January - New York, New York

"The car will be here in the morning, and I'll make sure you have a hard copy of the directions. I've already seen that the GPS on your phone and on the car are turned off. The destination is fully stocked with just about anything you might need, and I'll come up once a month to check in and bring you anything else. You will have the car if you need to leave for any reason. If you need to contact me, we both have secure lines—that's the Blackberry—that Runway will not have access to. Oh, and your new AOL email address should work just fine if you need to reach me or anyone else regarding a personal matter," Andrea said.

Miranda took a sip from her cup of tea and looked up at Andrea across her kitchen table. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this…"

Andrea smiled warmly and changed the subject. "Have you decided what you're going to write yet?"

"No. I'll probably end up getting a ghostwriter after six months of staring at a blank page," she said.

"You know, I can do that for you," Andrea said.

Miranda's eyes widened. Was there anything this girl couldn't do, she wondered. "I'll keep that in mind," she said.

"Okay, well, I'll let you get some rest and finish packing. Call me if you think of anything, and please let me know when you arrive," Andrea said.

"I will," Miranda said, watching as the young woman walked out of her kitchen. She dreaded what she had to do next, but reminded herself it was in everyone's best interest. Dialing James' phone number, she held her breath.

"Hello?"

"James, hi, it's me."

"Having second thoughts?" he asked, chuckling.

"Of course I am. You know this isn't easy for me," Miranda said. Her voice cracked and she bit her lip. "I would like to see the girls once more before I leave, but I don't want them to have to rearrange their schedules or anything."

"And you leave tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"So you want to see them tonight? You know, they go back to school tomorrow, and I want to be sure they get a good night's rest," he said. Miranda couldn't help but think about what a wonderful father he is. "You won't rile them up or upset them, right?"

"No, nothing like that. I was thinking about something quiet, maybe watching a movie," she said.

"Okay. We're going to be sitting down to dinner in a few minutes. I'll put them on the phone and you can ask them yourself, but assuming they say yes, would you want to come by around 6:30 and just watch something here?"

"Oh, at your place?"

"Yeah, I actually have a few errands to run, so I would be out of your hair," he said. "And the girls still aren't fully settled here, so it might be nice for you to help them feel comfortable. The last thing I want is for them to go back to your place, only to have to leave again."

Miranda thought about that for a minute. "Fair enough. I can't say that I'm entirely comfortable at your place either, but I agree it would be best."

"Great. Let me go get them and you can ask yourself… Girls? Your mom's on the phone."

"Hey Mom!" Caroline said.

"Hi Mommy!" Cassidy said. Miranda could imagine their faces pressed together as they shared the phone.

"Hi my darlings. What do you think about having one last movie night before you go back to school tomorrow? That way I can see your beautiful faces again and give you hugs and kisses and—"

"Yes!" they both shouted.

"Oh good. I was thinking I would come over to dad's after you finish dinner—maybe around 6:30. He has some errands to run, so I thought we could just watch a movie there, maybe make some popcorn. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Caroline said.

"Can you come over for dinner, too?" Cassidy asked.

"Oh no, sweetheart. I have a few things I need to do around the house, but I'll be over soon, okay? Pick out a movie you think I'll like," she added.

"Okay, Mom. Bye!"

"Bye, see you soon!" she said, blowing a kiss into the phone.

Later that evening, Miranda was curled up on the couch and struggling to keep her tears away. Her arm was draped around Cassidy, who was curled up against her, and Caroline was laying down with her head in Miranda's lap. She would miss this—they were growing up so quickly, and she hated the thought of being away from them but saw no other option. She couldn't burden them with having to keep secrets for her.

Miranda bent down and kissed Cassidy on the top of the head, and Cassidy, in turn, snuggled more closely into her, wrapping her arm around her mother's waist. Miranda felt a flutter in her abdomen and immediately recognized it as the baby's first movements. Trying to distract herself from that, she hugged Cassidy closer and gently ran her fingers through Caroline's hair as she returned her eyes to the TV.

TBC