Miranda’s day, while oddly pleasant, still could not move fast enough. Once again, she had hit the ground running, and arrived in the Runway offices before 8am. Even her morning workout was pushed earlier. She had too much nervous energy to sleep in.

The cover shoot and main spread had gone swimmingly, or maybe it was just Miranda’s good mood that made it seem so. The Book had managed an early finish that night, and she went home with it in her possession for a rare treat.

Inside, her chef was preparing various courses. When Andrea arrived, at 9pm on the dot, Miranda took her coat and kissed her briefly on the cheek, and shooed her into the kitchen. She ate very little, and watched intently as Andrea devoured her food whilst chattering on in between bites, about her day at the newspaper.

For some reason, with Andrea actually in her presence, Miranda found herself less patient than she had been all day. Maybe it was a sudden bout of nerves. Perhaps it was the way that Andrea rubbed her neck absentmindedly that drew Miranda’s attention away from her voice, or the way her cleavage peaked out from where her shirt was unbuttoned and her bra pushed upward. Either way, it all had Miranda shifting as Andrea spoke. Finally, she directed the other woman to the lounge.

Andy noticed the tight smile on Miranda’s face, and had a momentary wave of fear. Was she about to be dismissed? Had she said something wrong?

The second Miranda had her alone, out of view of the chef—who would soon be leaving anyway—Andy’s fears were put to rest. Still, she chattered on nervously.

“…I haven’t let myself think, about anything other than work, for months now.” Andy was saying.

A twitch of impatience showed on Miranda’s brow. She did not do these kinds of chats—that was what therapy was for. But she didn’t go to therapy, and didn’t tend toward these kinds of ambiguous and unpredictable discussions with anybody, and she had begun to wonder as of late if this might be a root of her problems. Not only had her marriage failed, but the woman in front of her had run screaming into the night at Miranda’s first attempt to connect with her. So she decided to listen again.

“Miranda? Where did you go?” Andrea seemed calm. She did not seem affected by Miranda’s struggle to listen to this kind of thing—she probably expected it.

“Right here.” She cleared her throat. “I’m right here, Andrea, what were you saying. You’ve not over-thought parts of your life in ages? Are you usually an overthinker?” Miranda’s hand strayed once again, subconsciously, to Andrea’s belly and stroked up and down.

“No, not an overthinker…well yeah, probably…but this, this!” She pointed down to the six month bulge that was beginning to block her view of her feet. “This is a pretty huge decision, and I just went on instinct. And then, I came here!”

“I invited you here.” Miranda was growing confused.

“Yeah, but I totally, just…I’m just…I’m here!”

“Do you wish not to be here?”

Andy’s face softened and she shook her head hurridly. “It’s just, my life, you know…it’s just going where its going, and I’m just taking whatever it is that I want, without planning it or thinking about it or even talking about it with anyone. Except you, I suppose,” She added thoughtfully. “Right now. Really, for the first time.”

Sometime during that confused rant, Miranda had begun to trace the contours of Andrea’s jaw with her fingertips. She spoke softly, so softly that Andy had to strain to hear her. She said that Andrea was all she wanted, that she thought about her every day, that the pregnancy spurred her on, to try harder, because she realized for the first time that she was running out of time.

“I’m glad you called me.” Andy said after they’d sat quietly for awhile, Andy’s nerves soothed at last. Miranda’s words touched her and they made sense. The ball had been in Andy’s court, and she had been too afraid, too paralyzed, to even think about calling Miranda. “When I first kissed you, I just thought that it was a good-bye of some sort—a way to tell you how much I cared for you and respected you, how much I would miss you…and of course, I mean, obviously I was attracted to you…” She smirked. “But all of that aside, I still thought it was good-bye…and then, when I got back to the city, and I realized that I would not see you again, I just kind of shut down. I couldn’t handle it in a way.”

“I’m glad you’re back then.” Miranda sighed, tired suddenly. “You know.” An inner debate had begun and she spoke slowly. “It’s late…” She made her decision. “If you want to stay, I would like that, very much. But if you need to go home, my driver will take you.”

Andy leaned back and debated the options. She wanted to be with Miranda, but logic told her that they should take this slowly for whatever reason. They should date, or something. She scowled.

“Andrea,” Miranda decided on a different tact. She continued to gaze down at the brunette, guessing that she wanted a bit more reassurance about this whole matter. “I promise you, that this invitation is not the reflection of a temporary arrangement….I mean this isn’t a temporary…kind of…thing…” She scowled momentarily at her own fearful rambling.

“Hmmm?” Andy had to guess her meanings there, and all the stammering wasn’t helping. Miranda was actually nervous, it would seem. How cute. Andy grinned up at her. “I’ll stay.” She decided.

When they made their way upstairs finally, Miranda led Andy to the bathroom for a long and soothing shower. If there was hesitation because this was really the beginning for them, and because they’d not seen one another naked outside of their one and only afternoon together, then they silently and mutually decided to wave that nervousness away. Still, Andy smiled shyly as she slid her clothes off.

They undressed quickly and climbed in to what was of course, a massive luxury shower complete with a bench along one side. The water was at the perfect temperature instantly. Still, Andy shivered in Miranda’s arms as her body adjusted. Miranda stroked her and gazed intently in her face as Andy ran her hands down her back and over her ass, squeezing lightly.

“Cheeky.” Miranda smirked. Their mouths met wetly again, this time with the heat that had been missing from their earlier affectionate cuddle session.

Hands that stroked water slicked backs eventually moved to more erogenous areas, but still there was a leisurely pace to the whole matter. They did not have sex, but enjoyed long moments of washing and then kissing and then standing together beneath the shower, and somehow it was as good as sex would have been.

“I’m sorry I’m so tired.” Andy was tired when her head hit the pillow, half an hour later. “we could…” She was momentarily silenced when Miranda leaned over to kiss her before straightening back up and buttoning her silk pajama top. Andy smirked and grabbed at the bottoms before she could get into those as well. As a result, she lay there topless but wearing Miranda’s bottoms, while Miranda was bare from the waist down.

“Good lord, are you really that cute? We can’t sleep like this?” Still, Miranda climbed into bed for a moment, pondering her next move. “You’ll be cold.” She reasoned.

“Not cold. This is a big cushy duvet,” Andy patted it happily before tugging on Miranda to come closer. “And you’re warm as anything.”

“well…” Miranda glanced down at her bare toes, watching Andrea’s reaction when she followed her gaze. Dark brown eyes flared with sudden desire. Miranda decided that her legs were worth showing off and they would stick with the current arrangement. “Anyway, we’re not in a rush, right?” Andrea shook her head gently. “So let’s get some sleep.” She paused worriedly. “I’m busy, tomorrow night…”

“Oh?” Andy tensed against her chest where she had been listening to her heartbeat and stroking her side.

“Not a date.” Miranda chuckled. “Just work…I’ll only be an hour, but perhaps we should try to do something the night after?”

“Ummmm…I’m having…friends over, that night.” Andy said carefully. Miranda waited, really rather patiently for a woman not known for patience. Andy tried again. “I’m having Emily and Serena over for dinner, I mean they’re coming by. Maybe you could drop by after?”

“Ok.” There had been only a bit of hesitation. Andy was pleased at this and snuggled closer while Miranda turned out the light.