Chapter Text
“Hello, this is Andy Sachs speaking.”
“Andrea, do you always answer your phone like this?”
“Emily? Wait… you’re calling me?”
“Yes! Don’t sound so surprised, it’s not like I haven’t called you before,” Andy could hear a nervous chuckle escaping from Emily’s side of the call.
“Right… Um… Gosh, this is so embarrassing.”
“Emily?”
“I am completely swamped at work and I don’t have time to go and pick up my kids from school, and because Frank is being the douche bag he is he insisted on not helping me, so I was hoping that you can do me a favour and pick them up for me instead…?”
What.
“You want me to go and pick up your kids?” Andy asked in disbelief.
“Yes, since you are the only person I know that I can trust around two 8 years old I have no choice but to ask you this,” Andy can sense the underlying fear of rejection in Emily's tone, “If you're not free I'd just go and find-”
“You trust me enough to have me pick up your kids?”
“Why do you always have the need to have everything spelt out? The unfortunate answer is yes.”
“Aw… I'm glad that you have enough trust in me to let me pick up the twins from school,” Emily can feel Andy's warm smile through the call, “No problem! Just text me their school address and I can bring them-”
“Thank you Andrea,” Andy could hear someone calling Emily’s name in the background, “Listen, I just texted the teachers at the school that you’re coming to pick them up, so just say your name to the girl at the reception and you’re good to go.”
“Wait Emily-”
Beep.
The call was cut off by Emily.
Oh boy.
“Um… this is going to be fine…” Andy mumbled to herself as she got a new message from Emily, which contained a photo of her children and the address of their school, but with no instructions on where to take them after she picked them up.
She looked at the time. 3:30 pm.
A quick google search showed that the school typically ends their days at 4 pm for elementary schoolers.
She immediately started to pack up her things as she called an uber to the school.
She was halfway out of her office before Nigel stopped her.
“Where do you think you are going? I don’t recall you having taken half a day off today.”
“Nigel, can you cover for me please? Something came up,” Andy used her best pleading eyes, “I really gotta run.”
Nigel sighed, “Alright, go. But make sure to send in the draft of the feature we are doing for Valentino’s newest collection by today, okay?”
“I sent it to everyone already. Thank you so much Nigel, talk to you later!” Andy yelled back at him, feeling several pairs of eyes on her back as she waited for a lift down.
“What’s up with her? Leaving in the middle of work?” Amari asked in confusion.
“Beats me,” Nigel took a sip of his coffee.
“I think she got a call before all this happened… but I don’t know who called her,” Charlie chimed in.
“Does this mean that we have to cover for her?”
“Thank the lord that Miranda won’t be coming in today,” Charlie said, “Or else… I can’t imagine Andy’s fate.”
“She will be fine… right?”
“If we don’t finish our work today, we will not be fine, so… I suggest we go back to what we should be doing,” Nigel went back to picking out photos from the shoot he did last week for Issey Miyake as Amari waltzed back to her desk, while Charlie took a sip of his venti.
“Here we are miss, Good Hope School.”
“Thank you,” Andy got out of the car and looked at the establishment.
A private school established in 1957, it had miraculously continued to open throughout the years, maintaining its reputation and well-kept infrastructure, expanding and improving its facilities as it ages.
It was actually relatively close to the Runway offices, only a 20 minute long ride and she’s there. She had grimaced when looking at the hefty school fees as she scrolled through the school website, noting that the twins are in the same grade but in different classes.
Well… here goes nothing.
Giving herself an imaginary shot of courage, she walked towards the front gates, where parents are gathered and children are pouring out.
It was a mess.
She made her way through to the reception area through a large amount of “excuse me” and “sorry”.
“Welcome to Good Hope School, how may I help you?”
“I’m Andy Sachs, I’m here to pick up the twins? Bronwyn and Roark from grade 11?”
“Please wait one moment…” the receptionist searched through her computer, “Yes, you are the person Miss Charlton asked to pick up the twins?”
“That’s me,” Andy gave her a sheepish smile.
“Great… I’ll have someone to go and fetch the twins,” the receptionist made a call, “I’m Selena, by the way,” she held out her hand.
“I’m Andy, but… I think you know that already,” Andy shook her hand.
“So… this is the first time that Emily has ever asked someone other than Roy to come pick up her kids.”
“Really?”
“Really. If it wasn’t her, it would be Roy, and on occasion I’d see her ex-husband Frank,” the thinly veiled disgust when Selena mentioned Frank did not go unnoticed by Andy.
“Does the ex-husband not show up often?”
“He rarely shows. He only turns up when major fashion events like fashion week or the Met Gala are around, which is kind of weird…”
Emily has basically been a single parent this whole time after her divorce…
Andy lets out a short laugh, “It’s not weird. Emily works in the fashion industry, which is why she needs to attend all these events.”
“Yeah I gathered from all the luxury brands she wears… but I didn’t know she would be attending all those events…” Selena contemplated for a while.
“I mean… she IS a senior executive for Prada so… I’d say she’s important enough to have a mandatory appearance at events like fashion week or the Met Gala.”
Selena is looking at her with a look of disbelief and surprise.
“She is a senior executive at Prada?”
“Yes…?” Andy trailed off uncertainly.
“Oh my gosh… I knew she worked in the fashion industry but a senior executive at Prada… wow…” Selena said in awe, “No wonder she has such great fits every single day.”
“I mean… When you have worked for Miranda Priestly it’s kind of a guarantee for you to have a great sense of fashion.”
“She worked for THE Miranda Priestly?! Editor-in-chief of Runway?!”
“Yes…? She was her first assistant as far as I know.”
Selena’s jaw dropped.
“I can’t believe this. Miss Charlton worked at Runway and now she’s working for Prada? A million girls would kill to have her jobs.”
“Heard that one before,” Andy chuckled, “You sound like a fan.”
“She always looks like an ice queen but when she talks to her children she can be SO soft and caring,” Selena said in a tone that almost sounds dreamy, “I think she’s actually a really nice person despite what the other parents say about her.”
“What do they say about her?”
Selena sighed, “I overheard them saying that she’s mean more than once.”
“That’s just regular Emily for you,” Andy’s tone started to sound reminiscent, “She may be full of mean and snarky comments, but she will never try to sabotage anyone or harm them without reason. She admits her faults and owns up to her mistakes too. She just has a really tough exterior.”
“You seem like a good friend of hers,” Selena observed.
“We worked at Runway at the same time 20 years ago… she was the one who showed me the ropes to everything. If it weren’t for her and Nigel, I probably wouldn’t have made it past a year as Miranda’s assistant.”
Andy had never seen someone’s jaw drop twice, but Selena’s jaw just did.
“You worked for Miranda too?!”
“Yes…?”
“Oh my god. This is INSANE. I know two people who have worked for Miranda Priestly now?!”
“I’m working at Runway now, so-”
“YOU ARE?!”
“Yes,” Andy can’t help but laugh at the enthusiasm and surprise the young receptionist displayed, who looked like her entire worldview had been tipped upside down, “I am the features editor of Runway.”
“No wonder your name looked so familiar… I read Runway a lot.”
“Thank you for supporting us,” Andy replied with her trademark smile.
“Who are you?”
The voice of a young boy made both women turn.
“Your mother can’t pick you up today so she sent Miss Andy to pick you up today,” Selena gestured for the two children to come forward.
“You’re Miss Andy?” The girl asked.
“Yes,” Andy stood in front of the twins, kneeling down to their level, “I’m Andy Sachs, I’m a friend of your mom, and… because she is still stuck at work, she can’t come and pick you up today so she sent me to do it instead,” she finished as she gave them a bright smile.
“I’m Roark,” The boy gave her a small wave.
“I’m Brownyn,” The girl offered her a small smile as she twisted the straps of her school bag.
“I’d leave you guys to it,” Selena got back to her desk, “It was great talking with you Andy!”
“Likewise,” Andy gave her a friendly smile, “Right. So… your mother did not give me any specific instructions on where I should take you guys… Are you two due to go home immediately or should I take you to your mom?”
“If she didn’t say anything I think she’s just letting you decide,” Brownyn pipes up.
“Really?”
“Well… mommy always takes us back home immediately but… can we have some fun today?” Brownyn asked timidly.
“You guys wanna have fun?”
“Yeah. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the park.”
“I want to go to the movies.”
“Wow, let’s calm down a little bit, one thing at a time, okay?” Andy said, “What about your homework? Have you finished them yet? Any tests that you need to revise for?”
The twins looked at each other, “I don’t have any homework, but I do have a vocabulary quiz next Monday… I don’t know about Brownyn though.”
“I have a Math assignment due next Monday and a math quiz on Tuesday. I hate math,” grumbled Brownyn.
“Cheers to that, I’m not a huge fan of math either,” Andy raised her hand out for a high five, which she got after some hesitation from the girl.
“Right… How about this? I’d take you guys to a cafe, we can work on your English assignment and help you revise for your vocabulary quiz, and, if we have time, we can go to the park. Sounds good?”
Both kids nodded, “Sounds great,” Roark agreed.
“Let’s go,” Andy ushered the kids out of campus.
“Um… Do you know where you’re going?” Brownyn asked timidly.
“I’m figuring it out.”
It's not her fault that Google maps are very confusing.
“Uh… I think there’s one over there,” Roark pointed.
“Do you guys wanna go to that one?”
The twins just shrugged.
“I’d take it as a yes, then,” Andy muttered, “Alright, make sure to look left and right for cars okay? Be careful when crossing the road!”
They made it to the cafe without any injuries. Andy takes it as a win in her babysitting duties for Emily. She makes a mental note to text Emily about their current whereabouts.
“Can I get a croissant?”
“Of course, and… what do you want Roark?”
“Can I have a pain au chocolat?”
“I'd help you guys order, do you want anything to drink?”
“Can I have hot chocolate?” Brownyn muttered uncertainly, “Mommy says it's too sweet for us to always have it with all the whipped cream and marshmallows on top.”
Of course she would think that this is too sweet.
Andy gave the child a gentle smile, holding her hands, “Well, we shouldn't be doing things that your mother won't approve…”
Brownyn pouted.
Why are her children so cute?
“So… what if I order you a hot chocolate, with whipped cream but without the marshmallows? It can be our little secret,” she winked at Bronwyn.
She saw Brownyn's face lit up, a huge grin gracing those cute chubby cheeks.
“Thank you so much!” Brownyn almost jumped up and down in excitement, “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Do you want anything Roark?”
“No thank you.”
“Great… Can you two go grab a table while I order?”
The twins ran towards an empty table, placing their bags on the chairs.
“Dig in,” Andy put down the food and drinks, taking a sip out of her own oat milk cappuccino.
“Wow, you guys are really hungry,” she said, noticing how the twins scarfed down the pastries.
“Mommy usually lets us have afternoon tea after we get back from school,” Brownyn said, swallowing a bite of croissant, “Mommy knows how school can make us tired so she usually lets us eat.”
“That’s really sweet of her.”
“It’s always finger sandwiches and tea,” Roark said, “But we do get occasional pastries.”
“Your mother treats you two very well,” Andy said, cutting up her cinnamon roll.
“Mommy is really nice to us,” Brownyn took a sip of her drink, relishing in the taste of whipped cream and warm gooey chocolate, “But we only see daddy once a week.”
“Sometimes we don’t even see him. We haven’t seen him for as long as a month before,” Roark added.
Frank (whatever his last name was) is definitely a douchebag. No wonder Emily called him a pathological narcissist.
“Well… you have your mom and me now,” Andy said, “You two can always find me if you ever need me.”
“Can we get your number?” Brownyn asked, a bit shy.
“You two have phones?”
“We share one together, but we both have our own ipads. We sometimes need it to hand in assignments at school.”
“Okay, let me borrow that for a second…” Andy typed in her number, “And… that’s me!”
“Can we call you Auntie Andy?” Brownyn asked, her face bashful.
Auntie Andy. It has a nice ring to it.
“Of course,” Andy gave them a bright smile.
“You are the first person other than mommy or daddy that came to pick us up from school,” Brownyn commented.
“Really? Well, I’m very honoured to be the first.”
“Mommy doesn’t have a lot of friends,” Brownyn said, staring at her empty plate, “I’ve never seen her bring friends home.”
“Me neither,” Roark said, “She is always at work and rarely goes out to meet friends. I don’t think I have ever heard her mention meeting a friend before.”
“No, she did! Do you remember last week? Mommy said she’s going to have lunch with a friend so she called daddy to come and take us out for lunch, but daddy cut her off so she asked Uncle Joseph and Aunt Mary to take care of us for the afternoon.”
“Oh right, Uncle Joseph took us to the Pancake Palace. I have never seen such a large stack of pancakes in my life,” Roark said.
“Wait. Last week? I had lunch with your mother last weekend,” Andy replied.
“That’s you?”
“I believe it is...”
Emily told her kids that I’m her friend even when she didn’t know the outcome of the lunch…
“Are you mommy’s only friend?”
“I hope not,” Andy nervously chuckled as she brushed away a lock of brown hair.
“I’m glad that you are friends with our mommy,” Brownyn said with such a bright smile on her face that Andy is trying her best to not squeal right there. Children say the kindest things with the most innocent intent…
“Mom always seemed to be alone,” Roark added.
Because I’m persona non grata, that’s why.
Emily’s tough exterior of always being mean with all the passive aggressive insults in classic British fashion can be a huge turn off for a lot of people. Andy of all people understood this the most. Emily Charlton is always ready with a snarky comment but she had never sabotaged Andy before (excluding the whole debacle about buying Runway). She is always honest and earnest with Andy and never lied to her intentionally.
Do you know that I called you? No, I meant after you left Runway the first time, I called you. I called you. Bloody hell… no, I wanted us to be… I thought we could be pals.
Andy may not have answered her call 20 years ago (apparently it was not a pocket dial), but she would be damned if she misses a call or leaves Emily Charlton again. They may have lost 20 years, but they still have a lot of time on their hands. She can definitely connect with her again.
She will stay this time.
“I won’t leave her, not this time,” she settled, “Just remember that you can always find me, no matter what. I care about you two,” she reached for their hands, Brownyn and Roark each placing their hands into her open palms.
“Thank you,” Brownyn’s voice grew small, Roark following suit.
“Hot chocolate with whipped cream is so good.”
Andy can’t help but laugh, “It’s good, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Brownyn’s cheerful tone makes Andy gain some faith for the future generation.
“We better keep it a secret.”
“We will, right Roark?” Brownyn stared at her twin.
“I don’t want to get in trouble with mom…”
“No one’s gonna know if you don’t tell…”
“I can keep a secret too,” Roark mimicked the action of zipping his lips, Brownyn and Andy following suit.
“Well… unfortunately, you still have some homework and revision to do so let’s do those first, shall we?”
The groans from both children showed that work in general is not well-received at any age.
‘Currently with your kids at a cafe near their school :)’
‘I think I will take them to the park since Bronwyn mentioned she wanted to go, I'd text you our location if we actually go there at the end. Call me when you’re off work.’
“Done,” Andy muttered under her breath as she set down her phone, having just texted Emily their current whereabouts.
“Um… Auntie Andy?”
“Yes, Brownyn?”
“Do you know how to do this?” The girl showed her a multiplication word problem.
“Let me take a look… hmm… Serena has 4 boxes of apples, where each box contains 5 apples. How many apples will Serena have if she gave away 10 apples to her friend Jane?”
“I’m a bit confused… How many apples does Serena actually have? The boxes part… I don’t understand it that well.”
“Well…” Andy took out a piece of paper, drawing on it, “Each box contains 5 apples, right?” She drew 5 apples, surrounding them with a rectangle.
“Yes…” The girl followed along.
“Now, you have 4 of these boxes,” Andy drew more apples, drawing a rectangle around 5 of them.
“Now, how many apples do we have?”
“One, two, three…” Brownyn pointed at the drawn apples, “Wait… I think I lost track… sorry…”
“No worries,” Andy gave her a reassuring smile, “Maybe try and write down the number on top of each apple so you don’t forget where you’re at?”
“Let me try,” Brownyn said, “One, two, three, four, five…”
“Eighteen, nineteen, twenty!”
“There you have it,” Andy said, “Now, how many apples does Serena have?”
“Twenty!”
“That’s right! Now, if she gave away 10 of these to Jane, how many apples would she have left?”
“Ten!”
“You solved it already,” Andy said, looking at Bronwyn’s happy face because she solved a math problem successfully.
“Thank you, Auntie Andy,” Brownyn gave her a toothy grin, one she found herself returning.
“You’re very welcome.”
“Um… can I ask you something?”
“Of course, Roark.”
“Can you help me check if I spelled these words correctly or not?”
“Sure,” Andy took his notebook and cross-checked them with the vocabulary list.
“You actually spelled most of them correctly, you only misspelled tomorrow, there should only be one m, not two,” she pointed at the circled m for Roark.
“Thank you,” Roark replied, “I always get this one wrong…”
“Maybe try and remember it as tomorrow is the next day, so there’s only one m.”
“That’s a new thing.”
“It’s just a suggestion, feel free to get your own,” Andy offered him a benign smile.
one hour later…
“Yes! I finally got them all correct,” Brownyn said as Andy gave all of her solved math problems ticks.
“I also managed to spell all the words correctly now,” Roark chimed in, “Thank you so much for helping us on our revision.”
“Yeah, thank you for doing this with us,” Brownyn piped up.
“It’s no problem at all,” Andy said, “Right…” she glanced at the time on her phone, “We’ve got 15 minutes till 6… I think your mother leaves work at around 6 pm so… do you guys want to go to the park nearby?”
“YES!” The twins exclaimed in unison, excitement evident on their faces.
“Let’s pack and clean up first, after that, we can go to the park!” Andy helped stack the papers together, handing them to the twins.
“Are you guys sure you have packed everything? Nothing left behind? Phone in your backpack, Brownyn?”
“Yep!”
“Great, we’re good to go.”
They stepped out of the cafe, and were immediately hit by a light breeze of wind.
“It’s a little chilly, isn’t it?”
“Yeah… a bit,” Roark replied, stuffing his hands into his jacket, while Brownyn zipped up hers.
“Well… let’s head to the park, once you start walking and running you won’t be that cold anymore,” Andy said, trusting Google maps once again to lead the way.
Please work this time. Please stop embarrassing me in front of the kids.
“We’re here!” Brownyn’s elated voice chirped.
“Alright, take it easy you two, give me your bags and be careful!” She yelled the last bit out to the two children who ran to the slides.
She took out her phone, taking a photo of the kids playing on the swing set, sending it to Emily with a text.
‘With your kids at the park near the school. You can swing by and pick them up later. Call me.’
She got an immediate response back from Emily.
‘Just got off work (finally). Send me the exact location of the park.’
Guess she’s finally done with all her endless meetings.
‘Will do.’
She sent Emily their location through Google maps.
“Hey kids!” She had to shout to get their attention, “Your mom just got off work, I think she will be coming to pick you two up soon, so don’t go too crazy okay?”
“Is mommy coming?” Brownyn ran towards Andy, who was sitting on a nearby bench, keeping an eye on the kids while writing an article on Prada’s latest handbag collection, Roark following her closely behind.
“Yes, she is.”
“I can’t wait to see mommy, I want to tell her about how awful lunch was today,” Brownyn’s nose wrinkled at the mention of lunch.
“Ugh… it was bad,” Roark’s face also contorted to a similar look his sister has, “The chicken tasted awful. There was no seasoning, just dry, pan-fried chicken thigh,” He complained.
“Yeah… and the vegetables were all soggy. The broccoli and carrots were way too soft, they’re definitely overcooked…”
Andy suddenly found herself grateful that the catering at Runway’s cafeteria is so good. She likes corn chowder and the occasional froyo.
“Sounds bad…” She can’t help but grimace.
“It was horrible! They had such great spaghetti the other day…”
The twins launched into a hilarious conversation about low quality school meals to Andy (although she mostly listened).
“Mom doesn’t pack lunches for us because she is already very busy in the morning, if she does have to pack lunch for us, I saw her wake up at 5 am to start preparing food for us,” Roark said.
“Yeah, I remember seeing her come home late from work one night, and she still had to make us breakfast and lunch the next day.”
Yikes. That’s the fashion industry for you, it never stops moving. It is extremely demanding… but that's life isn’t it? God, she can hardly imagine how Emily made it through parenting all these years when her douchebag of an ex-husband doesn’t even do much.
“Um… does your mom come home late a lot?”
The twins exchanged a look, “She tries her best to come home early to spend more time with us, but we know how demanding her job is. She usually picks us up from school and works at home before cooking us dinner.”
“Is she a good cook?”
“Mommy is a really good cook,” Brownyn’s face lit up at the mention of her mother’s cooking, “She makes the best roasted potatoes I have ever eaten.”
“I like how she makes a Sunday roast,” Roark said, “We tried to have it once a week, but because it takes a long time to prepare, we only have it once a month.”
“What do you think is the best thing your mom makes for the Sunday roast?”
“It’s definitely roasted potatoes.”
“I think it’s the Yorkshire pudding.”
“You two are making her sound like a really good chef.”
“Mommy does know how to cook well, she tries to cook whenever she can. She says it’s healthier than eating out because they use a lot of oil and unhealthy ingredients,” Brownyn said.
Typical Emily, but she will agree on the part that cooking for yourself is much healthier than eating out. She's not a hazard in the kitchen, despite what Lily says.
“I like mommy’s cooking. But daddy doesn’t do it a lot. He only orders take out… I don’t think I’ve ever seen daddy cook.”
“No he hasn’t cooked for us… unless you count making cereal and using instant oatmeal meals as cooking.”
Andy can’t help but crack a smile, “I don’t think that counts.”
“I don’t think he cooked for us then. I think he used to help mommy before they left each other, but since they stopped living together I haven’t seen daddy help mommy with cooking,” said Brownyn.
She has been struggling a lot with this not so co-parenting thing has it? Andy sighed.
“I don’t recall anything that dad has offered on his own to help mom with,” Roark said thoughtfully, “I think mommy has to call him every time to ask for his help. And he always cuts her off.”
“That’s not very nice of him,” Andy said, already adding this to the list of things she hates about the man she had never met in person.
“Yeah… daddy was nice to us until he stopped living with mommy,” Brownyn shifted, staring at the sole of her shoes, while Roark simply sighed.
“I don’t think he likes us anymore,” Roark voiced out, “I overheard him complain on the phone to mom that he doesn’t have the time to ‘deal with us’.”
You don’t have the time to deal with your own flesh and blood?
The audacity that men have to say atrocious things like these. Judging from what the kids have said, he didn’t even do his part in co-parenting. Emily was doing this as a single parent almost the entire time.
Andy has the sudden urge to go find Frank and slap him across the face. Punching him also works, she isn’t picky. She just wants to physically harm him and make him suffer for what he did to Emily and their children.
“No parent should ever say that…” she mumbled, “Just remember this: you two are NOT a burden to anyone, especially not to your mother. She is very lucky and grateful to have you both, okay?” She stood up, shouldering her bag.
She felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist the second she finished speaking.
She looked down and saw Brownyn hugging her, burying her head into her opened up jacket, Roark standing at the side, looking at his sister.
“Aw… you guys,” Andy wrapped her arms around Brownyn protectively.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Andy turned around, and finally saw her.
Dressed in Chloe's latest autumn collection and a pair of black Jimmy Choos, Emily Charlton walked over to Andy Sachs, Coach bag on her shoulder, the look in her eyes immediately softening as she saw her children.
“Mommy!” Bronwyn immediately let go of Andy and ran towards Emily, who immediately wrapped her arms around her daughter, Roark still standing close to Andy as Emily ruffled her daughter’s hair, smiling freely at her.
“Have you been nice to Andrea?”
“Yes! Auntie Andy helped me with my homework and taught me math.”
“Did she now?” Emily directed her penetrating gaze towards Andy, who simply gave her a shrug.
“When kids ask you for help on math, you help them,” She offered Emily a sheepish smile.
“I’m hoping that you didn’t teach them anything with the wrong methods.”
“Well… my methods are extremely outdated cause they’re only the memory I have from 30 years ago… so no guarantees on whether or not they’re the ‘wrong method’,” Andy deliberately put it in air quotes.
“Mom, lunch was terrible today,” Roark said.
“Oh really?”
“Well… cafeteria food is known for being horrible. It’s a common thing among all schools,” Andy chimed in.
“Yeah, the chicken was so dry today,” Brownyn still held onto Emily’s hand.
“Is it? Do you guys want to go to the place where we can have roasted chicken? I can get us a table in 30 minutes if we leave soon,” Emily started typing on her phone.
“Can Auntie Andy come along?” Brownyn asked, tugging Andy’s hand, while Emily raised an eyebrow.
“You want me to eat dinner with you guys? Are you sure?”
“Yes! Are you free?”
Andy looked at Emily, whose eyes only said one thing: If you don’t want to come, it’s perfectly fine. No pressure at all.
“I’d love to have dinner with you all,” Andy gave Brownyn her warmest smile, “If you’ll have me.”
“We would love to have dinner with you!”
The way her heart melted when she heard Brownyn say that. God, children can be saying anything and it would make full-grown adults like her swoon.
“Alright, I'd call ahead, and stay in this playground!” Emily yelled the last bit as the twins ran back to the swing set.
Andy sat down next to Emily on the bench, taking her time to look at her as she made the phone call.
“What? What is that sickening look?”
“No, it's just… it's nice seeing you,” Andy said with a fondness in her eyes, “I… I've never seen you like this.”
“What? Acting like a doting mother?”
“Actually it's smiling so freely,” Andy said with a small smile, “You rarely smile back in the day.”
“When you're not working for a demon personified you will also be in a much better mood,” Emily deadpanned.
“Also… They're my children. How can I put up the facade I have at work for them?”
“What facade?”
“I'm basically persona non grata at work.”
“Right…” she mumbled, “But I really enjoy seeing this side of you.”
“So gooey,” Emily said, turning her body to look at her fully, “But really, thank you for doing this.”
“No problem at all,” Andy offered her a warm smile, “The twins are really nice and easy to take care of.”
“What did you do to Brownyn? She never warmed up to people that quickly, let alone invite them to dinner with us,” Emily gave her a skeptical look.
“It's a little secret,” Andy simply winked at Emily.
“My goodness… you bribed her didn't you? What did you get her at the cafe?”
“Um…” Andy stared at the sky, at the trees, anywhere but at Emily.
“Let me guess, a vanilla milkshake.”
“No-”
“Ah. A hot chocolate with whipped cream.”
“How do you know?” Andy gave Emily an incredulous look.
“Call it a mother’s instinct,” Emily said, “It's not that hard to guess.”
Before Andy could reply, Emily stood up, calling the children, “Time to go!”
The children ran back to Emily, Andy handing them their backpacks, helping Brownyn put on hers, holding Roark's scarf for him as Emily looked on.
“Alright, let’s go,” Emily said, holding out her hand for Brownyn to hold, walking in front, while Andy and Roark lagged behind a little, following them.