The site is being glitchy at the moment and I keep losing chapter 158 so I'm posting early to see if that'll fix it.
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Bianca had rushed out of the house early this morning. The funding crisis at the Miranda centre was obviously a lot more of a problem than she had been letting on. This left Kendal with the responsibility of getting Miranda and Spike to school. Francois was currently herding the children into the bathroom to brush teeth and wash faces after a breakfast of chocolate pancakes, giving Kendal a moment to tidy up some of the toys that littered the lounge.
As Kendal pulled a pair of Ian's socks out from under the couch she noticed Miranda standing over her, fidgeting slightly.
"Aunt Kendal." she asked in a nervous voice. "Can you help me?"
"Of course, sweetheart, what do you need?" replied Kendal, moving to sit on the couch beside her niece.
Miranda stayed standing.
"Um… I want mommy and Marissa to go on a date." said Miranda hesitantly. "I want it to be the best date ever… but I don't know how to do it."
"That's a very sweet thought." said Kendal.
"AJ was supposed to help me," explained Miranda, "But he's all busy with the custard thing and I didn't know who else to ask."
"Custody…" corrected Kendal. "But never mind. Why is this so important to you that your mommy and Marissa go on a date?"
"If they go on a great date and have a grown up sleepover then we can move into our home and be a proper family and AJ and I will be real twins and we'd be the best twins EVER!"
"Mmm," said Kendal knowingly. "So your motives are not quite as altruistic as they first appeared."
"What's altru… altristics?" asked Miranda confused.
"It means you want something too."
"Not just me…" said Miranda pouting slightly, a hint of Erica Kane in her stance. "We've been waiting years to all be a family and move into our house! It's not fair."
"Hardly years," said Kendal laughing at the exaggeration. "Your mom and Marissa have only been dating, what… barely a month."
"But they haven't been on a date for ages."
"They went out just last week, and besides they have lunch together every day and are on the phone to each other every night. And if I'm not mistaken just this Monday did they not take you and AJ bowling?" asked Kendal, giving her niece a playful prod.
Miranda was having none of it.
"But that's not a proper date! Not if we're there!" protested Miranda. "A proper date is dinner and flowers… and rose petals on the bed."
"Rose petals?" asked Kendal.
"That's what Haley said." explained Miranda, although she looked a little confused as she continued."And they also need chocolate sauce and cream in bed too. Although I'm not sure about that part is quite right. What would they have to put the chocolate sauce on? Not the rose petals that would taste yucky. And besides it would make a huge mess of the sheets and mommy doesn't even like us eating cookies in bed because of the crumbs."
Kendal coughed to cover her surprise at Miranda's emphatic statement
"And who is Haley?"
"She's a girl we see at the play park. She knows everything."
"And how old is this Haley?" Kendal enquired, beginning to worry about who Miranda had been mixing with.
"Oh she's a big girl." said Miranda, "She's twelve."
"Well." said Kendal with a smile, "As much as I respect Haley's whole twelve years of experience I don't think you need to worry too much about the rose petals and certainly not the chocolate sauce and cream."
"Okay." said Miranda slowly, a terribly earnest expression on her face.
Kendal gave another embarrassed cough.
"Look." said Kendal. "I think what you are really saying is that you want your mom and Marissa to spend more time alone together."
"Yes."
"Well I agree with you there. Your mom is awfully stressed about work right now, isn't she, and I know Marissa is worrying about AJ. They both need to unwind a little." said Kendal pulling her niece onto her lap. "Tell you what, I shall put my thinking cap on and see if I can come up with any ideas."
"Thank you Aunt Kendal." said Miranda giving her a hug. "I knew I could count on you!"
…