It was just like any other ordinary Friday night, Andrea Sachs had to deliver the book to her boss' house whilst Miranda herself was at a function being held at a local art gallery.
Andy unlocked the door and made her way into the hallway, and just like most nights, two little red-headed girls were sat on the steps awaiting her arrival. She smiled brightly at them, "Hello Cassidy", she said looking at the little one, before turning to the other twin, "Hello Caroline". She would always switch which name she said first so that she could maintain a fair balance between them in every interaction.
"You brought her!", Cassidy exclaimed with excitement as both girls rushed over to Andrea.
Andrea placed the book down on the side before she turned to them and knelt down, "I promised you that I would, didn't I?".
Caroline and Cassidy both nodded as the two of them knelt down on the floor in front of the one-year-old child. The child was wearing a pair of jeggings, a pair of brown boots and a cream fluffy jacket. When Andy removed the jacket it revealed a cream, long sleeved top beneath it. The child had dark curls and brown eyes, she was smiling happily although slightly nervously.
"Caroline, Cassidy", Andrea said with a smile, "Meet my daughter; Emma". The woman nudged her daughter ever so slightly, "Emma, this is Cassidy and Caroline, can you say 'hello' for me?".
Emma smiled at the two older children in front of her, looking between the two of them, "Hello", she said quietly.
Caroline grinned, "She's so cute", the girl declared straight away.
"Would you like to come and play?", Cassidy asked the little one.
Emma nodded, taking the girl's outstretched hand and following her straight away.
"We brought some of our old toys down so that she can play with them", Caroline stated, "We put them in Mom's office so that she can play in there on the floor".
"Don't forget girls that we can't stay for too long", Andy highlighted to not only the twins but also her daughter as well.
"That's why we put the toys in the office in a box, because that way you don't have to go upstairs", Caroline said with a smile.
Andrea smiled brightly at the young girl and embraced her before they both followed Emma and Cassidy into Miranda's downstairs office.
Emma was on the floor with a doll in front of her, she was playing happily with Cassidy who was busy making a different doll 'talk' and 'dance' in front of the one-year-old little girl.
"Look Emma", Cassidy said with a smile, "Can you make your dolly dance too?".
The curly haired child nodded, "Dance", she said as she mimicked what the older girl was doing with the other doll.
Cassidy and Caroline both giggled at the enthusiasm of the toddler, they both seemed rather amused by Emma's antics which inspired her to be more dramatic with her doll dancing and singing.
The children's nanny knew that it was Andrea that was there so she did not worry about sending them back up to bed, as she had given up with that idea weeks previously. She now just waited until Andrea herself had sent the two girls to bed as it was much less stress, the girls did go straight to bed when Andy told them to as she left to go home.
"Here you go Emma", Caroline said softly, joining in with their game, "Would your dolly like a blanket so that she can be warm?".
Emma nodded with a bright smile, "Yes please", she said happily to the girl as she put her hand out, "You do it?", she asked, switching her hands to put her doll out.
Caroline nodded with a smile, "Of course", she replied before she took the doll carefully from the child and carefully wrapped it in the soft, warm blanket that she had offered the little one. The blanket was small and pink, clearly, it used to be a blanket for a real baby but had been used for dolls for a while.
When the doll was returned to her, Emma began to rock the infant and sing softly to it.
"Awww", Cassidy cooed, "She's so cute".
Andrea laughed and nodded, "That she is", she responded.
"I'm glad you brought her over Andy", Caroline said with a smile.
"I am too", Andrea stated, "Emma appears to be having much more fun than she would have had at home".
"Can you bring her back again?", Caroline asked with a smile.
Andy nodded, "Whenever I have the chance to then I will", she assured her happily as she observed Cassidy playing with Emma rather energetically with the dolls. Emma was spinning around with one and bouncing up and down with it.
"Can we keep her?", Cassidy asked with a grin as she looked up at Andy.
Andy laughed, "I'm not sure what your mother would say about that", she commented.
"Oh I don't believe that their mother would mind at all", came the voice from behind them.
"Miranda", Andrea gasped.
"Mom!", both girls shouted with excitement as they ran to the woman who was now stood in the doorway to her office.
Emma had stopped spinning and was observing the new-comer with a slightly tilted head, it did not take long before the little one had decided to copy the twins by running to Miranda with her arms up, "Mom!", she copied.
Miranda chuckled and knelt down in order to embrace both of her girls and now also the curly-haired bundle of energy that appeared to be mimicking her own children, "No sweetheart, my name is Miranda", she explained softly to the little girl who had decided to climb into her lap straight away.
"Anda", the little girl attempted making Miranda smile, it was close enough, she decided.
Both Caroline and Cassidy were giggling at the toddler's behaviour, they had not seen anyone take such a shining to their mother before but there was this little girl who had instantly decided that she wanted Miranda.
"I'm really sorry Miranda", Andrea said softly, "I... I didn't know you'd be home and the girls wanted to meet Emma so I said that I'd bring her by for a while whilst you were at the event".
"Don't apologise Andrea", Miranda stated, still kneeling on the floor with her girls either side of her and the one-year-old child in her lap, "Unless, that is if you are apologising for not bringing her whilst I was here and instead were trying to avoid me?".
Andrea didn't know what to say to that.
"Anda", the toddler repeated excitedly as she hugged the woman.
"Then instead, I would like to apologise for that then Miranda", Andrea eventually said with a soft but timid smile.
Miranda nodded, "Then you can make it up to me... us... by bringing her by more often as my daughter requested earlier", she said, clearly having overheard their conversation and having been there for longer than what Andy thought she had been.
"Of course Miranda", she said with a nod as she watched her daughter and her boss together. It somehow did not shock her that much when she witnessed Miranda begin to play with the three children and two dolls. What was a surprise was how quickly her daughter had taken to the older woman, usually she hid from people, mostly adults, but here she was, perfectly comfortable with Miranda and her children. Then again when she thought about it more, it should not have been a surprise at all, there was something about Miranda that made you love her, at least that is how Andrea viewed it.
"I didn't know that you had a daughter Andrea", Miranda commented with a smile as she sat back for a moment and observed the children playing.
"She usually stays in the Elias Clarke nursery when I'm at work", Andrea revealed, "Although today she stayed with a friend because I wasn't going straight to the office this morning".
Miranda nodded, it had been she herself that had set up that idea following the birth of her twins, and she knew that Andrea had not gone straight to the office because she had demanded that Andrea go directly to a photo shoot instead.
An hour passed by and they were still at Miranda's home, it was longer than what Andrea had planned and now Emma was beginning to tire. She was yawning and she had climbed back into Miranda's lap as they played. She was starting to slouch in the woman's lap and it wasn't long before she started to snuggle against her comfortably.
"I think I best get Emma home", Andrea stated quietly.
"Nooo", Cassidy whined, "Please can we keep her? She's so cute".
"Where is her stroller, Andrea?", Miranda questioned as she stood up very carefully whilst still holding the child as if she were the most expensive treasure in the world. Emma had managed to fall asleep in the Editor-in-Chief's arms, nobody would believe that anyone could possibly call the woman a 'Devil' if they were to see her with the curly-haired infant sleeping peacefully in her arms. "I'll put her in there as to not disturb her too much whilst she's sleeping".
"Oh, I don't have it with me", Andrea admitted, "I just picked her up from Doug's and I was in a rush this morning so I needed to get a cab at the last minute so I didn't take the stroller with me".
Miranda frowned, "Then how do you plan on getting her home?".
"On my lap in a cab?", Andrea suggested as if it were the most obvious question.
The Editor-in-Chief looked at her as if she had just suggested that Vogue was the best magazine in the universe, it was a look that asked 'are you for real?', "No Andrea", she simply stated, "That will not do".
"But...", Andrea began.
"You and Emma may stay here tonight, and in the morning I will send Roy to collect the stroller and the appropriate car seat for Emma", she stated as if she had not been interrupted, "It is simply not safe enough for her to be sat on your lap in a cab, I don't want to imagine what sort of dangers that could pose to such a young child".
Andrea opened her mouth with the aim to protest but instead found herself nodding, "Yes Miranda", she replied simply.
"Ya...", Cassidy began to shout which got a raised eyebrow from her mother in her direction, clearly concerned with waking the infant as Miranda then looked down at the sleeping infant who had now gripped her necklace in her tiny hand. Cassidy began to silently jump around and mime her excitement at the idea of Emma staying over.
Both women smiled at the child's antics as Miranda continued, "You may have the guest room opposite mine", she stated before leaving the room with the child in her arms and asking the nanny to set up the travel cot that she still had from when the girls were younger, the cot had been packed away and left in the back of one of the closets, it was, however, very clean as it was well stored.
"Thank you", Andrea said softly as she stood in the doorway watching Miranda put her daughter down to sleep in the travel cot. Both girls had gently kissed the sleeping toddler on the head and were now getting ready for bed themselves too.
Miranda brushed a stray curl out of the child's face before she tucked her in with the soft, warm blankets that she had gotten from her own bedroom closet for Emma to use.
Andrea smiled as Miranda stepped out of the room, switching off the light but leaving the door open, "You know, usually she doesn't like strangers, usually she hides", she commented, "Then again, she doesn't speak very much to anyone usually, other than me, not even my parents the last time we were in Ohio".
The Editor-in-Chief smiled, "Well maybe she is just one of the very few who actually like me", she stated with slight amusement although in her heart there was sadness at that concept.
"She's not the only one", Andrea commented as Miranda started to walk down the hallway.
Miranda froze on the spot before turning around, and with a slight head tilt, she asked, "What was that?".
"I... ", Andrea started to speak but just as she began two red-headed girls came round the corner, both ready for bed.
"Andy", Cassidy said happily, "Can you read us a story tonight?".
"Please", Caroline added with a huge smile.
"That's up to your mother", the woman stated straight away before glancing towards her boss.
Miranda nodded, "That is acceptable", she said softly, "I will meet you in the living room, Andrea, once you are done".
"No Mom", Cassidy said quickly, "You've got to come and listen too".
The woman rarely ever denied her children anything and so she simply nodded and agreed to the idea.
One story later and both women found themselves in the hallway once again, "Andrea", Miranda said softly.
"Yes Miranda", Andrea replied instantly.
"What did you say earlier?", she questioned.
"I...", Andrea hesitated, "I said that she isn't the only one".
"The only one that what?", Miranda prompted, despite knowing exactly what she had heard as she found herself wanting to be certain.
"That likes you", she revealed.
Miranda smiled, "Well that's good", she stated.
"Good?", she asked, following Miranda, "What do you mean?".
When Miranda stopped she was outside of her bedroom door, and consequently the guest bedroom door too, "I mean that it is good that you like me...", she paused, "because I find myself liking you too... although admittedly much more than I ought to".
"Well, in that case, I like you more", Andrea said with a smirk of amusement.
Miranda found herself chuckling lightly at the response, "Oh I doubt that my dear", she replied as she stepped forward before cupping the younger woman's cheek, "I doubt that very much".
"Don't be so sure about that", Andy said softly before taking Miranda by surprise. Andrea Sachs had moved even closer to the fashion queen before pressing a very light but loving kiss to the woman's lipstick painted lips.
The Editor-in-Chief smiled brightly as Andrea pulled back from the kiss, "I still doubt that, my dear", she replied before tugging the other woman close to her again and kissing her once more.
That night, the two women slept together in the guest bedroom, Miranda had decided that she did not wish to leave the one-year-old unattended in the bedroom in a new environment in case she awoke and was afraid. Miranda slept peacefully that night wrapped in Andrea's arms and that is how Cassidy and Caroline found them Saturday morning when they went to find Emma.
Despite being woken up earlier than she wanted to be by three children climbing into the bed after Caroline had managed to get Emma out of the crib, Miranda found herself wishing that she could wake up that way every single day for the rest of her life.