Title: Like Family
Pairing: Miranda/Andy
Archive: Sure, if you want it... just tell me where you put it
Rating - this one would probably be NC-17?.... not always.. but... just to be safe. LOL
Disclaimer- This is a fan fic, so I obviously don't own anything...except my deep and abiding love of the pair... oh.. and Pava... and Chad are my characters, ;)

A/N - This is the second story in the 'Like' series. It's not as much a 'story' as Like Andrea, just a continuation of that universe.

A/N - Thanks and everlasting gratitude to my all knowing Beta reader Kamouraskan. My stories are always better with Kam's input.

A/N - I took some liberties with this one. The biggest of which would be Macy's closing time. I have totally no idea what their store or corporate policy is on that... I think I've been in Macy's about 3 times in my life... just go with it okay? Thanks so much. :)

Like Family

By Gin

Andrea Sachs had been up for nearly thirty-six hours, working on a story that she'd just sent in barely ahead of the newspaper's deadline; along with a note saying she wouldn't be in tomorrow, or today…whatever. Now she groaned as she slid between the sheets and drifted down into the blissful darkness.

"Andy?"

"Mmmm…" The brunette rolled over in the bed and tried to pull herself up from the edge of sleep. "Hmmm? Whaa..."

"Andy?" The small voice trembled a little. "I don't feel so good."

Andrea was out of bed like a shot. "Caroline." She reached the young girl and felt the heat. "Oh Sweetie, you're warm." She scooped up the girl and carried her back to her room. Andy rummaged through the drawers in the bathroom attached to Caroline's bedroom and found a thermometer. When she checked the thermometer reading a few minutes later, Andy sighed. "One hundred point six," she ran her fingers through the curly red hair. "You know your doctor won't see you unless it's a hundred and one or more." Even if she lied and said it was higher, when the nurse checked and found it lower they'd just send her home. "Does your tummy hurt?" Her heart broke just a little as the girl nodded weakly. No fever medication by mouth then. She'd rather not have Caroline throwing up if the girl didn't have to and meds on an upset stomach always made Caroline sick.

After wetting a washcloth, Andy smiled encouragingly at her young charge. "C'mon." She picked up the girl. It wasn't an easy feat, even though the twins were relatively small for their age, their limbs were long. Without the child holding them up around Andy's waist, the girl's legs dangled down making it a bit difficult to walk.

Andy made her way to the sunroom on the fourth floor. She zeroed in on the oversized recliner; it was the only chair in the house that rocked. Arranging the girl in the chair, Andy put the wet washcloth on Caroline's forehead. "You hold this right there for me. I'll be back in just a minute okay?" She tapped the child's flushed cheek and ruffled the red hair on her forehead slightly. "Hang in there."

First thing Andy did was wash her hands, then she ran back downstairs and checked on Cassidy. Sleeping soundly and cool as a cucumber. Good! She went to the kitchen, checked the time and scribbled a note on the message board there. Then she put some ice in a plastic bag and wrapped it in a towel then grabbed a half-sized can of Sprite, a package of crackers, and went back up to the sunroom. "Here we go, Sweetie." She put the items from the kitchen down on the small table next to the chair then shifted Caroline so they could both sit in the recliner, the girl pretty much sitting on her lap. She replaced the washcloth with the ice. "This'll cool ya off and in a little bit we'll see if you can eat a cracker and sip some Sprite." Resting her cheek against the girl's soft curls, Andy closed her eyes. "We'll take your temp again when your Mom gets home, 'kay?" She felt the small head under her cheek nod and wished with all her heart there was something more she could do. She knew, if she could, she'd gladly be the one to be sick; if it meant Caroline would feel better. For now, she held the ice to the child's head quietly singing a soothing tune as they rocked and looked up through the glass walls at the starry night sky.

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"Andrea…"

Miranda almost hated to wake the sleeping woman, she looked so peaceful, but uncomfortable at the same time and that was something Miranda wouldn't tolerate. "Andrea… Why don't you go back to bed?" She indicated the girl. "I'll take Caroline."

"s'late M'randa." Andy looked down at the girl in her arms and leaned forward, pressing her lips against the small forehead. "Fever's down. I'll put her back to bed."

Nodding, Miranda followed them downstairs and when Andrea had arranged the girl in her bed, the white-haired woman stepped forward. She sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over, kissed her daughter softly on the cheek and whispered, "Sweet dreams my darling." She allowed another moment to gently arrange the girl's bangs off her face before she rose from the bed. Andrea stood back, waiting for Miranda to precede her out of the room.

They walked silently to their bedroom, but Andy could tell something was bothering Miranda; something more than just Caroline being sick. She dozed as she waited for Miranda's nighttime ablutions to be finished. When she felt Miranda snuggled in the bed against her, she, sleepily, brought up the subject. "Wh's'rong?"

Miranda spoke sharply, almost snapping. "Other than Caroline being ill?"

"Yes." Andy said quietly, trying very hard to stay awake. "Other'n that." An unnamed, familiar, fear crept up Andy's spine. Is this it? She thought clearly even though she could barely keep her eyes open. It was a common enough terror to run on its own once it started. Is tonight the night she's going to tell me all this has gone far enough? Please, please no. Vague shadows passed behind her closing eyes. Not yet… please not yet. Her breathing evened out as she heard Miranda's voice from far away.

With a deep breath, Miranda started slowly, regretfully. "Things are going to change, soon." Her speech stopped at Andy's ragged sob. "Andrea?"

"No… Miranda, please… I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I'm sorry… please don't make me leave. I love you, I love the girls, I love it here…"

"Andrea?" Miranda looked down and saw Andrea's eyes closed. She's asleep. Miranda realized. She must be exhausted. Tracing the young woman's face with her fingertips, Miranda smiled as the worry lines smoothed out. "Shhhh… that's it. Sleep now." Leaning forward, the older woman kissed the tip of Andrea's nose. "We'll talk about it in the morning."

She rolled to her back and stared up at the ceiling. One tear escaping a watery blue eye. I don't want to lose this, this peace.

It wasn't something she liked to admit, but far more often than people might imagine, what Miranda wanted, and what she got, were two very different things.

"Ugh." Andy stumbled into the kitchen, ruffling her fingers lightly through her bangs, still damp from her morning shower. She wondered why she even bothered to take a shower, knowing she was going for a run and would need another one when she got back anyway.

Peggy looked up from the tray she was assembling. The pleasantly plump woman smiled. "Good morning, Miss Andy." She chuckled at the glare that got her. Andy hated that 'Miss' thing. "Just kidding, Andy." She indicated the tray. "Would you like something to eat? I was about to take this up to Miss Caroline."

"I just checked on her, she's dozing but her fever's gone." Andy shook her head at the offer. "Nothing to eat right now, thanks." She grabbed a juice from the fridge. "I'm gonna take Patricia out for a run, clear my head…after that maybe. I might just wait for lunch, Miranda said she'd be here today." She vaguely remembered that much as the soft lips had kissed her goodbye this morning.

"M… Miranda said she'd be home for lunch today?" The woman's thinning blonde hair shook slightly for a moment then she nodded once. "Good. It's kind of a shame she doesn't do that more often, but I suppose since you and the children aren't usually here there isn't much point for her to be here either."

"I guess not." Andy thought about that. It was rare for Miranda to come home for lunch, even when Andy or the girls were here. So why do it today? Maybe she just wants to check in on Caroline. They'd decided because it was such a late night last night that even though Caroline was feeling better she didn't have to go to school today. Well, Miranda decided, Andy shrugged to herself. I pretty much dozed and agreed to whatever she was saying. There was something weird about that, but Andy couldn't quite place what.

"Well, it's just almost eleven, so I should be able to get in my run and still have time to get home and wash the sweat off before Miranda gets here." Andy grinned slyly at the smiling woman. "Can't let her see me all sweaty now, can I?"

Peggy knew that Miranda had seen Andy sweating. Peggy did the laundry, Peggy changed the sheets on the beds, and Peggy never once had to change the sheets in the guestrooms. One plump finger shook at the young woman, twinkling hazel eyes and a smile negated the words. "You're bad." She grabbed the tray. "I'm taking this up to Miss Caroline."

Andy finished her juice in silence, aside from her own chuckles and grabbed the leash from the drawer. A quick run to the park, she thought. Patricia loves the park.

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Andy sat on the bench and watched Patricia bounding around in the wide open space. It was so peaceful, this domesticity, she really loved it. She thought about all the things she loved in her life, Miranda, the girls, her job, her parents. God, she thought. What are they going to say when they find out? She knew it would have to be soon; it was easier to hide from the press than it was to keep things from her parents. Every phone call was becoming more difficult to talk around what was essentially her life now. Still, revealing her relationship with Miranda to her parents was a scary thing to contemplate.

There had never been any very clear opinions stated in the house she grew up in. Often she never knew what her parents were thinking or how they would react to situations. They might welcome Miranda and the girls to the family, or they could just as likely disown me, Andy thought, but her more practical side took over. Probably something in between. She jumped when someone sat down next to her.

"Whoa!" The smiling, painfully thin, slightly awkward, boy held up his hands. "Didn't mean to scare you."

She waved off the apology. "S'okay, I was just…thinking."

"Ah." He laughed nervously. "I…um…Haven't seen you around here before."

Andy mentally rolled her eyes at the obvious pickup line. The only thing more cheesy would have been for him to ask which dog was hers. She responded, neutrally. "I'm usually here earlier."

"Oh, early riser, eh?" His eyes strayed from her face and he tried to grin slyly. "Late night last night huh?"

"Mmmm… yeah. You could say that." She checked her watch and gasped. "Speaking of late." She stood quickly and he did too.

"Wait…" He sounded a little desperate as he looked around. "Which one is yours?"

This time Andy visibly rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I really need to be going…"

He sighed. "… Listen, don't look, but some buddies of mine are over there by the fountain. They bet me I couldn't get your phone number."

Andy's eyebrows rose. "Uh… you're kinda young aren't you?" Suddenly she thought she might have a vague notion of how Miranda felt, from time to time.

"I'm old enough." He protested then rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine I'm fifteen, but I'll be sixteen next week."

"Hmmm…" She didn't ask why he wasn't in school. She just shrugged. "Sorry, but I can't give you my number."

"I knew it…" He sighed. "You're like a model or something right? You've probably got a huge muscled up boyfriend that would beat the crap out of me if he saw me speaking to you."

Andy's lips twitched. "Something like that." For half a second she wondered what Miranda would do to him then shook off that thought; much too chilling to contemplate. She remembered what it was like as a teen though, and grinned. "It's gonna be your birthday huh? Do you think it would tweak your friends if I gave you a hug?"

He laughed. "They'd die."

"Okay then." She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Happy Birthday." She used the hug to glance over at the fountain and chuckled at the slack jaw, gaping boys standing there. "Oh yeah… those guys are losing it." She pulled away and winked. "Don't let 'em push ya around."

He smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

Andy laughed. "No problem." She turned to the playing dogs and whistled loudly. "Patricia!"

"Whoa!" The kid backed off when the large dog paced over to them. "That's…"

"Huge? Eyah…" Andy knelt to clip the leash back on the collar. "She's a St. Bernard, they are mostly this size." Standing, she reached out and touched the boy's arm. "Nice to meet you." She tugged on the leash. "C'mon Patricia, time to go home."

He watched as Andy began to jog down the path, out of the park. It wasn't until that moment that he realized he had no clue what her name was, and that he'd never given her his either. With a shake of his head he went to join his buddies by the fountain, taking their good natured, slightly jealous, jostling with humor just because he could remember the feeling of the nice, beautiful woman's arms around him.

"You're late." Miranda's fake office-voice floated playfully through the kitchen.

Andy smiled. "Yeah, sorry."

"You went out wearing…that?!" Miranda's eyes raked over her young companion's form.

"Um…" Andy looked down at herself. "Yeah, I was running. It requires sneakers, the sweat pants are comfy, and the sweater…" She shrugged. "I'm just showing pride in my old school." She rolled her eyes and went to the fridge for some water. "I'm not wearing haute couture and heels to go running in Miranda, besides… this was good enough for the kid to hit on me, so what's your problem?"

"Pardon?" Miranda tilted her head waiting for the explanation for that comment.

"Where's Peggy?"

"She's upstairs with Caroline." Miranda replied. "Now what's this about someone hitting on you?"

"Jealous much?" Andy just rolled her eyes and waved off Miranda's glare. "Oh… it was really kinda sweet." Andy served their lunches as she told Miranda all about the encounter with the boy.

"You're such a slut." Miranda chuckled.

"Hey!" Andy grinned and pointed her empty fork at her companion. "I'm your slut and don't you forget it." Her grin faded as Miranda sighed and seemed to take on a more serious mood.

"We need to talk."

The food Andy had already consumed turned to lead in her stomach. "Uh… now?"

The sooner the better. "I believe so." Miranda placed her napkin precisely next to her half empty plate and stood. "In the study." She turned and walked out of the kitchen, knowing Andrea would follow.

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Andy silently followed Miranda into the study.

"Close the door please, Andrea."

Andy pulled the door shut with a click and moved to sit when the older woman patted the space on the couch next to her.

"I tried to tell you this last night, but you were far too exhausted." Miranda stopped to swallow against the lump in her throat. "First, thank you for taking care of Caroline."

"Oh, god, of course…" Andy stopped at the look on Miranda's face, allowing the woman to continue.

"It's not fair to you, to continue in this way." Miranda sighed. "It can't continue this way anyway. Things are going to change, Andrea. I'm not sure if you're ready for those changes, I'm not sure I'm ready either."

Andy whispered. "Miranda, you're scaring me."

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry." Wrapping her arm around Andy, Miranda settled the girl's head on her shoulder. "This… will not change between us." She kissed the brown head so near hers. "I love you Andrea, always."

"Okay…" Andy nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "I love you too."

"Things are going to change though." Miranda exhaled softly. They'd been together for quite a while now, and the months that they'd shared had been wonderful. She would never have imagined how much better her professional life could be with a stable life at home waiting for her. That stability was about to crumble. "Up until now, we've been able to keep…this… out of the tabloids." She felt Andrea stiffen under her arm. "Yes, soon they are going to find out about us."

"How?" Andy knew they'd been careful and that seemed to work so far. They never went out together. She always used the backdoor to go for runs and such. Miranda had even turned up on Page Six from time to time having been sighted with some designer or another over business dinners.

"I got a call from the District Attorney yesterday." Miranda explained. "The federal court is finished with Judy. She is being returned here, to stand trial for her crimes against… us."

Andrea shuddered. Judy was someone she'd tried very hard to push out of her mind and memory. The woman had been…was…is, deranged. Andy felt sick at the thought of someone watching her through the cameras that had been installed in her apartment, but the worst was that she'd drugged Miranda, and tried to kill the Editor before the police had arrested her. Judy had been in on a scam that the Federal authorities wanted her for, but now, if they were finished with her due process, New York's District Attorney would have his turn prosecuting the woman for her crimes against Miranda. And me, she thought.

"When the paperwork is filed…" Now Andy understood. "Damn… things are going to change." The trial was going to shine a glaring light on their lives. "What about the girls?"

Miranda's eyes closed. She wondered how she ever got lucky enough to find Andrea. "Thank you for thinking of them." Miranda pursed her lips and her nostrils flared. "Unfortunately, as my daughters, they are well used to the spotlight. I'm sure they will take it in stride." She looked down at the beautiful face turned up to hers. "They love you too."

"What are we going to do?" Andy sat up, but maintained contact with Miranda's hands. "What can we do?"

Miranda let her head fall back on the couch. "I'm working on it." She felt Andrea's warm lips on her neck and groaned, leaning into the gentle touch. "Mmmm… Andrea, we can't. I'll be late…"

"Shhh…" Andy kissed the soft skin once more before controlling herself and sitting back. "I know, but I saw my chance and took it."

Andy didn't want to ask, but she needed to know. She didn't have any experience with gossip pages and tabloids. "How bad is it going to be?"

"They can be quite vicious at times." Miranda sighed. "And I'm sure they will be this time." The white-head shook. "They will most definitely mention our ages quite prominently."

Andy snorted. "That's such crap." Andy shrugged. "Besides… I'm catching up."

"What?" Miranda clenched her teeth. "Andrea, you know that's not possible."

"Sure it is… you just gotta do the math." Andy spoke logically. "When I was twenty-five and you were fifty, I was half your age…"

"Andrea." Miranda's voice lowered warningly.

"Shhhh." Andy grinned and continued. "But, ten years after that, I'd be thirty-five and you'd be sixty… making me more than half your age." She chuckled. "Another ten puts me at forty-five, and you at seventy, and now I'm way past half…" Kissing Miranda's cheek, Andy smiled. "By the time you're a hundred, I'll be three quarters your age. So you see…I'm catching up." Andy's breath hitched as Miranda's gaze hit her and she whispered, "Just wait, you'll see."

"You really believe that?" Miranda closed her eyes, breaking the intense contact they had. Andrea was talking about spending the rest of their lives with each other. No, not exactly true. She thought. She's talking about spending the rest of my life with me. God bless her. "We've only been together for a few months."

"I believe it with all my heart." The back of Andy's fingers caressed Miranda's cheek. Leaning in she kissed the older woman's lips lightly. "I believe it enough for both of us, if I have to."

"Fine." Miranda felt the flood of affection wash over her, the connection they shared that went beyond words. "I'll give you until I'm a hundred, then you're on your own."

"Oh…" Andy moved away, chuckling. "I see how ya are… toss me aside like a pair of last season's shoes and replace me, eh?"

"You are so ridiculous." Miranda reached out to draw the young woman back to her. Then changed her mind and moved to straddle Andy's legs, pinning the brunette to the couch. She looked down at the wide brown eyes and smirked. "I would never treat shoes in such a manner."

Andy laughed. "No, I guess you wouldn't… bad example." She pretended to think of another one, like she could think in this position, when Miranda growled.

"Andrea." White hair brushed Andy's shoulder and mingled with the younger woman's long dark hair. Miranda's warm breath filled Andy's ear. "I don't want to talk anymore."

The young woman feebly protested. "You'll be late getting back to work."

"Mmmm…" Miranda began to unbutton her shirt. "What, oh what, will my Boss say…?" She changed her attention to Andy's sweater, lifting it up over the brunette's head. She traced her fingertips down the newly exposed skin and chuckled. "Oh, wait… I am the Boss…" Leaning in Miranda's lips followed the path her fingers had just taken. Her voice was low and heavily laden with desire. "It's good to be the Boss."

"Uh…" That was all Andy could manage to verbalize as Miranda took control of the situation and made any further speech, or coherent thought for that matter, impossible.

tbc