Beyond the Call, Epilogue A of 34 & Epilogue
Title: Beyond the Call
Installment: Epilogue (Part A)
Author: duwinter
Fandom: DWP
Pairing: Miranda/Andy
Rating: PG-13
Summery: Miranda is faced with the possibility of losing Andy soon after finding her.
Disclaimer: The Devil Wears Prada and it's characters do not belong to me. No profit being made here. I'm just playing with them for a short while and I promise to put them away neatly when I'm through.
Dedication: This installment is dedicated to goldenruhl who was kind enough to bid and win the recent Fandomaid Auction to benefit those who suffered the effects of Sandy.
Special Auction Thanks: I'd like to bring attention to the fact that our own pdt_bear, while not bidding on stories in the auction, did support the cause by agreeing to match the winning bids on at least two of the DWP stories auctioned off. Also a very special thanks to waltzmatildah who runs the truly unique humanitarian effort FandomAid
Comments: Comments and constructive criticism eagerly encouraged and appreciated!
A/N 1: For the purposes of this story, all events are taking place before the Congressionally directed repeal of the Army's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Truth be told, when I started this project I did not believe that President Obama, even with hard work and the best of intentions, would manage to get the repeal of this outdated and idiotic bias past the hidebound idiots and political hacks that serve in the Congress and Senate of my country.
A/N 2: In this story Andy serves in the 192nd Supply Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. I know that members of the Ohio National Guard have served bravely in the conflicts overseas. I honor that service. The 192nd Supply Regiment and the 161st Military Police Company, in which both DeSaix and Scruggs serve, are however, fictitious units and do not exist.
A/N 4: There is a a very unpleasant character residing in this story. He is racist, misogynistic, corrupt, and one of those individuals the world would truly be a better place without. He is a fictional character and his views in no way express the views of the author of this piece.
A/N 5: The President and the First Lady (both of whom I admire greatly) have become characters in this story. I try to write them carefully and I mean them no disrespect.
Very Special Thanks: to All hail the mighty and powerful beta goddesspeetsden, bow, offer sacrifice, and do proper homage. Thanks, Peet, you saved my bacon when it needed saving!Very Special Thanks: to the wonderful ragelikeafire who gave more than I can say to the development and success of this story. Thank you Good Lady. I learned a great deal from you and I'm a better writer today because of it.
Serena awoke and stretched her long beautiful limbs. She rose from her bed, gloriously naked and padded to the shower. As she adjusted the temperature of the water, she cast her mind back in time. November already, she sighed happily. It's been more than a month since Andy came home from Italy and almost that long since Richard and I drove back from Cincinnati.” She stepped into the steaming water stream. Funny, I used to love showering in the mornings and now I hate it. I wash myself and I can no longer smell Richard on me. No longer smell our lovemaking and I feel lost all day long without it. It just doesn't feel right not to smell him on me. It isn't the way things are supposed to be anymore.
Serena chuckled to herself. She had made good on her musings to Emily about finding her perfect man and sexing him into submission. She made love to her Richard every chance she got; before work, at lunchtime, in the evenings. He is like a beautiful drug that I simply cannot get enough of, she thought as her hands began to caress her soapy body. She had even started taking outrageous chances sometimes, so far once in a crowded movie theater and once in her office at Runway in the middle of the day with her staff just outside the unlocked door when any of them could have walked in at any moment.
For Richard's part, her thoughts continued to spin, he had begun to speak of them as a couple in the long term, musing about where they might retire together someday and of growing old together.
Serena admitted that things were a bit nervous around Andy, who was less than a year younger than She was. Serena recognized that Andy didn't remember their acquaintance when Andy was at Runway before being redeployed by the Army. Serena was now virtually a stranger to Richard's daughter but Richard's daughter was doing her level best to be accepting.
When she and Richard went out in the evenings Serena found herself shying away from the places that the other Clackers from Runway gathered. She had been told by Emily that the office grapevine was commenting on how she glowed each morning. How sated and satisfied she seemed all the time now. Then one night she and Richard were out together at one of the bars that Clackers from Runway frequented. She had gone to the Ladies' Room for a few moments and come back to two Clackers from the Closet trying to get Richard to leave and go home with them. Richard didn't miss a beat. As she approached the trio she heard him tell them clearly that he was with her and that they were monogamous. While his being faithful in a situation that most of the men Serena had dated would have fallen on like a hungry dog, reassured her completely, still, what followed was an ugly scene. She hated losing her temper like that and even if the scene had been completely necessary to make clear her claims on the man she was with; she would prefer not repeating it. She was blissfully happy with Richard and he seemed completely happy with their arrangement. Serena had somehow reached heaven, she was sure of it.
*****
Two months since Andy's been living with us, Caroline thought happily as she doodled improvements to the sketches in the drawing pad she kept the designs of outfits she had envisioned. And everything is so much better now.
The twins had been there for Andrea and their mother every step of the way. They had, had some inkling that their mother's and Andrea's relationship had changed into something more than it had been just before Andrea had been deployed to Afghanistan. Their mother's actions and her dark mood after Andrea was wounded had cemented things in the twin's mind. They had decided that they were just going to have to get used to the fact that they were going to have two mothers rather than a mother and a father. Other kids at Dalton managed with same sex parents and the twins were completely united in the belief that with one of their Mother's being Andy, who, in their freely shared opinion, was just about the coolest person in the whole world, this wasn't going to be any problem. This 'coolness' had been imparted to Andy because, they agreed, she made their Mother smile...a lot.
The girls had benefited from Andy's presence because the new, post-memory loss Andy didn't defer to their Mother's every small sound of displeasure as the old Andy did. This one, not remembering her time at Runway said exactly what she thought. That was one of the reasons that Caroline was now being allowed to take sewing classes. After her Mother had clearly told her daughter that sewing was beneath her, Andy had gone and gotten Caroline's pad of designs and sitting down beside Miranda had very purposefully paged through them. “Miranda,” Andy had said, “How is she going to realize any of these designs if she doesn't know how to construct an outfit?” She looked sideways at her white haired lover, “I bet before you got to be the Miranda Priestly of Runway, somebody had taught you to sew.”
Miranda had been quiet for the remainder of that evening and Caroline was afraid that she had precipitated a fight between her mother and Andy because of her desire to take a stupid sewing class. When Andy tucked her in that evening, she'd told her not to worry about it. That it was just her Mother's way and the idea was percolating in her mother's head. Andy had made it sound so funny that Caroline could just picture her mother's head as one of the old fashioned coffee pots with the clear dome on top. Caroline could see in her minds-eye one colorful idea after another bubbling through the dome.
After school the next day Caroline got a call from her Mother's Second Assistant asking Caroline for all the details about the sewing course she wanted to take. A week later she started the Saturday morning course.
The twins’ new social endeavors at Dalton had borne fruit in unexpected ways. Their new inclusive clique had spread like wildfire through the school after the nastiness of the expulsion of five of the popular clique had subsided. The incidence of bullying and tormenting of those students that “didn't fit in” to any of the established social cliques dropped off to almost nothing and student organizations, such as the debating team and the cheerleaders squad, were benefiting from the fact that students who would have never considered going out for those particular types of extracurricular activities were now not only doing so, but in that process bringing new talents and ideas to the groups. There was, it seemed to the twins, a lot less drama at Dalton these days.
The twins, Ian and Roxanna spent a great deal of time working through all the challenges of organizing and producing Dalton's First Annual Poetry Slam and Talent Show, but all too soon it was the second week of December and the night of the production had come and gone. It was one of the best-attended events any Dalton staff could remember with a standing room only sold out crowd. Calls for a second performance were numerous enough that the school administration approved the request and another performance was scheduled for the following week. When the receipts of the two-night event were tallied, the show had raised more for the chosen charity than any charity drive in Dalton history. The Wounded Warriors Project was grateful for the check. Cassidy and Caroline, in the company of their father, delivered it to the charity's offices. There they made the necessary contacts to carry out their plan for a surprise Christmas gift to one particular wounded warrior, who was very near and dear to both their hearts.
Christmas was almost upon them now and with their father's help, their gift to Andy would be ready in time. It would need some fittings and such after they had presented it to Andy Christmas morning, but when the weather changed, their second Mom - Andy Sachs - would return to running in the Park like she used to love to do.
Cassidy's and Roxy's relationship was going strong and her sister was happier then Caroline could ever remember her being. Caroline was dating Ian, but any kind of long-term relationship was unlikely. Ian had found out soon after the Poetry Slam that in the middle of next year his father was to be promoted and his post would be moved from the British Consulate here in New York City to the Embassy in Beijing, China. While she liked Ian and enjoyed his company, she was okay with the fact that their lives were going to take different directions. She had found her calling. She was going to follow her mother into fashion, not in publishing, but as a designer. On the whole her life was like the song she had heard on an oldies radio station the other day, “the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades,” she laughed to herself.
*****
DeSaix was as angry as she could ever remember being as the elevator made a slow journey to the floor she had selected. “Three months since I got recalled from Italy,” she thought to herself furiously, “and I can't believe the shit I'm putting up with. First, it's that crazy Italian model sending expensive gifts to MY girlfriend. Then last week when Red and I are out to dinner for her birthday the crazy bitch shows up at our table and invites herself to sit down. She'd already paid the management for our meal. Hell, we could have had every meal in the place with the money the woman had spent. The doors of the elevator opened on the floor she had selected and she stalked out and down the corporate hallway under a full head of steam. People in the hallway, seeing the grim look on her face, her angry gate, and the fact that she was in Federal Marshal tactical response gear, including bullet proof vest and helmet, made sure to get out of her way. Then! Then, her thoughts continued to tumble across her mind, after we had left the restaurant and gone home, Emily found a freaking seventy-five hundred dollar pair of Prada shoes waiting for her outside the apartment door! How in the hell do I compete with seventy-five hundred dollar shoes?! There's no way I can afford that! No way I'm ever going to be able to afford that on a Marshal's salary! Red was a complete doll about the whole thing. I could see on her face that she wanted to keep the shoes so bad she could taste it, but she sent them back without a word of complaint and then made a fuss about how much she liked the winter coat that I gave her even though it wasn't even a designer name. I'm so afraid that, that Italian bitch is a better match for Red than I am. She's into fashion like Red is and that damned woman is a V.I.P. in that world. She could do things for Red's career and get her access to all those clothes she loves so much! De Saix shook her head and grit her teeth, seeing her destination just up ahead. I swear if that Italian bitch keeps getting in the way I don't know what I'll do, but Red is MINE! We're good together. I 'm the one that loves her and I'm the one that's going to take care of her for the rest of our lives! You better watch your ass Miss Arabella Messalina Giovanni because if you keep getting in my way I'll break one of my combat boots off in it. Gud Damn! First I have to deal with her and now I have to deal with this! She fumed.
Arriving at the office that was her destination, she open the door and entered the outer office, not even slowing down as the Assistant seated there tried to stop her. She slammed the door to Laura Fleury, Executive Producer for the Arts and Entertainment Television Network and the woman responsible for the show that DeSaix was now an integral part of, open. DeSaix slapped both hands down on the surprised woman's desk. “If one of your camera crew ever,” she ground out between clenched teeth, “EVER, AGAIN gets in my line of fire when I am covering one of my team during a fugitive apprehension, I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WILL FUCKING SHOOT THEM IN A PART OF THEIR ANATOMY THAT THEY WILL MISS! THEN I'LL SHOOT THE GOD DAMNED CAMERA!” ARE WE CLEAR?!” She bellowed into the woman's face.
*****
“And in another brilliant move, our own Devil in Heels, La Priestly, has again surprised the fashion world. Apparently her walking out on fashion week in Paris last October was a ploy to scoop the entire fashion publishing industry on what is going to be hot this coming year,” the television fashion commentator said excitedly into her microphone. “Along with these new and exciting innovations that have the whole fashion world buzzing, she has turned all fashion watchers back on their ears as she and up-and-coming fashion queen Samantha Potts of Teen Runway have launched a collaborative effort to bring back a romanticized variation on the Goth look. Black is definitely going to be the ‘in’ color this season!”
Miranda sat at her desk at Runway, half listening to the latest episode of New York City's highest-rated celebrity and entertainment gossip show. Four months, she mused in her thoughts. Four short months. So much has happened in that relatively short time frame.
After Andy had remembered that she loved Miranda, things progressed rapidly. Within days they were once again sharing a bed. It was a little longer before Andrea could relax enough that they could make love as they once had, but Miranda suspected that, such was a perfectly normal reaction to one that had suffered such traumatic and disfiguring injuries as her Andrea had sustained. Miranda simply made sure that she told Andrea each and every day how beautiful she was to Miranda and how her presence made Miranda's life better in every way.
Her Andrea tried not to show the growing frustration she felt. She had gone and given almost all for her country. Lost an arm and a leg and three years of her life. Three years that Andrea had confided that she now believed were likely the most important and formative in her life. Now, the capable young woman that had been decorated by the hand of the President of the United States with the highest award the nation could give, couldn't find a job.
Miranda had, of course, offered to intervene. There were numerous jobs at Runway and throughout the publications that Elias-Clarke produced that Andrea was more than qualified for. There were any number of contacts in any number of industries to whom Miranda could make a single telephone call and Andrea would be hired on the spot. Her Andrea forbade it. One night, early on, in their shared bed, Andrea had explained that this was something she had to do for herself. She felt that she had to reclaim her life, on her own terms, and while Miranda was an integral and as necessary as breathing part of that life, her interference in Andrea's trying to reclaim the rest of that life on her own would not be appreciated.
So Miranda had done the hard thing and stood back and watched her Andrea struggle to find where she fit in. When the frustration had become too much, Andrea had fallen back on some of her training from Northwestern University's School of Journalism. She began to question. Were others returning from the conflict zones experiencing what she was? She began to research how many other wounded veterans were coming home only to be unable to find work. From wounded vets she progressed to researching simply those coming home from wars. The numbers that Andrea had painstakingly gathered, vetted, and then presented to Miranda stunned the older woman. America's patriotic youth, who went and did as the Country required, were coming home to mass unemployment.
Miranda also watched her Andrea struggle to try and navigate the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Veteran’s Administration for both her medical needs and the benefits she was due from her service. Miranda feared for her Andrea's mental health, as the young woman became more and more despondent and started slipping into depression. It seemed that the only things that could cheer Andrea up were Miranda's twin daughters and the time the four of them spent together as a family. Then, one day very recently, when Andrea was sinking into one of her dark moods, Cassidy, who had been looking through Andrea's newest research on mental health and the suicide rate among soldiers returning from combat zones, had casually commented, “you should write a book.” That was the turning point. In the course of a week Andrea had turned out four hundred pages of a rough draft and the light had come back into her eyes.
The situation around the expulsion of the five students who had been the principle plotters in the intrigue to get Cassidy and Caroline thrown out of Dalton was a nasty piece of business. Although the student body, for the most part, rallied and pulled together into the more egalitarian social arrangement that her daughters' and their friends had envisioned, from the parents there were threats of lawsuits and attempted bribery of school officials. For once Miranda stayed above the situation and did not attempt to manage it. She was simply grateful that the school authorities had been vigilant enough that the plot had been ferreted out and exposed before any damage was done to her beloved daughters.
She only involved herself when Ashlyn Miller's mother came to her office at Runway, in tears. Miranda and Dorothy Miller had never been friends. In fact, they disdained each other’s company socially, after their initial meetings when Caroline and Ashley had started being friends. Now the woman came to Miranda begging that Miranda use her power on behalf of the five children that had plotted against her daughters. The press hadn't yet picked up on the expulsion of five affluent students from Dalton. That was nothing news worthy. Kids were getting kicked out of private schools all the time.
The District Attorney’s office getting ready to file criminal charges against five minors for possession and attempted distribution of child pornography, however, was a completely different matter. The salacious quality of decadent affluence and illegality coupled with the forbidden sexual nature of the materials the children involved were going to use to frame Miranda's twins made the story all too tempting for the sensation hungry press. Dorothy Miller knew all too well that the tabloids were going to have a field day with her daughter's reputation. She also knew that if Miranda Priestly would make the proper phone calls, that the respectable mainstream press would be far more likely to downplay the more torrid aspects of the situation and dispassionately report the facts of the story rather than sensationalize it. It wouldn't do a lot for the immediate future of the five ex-Dalton students, but in the long term it might allow them entry into a good college and have a chance at a decent job without what was truly a very misguided childish attempt to maintain a position at the top of what they had perceived as the social hierarchy at Dalton, ruining the rest of their lives. Miranda gave the matter serious thought for all of ten minutes before she started making the requested calls. She might be the Ice Queen in business, but she was also a mother and could understand that this other woman, whom she did not particularly like, also loved and wanted what was best for her daughter.
Andrea and Miranda's relationship was sometimes still strained, mainly because Miranda would forget that Andrea did not remember what to her were shared experiences. There was also the fact that Andrea, post amnesia, had not worked at Runway and consequently, had never been properly terrified of the Devil in Heels. Miranda found herself with a woman that was completely her equal and the experience she was having alternately invigorated and infuriated her. She was feeling more alive than she had in years and she had her young lover to thank for it.
Next week they would leave for Fashion Week in Milan. Following that week they would tour Florence, Venice, Tuscany and then Rome. Andrea would finish the good will tour the U.S. Government had asked her to make and she would do it with Miranda at her side. From what Miranda had gathered from the people she had spoken too in Italy, the trip was likely to be quite a ride as she had been told that the Italian people were pulling out all the stops for the return of the Hero Sachs.
*****
Five months since the LT was recalled from Italy. Now she's a TV star. thought T.J. Scruggs as he looked out over the thirty acres of land he had purchased with his savings and a G. I. Bill home loan. The house needed work, but there wasn't anything he couldn't do himself. He had enough left in the bank to take care of all of it as long as he didn't find something major that was concealed from both his careful inspection and the inspection of home inspector done as part of the mortgage agreement. But what ever came now, it was his. Well, his and his new wife's. One of his six juvenile Irish Wolfhound bitches came up to him and nosed him in the belly, demanding a scratch behind the ears. He smiled down at the dog's massive head and complied. As he scratched the dog's head he looked out over a beautiful view of Glassy Mountain, South Carolina and considered starting dinner. His new wife would be home soon.
She had spent the afternoon in town shopping for things necessary for their new home. They had gotten the basics such as pots, pans, plates and flatware, the first weekend after they'd arrived in South Carolina.Today she was shopping for some of the niceties like curtains, tablecloths, towels and an area rug for the floor of the bedroom.
Scruggs was surprised that he was married already. He'd always thought that he'd get his dogs first and then find himself a wife, but that just wasn't how things worked out. Finding a woman that loved dogs as much as he did was such a plus it left him with no choice but to marry her. If he'd waited she might have gotten away. Amelie had stayed in Rome for more than a month as Scruggs healed in the hospital and then had seemingly been forgotten by the Army. With no orders arriving reassigning him, he spent his duty time hanging around the Embassy waiting to be told what to do. Not being assigned to the Embassy's military contingent, he didn't have a duty station. This created a situation where he was free late afternoon each day. So each evening, he and Amelie explored Rome together. They talked about everything under the sun and discovered that they shared many common interests. Amelie was fascinated with Scruggs dream of a dog breeding business and loved to hear him talk about it.
She said that she wished life had allowed her to pursue such a dream. She was overcome with emotion when she discovered that Scruggs had gone to the trouble of buying and reading a book on Bichon Friese in consideration of her beloved dogs. When he spoke of a breeding kennel of the smaller dogs rather than the bigger ones he had always postulated when speaking of his dreams she decided that she would marry him.
She was the one who suggested that there wasn't any reason that her beloved fur children Orpheus and Eurydice could not live happily among a pack of larger dogs. If the breeding stock for the business was brought in as puppies after Orpheus and Eurydice were already in residence, the adult dogs dealing with puppies would quickly become the dominant pair regardless of the size of the new dogs.
The Army, as an institution, never does what you expect when you are in it. Apparently the chain of command, having temporarily forgotten about one Corporal T. J. Scruggs, suddenly remembered two weeks before his scheduled discharge date. In its infinite wisdom, it, of course, decided to give him a month’s leave. Scruggs looked at the orders, shook his head and traveled to Paris with Amelie. A month later, civilian T. J. Scruggs helped his new bride move the few things she wanted to keep from her apartment and the private investigations office to the docks to be placed in a container for shipment to Charleston, South Carolina. She had already divested herself of everything that she wasn't bringing to her new life in rural South Carolina. He, she and their two beloved dogs flew out of Orley Airport later that same day.
They had found what was once a farmstead in the shadow of Glassy Mountain and fell in love with it at first sight. It was a property that was about to fall into foreclosure and be taken from the family that had tried to make a life on it. Scruggs went to the bank and told the bank manager that he was just out of the military, just married, and had savings with the possibility of a G.I. Bill mortgage. Then he handed the bank manager the business plan he created in support of his dreams. The courses DeSaix had convinced him to take in preparation for life after the army had taught him to create and organize his dreams into real plans. The bank manager looked the business plan over, asked a few questions, and then approved a short-sale on the property that was beneficial to all parties involved. Scruggs and Amelie got the property at a good price, the family that had been in financial distress managed to walk away with less of a hit to their credit rating than a foreclosure would have caused and the bank made more on the property than they likely would have at auction. On top of that, the bank got the business of the new company “Orpheus and Eurydice's Irish Wolfhounds”.
Maybe at the end of the summer he'd invite the LT and her girlfriend to visit them. He'd like the LT to meet his wife, after all he and Amelie had already decided that the first baby girl they had was going to be named Meriwether.
*****
“Six months since Andy returned from Italy,” Emily mused sourly, “and now I have to deal with this!” She glanced again at the picture in People magazine of Miranda Priestly, wearing of all things cerulean blue nylon bike shorts, a nylon athletic sleeveless workout tank top in the same color, sunglasses, a Northwestern University baseball cap and a pair of running shoes, while high end, their color did not go with the rest of La Priestly's ensemble. The picture was taken in Central Park as Miranda engaged in part of her new daily exercise regimen. Emily sighed softly. Damn, the woman looks magnificent even when she sweats, the Englishwoman thought. Of course the photograph also contained Andy. You just didn't get a picture of Miranda Priestly anymore without it containing Andy Sachs too. Andy, dressed similarly to Miranda, only in a dark mustard yellow color, openly showed off her prosthetic arm because of the lack of sleeve on the athletic top. Below, she wore her specialized prosthetic designed for running. The twins had dubbed it, her “Darth Vader” leg, when they'd given it to her for Christmas. More than anything else it was a bent metal spring of steel covered in black and silver power coat enamel with touches of bright red highlighting. The device was designed to allow those who had lost a limb to once again run. Miranda and Andy were now running together several days a week and the paparazzi had taken to staking out their favored routes. Word that the Dragon Lady of Runway was romantically involved with an ex-second assistant, wounded war hero had begun to find its way into the press. Miranda didn't seem to be concerned about it so Emily wondered why she should be.
Miranda had her so busy these days learning to run the magazine that she could barely see straight and Miranda had made it clear to the Elias-Clarke Board of Directors that Emily was her choice as the next Editor-in-Chief of Runway. The paparazzi and Page Six had learned of Miranda's support and now the photographers had begun to pay attention to her. That coupled with the times the television show that Meriwether was now a part of was following the couple around filming them for use in upcoming episodes and Emily was getting pretty tired of cameras being aimed in her direction.
She and Andy had become closer friends since Andy's return from Italy. Andy, Miranda and Emily and Meriwether had socialized together at each other’s homes. Emily had also acted as a facilitator between Andy and Serena when Andy found out about Serena and her father's relationship. Andy didn’t remember her association with Serena other than the few days she had returned to Runway after going AWOL from Walter Reed Hospital. So Emily had arranged several girls' nights out. These allowed Andy to get a feel for the woman who was in love with her father. Because of Emily's involvement, Andy and Serena were on their way to being friends.
She heard the door of the apartment open. “There's a brand new Lamborghini in our assigned parking space, Red,” came her lover's voice, the tone testy.
“It will be moved soon,” Emily replied absently as she continued to pursue the latest edition of the gossip magazine in her hands. “I've already called the dealership and told them that I won't sign for it.”
“She sent it, didn't she?” Meriwether grated, moving to the gun safe she'd had installed right after moving in and punched in the combination code. She divested herself of the Glock automatic pistol from her hip, carefully ejecting the magazine and checking the chamber before placing the gun in the safe. “I swear to God, Emily, if she shows up when I take you out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate six months together, I won't be responsible for what happens.”
Emily nodded. “I hear that she's supposed to be appearing in a show in London Saturday evening. I can't see how she could stalk us on Friday night and make it to that show.”
Meriwether pulled her smaller Walther PPK backup piece out of the ankle holster she wore it in and after giving it the same treatment that the gun she wore on her hip got, it also went into the safe. Then Meriwether closed and secured the door. “She does know I go armed, doesn't she?” She asked.
Emily laughed, “That only makes it more exciting for her, Meri,” she said smiling at her lover. “Bella's certifiably crazy. The last time I met with her trying to convince her to appear in Runway, she spent the entire meeting trying to convince me to convince you to have a ménage a trois.”
“A ménage a...” the Creole woman sputtered, “I trust you let her know that such a thing was out of the question.”
Emily chuckled and smiled a wicked smile. “Well, dearest,” she said playfully, “you know how badly Miranda wants her in Runway and it’s my job to make it happen. If all it takes is sharing you for a night...:”
Meriwether's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed. She advanced toward where her apparently carefree lover sat. “Sharing?” She demanded, “Why I ought to take you over my knee for the very suggestion!”
Emily looked up at her lover of half a year. She moved, cat like, turning and stretching on the couch in a way that saucily offer her behind to her lover. “I guess you'll just have to do as you think best,” she replied in her most playful, seductive tone. ”
*****
Cassidy smiled as stood before the mirror. Has it really been only seven months since Andy came to live with us? She thought as she tried on her new Goth ball gown. So many good things have happened since then! The outfit that her sister had created for her, exclusively, was magnificent. She was going to stun her date when Roxy came to pick her up to take her to the Dalton Spring Dance. She couldn't wait. She was going to make a grand entrance down the stairs of the town house and watch her Roxy just melt when she saw what she was wearing. They were going to be the hottest couple at the dance tonight. This outfit was Caroline's first real success. Her earlier attempts hadn't lacked looks or style, they had just suffered from the fact that someone that was just learning to sew wasn't truly prepared to make a dress starting from the drawing of a design on a piece of paper stage. Even last month Caroline had made a miscalculation on another outfit she'd been working on and gotten the fabric of one of the sleeves wrong side out when she'd sewed it up. That being said, Cassidy had never seen her sister go at anything the way she was pursuing learning to make clothes. It was like Caroline felt about what she was doing the way Cassidy felt about Roxanna.
Cassidy smiled a small wicked smile. Caroline wasn't going to the dance tonight, Ian was with the Track Team at an away event this weekend, and Caroline had no interest in going stag. Cassidy felt bad for her sister, so she had raided her cache of money from Birthday and Christmas gifts and enlisted Andy's aid. When she left for the dance tonight, Andy would present Caroline with the sewing machine that Cassidy had bought for her. It wasn't as fancy as some of the ones Cassidy and Andy had looked at, but the woman at the sewing store had said that it was a good beginner's machine, with plenty of stitches and other features that Caroline would need to learn to master. There was an hour and a half instructional DVD with the machine and Cassidy figured between watching that and playing with her new toy, her twin would be distracted for the course of the evening while she was at the dance.
Her mom and the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Runway had initiated a rebooting of Goth style in mainstream fashion. Her mom had made it clear to the designers that she had trusted to bring this vision to life to cull the harsher aspects of Goth fashion and rely more on the romantic lines of the pseudo-Victorian style. None of the designers had gotten it on the first several tries, but Caroline had. Caroline had started creating Goth designs with Cassidy in mind before her mother had ever come up with the idea of bringing the style back. Now that the reintroduction of Goth fashion to the mainstream public was underway, her Mom was showing the designers responsible for making the necessary fashions Caroline's drawing to illustrate what it was she expected of them. Several of the designers were impressed with her talent and vision. Discussions of possible after-school work and internships were in the air.
As far as Cassidy herself was concerned, life couldn't be much better. Mom was with Andy. It was different now than it had been before, when Andy and Mom were just friends. Now they were like a married couple. No, that wasn't true; they were like the married couples that you see on T.V. Situation comedies. The ones that were happy and made each other laugh and smile all the time. The ones that were always caught kissing when they thought nobody was looking. Caroline was always saying things like “get a room” to them when the twins would discover them, arms about each other and Mom's lipstick mussed. Cassidy didn't say anything because Cassidy believed that she understood. She hadn't even shared it with her sister, but she and Roxy stole the occasional kiss. She and Roxy weren't innocent of what was going on around them. They were aware that many of their peers were sexually active. They had just mutually decided to take things slow. They were fine with hugs, hand holding and cuddling. Kisses about blew their minds. Somewhere down the road, she was aware, that she and Roxy would take that next step, but that was for another day when they both felt ready to do that.
Her and her sister’s relationship with their father had gone from zero to sixty over the months since they had gotten involved in trying to hide Andy from the Army. They now spent every other week living with their dad and it was a great arrangement. When they were with him the three of them would do all sorts of things together. And he was always welcoming to her Roxy and to Ian when they came to visit. He wasn't perfect, but he was trying hard and Cassidy especially loved him for that. The doorbell downstairs rang. Her knight-errant Roxanna the Clever had arrived to escort her to the ball. She felt that her life was just about perfect now.
*****
Eight months since Andy came home from Italy, Richard Sachs thought. So much has changed since the Army recalled her to duty. In a few months I'll be divorced. I've moved from my lifelong home of Cincinnati to become a resident of New York City and landed a job making more money than I ever believed I would. He shook his head as he looked out from the veranda of the 'cabana' that he and Serena were staying in while visiting her family in Brazil. Down on the private beach Serena and her two sisters ran and frolicked in the surf, playing as they had when they were children and their mother had brought them to their vacation home along the coast just south of Rio de Janeiro.
His thoughts raced back over the days and weeks after he and Serena drove back from Cincinnati to New York City. Once ensconced in Serena's apartment, Richard did the responsible thing and started to look for a job. He'd been at it all of two days when he received a call from Alice McCann, the Elias-Clarke Board Member who had handled the company's end of the negotiations to settle Serena's sexual harassment suit. “I was wondering, Mr. Sachs,” she had said, “if you might be willing to meet me for lunch. I have a proposition for you.”
He'd gone and met her at a five star restaurant and over a wonderful meal discovered that her service on the Board of Elias-Clarke was really more of a part-time job and most of the time she managed her family's wealth and philanthropic pursuits. She had some time ago, she continued, become dissatisfied with the legal firm representing her family's interests, feeling that they had too many clients to concentrate the kind of attention necessary to adequately do the job. Then she told him that she had been impressed with his handling of Serena's case and named a figure which was considerably more than Richard Sachs had ever made in the two best years he ever had combined.
“Let me get this straight,” he's said, “You're offering me that amount to be your family lawyer? Your family being my sole client?”
She nodded across the table.
“Ms. McCann,” he said. “I think you've just hired yourself a lawyer.”
The work for the McCann family was not difficult for one with Richard's experience in the law. Dealing with charitable trusts, contracts, and the occasional minor encounter with matters extra-legal wasn't even a forty-hour a week proposition.
He and Serena quickly settled into a quiet domestic routine and were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Then one day Serena had suggested that they fly to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate her mother, Babtista's, upcoming birthday.
When Serena had told him that he and she would be staying in the family's beach cabana he had pictured a small quaint cabin on the beach. The cabana was seventeen rooms, including a full gym and spa. The main house, just a fair walk inland, was a mansion that dwarfed the cabana.
Richard had come to Brazil expecting to have an uphill battle to win over Serena's parents and siblings. He was certain that there would be dire concerns about their age difference and the fact that Serena had come from wealth and he struggled a good portion of his life to keep his family in a middle class lifestyle. He couldn't have been more mistaken about the reception he received.
Serena's Mother and two sisters were warmly welcoming, embracing him immediately as if he was one of their own. The women of Serena's family were every bit as beautiful as Serena. The only member of Serena's immediate family that was absent was Serena's father, who, Serena's Mother assured Richard, had been detained on business and would be joining them the following day.
As the first day of the visit progressed Richard found himself alone for a time with Serena's mother when Serena's sisters insisted on taking Serena shopping in Rio. Richard had a moment's hesitation but decided that he must engage and do his utmost to win Serena's mother over, for he could no longer envision his life without Serena in it. He was unprepared for the discussion he found himself in.
Before their arrival, Serena had told Richard that her mother was being thoughtful in assigning them the cabana rather than having them staying with the rest of the family in the main house. Serena's mother had been somewhat more direct in a ruthlessly practical and teasing sort of way. She had explained to him point blank that he and her daughter were new lovers and new lovers should not have their 'appetites' restricted by living among family. She had also informed him that Serena's sisters would tease Serena mercilessly, knowing her habit of being circumspect about her sex life. If Serena were living in the main house, among her siblings, she would not be comfortable being the uninhibited lover her mother assumed she was.
After the initial shock over the openness and frank nature of the conversation, Richard steeled himself to address what he felt was the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room, Serena's and his age difference. “Babtista,” he began awkwardly. “I know that this is somewhat difficult. I mean, I have a daughter that is just a year younger than your daughter.”
Babtista held up a hand to silence him. “My family, Richard,” she had said as she mixed another Caipirinha cocktail for the two of them as they sat outside in the late afternoon air, “has always been blessed with a youthful countenance. My daughters are all in the bloom of youth, but as you see, they are quite close in age with only a year or two separating each of them. There is a very good reason for that. My eldest is presently, twenty-eight, your Serena is twenty-six and my youngest is twenty-four. Knowing that, look at me, what would you say my age is?”
Richard shook his head, “I know better than to guess a woman's age, it's a lose, lose proposition if you guess right or wrong,” he replied laughingly
Serena's mother joined in the laughter. “I see what my daughter sees in you,” she said. “But please, indulge me. I promise to take no offense.”
Richard looked at her closely. “If I didn't know Serena's age and know that you were her mother, I'd say you were in your mid to late thirties, knowing what I know, I'm going to guess that you're a few years younger than I am. Which would make you getting close to fifty.”
Babtista laughed again. “Richard,” she said gently, handing him his drink. “My husband is a few years younger than you are. And I am twenty-one years his senior. I will be seventy my next birthday, which you are here to celebrate with us. I was forty-one when I married my Vicente. He was a boy of twenty. I was my parents’ only surviving child and had inherited the family businesses. The basis of my family's wealth was initially in cattle ranching, but my Grandfather was smart enough to diversify into other agricultural businesses, adding sugarcane and coffee plantations. Then my father took us into petroleum, automobile and agricultural machinery manufacturing. I have since added computer manufacturing as well. My father passed away suddenly when I was about Serena's age. After his death I spent more and more time involved in running of the family businesses. I, like my Serena, looked and looked for he who would be the love of my life, but as time passed I despaired of ever finding my true love. When I got to my late thirties I resolved that I would likely never marry. I was forty when mother passed away after a long and debilitating illness. I needed to get away from everything for a while, so I left everything in the hands of the company managers and retreated back to the family ranch in the extreme South of the country. It was there that I met my Vicente. He was a Gaucho who didn't have two centavos to rub together, but he was beautiful and wild and free. I lost my heart to him within days of meeting him. And he returned my love. How all my social class laughed when I married him less than a year later! Many women of wealth in this country keep young men as lovers, but few acknowledge them or dare formalize things legally. All my peers told me that he married me for my fortune. When they said so it was my turn to laugh at them. Now, twenty nine years later we are still married and still happy. Age has nothing to do with love, Richard. And my daughter Serena loves you. She called me within days of meeting you and told me with certainty that she had lost her heart and that she would have you in her life for as long as you would allow. Serena is my careful child. My thoughtful one. She has never given me any reason to doubt any of the choices she has made, so you are welcome here and welcome into this family.”
Richard sat stunned; his future mother-in-law truly understood and was welcoming him with open arms.
She looked out over the garden surrounding the house. “Vicinte will be here tomorrow.” You will meet my Cowboy,” she offered softly, her voice full of good humor and affection. “He is a man of this country, which means in many ways, still the boy I married. Don't let him talk you into contests. It is the macho culture of his heritage that will demand that he do so. While the heart in love remains young, our bodies do not. Neither of you need the aches and pains that proving yourselves to each other would bring the following morning.” She then turned and looked at her guest. “The next time you come to visit you must bring my new Granddaughter. Serena tells me her name is Andy...”
*****
Wade Bradly placed a framed picture of his beautiful daughters at about six years of age into the cardboard box on his desk. He sighed. He supposed that his melancholy feeling could be explained by the fact that he was stripping his personal items out of his office in the company he had built. That he was leaving behind what he'd worked to create much of his adult life. The room already looked bare. He smiled and shook his head. It wasn't quitting the company or moving out of this office that he's spent so much time in that had him out of sorts. It was his off week. Miranda and Andy had the girls this week and he was finding his house both too empty and too quiet. He placed another item in the box. So much has changed in the eight months since my daughters confessed to helping Andy elude the police. Miranda and I are doing better in cooperating as parents for our daughters. Andy is with them now and she's good for Miranda and the girls. He sighed again and placed another personal item into the box. An idea began to form. One that he wouldn't even have considered trying eight months ago. He pulled out his cell phone and hit a number on his speed dial. After dealing with one of Miranda's assistants he had his ex-wife on the phone. “Miranda,” he said, “I don't mean to bother you, but today is my last day at the office and to tell you the truth, I'm feeling a little down. I was wondering if you might allow me to see the girls tonight, perhaps even take them out to dinner?” He listened for a moment and then continued. “Yes, I'll call them and make sure it's okay with them and that they don't have other plans. Thank you Miranda, I was feeling pretty blue and I think this will cheer me up.”
A few minutes later he was on the phone with his daughter Caroline. “So, you're sure that you and your sister didn't have any other plans tonight?” he paused as he listened to the response. “Okay, well choose where the two of you would like to eat. I'll pick you up about five and we'll have dinner and then make an early showing of that movie you wanted to see.” He was smiling when he got off the phone. Leaving his work life behind so he could concentrate on his family life wasn't going to be difficult. In the weeks ahead that he didn't have the girls he intended to volunteer his skills at a number of non-profit organizations whose causes he supported. Then on weeks when he did have them, he'd continue to do his damnedest to make up for the time he'd missed with them. All in all he was glad of his heart attack. It had allowed him to reevaluate what was important to him and to make changes to his life. The future was better for it having happened.
*****
On to the ending of Beyond the Call
Installment: Epilogue (Part A)
Author: duwinter
Fandom: DWP
Pairing: Miranda/Andy
Rating: PG-13
Summery: Miranda is faced with the possibility of losing Andy soon after finding her.
Disclaimer: The Devil Wears Prada and it's characters do not belong to me. No profit being made here. I'm just playing with them for a short while and I promise to put them away neatly when I'm through.
Dedication: This installment is dedicated to goldenruhl who was kind enough to bid and win the recent Fandomaid Auction to benefit those who suffered the effects of Sandy.
Special Auction Thanks: I'd like to bring attention to the fact that our own pdt_bear, while not bidding on stories in the auction, did support the cause by agreeing to match the winning bids on at least two of the DWP stories auctioned off. Also a very special thanks to waltzmatildah who runs the truly unique humanitarian effort FandomAid
Comments: Comments and constructive criticism eagerly encouraged and appreciated!
A/N 1: For the purposes of this story, all events are taking place before the Congressionally directed repeal of the Army's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Truth be told, when I started this project I did not believe that President Obama, even with hard work and the best of intentions, would manage to get the repeal of this outdated and idiotic bias past the hidebound idiots and political hacks that serve in the Congress and Senate of my country.
A/N 2: In this story Andy serves in the 192nd Supply Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. I know that members of the Ohio National Guard have served bravely in the conflicts overseas. I honor that service. The 192nd Supply Regiment and the 161st Military Police Company, in which both DeSaix and Scruggs serve, are however, fictitious units and do not exist.
A/N 4: There is a a very unpleasant character residing in this story. He is racist, misogynistic, corrupt, and one of those individuals the world would truly be a better place without. He is a fictional character and his views in no way express the views of the author of this piece.
A/N 5: The President and the First Lady (both of whom I admire greatly) have become characters in this story. I try to write them carefully and I mean them no disrespect.
Very Special Thanks: to All hail the mighty and powerful beta goddesspeetsden, bow, offer sacrifice, and do proper homage. Thanks, Peet, you saved my bacon when it needed saving!Very Special Thanks: to the wonderful ragelikeafire who gave more than I can say to the development and success of this story. Thank you Good Lady. I learned a great deal from you and I'm a better writer today because of it.
Serena awoke and stretched her long beautiful limbs. She rose from her bed, gloriously naked and padded to the shower. As she adjusted the temperature of the water, she cast her mind back in time. November already, she sighed happily. It's been more than a month since Andy came home from Italy and almost that long since Richard and I drove back from Cincinnati.” She stepped into the steaming water stream. Funny, I used to love showering in the mornings and now I hate it. I wash myself and I can no longer smell Richard on me. No longer smell our lovemaking and I feel lost all day long without it. It just doesn't feel right not to smell him on me. It isn't the way things are supposed to be anymore.
Serena chuckled to herself. She had made good on her musings to Emily about finding her perfect man and sexing him into submission. She made love to her Richard every chance she got; before work, at lunchtime, in the evenings. He is like a beautiful drug that I simply cannot get enough of, she thought as her hands began to caress her soapy body. She had even started taking outrageous chances sometimes, so far once in a crowded movie theater and once in her office at Runway in the middle of the day with her staff just outside the unlocked door when any of them could have walked in at any moment.
For Richard's part, her thoughts continued to spin, he had begun to speak of them as a couple in the long term, musing about where they might retire together someday and of growing old together.
Serena admitted that things were a bit nervous around Andy, who was less than a year younger than She was. Serena recognized that Andy didn't remember their acquaintance when Andy was at Runway before being redeployed by the Army. Serena was now virtually a stranger to Richard's daughter but Richard's daughter was doing her level best to be accepting.
When she and Richard went out in the evenings Serena found herself shying away from the places that the other Clackers from Runway gathered. She had been told by Emily that the office grapevine was commenting on how she glowed each morning. How sated and satisfied she seemed all the time now. Then one night she and Richard were out together at one of the bars that Clackers from Runway frequented. She had gone to the Ladies' Room for a few moments and come back to two Clackers from the Closet trying to get Richard to leave and go home with them. Richard didn't miss a beat. As she approached the trio she heard him tell them clearly that he was with her and that they were monogamous. While his being faithful in a situation that most of the men Serena had dated would have fallen on like a hungry dog, reassured her completely, still, what followed was an ugly scene. She hated losing her temper like that and even if the scene had been completely necessary to make clear her claims on the man she was with; she would prefer not repeating it. She was blissfully happy with Richard and he seemed completely happy with their arrangement. Serena had somehow reached heaven, she was sure of it.
*****
Two months since Andy's been living with us, Caroline thought happily as she doodled improvements to the sketches in the drawing pad she kept the designs of outfits she had envisioned. And everything is so much better now.
The twins had been there for Andrea and their mother every step of the way. They had, had some inkling that their mother's and Andrea's relationship had changed into something more than it had been just before Andrea had been deployed to Afghanistan. Their mother's actions and her dark mood after Andrea was wounded had cemented things in the twin's mind. They had decided that they were just going to have to get used to the fact that they were going to have two mothers rather than a mother and a father. Other kids at Dalton managed with same sex parents and the twins were completely united in the belief that with one of their Mother's being Andy, who, in their freely shared opinion, was just about the coolest person in the whole world, this wasn't going to be any problem. This 'coolness' had been imparted to Andy because, they agreed, she made their Mother smile...a lot.
The girls had benefited from Andy's presence because the new, post-memory loss Andy didn't defer to their Mother's every small sound of displeasure as the old Andy did. This one, not remembering her time at Runway said exactly what she thought. That was one of the reasons that Caroline was now being allowed to take sewing classes. After her Mother had clearly told her daughter that sewing was beneath her, Andy had gone and gotten Caroline's pad of designs and sitting down beside Miranda had very purposefully paged through them. “Miranda,” Andy had said, “How is she going to realize any of these designs if she doesn't know how to construct an outfit?” She looked sideways at her white haired lover, “I bet before you got to be the Miranda Priestly of Runway, somebody had taught you to sew.”
Miranda had been quiet for the remainder of that evening and Caroline was afraid that she had precipitated a fight between her mother and Andy because of her desire to take a stupid sewing class. When Andy tucked her in that evening, she'd told her not to worry about it. That it was just her Mother's way and the idea was percolating in her mother's head. Andy had made it sound so funny that Caroline could just picture her mother's head as one of the old fashioned coffee pots with the clear dome on top. Caroline could see in her minds-eye one colorful idea after another bubbling through the dome.
After school the next day Caroline got a call from her Mother's Second Assistant asking Caroline for all the details about the sewing course she wanted to take. A week later she started the Saturday morning course.
The twins’ new social endeavors at Dalton had borne fruit in unexpected ways. Their new inclusive clique had spread like wildfire through the school after the nastiness of the expulsion of five of the popular clique had subsided. The incidence of bullying and tormenting of those students that “didn't fit in” to any of the established social cliques dropped off to almost nothing and student organizations, such as the debating team and the cheerleaders squad, were benefiting from the fact that students who would have never considered going out for those particular types of extracurricular activities were now not only doing so, but in that process bringing new talents and ideas to the groups. There was, it seemed to the twins, a lot less drama at Dalton these days.
The twins, Ian and Roxanna spent a great deal of time working through all the challenges of organizing and producing Dalton's First Annual Poetry Slam and Talent Show, but all too soon it was the second week of December and the night of the production had come and gone. It was one of the best-attended events any Dalton staff could remember with a standing room only sold out crowd. Calls for a second performance were numerous enough that the school administration approved the request and another performance was scheduled for the following week. When the receipts of the two-night event were tallied, the show had raised more for the chosen charity than any charity drive in Dalton history. The Wounded Warriors Project was grateful for the check. Cassidy and Caroline, in the company of their father, delivered it to the charity's offices. There they made the necessary contacts to carry out their plan for a surprise Christmas gift to one particular wounded warrior, who was very near and dear to both their hearts.
Christmas was almost upon them now and with their father's help, their gift to Andy would be ready in time. It would need some fittings and such after they had presented it to Andy Christmas morning, but when the weather changed, their second Mom - Andy Sachs - would return to running in the Park like she used to love to do.
Cassidy's and Roxy's relationship was going strong and her sister was happier then Caroline could ever remember her being. Caroline was dating Ian, but any kind of long-term relationship was unlikely. Ian had found out soon after the Poetry Slam that in the middle of next year his father was to be promoted and his post would be moved from the British Consulate here in New York City to the Embassy in Beijing, China. While she liked Ian and enjoyed his company, she was okay with the fact that their lives were going to take different directions. She had found her calling. She was going to follow her mother into fashion, not in publishing, but as a designer. On the whole her life was like the song she had heard on an oldies radio station the other day, “the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades,” she laughed to herself.
*****
DeSaix was as angry as she could ever remember being as the elevator made a slow journey to the floor she had selected. “Three months since I got recalled from Italy,” she thought to herself furiously, “and I can't believe the shit I'm putting up with. First, it's that crazy Italian model sending expensive gifts to MY girlfriend. Then last week when Red and I are out to dinner for her birthday the crazy bitch shows up at our table and invites herself to sit down. She'd already paid the management for our meal. Hell, we could have had every meal in the place with the money the woman had spent. The doors of the elevator opened on the floor she had selected and she stalked out and down the corporate hallway under a full head of steam. People in the hallway, seeing the grim look on her face, her angry gate, and the fact that she was in Federal Marshal tactical response gear, including bullet proof vest and helmet, made sure to get out of her way. Then! Then, her thoughts continued to tumble across her mind, after we had left the restaurant and gone home, Emily found a freaking seventy-five hundred dollar pair of Prada shoes waiting for her outside the apartment door! How in the hell do I compete with seventy-five hundred dollar shoes?! There's no way I can afford that! No way I'm ever going to be able to afford that on a Marshal's salary! Red was a complete doll about the whole thing. I could see on her face that she wanted to keep the shoes so bad she could taste it, but she sent them back without a word of complaint and then made a fuss about how much she liked the winter coat that I gave her even though it wasn't even a designer name. I'm so afraid that, that Italian bitch is a better match for Red than I am. She's into fashion like Red is and that damned woman is a V.I.P. in that world. She could do things for Red's career and get her access to all those clothes she loves so much! De Saix shook her head and grit her teeth, seeing her destination just up ahead. I swear if that Italian bitch keeps getting in the way I don't know what I'll do, but Red is MINE! We're good together. I 'm the one that loves her and I'm the one that's going to take care of her for the rest of our lives! You better watch your ass Miss Arabella Messalina Giovanni because if you keep getting in my way I'll break one of my combat boots off in it. Gud Damn! First I have to deal with her and now I have to deal with this! She fumed.
Arriving at the office that was her destination, she open the door and entered the outer office, not even slowing down as the Assistant seated there tried to stop her. She slammed the door to Laura Fleury, Executive Producer for the Arts and Entertainment Television Network and the woman responsible for the show that DeSaix was now an integral part of, open. DeSaix slapped both hands down on the surprised woman's desk. “If one of your camera crew ever,” she ground out between clenched teeth, “EVER, AGAIN gets in my line of fire when I am covering one of my team during a fugitive apprehension, I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WILL FUCKING SHOOT THEM IN A PART OF THEIR ANATOMY THAT THEY WILL MISS! THEN I'LL SHOOT THE GOD DAMNED CAMERA!” ARE WE CLEAR?!” She bellowed into the woman's face.
*****
“And in another brilliant move, our own Devil in Heels, La Priestly, has again surprised the fashion world. Apparently her walking out on fashion week in Paris last October was a ploy to scoop the entire fashion publishing industry on what is going to be hot this coming year,” the television fashion commentator said excitedly into her microphone. “Along with these new and exciting innovations that have the whole fashion world buzzing, she has turned all fashion watchers back on their ears as she and up-and-coming fashion queen Samantha Potts of Teen Runway have launched a collaborative effort to bring back a romanticized variation on the Goth look. Black is definitely going to be the ‘in’ color this season!”
Miranda sat at her desk at Runway, half listening to the latest episode of New York City's highest-rated celebrity and entertainment gossip show. Four months, she mused in her thoughts. Four short months. So much has happened in that relatively short time frame.
After Andy had remembered that she loved Miranda, things progressed rapidly. Within days they were once again sharing a bed. It was a little longer before Andrea could relax enough that they could make love as they once had, but Miranda suspected that, such was a perfectly normal reaction to one that had suffered such traumatic and disfiguring injuries as her Andrea had sustained. Miranda simply made sure that she told Andrea each and every day how beautiful she was to Miranda and how her presence made Miranda's life better in every way.
Her Andrea tried not to show the growing frustration she felt. She had gone and given almost all for her country. Lost an arm and a leg and three years of her life. Three years that Andrea had confided that she now believed were likely the most important and formative in her life. Now, the capable young woman that had been decorated by the hand of the President of the United States with the highest award the nation could give, couldn't find a job.
Miranda had, of course, offered to intervene. There were numerous jobs at Runway and throughout the publications that Elias-Clarke produced that Andrea was more than qualified for. There were any number of contacts in any number of industries to whom Miranda could make a single telephone call and Andrea would be hired on the spot. Her Andrea forbade it. One night, early on, in their shared bed, Andrea had explained that this was something she had to do for herself. She felt that she had to reclaim her life, on her own terms, and while Miranda was an integral and as necessary as breathing part of that life, her interference in Andrea's trying to reclaim the rest of that life on her own would not be appreciated.
So Miranda had done the hard thing and stood back and watched her Andrea struggle to find where she fit in. When the frustration had become too much, Andrea had fallen back on some of her training from Northwestern University's School of Journalism. She began to question. Were others returning from the conflict zones experiencing what she was? She began to research how many other wounded veterans were coming home only to be unable to find work. From wounded vets she progressed to researching simply those coming home from wars. The numbers that Andrea had painstakingly gathered, vetted, and then presented to Miranda stunned the older woman. America's patriotic youth, who went and did as the Country required, were coming home to mass unemployment.
Miranda also watched her Andrea struggle to try and navigate the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Veteran’s Administration for both her medical needs and the benefits she was due from her service. Miranda feared for her Andrea's mental health, as the young woman became more and more despondent and started slipping into depression. It seemed that the only things that could cheer Andrea up were Miranda's twin daughters and the time the four of them spent together as a family. Then, one day very recently, when Andrea was sinking into one of her dark moods, Cassidy, who had been looking through Andrea's newest research on mental health and the suicide rate among soldiers returning from combat zones, had casually commented, “you should write a book.” That was the turning point. In the course of a week Andrea had turned out four hundred pages of a rough draft and the light had come back into her eyes.
The situation around the expulsion of the five students who had been the principle plotters in the intrigue to get Cassidy and Caroline thrown out of Dalton was a nasty piece of business. Although the student body, for the most part, rallied and pulled together into the more egalitarian social arrangement that her daughters' and their friends had envisioned, from the parents there were threats of lawsuits and attempted bribery of school officials. For once Miranda stayed above the situation and did not attempt to manage it. She was simply grateful that the school authorities had been vigilant enough that the plot had been ferreted out and exposed before any damage was done to her beloved daughters.
She only involved herself when Ashlyn Miller's mother came to her office at Runway, in tears. Miranda and Dorothy Miller had never been friends. In fact, they disdained each other’s company socially, after their initial meetings when Caroline and Ashley had started being friends. Now the woman came to Miranda begging that Miranda use her power on behalf of the five children that had plotted against her daughters. The press hadn't yet picked up on the expulsion of five affluent students from Dalton. That was nothing news worthy. Kids were getting kicked out of private schools all the time.
The District Attorney’s office getting ready to file criminal charges against five minors for possession and attempted distribution of child pornography, however, was a completely different matter. The salacious quality of decadent affluence and illegality coupled with the forbidden sexual nature of the materials the children involved were going to use to frame Miranda's twins made the story all too tempting for the sensation hungry press. Dorothy Miller knew all too well that the tabloids were going to have a field day with her daughter's reputation. She also knew that if Miranda Priestly would make the proper phone calls, that the respectable mainstream press would be far more likely to downplay the more torrid aspects of the situation and dispassionately report the facts of the story rather than sensationalize it. It wouldn't do a lot for the immediate future of the five ex-Dalton students, but in the long term it might allow them entry into a good college and have a chance at a decent job without what was truly a very misguided childish attempt to maintain a position at the top of what they had perceived as the social hierarchy at Dalton, ruining the rest of their lives. Miranda gave the matter serious thought for all of ten minutes before she started making the requested calls. She might be the Ice Queen in business, but she was also a mother and could understand that this other woman, whom she did not particularly like, also loved and wanted what was best for her daughter.
Andrea and Miranda's relationship was sometimes still strained, mainly because Miranda would forget that Andrea did not remember what to her were shared experiences. There was also the fact that Andrea, post amnesia, had not worked at Runway and consequently, had never been properly terrified of the Devil in Heels. Miranda found herself with a woman that was completely her equal and the experience she was having alternately invigorated and infuriated her. She was feeling more alive than she had in years and she had her young lover to thank for it.
Next week they would leave for Fashion Week in Milan. Following that week they would tour Florence, Venice, Tuscany and then Rome. Andrea would finish the good will tour the U.S. Government had asked her to make and she would do it with Miranda at her side. From what Miranda had gathered from the people she had spoken too in Italy, the trip was likely to be quite a ride as she had been told that the Italian people were pulling out all the stops for the return of the Hero Sachs.
*****
Five months since the LT was recalled from Italy. Now she's a TV star. thought T.J. Scruggs as he looked out over the thirty acres of land he had purchased with his savings and a G. I. Bill home loan. The house needed work, but there wasn't anything he couldn't do himself. He had enough left in the bank to take care of all of it as long as he didn't find something major that was concealed from both his careful inspection and the inspection of home inspector done as part of the mortgage agreement. But what ever came now, it was his. Well, his and his new wife's. One of his six juvenile Irish Wolfhound bitches came up to him and nosed him in the belly, demanding a scratch behind the ears. He smiled down at the dog's massive head and complied. As he scratched the dog's head he looked out over a beautiful view of Glassy Mountain, South Carolina and considered starting dinner. His new wife would be home soon.
She had spent the afternoon in town shopping for things necessary for their new home. They had gotten the basics such as pots, pans, plates and flatware, the first weekend after they'd arrived in South Carolina.Today she was shopping for some of the niceties like curtains, tablecloths, towels and an area rug for the floor of the bedroom.
Scruggs was surprised that he was married already. He'd always thought that he'd get his dogs first and then find himself a wife, but that just wasn't how things worked out. Finding a woman that loved dogs as much as he did was such a plus it left him with no choice but to marry her. If he'd waited she might have gotten away. Amelie had stayed in Rome for more than a month as Scruggs healed in the hospital and then had seemingly been forgotten by the Army. With no orders arriving reassigning him, he spent his duty time hanging around the Embassy waiting to be told what to do. Not being assigned to the Embassy's military contingent, he didn't have a duty station. This created a situation where he was free late afternoon each day. So each evening, he and Amelie explored Rome together. They talked about everything under the sun and discovered that they shared many common interests. Amelie was fascinated with Scruggs dream of a dog breeding business and loved to hear him talk about it.
She said that she wished life had allowed her to pursue such a dream. She was overcome with emotion when she discovered that Scruggs had gone to the trouble of buying and reading a book on Bichon Friese in consideration of her beloved dogs. When he spoke of a breeding kennel of the smaller dogs rather than the bigger ones he had always postulated when speaking of his dreams she decided that she would marry him.
She was the one who suggested that there wasn't any reason that her beloved fur children Orpheus and Eurydice could not live happily among a pack of larger dogs. If the breeding stock for the business was brought in as puppies after Orpheus and Eurydice were already in residence, the adult dogs dealing with puppies would quickly become the dominant pair regardless of the size of the new dogs.
The Army, as an institution, never does what you expect when you are in it. Apparently the chain of command, having temporarily forgotten about one Corporal T. J. Scruggs, suddenly remembered two weeks before his scheduled discharge date. In its infinite wisdom, it, of course, decided to give him a month’s leave. Scruggs looked at the orders, shook his head and traveled to Paris with Amelie. A month later, civilian T. J. Scruggs helped his new bride move the few things she wanted to keep from her apartment and the private investigations office to the docks to be placed in a container for shipment to Charleston, South Carolina. She had already divested herself of everything that she wasn't bringing to her new life in rural South Carolina. He, she and their two beloved dogs flew out of Orley Airport later that same day.
They had found what was once a farmstead in the shadow of Glassy Mountain and fell in love with it at first sight. It was a property that was about to fall into foreclosure and be taken from the family that had tried to make a life on it. Scruggs went to the bank and told the bank manager that he was just out of the military, just married, and had savings with the possibility of a G.I. Bill mortgage. Then he handed the bank manager the business plan he created in support of his dreams. The courses DeSaix had convinced him to take in preparation for life after the army had taught him to create and organize his dreams into real plans. The bank manager looked the business plan over, asked a few questions, and then approved a short-sale on the property that was beneficial to all parties involved. Scruggs and Amelie got the property at a good price, the family that had been in financial distress managed to walk away with less of a hit to their credit rating than a foreclosure would have caused and the bank made more on the property than they likely would have at auction. On top of that, the bank got the business of the new company “Orpheus and Eurydice's Irish Wolfhounds”.
Maybe at the end of the summer he'd invite the LT and her girlfriend to visit them. He'd like the LT to meet his wife, after all he and Amelie had already decided that the first baby girl they had was going to be named Meriwether.
*****
“Six months since Andy returned from Italy,” Emily mused sourly, “and now I have to deal with this!” She glanced again at the picture in People magazine of Miranda Priestly, wearing of all things cerulean blue nylon bike shorts, a nylon athletic sleeveless workout tank top in the same color, sunglasses, a Northwestern University baseball cap and a pair of running shoes, while high end, their color did not go with the rest of La Priestly's ensemble. The picture was taken in Central Park as Miranda engaged in part of her new daily exercise regimen. Emily sighed softly. Damn, the woman looks magnificent even when she sweats, the Englishwoman thought. Of course the photograph also contained Andy. You just didn't get a picture of Miranda Priestly anymore without it containing Andy Sachs too. Andy, dressed similarly to Miranda, only in a dark mustard yellow color, openly showed off her prosthetic arm because of the lack of sleeve on the athletic top. Below, she wore her specialized prosthetic designed for running. The twins had dubbed it, her “Darth Vader” leg, when they'd given it to her for Christmas. More than anything else it was a bent metal spring of steel covered in black and silver power coat enamel with touches of bright red highlighting. The device was designed to allow those who had lost a limb to once again run. Miranda and Andy were now running together several days a week and the paparazzi had taken to staking out their favored routes. Word that the Dragon Lady of Runway was romantically involved with an ex-second assistant, wounded war hero had begun to find its way into the press. Miranda didn't seem to be concerned about it so Emily wondered why she should be.
Miranda had her so busy these days learning to run the magazine that she could barely see straight and Miranda had made it clear to the Elias-Clarke Board of Directors that Emily was her choice as the next Editor-in-Chief of Runway. The paparazzi and Page Six had learned of Miranda's support and now the photographers had begun to pay attention to her. That coupled with the times the television show that Meriwether was now a part of was following the couple around filming them for use in upcoming episodes and Emily was getting pretty tired of cameras being aimed in her direction.
She and Andy had become closer friends since Andy's return from Italy. Andy, Miranda and Emily and Meriwether had socialized together at each other’s homes. Emily had also acted as a facilitator between Andy and Serena when Andy found out about Serena and her father's relationship. Andy didn’t remember her association with Serena other than the few days she had returned to Runway after going AWOL from Walter Reed Hospital. So Emily had arranged several girls' nights out. These allowed Andy to get a feel for the woman who was in love with her father. Because of Emily's involvement, Andy and Serena were on their way to being friends.
She heard the door of the apartment open. “There's a brand new Lamborghini in our assigned parking space, Red,” came her lover's voice, the tone testy.
“It will be moved soon,” Emily replied absently as she continued to pursue the latest edition of the gossip magazine in her hands. “I've already called the dealership and told them that I won't sign for it.”
“She sent it, didn't she?” Meriwether grated, moving to the gun safe she'd had installed right after moving in and punched in the combination code. She divested herself of the Glock automatic pistol from her hip, carefully ejecting the magazine and checking the chamber before placing the gun in the safe. “I swear to God, Emily, if she shows up when I take you out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate six months together, I won't be responsible for what happens.”
Emily nodded. “I hear that she's supposed to be appearing in a show in London Saturday evening. I can't see how she could stalk us on Friday night and make it to that show.”
Meriwether pulled her smaller Walther PPK backup piece out of the ankle holster she wore it in and after giving it the same treatment that the gun she wore on her hip got, it also went into the safe. Then Meriwether closed and secured the door. “She does know I go armed, doesn't she?” She asked.
Emily laughed, “That only makes it more exciting for her, Meri,” she said smiling at her lover. “Bella's certifiably crazy. The last time I met with her trying to convince her to appear in Runway, she spent the entire meeting trying to convince me to convince you to have a ménage a trois.”
“A ménage a...” the Creole woman sputtered, “I trust you let her know that such a thing was out of the question.”
Emily chuckled and smiled a wicked smile. “Well, dearest,” she said playfully, “you know how badly Miranda wants her in Runway and it’s my job to make it happen. If all it takes is sharing you for a night...:”
Meriwether's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed. She advanced toward where her apparently carefree lover sat. “Sharing?” She demanded, “Why I ought to take you over my knee for the very suggestion!”
Emily looked up at her lover of half a year. She moved, cat like, turning and stretching on the couch in a way that saucily offer her behind to her lover. “I guess you'll just have to do as you think best,” she replied in her most playful, seductive tone. ”
*****
Cassidy smiled as stood before the mirror. Has it really been only seven months since Andy came to live with us? She thought as she tried on her new Goth ball gown. So many good things have happened since then! The outfit that her sister had created for her, exclusively, was magnificent. She was going to stun her date when Roxy came to pick her up to take her to the Dalton Spring Dance. She couldn't wait. She was going to make a grand entrance down the stairs of the town house and watch her Roxy just melt when she saw what she was wearing. They were going to be the hottest couple at the dance tonight. This outfit was Caroline's first real success. Her earlier attempts hadn't lacked looks or style, they had just suffered from the fact that someone that was just learning to sew wasn't truly prepared to make a dress starting from the drawing of a design on a piece of paper stage. Even last month Caroline had made a miscalculation on another outfit she'd been working on and gotten the fabric of one of the sleeves wrong side out when she'd sewed it up. That being said, Cassidy had never seen her sister go at anything the way she was pursuing learning to make clothes. It was like Caroline felt about what she was doing the way Cassidy felt about Roxanna.
Cassidy smiled a small wicked smile. Caroline wasn't going to the dance tonight, Ian was with the Track Team at an away event this weekend, and Caroline had no interest in going stag. Cassidy felt bad for her sister, so she had raided her cache of money from Birthday and Christmas gifts and enlisted Andy's aid. When she left for the dance tonight, Andy would present Caroline with the sewing machine that Cassidy had bought for her. It wasn't as fancy as some of the ones Cassidy and Andy had looked at, but the woman at the sewing store had said that it was a good beginner's machine, with plenty of stitches and other features that Caroline would need to learn to master. There was an hour and a half instructional DVD with the machine and Cassidy figured between watching that and playing with her new toy, her twin would be distracted for the course of the evening while she was at the dance.
Her mom and the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Runway had initiated a rebooting of Goth style in mainstream fashion. Her mom had made it clear to the designers that she had trusted to bring this vision to life to cull the harsher aspects of Goth fashion and rely more on the romantic lines of the pseudo-Victorian style. None of the designers had gotten it on the first several tries, but Caroline had. Caroline had started creating Goth designs with Cassidy in mind before her mother had ever come up with the idea of bringing the style back. Now that the reintroduction of Goth fashion to the mainstream public was underway, her Mom was showing the designers responsible for making the necessary fashions Caroline's drawing to illustrate what it was she expected of them. Several of the designers were impressed with her talent and vision. Discussions of possible after-school work and internships were in the air.
As far as Cassidy herself was concerned, life couldn't be much better. Mom was with Andy. It was different now than it had been before, when Andy and Mom were just friends. Now they were like a married couple. No, that wasn't true; they were like the married couples that you see on T.V. Situation comedies. The ones that were happy and made each other laugh and smile all the time. The ones that were always caught kissing when they thought nobody was looking. Caroline was always saying things like “get a room” to them when the twins would discover them, arms about each other and Mom's lipstick mussed. Cassidy didn't say anything because Cassidy believed that she understood. She hadn't even shared it with her sister, but she and Roxy stole the occasional kiss. She and Roxy weren't innocent of what was going on around them. They were aware that many of their peers were sexually active. They had just mutually decided to take things slow. They were fine with hugs, hand holding and cuddling. Kisses about blew their minds. Somewhere down the road, she was aware, that she and Roxy would take that next step, but that was for another day when they both felt ready to do that.
Her and her sister’s relationship with their father had gone from zero to sixty over the months since they had gotten involved in trying to hide Andy from the Army. They now spent every other week living with their dad and it was a great arrangement. When they were with him the three of them would do all sorts of things together. And he was always welcoming to her Roxy and to Ian when they came to visit. He wasn't perfect, but he was trying hard and Cassidy especially loved him for that. The doorbell downstairs rang. Her knight-errant Roxanna the Clever had arrived to escort her to the ball. She felt that her life was just about perfect now.
*****
Eight months since Andy came home from Italy, Richard Sachs thought. So much has changed since the Army recalled her to duty. In a few months I'll be divorced. I've moved from my lifelong home of Cincinnati to become a resident of New York City and landed a job making more money than I ever believed I would. He shook his head as he looked out from the veranda of the 'cabana' that he and Serena were staying in while visiting her family in Brazil. Down on the private beach Serena and her two sisters ran and frolicked in the surf, playing as they had when they were children and their mother had brought them to their vacation home along the coast just south of Rio de Janeiro.
His thoughts raced back over the days and weeks after he and Serena drove back from Cincinnati to New York City. Once ensconced in Serena's apartment, Richard did the responsible thing and started to look for a job. He'd been at it all of two days when he received a call from Alice McCann, the Elias-Clarke Board Member who had handled the company's end of the negotiations to settle Serena's sexual harassment suit. “I was wondering, Mr. Sachs,” she had said, “if you might be willing to meet me for lunch. I have a proposition for you.”
He'd gone and met her at a five star restaurant and over a wonderful meal discovered that her service on the Board of Elias-Clarke was really more of a part-time job and most of the time she managed her family's wealth and philanthropic pursuits. She had some time ago, she continued, become dissatisfied with the legal firm representing her family's interests, feeling that they had too many clients to concentrate the kind of attention necessary to adequately do the job. Then she told him that she had been impressed with his handling of Serena's case and named a figure which was considerably more than Richard Sachs had ever made in the two best years he ever had combined.
“Let me get this straight,” he's said, “You're offering me that amount to be your family lawyer? Your family being my sole client?”
She nodded across the table.
“Ms. McCann,” he said. “I think you've just hired yourself a lawyer.”
The work for the McCann family was not difficult for one with Richard's experience in the law. Dealing with charitable trusts, contracts, and the occasional minor encounter with matters extra-legal wasn't even a forty-hour a week proposition.
He and Serena quickly settled into a quiet domestic routine and were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Then one day Serena had suggested that they fly to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate her mother, Babtista's, upcoming birthday.
When Serena had told him that he and she would be staying in the family's beach cabana he had pictured a small quaint cabin on the beach. The cabana was seventeen rooms, including a full gym and spa. The main house, just a fair walk inland, was a mansion that dwarfed the cabana.
Richard had come to Brazil expecting to have an uphill battle to win over Serena's parents and siblings. He was certain that there would be dire concerns about their age difference and the fact that Serena had come from wealth and he struggled a good portion of his life to keep his family in a middle class lifestyle. He couldn't have been more mistaken about the reception he received.
Serena's Mother and two sisters were warmly welcoming, embracing him immediately as if he was one of their own. The women of Serena's family were every bit as beautiful as Serena. The only member of Serena's immediate family that was absent was Serena's father, who, Serena's Mother assured Richard, had been detained on business and would be joining them the following day.
As the first day of the visit progressed Richard found himself alone for a time with Serena's mother when Serena's sisters insisted on taking Serena shopping in Rio. Richard had a moment's hesitation but decided that he must engage and do his utmost to win Serena's mother over, for he could no longer envision his life without Serena in it. He was unprepared for the discussion he found himself in.
Before their arrival, Serena had told Richard that her mother was being thoughtful in assigning them the cabana rather than having them staying with the rest of the family in the main house. Serena's mother had been somewhat more direct in a ruthlessly practical and teasing sort of way. She had explained to him point blank that he and her daughter were new lovers and new lovers should not have their 'appetites' restricted by living among family. She had also informed him that Serena's sisters would tease Serena mercilessly, knowing her habit of being circumspect about her sex life. If Serena were living in the main house, among her siblings, she would not be comfortable being the uninhibited lover her mother assumed she was.
After the initial shock over the openness and frank nature of the conversation, Richard steeled himself to address what he felt was the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room, Serena's and his age difference. “Babtista,” he began awkwardly. “I know that this is somewhat difficult. I mean, I have a daughter that is just a year younger than your daughter.”
Babtista held up a hand to silence him. “My family, Richard,” she had said as she mixed another Caipirinha cocktail for the two of them as they sat outside in the late afternoon air, “has always been blessed with a youthful countenance. My daughters are all in the bloom of youth, but as you see, they are quite close in age with only a year or two separating each of them. There is a very good reason for that. My eldest is presently, twenty-eight, your Serena is twenty-six and my youngest is twenty-four. Knowing that, look at me, what would you say my age is?”
Richard shook his head, “I know better than to guess a woman's age, it's a lose, lose proposition if you guess right or wrong,” he replied laughingly
Serena's mother joined in the laughter. “I see what my daughter sees in you,” she said. “But please, indulge me. I promise to take no offense.”
Richard looked at her closely. “If I didn't know Serena's age and know that you were her mother, I'd say you were in your mid to late thirties, knowing what I know, I'm going to guess that you're a few years younger than I am. Which would make you getting close to fifty.”
Babtista laughed again. “Richard,” she said gently, handing him his drink. “My husband is a few years younger than you are. And I am twenty-one years his senior. I will be seventy my next birthday, which you are here to celebrate with us. I was forty-one when I married my Vicente. He was a boy of twenty. I was my parents’ only surviving child and had inherited the family businesses. The basis of my family's wealth was initially in cattle ranching, but my Grandfather was smart enough to diversify into other agricultural businesses, adding sugarcane and coffee plantations. Then my father took us into petroleum, automobile and agricultural machinery manufacturing. I have since added computer manufacturing as well. My father passed away suddenly when I was about Serena's age. After his death I spent more and more time involved in running of the family businesses. I, like my Serena, looked and looked for he who would be the love of my life, but as time passed I despaired of ever finding my true love. When I got to my late thirties I resolved that I would likely never marry. I was forty when mother passed away after a long and debilitating illness. I needed to get away from everything for a while, so I left everything in the hands of the company managers and retreated back to the family ranch in the extreme South of the country. It was there that I met my Vicente. He was a Gaucho who didn't have two centavos to rub together, but he was beautiful and wild and free. I lost my heart to him within days of meeting him. And he returned my love. How all my social class laughed when I married him less than a year later! Many women of wealth in this country keep young men as lovers, but few acknowledge them or dare formalize things legally. All my peers told me that he married me for my fortune. When they said so it was my turn to laugh at them. Now, twenty nine years later we are still married and still happy. Age has nothing to do with love, Richard. And my daughter Serena loves you. She called me within days of meeting you and told me with certainty that she had lost her heart and that she would have you in her life for as long as you would allow. Serena is my careful child. My thoughtful one. She has never given me any reason to doubt any of the choices she has made, so you are welcome here and welcome into this family.”
Richard sat stunned; his future mother-in-law truly understood and was welcoming him with open arms.
She looked out over the garden surrounding the house. “Vicinte will be here tomorrow.” You will meet my Cowboy,” she offered softly, her voice full of good humor and affection. “He is a man of this country, which means in many ways, still the boy I married. Don't let him talk you into contests. It is the macho culture of his heritage that will demand that he do so. While the heart in love remains young, our bodies do not. Neither of you need the aches and pains that proving yourselves to each other would bring the following morning.” She then turned and looked at her guest. “The next time you come to visit you must bring my new Granddaughter. Serena tells me her name is Andy...”
*****
Wade Bradly placed a framed picture of his beautiful daughters at about six years of age into the cardboard box on his desk. He sighed. He supposed that his melancholy feeling could be explained by the fact that he was stripping his personal items out of his office in the company he had built. That he was leaving behind what he'd worked to create much of his adult life. The room already looked bare. He smiled and shook his head. It wasn't quitting the company or moving out of this office that he's spent so much time in that had him out of sorts. It was his off week. Miranda and Andy had the girls this week and he was finding his house both too empty and too quiet. He placed another item in the box. So much has changed in the eight months since my daughters confessed to helping Andy elude the police. Miranda and I are doing better in cooperating as parents for our daughters. Andy is with them now and she's good for Miranda and the girls. He sighed again and placed another personal item into the box. An idea began to form. One that he wouldn't even have considered trying eight months ago. He pulled out his cell phone and hit a number on his speed dial. After dealing with one of Miranda's assistants he had his ex-wife on the phone. “Miranda,” he said, “I don't mean to bother you, but today is my last day at the office and to tell you the truth, I'm feeling a little down. I was wondering if you might allow me to see the girls tonight, perhaps even take them out to dinner?” He listened for a moment and then continued. “Yes, I'll call them and make sure it's okay with them and that they don't have other plans. Thank you Miranda, I was feeling pretty blue and I think this will cheer me up.”
A few minutes later he was on the phone with his daughter Caroline. “So, you're sure that you and your sister didn't have any other plans tonight?” he paused as he listened to the response. “Okay, well choose where the two of you would like to eat. I'll pick you up about five and we'll have dinner and then make an early showing of that movie you wanted to see.” He was smiling when he got off the phone. Leaving his work life behind so he could concentrate on his family life wasn't going to be difficult. In the weeks ahead that he didn't have the girls he intended to volunteer his skills at a number of non-profit organizations whose causes he supported. Then on weeks when he did have them, he'd continue to do his damnedest to make up for the time he'd missed with them. All in all he was glad of his heart attack. It had allowed him to reevaluate what was important to him and to make changes to his life. The future was better for it having happened.
*****
On to the ending of Beyond the Call