Chapter 48: A Safe Place
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...
I'm going to play the brain tumour card this time. Going through a LOT of medical stuff at the moment (does 20 pills a day make me a junkie even if they're boring pills? ha!) In any case, I have to grudgingly admit how the gears in my head turn if they turn at all. So I thank you, from the bottom of my heart for your patience in staying with me. I promise there IS an end to this story. I have another 50,000 words AT LEAST written for previous chapters (more drama,sorry!) - just not for the middle ones it seems. As always your feedback brings the dulled synapses in my brain back to life and inspire me to acts of purpose and action rather than just sitting dumbly and waiting for my doctors to find the miracle cure/combination to heal my brain. Please excuse the grammar/typos as I just don't have the energy to go through like my ex English major self would prefer in an ideal world...
Your reviews really do inspire my brain & cause it to remember who I am, and who I am as a writer & why I do it. XO - TLH
Once they had finally (according to the girls) reached their destination after 3 hours and seven restroom stops, Andy parked the minivan (if a gleaming black monster of a Cadillac could be called a minivan) close to the cottage (if the gleaming white monster of a beach house could be considered a cottage) so that they were able to unload their things. The girls, of course were the first ones out of the car, with Andy and Miranda both exiting their sides of the vehicle. Andy took a moment to lean against the door and breathe in the fresh air, until a frightened 'Mom!" pierced her ears and her heart jumped into her throat as she ran around the back of the car to see an unstable Miranda with a white knuckled grip on the door handle and a terrified Cassidy holding tightly to her mother's arm, just as her mother held tightly to her shoulder.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not!" this time it was Caroline who spoke, and placed two small hands on her mother's free arm as she looked at her and then at Andy. "She started to get out of the car, and her face went all white and she swayed like she was going to faint again!" the little girl got more and more worked up as she recalled the previous times she had seen Miranda unsteady on her feet or collapse.
Andy had come to wrap her arm bracingly around Miranda's waist as she stood beside her and held some of the older woman's weight without letting on to the girls their mother's weakness.
"No baby," Andy used her free hand to brush back the hair from Caroline's head as she looked wildly from mother to mother with tears in her eyes. She communicated with Miranda silently, through their eyes and continued once she had received an answer she was satisfied with.
"It's not like the other times. It's because she's been sitting so long in the car that all the blood rushed to her head when she stood up, you know like when you get a headrush sometimes?"
The little girl nodded and neither women missed the fact that the two girls had joined hands just as they always did when they needed comfort.
"But I do think it would be a good idea for your mom to rest while we get the car unpacked. Then we'll be ready for fun stuff later."
"Stuff?" Miranda murmured against Andy's neck as she leaned against the younger woman a little more heavily and smiled, soothing a still uneasy Andy.
"Ok, let's get your mom into the house so we can start bringing the rest of the stu-, um, luggage in."
"Andrea, I thought we had spoken before about referring to carting me around as though I were luggage."
"If you stopped passing out on me, I wouldn't need to." Andy shot back, partly serious and Miranda rolled her eyes slightly although her thoughts were on the partial validity of the younger woman's argument.
Using Andrea's arm for balance, Miranda bent to kiss both auburn heads. "I'll be fine my darlings, and tonight we can start doing all the activities we have planned.
With most of the worry gone from their minds, the girls ran to the back of the SUV to do their best in dealing with the heavy luggage Andrea knew she would be doing the lion's share of later.
Andy watched the most minute relaxation of Miranda's shoulders as they approached the clapboard building and the wooden steps that led up to the verandah and into the house. The older woman breathed in the familiar smell of wood and salt and sea and felt a peace settle in her soul that still held a wistful note.
A wide, airy living area with white shuttered windows and walls of the palest blue met them as they came through the front door and gave the space a homey, seaside feel even with the state of the art shining chrome and marble that made up the kitchen just off to the lef
Miranda started towards the stairs, but Andy pulled her back gently by the hand and Miranda nodded once her assent to remaining on the main floor instead of taking on the challenge of the wending staircase when it still felt like she still hadn't gotten her 'land legs'.
It was warm enough still with the sun shining in through the windows that Miranda didn't require a blanket, and with a grace that would never cease to amaze Andrea, accepted the younger woman's hand and lowered herself to the sofa, elegantly tucking her legs in after slipping off the simple Gucci flats she had worn up.
Andrea stayed crouched at her level, seeing in the older woman's face that she had something to say but didn't want to say it. She threaded her hand through the seablown white locks and waited.
"Andrea, I, I wonder if…"
"Anything," Andy breathed into the pink sell of hear ear before letting her lips skim gently down her jaw.
"I wonder if, it would be possible, for the babies I mean, if it would be sensible if in this position…"
Now Andy got it and she tipped her head back as she laughed and reared back to really and truly kiss Miranda, whose lips she felt purse and her cheeks burn against hers. "Like I said, my love, anything."
Andy returned after a few minutes with the item in question that Miranda so desired and yet had been reticent to ask for.
She watched as the older woman arranged the blue pillow from the car until she was comfortable, and Andrea threaded her fingers with Miranda, and both women looked at the brilliant glitter of their diamonds in the morning sun feeling the firmness beneath them as they locked over Miranda's stomach, as close as they could be to holding their children.
A call in the distance broke the reverie of the two women and Andy smiled, shaking her head and turning it towards her older children, before turning back once again to press her lips to Miranda's mouth and then to her belly and its precious contents. Andy stroked Miranda's forelock back one more time. "I love you," and then even quieter, so much so that Miranda didn't know whether Andrea had meant for her to hear it. "Thank you".
Normally, Miranda was at least initially slightly uncomfortable with unprompted declarations of love or praise or affection. But, she thought as she watched the brunette run down the hall as noisily as her daughters, perhaps it was that the remarkable woman actually meant what she said that made it acceptable in a way no other proclamation or accolade ever have been. Andrea made her feel…worthy, of love, and had decided, for whatever reason to place her heart in the impure, the flawed and unworthy hands of Miranda Priestly.
The exhaustion that followed her wherever she went now in this pregnancy took over, and the editor fell asleep to the sounds of her wife, or soon-to-be wife, playing with her precious girls whom she knew the younger woman loved as deeply and fiercely as though they were the ones she could never have.
Her last thoughts were of thankfulness that she had all of her family safe, under one roof away from the smog and smut of the city. Herself, Andrea, Caroline and Cassidy…and, she closed her eyes and focused on the bright little movements beneath her hand, the babies whom she knew, every member of this family and more, would ensure, through force or faith, would be born.
Kneeling next to the couch, Andy stroked the white lock as she studied the older woman's face and ran her eyes down the length of her body as if to see if anything was amiss. Turning her head back to her lover, she kissed her forehead and then her nose, her cheek and finally her lips, rising up on her knees so that her arms were on either side of the editor as she held herself above the slowly waking fashion maven.
"I'm so glad you were able to rest," she stroked a pale, but healthy coloured cheek before she rested her hand over the swell. "You look so much better after getting some sleep once we were out of the city."
"This place always seems to have this effect on me. It's a source of regret that I can't get up here more often."
"Hey, I was serious when I said I wanted you to relax. No work in any form, you understand me Priestly."
"I think I'll rest here a bit longer while you and the girls get settled. It seems as though the babies are enthusiastic about the trip as well. They're very active."
"Ugh, I wish I could see them now, through ultrasound I mean. They're getting so big."
"Of that, I am supremely aware."
"Alright, I'm just going to bring you a glass of water," Miranda grimaced so that Andrea couldn't see. "And then I'll finish unpacking."
A crash could be heard from one of the upper lofts upstairs.
"And make sure the house is still standing."
Andrea disappeared towards the noise and Miranda stretched out, catlike, on the sofa, raising her arms above her head before bringing them down once more.
Focusing her energies inward and closing her eyes, Miranda inhaled the faint scent of pine from the structure of the room with its posts and beams and the scent of the sea breeze mingled with the freshness of the forest.
A foot pressed outward on her left side and could be seen through her clothing. She covered the protruding lump with her hand, feeling her baby and focusing on what they looked like and how they were tangled together in her womb just as Andrea had wished for.
Then the foot disappeared and a series of kicks rolled across her stomach. Focusing on the babies movements, Miranda's brow furrowed in concentration as she attempted to figure out the babies' position and what was where. Her hand disappearing underneath her belly, she pressed her hand against the stretched skin and smiled as her hand cupped the head of one baby. She tracked the tiny form, whom se thought to be Baby A and moved over the centre-right, underneath her breast where again she could feel the wide expanse of a back. Her arms encircling her belly, she sent yet another silent prayer, falling asleep as she rested her hands on the same distended stomach that pinned her to the couch.
Andy began to call Miranda's name, thinking the older woman was in the kitchen, starting dinner, but stopped as she came down the spiral iron staircase to see the editor, once again, stretched out on the sofa, soundly asleep.
Rummaging through the closet now that the day had gotten cooler Andy threw the blanket over the sleeping form, careful not to wake her lover as she slept. Andy heard a soft sigh as Miranda shifted slightly in her sleep to wriggle further underneath the warmth of the blanket and turn her face into the softness of the cushion her head rested on. The outline apparent even covered by the woollen throw, Andy could see that the hand not beneath Miranda's head curved around her belly, gently cradling the ever-expanding bump. Gently she rested a hand against her belly before sending up a silent prayer of her own and returning to the kitchen where the girls seemed to be arguing over popcorn or s'mores for movie night. Andrea's heart swelled as she stood between the two rooms. 'My girls, she thought lovingly before snorting and realizing her mistake. 'And my boy'.
"Alright you two, what's the damage so far?"
"Okay, so we've had this BRILLIANT idea!" Cassidy started, and Caroline nodded and continued just as enthusiastically. "So we didn't know whether to pick popcorn or s'mores for movie night and we KNEW mom would never let us have both and were just about to flip a coin when…" Cassidy jumped back in. "We came up with SMOPCORN!" Isn't that genius? We can just combine two great things together!"
Andy had a hard time keeping a straight face at 'smopcorn' but she controlled her features into what she hoped was somewhat of a parental expression. "Girls, I really don't think that's one of the options. That would be like dumping ice cream on cake,"
"Umm, you mean ICE CREAM CAKE? That already exists Andy, and it's awesome, PLEASE?"
Before Andy could answer though, the unmistakeable presence of Miranda Priestly could be felt sweep through the room.
"It seems to me our children have come up with an entirely logical solution to the problem at hand, although I refuse to repeat the name, I shan't stifle the creative input of my children."
"Our, babe, ours…" As she spoke she stepped behind Miranda to speak softly in her ear. And that's when she felt it, not a contraction or a movement from the babies, but a rumble beneath her hands that she had become accustomed to in an increasing fashion over the last months.
"Oh my God,"
The tips of Miranda's ears began to redden and Andy hid her face in the older woman's shoulder as she tried to stifle her laugh.
"Girls, perhaps now that we have this issue sorted out, you two could decide on a film for this evening while Andrea and I work on the creation of this concoction that won't result in the destruction of this kitchen," her eyes lifted ever so lightly to see chocolate fingerprint on the cabinetry and the girls were quick to exit before any repercussions could be discussed.
The two women proceeded not only to create a questionable mound of sticky and as Miranda put it 'abhorrently destructive' snacks, on which she insisted the girls eat on a towel instead of the light beige couch, but they also managed to put together a somewhat healthy meal to counterbalance the sugar apocalypse happening in the other room.
Andy spent the movie in bliss, curled up on the couch with Miranda. She couldn't have even told you what the movie was, she spent the next two hours touching and brushing and pressing kisses to all the places her lips could reach. Miranda lapped it up, which was still a bit disconcerting for her given her past relationships and preferences for carefully orchestrated displays of affection. But as Andy's hands ran over every part of her body, kneading and rubbing the sore joints and worshipfully caressing the firm skin beneath which they could both feel strong movements, Miranda actually felt peace in that moment. That most elusive of emotions that continued to plague her even with the presence of Andrea in her life. She had demons still, but now, wrapped in a blanket and skillfully caressed with hands that bore her ring. Her promise to Andrea and Andrea to her. She felt kisses along her shoulder and sighed, not even opening her eyes as she attempted to imprint this moment and this peace in her brain. The soft sigh she didn't even know she had made igniting a further fire in the brunette's heart that told her that this was her family and that this was where she belonged. And she would take care of them with every fibre of her being, her gaze swept fondly over the two redheads engrossed in the film before resting on Miranda's face at peace. She was going to marry this amazing woman who still managed to be a mother, an editor, an icon and her fiancée all the while carrying this load of guilt and worry and fear Andy thought made her ill in a way beyond what her medical diagnoses and symptoms did. Miranda Priestly refused to think of herself as 'ill' and so it was Andy's job to make her feel as such. But acting as though she were well was a double-sided knife and Andy held the truthfully fragile woman in her arms as the movie finished. Luckily, the end was sappy enough that Andy could get away with the tears in the corners of her eyes when the girls, eagle eyed as their mother, questioned her about it.
As always, Miranda had pinned her to the couch and Andy grinned up at the girls. "Oh man guys, if you're mother weren't carrying your brother and sister, I bet we could scare her so bad having fun waking her up."
A chill fell across the room and every woman felt it. "And how," came the slow, cool drawl beneath Andrea's right shoulder. "Would you plan on doing so?" Now an eyebrow lurched upwards in contrast to the three that were drawn tight together with worry. A long moment passed before the pale eyebrow relaxed as did her mouth into a smile as the four of them managed to get themselves upright.
"Off to bed, my little heathens and don't forget to brush your teeth after that hideous concoction."
Andy smirked slightly as the two sleepy girls made their way upstairs, worn out by the day's smirk deepened as she looked at Miranda. "Umm, darling, you have a little chocolate, just there."
Miranda's hand flew to her face and she scowled. "Don't you dare laugh at me.
"Nope. Wouldn't dream of it," Andy suppressed a smile as she went to gather the bowls from the other room and return it to a presentable state.
When she returned to the kitchen, she could tell at once that the atmosphere had changed. Miranda stood by the countertop, facing the sink and the window through which the darkening sky could be seen and upon which the first of the raindrops had begun to fall guided by the wind off the sea. Andy's arms stole around the older woman's waist, fingers coming together to interlock underneath the bump so that some of the weight was taken off her back. Miranda stiffened at first and then sighed, relaxing into and submitting to the embrace in a way that Andy knew meant she was still feeling a little sore and achy even after her nap.
"Look at me, Andrea. I'm useless. I can't even get close enough to the damn sink to do the dishes," Miranda gestured to the way her stomach pressed against the counter, getting in the way of her being able to reach into the soapy water.
"Shhh, no stress remember?" Andy nuzzled the ear beneath her lips. "We came up here so you could relax, not so you could prove your worth at housekeeping. Don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them later."
"You do too much already, Andrea," Miranda said fretfully.
"You're giving me a family, Miranda…Let me contribute, please. Let me do my part to protect my family."
Miranda turned in Andy's arms to curl into her chest and press herself to the younger woman as best as she could despite her swollen waistline and she huffed tearfully, even as she hid her face from view.
Andy bit back a fond smile at the obviously hormonal woman's actions before ducking her head to steal a kiss from the pouting lips.
"I shouldn't be this tired," Miranda complained uncharacteristically, but now too exhausted to even summon the anger and frustration she felt and tried to communicate with her words as they got ready for bed later that night. "I've done absolutely nothing today - and don't come back with a response of 'growing the babies'. She shot a look at Andy who was changing into her own sleeping attire of shorts and a tank top across the room.
"What, you don't think they haven't grown a little even just today?" Andy teased, walking over to the bed before kneeling on the comforter and framing the bump with her hands as if measuring it. Her actions had the intended result as Miranda visibly rolled her eyes at the woman straddling her legs and cast off the previously petulant tone from her voice.
"You are ridiculous, have I told you that?"
"Mmm," Andy pretended to think hard as she reached for the pot of cream on the bedside table and spread it between her palms. "Maybe once or twice."
Miranda snorted lightly, but her tone was soft and almost painfully sincere as she continued to speak. "You, you said earlier that I was giving you a family, but it's you, Andrea, that makes us a family. I love my children desperately, but I don't doubt for one moment that you make me a better mother to them"
"Sweet talker," Andy had begun to work the cream into Miranda's tired feet and ankles and was continuing the firm massage up her calves as she leaned forward for a kiss in response to Miranda's surprising confession of love.
Reclining back against the headboard, Miranda watched, drowsy now with pleasure at the sensations being stimulated by the brunette's nimble fingers that worked away the tiredness in her joints, which took care to soothe rather than inflame and incite the blood in her veins so that she was barely able to keep her eyes open as the young woman pressed a kiss to her lips before working the lotion into the tight skin that stretched over her distended womb that felt increasingly infinite in its capacity to grow and stretch, rounding out further it seemed, every day.
She tried to open her eyes once more as she heard some murmured comment and the words 'babies' and 'sweet' and something about a 'tummy rub', but the somnolent lure of Andrea's hands was too much for her tired mind and equally fatigued body and she simply gave a 'Hmmm' in response as she let her eyes close once more.
"It's so sweet," Andy commented as she rubbed cream into the skin of the editor's belly. "I swear the babies are just like you and they stop kicking and go right to sleep when I rub your belly like this at night." She looked up, expecting to see Miranda grin wryly or roll her eyes, but the piercing blues had fluttered closed and her head had dropped gently to the side as the older woman finally, finally, succumbed to her exhaustion and the soporific effects of the warm bath and massage. "Told ya," Andy whispered softly, once again struck by her incredible luck at having Miranda in her life and expecting to welcome and parent four, not just two but four new additions as they were engaged to be engaged.
Taking said woman into her arms, Andy sent up a prayer of thanks and a plea to whoever was out there to keep watching over her family. The girls had gotten over their jealousy for the most part, and were back to being the lovable little girls Andy knew them to be; but she couldn't help but worry about how achy Miranda seemed to be, even after an evening of lounging watching movies followed by a warm bath and an hour of Andy's hands on her body. The toll this pregnancy was taking on the editor was becoming ever more apparent as her due date grew nearer. Part of Andy knew it was best for the babies that Miranda carry them as long as possible, but on the other hand Andy was becoming increasingly unsure that plan was best for Miranda and she wondered in the privacy of her own mind just how much more the older woman's body could take before the damage done was irreparable and the toll taken measurable in years. Already she knew that her time with Miranda would be all too short compared to other couples, and she didn't want to think about that. She shivered despite the warm summer air that fluttered the curtains in the windows of the expensive home and snuggled deeper under the covers with the woman who would soon be her wife, for many many years she prayed as she fell asleep.
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...
I'm going to play the brain tumour card this time. Going through a LOT of medical stuff at the moment (does 20 pills a day make me a junkie even if they're boring pills? ha!) In any case, I have to grudgingly admit how the gears in my head turn if they turn at all. So I thank you, from the bottom of my heart for your patience in staying with me. I promise there IS an end to this story. I have another 50,000 words AT LEAST written for previous chapters (more drama,sorry!) - just not for the middle ones it seems. As always your feedback brings the dulled synapses in my brain back to life and inspire me to acts of purpose and action rather than just sitting dumbly and waiting for my doctors to find the miracle cure/combination to heal my brain. Please excuse the grammar/typos as I just don't have the energy to go through like my ex English major self would prefer in an ideal world...
Your reviews really do inspire my brain & cause it to remember who I am, and who I am as a writer & why I do it. XO - TLH
Once they had finally (according to the girls) reached their destination after 3 hours and seven restroom stops, Andy parked the minivan (if a gleaming black monster of a Cadillac could be called a minivan) close to the cottage (if the gleaming white monster of a beach house could be considered a cottage) so that they were able to unload their things. The girls, of course were the first ones out of the car, with Andy and Miranda both exiting their sides of the vehicle. Andy took a moment to lean against the door and breathe in the fresh air, until a frightened 'Mom!" pierced her ears and her heart jumped into her throat as she ran around the back of the car to see an unstable Miranda with a white knuckled grip on the door handle and a terrified Cassidy holding tightly to her mother's arm, just as her mother held tightly to her shoulder.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not!" this time it was Caroline who spoke, and placed two small hands on her mother's free arm as she looked at her and then at Andy. "She started to get out of the car, and her face went all white and she swayed like she was going to faint again!" the little girl got more and more worked up as she recalled the previous times she had seen Miranda unsteady on her feet or collapse.
Andy had come to wrap her arm bracingly around Miranda's waist as she stood beside her and held some of the older woman's weight without letting on to the girls their mother's weakness.
"No baby," Andy used her free hand to brush back the hair from Caroline's head as she looked wildly from mother to mother with tears in her eyes. She communicated with Miranda silently, through their eyes and continued once she had received an answer she was satisfied with.
"It's not like the other times. It's because she's been sitting so long in the car that all the blood rushed to her head when she stood up, you know like when you get a headrush sometimes?"
The little girl nodded and neither women missed the fact that the two girls had joined hands just as they always did when they needed comfort.
"But I do think it would be a good idea for your mom to rest while we get the car unpacked. Then we'll be ready for fun stuff later."
"Stuff?" Miranda murmured against Andy's neck as she leaned against the younger woman a little more heavily and smiled, soothing a still uneasy Andy.
"Ok, let's get your mom into the house so we can start bringing the rest of the stu-, um, luggage in."
"Andrea, I thought we had spoken before about referring to carting me around as though I were luggage."
"If you stopped passing out on me, I wouldn't need to." Andy shot back, partly serious and Miranda rolled her eyes slightly although her thoughts were on the partial validity of the younger woman's argument.
Using Andrea's arm for balance, Miranda bent to kiss both auburn heads. "I'll be fine my darlings, and tonight we can start doing all the activities we have planned.
With most of the worry gone from their minds, the girls ran to the back of the SUV to do their best in dealing with the heavy luggage Andrea knew she would be doing the lion's share of later.
Andy watched the most minute relaxation of Miranda's shoulders as they approached the clapboard building and the wooden steps that led up to the verandah and into the house. The older woman breathed in the familiar smell of wood and salt and sea and felt a peace settle in her soul that still held a wistful note.
A wide, airy living area with white shuttered windows and walls of the palest blue met them as they came through the front door and gave the space a homey, seaside feel even with the state of the art shining chrome and marble that made up the kitchen just off to the lef
Miranda started towards the stairs, but Andy pulled her back gently by the hand and Miranda nodded once her assent to remaining on the main floor instead of taking on the challenge of the wending staircase when it still felt like she still hadn't gotten her 'land legs'.
It was warm enough still with the sun shining in through the windows that Miranda didn't require a blanket, and with a grace that would never cease to amaze Andrea, accepted the younger woman's hand and lowered herself to the sofa, elegantly tucking her legs in after slipping off the simple Gucci flats she had worn up.
Andrea stayed crouched at her level, seeing in the older woman's face that she had something to say but didn't want to say it. She threaded her hand through the seablown white locks and waited.
"Andrea, I, I wonder if…"
"Anything," Andy breathed into the pink sell of hear ear before letting her lips skim gently down her jaw.
"I wonder if, it would be possible, for the babies I mean, if it would be sensible if in this position…"
Now Andy got it and she tipped her head back as she laughed and reared back to really and truly kiss Miranda, whose lips she felt purse and her cheeks burn against hers. "Like I said, my love, anything."
Andy returned after a few minutes with the item in question that Miranda so desired and yet had been reticent to ask for.
She watched as the older woman arranged the blue pillow from the car until she was comfortable, and Andrea threaded her fingers with Miranda, and both women looked at the brilliant glitter of their diamonds in the morning sun feeling the firmness beneath them as they locked over Miranda's stomach, as close as they could be to holding their children.
A call in the distance broke the reverie of the two women and Andy smiled, shaking her head and turning it towards her older children, before turning back once again to press her lips to Miranda's mouth and then to her belly and its precious contents. Andy stroked Miranda's forelock back one more time. "I love you," and then even quieter, so much so that Miranda didn't know whether Andrea had meant for her to hear it. "Thank you".
Normally, Miranda was at least initially slightly uncomfortable with unprompted declarations of love or praise or affection. But, she thought as she watched the brunette run down the hall as noisily as her daughters, perhaps it was that the remarkable woman actually meant what she said that made it acceptable in a way no other proclamation or accolade ever have been. Andrea made her feel…worthy, of love, and had decided, for whatever reason to place her heart in the impure, the flawed and unworthy hands of Miranda Priestly.
The exhaustion that followed her wherever she went now in this pregnancy took over, and the editor fell asleep to the sounds of her wife, or soon-to-be wife, playing with her precious girls whom she knew the younger woman loved as deeply and fiercely as though they were the ones she could never have.
Her last thoughts were of thankfulness that she had all of her family safe, under one roof away from the smog and smut of the city. Herself, Andrea, Caroline and Cassidy…and, she closed her eyes and focused on the bright little movements beneath her hand, the babies whom she knew, every member of this family and more, would ensure, through force or faith, would be born.
Kneeling next to the couch, Andy stroked the white lock as she studied the older woman's face and ran her eyes down the length of her body as if to see if anything was amiss. Turning her head back to her lover, she kissed her forehead and then her nose, her cheek and finally her lips, rising up on her knees so that her arms were on either side of the editor as she held herself above the slowly waking fashion maven.
"I'm so glad you were able to rest," she stroked a pale, but healthy coloured cheek before she rested her hand over the swell. "You look so much better after getting some sleep once we were out of the city."
"This place always seems to have this effect on me. It's a source of regret that I can't get up here more often."
"Hey, I was serious when I said I wanted you to relax. No work in any form, you understand me Priestly."
"I think I'll rest here a bit longer while you and the girls get settled. It seems as though the babies are enthusiastic about the trip as well. They're very active."
"Ugh, I wish I could see them now, through ultrasound I mean. They're getting so big."
"Of that, I am supremely aware."
"Alright, I'm just going to bring you a glass of water," Miranda grimaced so that Andrea couldn't see. "And then I'll finish unpacking."
A crash could be heard from one of the upper lofts upstairs.
"And make sure the house is still standing."
Andrea disappeared towards the noise and Miranda stretched out, catlike, on the sofa, raising her arms above her head before bringing them down once more.
Focusing her energies inward and closing her eyes, Miranda inhaled the faint scent of pine from the structure of the room with its posts and beams and the scent of the sea breeze mingled with the freshness of the forest.
A foot pressed outward on her left side and could be seen through her clothing. She covered the protruding lump with her hand, feeling her baby and focusing on what they looked like and how they were tangled together in her womb just as Andrea had wished for.
Then the foot disappeared and a series of kicks rolled across her stomach. Focusing on the babies movements, Miranda's brow furrowed in concentration as she attempted to figure out the babies' position and what was where. Her hand disappearing underneath her belly, she pressed her hand against the stretched skin and smiled as her hand cupped the head of one baby. She tracked the tiny form, whom se thought to be Baby A and moved over the centre-right, underneath her breast where again she could feel the wide expanse of a back. Her arms encircling her belly, she sent yet another silent prayer, falling asleep as she rested her hands on the same distended stomach that pinned her to the couch.
Andy began to call Miranda's name, thinking the older woman was in the kitchen, starting dinner, but stopped as she came down the spiral iron staircase to see the editor, once again, stretched out on the sofa, soundly asleep.
Rummaging through the closet now that the day had gotten cooler Andy threw the blanket over the sleeping form, careful not to wake her lover as she slept. Andy heard a soft sigh as Miranda shifted slightly in her sleep to wriggle further underneath the warmth of the blanket and turn her face into the softness of the cushion her head rested on. The outline apparent even covered by the woollen throw, Andy could see that the hand not beneath Miranda's head curved around her belly, gently cradling the ever-expanding bump. Gently she rested a hand against her belly before sending up a silent prayer of her own and returning to the kitchen where the girls seemed to be arguing over popcorn or s'mores for movie night. Andrea's heart swelled as she stood between the two rooms. 'My girls, she thought lovingly before snorting and realizing her mistake. 'And my boy'.
"Alright you two, what's the damage so far?"
"Okay, so we've had this BRILLIANT idea!" Cassidy started, and Caroline nodded and continued just as enthusiastically. "So we didn't know whether to pick popcorn or s'mores for movie night and we KNEW mom would never let us have both and were just about to flip a coin when…" Cassidy jumped back in. "We came up with SMOPCORN!" Isn't that genius? We can just combine two great things together!"
Andy had a hard time keeping a straight face at 'smopcorn' but she controlled her features into what she hoped was somewhat of a parental expression. "Girls, I really don't think that's one of the options. That would be like dumping ice cream on cake,"
"Umm, you mean ICE CREAM CAKE? That already exists Andy, and it's awesome, PLEASE?"
Before Andy could answer though, the unmistakeable presence of Miranda Priestly could be felt sweep through the room.
"It seems to me our children have come up with an entirely logical solution to the problem at hand, although I refuse to repeat the name, I shan't stifle the creative input of my children."
"Our, babe, ours…" As she spoke she stepped behind Miranda to speak softly in her ear. And that's when she felt it, not a contraction or a movement from the babies, but a rumble beneath her hands that she had become accustomed to in an increasing fashion over the last months.
"Oh my God,"
The tips of Miranda's ears began to redden and Andy hid her face in the older woman's shoulder as she tried to stifle her laugh.
"Girls, perhaps now that we have this issue sorted out, you two could decide on a film for this evening while Andrea and I work on the creation of this concoction that won't result in the destruction of this kitchen," her eyes lifted ever so lightly to see chocolate fingerprint on the cabinetry and the girls were quick to exit before any repercussions could be discussed.
The two women proceeded not only to create a questionable mound of sticky and as Miranda put it 'abhorrently destructive' snacks, on which she insisted the girls eat on a towel instead of the light beige couch, but they also managed to put together a somewhat healthy meal to counterbalance the sugar apocalypse happening in the other room.
Andy spent the movie in bliss, curled up on the couch with Miranda. She couldn't have even told you what the movie was, she spent the next two hours touching and brushing and pressing kisses to all the places her lips could reach. Miranda lapped it up, which was still a bit disconcerting for her given her past relationships and preferences for carefully orchestrated displays of affection. But as Andy's hands ran over every part of her body, kneading and rubbing the sore joints and worshipfully caressing the firm skin beneath which they could both feel strong movements, Miranda actually felt peace in that moment. That most elusive of emotions that continued to plague her even with the presence of Andrea in her life. She had demons still, but now, wrapped in a blanket and skillfully caressed with hands that bore her ring. Her promise to Andrea and Andrea to her. She felt kisses along her shoulder and sighed, not even opening her eyes as she attempted to imprint this moment and this peace in her brain. The soft sigh she didn't even know she had made igniting a further fire in the brunette's heart that told her that this was her family and that this was where she belonged. And she would take care of them with every fibre of her being, her gaze swept fondly over the two redheads engrossed in the film before resting on Miranda's face at peace. She was going to marry this amazing woman who still managed to be a mother, an editor, an icon and her fiancée all the while carrying this load of guilt and worry and fear Andy thought made her ill in a way beyond what her medical diagnoses and symptoms did. Miranda Priestly refused to think of herself as 'ill' and so it was Andy's job to make her feel as such. But acting as though she were well was a double-sided knife and Andy held the truthfully fragile woman in her arms as the movie finished. Luckily, the end was sappy enough that Andy could get away with the tears in the corners of her eyes when the girls, eagle eyed as their mother, questioned her about it.
As always, Miranda had pinned her to the couch and Andy grinned up at the girls. "Oh man guys, if you're mother weren't carrying your brother and sister, I bet we could scare her so bad having fun waking her up."
A chill fell across the room and every woman felt it. "And how," came the slow, cool drawl beneath Andrea's right shoulder. "Would you plan on doing so?" Now an eyebrow lurched upwards in contrast to the three that were drawn tight together with worry. A long moment passed before the pale eyebrow relaxed as did her mouth into a smile as the four of them managed to get themselves upright.
"Off to bed, my little heathens and don't forget to brush your teeth after that hideous concoction."
Andy smirked slightly as the two sleepy girls made their way upstairs, worn out by the day's smirk deepened as she looked at Miranda. "Umm, darling, you have a little chocolate, just there."
Miranda's hand flew to her face and she scowled. "Don't you dare laugh at me.
"Nope. Wouldn't dream of it," Andy suppressed a smile as she went to gather the bowls from the other room and return it to a presentable state.
When she returned to the kitchen, she could tell at once that the atmosphere had changed. Miranda stood by the countertop, facing the sink and the window through which the darkening sky could be seen and upon which the first of the raindrops had begun to fall guided by the wind off the sea. Andy's arms stole around the older woman's waist, fingers coming together to interlock underneath the bump so that some of the weight was taken off her back. Miranda stiffened at first and then sighed, relaxing into and submitting to the embrace in a way that Andy knew meant she was still feeling a little sore and achy even after her nap.
"Look at me, Andrea. I'm useless. I can't even get close enough to the damn sink to do the dishes," Miranda gestured to the way her stomach pressed against the counter, getting in the way of her being able to reach into the soapy water.
"Shhh, no stress remember?" Andy nuzzled the ear beneath her lips. "We came up here so you could relax, not so you could prove your worth at housekeeping. Don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them later."
"You do too much already, Andrea," Miranda said fretfully.
"You're giving me a family, Miranda…Let me contribute, please. Let me do my part to protect my family."
Miranda turned in Andy's arms to curl into her chest and press herself to the younger woman as best as she could despite her swollen waistline and she huffed tearfully, even as she hid her face from view.
Andy bit back a fond smile at the obviously hormonal woman's actions before ducking her head to steal a kiss from the pouting lips.
"I shouldn't be this tired," Miranda complained uncharacteristically, but now too exhausted to even summon the anger and frustration she felt and tried to communicate with her words as they got ready for bed later that night. "I've done absolutely nothing today - and don't come back with a response of 'growing the babies'. She shot a look at Andy who was changing into her own sleeping attire of shorts and a tank top across the room.
"What, you don't think they haven't grown a little even just today?" Andy teased, walking over to the bed before kneeling on the comforter and framing the bump with her hands as if measuring it. Her actions had the intended result as Miranda visibly rolled her eyes at the woman straddling her legs and cast off the previously petulant tone from her voice.
"You are ridiculous, have I told you that?"
"Mmm," Andy pretended to think hard as she reached for the pot of cream on the bedside table and spread it between her palms. "Maybe once or twice."
Miranda snorted lightly, but her tone was soft and almost painfully sincere as she continued to speak. "You, you said earlier that I was giving you a family, but it's you, Andrea, that makes us a family. I love my children desperately, but I don't doubt for one moment that you make me a better mother to them"
"Sweet talker," Andy had begun to work the cream into Miranda's tired feet and ankles and was continuing the firm massage up her calves as she leaned forward for a kiss in response to Miranda's surprising confession of love.
Reclining back against the headboard, Miranda watched, drowsy now with pleasure at the sensations being stimulated by the brunette's nimble fingers that worked away the tiredness in her joints, which took care to soothe rather than inflame and incite the blood in her veins so that she was barely able to keep her eyes open as the young woman pressed a kiss to her lips before working the lotion into the tight skin that stretched over her distended womb that felt increasingly infinite in its capacity to grow and stretch, rounding out further it seemed, every day.
She tried to open her eyes once more as she heard some murmured comment and the words 'babies' and 'sweet' and something about a 'tummy rub', but the somnolent lure of Andrea's hands was too much for her tired mind and equally fatigued body and she simply gave a 'Hmmm' in response as she let her eyes close once more.
"It's so sweet," Andy commented as she rubbed cream into the skin of the editor's belly. "I swear the babies are just like you and they stop kicking and go right to sleep when I rub your belly like this at night." She looked up, expecting to see Miranda grin wryly or roll her eyes, but the piercing blues had fluttered closed and her head had dropped gently to the side as the older woman finally, finally, succumbed to her exhaustion and the soporific effects of the warm bath and massage. "Told ya," Andy whispered softly, once again struck by her incredible luck at having Miranda in her life and expecting to welcome and parent four, not just two but four new additions as they were engaged to be engaged.
Taking said woman into her arms, Andy sent up a prayer of thanks and a plea to whoever was out there to keep watching over her family. The girls had gotten over their jealousy for the most part, and were back to being the lovable little girls Andy knew them to be; but she couldn't help but worry about how achy Miranda seemed to be, even after an evening of lounging watching movies followed by a warm bath and an hour of Andy's hands on her body. The toll this pregnancy was taking on the editor was becoming ever more apparent as her due date grew nearer. Part of Andy knew it was best for the babies that Miranda carry them as long as possible, but on the other hand Andy was becoming increasingly unsure that plan was best for Miranda and she wondered in the privacy of her own mind just how much more the older woman's body could take before the damage done was irreparable and the toll taken measurable in years. Already she knew that her time with Miranda would be all too short compared to other couples, and she didn't want to think about that. She shivered despite the warm summer air that fluttered the curtains in the windows of the expensive home and snuggled deeper under the covers with the woman who would soon be her wife, for many many years she prayed as she fell asleep.