A/N: I am truly humbled by the response this story has had. It is my hope that this Chapter lives up to everyone's expectations. There were a few reviewers I wanted to thank, but because of your settings, I was unable to. So I shall say thank you here. And of course, I must thank my very good friend Elliewrites who is simply an amazing woman.

All mistakes are mine.

Chapter 2

"Andy!" two redheaded twins bolted from Lily and practically knocked the young woman over as she got out of the cab in front of the townhome.

"Hello my favorite little ladies." Andy bent over to envelop them both. After their group hug, Andy made sure to give each girl individual attention as a special way of acknowledging their individuality. Too many people in their lives had simply treated them as one unit instead of the two separate girls that they were.

Turning to Caroline she asked, "So what did Ms. Miller think of your diorama?" Looking up into truly interested eyes, Caroline answered, "I was the only person in my class that made one! Everyone else just had a regular book report, so she said that mine was very creative and that she appreciated the extra effort that I had put into it. Even my friends said it was super cool and that they wish they had thought of it!" Caroline was beaming with pride at the praise she had received from her teacher and Andy couldn't help but feel proud that her idea had paid off for Caroline. She may have given Caroline the idea, but she certainly didn't make the project.

"That is so awesome! And your mom is going to be extremely proud of you too kiddo." Andy tapped her on the nose before turning to Cassidy.

"And you my dear, how did the physical fitness challenge go today?"

Cassidy, the child with a flare for the dramatics immediately posed with her arms as if she were a professional weightlifter. "You see these guns? I was amazing!"

"So basically you weren't able to do but maybe one pull-up uh?" Andy asked as they laughed good naturedly.

"Exactly. I have no idea why they make us do that stupid test. It's not like I'm ever going to go into a job interview and they'll say, How many pull-ups can you do and can you climb that rope hanging from the ceiling?" Cassidy said while scrunching up her face.

Andy pulled Cassidy into a sideways hug and said, "The only thing you need to know for an interview is to never wear a cerulean sweater or an ugly skirt."

"But mom's favorite color is cerulean." Caroline said.

"Say what?" Andy asked.

"Trust us." They said in unison and their smirk alluded to much more than what they were saying.

The twins were enamored with their mom's assistant. For the first time in their lives, they felt as though someone other than their mother genuinely cared about them. They believed Andy was someone that wasn't trying to be nice to them just because of who their mom was.

Cara their nanny cared for them, but she also received a paycheck to care. Andy was also a paid employee by their mom, but she was paid to care about Runway. Their relationship with Andy had started out no different than with anyone else. A simple prank on the staircase, or so they had thought.

They had assumed Andy would be like all of their mom's other assistants: someone who would ignore them completely, believe them to be the devil's spawn, or just simply not care for them at all. They had figured Andy would have allowed the press and others to have placed a preconceived notion of them in her head, but to their surprise Andy had actually listened to them. She had walked straight up the stairs. She had trusted them and had paid dearly for it.

When Miranda had found out exactly what her darling bobseys had done, she instructed Cara to rip out the final chapter in both of their Harry Potter manuscripts. Once the girls had returned, they were made to apologize to Andy. Accepting their apology, Andy then asked if she could read the last chapter from Miranda's copy to both of them. That night, sitting on the couch in the family room with a twin on either side, was the beginning of a new friendship with two redheaded Priestlys. Miranda had been battling her feelings towards the young assistant for weeks, but the sight of Andrea on a plush sofa snuggled with her daughters, broke her resolve internally. There could no longer be any denial when it came to how much she truly loved the other woman. However, it did not mean those feelings were returned, nor did it mean she would do anything about it.

"I can't believe we are actually going to do this!" Caroline said with a bit of awe in her voice.

"Well duh, it's Andy. She never lets us down." Cassidy said.

Making sure she had both of the twins' attention, Andy replied "It's ok, I'm not offended. I know that you two deal with a lot of disappointment. And just because I haven't disappointed you two yet, it doesn't mean that I won't someday. Sometimes being an adult means life gets complicated. Ok?" Andy knew she was rapidly becoming a perfect image in their eyes, but wanted them to know that they didn't need to put her up on some sort of pedestal.

"Ok." Both girls replied.

Breaking out into a huge mischievous grin Andy continued, "But lucky for you two, I don't feel like being an adult today! Let's do this!" and she high-fived both of the girls.

Lily broke in and said, "Yes, please, let's get this after school special off of the sidewalk and into the townhouse already." She was terrified that La Dragon Priestly was going to show up any minute due to some unforeseen snafu and she felt she was too young for her career to already be over.

Andy and the girls giggled before giving Lilly their thanks and telling her bye. Andy reassured her that Miranda would never know her part in the scheme and sent her on her way.

Almost a year ago Lily was upset with Andy and her new job. She couldn't grasp why anyone would want to run themselves ragged for what she saw as so little reward. The personal changes she saw in her friend initially scared her, but over time as Lily's career had taken off, she could relate more than ever to her friend. Of course she wasn't oblivious to the way Andy's face lit up every time Miranda's name was mentioned either. So when everyone else walked away, Lily stayed and became the best friend she had been since college.

Caroline and Cassidy looked at each other while Andy opened the door and in their silent twin speak they said, See, she's different.

The trio made their way to the immaculate kitchen. Cara, being a full supporter of Operation Carbohydrate had all of the ingredients stashed in the pantry for them. The helium balloons had been tucked away in a laundry room closet and the banner that the girls had made was hidden in their bedroom.

While the girls began laying out all of the items that that they would need for the surprise, across town in a silver Mercedes, Miranda's phone rang.

The editor did not recognize the number so she handed the phone to Nigel, her "date" for the evening. When she had heard her phone ring, she had hoped for a moment that it was her kids calling to tell her happy birthday or that it was even Andrea saying that her dad's flight was delayed and that she would be available for the evening after all. She tried to feel guilty about that last thought but couldn't.

Watching Nigel's facial expression and hearing him gasp suddenly had her worried.

"The girls?" she asked concern filling her mind. I should have never let them go over to their friend's house.

Nigel hesitated for half of a second. How in the world was he going to answer that question? Technically it was the girls, and one other girl er… woman, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "It's the alarm company Miranda. There's been a breech at the townhouse." So much for a fool-proof plan.

Miranda held out her hand indicating that Nigel give the phone to her. "This is Miranda." She stated cutting off the alarm company worker mid-sentence.

"Hello, Ms. Priestly, my name is Rick and your silent alarm has been tripped. From the surveillance cameras, we are seeing two small children along with a young woman on the premises. Would you like for us to call the local authorities?" the technician asked.

Going on instinct as to who the intruders could be, Miranda almost said yes to alerting the police. What insidious prank had her girls pulled Andrea into this time? Maybe having them arrested would scare them enough to stop her children's ridiculous behavior.

"No." Miranda stated firmly.

"No?" he asked.

"Has the ringing from my silent alarm damaged your hearing? No. That's all." And she hung up.

Opening up the Alarm First app on her phone, Miranda began watching and listening to the surveillance system in her house.

A/N: I have no idea if apps were even available in 2006-07 but for this work of fiction to make sense, I needed them to be. Also, I have no idea if you can have a home security system that includes both a camera and sound, however you should be able to because that would be awesome to have. I simply have a dog. Please don't rob me. You wouldn't want my stuff.