Untitled 7/?
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine...
A/N: Sorry it's taking so long for updates. My computer crashed at home, so I'm only able to write when I can get my hands on one. This part was actually supposed to be longer, but since it's taking me so long to get it written down I thought I'd split it up and get what I have posted.
The twins raced towards the town car that was waiting outside the school on Friday afternoon ready for their weekend of freedom to begin. They each threw Roy a grin as he opened the door and they dove into the back seat. The smiles on their face were quickly turned into looks of surprise as they came face to face with their mother.
Cassidy was the first to recover. “Mom,” she nearly shrieked as she threw herself into her mother's arms. Caroline was quick to follow.
As the twins settled down and began chatting animatedly over their plans for the weekend, Miranda turned to stare blankly out the window. She had found herself doing that a lot throughout the day; just staring blankly, not focused on anything in particular, thoughts of Andrea running through her mind, but nothing she could actually grasp. She hadn't been able to concentrate at all, which was a first for her. In all truthfulness, she had found herself off-balance since seeing Andrea faint the day before. It had been hard for her to leave Andrea alone at the hospital the night before and to not return that morning, but Andrea had insisted that she not change her schedule just for her.
She made a quick glance to her girls, wondering again if taking them to the hospital was the right thing to do, but just as Andrea had insisted that Miranda go home the day before and work that morning, she had also wanted to be the one to tell Caroline and Cassidy what was going on, and the sooner the better.
“Mom?” Cassidy said from beside her. She turned to see all of both the girls attention on her. When Cassidy knew she had her mom's attention, she asked, “Is Andy bringing The Book tonight? Or is Emily,” she said the name with a sneer, “bringing it again?”
Miranda fought back a smirk at her daughters obvious like of Andrea and dislike of Emily. “Emily will be bringing it by tonight. Why do you ask?”
The girls shared a glance and a pout. “We wanted to tell Andy about our English reports,” Caroline said. “Why is Emily bringing The Book again? I thought Andy was back at work?”
Miranda cleared her throat before answering. “Girls, Andrea will no longer be delivering The Book.” She raised her hands as they both began arguing hurriedly. “I'm taking you to see her now so that she can explain.” She paused and squeezed the bridge of her nose before taking one of their hands in each of her own. “Andrea's in the hospital. She asked that I bring you to see her so that she could explain herself.”
They were both silent after they realized all of their questions would go unanswered by their mother. They remained silent throughout the rest of the trip, walking through the hospital, and the elevator ride. When Miranda indicated to them which room Andy was in, they sprinted through the door.
They stopped short inside the door when they saw a tall man standing beside Andy's bed and a little boy sitting in Andy's lap.
“Who are they?” Caroline whispered, never taking her eyes off of Andy who was singing 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' and laughing with the boy as they did the hand gestures.
“How should I know?” Cassidy said just as softly.
Andy seemed to sense the newcomers in the room and looked over the boy's shoulder. She continued singing to the boy, but threw the group at the door a quick smile. The boy noticed as well and looked over his shoulder. He immediately stopped singing and playing and scrambled up to hide against Andy's side.
Andy snuggled the boy closer before looking up to the group. “Hey,” she said brightly. “Girls, this is Jamie and his dad Nathan. Jamie, can you say 'hi' to Cassidy and Caroline?”
He gave them a shy smile from under Andy's arm, but said nothing.
Andy turned and looked to Miranda. “Miranda, I'd like to introduce you to Nathanial and Jamison Breaux. Nathan, Jamie, Miranda Priestly.”
Nathan moved from beside the bed and held out his hand. “Ms. Priestly, it's a pleasure to meet you.” To Miranda's credit, she shook his hand and didn't purse her lips at his wrinkled khaki slacks or the mouth shaped ketchup stain on his polo shirt. He turned to grin at the twins. “Caroline. Cassidy. Andy talks about you two all the time. Now which is which?”
“I'm Caroline,” one said just as the other said, “I'm Cassidy.”
Nathan caught the quick glance the two shared and grinned wider. “Still trying out the old bait and switch I see.” He laughed when the girl's eyes widened. “My twin brother Jeremiah and I use to do that all the time.” He shared a comradely smile with them before turning back to Andy. “Well, I guess we're going to head out so that you can visit with your new visitors. Jamie, tell Aunt Andy bye.”
Jamie snuggled in closer to Andy's side. “No,” he whined. “I wanna pay wit Ant Ani.”
“She's got other people she needs to talk with now.” He reached out to grab the little boy, but he squirmed away and closer under Andy's arm. Nathan sighed before winking at Andy and smiling at Jamie. “You know what? I bet if you ask really nice, Aunt Andy would come play with you at the house sometime.”
Jamie turned to pout up at Andy. “Will you come pay wit me pleeease?”
Andy hugged him and smiled. “Sure Little Man. I would love to play with you.”
“Pwomise?” he sat up and looked directly at her with a serious face.
“Promise,” Andy said as she leaned in and kissed his nose.
“Yay!” he shouted and leaned in to hug her. He looked at his dad then leaned in and spoke in what he was convinced was a whisper, “You pay bettew games than Mommy and Daddy.”
“Good to know,” Andy laughed as she moved him to Nathan's side of the bed. She smiled up at him as he leaned over to take his son and give Andy a quick kiss. “I'll call whenever I find out when I'll have some extra time,” she told him.
“Alright. Just make sure you're feeling up to it. You need to take care of yourself Andy.” His smile turned from concerned and caring to teasing. “I think I hear Sarah complain about you not taking care of yourself just as much as you do.”
Andy laughed as she said, “Oh, I highly doubt that.”
Miranda spoke for the first time as the Breaux' approached the door. “Nathanial, you wouldn't be staying here at the hospital for a little while per chance, would you?”
Nathan looked at his watch before answering. “Sarah's shift ends in an hour. I thought we might hang around and wait for her. Why, what do you need Ms. Priestly?”
Miranda looked quickly to the girls. “I was wondering if we might call you in a little while to look after the girls so that I might have a chance to speak with Andrea alone.”
“Of course,” Nathan smiled. “Just have Andy page Sarah; she'll know how to reach me.”
Once the boys had left, Caroline and Cassidy cautiously approached the bed. “What's wrong with you?” Cassidy asked.
Andy situated herself so that she was sitting Indian style and patted the bed at each of her knees. “Squirt, Peanut, why don't you hop up her so I can talk to you.” As the girls were moving to sit on the bed, Andy noticed the face Miranda was making at the nicknames. Andy snickered. “Every child deserves a nickname Miranda.”
Once the girls were situated, Cassidy looked to her and asked again, “So, what's wrong with you?”
“Well,” Andy started slowly. “I've been admitted for dehydration and an infection.”
“I had an infection last year when I was cleated in soccer, but I didn't have to stay in the hospital,” Caroline said.
“I was already sick before I got the infection,” Andy said as she took one of each of the girl's hands in her own. She stroked the back of their hands with her thumb before looking up and into each of their eyes before finally just saying it. “I have cancer.”
The room was completely silent for a long time before Caroline's eyes started watering. “Are you going to die?” she asked with a trembling lip.
“No,” Andy said firmly. “We've already started taking care of it, and the doctor says we caught it pretty early under the circumstances.”
“What does that mean?” Cassidy asked. “'Under the circumstances'?”
“It's fairly uncommon for someone my age to have the type of cancer that I have and for it to be caught as early as we did,” Andy explained.
“What exactly is your type of cancer?” Cassidy continued the questioning. Caroline had began to cry silently and was holding Andy's hand in a death grip.
For the next half hour, Andy answered any and all of Cassidy's questions. Caroline had stopped crying, but was oddly silent. Miranda was surprised that Andy seemed to find a way to answer all of them as honestly and diplomatically as possible without scaring the girls more.
Once Cassidy finally seemed to run out of questions, Caroline finally spoke. “Is your hair going to fall out?”
Andy fought back a chuckle. Of course the fashion goddess' daughter would worry about her hair. “It's a definite possibility.”
“If it does, I'm shaving my head,” Caroline said matter of factly.
Andy stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief. “Caroline, you can't,” she began sputtering, but was cut off.
Caroline looked her directly in the eyes and said firmly, “If it does, I'm shaving my head.” When Andy could do nothing but nod dumbly, she turned to look at her mother who was too surprised to make any sign of discouraging her. She then turned back to Andy and began telling her of the English report they had been so eager to share with her as if they weren't sitting in a hospital room due to Andy having cancer.
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine...
A/N: Sorry it's taking so long for updates. My computer crashed at home, so I'm only able to write when I can get my hands on one. This part was actually supposed to be longer, but since it's taking me so long to get it written down I thought I'd split it up and get what I have posted.
The twins raced towards the town car that was waiting outside the school on Friday afternoon ready for their weekend of freedom to begin. They each threw Roy a grin as he opened the door and they dove into the back seat. The smiles on their face were quickly turned into looks of surprise as they came face to face with their mother.
Cassidy was the first to recover. “Mom,” she nearly shrieked as she threw herself into her mother's arms. Caroline was quick to follow.
As the twins settled down and began chatting animatedly over their plans for the weekend, Miranda turned to stare blankly out the window. She had found herself doing that a lot throughout the day; just staring blankly, not focused on anything in particular, thoughts of Andrea running through her mind, but nothing she could actually grasp. She hadn't been able to concentrate at all, which was a first for her. In all truthfulness, she had found herself off-balance since seeing Andrea faint the day before. It had been hard for her to leave Andrea alone at the hospital the night before and to not return that morning, but Andrea had insisted that she not change her schedule just for her.
She made a quick glance to her girls, wondering again if taking them to the hospital was the right thing to do, but just as Andrea had insisted that Miranda go home the day before and work that morning, she had also wanted to be the one to tell Caroline and Cassidy what was going on, and the sooner the better.
“Mom?” Cassidy said from beside her. She turned to see all of both the girls attention on her. When Cassidy knew she had her mom's attention, she asked, “Is Andy bringing The Book tonight? Or is Emily,” she said the name with a sneer, “bringing it again?”
Miranda fought back a smirk at her daughters obvious like of Andrea and dislike of Emily. “Emily will be bringing it by tonight. Why do you ask?”
The girls shared a glance and a pout. “We wanted to tell Andy about our English reports,” Caroline said. “Why is Emily bringing The Book again? I thought Andy was back at work?”
Miranda cleared her throat before answering. “Girls, Andrea will no longer be delivering The Book.” She raised her hands as they both began arguing hurriedly. “I'm taking you to see her now so that she can explain.” She paused and squeezed the bridge of her nose before taking one of their hands in each of her own. “Andrea's in the hospital. She asked that I bring you to see her so that she could explain herself.”
They were both silent after they realized all of their questions would go unanswered by their mother. They remained silent throughout the rest of the trip, walking through the hospital, and the elevator ride. When Miranda indicated to them which room Andy was in, they sprinted through the door.
They stopped short inside the door when they saw a tall man standing beside Andy's bed and a little boy sitting in Andy's lap.
“Who are they?” Caroline whispered, never taking her eyes off of Andy who was singing 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' and laughing with the boy as they did the hand gestures.
“How should I know?” Cassidy said just as softly.
Andy seemed to sense the newcomers in the room and looked over the boy's shoulder. She continued singing to the boy, but threw the group at the door a quick smile. The boy noticed as well and looked over his shoulder. He immediately stopped singing and playing and scrambled up to hide against Andy's side.
Andy snuggled the boy closer before looking up to the group. “Hey,” she said brightly. “Girls, this is Jamie and his dad Nathan. Jamie, can you say 'hi' to Cassidy and Caroline?”
He gave them a shy smile from under Andy's arm, but said nothing.
Andy turned and looked to Miranda. “Miranda, I'd like to introduce you to Nathanial and Jamison Breaux. Nathan, Jamie, Miranda Priestly.”
Nathan moved from beside the bed and held out his hand. “Ms. Priestly, it's a pleasure to meet you.” To Miranda's credit, she shook his hand and didn't purse her lips at his wrinkled khaki slacks or the mouth shaped ketchup stain on his polo shirt. He turned to grin at the twins. “Caroline. Cassidy. Andy talks about you two all the time. Now which is which?”
“I'm Caroline,” one said just as the other said, “I'm Cassidy.”
Nathan caught the quick glance the two shared and grinned wider. “Still trying out the old bait and switch I see.” He laughed when the girl's eyes widened. “My twin brother Jeremiah and I use to do that all the time.” He shared a comradely smile with them before turning back to Andy. “Well, I guess we're going to head out so that you can visit with your new visitors. Jamie, tell Aunt Andy bye.”
Jamie snuggled in closer to Andy's side. “No,” he whined. “I wanna pay wit Ant Ani.”
“She's got other people she needs to talk with now.” He reached out to grab the little boy, but he squirmed away and closer under Andy's arm. Nathan sighed before winking at Andy and smiling at Jamie. “You know what? I bet if you ask really nice, Aunt Andy would come play with you at the house sometime.”
Jamie turned to pout up at Andy. “Will you come pay wit me pleeease?”
Andy hugged him and smiled. “Sure Little Man. I would love to play with you.”
“Pwomise?” he sat up and looked directly at her with a serious face.
“Promise,” Andy said as she leaned in and kissed his nose.
“Yay!” he shouted and leaned in to hug her. He looked at his dad then leaned in and spoke in what he was convinced was a whisper, “You pay bettew games than Mommy and Daddy.”
“Good to know,” Andy laughed as she moved him to Nathan's side of the bed. She smiled up at him as he leaned over to take his son and give Andy a quick kiss. “I'll call whenever I find out when I'll have some extra time,” she told him.
“Alright. Just make sure you're feeling up to it. You need to take care of yourself Andy.” His smile turned from concerned and caring to teasing. “I think I hear Sarah complain about you not taking care of yourself just as much as you do.”
Andy laughed as she said, “Oh, I highly doubt that.”
Miranda spoke for the first time as the Breaux' approached the door. “Nathanial, you wouldn't be staying here at the hospital for a little while per chance, would you?”
Nathan looked at his watch before answering. “Sarah's shift ends in an hour. I thought we might hang around and wait for her. Why, what do you need Ms. Priestly?”
Miranda looked quickly to the girls. “I was wondering if we might call you in a little while to look after the girls so that I might have a chance to speak with Andrea alone.”
“Of course,” Nathan smiled. “Just have Andy page Sarah; she'll know how to reach me.”
Once the boys had left, Caroline and Cassidy cautiously approached the bed. “What's wrong with you?” Cassidy asked.
Andy situated herself so that she was sitting Indian style and patted the bed at each of her knees. “Squirt, Peanut, why don't you hop up her so I can talk to you.” As the girls were moving to sit on the bed, Andy noticed the face Miranda was making at the nicknames. Andy snickered. “Every child deserves a nickname Miranda.”
Once the girls were situated, Cassidy looked to her and asked again, “So, what's wrong with you?”
“Well,” Andy started slowly. “I've been admitted for dehydration and an infection.”
“I had an infection last year when I was cleated in soccer, but I didn't have to stay in the hospital,” Caroline said.
“I was already sick before I got the infection,” Andy said as she took one of each of the girl's hands in her own. She stroked the back of their hands with her thumb before looking up and into each of their eyes before finally just saying it. “I have cancer.”
The room was completely silent for a long time before Caroline's eyes started watering. “Are you going to die?” she asked with a trembling lip.
“No,” Andy said firmly. “We've already started taking care of it, and the doctor says we caught it pretty early under the circumstances.”
“What does that mean?” Cassidy asked. “'Under the circumstances'?”
“It's fairly uncommon for someone my age to have the type of cancer that I have and for it to be caught as early as we did,” Andy explained.
“What exactly is your type of cancer?” Cassidy continued the questioning. Caroline had began to cry silently and was holding Andy's hand in a death grip.
For the next half hour, Andy answered any and all of Cassidy's questions. Caroline had stopped crying, but was oddly silent. Miranda was surprised that Andy seemed to find a way to answer all of them as honestly and diplomatically as possible without scaring the girls more.
Once Cassidy finally seemed to run out of questions, Caroline finally spoke. “Is your hair going to fall out?”
Andy fought back a chuckle. Of course the fashion goddess' daughter would worry about her hair. “It's a definite possibility.”
“If it does, I'm shaving my head,” Caroline said matter of factly.
Andy stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief. “Caroline, you can't,” she began sputtering, but was cut off.
Caroline looked her directly in the eyes and said firmly, “If it does, I'm shaving my head.” When Andy could do nothing but nod dumbly, she turned to look at her mother who was too surprised to make any sign of discouraging her. She then turned back to Andy and began telling her of the English report they had been so eager to share with her as if they weren't sitting in a hospital room due to Andy having cancer.