A/N – "Thoughts"

Chapter 4 – Practice

Miranda sat at the kitchen table resting her head in her hands, trying to ignore the massive headache that was forming. "What the hell was I thinking?"

Larry and Amy had to go out of town for the day and Miranda had offered to have Gordo and her baby-sit. Gordo asked her if she had lost her mind but Miranda had told him it would be a good chance to get some real practice for their children.

Amy had warned her though, "You sure you wanna do this? Just one can be a handful."

Miranda snickered as she remembered her answer, "I'm sure. It'll be two on two. Sasha's an angel and I can handle Nick."

How wrong she had been. Nick was all over the place and he had antagonized Sasha to no end, causing her to throw an all morning tantrum. When they had gone grocery shopping, Nick had tipped over three displays and it was a miracle they didn't get kicked out.

She tried talking to them calmly, she tried bargaining, she even tried threatening them, but nothing seemed to work. The more frustrated Miranda got, the more uncontrollable they got.

Letting out a tired sigh, she folded her arms on the table and put her head down. The morning had completely zapped her, and adding in her pregnancy, her emotions were all over the place.

All she wanted to do was go to her bedroom, curl up in bed and just cry. But Amy and Larry wouldn't be back for a few more hours.

After a few minutes, Miranda pulled herself together the best she could, stood up and walked outside onto the deck. What she saw surprised her and brought a small smile to her lips.

Sasha was sitting underneath a tree with a book in her lap and reading out loud while Gordo stood a foot or so away from her. As he listened to her read, he was throwing a soft football to Nick who was running around the other end of the yard.

After catching the football, Gordo saw Miranda out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head slightly, he smiled at her and Miranda gave him a small but sad smile back. Titling his head a little, he was curious as to what was wrong. After over twenty five years together, both friendship and romance, they could tell how the other was feeling through very simple body language.

Miranda watched as Gordo said something to Sasha, who looked up at him and then over at Miranda before nodding. Sasha closed her book, stood up, and ran over to her.

"Want me to read you a story Aunt Rand?" Sasha asked with a smile as she stood in front of Miranda.

Miranda couldn't help but smile back at the little girl. When she wasn't screaming her head off or crying, she was actually pretty sweet. "Sure Sasha."

Sasha smile widened as Miranda sat down on one of the deckchairs and she dragged another one next to Miranda's and climbed up on it.

A little bit later, Gordo came over, carrying an exhausted Nick on his back. As Sasha was on her third read through of her book, Miranda felt something and jumped a little in her seat in surprise.

Sasha stopped reading and Gordo put Nick down. Kneeling in front of Miranda, "What's wrong?"

Miranda stayed quiet for a moment, a little stunned. "I think the baby just kicked," she said softly. Grinning as she felt the baby kick again, Miranda quickly took Gordo's hand and placed it over her stomach.

She smiled as Gordo's eyes went wide as he felt it. "Wow," Gordo said in a whisper.

"My turn," Sasha said slipping out of the chair and stood next to Miranda. Miranda let go of Gordo and took Sasha's hand.

Later that afternoon, Miranda was lying on the couch, trying her best to rest. She was exhausted but she couldn't, or more like wouldn't, let herself just relax and nap. Around her, Sasha was curled up asleep in a little ball on an armchair and Nick was asleep sprawled out on the floor. Gordo walked over to Miranda, picked up her legs and sat down while resting her legs on his lap.

Gently rubbing her feet, he looked up at her. "You ok Mir?"

"How did you get them under control?"

Gordo smirked, "You just gotta understand them. Nick is really active and doesn't like to stay still for very long. When he's been cooped up for so long, he's gonna act up. Of course his first target is gonna be his sister. Sasha, she's just quiet and just wants some attention."

He started to gently rub her calves. "You sure you're ok?"

Miranda tried hard to keep herself together. "Yea. You know, raging emotions and exhaustion don't really mix."

"When's our next doctor's appointment?"

"Thursday at four. Dr. Taylor says we can know the sex of the baby."

Gordo looked at her, "Do we want to know?"

Miranda shrugged, "I don't know."

"I'd like to know but there's something about being surprised. We both agreed we don't care, so why not wait," Gordo said.

Miranda nodded, "So we wait." Letting out a large yawn, Miranda fought to keep her eyes open.

"Go to sleep," Gordo urged her with a grin. Miranda laid her head back, closed her eyes, and within seconds, was fast asleep.

Almost an hour later, Gordo was in the kitchen cleaning up when someone knocked. Walking to the door, he opened it to reveal Amy and Larry.

"So how were the twin terrors?" Amy asked sarcastically as they walked inside.

"I think they ran Miranda a little ragged but once she got the hang of it, it really went well."

Amy looked at him with a sarcastic smile, "No problems?"

"I never said that," Gordo said with a small laugh, "I don't think we're gonna be allowed in the grocery store for awhile."

Amy shook her head while Larry laughed. "You should've tried to go out with them when they were babies," Larry joked.

As Larry and Amy each picked up a child, Gordo helped them pack everything into their van.

"Tell Miranda thanks, we needed a day alone," Amy told him from the passenger seat.

"No prob."

Just as they were about to pull away, Sasha woke up a little bit. "Bye Uncle Gordo," she called softly from the back seat.

Gordo grinned, "Bye Sasha," he said back as they pulled away.

Walking back inside, he stood for a few minutes next to the couch. With a small smile, he bent down and kissed Miranda's forehead before going back to cleaning up the house.