A Flawed Fragility: Chapter 33
Author: TheLadyHoll
Pairing: Andy/Miranda
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Yes, they are mine. I own them. Come to me my pretties and dance, DANCE I SAY. Or, more truthfully, not...
Chapter 33: All Seems Quiet
Thank you so much for your reviews last chapter - it's been a really rough week for my family & myself and each one felt like a hug or a pat of encouragement, so thank you - they mean the world. Hope you enjoy this chapter, as a thank you I'll give you a spoiler for the next chapter & let you know there will be trigger warnings (aka some serious drama). Can't wait to hear more from you!
xxx - TLH
An hour later, Miranda and Andy were alone in one of the empty 'waiting rooms' outside the main court area, waiting for the jury to come back with their verdict for Stephen's contest of the prenuptial agreement. Final arguments for the criminal charges had been pushed back due to the defendants request to question Caroline and Cassidy as key witnesses. And truly, it wasn't the money Miranda cared about, it was the precedent it set. No one made a fool of Miranda Priestly, and she wasn't going to overlook the infidelities of her soon to be ex-husband and let him off the hook in the public eye for his behaviour. If he thought he could shame her into halving her fortune, a fortune that was meant for her girls and now the new babies, he was sorely mistaken.
A few muffled thumps against the wall drew both women's attention away from their own internal musings.
"What on earth?"
"Hold on," Andy pressed her ear to the dusty grain of the wood but she needn't have as voices soon followed the occupants' entrance into the adjoining waiting space, and after a moment it was all too obvious who the voices belonged to.
"That's not gonna be a problem. You saw her, she's a whale. There's no way those tits are going back to the way they were before, or that waist. Not to mention that tight cunt those brats are going to stretch out. Remember I told you that was the only thing I was going to miss when I left the bitch. Our marriage was a fucking mess, but God did we make a mess fucking, at least on my part. She might have been a hot lay, and tight as hell, but damn she was frigid, made me want to rip her apart when I fucked her. Tell you the truth though, I think it would have been less hot if she'd been more into it."
"He's talking about wanting to rape you, imagining he raped you. That sick bastard!" Andy's harsh whisper died in her throat as Miranda held a finger to her lips and continued listening.
"Hell yeah, bitch couldn't walk straight in her precious Prada whoring pussy heels the day after I'd had her. I'm still surprised no one in her office caught on, what kind of boss takes a whole day off for a 'facial' or a 'massage'. Likely no one cared is more like it."
"We did. I did," Andy turned to Miranda. "I cared, Miranda, and so do Emily and Nigel and"
"Shh, I know darling. He's saying these things out of fear and out of anger. Nothing he says can hurt me anymore because HE is nothing."
"He hurt you. He LIKED hurting you during sex."
Miranda inclined her head, "Yes, but I was a willing participant Andrea, as hard as that may be to hear. I thought that was what was needed to save my marriage and so I did what I had to do for my girls."
"But you didn't want it," Andy had tears in her eyes.
"I don't EVER want to hurt you," Andy whispered. "Promise me. Promise me you will tell me if anything ever feels wrong or you don't like something, I"
Miranda cut off Andy's rambling again. "Andrea, I don't believe there is anything I could do with you that I would feel unsafe doing. I trust you implicitly, and I know I have your trust as well when you give yourself to me so completely." Her wistful smile turned slightly mischievous as the glint in her eye changed.
"And when I am recovered from the birth of these babies, I intend to do everything with you, and to you that you could possibly imagine or want."
Before Andy had time to recover and respond from the intensely hot statement, the voices in the other room changed, and a female voice could be heard through the walls.
"It's so long," the breathy voice continued. "And so low… How fast can it go?"
Andy and Miranda shared a puzzled glance, the adjectives sounding strange if they were describing what both women thought they were describing."
"250 mph when I run her full throttle."
Andy's face remained twisted in confusion but Miranda nodded, smirking in understanding. "His boat in the Maldives," she mouthed to the brunette who rolled her eyes, imagining the older man bragging to some legal aide ingénue about the pictures on his Iphone.
Suddenly there was a gasp. "It's so big!" A giggle followed suit and the Andy and Miranda realized the picture must have changed, and they were willing to bet the divorce settlement that the picture was NOT of a speedboat.
"Hell yes it is," the two women could hear the jingle of a belt buckle and the sound of a zipper. "That's power."
"Oh Mr. Tomlinson!
"You wanna taste of that power, honey? See what it feels like to hold it in your hands? Cuz I can give it to you." There was silence for a moment and then, "Yeah, yeah that's it. Stroke it…juust like that. Oh baby, yeah put your mouth on it. Yeah, you can taste that power now can't you? Don't stop. Yeah, can you handle all that honey or do you need to use two hands?"
"He always wanted to fuck me at work," Miranda whispered, looking disgusted as she took her ear away from the wall. "I never let him. That was my place of power. It's where things of beauty came to life and I didn't want his touch or his scent on anything to ruin it. He just wanted to control me, to take me in the place where I held the most power so that he could claim it over me."
Andy had straightened up as well, and she walked forward so that she was standing directly in front of Miranda, the firm curve of the older woman's stomach pressing against her own flat toned one - the pressure only increasing the sudden feeling of arousal at the thought of worshipping Miranda's body at the very altar of Runway itself.
"One day, if you're comfortable with it, it's going to be me who'll have you bent over the desk, your skirt pushed up around your waist and panting for it. But it will be because I'll be worshipping you at your throne and paying homage to what you've achieved. Your stockings and your heels are still going to be on so that gorgeous ass is pointing up towards me, and my tongue is going to trace the insides of your thighs sooo lightly, meeting the moisture that's collected there. Tiny trails of sweat are going to be beading between your breasts and your stomach is slick against the desk as you clutch the sides.
Miranda's entire face was red now and she was breathing heavily, shaking in Andrea's arms as the brunette had travelled her across the room and she was now backed against the far wall.. "Andrea," Andy's hand skimmed the back of Miranda's knee, causing the older woman to jump before she continued upwards to the buckle of her stockings where she began to trace lightly around the lace tops.
"What is it, baby?" Andy purred seductively, an evil glint in her eye. Normally, Miranda only accepted Andy calling her baby on very few occasions, but the older woman appeared to be past words as she pushed her hips towards Andrea desperately. "What do you need?"
Miranda only gave a mewl of frustration as she tried to maneuver her swollen figure so that she could press herself against the younger woman's thigh, now desperate for a release from the pressure that had built between her own at the brunette's suggestive imagery.
"Don't tease," Miranda growled, lurching forward suddenly and kissing the self-satisfied smirk off the younger woman's face, her movements fierce and feral and possessive as she bit the ripe red lip underneath her own.
Using her knee against the wall and her hand still securely around Miranda's waist, Andy managed to find the right angle and Miranda's body jerked and shuddered once, powerfully, with her weight resting almost completely against Andrea but trusting the woman not to let her fall.
Moving her knee, and in the process stimulating a rivulet of aftershocks in the older woman's body, Andy grinned at the very damp patch on her stockings and despite her current state of thrumming euphoria, Miranda blushed at the intensity of her body's response to the brunette whose grin only widened as she lowered the both of them to the floor as Miranda's legs wouldn't hold her.
Murmured voices and a muted thumping could be heard coming through the wall next to them and if it wasn't before, it quickly became apparent just what Stephen was showing he meant by power.
"Oh my God, he's getting off because she's calling him Mr. Tomlinson," Andy smothered a laugh, "instead of Mr. Priestly." Miranda was in stitches now, cackling hysterically as she sat against the wall, one shoe having fallen off in her paroxysms of laughter.
A look of absolute horror crossed her face suddenly and Andy immediately fell silent.
"What? Miranda what is it?" But Miranda just shook her head, unwilling or unready to tell Andy what was wrong."
"Baby, talk to me, was I too rough just now? Does something hurt?"
"I, I need a change of clothes; could you go and get a fresh pair of La Perla and whatever skirt you can find that would fit me please," the older woman whispered, her face turning bright red now with embarrassment instead of laughter.
Andy still didn't get it. "What? Are you bleeding?"
"No." Miranda's face was beet red now and she crossed her legs uncomfortably. "It was when I was laughing."
"Ohhh," Andy got it now - "Oh sweetheart, it's okay."
"Fine. Okay. Could you please just go before my due date arrives?" Miranda snapped, hauling herself up off the floor less than gracefully and disappearing into the bathroom before slamming the door shut.
Apparently, Miranda's sense of humour did not include finding the humour in losing control of her bladder.
Luckily, Andy's time as Miranda's assistant had taught her well, and she kept a rotating supply of extra clothes in Roy's trunk in an unmarked duffel, given that the clothes were typically worth about half the amount of the car itself on any given day.
"I do not wish to discuss this Andrea. I am aware that it is a perfectly normal side effect of pregnancy however it is not an event I wish to revisit verbally or otherwise." Miranda's icy mask had been set firmly back in place as she exited the ladies restroom.
Andy's giggles still hadn't completely died out and Miranda rolled her eyes wondering if this was the price one had to pay when taking a younger lover. "I'm marrying an infant."
"I'm not the one who just peed myself." Andy shot back, clapping a hand over her face and groaning at her own idiocy as Miranda disappeared into the bathroom, closing and locking the door with more than the necessary force.
"Oh God, Sachs, you're an idiot."
Unashamedly stealing all but one bite of the soft pretzel Andy had gotten outside the courthouse that Miranda had insisted she didn't want seemed to take care of Miranda's foul mood in the wake of Andy's less than tactful handling of the earlier situation. The younger woman found herself grateful not for the first time that pregnancy had made the editor's resistance to bribes in the form of food that much weaker.
Hours later, Andy dropped her bag at the door and headed upstairs to where her love was supposed to be resting.
"Hey beautiful girl, how are you feeling?" Miranda forgave the taboo question considering the drama of the trial that day.
"Slovenly," she replied, stretching her arms above her head and maneuvering herself so she was sitting up against the headboard. "I slept all afternoon," her voice was disgusted.
"Good. Do you feel a bit better now?"
When Andy had reluctantly left the older woman to go into the office for a staff meeting, Miranda had been feeling sick to her stomach and it had felt like she might be starting to run a fever. Andy had nearly called in to say she wasn't coming, but sick or not, Miranda was still Miranda and insisted the brunette go.
"Darling, please. Nothing more today about me, or the trial or the babies, tell me how your meeting went at work."
"Soon as I check your temperature - back in a jiff!"
Reading the results on the tiny LED screen it looked like the afternoon of rest had done the older woman a world of good, and her temperature had gone back down to nearly normal.
Andy exhaled and ruffled her bangs, which she had grown out now but still had a tendency to play with when she was nervous and looked around as if for a convenient distraction before gingerly folding herself into a cross legged position on the bed.
When she looked up at Miranda, the older woman's brow was raised in expectation and all of Andy's nerves that she thought she had managed to get rid of on the way home flooded back in an instant and the story spilled out of her at a mile a minute about the events that had ensued at work that day.
Impressively, Miranda was able to keep up and nodded, staying silent until the young woman was forced to take a pause for breath.
"So I'm to understand that this story Greg has assigned or awarded to you is the 'once in a lifetime' experience you were so eager for before today? The UN Summit on women's rights in the occupied provinces in the Middle East."
"Yes!" Andy wailed, "But everything's going too fast. I can't leave now! The trial and the press are getting even uglier, you're about to hit your third trimester and you've already had some scares and close calls. The girls are still away with their father and who knows how they're going to handle even more changes when they get back. You're still planning on working 5 days a week. There's just too much happening for me to leave and fly into a warzone halfway across the world!"
"Andrea," Miranda reached forward for the younger woman's hands, stopped her from wringing them together so that the skin was reddened. "Do you want to go?"
A rogue tear escaped as Andy looked up at the woman she loved more than anything else in the world. "I-I want to go, in theory at least I've love to go. This could be my chance to prove my vocation wasn't a mistake and that the efforts of partisan journalism and reporting can still make a difference in a global understanding of international relations and the girls don't think I'm just another reporter like the ones outside and..."
Miranda started to speak again but Andy continued, "But while that was my dream for so many years, and still is, there's another dream that matters so much more to me. I'm not going to leave again, Miranda."
"It's only leaving if you don't come back," Miranda looked down at their joined hands, and when she looked up again her eyes were a shining blue and her voice fierce as she spoke. "And you had better come back to me, Andrea Sachs."
"Always," Andy moved closer and stroked her hand soothingly up and down Miranda's side as Miranda pressed her lips to the brunette's engagement ring and then to the brunette herself. "Have I ever been able to stay away?"
"Then there isn't any more discussion to be had. You'll go," Miranda decreed.
Andy was still for another long moment before bouncing off the mattress and giving a very un-serious-journalist squeal. "I'm going to go call Greg!" Another squeal followed this pronouncement and Andy's rapid exodus from the room until a dry voice called her back, the soft tones of Miranda's voice having come to pierce Andy's trained ears like sirens.
"If you wouldn't mind?" Miranda's voice was dry and that one familiar, fearsome eyebrow arched, but Andy could sense the wry amusement behind her lover's complaint as she hurried back over to the bed to help Miranda sit up from the awkward position she had been 'bounced' into by the younger woman.
"Are you sure you don't need me to stick around?" Andy teased as she kept her arms looped around the broadened waist. "You know you're only going to get bigger in the two weeks I'm gone."
"I think I'm perfectly capable of getting myself stuck, yes," Miranda teased back.
Now they were standing face to face again, Miranda's omnipresent worries took over once more and she began very deliberately picking imaginary bits of lint and fluff off Andy's sweater before smoother, younger hands caught hers up, bringing them to her lips as had become their wont and waiting expectantly, knowing Miranda wouldn't be rushed.
"You will be careful, Andrea." The words that began as a question turned into a command as Miranda's grip tightened. "Whatever notions of heroism or risking your safety for the sake of a story - you simply can't do that; you can't think that way or be so reckless."
Unconsciously, Andy pulled back slightly as Miranda spoke, unsure as to why a woman who had sacrificed everything for her career was telling her not to do her best work or do her job to the best of her ability.
"It may be selfish," Miranda continued, "or unfair, for me to ask this of you, but…You have a family now." Dual gazes fell to the casual family portrait of themselves and the girls that sat in a silver frame on Miranda's bedside table and at the same time Miranda brought Andy's hands to rest on the sides of her stomach. "We need you, Andrea. You are too important to treat yourself as anything but. And likewise, this, this is the reason why I was so conflicted if asking you to marry me was the right decision or simply selfishness on my part, trying to keep you for myself instead of releasing you to the freedoms of your youth. Being with me, much as it might open some doors in the publishing world, also limits your career. My darling girl, you're just starting out and all these responsibilities have been placed on you so that you don't have the freedom to up and leave on assignment at a moment's notice - your only concern being whether or not to sublet your apartment for the month or two you're gone. But with two newborns, possibly with special needs…When I placed that ring on your finger, I cut out so many experiences, so large a part of your life…I only hope you don't come to resent me for it."
Understanding now what Miranda meant, Andy spoke softly but seriously, her joking demeanor from before disappeared completely. "Miranda. Being with you has reminded me of why I wanted to go into journalism in the first place, and it has nothing to do with who you are in the publishing world, or with Runway or any of that…To be a voice of unwavering clarity and conviction, like you are, amongst the pandering throng of media outlets. The girls need to see the power of media as a medium for social change and not just social networking. And if I can be a part of bringing attention or giving a voice to the issues too large for me or one person alone to tackle? If I can make, even in the tiniest way, this world a better place to bring these babies into then I will. You're not a limitation, Miranda. Our children, our family is not a limitation or something that is holding me back. It's my inspiration for my work, and my motivation to stay safe, knowing that I'm coming home to you." A smirk appeared on her lips. "And you know by the time I get home it will be time to start the prenatal classes Dr. Jansen recommended.
"Yes, and I thought that was all she had done until I received the bill, recommended, not booked."
"Don't be mad, Mira. I just want to be prepared - I've never done this before and I don't want you to hurt any more than necessary. There is, however, one more thing I want you to be prepared for…I want photos taken, of you, professionally. And ones with me and Cass and Caro as well."
"Andrea, we'll have a family photo shoot once the babies are born. Then we'll have pictures of the whole family."
Andy shook her head stubbornly. "We'll have those too but I want professional pictures, heck any pictures of you as you are right now."
Miranda's lips were still stubbornly pursed and Andy could tell this wasn't looking as if it were going to go her way and so she pulled out her own 'big guns'. Widening her eyes so that they grew bright and shiny with moisture and pushing out her bottom lip before biting it anxiously, Andy slid her arms around Miranda's waist until they clasped at the small of the older woman's back.
"I want these babies to be able to look back to when they were born and know they were loved and wanted the minute we knew they existed. We don't have their first ultrasound picture or a positive pregnancy test or any weekly bump photos or measurements…I don't want their existence to be marked in time only by news articles covering the trial against their father or by grainy paparazzi 'bump watch' shots. We got engaged while you were pregnant with them. I want them to know they were a source of joy in all of this and to see all the good memories and all the love that surrounded them." Andy nuzzled Miranda's neck as she spoke, marking random spots with kisses as she moved up her throat and murmuring into the soft skin. Andy turned then, and she drew back slightly so that Miranda was facing the adjacent mirror with Andy standing behind her.
"And I want them to know how incredibly strong their mother was to go through what she did and what she gave to carry two babies for a second time…I may not have been a part of their conception or that first instant of their life, but I can give them these memories. Miranda, please."
Miranda turned once more, not leaving the protective circle of Miranda's arms and moved Andy's hands from the small of her back to press into her swollen stomach.
"Never has any other person entered into my mind as the second parent to these babies but you, Andrea. And I don't want you to ever think that I would try to take them away from you based on an argument of genetics. This is your baby, Andrea," Miranda brought the young woman's hand to the lower left quadrant of her belly before moving upwards and slightly to the right, "and this is your baby. Your son and daughter. Our children."
Not able to speak, and not able to find the right words, Andy simply leaned in and kissed the other woman, rubbing small circles where her hands still held the editor's body until the older woman was relaxed and pliant once more.
Regaining her senses, Miranda stepped back and straightened her clothing, "Fine, alright then. But you understand I will have final say over which pictures go to print once we receive the proofs." She paused, looking more uncertain and then in an expression only Andy could deduce, disgusted with herself for her own uncertainty in the same breath. "And it will have to be soon. Blood pressure notwithstanding, if this pregnancy is anything like my first, my face will start to puff up soon, and there is the increasing potential for troublesome marks or veins."
"You know I don't care about that, but if you're more comfortable - call, or have Emily call, whoever it is you want to do the shoot. I didn't know who you would be most comfortable with for a private session so I haven't booked anything." Miranda nodded absently, mentally rolodexing the list of photographers in her mind that she would consider or trust to do the shoot and would make sure the private family photos were kept that way.
And then there was the issue of what to wear. No longer was there a gentle, elegant swell at her waist as there had been at 20 weeks. But at 25, almost 26, the neat bump was rapidly expanding into what would appear to be a full term belly if one didn't know she was expecting twins. And God willing, it would continue to grow for a minimum of at least 10 week if not the full 15. Still, Andrea was right, she wanted the babies inside of her, both in that first most literal sense and in the fact that she wanted these babies inside of her to feel that their birth was cause for celebration - not some shameful secret or consequence of a failed marriage.
Yes, she would give Andrea this, at least. But if her younger lover thought for one moment that any form of recording device would be allowed in the delivery room, she would be sorely disappointed when it was forcibly dashed to pieces...
Pairing: Andy/Miranda
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Yes, they are mine. I own them. Come to me my pretties and dance, DANCE I SAY. Or, more truthfully, not...
Chapter 33: All Seems Quiet
Thank you so much for your reviews last chapter - it's been a really rough week for my family & myself and each one felt like a hug or a pat of encouragement, so thank you - they mean the world. Hope you enjoy this chapter, as a thank you I'll give you a spoiler for the next chapter & let you know there will be trigger warnings (aka some serious drama). Can't wait to hear more from you!
xxx - TLH
An hour later, Miranda and Andy were alone in one of the empty 'waiting rooms' outside the main court area, waiting for the jury to come back with their verdict for Stephen's contest of the prenuptial agreement. Final arguments for the criminal charges had been pushed back due to the defendants request to question Caroline and Cassidy as key witnesses. And truly, it wasn't the money Miranda cared about, it was the precedent it set. No one made a fool of Miranda Priestly, and she wasn't going to overlook the infidelities of her soon to be ex-husband and let him off the hook in the public eye for his behaviour. If he thought he could shame her into halving her fortune, a fortune that was meant for her girls and now the new babies, he was sorely mistaken.
A few muffled thumps against the wall drew both women's attention away from their own internal musings.
"What on earth?"
"Hold on," Andy pressed her ear to the dusty grain of the wood but she needn't have as voices soon followed the occupants' entrance into the adjoining waiting space, and after a moment it was all too obvious who the voices belonged to.
"That's not gonna be a problem. You saw her, she's a whale. There's no way those tits are going back to the way they were before, or that waist. Not to mention that tight cunt those brats are going to stretch out. Remember I told you that was the only thing I was going to miss when I left the bitch. Our marriage was a fucking mess, but God did we make a mess fucking, at least on my part. She might have been a hot lay, and tight as hell, but damn she was frigid, made me want to rip her apart when I fucked her. Tell you the truth though, I think it would have been less hot if she'd been more into it."
"He's talking about wanting to rape you, imagining he raped you. That sick bastard!" Andy's harsh whisper died in her throat as Miranda held a finger to her lips and continued listening.
"Hell yeah, bitch couldn't walk straight in her precious Prada whoring pussy heels the day after I'd had her. I'm still surprised no one in her office caught on, what kind of boss takes a whole day off for a 'facial' or a 'massage'. Likely no one cared is more like it."
"We did. I did," Andy turned to Miranda. "I cared, Miranda, and so do Emily and Nigel and"
"Shh, I know darling. He's saying these things out of fear and out of anger. Nothing he says can hurt me anymore because HE is nothing."
"He hurt you. He LIKED hurting you during sex."
Miranda inclined her head, "Yes, but I was a willing participant Andrea, as hard as that may be to hear. I thought that was what was needed to save my marriage and so I did what I had to do for my girls."
"But you didn't want it," Andy had tears in her eyes.
"I don't EVER want to hurt you," Andy whispered. "Promise me. Promise me you will tell me if anything ever feels wrong or you don't like something, I"
Miranda cut off Andy's rambling again. "Andrea, I don't believe there is anything I could do with you that I would feel unsafe doing. I trust you implicitly, and I know I have your trust as well when you give yourself to me so completely." Her wistful smile turned slightly mischievous as the glint in her eye changed.
"And when I am recovered from the birth of these babies, I intend to do everything with you, and to you that you could possibly imagine or want."
Before Andy had time to recover and respond from the intensely hot statement, the voices in the other room changed, and a female voice could be heard through the walls.
"It's so long," the breathy voice continued. "And so low… How fast can it go?"
Andy and Miranda shared a puzzled glance, the adjectives sounding strange if they were describing what both women thought they were describing."
"250 mph when I run her full throttle."
Andy's face remained twisted in confusion but Miranda nodded, smirking in understanding. "His boat in the Maldives," she mouthed to the brunette who rolled her eyes, imagining the older man bragging to some legal aide ingénue about the pictures on his Iphone.
Suddenly there was a gasp. "It's so big!" A giggle followed suit and the Andy and Miranda realized the picture must have changed, and they were willing to bet the divorce settlement that the picture was NOT of a speedboat.
"Hell yes it is," the two women could hear the jingle of a belt buckle and the sound of a zipper. "That's power."
"Oh Mr. Tomlinson!
"You wanna taste of that power, honey? See what it feels like to hold it in your hands? Cuz I can give it to you." There was silence for a moment and then, "Yeah, yeah that's it. Stroke it…juust like that. Oh baby, yeah put your mouth on it. Yeah, you can taste that power now can't you? Don't stop. Yeah, can you handle all that honey or do you need to use two hands?"
"He always wanted to fuck me at work," Miranda whispered, looking disgusted as she took her ear away from the wall. "I never let him. That was my place of power. It's where things of beauty came to life and I didn't want his touch or his scent on anything to ruin it. He just wanted to control me, to take me in the place where I held the most power so that he could claim it over me."
Andy had straightened up as well, and she walked forward so that she was standing directly in front of Miranda, the firm curve of the older woman's stomach pressing against her own flat toned one - the pressure only increasing the sudden feeling of arousal at the thought of worshipping Miranda's body at the very altar of Runway itself.
"One day, if you're comfortable with it, it's going to be me who'll have you bent over the desk, your skirt pushed up around your waist and panting for it. But it will be because I'll be worshipping you at your throne and paying homage to what you've achieved. Your stockings and your heels are still going to be on so that gorgeous ass is pointing up towards me, and my tongue is going to trace the insides of your thighs sooo lightly, meeting the moisture that's collected there. Tiny trails of sweat are going to be beading between your breasts and your stomach is slick against the desk as you clutch the sides.
Miranda's entire face was red now and she was breathing heavily, shaking in Andrea's arms as the brunette had travelled her across the room and she was now backed against the far wall.. "Andrea," Andy's hand skimmed the back of Miranda's knee, causing the older woman to jump before she continued upwards to the buckle of her stockings where she began to trace lightly around the lace tops.
"What is it, baby?" Andy purred seductively, an evil glint in her eye. Normally, Miranda only accepted Andy calling her baby on very few occasions, but the older woman appeared to be past words as she pushed her hips towards Andrea desperately. "What do you need?"
Miranda only gave a mewl of frustration as she tried to maneuver her swollen figure so that she could press herself against the younger woman's thigh, now desperate for a release from the pressure that had built between her own at the brunette's suggestive imagery.
"Don't tease," Miranda growled, lurching forward suddenly and kissing the self-satisfied smirk off the younger woman's face, her movements fierce and feral and possessive as she bit the ripe red lip underneath her own.
Using her knee against the wall and her hand still securely around Miranda's waist, Andy managed to find the right angle and Miranda's body jerked and shuddered once, powerfully, with her weight resting almost completely against Andrea but trusting the woman not to let her fall.
Moving her knee, and in the process stimulating a rivulet of aftershocks in the older woman's body, Andy grinned at the very damp patch on her stockings and despite her current state of thrumming euphoria, Miranda blushed at the intensity of her body's response to the brunette whose grin only widened as she lowered the both of them to the floor as Miranda's legs wouldn't hold her.
Murmured voices and a muted thumping could be heard coming through the wall next to them and if it wasn't before, it quickly became apparent just what Stephen was showing he meant by power.
"Oh my God, he's getting off because she's calling him Mr. Tomlinson," Andy smothered a laugh, "instead of Mr. Priestly." Miranda was in stitches now, cackling hysterically as she sat against the wall, one shoe having fallen off in her paroxysms of laughter.
A look of absolute horror crossed her face suddenly and Andy immediately fell silent.
"What? Miranda what is it?" But Miranda just shook her head, unwilling or unready to tell Andy what was wrong."
"Baby, talk to me, was I too rough just now? Does something hurt?"
"I, I need a change of clothes; could you go and get a fresh pair of La Perla and whatever skirt you can find that would fit me please," the older woman whispered, her face turning bright red now with embarrassment instead of laughter.
Andy still didn't get it. "What? Are you bleeding?"
"No." Miranda's face was beet red now and she crossed her legs uncomfortably. "It was when I was laughing."
"Ohhh," Andy got it now - "Oh sweetheart, it's okay."
"Fine. Okay. Could you please just go before my due date arrives?" Miranda snapped, hauling herself up off the floor less than gracefully and disappearing into the bathroom before slamming the door shut.
Apparently, Miranda's sense of humour did not include finding the humour in losing control of her bladder.
Luckily, Andy's time as Miranda's assistant had taught her well, and she kept a rotating supply of extra clothes in Roy's trunk in an unmarked duffel, given that the clothes were typically worth about half the amount of the car itself on any given day.
"I do not wish to discuss this Andrea. I am aware that it is a perfectly normal side effect of pregnancy however it is not an event I wish to revisit verbally or otherwise." Miranda's icy mask had been set firmly back in place as she exited the ladies restroom.
Andy's giggles still hadn't completely died out and Miranda rolled her eyes wondering if this was the price one had to pay when taking a younger lover. "I'm marrying an infant."
"I'm not the one who just peed myself." Andy shot back, clapping a hand over her face and groaning at her own idiocy as Miranda disappeared into the bathroom, closing and locking the door with more than the necessary force.
"Oh God, Sachs, you're an idiot."
Unashamedly stealing all but one bite of the soft pretzel Andy had gotten outside the courthouse that Miranda had insisted she didn't want seemed to take care of Miranda's foul mood in the wake of Andy's less than tactful handling of the earlier situation. The younger woman found herself grateful not for the first time that pregnancy had made the editor's resistance to bribes in the form of food that much weaker.
Hours later, Andy dropped her bag at the door and headed upstairs to where her love was supposed to be resting.
"Hey beautiful girl, how are you feeling?" Miranda forgave the taboo question considering the drama of the trial that day.
"Slovenly," she replied, stretching her arms above her head and maneuvering herself so she was sitting up against the headboard. "I slept all afternoon," her voice was disgusted.
"Good. Do you feel a bit better now?"
When Andy had reluctantly left the older woman to go into the office for a staff meeting, Miranda had been feeling sick to her stomach and it had felt like she might be starting to run a fever. Andy had nearly called in to say she wasn't coming, but sick or not, Miranda was still Miranda and insisted the brunette go.
"Darling, please. Nothing more today about me, or the trial or the babies, tell me how your meeting went at work."
"Soon as I check your temperature - back in a jiff!"
Reading the results on the tiny LED screen it looked like the afternoon of rest had done the older woman a world of good, and her temperature had gone back down to nearly normal.
Andy exhaled and ruffled her bangs, which she had grown out now but still had a tendency to play with when she was nervous and looked around as if for a convenient distraction before gingerly folding herself into a cross legged position on the bed.
When she looked up at Miranda, the older woman's brow was raised in expectation and all of Andy's nerves that she thought she had managed to get rid of on the way home flooded back in an instant and the story spilled out of her at a mile a minute about the events that had ensued at work that day.
Impressively, Miranda was able to keep up and nodded, staying silent until the young woman was forced to take a pause for breath.
"So I'm to understand that this story Greg has assigned or awarded to you is the 'once in a lifetime' experience you were so eager for before today? The UN Summit on women's rights in the occupied provinces in the Middle East."
"Yes!" Andy wailed, "But everything's going too fast. I can't leave now! The trial and the press are getting even uglier, you're about to hit your third trimester and you've already had some scares and close calls. The girls are still away with their father and who knows how they're going to handle even more changes when they get back. You're still planning on working 5 days a week. There's just too much happening for me to leave and fly into a warzone halfway across the world!"
"Andrea," Miranda reached forward for the younger woman's hands, stopped her from wringing them together so that the skin was reddened. "Do you want to go?"
A rogue tear escaped as Andy looked up at the woman she loved more than anything else in the world. "I-I want to go, in theory at least I've love to go. This could be my chance to prove my vocation wasn't a mistake and that the efforts of partisan journalism and reporting can still make a difference in a global understanding of international relations and the girls don't think I'm just another reporter like the ones outside and..."
Miranda started to speak again but Andy continued, "But while that was my dream for so many years, and still is, there's another dream that matters so much more to me. I'm not going to leave again, Miranda."
"It's only leaving if you don't come back," Miranda looked down at their joined hands, and when she looked up again her eyes were a shining blue and her voice fierce as she spoke. "And you had better come back to me, Andrea Sachs."
"Always," Andy moved closer and stroked her hand soothingly up and down Miranda's side as Miranda pressed her lips to the brunette's engagement ring and then to the brunette herself. "Have I ever been able to stay away?"
"Then there isn't any more discussion to be had. You'll go," Miranda decreed.
Andy was still for another long moment before bouncing off the mattress and giving a very un-serious-journalist squeal. "I'm going to go call Greg!" Another squeal followed this pronouncement and Andy's rapid exodus from the room until a dry voice called her back, the soft tones of Miranda's voice having come to pierce Andy's trained ears like sirens.
"If you wouldn't mind?" Miranda's voice was dry and that one familiar, fearsome eyebrow arched, but Andy could sense the wry amusement behind her lover's complaint as she hurried back over to the bed to help Miranda sit up from the awkward position she had been 'bounced' into by the younger woman.
"Are you sure you don't need me to stick around?" Andy teased as she kept her arms looped around the broadened waist. "You know you're only going to get bigger in the two weeks I'm gone."
"I think I'm perfectly capable of getting myself stuck, yes," Miranda teased back.
Now they were standing face to face again, Miranda's omnipresent worries took over once more and she began very deliberately picking imaginary bits of lint and fluff off Andy's sweater before smoother, younger hands caught hers up, bringing them to her lips as had become their wont and waiting expectantly, knowing Miranda wouldn't be rushed.
"You will be careful, Andrea." The words that began as a question turned into a command as Miranda's grip tightened. "Whatever notions of heroism or risking your safety for the sake of a story - you simply can't do that; you can't think that way or be so reckless."
Unconsciously, Andy pulled back slightly as Miranda spoke, unsure as to why a woman who had sacrificed everything for her career was telling her not to do her best work or do her job to the best of her ability.
"It may be selfish," Miranda continued, "or unfair, for me to ask this of you, but…You have a family now." Dual gazes fell to the casual family portrait of themselves and the girls that sat in a silver frame on Miranda's bedside table and at the same time Miranda brought Andy's hands to rest on the sides of her stomach. "We need you, Andrea. You are too important to treat yourself as anything but. And likewise, this, this is the reason why I was so conflicted if asking you to marry me was the right decision or simply selfishness on my part, trying to keep you for myself instead of releasing you to the freedoms of your youth. Being with me, much as it might open some doors in the publishing world, also limits your career. My darling girl, you're just starting out and all these responsibilities have been placed on you so that you don't have the freedom to up and leave on assignment at a moment's notice - your only concern being whether or not to sublet your apartment for the month or two you're gone. But with two newborns, possibly with special needs…When I placed that ring on your finger, I cut out so many experiences, so large a part of your life…I only hope you don't come to resent me for it."
Understanding now what Miranda meant, Andy spoke softly but seriously, her joking demeanor from before disappeared completely. "Miranda. Being with you has reminded me of why I wanted to go into journalism in the first place, and it has nothing to do with who you are in the publishing world, or with Runway or any of that…To be a voice of unwavering clarity and conviction, like you are, amongst the pandering throng of media outlets. The girls need to see the power of media as a medium for social change and not just social networking. And if I can be a part of bringing attention or giving a voice to the issues too large for me or one person alone to tackle? If I can make, even in the tiniest way, this world a better place to bring these babies into then I will. You're not a limitation, Miranda. Our children, our family is not a limitation or something that is holding me back. It's my inspiration for my work, and my motivation to stay safe, knowing that I'm coming home to you." A smirk appeared on her lips. "And you know by the time I get home it will be time to start the prenatal classes Dr. Jansen recommended.
"Yes, and I thought that was all she had done until I received the bill, recommended, not booked."
"Don't be mad, Mira. I just want to be prepared - I've never done this before and I don't want you to hurt any more than necessary. There is, however, one more thing I want you to be prepared for…I want photos taken, of you, professionally. And ones with me and Cass and Caro as well."
"Andrea, we'll have a family photo shoot once the babies are born. Then we'll have pictures of the whole family."
Andy shook her head stubbornly. "We'll have those too but I want professional pictures, heck any pictures of you as you are right now."
Miranda's lips were still stubbornly pursed and Andy could tell this wasn't looking as if it were going to go her way and so she pulled out her own 'big guns'. Widening her eyes so that they grew bright and shiny with moisture and pushing out her bottom lip before biting it anxiously, Andy slid her arms around Miranda's waist until they clasped at the small of the older woman's back.
"I want these babies to be able to look back to when they were born and know they were loved and wanted the minute we knew they existed. We don't have their first ultrasound picture or a positive pregnancy test or any weekly bump photos or measurements…I don't want their existence to be marked in time only by news articles covering the trial against their father or by grainy paparazzi 'bump watch' shots. We got engaged while you were pregnant with them. I want them to know they were a source of joy in all of this and to see all the good memories and all the love that surrounded them." Andy nuzzled Miranda's neck as she spoke, marking random spots with kisses as she moved up her throat and murmuring into the soft skin. Andy turned then, and she drew back slightly so that Miranda was facing the adjacent mirror with Andy standing behind her.
"And I want them to know how incredibly strong their mother was to go through what she did and what she gave to carry two babies for a second time…I may not have been a part of their conception or that first instant of their life, but I can give them these memories. Miranda, please."
Miranda turned once more, not leaving the protective circle of Miranda's arms and moved Andy's hands from the small of her back to press into her swollen stomach.
"Never has any other person entered into my mind as the second parent to these babies but you, Andrea. And I don't want you to ever think that I would try to take them away from you based on an argument of genetics. This is your baby, Andrea," Miranda brought the young woman's hand to the lower left quadrant of her belly before moving upwards and slightly to the right, "and this is your baby. Your son and daughter. Our children."
Not able to speak, and not able to find the right words, Andy simply leaned in and kissed the other woman, rubbing small circles where her hands still held the editor's body until the older woman was relaxed and pliant once more.
Regaining her senses, Miranda stepped back and straightened her clothing, "Fine, alright then. But you understand I will have final say over which pictures go to print once we receive the proofs." She paused, looking more uncertain and then in an expression only Andy could deduce, disgusted with herself for her own uncertainty in the same breath. "And it will have to be soon. Blood pressure notwithstanding, if this pregnancy is anything like my first, my face will start to puff up soon, and there is the increasing potential for troublesome marks or veins."
"You know I don't care about that, but if you're more comfortable - call, or have Emily call, whoever it is you want to do the shoot. I didn't know who you would be most comfortable with for a private session so I haven't booked anything." Miranda nodded absently, mentally rolodexing the list of photographers in her mind that she would consider or trust to do the shoot and would make sure the private family photos were kept that way.
And then there was the issue of what to wear. No longer was there a gentle, elegant swell at her waist as there had been at 20 weeks. But at 25, almost 26, the neat bump was rapidly expanding into what would appear to be a full term belly if one didn't know she was expecting twins. And God willing, it would continue to grow for a minimum of at least 10 week if not the full 15. Still, Andrea was right, she wanted the babies inside of her, both in that first most literal sense and in the fact that she wanted these babies inside of her to feel that their birth was cause for celebration - not some shameful secret or consequence of a failed marriage.
Yes, she would give Andrea this, at least. But if her younger lover thought for one moment that any form of recording device would be allowed in the delivery room, she would be sorely disappointed when it was forcibly dashed to pieces...