Anonymous prompt from tumblr: "One of the twins is pregnant, and Andy has to comfort Miranda because her baby's all grown up.. But also whichever twin is freaking out because she thinks Miranda will hate her or try to make her get the baby adopted or something, so Andy has to calm her down. Then Miranda and the twin talk about how Miranda loves her unconditionally and how she'll help her and they cry and cuddle and Andy maybe finds them asleep or something?" Enjoy guys.
Andy sighed, content. It had been too quiet while the girls had been away at school, but now it was the first day of their summer breaks and there were pounding footsteps running up and down the stairs at intermittent times and voices rumbling through the house. The girls had talked to her and Miranda from the time each of their planes had arrived from Stanford and Harvard to just after dinner, recounting stories that were better to tell in person than over the phone. She was just so glad they were back again. Christmas break had been far too short.
A knock sounded on her study door. She looked up. No one in the house knocked really. The twins were pros at busting into the room already talking ninety miles an hour and Miranda herself strutted into the room like she owned it, which if Andy wanted to be technical about it, she did.
"Come in," Andy called, head tilted to the side, waiting for whoever was on the other side to come in.
It took a few seconds, but finally the door opened and revealed Caroline standing there looking nervous and slightly green at the gills.
"Hey, Caroline, what's up?" Andy shut the laptop in front of her. The extra work she had been doing could wait if the expression on Caroline's face was anything to go by.
Caroline twisted her hands and swallowed visibly. She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. Her steps were light and unsure as she walked over to the group of chairs Andy kept around the fireplace.
"Um, can we talk?" Her voice was quiet, verging on shaking.
"Of course, honey." Andy stood from her desk and came around to the group of chairs. "Sit down and we'll talk about whatever you want."
Caroline sat on the edge of the chair next to her, perched like she was ready to flee at the slightest scare. Andy sat across from her and looked over the other girl. She had been a little more reserved than normal today, but that wasn't saying too much. Cassidy was the over the top one, Caroline was much more like her mother, calm and observant and bitingly witty.
"What's wrong honey?" Andy finally asked after the silence stretched out for a few moments too long. Miranda often needed prodding to talk about the things bothering her, and Caroline was no different. Normally it melted Andy's heart that her girls took so much after her mother, but in this Andy wished it was the opposite.
A huge breath left Caroline. She opened her mouth but it was a few long moments before anything came out. "I'm, uh," she shook her head frantically before continuing again. "I did everything right, Andy, I did. Everything they talked about in health class at Dalton and everything that you and mom said to do, but it still somehow happened and I don't know what to do. Mom's going to kill me." Tears started to flow down her face.
It felt like lead settled in the pit of her stomach. She had a feeling she knew exactly what Caroline was saying but she needed to be completely sure.
"Caroline, I need you to be completely specific with that's wrong so I can help you honey, you know that."
Blue eyes looked up to meet hers. "I was on birth control and he used a condom, but I'm that freak one percent. I got pregnant. Andy, I'm pregnant." She started to sob uncontrollably. "Mom's going to hate me. She's going to be so disappointed and I don't think I can take that, Andy. I did everything right. I did everything right! Why?"
Andy's heart broke in two as she watched her daughter fall to pieces in front of her. "Oh, honey." She moved out of her seat and kneeled in front of Caroline, grabbing her hands in her own and squeezing them. "Sometimes we do everything right and everything goes wrong anyway. But that doesn't mean that the consequences can't be dealt with. Your mom and I will be right here with you every step of the way, no matter what you want to do."
Caroline started to cry harder, frame shaking hard enough that Andy was worried that she was going to break. "B-but mom's going to want me to get rid of it, a-and I don't want to. It's so stupid. The stupid thing is going to ruin my whole life, but I still don't want to get rid of it. But as soon as we tell mom she's going to be on the phone with the nearest abortion clinic."
"OK, honey, you know your mom will listen to you about this. It's your body. If you don't want an abortion, you don't have to get one."
Caroline just shook her head hard enough to fling tears onto Andy. "But then she's going to want me to give it away, put it up for adoption. Andy, I want to keep it. I want to keep the baby. She's going to be so disappointed. She's going to think I'm so irresponsible and not thinking about my future or the babies because single mother's with only a high school degree can't provide the life they deserve."
Tears started to pour down Andy's own face. "Honey, your mom would never, never make it so that you would be out on your own without any of her support no matter what. If you want to keep the baby it'll be a change and it will be hard, but you're not going to have to struggle from paycheck to paycheck to feed you and your baby, you have to know that. Your mother loves you and if you want to keep it then she will move heaven and earth for you to be able to do just that with as much support as possible."
"She's still going to be disappointed," Caroline said in a small voice.
"Maybe for a little while, I'm not going to lie, but you said you were on birth control and you used a condom. You did do everything right. It's not your fault that you got pregnant. It's a freak accident, nothing more."
"She's going to say I shouldn't have been having sex."
Andy took back one of her hands to wipe the tears from her eyes, hand going up to wipe the tears from Caroline's cheeks as well. "When have we ever said that to you, Caroline? We both know you're a teenager and that you're going to have sex. When we gave you the talk we framed it in words of safe sex, not no sex. Honey, it's college, everyone is having sex, it's a time to explore who you are without your parents hovering over you. Your mom and I knew that it would happen. She'll remember that, it might just take her some time because you and Cassidy are her babies. She wants nothing in the world to hurt you, including your own baby."
Caroline swallowed once and then again. "I just…I wish I could do it over again."
"Oh believe me, honey, we all have a great many things that we wish we could do over again. I wish I hadn't thrown my phone in that fountain on the Place de la Concorde in Paris all those years ago, but we have to learn to live with the consequences, unfair as they are."
Caroline shook her head. She pulled one of her hands from Andy's and placed it over her stomach. "I always wanted kids. But you know, later, when I was married with a nice job. I wanted a little boy first and then a little girl next so the boy could be a protective older brother. That always seemed like such a nice relationship to have, you know." She sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "Guess that won't happen now." She threw her head back on the chair behind her. "Is it strange to miss a future that never existed?"
"No, it's not. I think missing those possibilities are what hurts the most sometimes." She shifted her legs out from under her. They were going numb from being under her for so long.
"Andy, what am I going to tell her?"
"The truth, as soon as possible. That's the only way to do it." She squeezed Caroline's knee gently.
"Will you come with me?" Her voice sounded exhausted and tired and so very world weary at such a young age.
"Of course I will, honey. Do you want to do it now, or wait until tomorrow? I think a few hours can be spared if you're too tired right now."
"No, I should do it now, you're right. I need to do it as soon as possible. Like ripping off a Band-Aid or something like that." Her eyes blinked open slowly and she lifted her head off the back of the chair like it weighed a ton.
"Ok." Andy pushed herself up. She offered a hand to Caroline, who took it, and she pulled the girl up gently.
She stopped just before they both reached the door to her study. "Caroline, what about the father?"
Caroline seemed very interested in the carpet all of a sudden. "I was seeing him off and on for a few months, but as soon as I told him I was pregnant he stopped talking to me. He won't return any of my calls now and neither will any of his friends."
"Oh, Lord, that boy is going to have hellfire rained down on him," Andy mumbled under her breath.
Caroline sucked her lip into her mouth, considering the muttered words. "Yeah, I suppose he will. Mom won't stop until she gets what she wants like normal." She looked up at Andy, still so very shaky, but on this she was firm.
"Yeah." She reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "How long have you known?"
"A month, I'm about three months along. I've been going to the doctor's on campus for checkups to make sure the baby's alright, but that's about all I know."
Andy nodded. "Ok, then let's go tell your mom, ok?"
Caroline nodded, the barest tilt of her head. Andy reached forward for the door knob and led them both out of the room quietly and down to Miranda's study.
The news broke much more easily than either Andy or Caroline would have guessed. Miranda was calm, watching her baby with worried eyes and she stood, clasping onto Andy's hand with all her might as tears flowed down her face as she stuttered through her announcement. The first thing she asked had been what Caroline wanted to do about the situation and once Caroline had said she wanted to keep it Miranda had nodded and accepted the decision readily.
Caroline had started crying harder at that. She had flung herself into her mother's arms, sobbing hard, while Miranda held her and whispered that she loved her and would be there for her the whole time. Andy's heart had melted at the sight of mother and daughter together holding onto each in a time of crisis.
Miranda had drawn the details of what had happened out of Caroline expertly, hushing her when Caroline expressed her fears about Miranda's reaction about everything, saying that she loved her no matter what and that she had done all she could and she was doing well now by taking responsibility for the consequences. Caroline had sagged in relief at that as Miranda's hands kept running through her bright red hair.
She had sent the girl to bed not long after, Caroline had been practically asleep in her arms already. The girl had mumbled her goodnights to both Andy and Miranda and had sleepily stumbled from the room. Once the door had shut behind Caroline Andy saw the toll the conversation had taken on Miranda. The mask dropped and the calm was gone in an instant.
Andy had sank down on the couch beside Miranda and had wrapped her up in a hug. Miranda had sighed heavily into her neck.
"One of my babies, Andrea." The words were barely audible. "One of my babies is pregnant. I barely handled them going off to college so far from here. I'm not sure that I can handle this."
"It'll be ok, Miranda. It's like you said, we'll be there for her every step of the way."
"It's not that. They're growing up. I can't protect them from everything anymore. It's completely and utterly terrifying." Miranda shuddered in Andy's arms. "When they were little I could shield them from everything as easy as a blink, but now…" Andy felt Miranda's lips purse against her neck. "I can't protect them from heart break and pregnancy and all the consequences of everything. I hate it."
"I know." She ran her hands through silky white hair. "But they had to grow up sometime. Caroline is going to have to grow up a little faster now, but she was already well on her way before. And you've raised them to be wonderful young women. They will be able to handle whatever is thrown at them in the long run. They'll still need your help from time to time of course, but they'll be able to stand on their own soon and they'll be magnificent. They already are, but a grown up Caroline and Cassidy will hit the world hard enough to make it exactly what they want when they are ready. Much like you did, much like you still do." She kissed the top of Miranda's head.
"You always have known exactly what to say, darling."
The corners of Andy's mouth turned up. "It comes with the territory. I am a writer after all."
Miranda snorted lightly, a noise she never made in front of anyone but Andy. "Indeed, I have noticed after all these years."
She sat up and looked at Andy for a long moment. "What do we do now? I want her life to change as little as possible, but that isn't possible. A baby changes everything."
"They do. All you can do is help provide her with the tools so those changes can be the ones she wants and needs."
Miranda sighed and closed her eyes again. "I suppose you are right."
Andy's hand came up to cup Miranda's cheek. "If you want to rain hell fire and destruction down on someone in retaliation first just to make everything feel a little better, you always could go after the boy and make sure he has to take responsibility for the baby."
An evil glint entered Miranda's eyes. "Yes, I suppose I could."
"It's a good first step. We'll figure out everything with Caroline as it comes."
Miranda leaned forward and kissed Andy lightly, kiss full of love. "Yes, we will."