Chapter 11
Allie Davis got pretty worked up when the police came to her school and told her she needed to come with them. She looked at her teacher but she assured her everything was going to be OK. They'd brought her to here to Cincinnati General Hospital where a nice doctor had asked her some questions but no one would tell her anything about her mom.
So after the twentieth time of not getting any answers, it was natural for her to lose it. The doctor gave her a mild sedative to calm her down. After a discussion with her nearest relatives, it was decided that Allie should be around family so the unconscious girl was moved into Andy's room.
Allie woke up a few hours later in an empty hospital room. She felt a little disorientated so she started looking around for someone, anyone, to tell her what was going on. That was when she discovered that she was not alone in the room after all. An elegant older woman sat in a chair next to an empty hospital bed looking at her Ipad.
"Hello," she said trying to get the woman's attention. The woman stood and approached her bed.
"Alison, you are awake I see," she said.
Allie was felt quite confused as to how this woman knew her name. No one, not even her mother, called her Alison anymore.
"Do you know where is my mom is," she asked trying but failing to keep the note of terror out of her voice.
The woman came closer then sat in the chair next to her bed.
"Your mother is being brought to the hospital as we speak." the woman said in a kind voice.
It was weird, but the woman's presence actually made her feel a lot better.
"Is she ok?" Allie asked.
"I understand that she is uninjured," the woman explained but she sounded a little worried.
In all of her concern about her mother, she had not taken a good look at the woman until now. The light bulb went off but it made no sense. This woman looked so much like the editor of Runway Magazine. She and her mother were both fans of the magazine and they routinely went through every page together.
What she could not figure out was what on earth would Miranda Priestly be doing in her hospital room.
"Are you Miranda Priestly?" the girl asked.
Allie was nearly certain that she would say, "oh I get that all the time, but no, I'm not her."
Instead, the woman squared her shoulder a little and said, "well who else would I be."
Allie looked on amazed as the woman even gave her a wink.
"Oh my god, you are her," Allie exclaimed.
Her curiosity got the better of her so she asked, "what are you doing here."
After she spoke she quickly realized that her question sounded pretty rude.
Miranda just smiled at her then said, "you get straight to the point don't you."
Allie could somehow tell that the woman was much more amused than offended by her question.
Miranda continued, "this is not just your hospital room, it also belongs to someone I care deeply about who was injured."
"Are they ok?" Allie asked suddenly looking at the empty bed with sudden concern.
"They will be, the Doctors are running some more tests right now," Miranda responded.
Allie looked mollified to know that Miranda's someone special was ok. The girl's concern for a stranger touched Miranda deeply.
"How like my Andrea," she thought.
"Well, I will keep you company until your mother arrives," Miranda said.
"Oh, you don't have to do that."
"You looked busy when I woke up," she concluded.
"Someone fairly recently has taught me that family is more important than anything else," Miranda countered.
"But we aren't family," Allie said with true confidence in her convictions.
"How do you know that we aren't family," Miranda teased enjoying the interactions with this girl. In a way, it felt how she imagined it would be to talk to Andrea at this age.
"Well, I think that my mom would have told me If I was related to the editor of our favorite magazine."
"Ah, I will concede that point to you."
The girl looked very smug now that she had outwitted this formidable woman.
"Of course, it is possible that your mother did not know that you and I were related."
That brought Allie up short, now she was very curious as to why Miranda Priestly seemed to believe that they were related.
"Ok, how do you prove that we're related?" Allie asked.
Now she felt like she was back on solid ground knowing that she had stymied the woman for good this time. Instead of folding, however, the woman did something to her Ipad then handed it over to Allie.
Allie took the Ipad and saw a beautiful little girl with blue eyes like Miranda's but dark hair and features that looked more like her and her mom. She looked up at Miranda confused once again.
"That is my daughter Madeline Elise Priestly."
Allie was now more intrigued than anything else. Her mother never really spoke much about her family and her father was a monster and she didn't want to know anything about his family.
After another moment of contemplation, she finally asked, "why did you pick Elise for Madeline's middle name."
She is named for my spouse's favorite Aunt. Allie spent a moment trying to process what she was being told.
"So you're married to my mom's nephew?"
"Not exactly," came a new voice as a dark-haired woman was wheeled into the room next to Miranda. Allie looked at the newcomer expectantly.
"Hi Allie, I'm Andy Priestley."
"I'm your mother's niece, which makes us cousins."
Allie's eyes got wide as saucers as she said, "you married Miranda."
It was said with such awe that Andy had to force herself not to laugh. Miranda was very proud of her wife's ability to control herself after accurately predicting that this situation would touch her odd sense of humor.
"Yep gave her a ring and everything," Andy said a little too smugly.
Miranda just rolled her eyes at her wife's familiar antics.
"So why have I never met you before?" Allie finally asked.
Both women sobered considerably with that question.
"Allie that is a long story and I think it is really important for your mother to be here for it."
"In the meantime Miranda and I wanted you to know that you are not alone, that we are family, and that you can always count on us."
END OF PART ONE:
AN: I hope you enjoyed this portion of the story. If so good news part two will be another thirteen chapters maybe more. I will start posting chapters from part two soon. Thanks to everyone who read and a special thanks to those who took the time to comment. The comments are good motivation to keep moving these stories forward.