adopted by sandra bullock (and her gf cate blanchett)

chapter 1

it was pouring rain and storming outside the large countryside home of sandra bullock, thunder and lightning shaking the house.

in her softly lit kitchen sitting at the wooden island was sandy's new-but-not-really, broken-up-but-recently-back-together girlfriend, cate blanchett.

a record player in the far corner of the kitchen played van morrison, the crackling of the record adding to the cozy atmosphere.

sandy set two cups of tea down gently on the counter, sitting down next to her girlfriend. her girlfriend. 

cate sighed softly as she scrolled half-heartedly on her laptop.

sandy sat down besides her. "what's going on catie?" she asked teasingly.

"oh you know, just my agent trying to kill me and my publicist putting the final nail in my coffin."

sandy knew that cate loved her job and loved her staff that she had hand-picked herself, but work is work and that can be stressful, especially when you're a two time academy award winning global superstar.

especially when you're a recently divorcing your husband of over a decade, dying your hair pink, and bailing on two huge armani shoots two time academy award winning global superstar.

cate never did anything with the intent to harm others. she wasn't thinking of her publicist when she divorced andrew and dyed her hair, not thinking of her agent when she had called the armani secretary early this morning to cancel on both this afternoon and tomorrow mornings new lipstick line shoots.

she was human, oscars or not, and sandy understood that.

sandy always understood cate even when cate was angry and lashed out, and cate appreciated that.

after all, as cate liked to joke, sandy was the reason she uprooted her marriage, her career, her whole life- so the least she could do was forgive cate on a bad day.

"don't you think that you're the one killing your agent and publicist, miss 'cough cough im sick'."

sandy was referring to the excuse cate made to the armani people on the phone this morning.

"oh shut up, would you rather i leave at six am tomorrow, leaving you all alone and cold in your bed" cate responded.

"don't you mean our bed" sandy leaned in to peck a soft kiss on cates cheek, closing her laptop in the process. "you were just away on location for like two months. i think you can afford to take the weekend off."

"better than the weekend."

"oh?"

cate loved the confused look on her girlfriends face. it was rare that she was able to trick sandy as she seemed to know cate better than she knew herself.

"i took the next two weeks off, so we could rest and relax together before oceans 8 starts."

"oh cate, i'm so excited! thank you baby" sandy hugged her girlfriend, nearly dragging the both of them off of their barstools.

cate laughed "of course my love, i'm looking forward to making up for lost time" cate gave sandy that signature sly smile that made sandy's heart absolutely melt.

"me too darling, me too."

sandy finally pulled cate into a tender kiss, and not a second later, the doorbell rang.

*ding-dong*

they broke apart, looking at each other in pure shock.

"are you expecting anyone?"

"no, are you?"

"no."

"stay here" cate said, getting slowly off of her stool and swallowing her own nervousness and confusion to give sandy a reassuring look, before turning to the hallway that led from the kitchen to the front hall.

sandy was shaken, both her and cate knew that her property was surrounded by a large hedge with only one gated entrance, an entrance that required to be buzzed into unless you had code clearance or facial ID.

excessive, yes, and something sandy had never hoped she would have to do, but between the fans and paparazzi, she felt she had no choice.

she had never wanted to be one of those uppity, pretentious, better-than-you 'celebrities' who gave no attention to their fans and had excessively protected property as if they were making a point to say 'fuck you' to the public.

she liked to think that she did stay down to earth, interacting with fans with the utmost patience and care, donating to charity, walking around in sunglasses and a baseball cap and driving her own car as opposed to body guards and black escalades.

unfortunately, paparazzi and crazed fans were increasingly becoming and issue, so she had a gate installed to this new house after her last move.

now she had a relationship with cate that was a secret, so the extra security really came in handy.

*ding-dong*

the doorbell rang again.

cate was at the entrance now, peering out of the peephole in the door.

the record player had stopped spinning and the silence that stretched across the hallway's marble flooring and white painted walls seemed deafening to sandy as she waited for cate to open the door.

cate quietly took a deep breath, preparing herself for some maniac with a knife or a gun looking to get to americas sweetheart, a police officer bearing bad news, or maybe a drunk andrew, looking for cate?

maybe it was a tequila-drunk sarah paulson who took a cab here, but she hadn't heard a car engine, had she?

cate knew just as well as sandy did how well protected this place was, and who would be here at 10pm anyways?

she put her hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly, opening the door to the dark and rainy night.

~

first chapter, 945 words !

revised 6/9
revised 7/14