AN: Oh, dear, it's been ages since I published a story...
This is supposed to be a sequel to my first story "Two seconds" but can also be read as a stand-alone piece.
AN 2: It has been brought to my attention - in a more than unfriendly manner - that I'm apparently using too many exclamaintion marks. As I'm not a native speaker of English I can't be sure whether that's a subjectiv opinion or a general fact. I'm used to using exclamation marks in my mother tongue to emphasise things or to end a sentence that is not grammaticaly complete. e.g. a "Good night" on it's own could - in German - not be followed by a full stop as it is not a complete sentence containing subject + verb + object. That does not mean that the person is shouting. It just a grammar rule. That might be different in other languages...
Please keep this in mind while reading! And if there is someone out there who might want to help me in this matter and tell me their opinion on my writing without flames, please review or pm me! I really would like to learn from my mistakes but only in a friendly way!
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Unfortunately English is still not my mother tongue and unfortunately I still don't own Miranda, Andy or the twins. Not even Nigel. Nothing regarding the DWP universe in fact... Shame...!
Andy was paralysed. All her senses were shutting down. Her vision became blurry. She couldn't feel a thing – not even the huge blister that her new heels had caused and that had been killing her only minutes ago. The sweet taste of Miranda's lips, captured in a quick and secret kiss before they had left the office, was gone. The only sensory perception she was capable of was hearing. And she was desperate to shut that down as well. It wasn't working, though…
Suddenly, she found herself in the back of the towncar with no memory of how she had gotten there. She could still hear their voices, their questions running through her head over and over again:
"Suffering from a midlife crisis, Ms Priestly?"
"Is this the reason for your divorce?"
"Ms Priestly, if I'm not mistaken, your young mistress here is your personal assistant. Are you not afraid she might sue you for sexual harassment at work?"
"Miss Sachs, is pleasing your boss in a sexual manner part of your contract?"
"What is she paying you for your services?"
"Ms Priestly, is your little Miss Rebound the first woman in your sheets?"
"True love or an exchangeable toy girl?"
xoxoxoxo
They had been dating for a little bit more than two month now. Because of the divorce, they had to be discrete but Miranda's influence helped to put the legal process through in record time and the divorce had been finalized a week ago. Since then, Andy had been hoping for Miranda to bring up the topic of their future. It was not, that Andy doubted Miranda's feelings for her. But she was also very aware of the fact, that she wasn't dating any ordinary person.
The woman that captured her mind every waking minute of her life as well as most of her dreams was Miranda Priestly, after all. And as much as she loved her, she was not sure, whether Miranda might ever be willing to make their relationship public.
That was why she was so shocked to find the paparazzi outside the Elias-Clarke-Building that afternoon. She had no idea, how they might have found out – they had told no one, yet, and whenever they had been in public together, they had acted like nothing but boss and assistant.
When she heard them shouting all those questions, she thought, that was it. It would be all over now. The fairy-tale she had been living the last couple of weeks might turn into a nightmare.
Andy had no idea where the car was going. She was hardly aware of its moving at all. When it suddenly stopped, she was surprised to find herself in front of Miranda's townhouse.
xoxoxoxo
"Andrea darling, what's wrong with you?" Miranda's voice sounded far away, as if she was talking through a thick courtain. Andrea couldn't really make out the words so when she answered, she spoke the only thought that was running through her mind:
"I don't want this to be it! I don't want to lose you!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about, dear…"
Miranda took Andrea's hands and looked deep into the brunettes beautiful eyes. She could see fear there and all she could think of in that moment was that she would do everything in her power to protect the woman she loved from whatever was causing this fear.
"Andrea darling, please listen to me. I'm awfully sorry for what happened and especially the way it happened but we knew we had to face the press sooner or later. I brought you here though before giving a statement because I think there are a few things that we should talk about in private before telling the press." She stopped, giving Andrea the time to process her words. When she started again, Andy was expecting anything but what she heard.
"Andrea, I want you to know, that… that I love you. I love you so, so much! I never thought I could care for any other person except my daughters as much as I care for you. I hope you don't think of me as the silly old woman I probably am for wanting to scream out to the world how much you mean to me…"
Andy's face was covered in tears, her voice broke, but she couldn't care less. She cupped Miranda's face and pulled the older woman closer. When their breaths mingled and their lips almost touched, she whispered "I love you, too!" before capturing Miranda's lips in a soft but sensual kiss.
After several minutes of deep kisses and wandering hands, Miranda pulled slightly away, resting her forehead against Andrea's. "You make me so happy." she whispered.
"Darling, you are the best thing that ever happened to me! I'll never be able to put into words, how much you mean to me. If you are up for it, I would very much want to go public. Everyone should see how much I love you."
Now it was Miranda fighting her tears. She knew how much it meant for someone to go public about a relationship with the "Ice Queen". The paparazzi would be intrusive and the questions would be nasty. But for the first time in her life she was sure to have found someone who would not simply endure this because of the benefits they would see for themselves in their union but because of their heartfelt love for her.
She caressed the younger woman's cheek and pecked her on the lips. "I'm all up for it, as you put it, my dear, and I can't tell you how happy it makes me, to know that you are. However, there is just one more thing we will have to go through before talking to the press…"
"Which would be…?"
Minanda took a deep breath. "Talking to my daughters! You know, they only just recently had to go through the whole chaos of the divorce. I can't put them through that kind of trouble again…"
"Miranda, look at me. There is nothing you have to worry about. I know how much your daughters mean to you and I'm sure you know that I would never ask you to do anything that might hurt the girls. But I also know your daughters a little bit and it's obvious how much they love you and that they want you to be happy."
Miranda looked at her love in awe. "Well, I hope you are right… We will, however, soon find out. The girls should be home any minute."
"Do you want me to leave so you can talk to them in private?"
"No, stay. Please…?"
In that moment, they heard the front door open and two sets of feet running across the floor and heading upstairs to their room. Andy squeezed Miranda's hand an moved to the armchair across from the sofa they had been sitting on, when Miranda went out to the hall.
xoxoxoxo
"Hey Bobbseys!"
"Mom! You're home!" The footsteps came back down the stairs.
"Did something happen? Are you alright?" Cassidy's voice sounded concerned.
"Have you been crying?"
"I'm fine, girls. Really! No need to worry. There is something, I'd like to talk to you about, though."
"I knew something was wrong!"
"As I said, nothing's wrong. It's good news. At least I hope it is… Please come to the living room with me and then we can talk."
When Miranda entered the living room, Andy could see her taking a deep breath. She was nervous. Afraid that now that she found this wonderful woman she loved so much, her daughters might not approve. Though she had raised the twins as open-minded young girls, she was not sure how they might react to the news of their mom being in love with not only a woman but a so much younger one as well.
xoxoxoxo
"Andy!" Caroline smiled as she entered the living room and gave her sister a knowing look.
"Hey, Caroline, hi, Cassidy!" Andy smiled back at the girls, who had now sat down on the sofa, one on each side of their mother.
Miranda looked at her two beautiful daughters, who must have grown again overnight. "Girls," she started, "I know, our lives have not been easy over the last couple of month. And I hope you know, how very sorry I am for putting you through all this trouble. I should have known better, but I thought I was doing the right thing by bringing Stephen into our lives. I'm really sorry you had to say goodbye to yet another person in your lives.
"It's okay, Mom." Caroline interrupted. "Sure, you should probably never have married Stephen, but now he is gone. That's great! We never liked him, anyways!
"Yeah," Cassidy added "he was a prick who never treated you right. We're glad he's gone. You are the best mom in the world and you deserve sooo much better!"
"Yes, Cass is right! You really deserve… Andy!" Caroline grinned. "You were finally going to tell us you're a couple, weren't you?"
Miranda and Andy glanced at each other in shock before looking back at the girls. "You know?"
"Oh, Mom, seriously! We are your daughters. Of course we know!" Cassidy took over. "We have known you, like, forever – I mean for our whole entire life, like – and we have never seen you look at anybody the way you look at Andy. Not even Dad. And most certainly not Stephen! You look at her like Cady looks at Aaron in Mean Girls! Like Mia looks at Michael in the end of The Princess Diaries! Like…"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Like Cassidy looks at Brandon Daniels during chemistry!"
Cassidy turned bright red and threw a cushion at her twin. "I do not!"
"Do, too!"
Before her daughters could start one of their usual fights, Miranda interrupted. "I guess I have underestimated my clever girls once again… So if you've known all along: Are you okay with my being in a relationship with Andrea?"
Caroline answered with a question of her own: "Are you happy?"
Miranda looked at Andy and smiled "Very!"
"Then of course we are okay with it! All we want is for you to be happy."
"And maybe a horse, but that's a topic for another day!" Cassidy grinned.
Miranda laughed and hugged her girls closely. "Oh, Bobbseys, you have no idea how much that means to me… I love you so much!"
"And we love you Mom!"
After another long cuddle with her mother, Caroline suddenly asked all business-like: "So, how are you going to do this?"
"Do what?" Miranda frowned.
"This. Us. Your relationship. I mean coming out to the press, going public, that sort of thing."
"Well, the thing is, the press already found us out, kind of…" answered Andy who had been watching the whole scene between Miranda and her daughters silently.
"So?"
"You know what, Bobbseys? I think a have a brilliant idea. What would you think about Andrea accompanying us this afternoon?"
This afternoon? Andy thought, What was going on this afternoon? She remembered the time being marked off as "family time" in Miranda's schedule. But apart from that, she had no idea.
The twins seemed less confused. "You mean..?" "Really?" "Like a real…" "That would be awesome!" they squealed. "Do you think, that's still possible?"
"Well, I guess I'll have to find out." She winked at her girls and grabbed her phone from her purse before moving towards the hall to have some quiet for the call she was about to make. Andy was able to make out her words, nevertheless:
"Serena, dear! It's Miranda! I'm awfully sorry to disturb you right now but I do have a favour to ask…"
Sorry to disturb? Favour to ask? That didn't sound like Miranda at all… "I assume that's not Runway's Serena your mother is talking to?"
"No, duh! Of course not!" Caroline rolled her eyes. "It's Serena Williams!"
"Serena Williams? As in the tennis player?"
"As in the greatest tennis player in the whole wide world!"
"Wow, I didn't know you guys were interested in tennis. Do you play?"
"Not really." Cassidy answered. "I mean, the house in the Hamptons has a court so we sometimes play when we're there. But not regularly."
"Mom does, though!" Caroline added. "Every other Saturday."
So that was why those afternoons had always been blocked off on Miranda's schedule…
"Andy? Andy!" The twins had apparently kept talking.
"Sorry, girls! I have just been…" …imagining your mother in a short tennis dress… "thinking of something else. What were you saying?"
"I told you that every year, Serena organizes this benefit match at Flushing Meadows for the Hearts of Gold foundation. She always plays against her sister."
"Yeah, and we always go to watch!"
"And that's today?" The girls nodded. "And… and you want me to go with you?" Andy could hardly understand what that meant. Not only a statement to the press or one day Miranda and her going out to dinner in public, no, this was a family outing! There was no way that Miranda could be more clear about their relationship than showing Andy involved with her precious daughters. Andy was close to tears when the fashion maven returned to the living room.
"Serena assured me, that it would be no problem to get another seat in her player's box. I briefly let her in on our plan and she is looking forward to meet you, darling."
xoxoxoxo
The afternoon with Miranda and the twins had been amazing and the whole thing about going public had turned into a negligibility. When they had arrived at the VIP entrance, there had been lots of reporters lining the red carpet, but they had not by far been as intrusive as the paparazzi they had had to face earlier that day. They had taken pictures and asked Miranda to introduce the woman on her arm, but apart from that their questions had been about the match and the charity it supported.
The match itself had been fascinating. Never before had Andy watched a tennis match live. The Williams sisters had been highly ambitious and the match had been close. Andy and Miranda had cheered along with the girls when Serena finally won the third set 7-5. Afterwards, the girls had a chance to personally congratulate their idol and Andy found out that not only was Serena Williams quite a good friend of Miranda's but also really nice and fun to talk to.
So, all in all, their first family outing had been a blast.
Back in the car on the way home, both Andy's and Miranda's phone bleeped. They reached in their bags to gather the devices, read the screens and smirked. Then they look at each other grinning. They had received identical text messages:
From: Nigel Kipling
To: Miranda Priestly, Andrea Sachs
OMG! Drinks at Pastis. Tomorrow night. Don't you dare say no. Both of you!
xoxoxoxo
Back at the townhouse they had shared a wonderful dinner and later watched a movie. Cassidy had insisted on watching The Princess Diaries again, as it reminded her of their conversation earlier on. When it was time for bed, the girls gave both their mom and Andy a hug goodnight.
"Night mom, love you!"
"Yeah, me too!"
"And I love you, my Bobbseys! Thank you very much for your acceptance and a wonderful day!"
"Sure thing! Night Andy!"
"Good night, Cassidy!"
"Yeah, good night Andy! See you at breakfast! You're staying over, right?"
"Well I don't know… Your mom and I haven't really talked about…"
"Oh, come on Andy! You have to stay! You promised to show us how to do your special pancakes!"
"I would tell you, we have enough guest rooms for you to stay in, but we are old enough to realize that you will prefer staying in Mom's bedroom." Caroline grinned, before she and her sister made their way up to the bedroom, giggling as they went.
xoxoxoxo
About an hour later, Miranda guided Andrea up the stairs to her bedroom. She was a little nervous about having the younger woman here. So far they had usually met at Andrea's place and yet she had started to think of her bedroom as theirs in a way. She knew it was too early in their relationship to think about moving in together but deep down in her heart she knew that one day she wanted to share everything with the beautiful, loving brunette. So, to finally have her here with her put her on edge.
Andrea's nerves were fluttering as well. The whole day had been amazing. The way Miranda and her daughters accepted her into their family was more than she could have ever hoped for. The girls had been wonderfully kind and caring and they had had a great time together. Now being invited to stay over at Miranda's and finally seeing her loved one's most private sanctuary was the proverbial cherry on top.
When they had reached their destination, Andrea was not surprised to find a warm and friendly room, lovely decorated and representing its inhabitant's relaxed out-of-work-persona. The dominant colours in the room where gold, patina and a light, creamy brown that reminded Andy of Miranda's favourite coffee. What really captured her eyes, however, was the picture above the bed.
It was a classy black-and-white photograph, showing the naked belly of a pregnant woman lying on her back. And even though you could only see the baby bump and just a hint of a leg and the slight swell of a breast, Andy knew that the beauty in the picture was not just any model but the very woman that was now wrapping her arms around her hips from behind.
"I hope you don't mind my decoration?"
Andy turned around in the embrace. "Are you kidding? It's gorgeous!" she said. "I wish I could have seen you like that."
"Believe me, it wasn't a pleasant sight! I looked as if I had swallowed a beach ball."
"There is nothing that could make you look anything but gorgeous. But the beauty of your two wonderful daughters growing inside you must have made you look even more breath taking."
Miranda smiled warmly at the woman in her arms. "Thank you! Thank you for those kind words and thank you for accepting not only me but my whole family. You were wonderful with the girls today and they really like you, you know."
"Oh Darling, I should be the one thanking you for welcoming me with open arms into your family. I know how much your daughters mean to you and what a huge step it is for you to let someone in. So thank you! I feel honoured to somehow become a part of your wonderful family."
"We love having you! I love you, you know?"
"And I love you! Now, are we going to spend the whole night in your bedroom door talking about interior decoration and family units or are you going to show me that wonderful bed of yours that you claim to be so much more comfy than mine?"
- - - - End - - - -
AN: Bits of this story have been rumaging in my head since last years US Open, when I saw Anna Wintour in Serena Williams player's box. I did make the charity match up but the foundation is real and one Serena Williams is known for supporting.
Please let me know, what you think!