The twins put away the dishes while she and Andréa loaded the dishwasher. Marisol would be there in the morning to begin the week's cleaning and Miranda gave a sigh of relief. "Let's head into the den," she murmured, taking Andréa's arm.
The younger woman cuddled into her side, letting Miranda lead her into the other room. They relaxed on the chaise lounge and she found herself placing a hand on Andréa's stomach, rubbing absently. "What is it like?"
"Well, my experience was far from the norm. I was forty when I got pregnant, so it just seemed like everything normal was magnified in me. I love my babies, but I never expected having them."
Andréa nodded, covering her hand on her stomach. "Do you think that I'll be okay as a mother? I mean, it's not like I have much experience around babies. Or children. And being here, in this city, how am I going to compete with all those posh mothers who have their kid enrolled in preschool before they're born?"
Miranda chuckled a little at the panicked tone that crept into the young woman's voice. "You'll do fine, and I can be your ticket into that posh world, if you so wish."
She could feel Andréa relax into her and she smiled. "That would be really great, even if I would feel a little awkward using you like that." She turned a little, resting her head on her shoulder. "So, my boss wants my head on a platter. The only thing that kept him from firing me on the spot was the fact that I'm such good friends with you."
"Oh, Andréa, I'm sorry."
"Yeah, it kind of sucks. I hated the fact that he used my association with you to make his decision. I would rather be kept on my own merits. I know that's now how the real world works a lot of the time, but I still desperately want to believe that there are people out there do value what you do over who you know. Even if it is you, Miranda."
The passionate reply took her aback slightly and she nodded a little as she began to stroke her hair gently, wanting to comfort her. "I know that that's naïve, too, but it is something to strive for. I'm sorry that he made you feel so badly, though." Miranda placed a soft kiss on Andréa's forehead before holding her close once more. "I don't want you to feel badly."
"You could never make me feel badly. I promise." Andréa lifted her face and pressed her lips against Miranda's, seeking comfort from her. Miranda began to return the kiss, threading her hands into her thick hair, holding her close. "Your lips are so soft," she murmured as she released her, nuzzling her face into the crook of Miranda's neck.
"So are yours. But we have to wait to do anything until tonight, when the girls are in bed. They like you, but I don't know if they're ready to accept us in a relationship. And you are still a bit tender from all that you've experienced in the last few days."
Andréa nodded, resting her head on Miranda's shoulder. "I am a little raw. Am I really so wrong for wanting to say fuck it and quit? I know that I have nothing to fall back on, but Marcus just looked at me like I was so stupid for getting pregnant."
"That's a bit of the hormones talking there, Andréa. Though I can see why you would felt that way." She clasped her hand lightly, bringing it down to her stomach. "Caro suggested that you quit and spend your days here, writing the next great American novel."
Andréa laughed a little. "That won't happen for years yet."
"Do you have a manuscript?"
"Of course I do. I've been working on it since I started college. I just haven't had a lot of time to work on it lately."
Miranda felt strangely guilty, knowing that she was somewhat the cause for that, given how busy she had kept the young woman. "Well, perhaps you should take some time off and work on that."
"It's probably not any good, you know. I am only twenty four."
She hated to her hear speak of herself so disparagingly and so she shook her head, tightening her hand in Andréa's. "No, I'll be the judge of that. Go get me your manuscript. That is all."
Andréa giggled a little as she stood up, bending to kiss her gently before slipping from the room. While she was gone, Miranda readjusted how she was sitting and pulled out her reading glasses, slipping them on as she waited. "I tried not to take too long, I know you don't like to be kept waiting," she said with a smile as she returned, handing over her laptop. "I also have never printed it off, so you'll have to read it from the screen."
"Not a problem." Miranda took the computer from Andréa's hands, resizing the document so that she could read it a little more easily. The young woman sat next to her, drumming her fingers against the arm of the chaise. "You know, you can go grab something to read whilst I'm otherwise occupied."
"Oh, yeah, there is that." She jumped up again and went over to the shelves of books, looking for something that caught her eye while Miranda immersed herself in the story her Andréa had written.
"This is really good, Andréa. And you're worried about how well you write? I've read your articles, and while they have that small spark of you in them, a lot of them are rote, aren't they?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I have to follow the prescribed formula for things, and it does lead to a little bit of stilted writing on my part. When I'm writing that, I feel like I can be free to say whatever I want. I have a few short stories, too, but that is my baby, well, my first baby."
Miranda nodded before letting her arm come to rest around Andréa's shoulders. "Would you let me show it to a publishing friend of mine?"
"As long as I get to use a pseudonym, and no one knows about our association with each other. I want this to stand on its own feet."
"That is perfectly understandable. Do you have a pen name in mind?"
Andréa nodded. "I was thinking Emily Sanders."
She laughed a little, pulling her closer. "That is too rich."
"I know. But you always called me Emily when I first started my job. It seemed fitting to use that as my pen name." Andréa turned her face, kissing the side of Miranda's neck. "Sorry, I just can't seem to keep my hands off you. But then, I have noticed that my libido is getting out of control. That was one of the things mentioned on the pregnancy websites."
Miranda felt herself blush a little, surprised at her reaction to the young woman. "Yes, I did notice that with the twins." She cleared her throat and tried to adjust how they sat without disturbing Andréa too much. "So, if you'll have that renamed by morning, I'll send it off to my editor friend. Might as well get the ball rolling, right?"
Andréa nodded before sitting up. "That sounds like a good plan." She took the laptop back from her and made a few brief changes to the document. "I'll go grab a flash drive and transfer the file to it."
She stood and strode from the room, Miranda's eyes following her as she walked. While she was gone, the twins scurried in, sitting on either side of her. "So, is everything okay with Andy? She looked kind of down at supper."
"She's fine, bobbsies. We just had to take care of a small problem with her workplace."
Caroline screwed up her face into a frown. "You told her she could stay here and write, right? I mean, you could totally be her patron, just like back in the old days. Maybe if people did that again, we'd have great novels and music. I mean, have you listened to any station other than the classical one lately? Such a dearth of anything creative."
Miranda ruffled her daughter's hair. "You are adorable, honey. But, you have to take into consideration that the patronage system was really manipulative. I don't want Andréa to feel like she has to please us, her work should be her own."
Looking up, she saw her standing in the doorway, and Miranda beckoned her over. "If you want to dress me up in court clothes from the early 1700s, I would adore that. I would be your willing writer for clothes like that."
Miranda began to laugh as Andréa settled herself in front of her, wiggling between her legs to rest against the chaise. "Why am I not surprised by that? You always were a clothes horse at the office."
"What can I say, you introduced me to a very expensive addiction. And it was all free so long as I worked at Runway. That's what I miss the most."
She heard the teasing tone her voice had taken on and deliberately pushed her shoulder. "Why, Ms. Sachs, for words like that, I do believe that I regret to inform you that my patronage has already been engaged by someone else."
"I'll just have to remember that when I write my next novel. Let's see, aloof woman who refuses to let others get close to her for fear of forming…" Andréa cut herself off, as if she knew that she had gone down a road that both of them would regret, turning around to look into her eyes. "I'm sorry. That was going to be mean. Forgive me?"
Miranda nodded shortly, reaching down for Andréa's hand. The twins looked at them both, trying to read between the lines they were deliberately leaving blank. "Mom, Andy, is everything okay?"
"It will be, bobbsies. Now, I think it is time that you were off to bed. School comes early in the morning." They nodded, both frowning slightly, before getting up and hugging and kissing her and Andréa.
"You'll be here in the morning, right, Andy?"
"Yes," she answered firmly, never taking her eyes off of Miranda. "I promise."
"Good." The girls left the room and then Andréa was crawling up onto the seat, burrowing into Miranda.
"My mouth moves faster than my brain sometimes. I would never deliberately hurt you. You know that, right?"
"I do." Miranda dropped a soft kiss to the top of Andréa's head. "And when you write that story, make sure the aloof woman has a whirlwind of a young woman blow into her life, forcing her to care and love once more."
"Miranda?"
"There's a romantic in me, lurking beneath the surface. We have to wait…"
"Until the divorce is final, I know. Nigel called to tell me that. And I can be discreet, I promise." Andréa shifted a little so that she could kiss her once more. "Now, let's head to bed. I suppose that I have a resignation letter to write in the morning, and I might need some encouragement to help me along."
Miranda smirked a little. "I think that that could be arranged." They stood and she held out her hand to Andréa, clasping it tightly the moment they touched. "And you will always have a place here, no matter what your tongue lets slip." It was the closest she could come to admitting that she loved this slip of girl, and she hoped Andréa understood.
