Chapter Thirteen

"Good morning," Andrea said sweetly as she walked over to the window to open the blinds. It was a cold morning. Despite its late hour, the warmth of the sun still hadn't a chance to melt away the frost clouding the corners of the window.

Miranda sat up and ran her fingers through her hair as her eyes adjusted to the light. Andrea stepped closer and handed her a mug of extra hot coffee, which she readily accepted.

"Did you sleep okay?" Andrea asked.

Miranda mulled over the question as she took another long sip of her coffee. Her eyes darted over to the other side of the bed.

"I woke up at 7:30 and couldn't fall back asleep," she explained, sensing the other woman's confusion. "I guess I'm still on Paris time or something. I was fidgeting and didn't want to disturb you, so I took a shower in the guest room, and also ran your things to the dry cleaners."

Miranda took another sip of coffee, then handed the mug back. "Wh-what time is it?" she asked, surprised at the hoarseness of her own voice.

"Twelve thirty," Andrea said with a smile. "Saturday afternoon."

Miranda's eyes widened, and she ran her fingers through her hair.

Andrea set the mug of coffee on a coaster on the nightstand, then sat on the edge of the bed. She reached for Miranda's hand. "About last night—"

"Andrea—"

Andrea nodded.

"I'm sorry about last night. I think I'm still trying to process everything," she said.

Andrea squeezed her hand.

"I meant it, you know. I wasn't just saying it," Miranda said quietly. "At the restaurant, before that Dylan song came on, I was trying to tell you. You have been so supportive through all of this—unquestionably so. You have been patient and kind, no matter what comes out of my mouth. But that doesn't give me the right to treat you as I did yesterday."

"It's okay, I understand, really. I won't lie to you—it's been really difficult keeping it together around you," Andrea said. "My heart aches for you, and I wish you would stop trying to push me away. Watching you like this makes me want to cry, Miranda," she said, wiping away her tears with her free hand.

"Darling, I'm trying. I am," Miranda said, pulling the young woman into her arms. She brushed her hair back and softly stroked her shoulder, pressing kisses to her forehead. "Do you know when I knew?"

Andrea looked up at her through red, puffy eyes.

"The last night in Paris. You told me I was the one you were talking about when you confessed to being in love with someone else. Until then, I really thought you were just taking care of me as an extension of your job—providing me with assistance because I paid you to."

"Oh, Miranda, I could never—"

"Shh, I know that now," she said. She held the woman in her arms a while longer, feeling her chest rise and fall in sync with her own. Miranda hooked her finger gently under Andrea's chin, tilting her head upwards. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned in closer. Her lips lingering precariously before the young woman's.

"I love you," Miranda said, gently caressing her lips with her hot breath.

Andrea yelped as Miranda bit down on her lower lip. Andrea snaked her hands up so they were cupping her face. She pulled away just for a moment, needing to know Miranda wasn't just doing this to avoid conversation or because she felt pressured. What she saw was the most beautiful sight in the world—something she hadn't even realized she missed.

Miranda Priestly was smiling.

And it wasn't her 'Oh so-and-so, lovely to see you' smile. It was genuine. Not wanting to waste any more time, Andrea quickly climbed onto the bed, pushing Miranda back into the pillows. She ran her fingers through the woman's silvery locks, delighting in the way Miranda was squirming beneath her as she kissed her.

Miranda's hands slipped underneath Andrea's sweater, caressing the skin as she continued upwards, cupping her breasts through the lacy bra. As she kneaded, squeezed, and pinched the young woman, she felt her hands leave her hair, traveling down her arms, down to her waist. Miranda was wearing a spaghetti-strap silk and lace nightgown. Andrea was wearing far too many clothes.

"Up," Miranda said, pushing the young woman's lips away from her neck.

"Wha—?" Andrea asked, confused as to why she was now standing next to the bed.

Miranda crawled out from under the covers and kneeled on the bed, reaching up and kissing Andrea. "Off," she said, tugging at Andrea's sweater.

Andrea complied, and Miranda quickly freed her breasts, hungrily taking her nipple in her mouth.

"Oh god, Miranda…that's so hot," Andrea said, panting.

With her lips affixed to the brunette's breast, she snaked her hands along her ribcage, tugging at the offending denim.

"I thought you liked these jeans," Andrea said.

Miranda pulled away just far enough. "Off," she said, her hot breath assaulting Andrea's nipple and sending a shiver through her very core.

Andrea quickly complied, pushing her jeans and underwear to the floor. Two weeks ago, the thought of standing completely naked in front of Miranda Priestly terrified her. But today, seeing the raw desire in Miranda's deep blue eyes, she wanted nothing more than to ravish the editor.

Miranda offered her hand and Andrea climbed up on the bed, running her hands up and down the smooth silk encasing the older woman's body.

"Oh Andrea," Miranda sighed, running her hands all over the woman's body, kissing, licking, and nibbling as she made her way lower, slowly pushing Andrea back into the covers. Her hand hovered over Andrea's slick curls and she could feel the heat radiating from her body.

"Please," Andrea gasped, "I'm so close."

Miranda plunged her fingers into the wet folds and watched, mesmerized, as Andrea writhed beneath her. The young woman's staccatoed breathing filled the room, and Miranda gasped as she felt her muscles clench, sucking her fingers deeper inside. She watched in amazement as the young woman responded so intimately to her touch.

As Andrea recovered, Miranda slipped her fingers out, wiping them on her nightgown before cuddling next to the young woman.

Andrea softly kissed Miranda's shoulder as she toyed with the thin silk strap. "Can I see you?" she asked.

Miranda leaned back and tried to figure out what she was talking about. Then, she felt Andrea tugging at her strap with her teeth. "Fuck," she hissed, arching into the other woman.

Andrea's hands quickly took to sliding the silk dress up and over her head. "So beautiful," she whispered, pressing her lips to the woman's breasts.

"Ohhh!" Miranda cried, arching into Andrea's lips. Suddenly she was panting. She felt her abdominal muscles clench tightly beneath Andrea's touch. She gasped as the contractions of her muscles took her breath away. Releasing her breath with a chuff, she felt Andrea's fingers brush gently across her aching bud. "Ohh—-—uggh!" she said.

"Is this okay?" Andrea asked. "I mean, with the surgery?"

Miranda nodded, as she was holding her breath. "Uggh!" she grunted. "Yes—just not—inside," she said, again sucking the air back into her lungs.

Andrea pressed her palm against Miranda's core, and watched as the woman's orgasm took over her body with its rhythm. Gasp—hold—chuff! Gasp—hold—aaarugggghhh!

Miranda took several deep breaths. She could feel the perspiration along her hairline, not to mention the stickiness between her thighs. Looking to her side, she saw Andrea gazing down lovingly at her. Smiling, she turned towards her and pressed a sloppy kiss on her lips.

"I had no idea how much I needed that," Miranda said.

"Mmm, that was amazing," Andrea said. "I love you."

"And I love you."

Andrea slid her hand down Miranda's side, over her ribs, the swell of her hips. Something about a naked Miranda Priestly was so, so taboo, she couldn't help herself. But looking down, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Uh, Miranda, this is probably the worst time to say this, but you need to call the doctor," Andrea said, pulling her hands away.

"Why?" Miranda said with a chuckle.

"You're bleeding."

Andrea nervously knocked on the bathroom door. "Miranda? Are you okay? Please unlock this door," she said.

It had been nearly an hour. Miranda ran to the bathroom the second Andrea said something.

"Please, Miranda," Andrea called again, slumping to the floor against the door. While Miranda was showering, she managed to get herself dressed and change the bedding. Now, with nothing else to do but worry and wait, she reached for her phone and began to search the web. She knew she could threaten to call an ambulance, but she decided to wait this one out. Most of what she was reading online seemed to imply that it was common for women to bleed after post-D&C orgasms, even if their bleeding had already stopped.

"Miranda," she repeated. "At least tell me you're physically okay. Everything I'm seeing online says that the bleeding is nothing to worry about, but I need to make sure it's not more than that. I can call and see if Dr. Vaughn can come to the house if you'd like. Or if you would rather me just leave..."

"No," she said, her voice muffled by the door. "I am okay and I do not want you to leave," she said. "Can you get me a pad?"

Shit. Andrea quickly ran over to Miranda's suitcase. She started emptying it earlier, and had noticed the pads were still packed. "Okay, I'm going to set them right here outside the door, then I'm going to go find something to eat in the kitchen—is that okay?"

"Yes."

Sighing, Andrea headed downstairs and began making a salad. Two minutes later, Miranda joined her.

"I'm sorry," she said, taking a seat at the counter. "I told you, I'm ruining everything."

Andrea set the knife on the cutting board and walked over to the other side of the counter. The tomatoes could wait.

"This is not your fault," Andrea said, trying to reassure her. "We had a wonderful afternoon, and more than anything I am happy that you are okay." She stood behind her and wrapped her arms around the woman from behind.

"I know that it's not my fault, but I still feel bad…and then I feel even worse for feeling bad that I wanted to pretend it never happened. Vicious cycle," she said.

"What if our positions were reversed? If something happened to me. What would you say to me?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. It's not the same."

"Okay. Let's pretend for a second. Say when I went back to my apartment my ex-boyfriend was there and he hit me. When I came here, my lip was bleeding. But then it stopped and we kissed. And then it was bleeding again. Hypothetically, what would you do?" Andrea asked.

Miranda took a deep breath. "I would get you ice. And make sure you were okay. And I'd probably call the police," she said.

Andrea could feel the older woman relaxing into her arms. "Okay, well it's hypothetical so let's leave the police out. What would you say to me if I apologized over and over for ruining things?"

Miranda paused before answering. Damn this girl for knowing me so well. "I would do exactly as you did. I would try to reassure you that you weren't at fault. I would probably try to break down that door if you locked yourself in the bathroom," Miranda said.

Andrea smiled and pressed her lips to Miranda's neck.

"Wait," Miranda said, tensing up and leaning forward. "I want to wait until I see Dr. Vaughn for my follow-up. Is that okay?"

"Of course, let me finish making the salad, then," Andrea said. She softly squeezed Miranda's shoulders as she made her way around, resuming her chopping as Miranda looked on.

The rest of their evening had been uneventful. Miranda finished unpacking while Andrea spent some time digging through past issues of Runway, focusing on Claire's perspective. Miranda again asked her to stay the night.

The next morning, Miranda woke to find she was draped over the young woman's body. peeling herself away from her, she checked her phone and saw it was already 8:30 AM.

"Andrea, get up," she said, gently shaking the young woman. "James is bringing the girls by in thirty minutes," she said, rushing to get ready.

"Can I borrow some clothes?" Andrea asked. Miranda was brushing her teeth, so she nodded and pointed towards the closet. "Okay, I'm going to slip out before they get here. Call me later," she said.

"What? No. Stay here, at least until we give them their souvenirs," Miranda said as she curled her hair.

"I thought you would want some alone time with them."

"I do. I mean, I think I do. I'm a little worried I won't know what to tell them."

"Have you thought about telling them the truth? They are ten years old, you know," Andrea said.

"Yes, I have thought about it. I told Nigel, you know."

"Oh, uh, when?"

"On the plane. It felt really good," Miranda said, applying her eyeshadow.

"That's great, Miranda. I think talking about it is a good idea, you know. I think it will help you to heal quicker in the long run."

"Perhaps. I still haven't told the girls about the divorce, though. It might be too much."

"Play it by ear," Andrea suggested.

Miranda finished her mascara and stepped out of the bathroom. "I don't know that they will understand why I am divorcing Stephen if I was going to have a baby with him."

Just then the doorbell rang and the two women hurried downstairs, Andrea heading to the kitchen to prepare some much-needed coffee.

"Mooooom!" they cried, rushing to hug her and nearly toppling her over in the foyer.

Miranda pressed kisses to their cheeks over and over as she held them close. This felt so good.

"Hi Miranda," James said. "I'll leave you three to yourselves and be back to pick the girls up around five if that's okay."

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Andrea asked, interrupting. "Hi, I'm Andrea, Miranda's assistant. I believe we've spoken on the phone several times, nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

James's eyes darted from Andrea to Miranda, then back to Andrea. "Likewise," he said, "and some coffee would be nice, actually."

The group moved into the den. Miranda sat on the couch with the girls who would not leave her side, and James sat on the loveseat. Andrea brought two mugs of coffee, plus two glasses of orange juice for the girls and set them on the table.

"Andrea, will you bring the girls' gifts down from their rooms?" Miranda asked.

Andrea nodded and headed back upstairs.

Miranda turned to James while the girls eagerly drank the offered orange juice. "Thank you for taking care of my babies while I was sick," Miranda said as tears welled up in her eyes. "You have no idea how grateful I am."

James reached out and took Miranda's hand. "What was going on? I was worried. Is everything okay?"

"It is now. It will be."

"What does that mean? Are you still sick?" he asked.

Miranda took a deep breath. "I had a miscarriage last week," she whispered, glancing over at the girls.

James's eyes widened. "Stephen's?" he mouthed.

Miranda rolled her eyes. Only her first ex-husband could ask her that and live to see the day. "Yes. But I signed the divorce papers," she said, reaching for her coffee.

"Well, it's about time," he said. "So wait, is that why you weren't feeling well?"

"Yes," she said, a half-smile on her face. "Can you believe it?"

"Mira, I'm so sorry. I know you often thought about having more kids, and I can't imagine how difficult this has been."

She smiled. James knew her very well. "Mom?" Cassidy said, climbing into her lap. "Are you having another baby?"

Miranda's eyes widened. She turned to James, then Andrea who was standing in the doorway.

"Okay, girls! We have some unclaimed presents here from Paris…" she said, distracting them. "Mademoiselle Cassidy, I believe this one is for you, and Mademoiselle Caroline, this is yours."

"Thanks, Andy!" they said, hugging her as they took their bags and sat on the floor digging through everything.

"Now, your mom of course has some very fashionable clothes to give you, too, but she wanted to get you some stuff—souvenirs—that you would each really enjoy," Andrea said.

"No freaking way. This is so cool!" Cassidy said, examining the leather journal.

"Mom! You found the stuff about the Hippopotamus Hunt! You remembered!" Caroline exclaimed.

Miranda smiled. "Of course I remembered, darling."

"Thanks, Mom," they both said, running over and hugging her tightly. "So, are you going to have a baby? Isn't that what you were talking to Dad about?" Cassidy asked again.

Miranda looked over at James and he nodded. "Tell them," he said quietly.

"Come here, both of you," Miranda said as her daughters piled on her lap. "You two know I love you very much. Well, I have so much love in my heart I thought that maybe I would share it with a little brother or sister for you," she said, her voice crackling. "But that didn't work out, so now I have to share all this love with just the two of you."

"Is that why you were sick and sent us to Dad's?" Caroline asked.

"Yes, Bobbsey," Miranda said, smoothing out her hair.

"So the baby was sick and that's why you were sick? That's why it died?" Caroline asked.

Andrea was still hovering in the doorway, and she saw Miranda tense up at this question. She knew there was no way Miranda would feel comfortable blaming anything other than herself for that. Just as she was about to step in, James did.

"Honey, sometimes babies just aren't meant to be," he said.

"Did it hurt the baby?" Cassidy asked.

"No, Cassie," James said. "The baby was so so so so small it couldn't even feel anything yet."

"Who was its daddy?" Caroline asked. "Was it Stephen?"

"Yes, darling. But Stephen made Mommy sad, so he isn't living with us anymore, okay?" Miranda asked.

"Are you getting divorced?" Cassidy asked.

"Yes," Miranda said. "I have missed you two so much, do you know that? I just want to hug you and kiss you all day long," she said, causing the girls to giggle.

"But I need to talk to your dad for a second before he goes, so why don't you take your things up to your rooms," she said.

"Okay," they said, packing their trinkets back into their bags and heading towards the stairs.

Miranda turned to James, but Cassidy came running back, throwing her arms around Miranda and squeezing her tight. "Ooof, Cass, baby, are you okay?"

"Yep. Just wanted to hug you again," she said, turning and heading back upstairs.

Miranda sighed as she slumped back against the couch. "Oh my god, the questions those children ask," she said, shaking her head.

"Mira, thank you for letting me be here when you talked to them. I think it helps when they see us together like this, you know, almost like friends," he said.

"I agree," Miranda said. "Now, I am going to check up on them. I fully intend to give them my full attention today," she said, standing from the couch. "Thank you again, James," she said, hugging him softly as she showed him out the door.

Once she locked the door, she leaned forward, trying to straighten out her thoughts.

"Hey," Andrea said, snaking her arms around the woman. "That went well—how are you holding up?"

Miranda turned around in her arms. "Yeah. I'm good. Will you stay a while longer? I want you to come get to know them better," she said.

"Sure. I mean, I don't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't be. There are two of them and only one of me—I could use the help," she said. "Shall we?"

Andrea nodded, following her upstairs to the study, the girls' favorite place in the house.

"Bobbseys, you remember Andrea, right?"

"Uh, yeah. She helped me on that Solar System project last year!" Caroline said. "And she helped me with History a few times this year, too."

Cassidy elbowed her sister. "She also got us Harry Potter that time we had to take the train alone to Grandma's," she said.

"Well, I know you know who she is, but Andrea has become one of Mommy's good friends, and I asked her to stick around for a little while today, is that okay?"

"Sure!" Caroline said, taking Andrea's hand and pulling her over to the loveseat. "Let me show you how cool this book is that Mom got me from Paris," she said.

Andrea smiled and settled in, letting the young girl sit on her lap. Miranda was not surprised when Cassidy took up a similar position in her own lap, but with her journal and pencil instead.

Miranda wrapped her arms snugly around the young redhead, inhaling the smell of her shampoo. "My baby, I love you so much," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Mom," Cassidy said, turning and wrapping her arms around Miranda's neck. "You know how you said you had a lot of extra love in your heart?" she whispered.

"Yes, baby," Miranda replied, unsure of where she was going with it.

"Well, I was just thinking that since there's no baby brother or sister to share with, we could share with Andy," she said.

Miranda leaned back and looked into her daughter's eyes. "Share what, Cass?"

"You, your love. Do you think she'd be okay sharing with us?"

Tears filled Miranda's eyes as she hugged her daughter tightly. "Yes, I do, I think she would like that very much," she said.

THE END

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. And thanks for the pep talks - you know who you are. :-)