A/N: I realised belatedly that I made an error in the previous chapter. The baby is four MONTHS old, not four weeks - as Andy said below - 2 months corrected.

That's my bad, but it's been fixed by the time you read this. I'm hella tired so I dunno if there's anything else you need to know. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews 3

I guess it's worth noting this is a short one so if it seems quick, it is. Roll with it.

-0-

More than an hour later, Andréa arrived on the doorstep looking exhausted.

"ANDY!"

"Girls," she said sternly, ensuring they listened while Andréa sanitized her hands. "Firstly. Remember, we need to give Andréa the room she needs, before ambushing her with your affections."

"Hi," Andy smiled. "I'll hug you all in a moment, alright?"

"Deal," Cassidy grinned. "Can we help with anything Mom?"

"Why don't you set a place at the table for Andréa. I will be there to cook her fish as soon as she is settled."

"Miranda, you don't -"

"It's alright," she said gently. "Please trust me." Andréa looked as though she was going to say something, but she wisely decided not to speak. "Now," she nodded to the baby carrier by Andréa's feet. "What can I help with."

"I have," Andy waved absently behind her. "Boxes and suitcases in the car. I changed before we came here. Just in case."

"So do not bother doing so again," Miranda waved her off. "Roy will deliver your things into the garage behind the house and whatever you need immediately, I can disinfect while you get settled?"

"That would be," she closed her eyes and Miranda couldn't help it. She stepped forward and touched Andréa's arm gently. The muscle trembled under her hand and she pulled on it gently, steering Andréa into her arms.

"Oh," Andréa whispered.

It seemed only natural that her arms would hold Andréa so perfectly. The curves that were always in all the right places were accentuated just a little in places. While motherhood had added to her curves, she had definitely lost weight. Enough to worry Miranda a little as she remembered being ordered to put some on after her girls were born.

"I've missed you," another whisper caressed her ear, along with a cold nose and warm breath.

"I have missed you," Miranda breathed. "Introduce me to your son?"

"I wasn't," she frowned. "I didn't -"

"It doesn't matter," Miranda shrugged, meaning it. "He is yours. Is there anybody that insists on fighting you for him?"

"No," Andréa blushed. "I, I don't even remember his name, to be honest."

"You lucky thing," Miranda chuckled. "I wish Richard would forget mine."

"Nobody could forget you," Andréa said. Her eyes went comically wide as she realised what she'd said. "I mean," she laughed sardonically. "Well. I did try. It didn't work in the slightest."

"I, for one, am glad," Miranda smiled.

"This is Archie," Andréa grinned. Miranda was overcome with all the butterflies and the jitters and the things that people whispered about in poems that she had never allowed herself the time to feel. That smile was overwhelming. She blinked, realising she'd tuned out.

"Oh Andréa," she said, losing any semblance of normality she had clawed back. "He is beautiful."

"I'm pretty partial to him. We had a rough start, but he's a trooper."

"And how is he?"

"Healthy. Mostly deaf," Andy frowned. "Not that it bothers me at all, we're working in signing but it's," she shrugged.

"Something that we will overcome, I'm sure. He is strong," Miranda said, charmed at the grip he had on her finger.

"I know," Andréa laughed. "And he's, well, two months corrected."

"And he was 31 weeks?"

"Yes," Andréa sighed. Miranda noticed she was swaying a little on her feet and realised she'd kept the poor woman in the entrance hall.

"Andréa, I beg your forgiveness. Come in. Roy will have left your things by now. I have far more comfortable rooms than the entrance hall."

She chuckled and looked around.

"I hadn't even noticed, to be honest."

Miranda smiled and offered her arm to Andréa, who latched on to it as Miranda directed her into the kitchen.

"Mom!" Cassidey grinned at the stove, brandishing a spatula. "You took too long and Andy looks hella skinny."

"Cassidy," Miranda groaned. "Thank you."

"I didn't even burn the skin," she smiled. "But," she poked it. "Can you come and check it?"

"I will guard him with my life," Miranda muttered, leaving her at the kitchen table with her youngest.

"Hi Andy," Caroline whispered, tucking herself under Andréa's arm.

"Hey Munchkin," Andréa muttered, pressing a kiss to her hair. Miranda threw out all previous misconceptions of how she felt about Andréa. It was becoming pretty evident that she was madly and irreversibly in love with the younger woman.

"Oh, he's so sweet!" Cassidy squealed. Archie slept through it and Miranda was reminded that he had very little, if any, hearing. Still, if things worked as she hoped they did, it wouldn't take much to add them both to her own healthcare plan. And then, he would get the best care possible, moving forward. A luxury that she knew many did not have, but one she was happy to provide, even if Andréa decided this was not what she wanted.

She turned her body to protect Archie from any splatter and peered into the heat.

"Flip it?" she instructed.

Cassidy did so, with some aplomb, and Miranda cracked a rare smile.

"That looks perfect," Miranda nodded. "Can you plate it?"

"Yep!" Cassidy nodded, pulling out a pair of tongs. "I can do it."

"Beautiful," Miranda whispered, kissing her hair. "Thank you, darling."

Cassidy delivered dinner to their guest and sat down as Andréa sang her praises. It didn't take her long to demolish the lot and Miranda cleared her throat.

"I know it is exciting, Bobbseys, but you are still required to attend school tomorrow and it is getting late. Why don't you go and get ready for bed and come back down to say goodnight after your taste is completed."

"Okay," Caroline sighed, leaning against Andréa.

"Hey," she soothed, making Miranda's heart squeeze. "I'll be here tomorrow, remember."

That drew wide smiles from both of them and they pressed twin kisses to Andréa's cheeks, before running from the room in a whirling dervish of excitement.

"They may not sleep tonight," Miranda chuckled, watching them go.

"I'm sorry -"

"I want you to try something for me," Miranda said seriously. Andréa nodded. "Stop apologising. You have nothing to be sorry for, so there is no need to utter it."

"But I -"

"Andréa," she said softly. "You are here because we want you here. Because I -"

"I'm not going crazy, am I?" she said, interrupting Miranda quietly. "There is something here I'm not seeing?"

Miranda went very still as she considered her options. She could lash out, tell Andréa she was going crazy.

"Miranda," she said a little plea in her voice. "Please?"

"I," she took a deep breath and sat down, being careful to mind Archie's head as she did. It felt so good to have a baby back in her arms. She had missed it and not realised. "Before I say anything more, I want you to know something." Andréa sat forward. "No matter what happens at this moment, you are welcome to stay here, hassle-free, until such a time as you wish to leave. No tricks, no bargains, no favours. I offer our hospitality freely, even if what I am about to say is not," she swallowed. "What you want to hear."

"Mir -"

"I admit that before perhaps today I have not made as much headway on these thoughts as I perhaps should have. That is not to say that I don't know my own mind, but I do, generally, spend a little more time considering them before sharing them."

"Or before you decide not to share them at all?"

Miranda's mouth twitched as she bit back a smile and then, she relaxed.

"It may seem altogether ridiculous that I would say this to you after so long, Andréa, but -"

"I realised that I'd fallen in love with you on the steps of the Hôtel de Crillon," Andréa blurted, looking both terrified and gratified as Miranda's mouth fell open. "I didn't know it. It wasn't," she shrugged. "What it is now, then, I mean. But when you turned to speak to me and I wasn't there. The way you searched for me. The way your eyes found mine across the Place de la Concorde? That's when I knew what I'd done, what had happened. I was in love with you. And it's why I had to go. I couldn't be what you needed to be and feel that way about you"

Miranda was reeling. She had no idea what to do next so instead she busied herself fiddling with the corner of Archie's blanket.

"Miranda?"

"I -"

This was not what Miranda Priestly did. This was cowardice and she picked her head up and met Andréa's eyes.

"I did not realise then."

"You -"

"It wasn't really until Paris was over and I left your desk open. For a whole week. It wasn't that I thought you were coming back." The corners of her mouth turned up just a little. "You were bigger than us. But I left it open and ran poor Emily ragged. It was Nigel that talked some sense into me. He was hurt and he missed you as much as I did and he asked me why the New Girl hadn't started yet. So I moved on. But she never stayed long. And she wasn't you."

"I had no idea I had that much impact," Andréa whispered.

"Neither did I," Miranda snorted. "Today, as we were wrapping up. My assistant, Rebecca," She snorted as she realised why Rebecca had been given a chance. There were many things about her that reminded her of Andréa's efficiency. "She waved to me before she left. Waved," she said incredulously. "To me!"

"Like I did," Andréa whispered.

"Yes," Miranda nodded. "And in that moment I experienced every second that I had you next to me and found myself an idiot."

"You are not an idiot, Miranda."

"I let this many years go by without realising Andréa. I could have," she frowned. "I should have known."

"To clarify, just for posterity's sake, say," Andréa said haltingly. "You're saying -"

"I, too, fell in love with you," Miranda said, as simply as breathing. She laughed a little as she heard it loud and clear in her quiet kitchen. "I have loved you since the moment you dropped that manuscript on my desk, I think. You gave me such a look."

"That was the first day I saw you," Andréa whispered. "I think. After seeing what going home was like and meeting your twins. I saw you then. As you."

"And I fell in love with you for it."

Andréa sighed and Miranda did her best to busy herself with the baby again.

"Now what?"

"I don't know," Miranda whispered, almost to Archie, rather than Andréa. "I have been wondering the same thing all afternoon. Perhaps," she paused. "Perhaps we should sleep on it and come back to it at a time when everything is not new and when we have had time to process it all?"

"Sure," Andréa nodded, though she looked sad. "We can do that."

"Unless -"

"Yes?"

"Unless you don't want to do that?"

"I," she shrugged. "Have known I was in love with you for years."

"You say it so freely," Miranda marvelled. "Like I am not me and you were not -"

"A lot has happened since then," Andréa nodded. "I have grown, as a person, in character? In strength? Having this one has made me realise that I can't always be," she frowned. "Quite so malleable. I need to be making decisions, instantly, as you do. His survival depends on me getting them right. Your lessons saved his life, Miranda. And I promised myself that if I ever saw you again, no matter what, I would thank you for that."

"I- "

"You were in the room with me, the whole time. I knew it. I knew what you would say and what you would do and how you would do it. I," she blushed. "I cut swathes through the doctors when I thought they didn't have his best interests in heart."

"Do you want him back?" Miranda said, realising she had monopolised Andréa's child.

"Noo," Andréa chuckled. "I would give my life, but I'm totally okay for now, if you are?"

"I admit I miss them as babies. It is such a beautiful time, Andréa. Treasure it."

"I plan to, but I'm also very happy to have my arms back for a while."

Miranda chuckled and traced Archie's features delicately.

"He's so tiny, and he looks so like you," she muttered, not meaning to say it out loud.

"Does he?" Andréa sighed. "Oh thank God."

"I remember Richard being quite put out when they both ended up looking like me," Miranda smirked. "Cassidy gets her wild streak from him, but it remains to be seen in Caroline."

"Oh, I dunno about that," Andréa chuckled. "You can be pretty wild."

Miranda stared at her, feeling the heat creeping up her face. In truth, wild was never anything she could consider labelling herself, but with the new revelations between them, there was something stirring just under her skin. A wildness she'd never felt before. She felt like a raw nerve, exposed and on edge and she wasn't sure what she wanted to do next.

Andréa made that decision for her. She stood, groaning a little, and put her plate in the dishwasher.

"Come on," Andréa said, holding out her hand. "I need to start unpacking."

"Of course," Miranda nodded, feeling put out that she didn't think of that. "Let me show you your rooms."

As they mounted the stairs, the girls met them halfway and Andréa spent a good amount of time with her arms wrapped around both of them, her head between them, whispering gently. Miranda's insides squeezed pleasantly again. It felt far too good to be true. Andréa was beautiful, intelligent, funny and she adored Miranda's children. It felt like a dream.

"Hey," Andréa whispered, shocking her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

She blinked and found Andréa standing near to her, a cautionary hand on her forearm and her eyes searching.

Miranda couldn't help it. Realistically, she had done a decent job of not accosting the poor woman as she'd walked in the front door, but after such an upheaval, she had very little control remaining. Shifting Archie into one arm, securing him against her chest, she took Andréa's arm and pulled her close. With no warning she leant in, cautiously, allowing Andréa to pull away if she wanted to. She found nothing but a cheeky grin on the woman's face.

As their lips touched, Miranda moaned. She didn't care that Andréa had just eaten dinner, or that they were standing on the stairs between the third and fourth floor. She didn't care that she'd only realised her feelings barely hours earlier. She didn't even care that she hadn't seen Andréa since that day, in the street, outside Elias Clarke.

"Oh," Andréa whispered, her hands cupping Miranda's face delicately. "Oh, let's never stop doing this," she muttered, charming Miranda completely.

She realised quite quickly that she had a free arm as well and she wrapped it around Andréa's middle to bring her closer. In doing so, they woke the baby.

"Oh," Andréa chuckled. "Sorry."

"I'm -"

"Hush," Andréa soothed. "It's okay. He'll go right back to sleep after he has his feed and then you and I -" She shrugged, but Miranda could see the hope in her eyes as she stared.

"Yes," she whispered. "You and I."

Andréa smiled, sliding her hands under Archie's body and taking him from her. She let her, of course, but she couldn't help but feel a little empty.

"It's alright," Andréa chuckled. "You can burp him if you're that sad when you let go."

Feeling altogether quite silly, Miranda brushed some lint off her sleeve and held her head up.

"Oh, I misspoke," Andréa said, looking small. "I apologise."

"No," she insisted, remembering that Miranda Priestly wasn't a coward. "No, Andréa. I -"

"Oh," she closed her eyes and Miranda held her steady. "I have missed the way you say my name."

Smiling uncharacteristically wide, Miranda pressed a gentle kiss to those kissable lips and rubbed her nose against Andréa's.

"Let me show you your rooms."

Andréa seemed unconcerned with where they were sleeping, but Miranda showed her the three rooms she thought they might find comfort in. A bedroom that was large enough for Andréa and Archie to be comfortable. An office that had been gutted and neutralised once Stephen had vacated and a small den that Miranda used as a reading room, but would suit Andréa when she wanted alone time.

"This is beautiful," she said, turning to smile at Miranda. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

"I know we just did all this downstairs, but truly. This is," she sighed. "A lifesaver."

"Andréa, I don't want you to worry about a thing," Miranda clarified. "About anything. Nigel told me that with your job, went your health insurance as well." Her face fell and Miranda remembered the difficulties she faced when she first arrived in the country and tried to make her way in the world with nothing. "As soon as the customer service opens in the morning, they'll be adding you and Archie to my policy."

"Miranda -"

"Andréa, you know me," she said carefully. "You know how I think. And," she swallowed, her hands going a little clammy. "I want this. I want to explore these mutual feelings and explore our," she shrugged. "Options. And more than anything, I want to take care of you." The heat crept up her cheeks again and she stood definitely as Andréa watched her.

"You," Andréa said gently. "Are the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful woman I've ever met."

Miranda blinked, not expecting the praise and looked at Andréa with a frown.

"That is not," she bit her lip. "Nobody has ever said that to me before?"

"They don't see what I see," Andréa whispered, her hand cupping Miranda's face. Her heartfelt like it was about to explode out of her chest. "They never did. They don't see you working tirelessly behind the scenes so that hundreds of people have jobs and careers. They only see the dragon in the limelight. The one that feels just a little bit like if I'm working this hard, then at the very least, you're going to put your best work in." Miranda sorted. "I would bet everything I own, such as it is, that you have so many little schemes going on in the background to make sure everyone comes through this."

She blushed harder and Andréa laughed.

"I know you, Miranda. And I love you for it."

Taking greater care to avoid waking the baby, Miranda drew Andréa close again and kissed her in such a way that her toes curled on the carpet.

"Mm," Andréa muttered, changing the angle of her lips. "We should stop doing this otherwise we're going to get into trouble."

"Trouble is my middle name," Miranda breathed, her hands exploring Andréa's neck and sliding into her hair.

"The twins come by it honestly then," Andréa chuckled. Miranda laughed, pulling away and covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Don't hide," Andréa muttered. "Don't ever hide from me, love."

Miranda kissed her again and Andréa sighed against her lips and pulled away.

"I need to feed him and put him down and then maybe you and I can explore this further?"

"Oh," Miranda closed her eyes, disgusted with herself. "I, of course. Yes."

"Don't panic," Andréa said decisively. "It's okay. It's okay to feel out of your depth. I know I am."

"But -" Miranda was so shocked. Andréa seemed to know exactly what she was thinking at all times and she still felt uncomfortable.

"Miranda? I'm a homeless, jobless single mother with a preemie. And I'm in love with, arguably, one of the most powerful woman in New York, who seems to share my feelings and I have no idea how this is going to work."

"You always could read my mind," Miranda quipped.

"The point is," Andréa said gently. "Is that we can figure that out together. I don't want to live off you. I don't want to be kept. But," she shrugged. "I have no choice right now. That you would do so, come to my rescue like that, means more to me than you possibly imagine."

"Let me fetch your things from the garage and we shall reconvene afterwards."

"Thank you," Andréa smiled. "Kiss me before you go?"

Miranda had been in many relationships in her slightly longer life but none like this. Nobody had ever asked her that before and she was both charmed and confused by it.

"Are," Andréa was waiting for her. "You okay?"

"I just realised that this is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Nobody has ever asked me that before."

"Here's to new beginnings for both of us then," Andréa grinned.

Miranda felt something slide home in her chest and kissed Andréa deeply. She sucked on Andréa's bottom lip as she stepped away, allowing her teeth to graze over it as she let go, leaving Andréa standing in the middle of the room breathing hard.

"Oh," she grinned as she opened her eyes again. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

Miranda laughed all the way to the garage.