Chapter 16

Practice ended with the usual team meeting, but this one was extremely short. The coaches and selectors thanked everyone for trying out and announced that the team selections would be posted the following Monday at noon outside the athletics offices. After that all-important announcement, they dismissed the players. Caroline and Cassidy quickly jogged over to the bench where Team Priestly had assembled. Their initial exuberance was tempered when Andy introduced them to her parents, but Miranda’s lessons on good manners paid off and they were polite, if reserved, to the Sachses. Miranda, Andy and Doug got enthusiastic hugs, and the twins began describing their practice even before Miranda and Cara could urge them into their jackets, mittens and knit caps.

As the bundling up was getting underway at the opposite end of the bench, Jen Ramsay came over to check on how Andy was doing. Andy introduced her parents and told them of Jen’s actions during Wednesday’s excitement. Both of them thanked her for her quick attention to Andy’s wounds. She waved their thanks off saying she was just glad Andy was all right. Andy told her folks that the two of them had played against each other in the championship match two years ago.

Barbara simply could not help herself. “Do you remember which of your wings charged Andy and high-sticked her in the face? Her mouth bled for almost the whole second half.”

“Mom!” Andy protested.

Jen grinned sheepishly. “Errr…that would be me.” Mr. Sachs threw his head back and roared with laughter. “For what it’s worth, it was an accident and I apologized for it after the game. Does this mean Andy and I can’t be friends?”

Barbara sighed. “Well, I suppose helping her on Wednesday makes up for it. But I’d appreciate it if you two would play nicely together from now on. So far, every time you’ve met there’s been bloodshed,” she chuckled.

Jen and Andy talked for a few moments longer and then Jen made a quiet comment that she would probably see Andy at practice some time soon. With a nod in the twins’ direction and a wink, she left.

Both girls were very impressed with Miranda’s ‘lacrosse mom’ tote and eagerly took cups of the still-piping hot cocoa as gear- and school-bags were checked, packed and hauled to the waiting vehicles. Andy and Doug rode with Richard and Barbara leaving Miranda, the twins and Cara to ride with Roy back to the townhouse. On the way, Cassidy hesitantly brought up the subject of Andy’s parents.

“So, is Andy going back to the hospital now?”

“No, darling, she and Douglas are having dinner with us just like we planned. In fact, I had Douglas invite Lily to join us.”

“But won’t Andy and Doug have to take Andy’s folks back to their hotel?”

“No, I invited Mr. and Mrs. Sachs to join us too.”

“Oh.” The disappointed tone of that simple word spoke volumes. “But I thought…”

“Thought what, darling?”

“Well, you were pretty mad at them yesterday when they talked to the reporters.”

“Yes, I was. And so was Andréa. But we discussed it and it will not happen again. So, we move on.” Miranda regarded the slightly disappointed expressions on her daughters’ faces and decided the situation needed to be clarified before the evening went any further.

“Cassidy, Caroline, look at me.” The girls looked up expectantly. “Do you love me?”

“Of course we do!” “Well, duh!”

Miranda smiled at their emphatic response. “Because I’m your mother, right?”

They nodded in unison.

“Well, those are Andréa’s parents and she loves them just as much as you love me. So if Andréa is going to be part of our lives from now on, her parents will have to be as well or Andréa will be sad. And we don’t want that, do we?” Violently shaken heads confirmed her statement. “So, we will be as welcoming as we can be to them, all right?” Again, the unison nods.

“Will they be staying at our house too?” asked Caroline cautiously.

Miranda’s lips quirked slightly. “Not that welcoming, darling,” she said tartly.

* * * * *

Back at the townhouse, Cara urged the girls upstairs to shower and change while everyone else adjourned to the sitting room. They had just gotten Andy out of her parka and settled back in her immobilizer when the housekeeper brought in a tray of tea and hors d’ouevres. Doug got Andy a plate and cup of tea while Miranda saw to Richard and Barbara. Cara came in a few minutes later to inform Miranda that the twins were out of the shower, getting dressed and would be down shortly. She wished everyone a good evening and left for the day.

When Patricia wandered in shortly after Cara’s departure, everyone knew the twins would not be far behind. Richard gave the huge dog a great behind-the-ears scratch for saving Andy and, well, because he was a dog person. Patricia showed her approval of this attention by sitting at his feet and gradually collapsing against his legs until he was in serious danger of having the blood supply to his feet cut off by her bulk. But, because he was a dog person, this in no way hampered the continued ear scratching that was immobilizing the St. Bernard.

Cassidy and Caroline arrived and immediately began a rehash of their final tryout. To their surprise, Barbara Sachs understood what they were talking about almost as well as Andy did. When she informed them that she was a veteran of years of lacrosse practices and games they looked at Miranda eagerly.

“Will you be coming to all our practices, Mom?”

“Probably not all your practices, Cassidy. However, I will make every effort to attend all of your games. Until we get used to incorporating your sports and music schedules that might be the best I can do. Next year will be easier for all of us I expect.”

“All our games? You’ll come to all our games?”

“Darling, I said I would make every effort to attend all of your games. But anything can happen. I can’t promise I’ll make it to all of them. What I will promise is that I will reassign everything I possibly can at work so that I can watch your games. Until we know your schedules, will that suffice?”

The stereo hugs she received from the twins seemed to answer her question. Andy just smiled and reflected on how much Miranda had changed from the Dragon Lady of Runway she’d worked for. That Miranda would have promised the twins anything and then tasked those promises out to her staff. This Miranda was wise enough to promise only that she would try to change for her daughters. And that was promising a lot.

Lily arrived shortly and demanded to know how final tryouts had gone so the twins had another captive audience for their recaps. As they launched into their stories, Miranda checked her cell phone and excused herself to her home office to return phone calls from Runway. When the twins finished telling everyone about their final practice, Doug demanded to know how they planned to entertain him while their mother was in London. The girls then dragged everyone into the media room and dove into the cabinet under the huge plasma TV. When they emerged, they held four remotes for their Wii system.

Andy’s parents had never seen a Wii in action before, so the girls powered up the system and demonstrated some of the games. Fifteen minutes later, Doug and Lily were refereeing a hotly contested bowling match between the twins and Andy’s parents. Her parents bowled in a weekly league and Barbara Sachs, enthralled with a video game system that was sensitive enough to pick up on her natural hook, looked as though she’d roll at least her average in the digital match. The twins, for their part, were amazed that adults older than college age had any of the skills necessary to play their game system, let alone the competitive nature to give them a good match.

As the bowlers trash-talked each other, Andy slipped away and let herself into the home office, quietly shutting the door behind her. Miranda looked up as she eased in the door and to Andy’s amazement, quickly ended her call telling Emily that she was perfectly capable of dealing with the crisis in Accessories, to just handle it and that she would talk to her later.

“Are you all right, Andréa?”

“I’m fine. I wanted to have a little alone time; just the two of us. I’m sure everyone will miss us soon so it won’t be long, but I’ll take what I can get.”

Miranda smiled as she came out from behind the desk and pulled Andy down next to her on an overstuffed love seat. She looked deeply into Andy’s eyes with a worried look on her face.

“You’re not wearing yourself out, are you? The doctors said you shouldn’t push yourself too hard for a couple of weeks. You’ve had a major shock to your system and you need to rest to get your strength back.”

Andy silenced her with a soft kiss. “I’m fine, Miranda. I’m going to get tired out for a while, but I’ll never get stronger if I don’t get out and push myself a little bit. Stop worrying about me. I’m fine now. Better than fine; I’ve got you and the girls taking care of me. Well, at least tomorrow you will be.” She wrapped her good arm around Miranda’s shoulders and pulled her close. To her delight, she felt the older woman sigh deeply and relax against her as her head lolled back on Andy’s arm.

“I haven’t done anything and I feel like I’ve run a marathon.”

“Miranda, you’ve taken care of your daughters, you spent an entire night at the hospital with me and you’ve been coordinating everything at your office and your home and the hospital and dealing with the media fallout since then. Believe me you’ve done a lot. I’m surprised you haven’t collapsed by now.”

“Me? The career-obsessed dictator of Runway? Never. But I probably will sleep well tonight. Attempting to sleep with two almost-eleven-year-olds is not the most relaxing thing in the world. Honestly, they’re just as wild in their sleep as they are awake. They toss and turn and thrash and flop around like two fish. They pummel me; I swear they’re leaving bruises.”

“The twins have been sleeping with you? Since…Wednesday?”

“Yes. I thought it would help them not be so frightened. Right now, I’m beginning to regret my initial impulse. I think Cassidy kicked me deliberately last night.”

Andy just grinned at her. “That’s part of the job description, Mom. If it’s any consolation, when we finally get to that point, I don’t flop around in my sleep or pummel my bedmate. Snore and drool a little, yes; but flop around and pummel, never.”

Miranda’s eyebrow nearly reached her hairline. “Snore and drool? My, you are talented. I can hardly wait.” Gently running her fingers through Andréa’s hair, she looked at the line of sutures and winced internally. “Before I forget, have the doctors said anything more about when you’ll be discharged tomorrow?”

“Yeah, they said probably late morning.”

“Good. I called Isaac. He’ll keep tomorrow afternoon flexible. As soon as we get you checked out of the hospital I’ll take you to the salon and he’ll cut your hair. Have you given any thought as to how you’d like it?”

“Isaac and I can decide that tomorrow. I don’t want to waste what little private time we have tonight talking about my haircut or how tired I am.” Pulling Miranda’s face close she murmured, “I have more important things on my mind…”

Any reply Miranda might have thought to make was lost in the lingering kiss that followed. Most rational thought was lost in the lingering kiss that followed. All Miranda could do was slide her arms around Andréa’s neck and hang on for the ride. It quickly became apparent that Andréa was a naturally talented kisser and Miranda was reaping the benefits of that talent.

When they finally broke to breathe, Andy began to press butterfly-soft kisses along Miranda’s jaw line, finally placing a tender kiss on that wonderfully delicate spot just below the ear. Miranda’s sharp intake of breath told Andy volumes about the sensitivity of that place as she nuzzled Miranda’s neck. Miranda tightened her arms and pressed hard against Andy as their lips came together again and she felt Andréa’s tongue gently seek access. But instead of a heated sigh or the murmur of an aroused lover, Andy let out a gasp of pain and Miranda drew back in horror.

“Oh my God! I hurt you! We can’t…we mustn’t…I knew we shouldn’t have…”

Andy saw the panic rising and moved quickly to quell it. She pulled Miranda back close and then looked deeply into her eyes.

“Shhh….it’s all right. I just moved the wrong way. You didn’t do anything. Relax sweetheart, please? I love to feel you close to me. I’ve wanted to hold you for so long now and never realized it. It wasn’t until I felt how warm and soft you are against me that I realized what’s been missing in my life up to now. You’ve been missing from my life, Miranda. You. You can’t hurt me. So please, don’t pull away from me.”

“But your arm…your shoulder. What if there’s damage and you can never use your arm again? How could I live with myself…”

“Oh, honey, I’m tougher than that, believe me. And this whole immobilizer thing is just a huge precaution on the part of the hospital. The surgeon told me this morning that normally with a wound of this kind they’d send you home in a standard sling and tell you to be careful for a week or two, then clear you to return to work. I’m not as fragile as you think. I won’t break. So stay right here and kiss me again. Your kisses are better than any drugs they have at the hospital. Hell, you’ve probably taken a couple of days off my recovery time just in the past ten minutes. Want to try for a week?” Andy waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Miranda could not contain a burst of laughter.

“You are incorrigible!”

“Yeah, but I’m cute.”

“Well, there is that...” Miranda touched Andréa’s cheek lightly and then closed the distance between them. The kiss began softly but quickly deepened and Andy tightened her arm, pulling Miranda firmly against her. A gentle touch of her tongue on Miranda’s lower lip begged entrance and the nearly inaudible moan in the silver-haired woman’s throat granted it. Andy drank in the softness of Miranda’s lips and the sweetness of her kiss with a thirst she’d never before felt. Miranda, for her part was dazed that she could be so swept away in a kiss. No one in her life had ever moved her so deeply.

Andy could have happily continued for the next century or so, but they were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. Exchanging a rueful look with her lover, Miranda straightened up but didn’t pull out of the circle of Andy’s arm as she said, “Come in.”

The door opened and Doug stuck his head in with a grin. “Mrs. Wegmann says dinner in five minutes. And I think we’ve created a monster; I’m not sure if we’ll ever get that Wii remote away from your mom, Andy. Miranda, what’s the policy on game controllers at the dinner table?”

“Tell Barbara I’m sorry, but house rules clearly state that all remotes stay in the media room. I can arrange to cut the power to that room if you think it will help, Douglas.”

He laughed and waved her off as he pulled back out the door and shut it behind him. Miranda smiled at Andy, pecked her on the lips and then stood, pulling the taller woman up with her. Reaching up to brush the bangs off Andy’s forehead she whispered “I’m so glad you’re all right. I’m so glad you’re here with us…with me.”

Andy kissed her one last time and replied, “So am I. And I’m not going anywhere for a very, very long time.”

Holding hands, they walked out of the office together.

* * * * *

Dinner was memorable on several levels. Not only had Mrs. Wegmann outdone herself with the roast pork, but also had apparently done some research with Doug and presented Andy’s all-time favorite dessert, pineapple upside-down cake. The conversation flowed easily over a variety of topics ranging from rumors of an exhibition of the original artwork from the Harry Potter books to the NCAA women’s lacrosse rankings, the recent announcement that the smash musical hit Mamma Mia! would be made into a motion picture starring Meryl Streep and a bowling rematch demand from Richard and Barbara. The twins had pulled out a narrow victory in the final frame and they sought the chance to restore the honor of their bowling league. Mr. Sachs questioned the girls about other Wii games they owned, and they gleefully described the fundamentals of Mario Kart Wii and informed him that Miranda was the reigning house champion. Doug laughed so hard at this news that Lily had to pound him on the back to get him breathing again and Miranda responded with twinkling eyes and a tart lecture on the benefits ‘of always trying your best, Douglas.’

Too soon it was time for the Sachses and Lily to take Andy back to the hospital. They got Andy bundled into her parka and immobilizer and she hugged the twins as hard as she could at the door. They were already excited at the prospects of the next day.

“We’ll come to the hospital early tomorrow to bring you home. Mom already said we could. Do you want us to bring you breakfast?”

Andy looked at Miranda for confirmation. “Darlings, I rather thought we might go out for brunch after we pick Andréa up. That might be easier since we don’t know when she’ll be discharged. But we’ll certainly bring coffee and cocoa for anyone who wants it.”

Cassidy looked at her mother with the eye of a natural-born negotiator. “Where were you thinking of brunch?”

Miranda smiled as she replied “The Central Park Boathouse?”

The twins yelped with approval and Richard asked, “They serve brunch in a boathouse in the park?”

“Yes, the Loeb Boathouse. It also houses a restaurant overlooking the lake. Their weekend brunch is very popular. The twins are particularly fond of their cottage cheese pancakes. If you don’t have any objections, I’ll make a reservation.”

“That sounds good. The doctors make rounds by 8:00 am. The nurses told me that Andy should be discharged by 10:00 am. Why don’t we meet there around 9:30? Will you girls be able to hold out that long for your pancakes?”

“We can grab some toast here before we leave,” supplied Caroline. “9:30 is fine for us.”

“Thank you, darling. Will you be organizing the transportation as well?” Miranda’s wry smile made Caroline blush furiously. “9:30 is fine, Richard. How do you and Barbara take your coffee?”

As the others filed out to the waiting car, Andy pulled Miranda behind the door for a quick kiss.

“Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.”

* * * * *

The next morning, Andy’s discharge went like clockwork. Miranda, Doug and the girls arrived at 9:20 am with trays of Starbucks for everyone and by 10:15 am they had Andy, her clothes and discharge supplies loaded in an SUV and everyone headed for the park.

Miranda’s name got them a large table by the windows overlooking the pond. Since the trees in the park were still bare of leaves, the top of the Bethesda Fountain could be seen to the southwest and to the twins’ delight, a flock of northbound Canadian geese had taken up residence on the pond that morning. Their meal was delicious and everyone returned to the townhouse pleasantly stuffed.

Caroline and Cassidy hauled Andy’s bags upstairs to her room and helped her unpack and settle in while Doug, Miranda and the Sachses chatted downstairs. Miranda took a call from her office, which confirmed first that several more tops of various styles had been altered to accommodate Andy’s immobilizer and would be dropped by the townhouse that afternoon and second, that a home nurse would arrive at 7:00am every morning for at least the next week to help Andy shower and dress. Miranda figured that she and the girls could get Andréa into pajamas in the evenings, but a professional would be needed to help her in the shower and getting dressed in the mornings. They’d give it a week and see how things went. If necessary, Miranda was prepared to keep the aide coming until Andy was released from medical care in six weeks.

Andy still maintained that she could take care of herself, but to her surprise, both her parents and Miranda insisted that professional help was needed for a while at least.

“Honey, the risk of losing function in your arm is just too great. What would happen if you slipped, even a little, getting into or out of the shower? You only have one arm to try and catch yourself. If you fell and landed on that shoulder you might never recover. No, having a nurse come in to help you is the smart thing to do. At least for a while.” Her father’s reasonable tone and logic reduced Andy to muttering to herself, but she stopped complaining out loud at least.

Miranda called Isaac and verified a 4:00 pm appointment for the haircut. She was frankly glad that the appointment was later in the afternoon because Andréa looked pale and exhausted after just their brief outing to eat. Miranda suspected that her furlough from the hospital Friday for tryouts and dinner had sapped her limited strength far more than she was willing to let on. Perhaps she could be persuaded to take a nap before leaving for her haircut. Miranda contemplated getting the twins to help her coerce the stubborn young woman into resting.

Caroline and Cassidy had, for their parts, decided that they were Andy’s official guardians and had steadfastly refused to get farther than ten feet from her all morning. Even now as everyone chatted in the living room, the twins flanked Andy on the sofa; Caroline snuggled against Andy’s right side with Andy’s good arm around her shoulders and Cassidy on her left, legs draped over Andy’s lap. Doug and Richard had each made smiling comments about the personal service Andy was getting; any time her coffee cup got less than half-full one of the twins promptly took it to the kitchen for a fresh one.

Miranda succeeded in getting the twins to help her talk Andy into a nap. It didn’t take too much convincing and Miranda realized that everyone would have to adjust his or her ideas on Andréa’s strength. It was becoming evident to her at least that the wound and resulting surgery had taken a great deal out of the young woman and that she would have to go slowly for a while yet. Miranda made a note to have her second assistant keep the nursing agency’s number close at hand and if Douglas indicated that Andréa required more assistance to organize it immediately.

What Andréa had steadfastly refused to do was go up to her room to nap. While Doug, her parents and the twins watched a TV special recapping the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Miranda worked in her home office clearing up her email and messages with Andréa napping blissfully on the sofa across the room. Miranda lost count of the number of times she looked up from her work just to watch the beautiful young woman sleep. It came as a continued surprise that each time she did, her breath caught in joy at the sight.

The twins tried to seem casual when they checked on Andy a couple of times and failed utterly. Subtlety is not something almost-eleven-year-olds do well, if at all. At least they didn’t wake Andy when they stuck their heads in the office doorway to see if she was still asleep. Miranda finally convinced them to leave them both alone for at least another hour with the promise that they could watch the DVD of A Good Year that evening after dinner. It was rated PG-13 but Douglas had seen it at the theatre and thought it would be appropriate for the twins. The combination of their Saturday night pizza and a heretofore forbidden movie did the trick and Miranda was able to finish her call sheets and email while Andréa managed a two-hour nap.