adopted by sandra bullock (and her gf cate blanchett)

chapter 17

sandy, cate, dylan, and dani all piled in to sandy's luxury mercedes' car, and sandy drove down the long driveway and out on the street.

the kids were really starting to feel the effects of their hectic last couple of days, and dani felt the temptation to nod off in the back seat.

that shower was probably the best thing to ever happen to dani, aside from maybe sandy rescuing them.

she took the longest shower of her life under that warm water.

it was her first moment alone to really reflect on the events of her life leading up that moment.

dani knew dylan was doing something similar during his shower in the next room, because when he joined her at the kitchen counter later, he put into words a lot of what dani had been thinking.

"i love it here dan, i really do. this is what we've always wanted isn't it? a good home? and with our birth mom! she's clearly trying to make us feel welcome but doesn't want to push us, and you're not giving her anything to work with. we have to let her know how much she means to us....she's our mom dani."

and then jen had interrupted.

dani was snapped out of her daze by sandy's voice, asking for max's address, which dani gave.

it was about a 30 minute drive to max's, which would be closer to an hour because of LA traffic.

sandy could tell that the kids were tired, they were both leaning against the car windows.

even cate seemed lost in thought as she stared out her own passenger seat window.

the peaceful quiet was soon interrupted by sandy's phone ringing through the car bluetooth.

"ah shit!" sandy exclaimed when she saw the name sarah paulson displayed on the car screen.

"don't swear sandy" dylan mumbled as he woke up from his near asleep state, his sarcastic tone just noticeable.

sandy shot an urgent look at cate, who knew that sandy didn't want to have this conversation now, especially after already revealing the kids to jen.

"just let it go to voicemail" cate cautioned.

sandy agreed with her and did just that, but then the phone rang again.

and a third time.

"jesus h christ." sandy said, earning a giggle from the kids in the backseat.

sandy decided that she could soften one blow with another - sacrificing the small peace she had with cate for the children.

"i'm going to answer and try to deflect as much as i can but if she asks about you cate, which she almost always does, i'll tell her, if that's alright with you?"

"okay darling," cate responded, paulson was the least of her worries compared to the media and paparazzi, "what about the kiddos?"

dylan loved when cate referred to them as the kiddos, it made him feel like a little kid again, a weird sense of calm and safety.

sandy made eye contact with dani and then dylan through the rearview mirror.

"you two stay quiet- i mean it. not because i don't want people to know, but because paulson is going to be ridiculously annoying and i need at least eight more hours of sleep before conversing with her."

dani nodded, she understood where sandy was coming from.

dani too was tired of the questions, talking to jen taking the last bit of patience she had after talking to the doctors the night before.

dylan nodded as well. he could already tell him and sarah were going to be great friends when they did meet.

as the phone rang for a fourth time, sandy gave reassuring looks to both the kids and cate before answering.

"paulson i'll have you know i've had an exhausting 24 hours and if this is about rihanna i don't want to hear it-"

"yeah i know you've had a busy past 24 hours hence the call - thanks for finally picking up by the way - have you seen the news or, like, the internet in general lately?"

"no- i mean- why?" sandy was getting nervous now, she had been too busy to check her phone since the kids arrived.

"you're the front page of, well, everything."

sandy looked at cate in a panic.

cates eyes held the same look of fear.

"what exactly are they saying?"

"well-uh- the exact headline reads something like 'Sandra Bullock Seen Escaping In Late Night Taxi With Mysterious Lover."

sandy had never been more confused.

"excuse me what?!"

"it's a picture of you climbing in a taxi with a man sitting in the back seat, it's kind of hard to see because it's dark and blurry and you're crouched because you're getting in the car- but it's definitely you."

"this is the front page of the news, you're kidding me, aren't there more important things going on in the world? that's not even me- where the fuck is my publicist-"

while sandy was talking dani had come to a horrible conclusion. she tapped cate on the shoulder, trying to tell her through her eyes what she knew.

cate tapped sandy on the shoulder, signaling for her to hang up.

"thank you for telling me paulson i really have to go, i have to call mike, let's get lunch soon though- mhm- goodbye."

immediately after hanging up, sandy said "what the fuck is she talking about?"

dani gave cate's phone, which had the picture pulled up, to cate, who showed sandy.

"it's not you sandy," dani began, "that's me."

sandy couldn't help but laugh.

"that's you?"

"that's me getting in the cab outside of max's, that's dylan, your 'lover' in the back seat."

"and darling," cate joined in, "you gave mike the day off after he cleared the hospital for you. that's why he's not on top of it."

"well," sandy responded, "this is probably the best outcome - it's weak news so it won't stay for long, me supposedly with a guy puts attention off of rumors with cate, and there's no mention of my secret children. i can live with that."

cate had to smile sandy's positive outlook, and she could tell the kids were glad that sandy wasn't annoyed or upset.

"now we've got fifteen minutes left of this drive, how about some karaoke!?"

sandy turned the radio on suddenly, blasting the first thing that played,  something that cate recognized as dua lipa.

cate laughed at sandy's cheesy attempt to lighten the mood, and so did the kids.

both dani and dylan immediately joined in singing the lyrics to the song, and sandy couldn't help but think about how much more comfortable they seemed compared to how dani was on their first car ride to the hospital.

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chapter 17 - 1120 words !