8

The next day they decided to leave mid-morning to avoid most of the traffic returning to the city. When they got back everyone unpacked and prepared for the next day. Andy was proud of Miranda for avoiding doing much work during their time in the Hamptons but now that they were home she knew her wife was itching to go over the mockup of this month edition. She nodded her approval to Miranda and tried not to laugh at the look of utter relief that was all over the woman's face. While Miranda reviewed the book, the twins worked on homework, and Andy worked on doing some more unpacking. She was pleased to see that the smaller of the walk-in closets was now empty. Even with the new items, she realized she had a long way to go to build a wardrobe sufficient to appear on Miranda's arm at any number of events they would be required to attend.

After an hour of unpacking, she took a break. She decided it was time to talk to her friends about her new circumstances. She knew that she would prefer talking to them all at once. She sent out a series of texts to organize an impromptu get together for the following evening. She was pleased to see that everyone had agreed right away. They had not all gotten together for more than a month now. After more unpacking, Andy made her way down to the kitchen to make a simple pasta dish for dinner. Everyone seemed subdued at dinner. The weekend had apparently taken a lot out of all of them.

The couple put the girls to bed a little early before making their way to their bedroom. They agreed once again to continue their nude sleeping habit. Andy explained her plans for the next evening. She invited the editor but expected that her first day back at work would be a long one. The girls' would be with their nanny Cara until Andy got home.

"Are you going to talk to Nigel," Andy asked?

"Yes, we have a meeting at nine."

"What about Emily?"

"Yes I need to have a conversation with the both of them," Miranda almost chuckled at the thought of giving her former first assistant a hard time about her recent nuptials. Andy did laugh at seeing the glee in her spouse's eyes. The two women came together in the middle of the bed. They held each other for some time enjoying the closeness. Andy leaned in starting a series of gentle kisses. The kisses were more sweet than heated. Andy thought that this was all Miranda wanted tonight until she felt an elegant hand cup her sex. She pushed her hips forward to encourage Miranda to take further action and she did.

Andy woke to an empty bed the next morning. I am already missing her she thought. She had not been looking forward to her first day not being around Miranda during the day. She did recognize that she still preferred their current relationship to the way things had been a few days ago. She got up and dressed for her busy day. After waking the girls, she made her way downstairs to fix breakfast. She left a note for Cara reminding her that she and Miranda would both be late tonight. She decided to drive the girls to school so she could get Miranda all the paperwork needed to indicate that she was now the girls' second parent. She resisted the desire to hug the girls as she said goodbye to them. She remembered what it was like to be a teenage girl and therefore she did not want to do anything that might embarrass them. To her surprise, both girls initiated brief hugs then waved goodbye.

As she entered the office she was greeted by the school's administrator Mrs. Palmer. "Good morning Ms. Sachs, what can I do for you today." "Hello Mrs. Palmer, I wanted to get the paperwork for Miranda to update the girls' emergency contact." Mrs. Palmer gave Andy a puzzled look and asked: "Are you no longer going to be the girl's emergency contact?" Andy was momentarily taken aback. She had not talked to Miranda about just assuming that new paperwork would be required. "No of course not, I wanted to note my name change," she said to cover her surprise. Mrs. Palmer still had a confused look on her face. "Oh, I got married," she said as further explanation. She subconsciously held up her ring. In seconds all of the office ladies were around her admiring the ring. "Who's the lucky guy," Martha, the secretary, asked? Andy had not planned to announce her and Miranda's marriage but she also knew that she and Miranda agreed they would not hide things either. "Miranda and I got married while we were in Budapest." She had to stifle a laugh at the look of awe on the women's faces. Mrs. Palmer was the first to speak "Mrs. Priestly, you just need to fill out a new contact sheet with your new name, update your address, and any other changes to your contact information." Mrs. Palmer also presented her with the old contact sheet. Andy was amazed to see that Miranda had listed her as the girls' emergency contact a full two years ago. Her next thought was how it seemed that she and Miranda had somehow been inevitable from the very start. She thanked Mrs. Palmer and began walking out of the office. As she left she caught the office ladies debating if she was brave or just insane.

At her next stop she was able to, with the help of a Runway fan, get new driver's licenses for herself and for Miranda in record time. She was pretty pleased with herself as she made her way to her old apartment to meet the moving company. She stopped by to see the building manager to break her lease. Initially, Mr. Jacobs was being difficult, not wanting her to break the lease. "Just tell me how much you want," she finally said losing patience with the pedantic man. "What I want is a renter for the final six months of your lease," he responded. "Well since that is not an option what would be your second choice." He gave her what he thought was a penetrating glare but next to Miranda's death stare it could hardly compare. After a few moments, he gave up and wrote a number on a piece of paper. She countered with a lower number but she included most of the furniture. That seemed to make the man reconsider knowing that renting a furnished apartment would be far easier. He was clearly surprised when Andy produced cash to pay the agreed upon sum of money. Andy had taken the talk with Marc to heart. She would use either the Amex card or cash to avoid exposing any of their bank information. Andy was starting to feel more comfortable about having more money than she could possibly spend, but handing over so much cash still felt weird. In the end, it only cost her two months' rent and furniture that she had no future use for. She felt pleased with her negotiation skills and even happier that she would not have to deal the aggravating man in the future. She spent twenty minutes with the movers going over what would be moved and what would be left behind.

Once she was done she realized that it was almost lunchtime. She sent a quick text to Miranda to see if she would be free for lunch. She was pleased to see how quickly her response came in but not so pleased to find out that Miranda was swamped and would not be able to get away. She made her way over to her favorite neighborhood Greek place for lunch. She figured she may as well enjoy it while she was in this area. Her new life would not bring her here much in the future.

Miranda arrived at her normal time. She entered the office and quickly began a long list of task for her new first assistant to begin carrying out. Clarissa took down the notes quickly but clearly had a question she wanted to ask. "Andrea no longer works for Runway please contact HR about finding a new second assistant and I suppose you should inform them of your elevation to first assistant." The young blond beamed but then her face fell apparently at the thought of what could have happened to her friend. "Do not despair Andrea is just fine," Miranda said. "If she calls please put her call through immediately." Clarissa now looked very confused. Well it was not Miranda's job to enlighten her, was it? She proceeded into her office and picked up the phone when Clarissa informed her that she had Patrick on the line. She spent the next twenty minutes scheduling the next three shoots with him and providing some preliminary ideas of what kind of look she wanted for each shoot. She had learned over the years not to go into too much detail with Patrick. She had to leave room for his creativity to improve upon her vision. That combination had led to some truly imaginative layouts. The Budapest shoot would go down in Runway history because of her vision, Patrick's ingenuity, and Andrea's hard work.

She suddenly felt the loss of not seeing Andrea's smiling face at her desk for the first time in nearly three years. She knew that in the end she much preferred having Andrea in her bed than at that desk but the loss was still there. She shook off those thoughts to focus back on the tasks that lay before her today.

Nigel Kipling presented himself at what should have been Andy's desk ten minutes before nine. He was surprised to see Clarissa standing there instead. He started to ask what was happening but with Miranda within earshot, he thought better of it. "You can go right in Mr. Kipling." The formality in Clarissa's address was a message from the young woman that Miranda was indeed listening. He walked in to see his longtime friend looking a little melancholy to his eyes. His immediate thought was that something truly bad had occurred since their return. He could not think of why her ever faithful assistant would be any place other than by her side. "Close the door, Nigel," Miranda said quietly. Now he was sure that something horrible had happened. The look must have been clear on his face based on Miranda's next words. "Relax Nigel, no one has died and you are not being fired." Her attempt at humor had the desired effect as Nigel began to relax. "Andrea no longer works at Runway; she resigned the last night we were in Hungary." At the same time that she spoke, Nigel noticed the gorgeous ring adorning his boss's left hand. "Miranda did you get married," Nigel asked surprise obvious in his voice. Her slight head nod was her acknowledgment. "Is that why six quit," he asked as his anger began to boil?

How could the woman not see Andy was head over heel in love with her? "Yes, she had too," Miranda replied just starting to pick up on her friend's mood. She did not know what to expect from this conversation but anger was nowhere on her list of possibilities. "How could you do this to her," Nigel said. "I did not realize that I did anything to her," she replied as her own anger started to spike. "That girl is in love with you and now you go and do this." he spat. Now Miranda was confused until the light bulb finally lit. "Nigel, who do you think that I married?" The question dumbfounded the Art Director. "How should I know," he said as he realized he really did have no idea. He had known about Stephen of course and most if not all of the men that she had dated for any significant period of time. The only person that she was spending any time with outside of work was Andy. That was when the penny finally dropped. Miranda had said that Andy had to quit as in she could not work for her spouse. The look on his face gave him away as Miranda commented: "Yes Nigel, Andrea and I got married on our last night in Budapest." Nigel was astonished that his oldest friend had apparently successfully pulled her head out of her ass and made an honest woman out of six. "Was that your plan all along?" he asked now curious about the details. "Who said it was my plan," Miranda commented causing another comical expression to appear on his face. Nigel could hardly believe what he was hearing "She asked you?" "Indeed," Miranda responded before she gave him the PG-rated version of the story. "So that is why she was sitting next to you on the ride home?" "Well, I could hardly have my spouse sitting in steerage," Miranda offered with a bit of haughtiness in her voice. That response told Nigel all he needed to know about the marriage. Miranda was deeply in love and trying to mask it with her dragon lady persona. He decided he did not want to play that game with his friend at the moment. "You really love her don't you?" "Well, of course, I love her I married her didn't I" she answered. He persisted, "But this time is different." With that, she finally removed the mask and the most genuine smile he had ever seen from her appeared on her face. "Yes, my friend, this time if far different," the editor admitted." "I am very happy for you both," Nigel commented now beaming at his friend and boss. "Now, about the layout on page 24." Nigel put away his smile and took on a more business-like demeanor acknowledging her need to return to Runway business.

Miranda's day got thrown for a loop when several images from the Budapest shoot were improperly edited. Everyone including her had to scramble to retrieve the originals and get them re-edited in record time. She had been disappointed that she had to decline Andrea's lunch invitation, but it simply wasn't possible today. Later in the afternoon well after the mini-crisis had been successfully resolved she asked Clarissa to have Emily report to her office at 3:00.

Emily Charlton had been dreading the call she just got to report to Miranda's office all day. Her memory of that evening had been pretty hazy. She had woken up the next morning with the woman of her dreams naked in her bed. All of the dreams she had about the leggy Brazilian had not come close to the reality. They had made passionate love again that morning but neither had any idea of exactly what happened the night before. So it was like a bolt out or the blue when Andy handed her a marriage license with her and Serena's name on it. They had a heartfelt conversation, several in fact, on the plane and then at Emily's apartment. In the end, it turned out that neither of them was the slightest bit upset about their current situation.

The conversation with the man Serena had been seeing off and on did not go as well. Serena had made it clear to the man that she was happy with her new life and new wife. He had not taken the blow to his ego so well. He tried to explain to Serena that she would miss his money but that had been a huge mistake. What followed was a Miranda worthy dressing down that had left the man near tears. After the conversation ended Serena had been incredulous about his threat. "As if I need his money" she had spat. Emily had done her best to calm the fiery woman down before finally deciding to redirect that fire instead. They were both greatly rewarded by that decision. Once they finished Serena explained that with the combination of the money she earned from her modeling career and her family money she was quite a bit richer than her professional football playing ex. Emily had assured Serena that she only wanted the woman and did not care about the money. Serena had made it clear that it did not matter because the money now belonged to both of them anyway.

She was pulled out of these thoughts when she realized that she only had a few minutes before she needed to be in Miranda's office. She presented herself at Miranda's office her customary ten minutes early. She was surprised to see Carissa had moved her things onto Andy's desk. Before she could address the issue she heard Miranda's voice "Emily." She swallowed hard as she approached her possible doom.

Andy was starting to get a little nervous about tonight's get together. She had hoped that things would have gone better with her parents than they did. They had never expressed any negative feelings about homosexuality. They did, however, express definite opinions about Miranda. She knew that it was partially her fault. When she had first realized that she was not just intrigued by Miranda but was physically attracted to the woman, she had done her best to deny things. Part of that denial was to complain to her parents about every single thing that Miranda did. The truth was that many of the things that she complained about Miranda were, in fact, things that she secretly liked about the mercurial woman.

Andy thought back to the first time she thought about Miranda in a very un-businesslike manner. She had been in bed with her then boyfriend who was using his mouth to pleasure her at the time. She simply thought "I bet Miranda would be fabulous at this." The next thing she knew she was picturing Miranda's signature grey locks between her legs. She had to fight hard not to scream Miranda's name as Nate made her come. That night she felt really guilty about it. She felt like she had cheated on him at least in her head. She banished all thought of her boss from any sexual fantasy. That was until she and Nate ended their relationship. The first time she masturbated after the breakup her mind instantly went to Miranda. This time she did not hold back yelling out "Miranda" as a strong orgasm hit her. There was no longer any reason not to. So at night, she would come thinking of Miranda and then suppress those thoughts the next day when she had to be around the beautiful woman. The side effect was that when she talked about Miranda to her family and friends she overplayed Miranda's antics to them. She realized now that it had been her means of denying her growing feelings for her boss. Once she came to the final realization that she had fallen for her, she began a campaign to make it clear just how wonderful Miranda really was. Her parents had apparently not gotten over the initial impression that she had given them, however. She sincerely hoped that her friends would feel differently and just be happy for her.

Eventually, her wondering brought her back home. She slipped in and up to their bedroom. She spent several minutes going through her closet unpacking more of her things. She was trying to find one of her favorite tops when she came across where she had stashed her vibrator. She went to store it in her nightstand when she thought why not. She took off her pants, lost her shirt and slipped out of her bra. Thinking about her new wife she got under the covers and turned it on. The feeling of the familiar item against her clit caused a moan to slip from her lips. She was thinking about their first time together the morning after their surprise wedding when she was distracted by the buzzing of her phone. Normally she would have ignored it but she saw the picture of Miranda's face on her phone. She used her free hand to pick up the phone. "Hey," she said trying and failing not to sound breathless. "Hello darling, I've had a dreadful day here without my former first assistant by my side." "Awe, I missed you too," Andy replied. Miranda started to describe how her day had gone off the tracks. Andy started thinking she should stop but there was something about Miranda's voice in her ear that did funny things to her. A quiet moan escaped her lips.

"Andrea are you ok," Miranda asked?

"Yeah," has her breathy reply

"Oh, Yes," Andy sighed

"Darling, Are You?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to hang up?"

"No."

Moments passed with the just the sounds of Andy's light moans and Miranda's increasingly heavy breathing.

"Miranda."

"Yes."

"Do you want me to come?"

"Yes, Andrea come for me."

The sexy way Miranda said Andy's name was simply too much. She sighed Miranda's name into her phone as she came. After a moment to come down she thanked Miranda for her assistance. Miranda had other things on her mind, however. "You will re-enact your performance at a time that I can be there in person."

"Yes, Miranda."

"That is all."

"Yes, Miranda."

The line went dead.

Andy felt much better after spending a pleasant few minutes pleasuring herself with a nice assist from Miranda. She could tell that Miranda had enjoyed her little display and she was looking forward to being watched by Miranda in the near future. She slipped on some comfortable clothes and made her way down to the kitchen wanting to grab a bite to eat. She had just made her selection when the front door opened then closed. She looked up to see the twins and Cara, their cook and part-time nanny, walk in.

"Hey Andy," Caroline said.

"What are you doing here," Cassidy said.

"Congratulations," Cara said

Andy turned towards Cara before saying, "Thanks, Cara, Miranda and I are really happy with the way things turned out."

"Marriage agrees with you, now if you will excuse me I have a few things I need to get done."

"Of course," Andy replied before turning toward the girls.

"I got all my errands done early."

"So I figured, I would come back here to hang out with you guys until it was time to meet my friends," Andy concluded

"Are you nervous about tonight," Cassidy asked.

"I was but then I took a short nap and now I'm feeling much better about things," Andy responded.

Then she changed the subject. "How was school today," she asked. They all sat as the girls began excitedly reviewing their day. Both girls talked about telling their friends about their new stepmom. "Everyone was happy for us," Cass said. Andy knew most of the girls' friends from one school event or another.

"Yeah, that is the best part of living in New York, no one freaks out when you tell them you now have two moms," Caroline commented.

"Speaking of which, do you prefer ma or mother or something else," Cassidy asked?

Andy was a little confused but she answered anyway, "Well I guess I prefer mom since that is what I call mine."

Both girls rolled their eyes before Cass spoke again, "That won't work we already have a mom."

Andy suddenly felt very emotional as she realized what the girls were asking her. "Then I think ma because mother is way too formal for me."

"Ok, ma it is," Caroline confirmed

"Now Ma, you better start getting ready or you'll be late," Cass said.

Andy now had tears in her eyes. She was touched by the girls' gesture. "I love you both," she said as she wiped away a tear.

"We know and we love you too," Caroline said speaking for both of them.

Andy gave both girls a hug before reminding them to start working on their homework. She stood up and made her way upstairs to start getting ready for the night.

Miranda's day had not gotten much better. She had been looking forward to torturing Emily about her marriage to Serena. Instead, her former assistant had preempted her fun by offering to resign so that Serena could keep her position. She was then forced to tell her what the head of HR had advised. "You two need to go to Human Resources to fill out new paperwork indicating your marriage to a co-worker." Miranda had filled out her own new paperwork earlier that morning. Emily was relieved and got out of her office the second that she could. Miranda, on the other hand, felt quite disappointed that she had missed her shot at a little fun in an otherwise dreary day.

The brief phone conversation with Andréa had not helped either. Now in addition to being annoyed, she was aroused. Listening to her new wife pleasure herself over the phone had been both unexpected and a bit thrilling. She thought about using her executive powder room to release the tension. A check of her purse revealed that the little vibrator she kept in there had a dead battery and she did not carry the charge with her. She made a mental note to buy a second charger or better yet a second vibrator for future needs. She spent the rest of the afternoon needing a release.

Andy walked into Sean's bar and kitchen just after six thirty. She was pleased to see her little group of friends. She had done a pretty good job of blending the old with the new. There were her old friends Doug and Lily sitting beside Emily, Clarissa, Clarissa's boyfriend Luke, and Alex. Alex was a stunning blonde who worked for a giant tech firm. Andy had met Alex when Runway contracted that firm to build the new software that Miranda would soon be using to review the book. Andy and Alex had become fast friends and she fit in with the group pretty seamlessly. The only ones missing were Nate and his wife Lucy. It had not taken her and Nate long after their breakup to realize they still liked each other just not as lovers. Nate met Lucy while she was visiting his restaurant in Boston. The two hit it off right away, so when she came home to New York, Nate had a good excuse to move back. They were married less than a year later and now Lucy was seven months pregnant.

Andy greeted each of her friends telling them how happy she was that everyone could make it. "So what's this big event we're supposed to be celebrating," Alex asked. "Patience," Andy said. "Nate and Lucy should be here in a few minutes," Lily added helpfully. "Drinks are on me," Andy said. Clarissa's eyes got wide but Andy shook her head. She did not want to explain quitting her job until she could reveal the real news she wanted to share. Everyone ordered their drinks. Andy made her way to the bar and discreetly slipped the bartender her credit card asking him to start a tab for their table. She walked back at the same time that a very pregnant Lucy followed by Nate were being greeted. She hugged Lucy then said, "You look good Luc." She hugged Nate and whispered "you look happy," into his ear. He grinned back before taking a long look at her. "So do you," he said sounding genuinely happy for her.

Andy slipped her hand into her pocket and slid her diamond back onto her ring finger. "Ok, the group is all hear now talk girl," Lily said. Andy smiled bringing up her left hand revealing the elegant diamond ring on that hand. All the ladies and Doug oohed and aahed over the ring for a pretty long time. The group was very impressed but also very confused. Their friend had not told them she was dating anyone so they had no idea who the lucky guy was. They began peppering her with questions about who gave her the ring. Before she could speak up Nate spoke first, "Miranda has excellent taste, congratulations Andy." The rest of the table erupted in laughter assuming that Nate was making a bad joke. The laughter quickly died when everyone noticed that Andy was not joining in. Clarissa was the next to speak "Is that why you quit your job."

Which caused an uproar as the table began asking her a new series of questions. Andy held up her hand stopping everyone in their tracks. Andy took a deep breath before she began explained the events that occurred on their last night in Budapest and their telling their girls. She finished by telling them about their trip to the Hamptons house. Lucy was the first to speak, "wow you're like a mom now." Andy's soft smile melted all of their hearts. It was clear to them that their friend was happy and though they had a thousand questions about how Andy and her former boss found themselves newly married, they decided to just share in their fiend's joy. Andy ordered another round of drinks and a club soda for Lucy. They all toasted to Andrea happiness. Before the group could start a new round of questions a silence fell over the table. Andy felt a presence behind her and turned knowing just who'd she'd see. What she was not expecting was the fierce look on Miranda's face. "Andrea may I have a word," Miranda said. "If you will excuse us," Miranda said to the group. "Come along Andrea" she threw over her shoulder as she walked towards the back of the bar. Andy followed as Miranda slipped out a side entrance. As soon as she stepped foot onto the sidewalk she found herself grabbed and pushed up against the side of the building. Before she could ask why Miranda's lips were locked on to hers. The kiss quickly deepened as Andy moaned into Miranda's mouth. Miranda broke the kiss and said, "Car, now." The Mercedes was sitting empty parked on the curb. She got in first followed by Miranda. As soon as the door closed Miranda was on top of her. "Do you have any idea what your performance this afternoon did to me," she hissed. Andy tried not to laugh but she could not contain the broad smile on her face. When Miranda's knee made gentle contact with Andy's core her smile quickly disappeared. She kissed Miranda fiercely as she quickly caught up with her wife's level of need. She rolled on top of Miranda hiking the woman's skirt as she went. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Miranda had already disposed of her underwear. She slipped a hand up her thigh before quickly entering her. Miranda grunted then began pushing her hips up to meet every thrust. It only took moments before Miranda came with her head buried in Andy's long locks. They shared a long and languid kiss before Miranda spoke, "I wanted that ever since your little phone call." "Sorry," Andy said through her tone made it clear that she was not sorry at all. "I've got to get back in there," Andy said reluctantly. Before she could move she felt Miranda unbutton her jeans. A few moments later Andy lay panting on the Mercedes large back seat. They took a few minutes to rearrange their clothing and to make themselves presentable. "Can you come in for a drink," Andy asked. Miranda needed to get back to Runway but she had told Roy to get himself dinner so she could have an empty car for this little tryst. "Just one," she replied. Andy beamed then fixed Miranda's collar. They exited the vehicle and walked into the restaurant hand in hand.

When they got back to the table Miranda apologized for taking Andy away but that they needed to discuss an urgent matter. The table all looked at one another before deciding to ignore all the clear signs that the couple had just had sex. They sat together as everyone ordered another round. Andy sat back and watched Miranda interact with her friends. Everyone seemed a little on edge until Miranda cracked a joke. The tension bled away as everyone got to see the charming woman Miranda was at her core. Her description of their time in Hungary was both interesting and funny. She had everyone eating out of her palms. Everyone especially Andy was sorry when Miranda got up to leave.

"It was good meeting you Lillian, Douglas, Alexandra."

"Congratulation and good luck Lucinda, Nathaniel."

"I will see you later tonight Clarissa and Emily do tell your wife I said hello."

Andy stood and walked Miranda out to her waiting car. She kissed the woman on the lips. "I am glad you came," Andy said. After she said those words she could clearly see the mirth dancing in Miranda's eyes before she replied, "I am glad that I came too, Andrea." They shared one last kiss before Miranda got into the car. The Mercedes quickly disappeared into the early evening traffic.

When Andy got back to the table everyone was staring at Emily. "What wife," Clarissa asked clearly stunned by Miranda's revelation. Emily put her head in her hand realizing that Miranda had gotten her pound of flesh after all.

AN: I continue to appreciate everyone who has read and commented on this story. I really like this chapter and I hope you do too. As always your comments are very welcomed.