "Yeah."
"Come're." Miranda pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head comfortingly, "Her heart is fine. If it wasn't there was no way they'd have let me go to that party last week when you were over at Bernadette's for the night." She poked Gabby, "You know they were totally all over each other."
"Eww." Gabby pulled away, face twisted with disgust as she laughed.
"You know it's true. How many times have we caught them kissing?" She rolled her eyes, "I'm going to need more therapy from them being in love than if they hated each other and broke up."
"They're never going to break up." Gabby looked as if the idea was more preposterous than her being told the earth was square.
"Not when Frankie's ears still turn red."
"Did you see her when mom made her go to that Cambias charity event? When they had to get all dressed up?"
"Frankie couldn't even talk!" Miranda nodded. "She was all red and trying to be suave. Total fail."
"Mom was charmed by it."
"Mom is charmed by anything."
"We have to watch the video from their wedding again. The cake segment is award worthy."
"Yeah," Miranda climbed to her feet. She went back to the camera and picked it up, "Anything else for the world to know?"
"I want backend profits if this gets distributed."
"Right." the camera spun around, "See ya, squirt!"
"Stop calling me that! And tell them about Felix!"
"Shut up! I will!" they started walking again, "Could she be any louder?"
The camera bobbed along as she moved, "So, that was my little spawn sibling. Clearly, the good genes fell to the first born. Now, where would victim number two...I mean interview number two be? The living room? Game room? Perhaps the kitchen?" She fumbled with the camera, "Kitchen sounds good, as does a sandwich. When we interview Frankie, we'll get her to go to the bakery down the street. She loves chocolate croissants, and she'll buy a bunch for me, too. Mom pretends to get mad about it, saying we need to eat a little healthier, but I'm pretty sure she loves that Frankie always brings her back a madeleine."
The view swerved around another corner, and Miranda cut herself off as the kitchen came into view. Two people were milling about inside. One, the taller woman, was dressed casually in a worn pair of jeans and a fitted black sweater. She stood near a pair of cabinets watching as the other woman peeled off a suit jacket, revealing a rumpled white collared shirt underneath.
"Did the meeting go, ok?" the taller woman reached up and grasped a mug from a cabinet.
"Yeah," she haphazardly dropped the jacket onto the back of a chair and rolled her shoulder, "you're all set for the Geneva trip."
"Good." freshly brewed coffee poured into the mug, "How long has your shoulder been hurting."
"Who said...sonofabitch," she hissed as a pale hand dug into the tense muscle. "I hate when you do that."
She brushed a kiss to her cheek and pressed the coffee into her hands, "Don't lie to me, and I wouldn't have to."
"Me lie to you? I've only gotten away with it once, Bianca'la." she winked, "I'm not stupid enough to try again."
"So, you're not going to propose to me for a second time?" Bianca poured herself a mug.
"With how you said yes? I don't think I could handle another day and night like that again."
A sultry smirk, "You did fine last night."
"Eww." Miranda muttered under her breath.
Frankie set the coffee down on the table and ambled over to Bianca, "Maybe we should work on that again tonight. Don't want to be rusty for when you leave me."
"I'll be gone three days." Bianca lazily wrapped her arms around Frankie's waist.
"Plenty of time for me to forget. Old age and all." Frankie lightly kissed the side of her neck.
"You're not old." Bianca gasped softly.
"Old enough to be married with kids." Frankie's lips trailed upward, "Where are they?"
"Gabby's in her room working on homework, and Miranda's in hers doing her project."
"Hmmm." Frankie hummed, "We could be in our room."
Bianca chuckled lightly, hands trickling up Frankie's back, "I have a conference call in fifteen."
"Plenty of time."
"For you to drink your coffee."
"If that's what you want to call it."
"Frankie!" Bianca giggled. She gently swatted her side, "Behave."
"I am." Frankie pulled back, cheshire grin firmly in place, "Not my fault you're so damn sexy."
Bianca pecked her lips, "Save it for tonight, sweetheart." She slid her mouth to Frankie's ear, whispering something the camera couldn't pick up. When she tilted back, Frankie's eyebrow was raised dazedly, "Seriously?"
"Hmmm, guess you'll have to find out." Bianca purred before stepping around her.
Frankie watched her, a goofy grin overtaking her face.
"Have you talked to Maggie today?" Bianca asked, settling down on a chair and adjusting Frankie's jacket so it sat smoothly over the back and didn't wrinkle.
"Nah, I'll talk to her tomorrow." Frankie grabbed Bianca's mug and walked over to join her, taking a sip along the way. She made a face, "This is nasty. How did you get that stuff in there already?"
"Give it here." Bianca held her hand out.
Frankie handed it over, taking her own mug and relishing a hearty swallow, "You should watch the sugar level there. Not healthy to drink that much."
Bianca stared at her, "How many boxes of captain crunch do we have in the pantry?"
"Not nearly enough. Have you seen how much the kid eats?"
"I wonder where she got that from."
"I don't know what you're talking about," a breath, "Are you making dinner tonight, or are we ordering in?"
Another sip, "We might order in. I have that call, and I really just want to spend the evening with you and the girls. Maybe we could go to a movie."
"Make the kids sit up front while we take the back row?" Frankie's eyes sparkled, "I'd cook, but I'm still not allowed in here without supervision. Scouts honor and all. Can't break it."
"Whatever, scout." Bianca nudged her calf with the tip of her toes, "You and Kendall can groan together about your lack of cooking skills when she visits next month."
"Hey, that chick is way worse than me." Frankie shifted her leg, "She actually set the kitchen on fire. I've been flame free." She snickered, "Your sister is such a flamer."
Her foot slid under a pant leg, tickling bare skin, "I recall it getting rather hot in here a few times."
Frankie leaned forward, "Why, Mrs. Montgomery-Stone, are you trying to seduce me?"
Bianca's foot slid out and slowly tapped Frankie's ankle, "Always."
"That's why I married you."
"I thought it was because you were using me for my money and name."
"That too. I keep forgetting to have your millions secretly transferred off shore. Damn it. How am I ever going to steal away with your cash and my secret mistress?"
Bianca shook her head in amusement. "Baby, if you find someone who can put up with you, she can have you."
Clearing her throat, Frankie traced the rim of her mug, "What's up with kid and that punk."
"Felix?"
"Yeah, him." Frankie frowned.
"Oh, man." Miranda gulped.
"Frankie," Bianca sighed, "we decided to let her come to us about that."
"That was months ago." She waved her hand, "You were wearing that lacy number when we said that."
"And you were too distracted to disagree?"
"Have you seen yourself in that outfit? I'll take a picture. Almost as hot as the nurse getup."
"Franks," Bianca grasped her hand, "she'll tell us when she's ready. She knows she can come to us about anything. We both decided to give the girls some space to find out who they are. Remember how my mother was with us? How it only made things harder?"
"I also remember how I was back then." Frankie rubbed the back of her neck, "If he even thinks about hurting her..."
"Whoa hey." Bianca squeezed her hand, "There will be none of that. And don't even think about calling Jones to get him to open a file on this poor boy and follow him around." She cupped both her hands around Frankie's, "Everyone thought I'd be the overprotective one."
"I'm not overprotective. But, if she can't even tell us about him, that says something."
"It says she's young. We've met him. He's a nice boy." She shook Frankie's hand gently, "He even saw your gun, when you not so subtly wore your holster that time, and didn't run away. From everything we've seen, he treats her well."
"Yeah...well..."
"Sweetheart, do you think I told my mom everything about us when we were dating?"
"Your mom hit me with her car. You didn't have to tell her anything."
Bianca scooted her chair around so it was next to Frankie's, "Hey, this has nothing to do with us. Ok? I've thought about it a lot, and I've talked to Isabel about it, too. This has nothing to do with her not trusting you, Frankie."
"I didn't say it did."
"You didn't have to." She kissed her cheek, "I know you, remember? Miranda loves you. You're her hero, Frankie."
"I'm not a hero."
"To our two girls you are." She leaned into Frankie, "You are to me."
Frankie bent her head, ears and cheeks red as a tomato as she pursed her lips.
Bianca kissed her temple, "She is growing up and wanting to be an adult. She's trying to find her way, and sometimes that means not telling us stuff. But, she'll talk to us about Felix when she's ready. She will. Until then, we have to keep on loving her and being there for her."
"I know." Frankie mumbled.
"I know you do." Bianca smiled, "Now, are you picking up Gabby from school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll be done with work early. She's got that reading group thing, right?"
"Yes. Want to grab a coffee after you drop her off? I should have a few minutes between meetings."
"I don't know. My wife doesn't like it when I date around, boss."
"I'm sure she'll make an exception this one time."
"She can get really jealous." Frankie smirked, "You should have seen what she did to me after we went out for coffee last time. Shirt is still missing a few buttons."
"Really? Why, god?" Miranda sighed to herself. "I'm too young for this."
"You'll have to take your chances, then." Bianca ran the pad of her fingers along the back of Frankie's neck, "You might have to make it up to her."
"Any ideas what she might like?" her lashes fluttered at the touch.
"You'll think of something." Bianca nipped her earlobe before standing up, "I have to make that conference call."
"Skip it." Frankie stretched out to catch her.
Bianca danced out of reach, "I can't. It's with the London office."
"Tease." Frankie let her arm fall.
"You love it." Bianca called back. "Put one of those heating pads on your shoulder."
"Man!" the camera scrambled as Bianca headed toward the screen, getting bigger with each step. The frame bobbled dizzily as the sound of racing footsteps echoed.
"Miranda!" Gabrielle squeaked as the camera nearly collided with her as she exited her room.
"Sorry!" Miranda juggled the camera.
"What are you doing?" she shook her head in exasperation, "Never mind. Is maman home?"
"Yeah," Miranda answered, "I don't think I can show half their conversation without serious editing or an adult rating."
"What did you expect?" Gabby moved around her.
"True." she began to follow Gabby.
"Hi girls." Bianca greeted them as she walked past.
"Hi mom." they replied in unison.
"Is your project going well, Mimo?"
"Yeah, great."
"I have this call, but if you need me for anything, I should be done in an hour or so."
"Ok, cool."
"Did you need me to look over your homework, Gabby?"
"No, thanks. I figured it out."
"You two let me know if you need something. We're probably ordering in tonight. Pizza?"
"Sounds good." Miranda replied.
Bianca smiled at them before entering her office.
Gabby started walking again, Miranda trailing her, "I thought I told you I didn't want to be in this."
"You're getting your backend profits. Deal with it."
The living room appeared, the television already on some news station with the volume turned low. Gabby bounded around the side of the couch and jumped down onto it. The camera moved around to show Frankie slouched in the middle of the sofa, a folder open in her lap and a coffee mug on the short table in front of her.
"What's up, squirt?" Frankie peeked at Gabby.
"Nothing," Gabby snuggled into her side.
Frankie absentmindedly picked up the remote and flipped the channel to a rerun of some teen melodrama Gabby secretly adored.
Gabby rested her head against Frankie's shoulder as the former agent scanned the papers stapled together. After a second, she raised her head and peered at Miranda, "Starting your paparazzi career early, kid?"
"No," Miranda snorted, "it's for my project."
"The one where you follow us around in the name of art?"
"Yep."
"Aces," Frankie went back to her papers, "have you interviewed this one yet?"
"Gabby was a star. Temperamental and demanding. She was born for Hollywood."
"Shut up." Gabby mumbled, engrossed in the episode.
"How was the director?"
Gabby snickered, "Overbearing and tyrannical."
"Overbearing and temperamental. I see we need to start limiting your time with your grandmother. Next thing you know, you'll be married twelve times."
"Frankie!" Bianca shouted.
"Your mom's a diva, Bianca!" Frankie shouted back. "They made a movie about her hair flipping tantrums and endless divorces!"
"You know what she'll do when she finds out you said that!"
"Jones already has a safe house set up for me!"
Gabby and Miranda chuckled.
Bianca appeared at the entrance to the room, phone in hand, "Honey, I love you, but I'm not following you to some safe house because you made mom angry again."
"When isn't she angry with me?"
"When you're not talking."
"That's where you get it from." Frankie joked. "You want to shut me up?" she turned her head to wink at her.
Bianca rolled her eyes and walked up to the back of the couch, "These two ordered us against kissing when they're present." She ran her hand through Frankie's short hair, fluffing the locks, "And don't even say what you're thinking."
Frankie shrugged.
"Oh, is this the one where Brad meets Laura?" Bianca gazed at the TV.
"Uh huh." Gabby nodded.
"I like this one."
"They're so cute together." Gabby gushed. "I think they're going to break them up for the finale, though."
"What? But they're so good together."
"I'm sure they'll get back together. They'd have to. They love each other."
"High school romances don't always work out, even on TV."
"Yours and maman's did."
Bianca's hand stilled on top of Frankie's head, "Yes, it did." A crackle came from the phone. She brought the phone to her ear, "Yes? Hello, Mr. O'Brien." She walked away.
"Mom would follow you." Gabby spoke up.
Frankie wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "She wouldn't have to. I'd offer you and your sister up as collateral. I'd be home free, and you'd get to go on endless shopping adventures."
Gabby made a face.
"Hey, Frankie?" Miranda breathed out.
"Yeah, kid?"
A slight pause, "You know I love you, right?"
Frankie blinked, eyes softening. The corners crinkled slightly, "I love you, too. Was there..."
"I just wanted to say it. For the camera and all." Gabby could be seen rolling her eyes in the background.
"Ok, sure." Frankie nodded, a tiny pleased grin tugging at her lips. "You got much more to go with that? Need me to do something? I can probably lure your mom away from her call with the threat of baking cookies."
"No, you're good." Miranda stepped back and spun the lens around to face her, "So, this is my family. They're awesome. And nuts. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. Au revoir, Mr. Jamison!" She blew an exaggerated kiss.
"Squirt, you want to tell me why your sister is blowing kisses to her teacher?" Frankie's teasing voice was heard.
"Gabs, you want to tell me why maman had a goofy look on her face earlier in the kitchen?"
The screen went blank.