This is a sequel to the story I wrote called Wholesome, so you should go read that first, prompted by an anon from tumblr: "THE MIRANDY FIC ABOUT THE PIERCINGS AND TATTOOS IS SO AWESOME! CAN I BEG FOR A COMPANION PIECE? I have these super awesome nipple bars that have wings on them. I have even seen a picture of what it looks like on here. So, maybe, cause Andy loves wings... Miranda was out shopping with her girls and found a set of winged barbells, and gets them for Andy. And the girls are curious as to why Miranda's getting them, and it starts a conversation about expression and body modifications and such?" Enjoy guys.
Miranda loved spending time with the twins, she really did, but now they were hitting that age where they had rather…questionable taste. It was rather exhausting to smile through every single piece of clothing she would rather burn than have a child of hers wear, but she knew it was important to let the girls express themselves in ways that they saw fit. Besides, thirteen year olds rarely kept the same style for more than a few months at a time and sometime soon Caroline would stop dressing in that god awful bubblegum pink style right out of some cliché teenager movie. Sometime soon. Please. For her sanity and the sake of her retinas.
She had faith that once they grew up a little more they would settle into a style that was their own but not so eye burning. And hopefully designer again. They had shunned all the stylish clothing that Miranda could acquire for them the year before at the start of this, preferring to do their own shopping without heed of labels, only brands their classmates were in favor of or whatever that caught their eye. That had pained her as well, but it couldn't be helped. Hollister. She fought to keep from rolling her eyes. Who in their right mind.
"Mom, can we go into Hot Topic?" Cassidy asked. Her style had been getting darker and darker in color, as had her taste in music.
Miranda fought a shiver. Oh, the paparazzi were going to have a field day with this. "Of course, Bobbsey, whatever you want."
Cassidy smiled at her and dragged her twin off at a break neck pace, knowing that Miranda would catch up with them in a minute. Malls were safe enough for that she supposed and didn't call after them to slow.
She caught up with them a few minutes later and Cassidy was positively gushing over a shirt with a skull on it that Miranda thought was absolutely hideous, but her daughter was so in love with it that she couldn't quite bring herself to care about it. Too much. She wasn't perfect after all and most definitely wasn't a saint. The benefit of being in such a store was no one at all knew who she was and put up no fuss. Miranda walked around looking at a few things and trying not to sneer. If nothing else it was an…interesting experience.
She found Caroline looking at a bunch of accessories that somehow were bright pink and fit her current style perfectly in a store full of black. She glanced over and saw her mother and smiled. She held out a pair of cupcake earrings.
"Aren't these so cool, Mom?" She was practically jumping up and down.
"They're wonderful, darling. They would go well with that top we just bought you."
Caroline nodded enthusiastically. "That was exactly what I was thinking."
If nothing else through this Miranda had at least taught them well enough how to put together a good outfit even if it wasn't of things she thought of as stylish. There were small miracles to be thankful of.
"I'm glad you're finding something here. I thought this would be much more of a store for your sister only."
Caroline shrugged. "The clothes aren't really my thing, but they have some cute accessories sometimes."
Miranda nodded. "So it seems. Keep looking, darling, and come get me whenever you and your sister are done."
Caroline went back to looking with a distant ok, already fingering a pair of dream catcher earrings.
Miranda sighed. This was much more Andrea's area of expertise. The girl had found her own sense of style using Runway approved clothes, but she had seen Andrea's home wardrobe, shot through with graphic tees and all manner of things that took the word fashion and twisted it until it was no longer recognizable. She was much more flexible than Miranda herself was. She could bend for those she loved of course, but being truly accepting was a work in progress. Of course it was, she was the head of an industry that was unyielding in the fact that you had to look a certain way to be considered right. Andrea had set her on the path of discovering that wasn't quite true, but as she had said, she was no saint.
She found herself walking past glass cases filled with all sorts of more expensive merchandise, jewelry of assorted types. Her lips curled as she viewed all manner of earrings meant to widen the holes in ones ears. Why in the world would someone do that? Then her mind called up an image of Andrea with some of the smaller ones in, hair up in a bun with glittery purple tapers in her ears and she had to admit there was some aesthetic appeal there. Fine, she supposed. This store wasn't all bad, just different than she was used to that didn't mean it didn't have its place. She had to remember that.
She walked on to another case, eyes sweeping up and down the rows of belly button rings. Her lips pursed before surveying them again. There was nothing in there that Andrea would like. Too colorful or gaudy for the most part, she usually kept her body jewelry on the simpler side. She turned the case to see if there were anymore. Her eyes immediately settled on a pair of winged barbells meant for nipple piercings.
Her mind immediately was transported to another image of Andrea with the winged jewelry in and she had to swallow hard. They were absolutely perfect. Andrea would love them she was sure of it. They matched the design on her back almost perfectly.
She bit her lip. But now she had to buy them. Which meant getting someone who may or may not remember her later and may or may not tell the press what she was buying and wouldn't that be an awkward situation? Not to mention that she was with her girls who would no doubt see them. And that would lead to some rather interesting questions that Miranda wasn't so found of answering. The girls had no real idea about all of Andrea's tattoos and piercings since most of Andrea's clothing covered them.
But they were perfect and Miranda didn't exactly know when or if she would see something like them again. Sure she could have her assistant go and get them, but again there would be speculation she would rather avoid. She sighed and turned around to get the attention of one of the heavily tattooed teens working there.
One of them sauntered over soon enough and Miranda pointed at what she wanted. The teen didn't even blink, but went and got the keys for the stand and handed her barbells without even a raised eyebrow. He sauntered away like it was normal for the world's foremost fashion editor to ask for nipple barbells every day.
Miranda shook herself and walked to her girls who seemed to be finishing up. Of course he wouldn't blink. He had no idea who she was. She was just some other upper class mother drug here by her children. And for a store that catered to those rather outside the norm why would he blink at anything so mundane as yet another purchase. Miranda pursed her lips in thought.
"Mom, I think we're both done," Cassidy said, holding a small armful of t-shirts and beaming.
"Good, then why don't we check out?" They both nodded and shoved their things at her. No matter if she was a prominent, powerful woman, the rules of motherhood never seemed to change, and that meant that children hardly ever wanted to carry their own things. Miranda's lips quirked up slightly at that.
She set all of their purchases down on the counter and the girl who was behind the counter rang them up, striking up a conversation with Cassidy about one of the bands she had bought a shirt for. Cassidy came alive, gushing about how much she loved one particular album. Miranda was sure it was the one she heard on full blast on an almost nightly basis. The fight for Cassidy to keep her music down was almost as futile as the one to keep the girls from stomping up and down the stairs like elephants. If it kept up she might just soundproof Cassidy's room and be done with it.
The girl bagged their purchases and they were off again back into the bustle of the mall.
"Anywhere else you would like to go, girls?" Miranda asked, eyeing the lot of bags they were all carrying now.
Cassidy looked at Caroline. Both shrugged.
"Nah, Mom, I think we're good for now," Cassidy said. She then immediately launched into a conversation about how awesome the girl at Hot Topic had been, lighting up almost as much talking about the girl as she had about the band they'd been talking about. Miranda chuckled, the girl had had a certain amount of beauty. At least she could agree with her daughter about something.
She picked up her phone and dialed Roy and they were off in a few minutes, speeding towards the townhouse once more.
Hours and a mountain of chatter later Miranda sat on the couch in her study going over a few things for Runway and waiting for Andrea to get back from chasing a lead on a story so they could have dinner. She circled three easy grammatical errors that someone had missed and shook her head. Honestly, was she reaching for the stars here?
"Mom?" Caroline called from down the hall.
"Yes, Bobbsey?" She called back, looking in the doorway, waiting for her daughter to appear.
Both Caroline and Cassidy appeared a second later. Caroline held a small package and Miranda's stomach dropped. She had forgotten to grab out the barbells for Andrea earlier when they had gotten home. Oh god.
Caroline walked towards her with Cassidy right on her heels. Cassidy looked excited again about something or other. Miranda wondered what that was all about.
"Neither of us bought these. They're pretty and all, but they don't exactly look like earrings and so we really don't know how they got here." Caroline handed the box to Miranda.
"Yeah, I mean since we didn't buy them maybe we should return them," Cassidy added. "I mean it would be stealing otherwise."
Ah, so that's what Cassidy was excited about. Another chance to see her newest crush. Miranda would think it cute if she wasn't sitting with a pair of nipple barbells handed to her by her two thirteen year olds.
"No, they're not earrings, Bobbseys, but I bought them, so they aren't stolen." She shot a humoring glance to Cassidy. "But perhaps we can return there sometime soon."
Cassidy was placated by that. Caroline just scowled, confused.
"But why did you buy them? What are they for?" Caroline flopped down on the other end of the couch.
Miranda was at a loss for words. She never lied to her children, but she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to tell them either. She sighed. They would learn sometime and it might as well be from her.
"They're jewelry to put in nipple piercings, darling."
The way both girls faces screwed up was rather amusing.
"Mom…do you…?" Cassidy trailed off not able to even complete the thought.
"No." Miranda held back a laugh at the relief on their faces. "But Andrea does."
Again, their faces scrunched up but disgusted and confused.
"She does?" Caroline asked. "Why?"
She wasn't going to share that Andrea had gotten them for losing a dare in college. What kind of message would that be sending? She bit the inside of her lip. There had to be a way to frame this that wasn't exactly a lie.
"Well, Bobbseys, you know how people dress different to suit their personal tastes?" She asked them, latching onto a thought and running with it.
They nodded. "Duh, Mom, Caroline likes all that pink and I'm just not about that life."
Caroline snorted. "I'm not about that much eyeliner either."
Cassidy glared at her sister and opened her mouth.
Miranda interrupted them before it could erupt into a full-fledged fight. "Yes, well, some people like to use their bodies to express themselves as well. They get piercings because they like how they look with them, and so they can choose different things to wear in the piercings, much like earrings and I know how much you both love to go earring shopping."
They both nodded at that. They had jewelry boxes full of them, cheap trinkets mostly, but they had some nicer ones of course. They were her daughters.
"It's a form of expression, just as clothing is and from what I understand it there are a great many piercings as there are a great many kinds of clothes and people pick and choose the ones to suit them. Andrea liked nipple piercings, so she got them."
"Oh, cool," Cassidy shrugged. "Does she have any other piercings?" Her curiosity was peaked now.
What had Miranda gotten herself into? "She does. She has a belly button piercing that she got when she was a few years older than you both are."
As long as she had gotten herself this deep she might as well forge on. "Andrea also has a number of tattoos as well. The concept is the same, it's a form of self-expression, albeit a more permanent one. For many people, they get piercings just because they think they look good, but tattoos have more thought behind them because they are so permanent. They mean something to the person. Andrea has a tattoo of a book with her favorite saying in it, one that got her through tough times. It means a great deal to her, and so she wanted it to be a permanent, visible part of her."
The girls sat digesting this for a few seconds. "So it would be ok if we wanted to get other piercings or tattoos?" Caroline asked.
Miranda was a bit taken aback by that. She was sure Cassidy would ask something along those lines before Caroline had a chance.
"Of course, if that's what you want, darlings, but tattoos, even with parental consent can't come until you're older. Piercings, however, are fine, so long as they aren't of anything with a PG-13 rating."
"Ew, mom, no." Cassidy's nose scrunched. "Caroline just meant a nose piercing. Geesh."
Miranda blushed lightly. "I have to cover my bases Bobbsey. I am your mother after all." She swallowed. "But there is a rather strong caveat to consider. A great many people look down on those who choose to express themselves through piercings and tattoos, just as people look down upon those who don't dress in a certain way. That doesn't mean that you should let them dictate what you do or how you dress, but it's something to keep in mind. I have a great deal of trouble myself accepting that there are other ways to dress yourself and your body, but I'm working on it. It will be a long time coming, but I'm working on it. Just know that whatever you choose to wear or do I love you unconditionally, even if at first I make a face at whatever it is."
Both girls rolled their eyes at her. The emotional life talk was clearly over and her two teenagers were fully back in charge. Miranda was completely and utterly relieved. She slipped the nipple barbells in her skirt and relaxed back into the couch.
"Duh mom, we know you love us, we love you too." Cassidy came over and hugged her. "Now when is Andy coming home I'm starving."
Miranda smiled at her girls. "She said no more than a half an hour."
"Cool, come on, Caro, that's enough time for you to teach me how to do that thing with Photoshop."
Caroline nodded and stood, hugged her mother, and then both of them walked from the room and climbed the stairs like a herd of elephants. Some things never changed.
She pulled out the barbells again. But some things did and she couldn't quite wait to see Andrea in these. That would be her reward for all this emotional talk. She was sure Andrea would be willing to oblige. She smiled and set aside her work for now. She had a few things to prepare before dinner if that was her end goal. Andrea wasn't going to know what hit her.