A moment later, as they lined up to get into the Grotto experience, a text came through on Andrea's cell phone.

'I expect the next photo to be of ALL of you. That's all'

Andrea laughed slightly and shook her head with amusement.

"What is it?", Cassidy asked her.

"Your mother wants a photo of all of us", Andrea said with a smile.

"We did tell you so", the eldest twin replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Fine", Andrea relented, "I'll send the other one too".

It was only seconds after she had sent it before she got a reply from Miranda.

'That's better. Thank you'.

"What did she say?", Cassidy asked as she stretched her neck in a way that showed she was trying to see the message after the phone had made a noise.

"She said, 'that's better. Thank you'", Andrea replied with a soft but unavoidable smile.

"We told you so", Caroline highlighted with a smile.

Cassidy simply grinned happily as she held on to her mother's assistant's hand whilst Andrea internally and silently wondered why her boss would want the photo of all of them. The dark-haired woman, however, did find herself feeling rather pleased that she did want it, not that she would have admitted that in that moment despite the smile on her face.

They entered the first room as they were greeted by an energetic 'elf' with blonde hair that was tied into two pigtails.

The room looked like the inside of a wood cabin with the traditional wooden walls and basic wooden benches that stretched the length of the room with enough room for around twenty people to sit down. Around the top of the room was a garland which was wrapped with white fairy lights to give a more festive feel to the room. In one corner was a Christmas tree and below the tree was a pile of shiny wrapped gifts. The pile of gifts trailed across the front of the room in front of the projection screen.

The rather energetic and enthusiastic elves encouraged everyone to put on the glasses that they had been given on the way in. They were a slightly curved shape and a bright yellow colour but they put them on anyway and started to watch the screen. The glasses enabled the three-dimensional movie to start to make more sense as it was easier to see. It was only on the introduction screen when they first put their glasses on but the children seemed rather amazed by the visual of it all.

Andrea smiled happily at how much the two children seemed to enjoy the experience and she made sure to snap some photos of the little ones. It was a quiet session so there were not many other children in there with them at the time.

"And you too", Cassidy reminded the woman, prompting Andrea to hold out the phone and pull the girls closer to her in order to take a selfie of the three of them together in the first activity room.

Seconds later, the movie began and Andrea soon found herself watching the Night Before Christmas with the two children as different elements of the movie appeared to shoot out towards them. The glasses and movie had been designed so that each wearer had it aimed towards them, no matter where in the room they were sat.

For Andrea, however, the magical aspect of the room was watching Cassidy and Caroline watch the movie with the reflections of the fairy lights dancing in the plastic of their glasses. The little ones were amazed by the sight of the movie leaping out of the screen at them and the 'interactive' aspect of attempting to 'pop' the bubbles had them both giggling happily together.

The woman was pleased that she was able to spend the time with both of the girls but found herself not understanding how their father could willingly let them down on so many occasions as it meant he missed out on so many magical moments with two precious little girls. Andrea loved every moment that she got to spend with the two of them (and she loved it even more when Miranda was with them too).

She had moved to New York to become a journalist but she had found something so much more fulfilling and she found herself so much happier than she had ever thought she could be. She would, of course, love to write more but in her personal life there was only one thing that could possibly make her happier… or to be more specific… one person. One woman. One Editor-in-Chief. The one she had fallen in love with without even realising it.

As the movie ended, the elves introduced them all to the board that showed their 'elf names' before they were led through to the second room of the Christmas Grotto experience.

"Hello Everyone!", greeted a woman who was apparently dressed as Mrs Claus, the woman was cheerful and happy as she greeted them all. There were two elves in the room as well that appeared to be almost bouncing around the room. Andrea couldn't help but think that they may have had too much caffeine before starting work or whilst on their lunch break. She also could not help but notice that 'Mrs Claus' was definitely not as old as she was usually depicted as on tv or in any form of publication or imagery, the children did not seem to care though.

The room, again, appeared to be the inside of a log cabin whilst wooden shelves were decorating the sides of the room and topped with toys. The sides of the room were also randomly piled with different toys including oversized pencils and pens which appeared to be made from foam. In the middle of the room there were wooden tables which had wooden troughs on the top of them. The troughs were filled with what appeared to be oats and glitter. Beside them were glue sticks, brown paper bags, and glitter pipe cleaners.

Each of the children were able to make their own 'reindeer food' in a reindeer themed bag using the items that the experience had provided for them by the grotto elves.

"Can we put our reindeer food out when we get home?", Cassidy asked politely.

Andrea smiled and shook her head, "No, you'll have to wait for Christmas Eve and sprinkle it outside then for the reindeers otherwise the birds will steal it all before the reindeer have a chance to eat any of it".

"Oh… okay", the youngest of the two said with a slight pout before happily continuing to create the treat bag.

"Where are you going to put yours, Andy?", Caroline asked her with curiosity, "You don't have a garden".

"Will you put it in your garden in Ohio?", Cassidy questioned, pausing in her task of pouring rolled oats and glitter into the brown paper bag.

"Erm… no", Andrea replied, "I won't be going to Ohio for Christmas".

"But… what will you do?", Caroline asked her with an element of shock.

"Why aren't you going home?", Cassidy continued the questioning.

Andrea hesitated but opted for the truth, "I fell out with my parents and it isn't the best idea to go to Ohio so I will probably just stay home and binge-watch Christmas movies with my friends Ben and Jerry".

"You're going to be on your own?", Caroline gasped, the child always acted a little older than what she was.

"Nope, I'll have Ben and Jerry", Andrea joked with a slight smirk.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Doesn't count", she huffed before she got a look on her face that showed she was planning something, something that she probably should not be.

Andrea finished off her reindeer item before encouraging the twins to continue with theirs as they had become distracted whilst whispering to each other about whatever plan they were cooking up in that moment.

The room had music playing and was energetic with the elves bouncing around like hyper children. The children loved creating their reindeer food bags filled with 'genuine reindeer food' which, in reality, was edible glitter mixed with rolled oats. They did, however, look rather adorable in the photo that the 'elf' took of the three of them presenting their reindeer food bags to the camera. Andrea was in the middle with her arms around the two girls, holding them close to her as they leaned into her comfortably.

When they had finished in the craft room, the three of them each had a bag of reindeer food in their own handmade reindeer bags. Andrea's one had a white pom pom nose with blue glitter pipe cleaner antlers and a pair of googly eyes. Cassidy's one had a white nose as well but her one had purple antlers whilst Caroline's had a red nose and green antlers. The children seemed rather happy with their creations, even if they were a little lopsided.

Going through the next set of doors, Andrea quickly sent the next batch of photos to Miranda, purposely sending all of them as well as the one of just the two girls together. This put them into another log cabin room, this time the room had a waiting line area and it divided into two.

"Would you like your photo taken in our magic sleigh?", one of the overly-energetic elves asked the small group.

"Yes!", the two girls yelled excitedly.

"Please", Andrea added with a polite smile.

"Brilliant!", he declared with a grin, "Right this way", he said as he indicated to the right side.

They soon found themselves being led over to the right side of the room where there was a huge sleigh in the corner of the room which had been decorated in red and gold with christmas trees surrounding it. Not far in front of it was a camera that was attached to a desk with a computer behind it. Behind the desk was another elf who appeared to be just as bouncy as the others.

At first Andrea encouraged the girls to get up on to the sleigh on their own but neither of the girls were smiling when they got onto the bench. Both were pouting, rather dramatically. "What's wrong?", Andrea asked as she knelt down beside them both.

"Want you too", Cassidy mumbled.

"How about, you two have a photo of just the both of you and I promise that I'll be in the next one with you, okay?", the dark-haired woman suggested.

Cassidy and Caroline looked at each other, pausing momentarily before returning their attention to their mother's assistant, "Okay", they both replied simply before turning to the camera and grinning quite happily.

Andrea could not help but smile and shake her head at the antics of the two of them, she felt like her heart was blooming when she watched them. She loved them more than she had imagined when she had first met them and they had initially pranked her, however, they had quickly become a part of her heart. She could not imagine her life without them and quite frankly she did not wish to either.

"Come on, Andy!", she heard, breaking her out of her thoughts and back into reality where the twins were beckoning her to join them on the Christmas sleigh with them for the next photo.

Andrea grinned and climbed up onto the sleigh in order to sit with them, it did not take the children long before they were both clambering up into her lap. She wrapped her arms around the both of them and held them both close to her as the 'elf' snapped the photos of the three of them together. The only thing that Andrea wished for in that moment was a certain woman to be with them, to have Miranda's arms around her would be perfection to her.

After the photos, Andrea noticed that there was an animatronics reindeer in the corner that appeared to be coming out of a small hut, "Would you like to meet the reindeer and have your photo taken?".

Caroline watched it nervously whilst Cassidy bounced excitedly, "Yes!".

Andrea led them over to the reindeer, keeping a close eye on Caroline who appeared to be rather nervous about the idea of the creature.

When they reached the fake animal, an elf encouraged Cassidy to press the button that was stood in front of the animal.

The moment that the blue plastic button was pressed though, two things happened. One, it started to talk, and two, Caroline almost screeched as she threw herself at Andrea whilst almost climbing up the woman. Andrea had no choice but to grab hold of the little girl and hold her close, "Shhh…. It's okay", she said calmly as she rocked the eldest twin in her arms.

Cassidy had jumped back a little but she seemed to be rather amused by the animal, although she did not step back as closely as she had been previously.

"Would you like a photo with Reggie the reindeer?", an elf asked from beside them.

Caroline had her face hidden in Andrea's neck as she watched the animal through her dark locks and Cassidy looked up at her sister before she answered. The youngest twin shook her head, "No".

"That's perfectly fine", the female elf answered as she smiled, "Would you like to go and see Santa?".

"Yes please!", the girls cheered enthusiastically in response.

Andrea smiled happily as she followed the 'elf' over to the red curtain in order to wait to be led into the next section. Whilst she waited she messaged Miranda with the photos from the Reindeer. The photos from the sleigh would have to wait until the end as she didn't have those on her phone.

"Are you ready?", another elf questioned the two girls happily.

Cassidy and Caroline nodded, the latter from her position in Andrea's arms, as music played a cheerful seasonal tune and elves bounced around the room like bouncy balls or hyper children.

"Do you know what you're going to ask Santa for Christmas?", the dark-haired elf asked them.

Both girls looked at each other before they nodded to the girl, confirming that they did know what they were going to ask for for Christmas from the red-suited man.

As they were led into the room, Andrea carried Caroline comfortably, she rather liked the feeling of the girl in her arms and Caroline seemed to simply love the woman's hugs.

They went through a red curtain, and then through a second one before they came to a smaller wooden cabin room. There was a fireplace to the left of the room where there was some toys and presents scattered around near it, in front of the fireplace was a small bench and a rug whilst beside it was a large throne chair. In the chair was a large man with a white beard and a red suit. To the right side of the room was another elf with a camera mounted to a shelf along with a computer screen beside it. The room was lit up with the glittering of fairy lights that lit up along the top of the room just like the first room had.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!", the man said enthusiastically, "Come on in and take a seat".

Despite the excitement that the two had felt in the lead up to going to see Santa, both of the girls were hiding against Andrea as he spoke calmly to them both.

"Would you like to come and sit near me?", he asked them, "I would love to know what you would like for Christmas this year".

Andrea knelt down, whispering encouragement to both of the girls.

After getting both of them to be standing on the ground, rather than in her arms like Caroline had been, Cassidy tugged at Andrea's hand, tugging her towards the bench that had been positioned next to Santa.

"How about your grown up sit with you?", the elf suggested.

"She's our Andy", Caroline said softly in response.

"Oh, okay", the elf replied, "Would you like her to sit with you?".

Caroline and Cassidy nodded, before the latter whispered to the elf, "She's like an extra mom".

The elf smiled brightly at that, "That's great".

When Andrea had sat down on the bench, then, and only then, were the two girls willing to climb up onto the bench in order to pose for the photos.

They took a few different photos together and then Andrea managed to convince the two girls to sit on the bench on their own for a photo. One photo only, according to the rules set down by the two precocious children.

"Now, would you both like a present each?", Santa asked.

The two of them looked up at Andrea, waiting for her nod to indicate that it was safe before they enthusiastically agreed after having relaxed a little since entering the smaller room.

Both Caroline and Cassidy's faces lit up when they saw stuffed reindeers being plucked from the large santa sack that sat beside the man, however, neither of the girls wanted to step close enough in order to get the stuffed toys from the man. Andrea tried not to laugh at the feeling of both of the girls nudging her towards the strange man. The man who was playing the role of Santa did, however, seem to understand and opted to simply give the two toys to the dark-haired woman instead of the children.

Andrea stepped back with both toys and knelt down before giving the toys to them both. In the way that they both squeezed and hugged the toys tightly showed how much they loved them.