The following is a story that I have been tinkering with for a year and a half. I have gone back and forth on parts of it. It starts off on a rather heavy note, but lightens up to match the title. I can only "hope" it works for you all.

Pairing: Miranda / Andrea - 'cause I just can't seem to care about any others.

Caroline and Cassidy are with us on this one.

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own anything… really. As I have mentioned before, all I own in this world is a 2003 Toyota Corolla- although it is an LE. Nothing to get out of me if you sue… so don't. Please, allow us poor folk some fun. We aren't hurting anyone.

Rating: Have to go with NC-17 Sorry all you "innocents", J don't want to harm your virtue or anything. Rated due to SEX and adult only themes.

Which leads to the WARNINGS: I apologize, sincerely if this should offend anyone, but for some odd reason I was motivated, moved, +/or hypnotically commanded to write about a rape. It is not overly explicit, however it does occur. If you are not up to this, for any reason, I am sorry. Rewriting it just wouldn't work. Again, sorry. I will alert w/ each chapter necessary w/o giving everything away.

Chapter 21: Whoa, turbulent waters ahead. The subject of the rape comes up.

Rating: NC-17 / M

The Happiest Place on Earth

Chapter 21

The flowers did arrive. Miranda had gone to work for "just a few hours" while Andy lounged around the house. She was about to take Patricia for a walk when the door bell sounded. Having an impromptu race with Patricia to answer, Andy was laughing when she opened the door to find, not one, but four dozen roses on full display, not hidden in boxes.

'Andrea Sachs?" the gruff, Brooklyn voice barked.

"Uh, yes." She replied, slightly overwhelmed.

"Sign here." The clipboard was shoved at her. She signed and the man left her on the stoop with her flowers.

'How rude'… eh, typical.' She hoisted the arrangements into the foyer, leaving them to place after her walk. She and Patricia headed off down the street, happy to have a clear, comfortable day for a stroll. They weren't in any hurry so Andy led Patricia to the dog park to give her a round of play time. Patricia's play time was more like meander slowly and sniff while other, younger dogs, bounded near in raucous attempts to get her to give chase. Andy reclined on a bench to observe over the lid of a steaming coffee. A half hour later, Andy was chilled enough to call it quits. Catching Patricia up was not a difficult task since the lumbering fur ball was never more than twenty feet away.

They were back in the house with Andy hanging her coat in the closet before she realized the flowers were missing. Turning in a circle, she stopped when she saw a single bud carelessly dropped on the bottom step of the stairway. Bending to pick it up, she paused when she saw another a few steps up. Straightening back up, Andy counted seven flowers leading her up the stairs. She followed, collecting the bouquet as she climbed. By the time she reached the floor of bedrooms, Andy had gathered fifteen roses. She saw another five leading to the room she still thought of as Miranda's. Placing the flowers on the table outside the room, Andy pushed the door open wide and leaned against the frame with her arms crossed, observing the tableau awaiting her.

Andy's eyes adjusted to the softened light of the bedroom. Curtains were pulled against the daylight and candles were lit to add an other earthly luminescence. Flowers were scattered about, creating a heady, seductive aroma. Miranda was reclining on the bed, a satiny sheet draped artistically over her nude body, covering her torso leaving her milky smooth shoulders in view. She moved, peeling Andy's attention to the one leg that was exposed to the hip. The clearing of her throat finally brought Andy's eyes up to meet her own.

"I thought, perhaps, you would allow me to beg forgiveness for my behavior last night, Andréa." The name rolled off her tongue like milk chocolate; sweet, delicious, and so bad for you.

Andy had already ruined her underwear when her eyes had first fallen on Miranda, now she was rendered incapable. She could not speak or move. She stood in the doorway, shaking from the intensity of her desire. Not breaking eye contact, Miranda reached out for a nearby rose and brought it slowly to her face, using the bud to caress her skin. She dragged the petals tantalizingly down her throat, across her exposed chest to her arm, following it to her fingers. As the bud glanced her bare thigh, Andy jolted from her catatonic trance and was able to reclaim some of her wits. She crossed the floor, unaware of crushing flowers beneath her tread. She knelt in the carpeting alongside the bed and reached for the rose Miranda held. Taking ownership of the blood red bud, Andy grabbed the corner of the bed sheet and peeled it slowly from Miranda's body, exposing her entire nudity. Andy kissed the petals of the rose before placing it against Miranda's lips. Then, leisurely began to draw a path over her body, using the flower like a paint brush.

"I do like the flowers", Andy stated. "Thank you."

Andy's eyes, following the trail of the stem, burned Miranda with their intensity, producing involuntary reactions along every inch of her skin. Miranda's skin erupted with goose bumps. When Andy reached her breasts the nipples hardened, standing at attention. Andy smirked at the sight and continued onward, across Miranda's abdomen, which twitched in anticipation, and down towards the center of her need. Teasing the rose over Miranda's apex, Andy smiled at the graying hair there, glistening with moisture. Her eyes flicking back to catch Miranda's, Andy needled, "I may be wrong, but I'm thinking you might be looking for some of that, there 'lesbian sex' we were talking about last night."

Miranda, unable to remain still any longer, began the promised begging, "Please, don't be cruel."

Andy dropped the rose and slipped a finger through Miranda's drenched folds. Pulling out, she sucked her finger into her mouth, cleaning it of Miranda's essence. "I get the impression that you've been thinking about this for a while."

Groaning, Miranda answered, "I have been thinking about you all morning. Please, Andréa, don't make me wait any longer."

Andy took pity on the tormented woman. She was going to make her point, but she figured she could wait until after the festivities. She returned her hand to assist with Miranda's urgency. She stroked through wet lips, barely offering any friction to the sensitive skin. Miranda's hips arched from the bed, seeking fulfillment. Miranda reached for Andy, attempting to pull the woman in to increase the physical contact, but Andy dodged the attempt, pulling away from Miranda's grasp.

"No. You only get this." She stated a bit harshly, while pushing a single finger deep into Miranda. Miranda understood not to argue. She fell back onto the bed, hands digging into the sheets, as she tried to focus solely on the touch between her legs. Andy worked Miranda, playing in her slit, tickling at her opening, creating extremely undignified noises in the pooled liquid heat. Each increase in friction and pressure pulled an extended moan from Miranda. After minutes of torturous pleasure, Andy began to concentrate her efforts. She started to finger fuck Miranda, adding a finger whenever she grew too slick and swollen to offer any resistance. Andy was already to the fourth finger when Miranda suddenly realized Andy's intent. She gasped and released a shuddering "Oh God" with her nerves, but she did not try to stop or change events.

Andy had been slowing her thrusts with each additional finger and was now almost still. She reached slowly and twisted, testing the elasticity. After a few slow, deep thrusts, Andy went for the goal, before Miranda got too tense. Adding her thumb to the mix, Andy pushed slowly with a steady pressure until her knuckles popped through and Miranda had swallowed her entire hand. All motion ceased. Andy and Miranda were both holding their breaths. Forcing an exhale, Andy started to slowly twist her hand back and forth, creating sensation that was unlike anything Miranda had ever felt. The editor's entire focus was on her center. There was no other physical stimuli available to her, so she was consumed by the completeness of Andy inside of her.

It began as a slight tickle, a tremor that seemed to spread from the center of her back. Her body was possessed. It was arching, bending her like a bow off the mattress. The scream also started small, a whisper, like a kitten's mew. A chant that began with the name most revered, "Andréa", and ended in an incoherent primal yell. Miranda actually began to feel afraid that it would not stop. The orgasm rolled through her, pounding her like a surf. It finally broke, releasing her body, and she collapsed back to the bed. Andy was stunned to stillness with astonishment. When she did finally try to extricate herself, Miranda was thrown into racking after shocks. "Oh, God, No… Don't move. Not yet." she pleaded.

After a long break, Miranda stopped suffering tremors and was able to breath evenly. At that point she gave permission, "Andréa, I think you can exit now."

Andy pulled out as slowly as she had entered, not wanting to cause discomfort. When her fingertips slipped from Miranda's hold, an embarrassing flood followed. Andy sat back on her heels, staring in amazement. She was lost in the enormity of the experience. After a couple dozen heartbeats, Miranda called to her, "Andréa, will you please come here?"

Andy started from her hypnotic spell and crawled onto the bed, effectively burying herself in Miranda's welcoming embrace. Miranda was too spent to move much, but she was able to wrap her arms around her lover and soothingly stroke fingers through her hair. Concerned that Andy hadn't offered some glib comment, or even a sigh, Miranda queried, "Where are you?"

"I'm not sure."

"Can you come back to me?"

"Mmm. Yeah." And she shook off her lethargy. Pushing herself up, she offered her usual grin to Miranda. "So, I think we should have that talk now."

"Dear god. The things sex brings out in you. What have you to say?"

Andy pushed herself up, sitting in a modified lotus position. She pulled the top sheet up, covering Miranda for warmth and modesty. Then she reached for Miranda's hand and nervously played with her fingers. "Ok, so, here's the thing. You asked me to move in with you. For me, that means everything. It's tantamount to asking me to marry you. So when I agreed, I didn't just agree to be a roommate with benefits. I agreed to the whole package. That means, for all intents and purposes, I am your wife, the girls are my step kids, and you trust me with their lives. If that is in anyway not how you see this situation, then I'm taking back my agreement and I'm going home."

"I don't…"

"No. I'm not done yet. You told me you never shared your kids with anyone before me. You sent me off on, potentially life endangering excursions with them."

"Life endangering?"

"Don't get excited. I'm using a little artistic flourish for effect, here. God. The point is, you trusted me on multiple times with the care of your children. So, do you mind explaining why you had to have such a meltdown over a PG-13 conversation? They are old enough, you know."

"May I speak, now?"

"Yes."

Recovering from her post coital physical incapacity, Miranda pulled herself to sit back against the headboard. She reached again for Andy's hand, needing the contact as a life saver. "I have apologized for my poor judgment last evening. I explained that it was my anger toward Richard that I erroneously directed at you. I think you know why I had such a knee jerk reaction. It has nothing to do with you, or Richard, really. I am simply not ready for my babies to grow up. The realization that they even know what sex is, is a crisis for me. Tying that in with Richard's asinine ranting yesterday, simply blew it all out of proportion. Had I taken the time to process my own emotions before coming home, it never would have happened. Again, I apologize."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, about the moving in proposition…"

"You're changing your mind?" Andy asked, almost choking on the fear that chased the question from her larynx.

"No. Don't be silly. As you have rightly accused, I love you. I have been in love with you for quite a long while."

"Really? Since when?"

"We are not gong to do this now. I need for you to know, I asked you to move in here with our family because being apart from you leaves me with the feeling of a large, black hole in my chest. I can't sleep well without you near. Your presence gives me a sense of calm that I think I have only ever before experienced when holding my new born daughters. It is a completeness, a rightness, a sense of family. It horrifies me to think you would ever feel like a whore in my bed. If you believe I only want you here for, as you said, 'easy access', then you best go. I will not have you feeling like you owe me favors, or that all I want from you is sex."

"I don't. That was only said in the heat of anger."

"Never the less. I will not have you feeling cheap, or dirty, or guilty in our home or our bed."

Hearing the words, Andy could feel a heavier meaning in Miranda's voice. "This isn't just about us anymore, is it?"

"I…" Miranda stopped as a tear escaped past her lashes.

"Miranda? What is it?" Andy scooted closer, reaching to wipe the tear and offer comfort.

Swallowing the lump that had developed, Miranda forged on. "I would not be able to bear it if you ever thought that I was using you. If you ever saw me as no better than…"

"No. Whoa, hold on there. You couldn't be further away on the scale of humanity from him." Andy's ire began to rise in vehemence. "don't you ever compare yourself to that bastard again. Do you understand me, Miranda?" Staring hard at the woman she loved, Andy could not fathom how Miranda's mind worked. "What the hell just happened? How did you get from a simple argument to comparing yourself to the rat bastard who raped me? Jesus Miranda, really? God damn it. What we do, what we share, is love. It is not about power or control. Do you feel it is? Do you believe what we just did was an attempt on my part to control you?"

"No, of course not."

"Tell me you know I would have stopped if you asked."

"Of course I know. Which is precisely why I didn't ask."

"Did you not want that?"

"Well…"

"Miranda, answer me. Did you not want to do that?"

"I don't think I ever would have approached you and asked for you to… with your whole hand. But once I realized what you were planning to do, I was… intrigued."

"Oh, Jesus." Andy was appalled. "Miranda, if you don't want me to do things, you have got to tell me. I never would have…"

Miranda's finger fell across Andy's lips, stopping her. "I think we're getting a bit off track. Darling," she leaned in and gave Andy a tender kiss. "Don't get crazy. You are no longer hearing me. I did not stop you, because I chose to experience it. I was not silenced by fear, or embarrassment, or anything else. I chose it. Now, can we agree that we are both in this for love, not power. I am not using you, and you are not using me. We are mutually invested with our hearts and you want to move in with me to create a family. We are absolute equals within this relationship. And if we decide to experiment with things sexually and get 'freaky', or 'kinky', or whatever, we can do so as we agree to it. Fair enough?"

"You want to get 'freaky'?" Andy asked through a goofy grin.

"That's what you took from this?"

"Ya wanna get 'freaky' with me now?"

Miranda rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Oh, what the hell."