Title: A Hat, Perhaps?
Author: Associatedbears
Rating: PG 13+ angst, historical death of a non-canon character, humour.
Pairing: read it and see!
Summary: Sometimes what we find can connect us to what we have lost.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but any characters starting with a "G". Crime, Barbarella: Crime.
A/N: Yes, I am back, I haven't written in this fandom since 2010. Life, whatdya do?
This is for The July Ficathon on LJ DWP site
I'm over the word limit, but this tale wanted to be told!
Thanks to my Twin Flame. X
Thoughts of characters are in Italics
And enjoy!
It was dark where she was, where they had left her. Her first sensation was biting cold, then a foul-smelling odour close to her face. She was lying on her side on the ground. Opening her eyes was a struggle, tired, stiff with the wind clawing at her little body, through to her bones. She managed to open her eyes to a dark and indistinct world, the stench was overpowering and she quickly deduced that there was some kind of loose covering over her head, and the source of the rancid smell. She fought to remove the obstruction, which she now realised was a coarse hessian bag. Shivering, she greedily inhaled the fresh-though frigid air. She saw nothing but darkness.
Lifting her head a little into the icy night, all she knew was fear, she had no idea what had happened to her, and she didn't know where she was. Frozen tears fell unchecked onto her cheeks at rememberances of home. She thought of an adoring Sister and of her protective Mother, a tigress who would never allow her cubs to come to any harm. She wondered where they were, what they were doing, if they were safe, and if she'd ever see them again.
Her sobs became louder, chest hurting, heaving with the force of her distress, she was too weak to even go and look for her family. Were they out looking for her? Did they even know that she was missing? Were they okay? Her thoughts raced as her body started to give in to the tide of the inexorable chill and total despair. She huddled into the tightest ball possible and pulled the foul-smelling bag over her chest, its pitiable warmth was preferable to nothing. As she closed her eyes, she longed for her family, longed for home. She'd never ever felt so scared and so alone.
She must have slept for a time, opening her sluggish eyes brought back the same nightmarish vista, she was still lying cold and abandoned out in the open, the sum of all of her greatest fears. The wind had picked up and the light bag was no protection from its onslaught. Her ears pricked up at a slight scraping noise, she thought it was coming from the left of her, but she couldn't hear or see anything clearly.
A light was wending its way towards her, bobbing up and down, making her dizzy. She looked up to see a huge dark shuddering shape over her and tried to scream as a giant hand came down into her night and enveloped her in its' grasp. The light that she had seen before shone brightly into her face as she gasped and tried to struggle weakly against the bounds of her invader. The light shone back towards the dark shape and she saw a flash of bright eyes and mercifully lost consciousness.
The dark shape turned to another and breathlessly said.
"Caroline! Look! A kitten, I found a kitten! It's so weak and tiny, I don't care what Mum says, we have to help it!"
Nothing this exciting had ever happened whilst waiting for the Towncar after piano lessons before, but this was urgent, important. They had to do something!
Cassidy Priestly looked over at her twin sister Caroline, she had the smallest kitten cradled against her chest that she had ever seen, and it was gorgeous, obviously tired and dirty, but so sweet. It was also evidently unconscious. This was bad, very bad. Her voice softened as she whispered.
"Is it dead? Poor little thing, being out in this cold winter night alone."
She was always the more sensitive of the two of them. A stronger voice answered her in an attempt to be reassuring.
"I don't know Cass, she's still warm, I guess that she's just exhausted, poor little thing, wonder what happened to her, whatever it was, she needs our help."
Caroline had a plan, she could hear it in her voice, she agreed, but someone had to be the voice of sanity in this circus, there was a really good reason why they had never owned a cat in their entire lives. She tried to calm her voice to be as reasonable as possible as she answered.
"Listen Caroline, I totally agree with what you are saying, but Mum hates cats, she's made no secret of this fact."
Cass nodded her head, taking in the full import of what her sister was saying.
"I know that Sis, but I also know that this kitten is dead without our help. If we have to smuggle her into the house and hide her from Mum until she is better, then I vote that we do it!"
Her voice getting more determined with every word.
"Do you agree Sis? I can't do this without your help, please Sissy, it literally IS a matter of life and death!"
Pleading and desperately serious, for one of the few times in her life; Caroline extended her fist toward her sister and was gratified to hear.
"Yeah Sis, totally agree, we can't leave it here: let's do it!"
And the sisters bumped knuckles soundly and their duplicitous plan was born.
2 hours later….
The two red-headed girls were whispering in their cinema room about the success of their daring plot dubbed "Felinious Rex". The kitten was safely secured upstairs in a Jimmy Choo shoebox, sleeping soundly after a good meal of milk from an eye dropper. Cassidy had the brilliant idea to place an old (well 2013 season) Prada Tshirt in the box for warmth and Caroline had contributed a small ticking clock, so that the tiny kitten would have a reassuring heartbeat for comfort. They had very carefully bathed the little feline and brushed it into a fluffy ball. Both girls were congratulating themselves on their abilities in being able to distract the Housekeeper. Secure in their victory, both girls took out their resources and started their homework assignments. If they worked fast, they hoped the kitten would be awake and they could go play with it before bedtime.
Ninety minutes later Cassidy yawned widely and stretched as she hit "SAVE" and closed her laptop, she could see that Caroline was close to doing the same on her own work. She looked forward to going and checking on their houseguest and possibly having a cuddle. Without a word, she tapped her sister on the shoulder and pointed upstairs with her finger, she saw Caro's eyes widen in understanding and when she nodded, Cassidy knew that her sister would follow her when she was finished.
"Oh no, this is NOT happening! We are so dead! Mum's going to kill us!"
In her distress her voice was traversing from a whisper to a dull roar. Caroline came running and stopped dead in the doorway when she saw the look of fear on her sister's face, the look was transferred to her when she spotted the empty shoebox.
"We are so dead, Caro. It's not here, we've lost the kitten" that voice, so close to tears, so uttterly frightened, spurred the quieter sister into a bravery she usually did not display, she took a deep breath and stated.
"Of course it's here Sis, it's so tiny, where could it be but nearby? It's too small to go running around the Townhouse by itself, relax. Let's take a bit of time to look around. You take the closet and I'll check the bedroom, I'm totally sure we'll find it in a sec."
She hoped that what she said was true, either way Cassidy needed to chill out and breathe before she fainted or something. Cassidy nodded and took a deep breath, and together the girls began to look for the escaped kitten.
Meanwhile in her study, Miranda Priestly absent-mindedly flicked the errant strand of white hair resting on her brow and tiredly pinched her neck muscles as she attempted to fix the God-awful article residing under her regal nose. The Book was well below even a sub-par level tonight.
"Honestly, would it kill these people to check their spelling? Some days Patricia could do a more proficient job. Am I asking for the moon and stars here?"
She was tired after another long day, attempting to achieve perfection single-handedly, her red marker flew at speed, as more and more content was ruthlessly cut by the Editor. Why was everyone in her life seemingly determined to thwart her at every turn? Even her beloved Bobbsies had given her a cursory greeting when she arrived home and dashed away to do homework. Homework. Even Patricia was missing in action; undoubtably, somewhere she shouldn't be. She sighed to herself and wondered aloud;
"Why are people so difficult? I pay for perfection and I get the leftovers of Jocelyn's "Sophomoric Fantasy Haute Couture". Why is there no-one worthy of my time? Do I really ask for so…"
Her next thought was cut off by an impossible sight, her Gucci Soft Shoulder Crocodile Handbag seemed to be moving of its own volition.With great caution and feeling like an unmitigated fool, Miranda nudged her bag with the tip of one perfectly shod Prada foot. The wriggling immediately stopped and Miranda (who had convinced herself that her eyes were playing tricks on her due to fatigue), sighed softly and went back to work.
Some time later as Miranda was determinedly slashing more inadequate content, her bag started to shake and then rolled itself off her low table! With a shriek, Miranda was up and standing on her chair in a heartbeat, her one thought was:
"Mouse, Oh My God! There's a rodent in my house!"
Contrary to popular opinion, Miranda was an animal lover and a staunch and generous benefactor to many Animal Charities, she was not, however enamoured of rodents, guinea pigs and other small rat-like creatures. Unfortunately it did not escape her notice that she was also the only adult at home, (the two previous spouses long gone at this point in time). So it fell to her to deal with this situation, however unpleasant it may prove to be.
With great trepidation but utilising her trademark elegance and grace, Miranda steeled herself and opened the bag, ready to drop it and bid a hasty retreat if necessary. She was unprepared for the sight that greeted her. Curled up next to her compact was the tiniest drowsy kitten that she had ever seen. The kitten was a shiny brownish black with black stripes, greeny yellow eyes and luxuriously fluffy. Miranda had seen this breed of cat before, a Norwegian Forrest Cat if she recalled correctly.
Miranda carefully relocated the tiny kitten from the inside of her bag to the warmth of her throat; the kitten seemed to sigh and snuggled in immediately. Miranda gently lifted a hand and stroked the cat's shiny coat.
"Who are you? A hat: perhaps? You're much too young to be away from your Mother, Little One; I wonder how you ended up in my handbag? I do believe that my "homeworking hellions" might just have something to do with this, but seeing it's after 2am, they will be asleep now, I will deal with them in the morning. As the adult of the household, it will fall to me to look after you, just for tonight."
The little feline had opened its eyes at Miranda's voice and seemed to be listening to her intently, which made a pleasant change from most individuals in Miranda's life! She picked up the kitten and held it a few centimetres away from her patrician nose, so as to get a better look at her, the kitten opened her eyes wider and they regarded each other solemnly, Editor and Stowaway. The kitten purred softly as Miranda continued to muse aloud.
"I doubt that my girls are responsible enough yet to adequately care for a newborn kitten, so you can stay with me tonight, Little One, but after that you will need to go somewhere else, somewhere where you will be properly cared for. I have a very large dog, two petulant ex-husbands, twin daughters and a career as the Editor in Chief of the preeminent Fashion Magazine on the Planet. I have absolutely no free time and certainly wish no harm to befall you. You are quite sweet and undoubtedly lovely, but you cannot under any circumstances stay beyond tonight. My mind is quite made up. That's all."
The kitten seemed to be digesting this piece of information as she was held close enough to Miranda's nose to touch it; indeed, she decided to do exactly that. With a clumsy swipe of her paw, the tiny creature started to bat feebly at Miranda's nose. Miranda could feel the feather soft little paw rubbing up against the tip of her nose, and it was like being attacked by cotton candy. Despite herself, a genuine laugh bubbled up out of her chest at the kitten's antics. It was the sort of laugh that would have had the denizens of runway on the floor with astonishment.
"Well I will say this for you Little One: you certainly possess the Priestly Attitude in abundance! What am I saying? You are not mine and you will be leaving in the morning. Enough of this pleasant diversion, now back to work."
She carefully placed the now-sleepy kitten back into her open $32,500 handbag and settled back into her work.
Some time later, Miranda stopped and looked around her study, it was very late and she couldn't believe how much work she had managed to finish in the quiet early morning hours. With a brief stretch, she got up and went to check on the welfare of her temporary houseguest. As her face loomed over the opening of the bag, a fluffy little face peered up at her and a rumbling purr began. Without a second thought, Miranda picked up the little creature and started to stroke it softly with her graceful hands, she couldn't believe it when the purring seemed to treble in volume. She considered the little ball of fluff in her hands and said wryly.
"You do realise Little One, that even for single nights' residence, a civilised creature-such as yourself, will require a name, a way to identify yourself as an individual among the herd. I called the Twins Little One, so that name is occupied already, and it would be improper to call you: I Am Glad You Are Not Rodentia! If we are going to continue our discourse, I really must call you something, even for just one night" she thought for a long quiet moment.
"I think that I will call you Golda Tal, Goldie for short. After someone who I cared for very much; and lost, a long time ago, you have her colouring and her attitude."
Goldie seemed to be listening closely, encouraging her to continue, but Miranda was introspective, almost continuing to talk then, caught herself at the last opportunity. Goldie blinked at her and then mewed quite pitifully, as a Mother herself, Miranda understood the problem. Continuing to talk to her little companion softly, she glided down the stairs and went to prepare a snack, milk for Goldie and a sandwich for herself.
She saw the eye dropper in the sink, correctly intuitive that her girls must have fed Goldie some time during the previous evening, maybe her Bobbsies were finally becoming more responsible. She placed the tiny kitten in her hand and gave her the tip of the dropper, Goldie was evidently quite an intelligent creature as she fed immediately. Miranda hummed in approval and set about making a light snack for herself.
After both had eaten, she began to load the dishwasher, and was pleasantly surprised to feel that the tiny kitten had climbed up onto her shoulder and was sitting there quite serenely. Miranda was careful with her chores, making sure that she didn't move too quickly and dislodge her little passenger and injure her. To her astonishment and delight; Goldie curled a paw around her neck and pressed herself up to the side of Miranda's throat, all the while purring like a little train.
"How very lovely she is, and so elegant and well behaved" she said aloud.
Then a little seed of doubt began to settle in Miranda's mind, after all, after staying with the Priestly's any other location might prove to be a disappointment. And really, who knows what sort of family she might end up with, really the best option would be for Goldie to stay here. The kitten blinked and meowed softly as if in agreement.
Miranda crooned softly at a problem sorted. She never second-guessed her decisions. Now for the logistics: supplies, she needed supplies.
"Uh…hello" the sleepy voice petered off into nothingness, it WAS 530 am on a Saturday after all, what was the silly girl doing?
"Andrea" and after the first word, she was suddenly wide awake.
"Yes, so sorry Miranda, how can I help you?" that was better, competency and efficiency. Such a lovely mix in a lovely girl; Where did THAT come from Priestly?
"Andrea, you are to go and buy everything necessary to look after a kitten aged approximately 3 to 4 weeks. Bottles, milk substitute, kibble, a pan to do its business, anything else that your pretty little head can think of, and call my Veterinarian Lucia to set up a check-up for later today. A secure carrier box, grooming supplies, a gold collar and blankets. I want gold-colored cat blankets; Her name is GOLDA, engrave her it on her collar; let me stress that. Andrea, do not disappoint me. I want you to personally deliver it all to the Townhouse. Roy will be arriving at your apartment any moment and you are to get him to assist you. Time is of the essence."
"Yes Miranda." How the flying fuck am I going to find all this before 9 am on a Saturday? And Miranda hates cats; everyone knows that, Miranda hates everything except Runway and her twins. Andrea yawned and wondered if this was some new kind of test, Harry Potter with Pussies or some such thing? Was she even awake?
To Andy's shock, Miranda slightly modified her tone and stated more softly.
"It's the twins doing, I have acquired a cat and its tiny, if I do not look after her correctly, she could die" Okay, that made everything as clear as mud, but if a furry little life was at stake, then that's definitely worth getting up for at the ass crack of dawn and hunting down pet supplies. Never let it be said that Andy Sachs ignored a kitten in distress.
"Yes Miranda, I will have all you need at the Townhouse no later than 11 am" trying to sound confident.
"See that you do Andrea" and Miranda hung up.
As she hung up the phone and launched herself out of her toasty warm bed, Andrea muttered aloud.
"Now who do I know who could help me in the city? Network Girlfriend, use your network."
Andy's agile young mind was already sorting through possibilities, at times like this, she was glad of her friendly and genuine demeanour, as she had a lot of contacts in New York and not just confined to fashion. She vaguely remembered a contact of Doug's, now to call Dougie, oh crap, its 615am. Glad he loves me.
After Andrea had quickly showered, inhaled a coffee and a bagel and brushed her teeth, Roy had arrived with his reassuring presence and sympathetic smile, after all, he had seen The Dragon Lady send down some ridiculous requests, but this one took the biscuit. He liked the generous, friendly brunette that he was driving today; however they were both employees of La Priestly and she said deliver and so you deliver and pray it's enough to get her smoke outta your face for another day.
Roy snorted, to be honest; he liked the Dame as well. Not that he ever actually got to speak to her; but he'd seen more of the real Miranda Priestly than most peons in her life-and lasted longest as her Personal Driver, so he must be doing something right. He cared for all the Priestly's and he wanted them to be safe, happy and loved; exactly the same things he wanted for his own wife and three daughters in Queens.
By 830 am; Andrea had been to two separate Pet Warehouses in Brooklyn and had loaded copious packages into the boot of the Towncar. With her was her erstwhile companion Dougie and his ex-roomie's brother Logan-who just happened to manage a Pet store. With his generous help, they had been able to secure most of the items necessary, hours before the stores were even open to the Public. It didn't hurt that gay Logan was "MP'S Biggest Homeboy" either!
Andy's mind was clocking into overdrive as she mentally inventoried all of the parcels in the boot of the car…. kibble, bottles, milk substitute, litter box and litter, cat comb and brush, shampoo, golden collar engraved with GOLDIE: Check. She wondered where the name had come from and snorted, as if Miranda would ever tell her. Next on the list: a secure carrier, a basket, heated water and food bowls, and those golden blankets. Andy smiled at the thought of Miranda's reaction to those, she'd been lucky enough to find a store that would monogram the pet's name onto their blankets while you wait, and (after her hurricane of cat-themed shopping), she had the time to wait. She happily sent all three men for coffee and bagels (her treat, it was the least she could do) as she waited for the personalised items and the remainder of the products on her list.
While Andy waited, she was shown to a comfortable seat and offered a cup of excellent coffee. As she sipped her beverage, she contemplated the mystery that was Miranda Priestly. She was well aware that her interest in her Boss went a little (ok a LOT) beyond the superficial interest of an employee; however she was also realistic enough to know that a 50-something successful and stunning virago like Miranda could have any person on the planet, and that insignificant little Andy-kins would be last on her list.
She snorted that if Miranda ever had a list that she doubted that her name would even be making it into last place, and that was okay. She would be happy to be in her sphere and adore her from a distance and help her; any way that she could. As it was, she should be back at the Townhouse half an hour early, if that was all she could do for Miranda, and then she would do it well.
Miranda sniffed as she poured her third cup of strong coffee, careful not to disturb the little feline snuggled warmly into her neck. She was a woman in waiting, waiting for her twins to stir. For the last hour or so, she had contemplated the best way to deal with her miscreant offspring. She knew that they must-at some point last night, have been panic-stricken at the thought of losing Goldie. She was their Mother and she wanted to spare them pain. She was pleased that they had stepped up to rescue the helpless kitten, however she was also a little angry and upset that they didn't see fit to trust her with the knowledge of Goldie's presence in (what is essentially HER house). She knew that they had probably stayed up extremely late searching for the kitten, so she stayed in her kitchen and she waited…
Andy felt and it was only 1000 am. She had just waved goodbye to Logan and Dougie, with a promise to have both men over for a roast dinner next Sunday night to say a proper thank you, and Roy had just helped her carry all of her pussy-purchases into the foyer of the Townhouse. It was uncharacteristically quiet for this time on a Saturday. She sent Miranda a time-stamped text message and was about to turn and head towards the Subway to enjoy what was left of her own day off, when she heard a soft click and Miranda slowly walked out of a door at the rear of the foyer. Andy couldn't believe her eyes, not only was Miranda barefoot, but she was dressed in the softest Derek Rose long sleeve pyjamas, a shade darker than her eyes. As she glided towards Andrea, she almost forgot to breathe. Miranda was a Goddess, stunning in her sleep attire, Andy's mouth watered.
"Ah Andrea, I trust that you have everything that I need." Miranda's face was beautiful in the light.
Holy Heck, Do I, Miranda! Poker face Andy, she's asking about the shopping for the cat, Oh My God, that's the cat….She's gorgeous….the cat too….Get it together Andy, she'll see it on your face and you're done for.
Whilst Andy had been talking to herself, Miranda had come closer until Andy could have reached out a hand and touched her. It was at this point that she turned fully and Andy was able to fully appreciate the beautiful little creature curled up on Miranda's neck. Lucky kitty, thought Andy wistfully.
"Yes Miranda, I have everything that you requested, a gold collar monogrammed with GOLDA and golden blankets, a carrier, food, bowls, litter, grooming products and you have an appointment with Lucia at 1pm today, that's 30 minutes before she opens. Can I do anything else to help you?"
Looking at the pile of products, I can see that Andrea has taken it upon herself to order some additional supplies necessary, items that I hadn't even thought of myself. How very thoughtful the girl is, and how caring. I suppress a smile as I pull out the lovely soft golden blankets, I snort in amusement as I can see that these have been monogrammed as well, not caring if the girl can hear me. And my Andrea has been able to achieve all of this in just a few short hours? Is there nothing this bright soul cannot do?
"Well it seems that you have achieved the impossible again Andrea. I find myself quite pleased with your efforts."
Oh my God, I have just been complimented by Miranda Priestly and she's looking at me as if she can almost stand me, steady there, Andy, just stand here and shut up, keep smiling and maybe you can stand here like this with her for a little longer, like maybe, I dunno: forever?
Miranda allowed a small gentle smile to linger on her face as she looked at her new kitten, and she turned slightly to include Andrea in the warmth as well.
"Andrea, meet the newest member of the Priestly family, Golda. Golda, this is Andrea" What a cutie, and she's so tiny, I can see what Miranda meant about this being urgent, she can't be more than 3 weeks old. She's so fluffy, wonder what breed she is.
It was like Miranda could read her mind, as she took a breath and answered.
"She is tiny, Andrea, I think about 3 weeks; but Lucia will be able to say for sure. I do believe that her breed is that of a Norwegian Forrest Cat. I met this little darling last night when she somehow ended up in my Gucci handbag."
Andy smiled widely, charmed at the thought of Golda being found in such an apt way by The Queen of Fashion. Miranda continued.
"I know that I do not need to tell you that I do not empirically know how Golda ended up in my handbag, however; I would hazard a 100% correct guess that my daughters are somehow involved. They evidently misplaced their little friend sometime late last night, and I would surmise that their lack of appearance today is the direct result of them, undoubtably scouring the house to find Golda late last night." Andy was confused
"So THEY don't know that YOU have her yet?"
She could see one of "those" discussions in the twin's future and briefly felt sorry for the girls.
"No Andrea, they don't."
Then the most evil smile Andy had ever seen, briefly bloomed across Miranda's stunning face.
"But they soon will, that's them on the stairs now."
Miranda's face settled into the blank visage that she wore each day at Runway.
Andy was horrified, she still had the teeth marks in her self-esteem from the last time she had blundered into a private family conversation in the Priestly residence, and this was big; there was no way that she wanted to be here for this little discussion. She smiled weakly and slowly tried to move for the door. Miranda, seeing her strategy, was the first to speak
"Andrea, do go and get me another coffee, get one for yourself while you are at it and join us in the breakfast room in 5 minutes"
Oh fuck me, was she serious? Miranda's face was about as approachable as her manner was warm just prior to a meeting with Irv Ravitz.
"Yes Miranda." Oh crap.
There was no other option but to agree and hope that all would be well. Andy moved into the kitchen, as she heard Miranda's soft voice directing the twins into the breakfast room.
When Andy entered the room a few minutes later, the room was darker than usual, someone had drawn the blinds and the twins were sitting moving cereal around with their spoons and Miranda was sitting delicately chewing on a piece of buttered toast. There was a really strange vibe in the air, no-one was making eye contact and Andy was nervous. She heard Miranda ask the twins how they were and if they had done anything interesting yesterday or today. She cringed when she heard their negative replies.
Miranda just smiled strangely and started to speak, here it comes thought Andy, she wished to be anywhere but here at this moment.
"Well that's the strange thing Bobbsies, you both say that nothing out of the ordinary has happened in the last day, however, I would be inclined to disagree. Andrea, would you open the blinds now?"
With a sinking feeling, Andy obeyed. Within seconds, the twins began to speak.
"Oh No, Oh Mum, Mum, we can explain!"
Caro shot a desperate look at Cass to back her up.
"Yes Mum, it was alone in an alley, it was freezing to death, we had to save it, please don't be angry with us. It was too late to tell you." Poor Cass was almost in tears, surely her Mother would see reason?
Knowing that her Mum hated cats, really no time would be the best time to tell her. But it was strange, the kitten sat on her Mum's shoulder like a Queen, like she belonged there or something, she was stunning in the bright morning light.
"We were going to tell you today, but then it escaped and we looked for it for like 6 hours" in a small earnest voice.
"Yes Mum, Cassidy is right, we only got to bed at 7am! We're sorry, please let us keep her, we'll do anything" Her little eyes full of tears, pleading at her Mother to understand.
Miranda listened calmly, her face impassive, the twins were glancing at her and back at each other nervously. There was no telling what direction this was going to take, truth be told; they'd never really seen their Mother in Runway mode before and it scared them, also what was Mum's Assistant doing here, watching the whole thing? They'd heard that Mum's nickname was "The Ice Queen", but surely she wasn't going to turn it on a baby kitten? This was their Mother, she loved them.
"First of all girls and Andrea, I want to tell you all a story. Andrea please help yourself to a hearty breakfast, I know that I dragged you out of a warm bed at a ridiculously early hour this morning and you need to eat. Girls, please make room at the table for Andrea, Cassidy will get you flatware and Caroline will get you a bowl and a plate."
The twins, released from that icy stare, jumped up eagerly, happy to be released from their Mother's laser focus-even for a minute.
When the girls returned, Andy took a small serve of cereal, a muffin and some scrambled eggs, after all: who could eat at a time like this? Once Miranda had the attention of everyone at the table, she began:
"When I was nine years old, I had a Sister."
Whoah Nelly, Andy had poured over Miranda's official biography, nowhere did it mention a Sister. The twins were equally confused; they'd never known an Aunt or an Uncle in the whole course of their lives. What the eff was going on?
Miranda paused, seeing the consternation that this statement had engendered, and: because she was at her breakfast table and not Irv's Boardroom, she made a conscious effort to relax her posture and her manner.
"I realise that this is news to all of you. I had a Sister when I was nine, who I adored with my whole heart. She was eleven and my favourite person in the entire world."
Miranda stopped and gently stroked the little kitten sleeping on her shoulder. Seeing that she had the rapt attention of every person in the room, she continued.
"My sister and I shared a room from when I was very young, she was like a Mother to me and she made my childhood magical and wonderful, like I have wanted to do for the two of you." Tenderly smiling at Caroline and Cassidy in turn.
"She was a wonderful Sister and a beautiful person." Looking directly at Andrea now.
"Of all the people I have ever met in my life, Andrea, you remind me the most of her in looks and personality. She was graceful, charming and generous, always had a kind world for every person she met."
Her words died out and she got a sad, faraway look in her eyes, that no-one at the table could stand to see. Caroline finally asked the question that they had all been dying to ask Miranda
"Mum, what happened? What happened to your Sister? Why isn't she here with us now?"
"Caroline, My Darling. I'm afraid that she was involved in a terrible accident on the night of her 11th Birthday. Our parents had bought her a kitten earlier in the day, it was very small and she just loved it so much. Somehow it wandered onto a busy road, just down from our house, and my Sister rescued it" tears glistened in her eyes and her voice was shaking now.
"On the way back across the road, a truck came out of nowhere and hit her, it was going very fast and she passed away instantly, along with the little kitten that she had loved for such a short time" she was crying openly now, along with Andrea and the girls.
"I kept it out of my biography; I tried to keep it out of my life entirely. My parents never spoke of her again after she died, it hurt too much. But that meant that she never really existed and that's wrong too. I didn't ever want a kitten, the kitten my Sister had was the same breed as Goldie, and maybe it's a sign.
I don't want to mourn anymore. My Sister wouldn't want it and this little kitten has claimed a spot in my heart after just a single night. My sister's name was Golda Tal. I used to call her Goldie. That's what I have named this little kitten: in honour of my most adored Sister. Maybe this kitten is My Sister's Spirit back with me again, telling me its okay, that my heart has healed, that its time to love again.
I'm hurt that you couldn't trust me with this, Girls, but I'm glad that Goldie is in our lives, whatever way she got here. I want to remember the love, not the pain; there's been too much pain."
She looked up and the agony in her eyes was too much, the twins and Andy all rushed to her and held the sobbing woman in their arms.
Later that evening, the twins knocked lightly on the door of their Mother's study, when they didn't get an answer, they tip-toed inside the door. What they saw made them stop dead in their tracks. The room was bathed in soft lighting from a single lamp. Their Mother was lying on her daybed, sound asleep: in Andrea Sach's arms, that in itself was unexpected. They looked so perfectly content together.
Caroline shot Cassidy a look and then quietly started to laugh, Cassidy wasn't sure why their Mum sleeping with Andy was so funny, until she followed Caroline's pointed finger and saw the kitten: Goldie, sound asleep on her Mother's stomach, looking like The Queen of The World.