An Unexpected Request

Chapter 14

When Andy came down for breakfast the next day, she felt quite anxious. Would Miranda pretend nothing happened? Would the woman avoid the kind of intimacy they had until they could talk about it?

Andy walked into the kitchen with unsteady steps, and found Miranda making omelets. Noticing her presence, the older woman greeted her with a smile. She went to her, surprising Andy with a gentle kiss on the lips, as if they had always done that.

After openly affectionate looks and husky good mornings, they allowed themselves one more kiss. This was soon broken when they heard the noise coming from the stairs, announcing the arrival of the girls.

Miranda finished the eggs and served them. As they ate, they talked about donors and some baby names they liked.

Suddenly, Miranda gave Andrea a meaningful look. "We can go out to lunch."

Andy glanced at her briefly, then smiled and nodded in determined agreement. She knew very well what that meant: they would be hanging out openly as a couple in the company of Miranda's daughters. Confirming the rumors, showing how serious the relationship was; in short, give the hungry wolves a real treat.

After breakfast, the twins dragged their mother and Andy into the living room. Caroline pulled out her notebook so they could choose the donor, and Cassidy brought up the list of suggested baby names.

Half an hour later, they had a donor and selected ten names, five female and five male.

Miranda insisted that they make the final choice only after seeing if the child really 'looked like' the name. Her daughters and Andrea thought it logical and agreed with the idea.

As a donor, they chose a 28-year-old. In addition to similar physical characteristics to Andrea, he was an actor and poetry writer. The young woman and the twins loved the artistic vein. Miranda scoffed with mock indignation, hoping the man wasn't too sentimental. Andy and the girls laughed. They knew the woman was joking, as she liked good art.

* * * *

"Damn..." Andy muttered, as they got out of the car, in front of Morandi.

They were soon bombarded by camera flashes and questions like, "Is your involvement now official?" "Are the girls okay with the relationship?" "Do you intend to get married?" "Does the age difference help a gold-digger?"

At the last question, Andy froze. If Miranda hadn't gripped her arm tightly and whispered, "Leave them, Andrea. It's just a scene they want..." Andy would have come back and had a little chat with the pseudo-journalist. However, she knew Miranda was right. She had to learn to keep calm at these nasty insinuations.

With that determination, the young woman took a deep breath, turned to Miranda and smiled her most loving smile.

The older woman responded with a smirk. Andrea was in the game; and by the sparkle in her beautiful brown eyes, ready to win.

Indifferent to the horde of reporters, they made their way to the restaurant with the air of a privileged and happy family. Andy was arm in arm with Miranda, each holding one of the twins' hands.

Inside the establishment, they finally had peace. Morandi's staff gave them the necessary privacy, and the service was great. Andy loved Italian food, and Focaccia Taleggio ai Funghi became one of her favorite dishes.

After a long and fun lunch, outside the restaurant, once again the Priestlys and Andrea Sachs walked by as if no one was around. In the car, Andy and the twins began to chatter about how divine the Babà Napolitano, which they had for dessert, was. Though she snorted at the nonsense conversation, Miranda smiled at the joy of 'her girls' at something so trivial.