Andrea stepped into the townhouse with a huge smile on her face and as soon as she closed the door, she turned to find herself 'attacked' by two redheaded twins when they launched themselves at her and hugged her tightly, "One moment girls, let me put these bags down", she said softly.
Cassidy and Caroline both stepped back slightly so that the woman could put the shopping bags down on the floor but as soon as they were firmly on the ground, the two girls threw themselves at the woman once more.
Andrea laughed as she knelt down in order to hug the two of them better, wrapping her arms around them and holding them close, "Well hello to you too".
"Is that the stuff we need for tonight?", Cassidy asked.
"Don't let Mom hear you say 'stuff', Cass", Caroline said softly.
"It is", Andrea said as she continued to kneel on the floor with the two girls leaning into her, "In those bags is everything that we'll need for pancakes".
The two girls began to jump up and down with excitement, "Can we make them now?".
Andrea nodded, "Of course", she said with a smile.
"Awesome!", Cassidy exclaimed before she grabbed one of the bags and ran to the kitchen.
The woman laughed happily as she followed Caroline to the kitchen, who had taken the second bag with her to the kitchen to follow her sister.
When Andrea arrived in the kitchen, she found the two girls with the bags on the counters and already pulling out the ingredients to put on to the counters. "Wow, girls", she said with a bright smile, "I guess you really were excited, it seems you got everything ready already".
Caroline nodded, "We looked it up online to see what we would need so that we could have everything out when you got here", she said as she took the last item out of the bag that she had and placed it on the counter.
"We know you don't have long before you have to get the book so we thought that if we did it before you got here then we could spend more time with you making pancakes", Cassidy explained as she pushed a strand of her own hair behind her ear.
"That was a great idea", Andrea said with a huge smile, "How about we all wash our hands and then we can start making pancakes?".
Both of the girls moved straight away in order to wash their hands and once all three of them had clean hands, Andrea organised the ingredients so that the items needed to go inside the pancakes were on one side whilst the toppings were on the other side.
"Each of you will need a bowl because if you make a batch each then there will be so much more pancake for us all to eat and it means we can have some in the oven ready and waiting for when your mother comes home", Andrea said happily. "I have a surprise for you though", she said as she lifted the third bag up and put it onto the counter, "Your own bowls and aprons with your names on, they're special cooking kits so you have your own utensils with them too and they even have chef hats and oven mitts".
"Wow!", the two of them exclaimed quite happily, "Thank you!".
Andrea found herself, again, wrapped in the arms of the two energetic twins
The two of them got their individual bowls in front of them after putting on their aprons and were soon sat at the counter, "What next?". Cassidy's cooking kit was green with pink writing whilst Caroline's was pink with green writing and both of them were personalised with their names on them. The bowls as well as the aprons.
"Next you have to weigh out your ingredients", the woman replied, "First put your sieves on top of the bowl and then once the dry ingredients are done they can be sieved so that there aren't any gross lumps in the pancakes".
Both of the girls were paying close attention to what she was saying, "We do the flour first, right?", Caroline asked as she looked up at Andrea.
Andrea nodded, "We sure do, because that is what the biggest weight of dry ingredients is so that way we can get the big part out of the way but you're going to have to use the scales one at a time so one of you can pour the flour into the scales whilst the other makes sure that it goes to the right number".
The two of them nodded, "You can do yours first Caro and I'll watch your numbers", Cassidy suggested happily, she seemed quite excited at the idea of making pancakes as it was something that she had not actually done before, "Then we can switch".
Caroline managed to get the majority of her flour into the bowl that was positioned on top of the kitchen scales although there was a slight dusting of flour around the bottom of the scales where some of it had slipped out of the bag without managing to travel into the bowl successfully. Cassidy told her when it got to the correct number on the scales so that she could stop pouring in the white flour and they were both grinning at their accomplishment.
"Carefully, you need to pour that flour into your sieve so that you can then help Cassidy with her flour", Andrea explained as she stood beside the two of them in preparation to help but wanting to encourage them to be able to do it themselves as they appeared to like to learn new things.
These little evenings had begun three weeks previously when Andrea had gone to drop a bag off at Miranda's house on the way back to Runway from one of the designer stores that she had been sent to. Miranda had gone out for a dinner meeting with Donatella and so she was not due back home until late.
Andrea entered the townhouse at around six pm, she closed the door behind her and made her way into the study where she had been instructed to put the bag. On her way out she stopped at the sight of the two girls stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"Andy!", Cassidy yelled as she ran to the woman and threw herself into her arms.
The woman did not have any other choice but to catch her and embrace her back shortly before Caroline did the exact same thing and she found her arms filled with the redheaded girls, "Hi Cassidy", she greeted, "Hi Caroline".
"Andy? Can you stay for a while, please?", Caroline asked politely, "We really need help with our science project and if we ask Mom then she will just get you or Emily to do it but…".
"You want to do it yourselves", Andrea said softly.
The two girls nodded, "I saw a video on Youtube where it shows you how to make a solar system but ours didn't turn out right and we thought that you might be able to help".
She knew that she had to get back to the office but she knew that the main task waiting for her would be her waiting for the book because most of the other tasks had already been done, so in that moment, she decided that she would spend the evening with the girls instead and then complete her tasks when she returned to the office in order to collect the book so that she could bring it back to Miranda's townhouse.
"Okay", the woman said with a smile after a moment.
Caroline and Cassidy appeared quite excited about that and each grabbed one of her hands, "Come on!", Cassidy almost shouted excitedly, "Everything is set up in the kitchen because Cara didn't want us getting paint all over the den".
"Good evening, Andy", Cara greeted her as they entered the kitchen, "I'm afraid that the girls did not want me to help them with their project… they want their Andy to help".
Andrea could not help but grin at the 'their Andy' part and she nodded, "That's fine", she said straight away, "I quite like spending time with them both".
"I shall go and clean whilst you're here", she said with a smile, "I'll be back down soon". She didn't really have much to clean but she was giving the girls some time with their mother's assistant as she seemed to be rather important to the girls.
Gradually, Andrea had been taking more of an interest in the girls and the girls both seemed to love it. Suddenly, if something was pushed to the side for an assistant to do when Miranda could not do it, the girls no longer complained but instead seemed perfectly fine with it. When Caroline contracted a stomach bug whilst at school and started throwing up, Andrea was already at the school by the time that Emily had managed to notify Miranda. The young woman had happily attended a variety of events alongside Miranda at the girls' school which was something Miranda did not usually allow but the girls' had both requested it and also, there seemed to be an exception when it came to Andrea on almost every single rule, if not all of them.
So, sat in the kitchen surrounded by polystyrene balls, a huge selection of paints, a mix of brushes, multiple different colours of glitter, a couple of cardboard boxes, piles of newspaper, glue, and other artistic equipment that they might need, Andrea found herself helping the girls do their science project and she found herself loving it, not the project, necessarily, but spending time with the Caroline and Cassidy. She loved to see them laugh and smile as they played.
The two girls made a dreadful day into a brilliant one within minutes of her being in the townhouse. So much so that she found herself wondering if Cara would switch jobs with her but then again that would mean seeing less of Miranda and that would be too hard.
When the two of them had successfully sieved their flour into their individual mixing bowls they both looked up at Andrea, "What do we add next?", Caroline questioned.
"Baking powder and caster sugar", Andrea replied, "How about you do your baking powder first whilst Cassidy does her caster sugar? Then you can switch".
"Okay", the two of them both answered in unison.
Andrea explained how much of each that they needed of that too and then it was not long before they were switching the food items with each other so that they could finish off the dry ingredients.
"What's next?", Cassidy asked with a bowl full of dry ingredients in front of her.
"Next, you have to dig a hole in the middle of your bowl", the woman said, "Then you have to mix up your wet ingredients and pour those in once they've been mixed".
Cassidy and Caroline both made the holes in their mixtures rather quickly and then looked up, "What do we need for the wet ingredients?".
"Egg, milk, and butter", she said as she tapped each of the items, "The butter has to be melted though once you've measured it out". "First though you can measure out your milk and put the milk into the small bowls that you each have beside you", Andrea explained.
Once the two of them had the correct amount of milk in their small side bowl then Andrea continued, "Now you need to measure out your butter and that will need to be melted".
"We can use the measuring jug", Caroline said with a smile, "Can't we? It's what Mom heats milk up in when we have bad dreams".
Andrea nodded, "That will be fine Caro", she said with a smile as she watched the two of them working together to measure out their portions of butter before they followed her instructions on how to melt the butter so that the butter wouldn't burn or the hot butter wouldn't burn them.
"So, we pour this in with the milk?", Cassidy asked her as they stood back by their bowls.
"Yep!", Andy said with a bright smile, "Then you have to add eggs, normally you would have to crack them but I have this awesome carton which is the same thing".
"There are eggs in there?", Caroline questioned sceptically.
Andrea nodded, "There sure is and it is a lot easier than cracking eggs, all you have to do is measure out the amount it says and voila! You have your egg".
The two girls grinned and carried out their next task, Andrea had opted not to use fresh eggs because cracking them and ensuring there were no eggshells when you're cooking with children is not fun so she wanted to make it a little easier for the two mischievous twins by buying the carton eggs instead.
When all of the wet ingredients were added together they were instructed to mix it all together before they added it into their 'volcano-like' hole in the middle of their dry ingredients that had already been added to their personalised mixing bowls.
The kitchen was filled with laughter and giggles as the girls mixed their batches of pancakes, all three of them had huge smiles on their faces.
"I wish Mom was here", Cassidy said quietly.
Andrea watched them both for a moment, it was something that she wanted too, "Your Mom is really busy at her dinner meeting tonight, however, I will give you copies of the photos that I've taken tonight so that you can show them to your Mom and I can take some more of you cooking too", she said with a smile, "You can tell her all about it when she gets in from her dinner meeting and you can wish her a happy pancake day".
Cassidy giggled, "I can't believe they have a pancake day!", she exclaimed, "I think we should have it here too".
"Mom's English Cass", Caroline highlighted, "That means we get to have pancake day too, just like Andy made for us".
Cass grinned happily at that, "That means you can't get fired because we have to have pancake day next year too", she stated quite seriously.
Andrea smiled, "I'll try not to", she said softly as she kissed each of the girls on the forehead, "Now, I think it's time for you to mix all of the ingredients whilst I set up the pancake oven".
"Pancake oven?", Caroline asked with curiosity.
"This!", the woman said with energetic enthusiasm, "Is my pancake oven, it means that you just have to pour the mix into the shape and close the lid then it cooks it on both sides for you".
The two girls moved around the kitchen island in order to get a better look, "Wow, can we choose which shape?", Caroline asked straight away when she saw the variety.
"Well, you'll both have to decide together because we can only do one shape at a time so we won't be able to wait for it to cool down and switch them out each time", Andrea explained to them both.
"Okay", the two girls agreed straight away before starting to decide between themselves which one they would choose.
"We would like to do the heart one, please?", Caroline asked politely with a smile.
"Then heart pancakes it is", Andrea agreed happily, "I'll set this up whilst you both can finish mixing your pancake batter".
It did not take long for the girls to finish mixing their batter as well as for Andrea to set up the pancake oven in preparation for the girls cooking them. The heart-shaped outline was already in place and the oven was closed as it heated up.
"Is it ready?", Cassidy asked excitedly as the both of them moved around to where Andrea had set up the small portable pancake oven.
"Almost", Andrea said softly, "It will be ready when the red light turns…".
She did not have time to finish her sentence before the light turned green and the girls' both shouted out the colour for her.
"Each of you grab a plate and then you can start making your pancakes", Andrea said with a smile, "You can't eat them all tonight but you can have one whilst you're cooking and then you can put the others in the oven so that they'll stay warm until your Mom gets home".
The three of them were laughing and joking as they made their pancakes with each of the girls taking it in turns to use a scoop from their own batch and put that pancake on their own plates. The first two pancakes had been cut up and were being picked at as they cooked their batches of pancake batter.
Once all of the pancake batter had been used up, Andrea started to tidy up with the help of the twins, it did not take them long for everything to be in the dishwasher and for it to be flicked on as well as for the counters to be wiped down. The only things that hadn't been cleaned were the girls, Andrea had managed to avoid getting the ingredients on her but Cassidy and Caroline both had various ingredients on their aprons which neither of them wanted to take off yet.
"I've sent the photos to your phones so they should be on there now", Andrea said with a smile, "Your Mom should be home soon from her dinner meeting and I have to get back to the office so that I can collect the book and finish off the jobs I have left".
"Can't you stay so that we can all eat pancakes together?", Cassidy asked with a pout.
"I really wish I could Cass", Andrea said as she bent down slightly, "You know I would love to but I have to get back to work".
The girls both hugged her, "If we hold on tightly, you'll have to stay and eat pancakes with Caro and Mom and me".
Andrea wrapped her arms around the both of them, "I have to get back to work", she said softly, "You told me earlier that I'm not allowed to get myself fired which means I have to get back to Runway and make sure that I'm there to collect the book". "Unless you've changed your mind about me being fired of course?", Andrea questioned jokingly with a raised eyebrow.
"Andrea", a voice called out from behind them.
"Mom!", both Caroline and Cassidy yelled out as they ran to her but then instantly stopped in front of her when they remembered that they had flour on their aprons, bodies, and clothing.
Miranda smiled brightly at them both, "Bobbseys", she said quite happily as she knelt down and tugged them both into her arms.
The girls were both overjoyed to see their mother as they both hugged her tightly and smiled happily at how her arms wrapped around them tightly.
"Now, what is this about getting fired?", Miranda questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"We want Andy to stay and eat some of the pancakes that she helped us make but she said that she needs to get the book so that she doesn't get fired", Caroline explained.
"Andy taught us how to make pancakes that are shaped like hearts", Cassidy said happily, "She said that in England it's Pancake Day today and she thought that you might want pancakes today".
"But she knew that you had a dinner meeting tonight so she offered to help us make some so that you could have some when you got in", Caroline continued.
"We had to learn all about Pancake Day first though", Cassidy explained, "Andy wanted us to research it a bit first before she came over today to help us make some".
"And she got us our own special cooking kits with bowls that have our names on it", Caroline said with a smile, "And look? Aprons and hats to match".
"That was very kind of her Bobbseys", Miranda said softly, "Have you said thank you to Andrea?".
"They have, Miranda", Andrea said straight away with a smile.
"Good", she said quietly in response.
"You have to make her stay Mom", Cassidy almost begged, "She's been helping us all evening and she hasn't had a pancake yet".
"Luckily for you", Miranda said with a smile, "I have already called and requested that the book is delivered to my office first thing in the morning".
The two girls cheered whilst Andrea was slightly stunned and confused.
"I phoned Cara to check on you both and she informed me that you were both busy making pancakes", Miranda continued, "So, I decided that I should leave my dinner meeting early so that I could come back and enjoy some pancakes with the three of you".
"See Andy?", Cassidy said excitedly, "Three! That means you have to stay".
"Yes", Miranda said with a soft smile, one of those smiles that, although rarely seen at the office, was only aimed towards Andrea there, "Stay for pancakes, after all, you did spend all evening helping my Bobbseys make them".
"Okay", Andrea said softly, "I'll stay".
"And you won't fire her?", Caroline questioned quickly.
"I won't fire, Andrea", Miranda confirmed.
"Promise?", Cassidy asked her.
"I promise", they replied instantly with a smile.
"Ever?", Cassidy tried with a grin.
Miranda smirked at her daughter and seemed to think for a moment but when she looked up at Andrea, she found herself whispering, "Ever".
Andrea always loved to spend time with the twins and she always loved to see Miranda smile but to be able to do both at the same time was the best thing in the world to her. To be able to spend time with her three favourite people in the world was simply the best thing ever.
After the 'promise' was made, the four of them were in the kitchen with the piles of pancakes in the middle of the table and a variety of different toppings surrounding them so that they could each design their own pancakes.
"I think my belly is going to explode", Cassidy groaned.
"Well, you did eat eight pancakes", Miranda said with a smirk, "Maybe it's time for bed for the two of you?".
The girls nodded, they had been full of energy but bouncing around the kitchen with Andrea as they cooked as well as eating more pancakes than what they should have done had made them quite sleepy.
"I should go", Andrea said softly, "Goodnight girls".
"Noo…", Cassidy groaned, "You have to come up and say goodnight".
Miranda gave a brief nod, "How about you stay tonight, Andrea? Tomorrow we can go in together and you can choose something from the closet then in the afternoon we have the girls' parents' meeting to go to as they have expressed the desire that you be in attendance".
Andrea smiled brightly and nodded in agreement, "Yes, Miranda".
"Come on!", Cassidy said excitedly as she grabbed her hand and started to pull her up to the bedrooms, although a little slower than usual because of the number of pancakes that had filled her stomach as well as the tiredness.
Once Cassidy and Andrea were further up the stairs and out of earshot, Caroline climbed into her mother's lap and hugged her, "Mom?", she asked with a slight tilt of her head and a smile, "I think you should keep her".
"Pardon?", Miranda asked with a slight frown as she had been slightly consumed by her thoughts and had been distracted enough not to fully register what the child had said, or at least she thought she hadn't heard what she had said properly.
"I think you should keep her", Caroline repeated, "Cass thinks so too".
"Keep her?", Miranda questioned.
"Yeah", Caroline said with a smile, "Keep Andrea".
"I am keeping her", Miranda confirmed, "I have already promised not to fire her".
"Not at Runway", Caroline clarified, "Here. You should keep her here".
"Bobbsey, that would be kidnapping", the woman said with a raised eyebrow, "And that is very much illegal".
"It wouldn't be because she'd stay if you asked her to", Caroline said softly, "She loves spending time with us and she loves being with you too".
"She may love spending time with you both but I do not believe that you are right about her loving spending time with me Bobbsey", Miranda admitted with a sigh, "She is, after all, my assistant and it is something that she has to do rather than wants to do".
"Then why did she turn down the job offer at Vogue?", Caroline asked with a tilt of her head and confusion etched on her face.
"What?", Miranda asked with an increased level of confusion.
"Andy had a job offer at Vogue, I saw the letter", Caroline revealed, "They wanted her to write but when Cass and I asked her, she said that she couldn't take the job because she wouldn't leave you".
"She… she said that?", Miranda asked her daughter with an element of disbelief.
The girl simply nodded, "She loves you Mom and we know that you love her", she said softly as she leaned into her mother's embrace, "Keep her…".
"Even if that's true Bobbsey, which I highly doubt", Miranda said with a sigh, "I can't just keep her, she has a… a boyfriend to get home to".
"No, she doesn't", Caroline said straight away.
"She doesn't?", Miranda questioned with a frown, "I thought…".
"They broke up weeks ago", Caroline revealed, "It was when Andy came to the school to collect us because I got sick and you were stuck in a meeting so she came straight away instead of waiting for Emily to tell you". "He didn't like that she was spending time with us on some evenings whilst she waited for the book instead of going to see him", the girl said softly to her mother, "And he liked it even less that she stayed here to help you look after us both". "She doesn't live with him anymore either", Caroline told her.
"Where is she living?", Miranda questioned with a slight frown, "Does she have a new apartment?", she was unsure whether Andrea would be able to afford that and it concerned her.
"No", Caroline said with a shake of her head, "She moved in with Serena because Serena has a spare room".
"Ah", Miranda said softly as she took it all in.
"So, you have to keep her, please?", Caroline asked.
"We shall see Bobbsey", Miranda said simply.
"You can make it our birthday present?", Caroline offered.
Miranda laughed, "You want me to make kidnapping Andrea and holding her hostage here your birthday present?".
Caroline shook her head, "No, we just want you to tell her you love her", she said simply, "We know that you do and we know that she loves you… so you might as well go ahead and get her to move in because then we can have nights like this every night". The young girl cupped her mother's cheeks, "Don't you want to be happy?", she questioned.
"I think it's time for bed Bobbsey", the woman said eventually as she stood up and took her daughter's hand to lead her up the stairs.
"So, you'll think about it then?", the redheaded child asked her mother.
"I'll think about it", Miranda agreed.
When Miranda got up the stairs to the bedrooms, she found Andrea sat on Cassidy's bed reading her a story whilst pulling the faces and doing the voices that were apparently needed for the story. Caroline quite excitedly ran and jumped in with her sister in order to hear the rest of the story. The Editor-in-Chief found herself leaning against the doorway, watching her assistant read the bedtime story to the two girls as she thought about what her daughter had suggested to her.
Later on, after the story was finished and both girls had fallen asleep in the bed together, Miranda took Andrea's hand and lead her through to the den.
Once they were both seated on the sofa, Miranda began to speak, "Caroline spoke to me before we came up to their bedroom", she said softly, "She has told me that they both wish for me to keep you".
"Keep me?", Andrea questioned with raised eyebrows, "But you've already promised not to fire me".
Miranda nodded, "That is what I said too", she explained, "However, it is not Runway that she was talking about but instead… she was talking about… here". "Caroline told me that they both want me to keep you here", she explained, "They have this wild notion that you love me and so because of that you should stay here".
"Wild", Andrea repeated in a whisper as she looked down, "Right".
Miranda did not appear to be convinced that the younger woman found the notion to be 'wild' at all, "Caroline seems to think that due to you leaving the cook and moving out as well as this wild idea that you would love me, that you would automatically allow for me to keep you". "I did, of course, highlight that kidnapping is illegal but she appears to think that you would be a very willing victim", Miranda said with a smirk as she watched her assistant's facial expressions.
"You know…", Andrea said softly before pausing, "It isn't really a wild idea, not really". "Well the kidnapping part is a little wild but the loving you part?", the woman said softly, "I don't think that's wild at all".
"So… you do?", Miranda questioned.
Andrea chuckled slightly although in an awkward manner, "I bet you wish you didn't promise not to fire me now, right?", she said before running her hand through her hair, "Maybe I should go?".
"No, you will stay tonight", Miranda said softly, "The girls are both expecting to see you tomorrow at breakfast". "I am not wishing that I didn't promise that at all", she admitted, "I am, however, simply glad that you do not find the idea of loving me as 'wild' as others, even my ex-husbands, appear to think of it as".
Andrea smiled brightly, "Well, then they are idiots if they find the idea 'wild' because loving you is rather simple really".
"As is loving you, My Andrea", Miranda whispered softly as she closed the distance and pressed a kiss to the other woman's lips.
"Does this mean I'm being kidnapped?", Andrea questioned with a smirk as she moved to wrap her arms around her boss' waist.
Miranda simply smirked before pulling Andrea closer in order to kiss her much more passionately.