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Andy and Emily had been dating for a year. Andrea already knew the children, and they adored her. That's why, when they found out Andy couldn't spend Mother's Day with her mother because of work and flight schedules, they begged her to spend it with them and Emily.
"Please, Andy!" Bronwyn said, clinging to her hand.
"Oh, sweetie, of course I'll spend it," she said, crouching down to the girl's level. "YAY! MOMMY, ANDY'S GOING TO SPEND MOTHER'S DAY WITH US!" Roark ran out shouting to Emily in the kitchen, making Andy laugh.
“Thank you, Andy,” Bronwyn said softly. “We can surprise your mom, what do you think? Breakfast in bed, lunch at her favorite restaurant…” Andy whispered. “Wow… we really can?? Dad always said it was too much work, and that ‘she was our mom, not his,’ so he wouldn’t do anything,” the girl said with all the sincerity of a child who doesn’t understand the phrase.
“Of course we can, but we can’t tell Mom, right?” she said, giving the girl her pinky finger, trying to ignore Frank’s attitude. “Right… shh,” she said, bringing her finger to her lips to make the noise.
“Let’s go to your mom,” Andy said, getting up and extending her hand to the girl, who grabbed it.
“Mommy! Please!!” The boy said at Emily’s feet.
“I already said no,” she said while trying to make lunch.
“Hey! Why don’t we go play in the condo playground? Then we’ll come back for lunch,” Andy said from the kitchen entrance.
“WE CAN??” The 6-year-old boy stood up quickly.
“Of course! Just grab your coats,” she said, and the two children ran to their rooms, leaving the couple in the kitchen.
“If you say I didn’t need to do this…” Andy began.
“I won’t say anything… thank you so much, my love,” Emily said, smiling as Andy approached.
“Don’t thank me, I love them. And I love you very much, so it’s no cost to help you,” Andy said, putting his hands around Emily’s waist.
“I love you more, but it’s okay,” Emily said, shrugging.
“That’s not true—” she was interrupted by children entering the room screaming. “LET’S GO LET’S GO” the boy ran in “Okay.. okay” she said, still hugging Emily “Ew, are you two kissing??” he said “They’re dating, silly! Of course they kiss!” said the older girl as if it were obvious “Before you two start fighting, let’s go” Andy said, disentangling herself from the redhead who pulled her into a quick kiss “Be here in fifteen minutes, not a second more” she said
“Okay, my darling” Andy said, returning the kiss and going to the children and leaving.
[...] Mother’ day
Andy had slept at Emily's apartment, under the pretext of wanting to "spend the whole day with her," which was true, of course, but she also wanted to surprise her.
It was 7 a.m. when Andy woke up. Emily was completely clinging to her body, her red hair slowly covering her face. To get out, the brunette had to slightly lift Emily's arm and crawl out of bed, which caused her to trip over her shoes and almost fall. "Shit!" she thought after regaining her balance. She tried to leave the room as quietly as possible, taking the opportunity to grab some clothes.
It was 7:30 a.m. when she left the apartment. Due to the 12-degree New York weather, she was wearing a black turtleneck sweater with long sleeves, dark brown jeans, black boots, and a light brown wool coat. Her goal was clear: to get home in an hour at most, buy Emily's favorite breakfast, and something for the children as well. Luckily, the neighborhood where Emily lives is very well located, so everything she needs is within two blocks.
First, she went to the bakery "Pour le matin," a French place where Emily loved the chocolate croissant – even though she didn't eat much, after all, "carbs" – but today would be a special day, so she would make Emily eat. After that, she went to an Italian shop to buy a "Rustico leccese," the redhead's favorite savory pastry. She would definitely buy something English, but Emily always said that English breakfast wasn't her favorite, so Andy bought these, which were her favorites. Finally, she went to a coffee shop near the apartment, which Emily considered to have "the best coffee in town." Then Andy ordered 2 hot chocolates, one with whipped cream and the other with marshmallow. A cappuccino for herself and a mocha for Emily.
She was carrying two bags of food and two cup holders, balancing them as she walked quickly back to the apartment.
It was exactly 8:30 in the morning, Emily's giant apartment was silent, which gave Andy time to assemble a breakfast tray with white roses she bought on the way – which she paid dearly for since she couldn't separate the money and gave a $50 bill for two roses.
It was nine in the morning when she went to Bronwyn's room to wake her up. She entered the bright room where the girl was sleeping peacefully in her single bed. "Hey… shall we wake your mom up?" Andy said, crouching down to the height of the bed.
"Hm?"
"I've already got everything ready, you just have to wake up," Andrea said, smiling at the girl.
"Okay..." the girl sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times.
"Will you fix my hair first? You have to comb it," she said sleepily.
"Of course, go brush your teeth and I'll do that," she said, placing a kiss on the girl's forehead, who smiled in response. In a few minutes, the girl's hair was perfectly straight, just like her mother's.
"You know... I like your hair. It's pretty," the girl said, looking at Andy through the glass.
"Really? Do you like the color?"
"Yes, but I mean, I like the waves," she made a wave gesture with her hands.
"So one day we'll style your hair like mine, what do you think?"
“Yes! I would like it, I would look pretty!” The girl’s excitement took over.
“You’re already pretty, little one,” she said, turning the girl to face her.
“Mom says the same thing, I already know that, but you’re like REALLY pretty, that’s why Mom likes you,” the 8-year-old girl said, her eyes shining, making Andrea smile.
“Thank you… I also really like your mom,” Andy said, caressing the girl’s face.
“Take the present you made and go to the living room, I’m going to wake your brother, okay?” She said and received a nod.
In Roark's room, a blue LED light illuminated the space. The boy was wearing a long dinosaur pajama set. His slightly long hair was messy. Unlike Bronwyn's bed, his was on the floor, making it easier if he woke up in the middle of the night. Andy bent down and touched the boy's shoulder.
"Roark," she said softly, making the boy complain.
"Hey little one, shall we wake your mom?" Andy said when the boy opened his eyes slightly and turned to her, yawning.
"Okay, come here, you can sit on my lap," she said, and the boy raised his arms for her to pick him up, which she did. Andy pushed the boy up to adjust his position. "Where did you put the present you made?" she asked, and the boy pointed to the desk in the room.
"Great, just don't fall asleep," Andy said, watching the boy close his eyes.
"Okay..." his voice came out low from sleepiness.
In the living room, Bronwyn waited, sitting on the sofa with her present. Andy walked past her and went to the kitchen, with some difficulty he picked up the coffee tray, hoping that because it had been heated up earlier it was still hot, and went over to the girl.
“Go ahead and open the door, okay? Then you get on the bed and wake your mom,” Andrea said.
“Okay!” the girl said, smiling.
“I bought that outfit your mom wanted, we’ll give it to her after she eats, okay?” “Mom will love it,” she said gently.
“I know, right? Now let’s go,” she said, feeling her hand tremble from the fur.
Bronwyn followed Andrea’s instructions perfectly; she managed to get to the bed without making almost any noise. Upon climbing onto the bed, which was somewhat difficult because it was higher, she sat on Emily’s feet and placed her hands on her.
“Good morning, Mom!” Bronwyn’s voice was low but loud enough for Emily to stir. “Bron…?” Emily said, rubbing her eyes. “Happy Mother’s Day!” She said, throwing herself at Emily and hugging her.
“We brought you food! Sit down!” The girl practically ordered, and Emily did so. “Here, I got your favorite things, and I think the coffee is hot, I can heat it up if needed,” Andy said, placing the tray on Emily’s lap.
“Wow… thank you, Andy,” Emily said simply, considering she didn’t know how to thank her.
“You’re the best mom I know, you deserve this and everything else the day has to offer!” Andy said affectionately.
“Is there anything else?” The redhead raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe yes, maybe no… who knows?” Andy tried to be mysterious.
“I know…”
“Roark, don’t you want to lie down with your mom?” Andy asked, looking at the boy who nodded “yes,” then she put him on the bed. The boy went to Andy's pillow and hugged his mother.
"Happy Mother's Day, Mom," he said, still sleepy.
"Thank you, Rory," she said, kissing the top of his head.
"Can we give the presents?" the girl asked, looking at Andy.
"Of course, you can give what you made.”
The two children took a while to decide who would give first until they both decided to give together. Emily picked up both at the same time. She opened Bronwyn's first. A colorful picture frame, containing a photo of her holding her daughter at age 3. "Did you paint this?" the redhead asked. "Yes, there are flowers here because you like them, and the red is because it's your favorite color. I also put the letters B for Bronwyn, R for Roark, M for Mommy, and A for Andy, since those are the people you love," the girl finished the sentence with a smile from ear to ear. The explanation made Emily tear up; her daughter was definitely incredible.
"This is perfect! I love you so much, my darling... you're an amazing painter, you know?" Emily said, hugging her daughter and kissing her forehead.
"Thank youuu," she said shyly.
"Now mine, Mommy!" Roark said, a little more awake,
"Okay, let's see." She untied the ribbon of the gift and inside was a pillow with the boy's handprints and some crooked drawings. Picking up the pillow, she realized the boy's hands were larger than she remembered, which brought tears to her eyes.
"Roark, this is great! You're a very good artist too, I loved it. I love you so much, my little one," she said, doing the same thing to him that she had done to her sister.
Andy watched the scene from outside. She loved how Emily was completely different when it came to her children. Actually, it's more accurate to say she was different at work; at home, Emily was herself, still a little sharp-tongued—after all, the 24-year-old Emily wouldn't disappear so easily—but she was also the most loving mother Andrea had ever known. Even though she herself had been incredible, she had to admit that the way her girlfriend treated her children was admirable. Andy left the room silently and went to the kitchen to get the children's breakfast, which had no sweets except for hot chocolate, which she would have to heat in the microwave (Emily had forbidden her from going near the stove if she was alone). Five minutes later she returned to the room carrying another tray.
“Where did you go?” Emily asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Since I have to maintain my ‘cool aunt’ image, I bought breakfast for everyone, I just went to get the kids’ from the kitchen,” Andy said, sitting on the bed near Emily’s feet.
“What did you buy?” Emily looked at her, pretending to be serious.
“Hot chocolate with marshmallows for Roark and with whipped cream for Bronwyn, it must have melted a little but there’s still some left, and for savory I bought the same thing for all of us,” Andy said, smiling.
“You’re amazing, thank you Andy!!!” Bronwyn said, picking up her cup of chocolate.
"Of course she is, that's why we love her," Roark said, standing next to Emily, stretching to grab the chocolate.
“I love you both too," Andy affirmed, and soon the children fell silent to eat.
"Can I know what time you woke up? Because the places you got this from are far away," Emily asked, eating the savory pastry.
"It was 7 in the morning, I think. It was hard to leave because someone was on top of me," Andy smiled at her.
"You're lucky I didn't wake up when you left," Emily said, ignoring the teasing.
"I'm very agile," Andy said confidently. "You must be. Let it be clear that I'll only be eating sweets in the morning because you brought them to me. This isn't healthy at all," she said, taking a piece of the croissant.
“But today is a special day, and you deserve it, you’re a perfect mother,” Andy said, stroking the woman’s leg over the sheet.
“I wouldn’t say perfect, I’m good at best,” said the redhead.
“No! You’re perfect, Mom,” Roark said, and Bronwyn agreed.
“See? It’s not just me who thinks so,” Andy said with a victorious tone.
When everyone had finally finished eating, Andy placed the trays on the floor beside the bed and stood up.
“Can I know what you’re going to do?” Emily asked with the children lying beside her.
“Well… I think you’re a great mom, right?” Andy began.
“Yes… you say that a lot.”
“So I heard you saying you wanted a Prada outfit from the exclusive spring collection, but you didn’t know if you’d have time to buy or pick it up…” she said, opening the bedroom closet.
“So I went and bought it for you, as a gift from the three of us for Mother’s Day!” Andy said, smiling and holding up a chic Prada bag.
“You what?” Emily couldn’t believe it.
“Let’s open it, I want to see if you’ll like it.” Andy sat on the bed, handing the gift to Emily.
“I can’t believe it! This is so expensive, love,” Emily said.
“It doesn’t matter how much it costs, as long as you like it.” Andy shrugged, and the redhead took the outfit out of the bag.
A light blue blazer, shorter in the front and longer in the back, with dark blue buttons that stand out on the garment.
“It’s even more beautiful in person… you’re amazing! Thank you so much, love,” Emily said, leaning forward and giving Andy a kiss.
“Now that we’ve given the presents… can we watch TV?” Bronwyn said, his eyes sparkling.
“Sure, go ahead,” Emily said. She usually wouldn’t let them watch TV so early, but it was Mother’s Day, and the house rules were relaxed when Andrea was around. “Thank you, Mom! Let’s go, Roark,” the girl said, getting out of bed while her brother struggled to get down because he was shorter. Soon, the two had disappeared from the room, and the faint sound of the TV could be heard.
"Now that they're gone… you're a really hot mom, you know?" Andy said, positioning himself on top of the woman in front of him.
"I think you can show me that tomorrow…" the redhead teased.
"You can be sure of that," Andy said, leaning in and kissing the woman, a tender kiss despite the contained desire there.
They lay in bed for an hour, Emily lying on Andy's chest. They weren't necessarily talking; sometimes they exchanged a word, but that wasn't the point. They were just enjoying each other's company. It was 10:30 when Andy saw her phone.
"I think you should go get ready. I reserved a table at that restaurant you like," Andy said, running her fingers through Emily's hair.
"What else did you do? Just breakfast would be great, my love,” Emily said, now leaning on her arm to look at the brunette in front of her.
“I just wanted your day to be special, you deserve it.” It was half true, a third of the truth, of course, Andrea thought so, but she also wanted to show that there was nothing normal about the way Frank was when they were married.
“Did Bronwyn tell you something?” Emily asked, staring at Andy with a neutral look. “What?”
“You have the face you get when I talk about my past and how Frank treated me,” she said as if it were obvious.
“Do I have a face for that?”
“Yes, it’s an attempt to pretend you don’t want to kill him, when you do,” she explained.
“It’s not about him, not only about him at least. She told me he never wanted to do anything on Mother’s Day, I thought it was ridiculous and I wanted you to have an amazing day… you know, I’ve said it before, you deserve it, I think the way you treat the children is beautiful.” Andy said, looking at the mattress.
“Andy… I think it’s very sweet, really. But you don't need to prove to me that you're different from him, I already know that, I know it by the way you look at me. By the way you treat my children, by every action of yours. That's why I love you so much, if either of us is perfect, that someone is you.” Emily's eyes sparkled as she spoke, and by the end of the sentence she was slightly blushing. Andy, in turn, stared at her with so much love in his eyes that Emily didn't know it was possible; she could say her whole life that she loved Emily, but just his intense brown gaze would be enough.
[...]
Andrea was in the living room waiting for Emily; the two had gotten the children ready before anything else. So now the two were running around the apartment while she tried to keep them under control so Emily could finish getting ready.
“And I got you two!” she said, holding the two children.
“We’re about to leave, get ready or your mother will kill me for having wrinkled clothes, I promise to take you to the playground afterwards,” Andy said, and the children calmed down. Until Emily shouted from the bedroom calling them. Andrea took the opportunity to go get a drink of water in the kitchen.
Less than 2 minutes later, Emily appeared accompanied by the children. She was wearing a black outfit with white details, which made her even more perfect in Andy's eyes. The children were behind her.
“You know, Andy… They really like you, and they asked me to do something.” Emily said, pulling the children in front of her,
"Uh... you know... you're really cool! Roark and I really like you, Andy... And like..." the girl stammered, then Andy waited for her to finish the sentence.
“We want to give you this,” Roark’s childish voice filled the room. He held out a white bag to Andy, who took it and waited to open it.
“What did you want to talk about? You don’t need to be shy,” Andy said, crouching down to be closer to the children’s height. She didn’t really understand what the two wanted; they had never been shy, at least not with her.
“We want to call you Mom!” Bronwyn said quickly, making the sentence garbled. “What?” Andy wasn’t sure what she had heard.
“You’re like mommy to us, so we want you to really be one,” the girl explained. Andy’s eyes filled with tears, which soon flowed as she couldn’t hold them back.
“Of course you can! I love you both, so much,” she said, hugging the two children. “Open it! Mommy bought it,” Roark said when she let them go. Andy sat on the floor to open the present, tears still streaming down her face. There it was, a gold necklace with a picture of a boy and a girl.
“Oh my god…” she said.
“It’s me and Bron,” he said, pointing.
“It’s beautiful… thank you so much, little ones,” she said, trying to dry her tears. She got up from the floor and put the necklace around her own neck.
“See? It looks good, don’t you think?” “Very! It turned out sooooo beautiful!” Bronwyn exaggeratedly said.
“Wow, beautiful.” Roark’s response was simpler.
“Well… go get your coats, they’re in the living room,” Emily said, and the children disappeared into the apartment.
“Emily…” Andy said.
“They asked me this almost a month ago, that’s why they asked you to spend the day with us,” Emily said, wiping the wet trail on the brunette’s face.
“This is so sweet… I love them so much, and thank you for letting me.”
“There’s no reason not to let me, besides them being crazy about you, you’re going to marry me anyway,” Emily said, laughing. “I don’t remember asking,” Andy raised an eyebrow.
“Especially since I’m the one who’s going to ask, don’t you dare ask me to marry you, you made the dating agreement, you made your choice,” Emily said like a contract.
“I want a really beautiful proposal then,” Andy said, grabbing Emily’s waist and pulling her close.
“You can count on it,” she said, giving Andy a quick kiss on her slightly pink lips. “Looks like I’m not the only mom here now, am I?”
“Mom… This is crazy, I didn’t expect them to call me mom even when we were going to be wives, imagine when we were girlfriends,” Andy admitted.
“You spoil them a lot, what can you do… and they have my genes, don’t forget that, it’s impossible for my DNA not to love you,” Emily said, fixing a strand of Andy’s hair.
“Wow, you’re so cute. How can people be afraid of you?” Andy said, and Emily raised an eyebrow but didn’t have time to answer because the children appeared running. “Shall we go?” they said in unison.
[...]
At the restaurant, the table Andy had reserved was by the window. The children walked ahead of the women and stopped when Andrea indicated the table.
“Here it is, choose your seats,” Andy said, and the children sat one on each side of the table by the window, making the women sit on different benches. Andy sat next to Bronwyn and Emily from Roark.
The children ordered their usual: chicken with cheese sauce and fries, Emily ordered a fish dish, and Andrea ordered a filet mignon with wine sauce.
Between eating and talking, they spent two hours at the restaurant, considering the children took a long time to eat.
“We’ll have to go to the park,” Andy said casually.
“Why?”
“I promised them they were going to destroy the apartment, so I said I’d take them,” he said, getting a sharp look from Emily’s blue eyes.
“See? You spoil them,” she said as sternly as she could.
“That’s not true! I just have my own methods to make them behave,” she said, stretching her hand across the table.
“Yes, that must be it… don’t be deceitful,” said the redhead, placing her hand under Andrea’s, who just laughed.
“So? Shall we go? We can’t stay out late in the wind,” the brunette said, getting up with Emily.
“I want to go to the one with ice cream!” Roark said.
“No ice cream unless it’s hot. We can go to the one near the candy store,” Emily said. “Oh no…” she complained.
“It’s that or no candy,” Emily maintained. “Okay, okay,” she said, pouting, something that hadn’t worked with Emily since Bronwyn was 5 years old.
[...]
They had been sitting on the park bench for two hours. Emily could see from afar how completely filthy the two of them were; it was the kind of thing she didn't care about anymore.
“I want to see how you're going to convince these two to go home,” Emily said, throwing her head back with a defiant smile.
“Seriously? They're not that impossible to deal with,” Andy said, standing up and calling the children over to her.
“So, it's time to go home, okay?” she said, and the children looked at her suspiciously.
“No,” Bronwyn said simply.
“We don't want to go home now,” Roark said right after.
“I know you want to play more, but it's almost five o'clock,” Andy said, resting her hands on her knees.
“Just a little longer! Please!” Roark said in the sweetest voice he could muster. Andy didn't really know how to react to that; they were usually easier than that when it came to her.
“Oh… look, I can play with you at home, is that okay?”
“But playing at home is boring! And Mom always says we need to get away from the TV, so here we are,” the girl said. Wow, she had arguments for everything, really a copy of Emily.
“Well… about that,” Andy was about to say when Roark started walking backward, trying to escape the conversation.
“HEY! Stop right there. You’re talking to Andy, aren’t you?” Emily said, standing up, and the boy nodded. “Then, stay here.” “Sorry…”
“…I know! If we go home, you can do my makeup!” Andy said after thinking for a moment.
“Really?” Bronwyn said, pretending not to be convinced.
“Of course, I don’t lie,” she said.
“We can pretend we’re stylists! Isn’t that cool, Roark?” She said, looking at her brother,
"Really? I think so, I don't understand these things." She said, making a face.
"I'll teach you, Mom is very good at matching clothes, that's why I know," said the girl.
"Okay, let's go then," Andy said, extending her hand to the children. Roark grabbed the hand she extended quickly, and Bronwyn took Emily's.
"See? I did it!" Andy said as if it were an Olympic prize.
"You gave something in return, you can't always do that, I've told you that several times," the redhead said.
"He was going to cry, I don't like him crying," the brunette admitted, making Emily smile slightly.
[...]
It was 8 PM when Emily finished getting the children ready for bed, with Andy's help it had been faster than usual.
"Okay, who's going to bed first?" She said, watching the two children on the sofa.
"Are you sure you don't want me to help you with that? I can put one of them to bed," Andy said quietly.
"No need, you don't have that obligation," Emily said, staring at her.
"I'm their mother now, have you forgotten? Let me help you, because if you take too long I'll fall asleep before you get to the room, I'm exhausted," she said, holding Emily's shoulder.
"Okay... thank you," the redhead said, looking away.
"Who wants to sleep with me?" Andy said, and the two quickly got up from the sofa, but Roark reached the brunette first.
"No! No! I want to sleep with Mommy Andy," the girl said as if she had called her Mommy her whole life, as if it were normal in her eight years of life.
“I got here first! And she already sat next to you at the restaurant, now she’s mine!” said the boy, clinging to Andy’s leg.
“But she held your hand at the playground!” the girl retorted.
“Hey, hey… why don’t we do this, today I’ll put Roark on, tomorrow, even if I don’t sleep here, I’ll come put you to bed, okay?” Andy said, bending down and putting her arm around the boy who remained clinging to her.
“Hm… would you do that? Like, come here just for that?” the girl said shyly.
“Of course! And you can’t upset your mom, have you thought about what she’ll think if nobody wants to sleep with her tonight?” Andrea whispered the last part, although Emily could still hear.
“That’s true… I don’t want that,” the girl said and went to Emily, taking her hand.
“You must be a witch, because I never see them stop fighting so quickly,” Emily said, looking at Andy.
“I wouldn’t say that… I’m just very good with children,” Andy said, picking the boy up and then separating from Emily, as each went into a room.
Fifteen minutes later, Andy finally managed to get out of Roark’s bed. The movement woke the boy slightly, but not completely.
“Goodnight, Mommy,” he said softly, going back to sleep soon after. Andy watched the boy for a few seconds before saying, “Goodnight, son.” When she closed the door behind her, Emily was waiting for her.
"Everything alright?" the redhead asked. "Yes..." Andy said, looking at the floor. "Then why are you like this?" She said, holding Andy's waist,
"I haven't gotten used to this 'mom' thing yet... It's so cute," she said, looking into the blue eyes in front of her.
"It really is... you know, they wouldn't make you an invitation like that if they didn't love you very much. They always hated the idea of me dating someone, especially Bronwyn, you know, she loves her father, even though things are getting more and more different. When we separated, she was 4 years old. Roark doesn't remember actively living with his father, but she remembers... but I think the fact that you're like this, doing things that Frank would never dream of doing, won her over a lot," Emily said while caressing Andy's face with her right hand.
"Em... I feel so sorry for him, Bronwyn is incredible, she didn't deserve this," Andrea said, resting her face in the redhead's hand.
"No... but she deserves you, very much," the shorter one said.
"I love them, honestly, it wasn't them who received a gift by having me as their mother today, but me by having them as children. They are both incredible, and it's all thanks to you. Only you could raise two children so well while working so hard. You're incredible, Emily Charlton," said the brunette, holding the woman's face in her hand. Emily didn't say anything; she couldn't speak without crying, so she just kissed Andy. A kiss so tender she could stay in it forever.