Author's Notes: Almost done!
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 28: We're a Family
The last few days of Andrea's visit passed over relatively quietly. She and Hannah spent some time with Jim and Cindy. Brandon's parents adored their granddaughter.
She also stopped by to see Donna. She wanted to know how Kelly was doing.
"She's in hospital for now, she had a breakdown," Donna told her. Donna also filled Andrea in on some of the issues Kelly had dealt with in the last few years, issues she hadn't dealt with properly at the time. Everything had just snowballed when Dylan had ended their relationship. Andrea came away feeling sorry for Kelly and hoping she could work past her issues.
Andrea's grandmother seemed to be on the mend, and she was allowed home the day before Andrea and Hannah were due to leave. Andrea was relieved at this. She could go home happier knowing that her grandmother was going to be okay.
During the last week, she had also had several phone conversations with Brandon and Brenda. She was delighted that Dylan had gone with Brenda to New York, and they'd already arranged to all meet up for dinner the day after Andrea and Hannah got back.
Eventually Wednesday morning rolled around and Andrea and Hannah left Los Angeles to return to New York.
Hannah slept for most of the plane journey. Andrea, who was lost in her thoughts about the last two weeks and how much had changed in her life since then, welcomed this. She knew she'd probably never be able to get Hannah asleep when they got home but she resolved to worry about that later.
Two weeks ago she'd come out to LA hoping against hope that she wouldn't run into Brandon Walsh, or any of her former acquaintances from West Beverly High for that matter. It had been important to her to shield her daughter from discovery at all costs. Brandon must never know about her. And now here she was, so glad that she'd told Brandon, and looking forward to their future together.
During the years she was away from him, she had always denied her feelings for Brandon, as if pretending they didn't exist meant they weren't really there. Seeing him again though had broken her. She couldn't deny it to herself anymore.
She thought about Brenda. She had been so lucky to run into her, they both had been lucky. It was funny to think that she and Brenda had never been close in high school. She regretted that now. Who knows? Maybe if they had banded together back then things would have worked out with Brandon and Dylan sooner. It was a sobering thought, but one she knew she couldn't dwell on.
Perhaps this is how things had been meant to happen. Although it had hurt her terribly at the time, what happened with Brandon had given her a wonderful daughter, and their secrets had bonded Brenda and Andrea together. Through their pain, they were able to forge a strong friendship and support each other. They had helped each other overcome their fears and take a chance for happiness. Andrea wouldn't have even considered following Brandon to the airport to confess her feelings without a push from Brenda.
Andrea looked over at her sleeping child and smiled. Her daughter had a father now, who loved her very much. It was like a dream, like this wasn't really her life. How did things get this good all of a sudden? She was happy, and with Brandon. She never would have guessed that this would happen when she boarded that flight two weeks ago.
When they finally got home, Hannah rushed into her room to see if it still looked the same. Andrea laughed at this.
She put down their bags and was about to check her messages when the door knocked.
She strolled over and answered it, expecting to see a neighbour or one of Hannah's friends on the other side. She froze when she saw who it was.
"Hey chief," Brandon said grinning.
"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.
"I was hoping for more of a welcome than that," Brandon teased, and Andrea laughed and threw her arms around him. He kissed her passionately, very glad to see her.
When they broke apart, she led him into the apartment and closed the door. Then she repeated her question.
"Seriously Brandon, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in D.C?"
"Well, when I got back my boss wanted to talk to me. Turns out, they wanted to offer me a promotion. The only catch was the promotion involved me relocating to another city."
"Which city?" said Andrea grinning.
"Chicago," Brandon stated. Andrea threw a cushion at him. Brandon laughed.
"Okay, okay. You got me. The job's in New York," he said grinning.
Andrea rushed to him and hugged him.
"Please tell me you're taking it!" she said.
"Already done. I moved out here two days ago," he told her.
She kissed him suddenly, almost in disbelief at what he had just told her. Was this a dream? Was she still on that plane and none of this was real?
Hannah came running out to the living room. She flung herself on her parents.
"Why are you here?" she asked Brandon excitedly.
Brandon stared at Andrea.
"Why do Zuckerman women keep asking me that," he joked. Andrea laughed.
Brandon knelt down beside Hannah.
"I'm here because I moved here. Do you think you'll like having your dad around?" he asked her.
"Really? Yeah!" Hannah cried and hugged him.
"So wait, you said you'd already moved. Where are you living?" Andrea asked.
"Did you know that there was an empty apartment on the floor above yours?" Brandon replied.
Andrea smiled.
"No, but I'm guessing it's not empty anymore," she said.
"Ah, you always were pretty smart," he told her. She shoved him playfully, and kissed him again.
"So does this mean we're a family now?" Hannah asked.
Andrea and Brandon looked at each other, smiling.
"Yes," Brandon answered, putting his arm around Andrea. "We're a family."
