"Patricia!", Miranda shouted, or at least her version of shouting which was still much quieter than the majority of the population.
"Why does she keep doing that?", Andrea questioned with a slightly tilted head as she observed the dog barking loudly at the back door.
Patricia kept doing it each night, barking for what seemed to be no reason at all and it had started only a few days previously.
"I have no idea, Andrea", Miranda replied, "Maybe you should ask her?".
Andrea rolled her eyes at her lover, the woman was stood by the kitchen island in her nightwear which was covered by her robe and she was preparing hot drinks for them all as both Caroline and Cassidy were in the den choosing the movie for the night.
Patricia paused for a moment but not long enough for either of the women to be glad about it because she then continued even louder than before.
"Okay, what is it, girl?", Andrea questioned as she knelt down near the dog.
Patricia nudged her with her nose before turning back to the glass patio doors that led to the back garden and starting to bark.
"Something out there?", the dark-haired woman asked before standing up and flicking the switch to turn on the outdoor lights, "See? Nothing there".
For a moment, the barking stopped but then when the light was off she started again.
"Maybe she doesn't like the garden being dark?", Andrea asked as she looked over to Miranda who was stirring their drinks.
Miranda shook her head, "And she suddenly decided that three days ago?", she replied, "After being perfectly fine with it since she got here?".
Andrea sighed, "I'm not sure what it could be", she admitted as she leaned back against the wall.
The white-haired woman glanced over at the noisy dog, "If only she came with a mute button", she commented with a slight roll of her eyes.
"I have an idea!", the younger woman suddenly declared as she pushed herself off of the wall.
"Sounds dangerous", Miranda drawled sarcastically, "Be careful, you might break something".
Andrea rolled her eyes, "Haha", she replied, "You think you're so funny".
"That would be because I am, my dear", Miranda instantly responded with a slight smirk on her face.
The reporter moved to the kitchen island and picked up her cell phone from the side before starting to hit a few 'buttons' on it.
"So, what is your bright idea, my dear?", the Editor-in-Chief asked her lover.
"You'll see", Andrea said softly, "If it works of course".
Miranda simply nodded in her direction, after dating each other for the past 7 months, ever since that particular almost leaving incident that they were to never speak of again, she had a lot of trust in the younger woman. She had more trust in Andrea than she had had in all of her previous husbands combined and then some on top of that too.
Patricia continued her rather annoying barking as Miranda pressed her fingertips to her forehead which indicated that she had a headache developing which would definitely not be a good thing when her children were expecting her to watch a movie with them.
Andrea moved to stand in the doorway of the kitchen and focused her phone on the doorway where Patricia was currently barking like mad in the direction of the glass doors. The camera was on and ready so she touched the circle in order to take the photo then she touched it a few more times to capture more photos of the same image before recording the video for approximately ten seconds.
Miranda observed her girlfriend, looking between the woman taking the photos and the dog that was continuing to bark like crazy, "Your idea was to capture the moment that our dog went insane?".
The younger woman shook her head before mumbling a 'no' as she was distracted with her phone, "Ah ha", she said instantly as she moved to the kitchen island, "Patricia is barking at...", the woman paused and put the cell phone down on the kitchen island, "her".
"Her?", Miranda questioned, "I thought that we already determined that there was nothing... out... there". Her words got away from her a little as she looked down at the cell phone photograph.
The photograph showed the patio doors with Patricia in front of them just as she had expected it to, however, what she did not expect was to see the image of a little girl reflected in the window when it was clear that no child was either side of the glass doors.
"That...", Miranda was unsure as to what she was supposed to say.
"That isn't all", Andrea said as she moved her hand over to swipe at the phone, "Check these out". She was showing Miranda the photos, "Each photo she has moved just a little bit and look at this video", she said before hitting play.
The video footage showed the exact same little girl as was shown in the photos but this time she was moving a little bit, she appeared to be watching Patricia but nobody is going to enter that door or come inside when the dog was barking so loudly and obsessively.
"She's just a little girl", Miranda mumbled as she looked over at the doors.
Andrea sighed, "I know", she said softly, "But it isn't like you can invite her in for movie night with the girls, is it?". "Come on, let's go up and maybe Patricia will follow us up for movie night", the woman suggested.
Miranda nodded, "Take the mugs up on that tray and I'll grab the snacks, I'll be up in a moment", she said with a smile before pressing a gentle kiss to Andrea's lips.
The younger woman nodded, "Okay", she replied before kissing the woman again, "I'll see you in a minute, don't forget those Hersheys mini bars".
"I won't forget", Miranda reassured her as she knew that Andrea was not the only one that was rather fond of the small bars of chocolate but also both of her girls too and also if she was to be honest with herself, she was also rather fond of them despite the fact that many seemed to be under the impression that she avoided sugar. That was something that was in actual fact very untrue.
Andrea walked up the stairs to the girls with only a small glance back to the door, "Are you coming, Patricia?", she called as she walked up the stairs despite knowing that Patricia would not follow until Miranda went up the stairs too.
Miranda was stood by the kitchen island biting her lip ever so slightly, "Patricia", she said softly, "Stop, it's okay". The phone had been left on the counter and she picked it up to look at the photo before moving to the patio doors where Patricia continued to bark, "Patricia, stop", she commanded, "She's safe".
Patricia stopped barking and tilted her head at the command, it was the first time in three days that the dog had stopped barking on command but now she was just watching the door as if it were a strange television show that only she could see.
"You're very pretty", Miranda whispered, she was unsure as to whether the little girl could hear her or not, "Patricia? Do you need to go out before we go upstairs?".
Patricia gave one singular bark.
Miranda nodded before standing up and turning on the outdoor light before opening the door to let her out. Once Patricia had gone outside, the woman knelt down again near the door, "I don't know if you're still there or even if you can hear me", she whispered quietly, "But if you are... then you are more than welcome to come in. Tonight is movie night".
Patricia came back inside after a few minutes outside and Miranda shivered from the cold air that had come in.
The white-haired woman closed the door and locked it back up, "Now, no more barking Patricia", she stated firmly but the dog no longer held any interest in the patio doors and instead she was looking at Miranda or just her legs. The Editor-in-Chief went and picked up the tray with the snacks on and pulled the chocolates out of the cupboard before placing those on the tray too. She then made her way up the stairs to where she knew her family were waiting for her.
"You got Patricia to stop barking then?", Cassidy questioned.
Miranda nodded, "So it seems".
"It's really annoying", Caroline commented, "Maybe we need to get a mute button installed?".
Andrea laughed, "Your mother suggested that too", she commented.
"That's because my mother is clever like that", Caroline stated with a grin.
The two girls were both in their pyjamas and they had blankets covering them whilst they lay on a mountain of pillows that had somehow migrated to the den floor.
Andrea was sat with them too wearing her on nightwear and Miranda quite happily sat down with them before handing Andrea back her phone.
Miranda simply smiled at her and looked in the direction of Patricia.
Andrea looked down at her phone before looking over at Patricia then she moved her focus back to her beautiful girlfriend but she did not speak a single word. Instead, she rolled her eyes, smiled, and pressed a kiss to Miranda's cheek before she pulled her into her arms so that Miranda's head was resting on her shoulder.