Chapter One

"Butt out, Mom," Miranda yelled. "Just butt out of my life!"

She was so sick and tired of her mother's attitude. She was also sick of all the goddamn moving around they had been doing. Every time something went wrong in her mother's life, she ran. Grabbing her jacket, Miranda stormed out of the house and started walking swiftly, wherever her feet would take her. She found herself seething with anger when by the time she arrived at the park. She sank down against a tree and buried her face in her hands.

*I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna cry,* she kept telling herself, but even so, a couple of tears squeezed out of her eyes. Her life was a mess right now. It was so hard to be seventeen.

Miranda looked up to see a young man standing over her. He was about her age, with strawberry blond hair and kind blue eyes. "Hey," he said, appearing concerned at her agitated state. "Is... something wrong?"

"You could say that," Miranda said as she wiped away her tears and swiftly expelled her breath.

Who was this guy? And why was he being so nice to her... as if he really cared? He didn't even know her!

Even so, something about him made her feel at ease with him in some odd way. It was as if they had some sort of instantaneous connection.

"Why are you sad?" asked the young man.

"I just had a major fight with my mom," Miranda revealed. "It was ugly."

He knelt down to her level, gazing into her dark-brown eyes. "I am really sorry to hear that," he said. "I fight with my dad all the time."

"What's your name?"

"Adam Chandler III," he stated. "But I am not fond of such a sophisticated name. I prefer to be called AJ."

"Nice to meet you, AJ," she said, extending her hand to him. "My name is Miranda Montgomery-Williams."

The moment their hands touched, a shock of electricity moved at a fast pace along Miranda's nerves. There was something about this guy - something compelling. Now that they had met, she wanted to get to know him better. For the first time in her life, she was interested in a guy.

"I hope we can be best friends," AJ told her with a smile as he sat next to her on the grass. "Tell me about your mom. Why did you get into an argument?"

"It's complicated," Miranda said as she expelled a heavy sigh. She knew she was taking a big risk as she began to tell AJ the specifics of her unusual family.

"You see," she stated. "I actually have TWO moms, Reese and Bianca. Bianca is my biological mom. I actually had the fight with her."

"Ohhh wow," said AJ in surprise, although there appeared to be no judgment in his tone. "You have two moms! How did that happen?"

"My mom is a lesbian. She and Reese fell in love. I have a little sister named Gabrielle. My mom was artificially inseminated. My aunt's husband Zach was the donor. It's a little crazy, I know, but that's my family."

"Nothing wrong with that... as long as your moms are happy."

"That's the problem. They are not," Miranda said sorrowfully. "Right now, they aren't even together, although they are still married. Mom got mad at Reese AGAIN. Without warning, she moved us back here, to Pine Valley. Gabrielle and I aren't happy... and we miss our other mother."

"Do you know why they aren't getting along?"

"It's complicated," Miranda repeated. "I don't know what's going on with them... but I know they still love each other."

"It does seem really complicated, but if your moms are still in love, there is always a chance they could get back together. Maybe you and I could help them."

"You would help?" Miranda asked in surprise.

"Of course," he replied. "I said I wanted us to be best friends, right?"

He gave her a grin that she couldn't help but return. She felt perfectly at ease with him, so she made a little joke. "Are you sure you want to be best friends with ME, a girl who was conceived inside a laboratory dish?"

"I don't care about that. Not at all. I just don't want to see you sad anymore. Can I go with you to meet your mom?"

"Really, you'd like to meet her?"

"Sure. I'd like to get to know her."

"Well, usually when I tell people I have two mothers, they run the other way."

"I am not like other people," AJ stated. "I am unique."

AJ helped Miranda to her feet so they could walk back to her house together. As they were walking, they were trying to come up with ways they could get her two moms back together. "I think it would take some sort of dire emergency to get Reese to come to Pine Valley... like if my little sister was sick and in the hospital," Miranda said. "If we called Reese and said something like that, maybe she'd come..."

"Yeah, but that would be lying and then Reese would be upset with you," AJ pointed out. "Just let me talk to your mother. I think you and I can persuade her to make up with Reese."

Xxxxxx

Bianca felt hot tears sting her eyes after the heated encounter with her oldest daughter. Miranda had always been her little sweetie growing up - her angel. Now Miranda was a teenager, and they constantly seemed to be at each other's throats. Fact was, Miranda blamed Bianca for the many break-ups she had over the years with Reese. And as Bianca sat down to think about it, she guessed Miranda was probably right. She was to blame. Ever since she had found out that about the kiss Reese had shared with Zach the night before she and Reese's wedding, she had many jealous flare-ups, constantly accusing Reese of cheating on her or wanting someone else. Always it was a guy she thought Reese had her eye on. Reese would deny it... they would fight, but the result was that Bianca would take the girls and move, escaping her troubled relationship with Reese. Part of her just couldn't believe Reese; that Reese was in fact a lesbian, that she didn't like guys, and that she had never, ever cheated. It was always the same scenario, time after time. They just couldn't seem to get it right.

"And it's all my fault," Bianca said to herself. "I don't even trust my own wife..." No wonder the girls were so mad at her right now; she had inadvertently put them in the middle. Because when she and Reese were together, they had a happy and joyous family and Bianca had referred to Miranda and Gabrielle as "their" daughters, but the minute she and Reese would start fighting, Bianca would say they were "hers," considering her biological tie to both of the girls, then she would take off with Miranda and Gabrielle, leaving Reese behind. Bianca realized she wasn't just hurting Reese with her behavior; she had also been causing her daughters considerable pain.

After Bianca's argument with Miranda, Gabrielle had fled upstairs. At fourteen, Gabrielle was going through her awkward teenage stage. Gabrielle was extremely close to her mother Reese and moving to Pine Valley had been painful for the teen. Gabrielle Montgomery-Williams had a difficult time growing up because everyone knew that she basically had two mothers.

Bianca Montgomery had given birth to her, but Reese Williams, her mother's partner was her second mother and had lovingly helped to raise her. They had moved around often as she was growing up. She was born in Pine Valley, but shortly after her birth, they had moved to Paris, France. Years later, they had lived in Pine Valley again, then Port Charles and now, after the most current break-up of her parents, they had finally settled back into Pine Valley once again.

Gabrielle was deeply bonded to Reese, so she was heartbroken by the separation from her other mom. She hoped and prayed her moms would work things out as soon as possible. Missing Reese was making her incredibly sad.

Xxxxxx

Bianca looked up from where she was seated on the sofa, seeing Miranda enter with a nice-looking young man who appeared to be the same age. "Hi, honey," she said to her daughter. "I'm sorry about the fight we had." She then gave a smile to the teenage boy.

"Who's your friend?" Bianca asked. It wasn't like Miranda to invite boys over. But with the constant moving they had been doing over the years, she probably hadn't had time to meet many boys.

AJ returned Bianca's smile, totally turning on his charm. "Wow, I can see where Miranda's good looks came from," he said to Bianca, reaching out to shake her hand. "My name is Adam Chandler III, also known as AJ, and I'm your daughter's new best friend."

"Kewl," replied Bianca. "It's nice to meet you, AJ. Years ago, I knew your parents." She didn't want to go into all that history. It was far too painful. Maybe someday, she'd tell her daughter how she and AJ had a link even from the first moments of their birth.

"You knew my parents; that's so cool!" AJ stated," I miss my mother a lot sometimes." His mother had died when he was just a boy.

"So how did you become my daughter's best friend?" Bianca asked.

"I found her crying in the park," AJ confessed. "She's really upset about what happened between you and her other mother."

Miranda held her breath unsure of what her mother's reaction would be to that news.

"Let's sit and talk," Bianca offered, indicating to the soft white leather sofa set in her living room.

The teens went and sat in the love sette side by side while Bianca took one of the other chairs. Once they were all settled in their seats, Bianca began talking.

"I know both my girls have been upset about having to move and leave behind the mother they have come to love," she said sadly.

"You do this all the time to us, Mom," Miranda said.

"Things are just so complicated between Reese and I," Bianca said. "But I never meant for you girls to get hurt in the process."

"But you have. You've taken away a mother from us for your own selfish reasons," she continued.

"I love Reese so much," Bianca said," I just wish things could be simple between us."

"Mom, it can be if you make it simple," Miranda said.

"Maybe you could call her and try to work things out," AJ suggested. "I don't want to see my best friend unhappy."

He put an arm around Miranda as if he'd always known her. Little did he know, but they had been playmates when they were little and they had a complicated past due to a "baby switch" seventeen years ago. The reason they felt such a deep bond from the moment they had met was because they were born on the same day and although they didn't know it yet, destiny had put them back upon the same path.

Bianca gave AJ a brilliant smile. "I think that's a great idea," she said. "Thanks so much for the suggestion."

"No need to thank me," AJ said as he returned Bianca's smile. He looked over at Miranda to see that she was practically glowing. He was happy now that Miranda seemed more at ease.

"Why don't you two go get a snack from the kitchen while I give Reese a call? How about some cookies and milk?"

"Mom, we are seventeen... not seven," Miranda said with a small laugh.

She took AJ's hand, realizing her mom wanted to be alone to call Reese. "Let's go get a snack," she said to her new best friend.

"Thanks. I'd love to," AJ replied.