Disclaimer:The Devil Wears Prada belongs to Lauren Weisberger and 20th Century Fox. I own nothing.
Author's Note: Unbeta'd, any and all mistakes are mine. Containsfemslashbut nothing too explicit.
Miranda awoke to the sound of rushed whispering near the end of the bed. She opened one eye, wincing at the amount of light given her barely-awake state. The body beside her snuggled closer, tightening the grip on Miranda's waist. Miranda ran her hand through her hair, which wasn't nearly as coiffed as usual alas still passable.
"I can hear you, you know." She called sleepily, raising a perfect sculpted eyebrow.
Two sets of blue eyes, much like her own widened from the end of the bed, where they peered at her from behind their hands, hiding the rest of their freckled faces. Caroline stood up abruptly, pulling her sister with her. They waited for their mother's nod then jumped on both sides of the dead-asleep brunette.
"Andy! Andy! Wake up!" They called excitedly, shaking the poor woman until she was groaning.
"Ugh," she groaned, opening her eyes to glare at the two redheads. "I will count to three and then I will torture the both of you relentlessly for waking me up."
"One, two... Three!" Andy all but attacked the girls, who in their defense squirmed away from both sides, squealing, trying to hide behind Miranda who watched amused the interaction. Cassidy screamed, and then proceeded to laugh as Caroline used her as a shield from Andy's tickling fingers. When Miranda became the ultimate barrier between the three children, she glared at Andy as if daring the woman to tickle her as well.
Andy smiled warmly at her lover, completely forgetting the other two occupants in the room.
"Good morning, my Love." Andy said, kissing Miranda's lips.
"Good morning, Andréa." The older woman smiled into a second kiss.
"Ewwww! My eyes!" Caroline faked fainting.
"Are you done?" Cassidy huffed, trying to suppress a smile. "It's not like I'm scarred for life or anything, ya know."
Andy glared at her, threatening them nonchalantly, "That's it! I'm selling both of you to the black market dealers! I say enjoy the last moments with us because only God knows who your next parents will be."
The look on Miranda's face rivaled Emily's when she saw Andy in nothing but a white button down shirt and pink lace La Perla underwear coming down Miranda's stairs to collect the book for her lover.
"You wouldn't." Caroline accused.
"Yeah, mom would never let you." Cassidy concluded.
"And what makes you think I wouldn't agree with Andréa?" Miranda challenged her daughters, giving them a devilish grin. "It's not like I would be alone, I'd still have one child to take care of."
They gulped, palling at the thought. Watching, Andy laughed loudly, throwing her head back. Miranda watched the younger woman with love swelling from deep inside her.
"Something funny, Andréa?"
"I'm sorry," she began, whipping away tears as they fell, only making her laugh harder, "but as much as love it that you agree with me, I can't imagine our lives without our girls. I'd hate to be an only child."
Once her laughter was under control, Andy smiled at the two redheads who rested their chins on Miranda's arm. They smiled back, rushing to Andy's open arms. As they each snuggled close to the brunette, Miranda began playing with Cassidy's hair.
"What are we doing today? We're not ready to go home." Caroline said sadly.
Andy smiled at them, barely containing her excitement. "I have plans!"
Although spring break meant they usually went to their father's, an impromptu convention in Toronto left Caroline and Cassidy with their mother and much younger lover. They'd come home running towards the two, furious that their trip to Disney Land was being postponed for a third time. After an hour of venting, Caroline stormed furiously into her room, refusing to come out even if the world had decided to end. Cassidy on the other hand cried quietly as she told Miranda she just wanted to spend time with her father since spending time with both parents wasn't possible anymore.
Andy watched from afar, feeling her own heart tug at the girl's confession. She'd planned a one week vacation with Miranda in Aruba since the girls would be away and Runway was due to print the next issue ahead of schedule. Life was good for the two lovers and while they'd been living together for a little over a year, time alone wasn't as easy coming as was family time. Andy had everything planned; from the hotel room to the romantic dinner reservations just for the two of them. Everything was perfect and they were both looking forward to the seven days alone, enjoying one another but Cassidy's words kept running through Andy's mind.
The next day, Andy came home soaked from the rain just in time for dinner. The townhouse was quiet except for the clicking of the cutlery and china in the kitchen. Smiling, Andy tiptoed through the den, listening to her three favorite girls making dinner. Caroline, sensing the presence, turned around and as she was about to call Andy's name, Andy told to girl to remain quiet. Stifling a giggle, both watched as Miranda and Cassidy worked together on the stove.
Miranda had been so distracted with the beef bourguignon in front of her that she nearly jumped when a cold body pressed against back.
"Andréa! Get off me this instant!" Miranda hissed, her eyes blazing with rage.
Miranda turned around, trying to push Andy off of her. Before she could cut Andy with her words, the soaking brunette kissed her fervently, letting her tongue linger on Miranda's lower lip, sucking it gently. Sighing, the older woman disconnected their lips, missing the contact almost instantly. She looked at her lover, who in turn smiled brightly at her, blushing.
"Really Andréa, my blouse is ruined. You put Alexander McQueen to shame." She sniffed.
"Oh c'mon, you have millions of these. Plus, it's not like I don't enjoy looking at your nipples." The brunette whispered in Miranda's ear, biting her earlobe.
The color from the older woman's face immediately faded as she made a bee line to the stairs to go change. Looking at the two redheads, Andy smirked, kissing the tops of their heads before excusing herself to go change as well.
Once both women came back, dinner ran swiftly. The girls, while still sad, seemed to be better. Caroline was quieter than her sister but still laughed at Andy's lame attempts to get their mother to forgive her for getting her wet.
"I didn't think you'd be mad, Miranda. Gee, it's not like I do this kind of stuff on purpose!" She whined.
"Please bore someone else with you excuses, Andréa. Unless you'd like to spend the night in the guest room I suggest you stop talking." Miranda threatened, glaring at the brunette as she cut the beef bourguignon in front of her.
Andy looked at her like a lost puppy, pouting her deliciously plump lips. When she noticed that Miranda hadn't even flinched, she mumbled under her breath, "I guess it's just me and Patricia tonight."
"I'm sorry Andréa, did you say something?"
"Nothing."
Giggling, the twins received an equally scary glare from their mother, who pretended to ignore Andy's shaking body as the girl tried her best not to laugh. It was Cassidy who elbowed the brunette, hissing at her to stop.
"I'm sorry Cass!" She giggled harder.
"As you should be. You three will be doing the dishes. That's all."
They all stared at Miranda, gaping like fishes.
"WHAT?"Caroline cried.
"That's SO not fair!"Cassidy crossed her arms angrily.
"It's all Andy's fault! Blame her, not US!"
"Hey, calm down! I'll do them, okay? It's no big deal." Andy offered. "But you two have to help me dry them and put them away."
Knowing it wouldn't get much better than this, and it would get much worse if they refused to do as they were told, the twins angrily agreed. Andy smiled at their nods, collecting the plates as she stood. Miranda smirked, watching her lover's swaying hips as she walked towards the sink.
"Try not to make a mess and Andréa," Miranda called almost seductively, making Andy gulp loudly. "You're on thin ice."
Andy nodded. The twins smiled mischievously, after all Andy got them in trouble so it was only fair that their mother should punish her too. Looking down, Andy sighed as the girls smiled innocently at her.
Once they were done, Caroline plopped down on the bar stool ungracefully, huffing. Cassidy sat beside her sister, getting quiet all of the sudden.
"Andy…" she said timidly. "Are you and Mom going to send us to Grandma's for spring break?"
Andy saw the hurt on the girl's face and smiled lovingly at her. "No, Sweetheart. In fact, I have a surprise for you."
Caroline sat up, examining the brunette. "What kind of surprise?"
"Well," Andy sat next to Cassidy. "I was going to take your mom to Aruba, you know, get her to relax a bit but then since your dad's not gonna be able to take you to Disney Land I decided we needed a change of plans."
"But we don't want you to cancel your trip, Andy." Cassidy said breathlessly.
"Yeah! Mom's been looking forward to this forever even though she acts all 'I don't need a break' and crap." Caroline pointed out.
"Language, Caro." Andy gave her a glare; Caroline rolled her eyes. "Relax guys, we're not cancelling anything. It's just a change of plans. I decided we should take a family trip. You know, the four of us."
The girls scooted to the edge of their seats, almost falling.
"I think your mom and I would survive if we went to Disney World." Andy's eyes were sparkling as she smiled at them.
Gaping, the girls looked at one another before screaming and hugging the brunette. Andy covered her ears and laughed along before hugging the girls back.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou Andyyyy!" they said in unison, jumping up and down in excitement.
Hearing the torturous shrieks of her daughters, Miranda walked into the kitchen smiling. "I take it you've told them?"
"MOM WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!" Caroline and Cassidy exclaimed in unison, running towards the older woman. They hugged her tightly, thanking her profusely before running upstairs to begin packing.
"Hey," Andy smiled at her lover.
"Hello, Darling." Miranda moved towards her lover, stopping in between her legs so the younger woman could embrace her in a hug.
"We're not going to have time for ourselves, are we?"Andy sighed.
Miranda laughed lovingly, running her hand through her lover's chocolate tresses. "I'm afraid not, Love."
Andy took a deep breath, hugging Miranda a little tighter. Although she was looking forward to a week alone, she couldn't help but be happy as well after all she was going to spend a whole week with two overly excited semi-teenage girls and her lover. How much different was that from the townhouse on a daily basis?
After they were able to get the twins out of their room, Andy gave Miranda a proper good morning kiss but didn't work much further on her lover because the girls were still learning how to knock on the door. Miranda wanted to be angry but with her lover promising mind-blowing sex later, she simply couldn't.
"I'll pay you with interest." Andy winked at Miranda, biting her lower lip seductively.
Miranda coughed, her face was a lovely shade of red. She nodded, unable to fully speak.
"We're ready!" Cassidy announced, jumping on the bed, waiting for Andy to apply sunscreen on her freckled face.
"Where are we going, Andy?" Caroline asked, standing by the brunette.
"Well, since we've been to all the parks and the weather is pretty nice, I thought maybe we could go to Panama City Beach."
"Panama City, Andréa? Really? Couldn't you have chosen somewhere more… inhabited?"
Andy smiled at her lover and began applying sunscreen on Cassidy. "That's the good thing, Miranda. No one will recognize you there."
"And what are we going to do in Panama City?"
"I went there with my parents when I was in high school and they have these really cool tours where they take you to the sea to swim with dolphins."
"Oh my God, that is so cool!" Caroline jumped excitedly.
"And I went diving for a few summers so I can swim just fine, Miranda." Andy answered before Miranda could have asked. "It's really not that deep. Maybe 10 feet and I wouldn't take the girls there if I didn't think it was safe." Miranda searched her face for any possible lies but found none.
Unlike Andrea, Stephen had never offered to take her girls anywhere. Besides the usual weekend trips to Connecticut or Miranda's attempt to make peace with them by taking them to see a Broadway show, Stephen had never even considered the girls; at least not after the first four months or so. When Andrea came to Miranda suggesting they take the girls to Disney World, she'd been surprised but nevertheless pleased with her lover's intentions to become more involved than she already was in her daughters' lives. Andy had looked at her with such pleading eyes, full of love and patience. Miranda couldn't have said no if she wanted to.
"I trust you Andréa." She said.
Andy's heart sped up, causing her to smile brightly and beautifully at Miranda. She nodded, thanking her lover silently whilst listening to the twins chat amicably about the coolest trip they'd ever had.
As Andy had said, the weather was lovely. Neither hot nor cold but pleasantly warm and quite enjoyable. Andy had surprised Miranda once again when they boarded on one of Elias-Clarke's CEO's private jet. When Miranda asked, Andy smiled and said, "Let's just say he'd like to stay happily married."
The drive to the beach was only forty-five minutes, but the twins couldn't stay seated. They showered Andy with questions and in turn the brunette made them all play a game of silence or else they'd go right back to New York at that instant.
Getting to the pier, Andy was hugged by an older man who seemed to know her quite well.
"Andy, chérie! Ça va?" he asked, smiling at the brunette who hugged him again. He looked to be about sixty but had quite an energy to him. His salt-and-pepper hair seemed to be drying along with khaki shorts and a red t-shirt.
"Jean, it's been so long! I've missed you. How's Clarisse?"
"Good, good. We miss you. Now who are these beauties you have brought with you?" He looked at the three impeccably dressed Priestly women, winking at Andy.
"Jean, this is Miranda, Caroline and Cassidy. This is Jean. He was my diving instructor back in the day."
"When you put it like that it sounds like it was decades ago, Andy."
"Okay, okay. But it's been too long. How's the water today? It's pretty close to their feeding time; we should be able to get to see a lot of them." She smiled.
"I see you haven't forgotten your lessons, mademoiselle. Now let's get you all situated so we can see some dolphins, oui?" He ushered them into the boat.
"Are there sharks in the water, Andy?" Cassidy seemed concerned.
"Of course, baby!" Cassidy paled, grabbing her mother's hand, who seemed to be equally scared. "But there are sharks in every ocean. I can promise you that I've never seen one, right Jean?"
"Oui. In sixteen years I've never seen one myself."
"So this is how we're gonna do this, you two are going to put on these life vests and listen to me. I need you to pay attention because we're going to be in the ocean, far from the shore. There will be other boats and jet-skis in the water. There's also current and trust me girls, if you're not careful you could hurt yourself, do you understand?" Andy looked at them, her face was serious and the twins saw that now was no time for jokes.
"Yes Andy." They chorused, nodding.
"We're going to sit at the front of the boat and when Jean says 'go' then we jump in the water. We have to look down, or else we won't see them. We can swim towards them but I won't take you guys underwater yet. They're very friendly and if they want to touch us they will, if not we're just going to have to watch them swim. I want you guys to hold on to me, hold my arms if you're scared but you guys will float so there's no way you can drown."
The boat began to slow down; they were in a fairly open area with other boats. People screamed and jumped in the water as the dolphins swam close by. Miranda sat poised by Andy who held her hand as she gave the twins instructions. Miranda admired the younger woman, smiling to herself as she saw how excited Andrea could make her daughters. Sensing she was being watched, Andy turned, raising an eyebrow at her lover.
"What?" She asked, squeezing her lover's hand.
"Nothing, can't I admire you, Andréa?" Miranda gave her a small smile.
"Of course you can, Miranda." Andy smiled again. "What do I have to do to get you in the water, Priestly?"
"I'm not going anywhere near the water Andréa, let's get that out of the way."
"We'll see about that." Andy stood, taking off her shirt and shorts. Miranda stared at the brunette's curvaceous body, suddenly wondering what it would feel like to be pressed against that body under that water.
Andy winked at Miranda, checking the twins' vests and goggles. With their feet already in the water, the three waited for Jean to come to a full stop. Caroline took Andy's hand, squeezing it tightly. Andy knew the girl wasn't the greatest swimmer but if she didn't think they couldn't handle the water she wouldn't even have suggested the trip to the beach. Before they could even see the dolphins, Jean instructed them to go and they did.
The water was warm, but the goose bumps travelled down their bodies as soon as they made contact with the ocean. As instructed, the girls looked down, tugging Andy's arm forcefully as a few visible dolphins swam right under them. They could hear the high pitched whistles as they came up for air.
"Did you see that Caro? It was freakin' awesome!"
"Mom! You have to come see this!"
"Later Bobsie, Mummy's fine here."
"Can we do it again, Andy?"
"Yes, yes." Andy gently pushed the girls towards the boat again where they jumped more times, watching as the creatures swam beside and beneath them.
"Can you take us deeper Andy?" Cassidy looked at Andy with puppy eyes, the brunette didn't have the heart to say no.
"Just once, okay? Again, you guys have to hold my hand. Pull it if you need to come back for air, okay?"
They nodded, taking off the vests. Jean took them closer to the beach, where the water was clearer but where the dolphins swam all the same. This time they saw them coming and jumped in, holding their breaths. Andy, being stronger than the girls, swam further down, taking the girls with her where they could see a pod of dolphins swimming calmly under the water. As they came up, Caroline and Cassidy hugged Andy, and then got back on the boat where they nearly soaked Miranda.
Andy followed suit, smiling as the girls described the dolphins to Miranda. Watching her lover, Andy decided she'd get Miranda in the water no matter what.
"I think it's you turn to see them."
"Is that so?"
"Mhm, I can show them to you if you'd like."
Miranda examined Andy's soaked body. The sunlight seemed to devour the girl's body, making her seem almost angelical. Taking a deep breath, Miranda stood, shedding her clothes and taking Andy's extended hand. Andy got in the water first, looking at her lover as she descended the metal ladder into the water.
The water was shallow enough that Andy could stand in her tiptoes. She took Miranda's hand once again, bringing her to her body. Miranda swung her arms around her lover's neck, bringing their bodies tightly together. The cold current have the women chills but only increased the heat emission from their bodies. They stayed embraced like that, with Miranda's legs around Andy's waist, breasts occasionally rubbing against one another causing both women to bite back moans as it happened.
Miranda watched her lover, running her fingers through Andy's wet hair. "I've missed you, Darling."
"Me too, Love." Andy kissed the tip of Miranda's nose, making the older woman laugh.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Not yet." Miranda looked into Andy's eyes, feeling her heart speed up at all the love she saw.
Although they hadn't spent the week the way they'd planned to, Miranda couldn't bring herself to regret it. Andrea had gone above and beyond in order to make her daughters happy, not once looking as if she were miserable. Miranda felt their bodies together, as if perfectly fit for one another, wondering who the woman with her was, how she'd gotten so lucky. It was then that Andy smiled at her, smiling so brightly she could rival the sun. Miranda bent down and kissed her lover fully on the mouth, tasting the salt water and something uniquely her Andréa's. She smiled into the kiss, looking at her lover wistfully again.
"I don't know what I've done to deserve you Andréa but I love you. My God, how I love you."
"And I love you Miranda, and I'll be yours for as long as you'll have me."
"Forever then. I'll have you forever."
They kissed again, bringing their bodies closer as the water tried to move them apart.
It was right then that Miranda Priestly realized that she was in a filthy ocean in the arms of the love of her life and she simply couldn't bring herself to care about the filth or the rest of the world.
