After lunch, Miranda had to return to work although she opted to work from home in her study instead whilst Andrea put the girls down for a nap.
She lay them both down on their nap mats in the den and read them a fairy tale story to encourage them to go to sleep. She was laying down between them as she read the story and it didn't take them long to fall asleep. Caroline fell asleep first within moments of laying down on the mat with her blanket and then Cassidy fell asleep shortly after as she snuggled down with her stuffed toy.
Whilst she was laying there, Andrea found it hard not to fall asleep herself, actually, she found it impossible not to.
Miranda had been expecting the younger woman to join her in the study once the girls had fallen to sleep, however, she did not. She waited and waited but her assistant never came back down. She frowned, wondering what was wrong that would prevent the woman's return. Were the girls not as tired as she had initially thought that they were? Were the girls unwell?
Worried, Miranda stood up with a frown etched on her face and she made her way out of her study towards the den where she knew that Andrea would be putting the girls down for a nap, "Andrea." She said softly in case the girls were asleep already.
She did not get any answer at all and her frown deepened. Miranda cautiously pushed the door to the den open and walked into the room, only to find her girls fast asleep on their nap mats in the middle of the room with Andrea fast asleep in between them.
Miranda moved forward to get a better look at the sight of the three of them, smiling she pulled out her phone and discreetly took a photo of them fast asleep together. Andrea still had the book in her hand but the girls were curled up to her with their heads on her chest. The woman's arms were wrapped around the two of them with the book leaning against Caroline's side.
Carefully, Miranda took the blanket off of the back of the sofa and lay it over all three of them without waking any of them. She took a moment to simply absorb the scene into her memory, the sight of her three favourite people together and safe.
The Editor-in-Chief took another secret shot of the three of them before she returned to her study to carry on with the work that she had brought home from the office with her. She had been working away for another hour before she heard the tell-tale signs of the girls and her Andrea waking up from their naps. She had left the baby monitor on despite not really needing to with Andrea there.
"You nap too?" Caroline asked Andrea.
"Yes," Andrea replied with a light chuckle, "I took a nap too, I think I made myself fall asleep with that story as well."
The two girls giggled happily at that and it did not take them long to want to play with the toy box full of toys that were in the den.
Miranda found herself listening to the sounds of their voices through the monitor more than she found herself concentrating on the work that was in front of her. However, she also found herself not caring because the sound of their voices and laughter made her smile more than anything had in such a long time. She knew that she needed Andrea to stay around more often and for longer than what any assistant would in the history of Runway.
"Play dolly?" Cassidy questioned as she picked up a dolly.
"Dolly!" Caroline screeched as she ran and grabbed her own dolly out of the toy box, "Poor dolly in box."
"Of course you can play with the dolly, Cassidy." Andrea replied with a smile, "Oh no... poor dolly."
"Dolly no like the dark." Caroline highlighted, clearly not impressed with the fact that they were in the box to begin with.
"Maybe dolly can stay out of the box then?" Andrea suggested.
"Twish puts dolly in box." Cassidy revealed.
"Well, luckily for dolly, I don't think Trish is coming back any time soon." Andrea admitted.
The girls cheered, apparently they were not too sad about their now ex-nanny leaving.
Andrea encouraged the girls to return to playing, getting involved in their little tea party along with the dolls and a multitude of stuffed toys. The woman soon found herself wearing a frilly pink hat on her head that was supposed to be for one of the dolls, of course it didn't fit but the girls seemed quite happy that she would be willing to sit with it resting on top of her head like she was. They were using a plastic tea set with flowers on it and they were sticking their little fingers out as if they were at a posh french afternoon tea. Andrea found it intriguing to watch how the imaginations of the two-(almost three)year-olds worked and she was highly amused by how they played together but how they continuously pulled them into their games of make believe.
Sat there playing with dollies and teddy bears with the two girls, Andrea realised that it may have been the best day that she had had so far working at Runway and yet her work that day had nothing to do with the magazine at all. Maybe Miranda was on to something with her offer? Maybe switching to working in Miranda's home was the change that she needed to enable her to work on her writing more. She had already had a couple of article ideas pop into her mind since she had got to her boss' house. The downside, however, of the offer to become the girls' nanny would be that she would not be spending as much time with Miranda as she did now, Miranda would be at the office whilst Andrea would be at the townhouse with the girls. She loved the girls, she truly did, however, she loved to spend time with Miranda, even if it was just at work. Then she remembered what the woman had said about benefits including accommodation. It would mean that she would be able to move out of her best friend's apartment where she had been staying for a while and it would mean that she would be able to spend more time with Miranda outside of work. Her imagination gave her an idea of what other benefits she may be able to get from living with the woman but she rolled her eyes at how ridiculous such ideas were. Or at least how ridiculous she thought they were.