A/N – "Thoughts"
A/N 2 – Chapter 12 is a continuation of Chapter 11.
Chapter 12 – And Baby Makes Four
Roughly an hour after their argument, Miranda was sound asleep on their bed, cradling and clinging to Gordo's pillow. In the back of her mind, they had a fight, nothing new about that. It was the nature of their relationship, they'd fight about something and after cooling off, they would make up. This time was really no different. It was just that Miranda's mind and emotions were getting a little too carried away, and she seemed to be bouncing from one extreme to the other and back again.
As she slept, she didn't hear the car pull into the driveway and the engine shut off. Nor did she hear the opening of the front door and the sound of Sammy charging up the stairs, then down the hall to her room. What did wake her was the click of the bedroom door opening.
"Mir?" Gordo asked softly, and a little warily.
Stirring at the sound of the door, Miranda's eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. Jumping off the bed, she charged at Gordo. Surprised and unsure of what she was doing, Gordo instinctively took a step back as she slammed into him. Miranda immediately wrapped her arms tightly around his stomach and buried her face against his neck. Wrapping his own arms around her, Gordo could feel her crying as he held her, and could just make out her mumbling something.
"Hey. What's wrong?" As he held her, his mind started racing. "She's crying. This is not good. What the hell is wrong?"
Taking a shaky, steadying breath, Miranda slowly lifted her head.
"Damn." Gordo flinched as he saw her face. "Randi."
"Dave, I'm…I'm sorry about earlier. I…" Miranda paused as she swallowed the lump in her throat, and her pride. It was rare when Miranda was the one apologizing, even when she was wrong. Gordo gave her a curious look, never letting go of her, and she took a deep breath before continuing. "I need to tell you something.
"I think I know why I've been feeling a little…off lately." As she paused again, Gordo thought she was trying to kill him with all these pauses. He wanted to know what was wrong and he wanted to know now.
Miranda looked at his face and freeing an arm from around him, gently ran a hand across his cheek. "I'm pregnant," she said softly, then waited for his reaction.
Gordo stood there for a moment, a little stunned, but slowly, what she just said sunk in. Blinking, "Pregnant?" he half asked, half stated.
When she nodded, Gordo laughed as he picked her up and spun her around. Putting her back on her feet, Miranda swayed a little as she held her stomach. Gordo grinned sheepishly at her. "Sorry."
Miranda tried to give him a stern look but his grin was infectious. "So this is a good thing, right?" she asked, her voice cracking a little.
"Good thing?" Gordo asked rhetorically. "It's great!"
Breathing a sigh of a relief, Miranda rested her forehead against his shoulder. Gordo stroked her back as he kissed the top of her head. "I can handle nine months…I think."
-----
Gordo muttered under his breath as he walked down the street from his home towards the McGuire's. "Why the hell am I going? Why do I come running every time I'm summoned?" he asked himself sarcastically.
Lizzie had called him and basically begged him to come over. Her boyfriend didn't want to come to Hill Ridge to visit her, and Lizzie didn't want to celebrate the New Year alone. At first, Gordo had a hard time understanding why Lizzie's boyfriend wasn't with her. Since the pregnancy scare, the two had rarely been separated for more than a few hours. The pregnancy scare had been brought on by stress. Lizzie had been so worried and wound up about finals that she threw her system out of whack; it just happened to be perfect timing with the last time Thomas and her slept together.
Something else that had happened from the scare, Lizzie was reaching out to Miranda and Gordo. It had put a lot of stuff into perspective for her. She realized that she didn't like how separated she had become from her oldest friends. While he didn't know this, Gordo had a suspicion that she felt responsible for his breakup with Miranda. He wasn't sure how she figured she was responsible, but she would often say she was sad to hear they had broken up.
If he had really thought about it, he may have also wondered why she didn't call Miranda instead of him. Recently, Lizzie and Miranda were a lot closer than he was with her.
Reaching the McGuire's, Gordo paused on the porch for a moment. It was times like these, especially the holidays, that he missed Miranda the most. He'd admit that he did miss her but his pride wouldn't let him go back to her. "She cheated on me. I don't deserve that shit. I want someone who wants to be with me."
Sighing softly, Gordo pushed the feeling aside, and rang the doorbell. He couldn't help but laugh a little when the door opened and he was engulfed in a hug while blonde hair flew widely around him. "Gordo," she said excitedly.
"Hey Liz," he responded as he hugged her back.
"Come on in," Lizzie said as she basically dragged and pushed him inside.
As he walked in, Gordo gave Lizzie a strange look over his shoulder. "What's the rush?" he asked and she just gave him an innocent smile. Looking forward, as he walked into the kitchen, he saw Thomas sitting on the couch. Coming to a dead stop, the two men locked gazes.
Thomas gave Gordo a sympathetic look and said, "It was not my idea."
"Lizzie," Gordo started to say, but he then caught something out of the corner of his eye. "What the hell?" he snapped as he spun around on Lizzie.
Blocking his exit, Lizzie looked up at him. "Just listen to her, please. For me. Afterwards, you can go if you want. I just hate seeing you two not even talking."
Gordo slowly looked over and glared at his ex standing near the back patio doors. Miranda looked down at the floor, not able to look back at Gordo.
"Fine," Gordo muttered under his breath. "I'll listen." Walking across the room, he paused for a moment in front of Miranda, and Miranda slowly looked up at him, shyly. As he finally walked past her and out back, Miranda cast a glance over at Lizzie.
Lizzie tried to give Miranda an encouraging smile and motioned for her to follow Gordo. Miranda took a deep breath, trying to gather her courage before heading outside.
Watching as Miranda shut the door behind her, Lizzie nervously rubbed the back of her neck.
"Was this a smart idea?" Thomas asked from the couch.
Lizzie gave him an annoyed look. "Shut up." Walking over to the couch, she didn't sit down but stood nervously looking at the door, wondering what was happening outside. She had set the stage, she only hoped the players would perform how she wanted.
Outside on the patio, Miranda watched as Gordo simply glared at her. She knew she was the last person Gordo wanted to see at the moment, but at the very least, she had to set things straight.
While Miranda searched for words, Gordo was having a hard time not only focusing on his anger, but keeping his eyes locked on her face. She was wearing a tight pair of blue jeans that hugged her hips, and a tight black shirt that exposed just a little of her belly, as well as his old jean jacket that he had let her borrow last year, and a pair of old Converse.
He knew she was wearing the outfit because of him, she knew exactly what he liked. He tried hard to ignore it, but he did have to smirk, if only for a second, as he noticed what was written across the black t-shirt in silver lettering. "Brunette's Do It Better. Typical Miranda."
"Well?" Gordo asked impatiently.
"I've missed you," Miranda said softly. Gordo snorted and Miranda tried not to snap back. "It's the truth. I want to….I need to set something straight."
Folding his arms across his chest, Gordo waited. Brushing some hair out of her face, Miranda looked away for a moment. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
"Is that it?"
Miranda's eyes flashed dangerously. "Damn it, Gordo! I'm trying to apologize here and you're not making it any easier."
"Why should I?"
"Cause I'm not apologizing for cheating on you! I'm apologizing for lying to you!" she shouted at him. "Why does he have to be so damn frustrating?"
Gordo tilted his head and gave her a curious look. "What?"
"You're an idiot, David. There's no way in hell I'd cheat on you, you mean too much to be both as my friend and as my boyfriend.. I made it up 'cause I wanted to piss you off." Suddenly her voice softened as she continued, "I just didn't realize I'd completely destroy our relationship. But I guess that's me, talking before I think."
"Why?" Gordo slowly moved forward, saying, "I mean, I kinda guess why you wanted to hurt me. But why are you trying going through…all this?"
"Iloveyou," she mumbled under her breath. Miranda jumped in surprise as she felt Gordo's hand gently cup her chin and lift her head up. Drawing in a shaky breath, "How did he get so close?"
"What?" he asked softly. While the scowl was gone, there was no sign of what Gordo was feeling, and it made her nervous.
Still, Miranda couldn't stop from repeating herself. "I…uh….I love you."
A small smile slowly crept on Gordo's face. "I love you too." Then as the countdown to midnight was going on inside the house, Gordo leaned forward and kissed her. While he had intended it to be only a small kiss, the second their lips touched, Miranda wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer and keeping their lips locked.
Coming up for air, Gordo said breathlessly, "Wow. I missed that."
Miranda giggled and then said, "I missed something else." At Gordo's wondering look, Miranda whispered into his ear and then laughed as Gordo's face went bright red.
As they walked back inside, Lizzie and Thomas looked up at them warily.
Miranda grinned at them, "Thanks, Lizzie, for the help."
Lizzie smiled back, "Good." Lizzie came over and hugged her. "I'm glad you're happy again."
Miranda smiled back at her.
"So what now?" Lizzie asked.
Glancing back at Gordo, Miranda's grin widened as she felt his arms wrap around her tightly from behind. "We got a lot of stuff to work through."
"Like learning how to let go and let the other be in control every once in awhile," Gordo said and laughed as she lightly elbowed him in the ribs.
"So think we can try and put a second friendship back together?" Lizzie asked a little shyly.
Both Miranda and Gordo smiled at her. "Hell, if me and Miranda can get back together without spilling any blood," he paused as he laughed when Miranda elbowed him again. "Anything can happen. Why not?" he asked rhetorically.
"I've missed you guys," Lizzie said and they all agreed.
A short time after, Miranda was getting restless and Gordo wasn't helping as he seemed to rubbing her back or shoulders all the time. "Well, if you don't mind," she told Lizzie, "me and Gordo are going to duck out. We've got some stuff to catch up on."
Scrunching up her face, Lizzie said, "I get the idea. Lunch tomorrow?"
"Of course." She then grinned, "I'll give ya all the details."
"Gee thanks," Lizzie said sarcastically and Miranda laughed.
After saying goodbye, and promising they'd double date sometime over the winter break, Miranda and Gordo headed to his empty house to make up for the past six months.
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Gordo was sitting on the bed, his back against the headboard and his legs bent a little. In between his legs, and in his arms, Miranda sat leaning back against his chest.
"Are we ever going to stop fighting?" Miranda asked as she relaxed against Gordo.
Snickering, "I don' think it's possible. It's just who we are. But in the end, we've always found a way to work things out and we do make great things together."
"That reminds me, I gotta call Lizzie after my parents," Miranda said. Lizzie and Thomas hadn't lasted past sophomore year, but eventually Lizzie did find someone to spend the rest of her life with. Lizzie, her husband, and two year old toddler, Jake, had moved back to Hill Ridge last year. It was a quick drive from just outside L.A. to Hill Ridge and vice versa, and the women would have lunch at least once a month.
A light tapping on the slightly open bedroom door drew the couple's attention. "Mommy?" came the timid voice from the hallway.
"Sammy." Miranda winced at the sound of her daughter's voice. "Come here baby," Miranda called.
Samantha warily entered the room, and cautiously looked around. "You not mad at Daddy anymore?"
"No, honey," she told her. "Come here," Miranda said and held her arms out. Samantha quickly scampered up onto the bed and into Miranda's arms, where Miranda tightly hugged her and kissed her forehead.
"You know I love Daddy very much, right?"
"I know," Samantha said, snuggling against her.
"Actually, I'm glad you're here," Miranda said, glancing up at Gordo, who nodded back to her. "We've got something to tell you."
When Samantha looked up at her curiously, "She looks just like her father," Miranda told her, "We're going to have a little addition to the family. You know Jake?" she asked, Remember when he was in Aunt Lizzie's tummy?"
Sammy nodded, getting excited.
Gordo laughed softly as Sammy looked almost identical to how Miranda would when she was excited and happy about something.
"In nine months you're going to have a little baby brother or sister."
"I hope it's a girl," Sammy said, "Boys are yucky."
Miranda hugged her daughter as Gordo laughed out loud.
As Gordo reached over to grab the TV remote and Samantha settled in her lap, Miranda looked up at Gordo behind her and smiled.
"I'm hoping for a boy. I want a matching set," she thought, " A little Gordo, who rambles on about nothing and everything."
Settling back, Gordo smiled back at her and leaned forward to kiss her. "Yup, my own little Gordo" Miranda thought, "with that curly mop of black hair but my brown eyes."