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"Hey, who's that lady that picks you guys up from school sometimes?" Angie, one of their classmates, and a total gossiper, asked during break one day.
Cassidy looked at her twin, silently asking her to answer because she hated talking while eating. Caroline, who had no problem speaking with her mouth full of food, despite her mother requests to not do so, shrugged. "It's Andy."
Angie frowned, clearly disappointed with the lack of informations, and looked down at her apple for a couple of seconds. Break was going to be over soon and she had to choose the most important questions wisely. "Who's Andy?"
Caroline rolled her eyes - because, honestly, who cares? "She's Andy, that's it."
And it was true. Andy was Andy, and that was it.
"So..." Angie was eating a banana the next time she touched the subject. "This Andy... she works with your mom? Because I saw her talking with Roy one day.”
"She works at The New Yorker." Caroline was eating a strawberry pie and didn't looked up while answering.
"Ok, but why does she pick you up sometimes?" Angie was not going to let it go.
Caroline looked up at her like she was insane, or missing something obvious, and Cassidy was looking between them in confusion, like sh couldn't understand why they were being asked that question. "Because mom's said she could." She could have ended with a 'duh' by the tone in her voice.
And it was true. Andy came to pick them up - usually on thurdays and tuesdays, very rarely on fridays - because their mom said it was ok and then she started doing that.
"Is your mom coming to the recital?" It wasn't Angie who asked, but a rather nice girl, who played the cello in their orchestra, named Janete - Janie, for friends.
"Yep." Caroline nodded and Cassidy copied her movement much excited by her side. "Said she will be here at 7 o'clock, sharp."
"Oh." Janie frowned. "But isn't she going to help you two get ready? Like, with your hair?"
Cassidy shook her head and, since she wasn't eating, was the one who answered their friend. "Andy asked Selena to teach her how to braid our hairs, so she's going to do it."
Janie seemed satisfied with it, knowing her two orchestra mates wouldn't show up looking different from everyone else or would be late for the show, but Angie, who tried to play the triangle but never managed to, was once again curious. "Who's Selena?"
"She works for mom." Caroline started putting her books back on her backpack.
"Oh." Angie waited a total of ten seconds before asking. "And why is this Andy doing your hair?"
Caroline and Cassidy exchanged a look, looking a mix of annoyed and confused, before Cassidy shrugged. "Because mom has a meeting until 6 and she's going to meet us here at 7."
"Honestly, Angie, don't you pay attention?" Caroline rolled her eyes dramaticly while walking away.
And it was true. Not Angie not paying attention to conversations - she did it quite frequently actually. But Andy doing their hair. Serena had teached her how to and she said there were a lot of videos that made it even more clear for her, and she was confident she could do it. They would have to trust her.
"Hi, girls!" Andy looked up from her computer with a bright, even if tired, smile when the group of five pre teens walked inside the kitchen.
Cassidy leaned over to give her a side hug on her way to the fridge and Caroline offered her a high-five - that she took, obviously - while waiting for her twin to pass the ice cream. "Sup, Andy."
Andy laughed happily. "Don't let your mother hear you talking like that, she will say it's my fault."
"It kinda is, though." Caroline teased back while passing two ice creams to her friends and getting one to herself.
Andy shook her head, smile never fading. "Yes, well, don't let her find that out."
"Bye!" Cassidy shouted in her excited way while jumping out of the kitchen with 5 spoons in her hand and four other girls following her close.
Angie managed to reach the stairs before asking. "What is she doing here?"
Caroline could have grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her if she could. "Working, duh!"
And it was true. Andy was working in the kitchen, writing her article, while eating a chocolate cake. Was their friend blind?
"What are you wearing?" Angie wrinkled her nose as her face twisted into a grimace when she looked up and down at her friend.
Caroline looked at her own clothes and raised one eyebrow. "What?" Putting both hands on her waist, she gave her best glare at Angie.
The young, yet very tall, brunette didn't seemed bothered by that. "You look... like my brother."
Cassidy giggled behind her hand, trying not to look up from her book to see the anger in her sister's face. Caroline, on the othet hand, rolled her eyes. "Does your brother wear a bra now?" Andy would be so proud of her answer if she was there to hear it, she just knew it.
The table erupted in laugh, including Angie, who tried to picture her big brother doing just that, but soon her laugh died as she brought the subject in hand to attention again. "Why are you wearing that?"
"Because I'm going to get into the soccer team, obviously." Caroline sat on the bench next to her sister and accepted a slice of her apple without words. "The coach said I could try out today after gym."
"But why?" Angie looked really distraughted by the mere idea of her, or her friend, wanting to play that sort of game.
"Mom said we had to pick up some after school activities." Cassidy explained calmly.
"No, our therapist said that to mom, so she's making us do it." Caroline rolled her eyes again.
"Either way, I said I didn't want to make anything that envolve running or climbing or being outdoors at all." Cassidy swapt her sister's hand away when she tried to grab another slice of her apple. "I'm doing extra art classes."
"And mom said no to karate classes." Caroline said after stealing the apple from her sister's fingers. "Andy said she used to play soccer when she was our age, so I decided to give it a try."
"Oh." Angie was not getting better with her curiosity because she didn't even waited for her friends to stop slapping each other hands. "Andy knows what your therapist says?"
Both identical redheads froze as they slowly turned to look at their friend like she was crazy. When Angie kept the confusion clear on her face, they shared a look, before Cassidy took a deep breath and slid the rest of her apple towards Caroline. "Not everything, I suppose. Beside, we asked her if she had any ideas of what we could do so she made a list."
"You asked her?"
"Yeah. Mom wasn't happy when she suggested karate, but Andy said it was totally safe."
"But mom still said I couldn't do it." Caroline shrugged. "So soccer it is."
"When did you ask her?" Angie was sitting on the edge of her seat, almost leaning over to get more informations.
Cassidy frowned and looked at the girl in front of them up and down like she was trying to crack a puzzle. Finally, she slowly whispered: "We Skyped last night."
And it was true. Andy had called from her hotel room imediatly after dinner last night and they had barely said 'hi' before they started telling her every single detail from the last two weeks while she was in Italy for some work for the Daily Mail. Their mom didn't even scolded them when she came back from her office, after going through the Book, to find them in her bed with her laptop open while chatting with Andy about what they wanted for Christmas.
"Why do you guys have four chairs?" Angie asked as they started getting the class ready for the father-teacher reunion that was about to happen. Herself had just collected two chairs to put by the small desk that had her name tag, but stood froze in place when she saw her identical friends holding two chairs each.
"Because we need four." Caroline's voice was a clear indication that she had just made a stupid question, but Angie couldn't drop the subject.
"I know your father is gaining some weight, but..." Angie didn't had to finish the joke so she just giggle to herself.
Cassidy, on the other side, huffed as she and her twin put the chairs down on the double desk with their name tags. "Hey, Caro, do you think we could ask mom to spent summer with dad in the Bahamas after she sees our grades?"
"Maybe." Caroline answered with a quirky grin. "But we should talk with Andy first so she can get mom ready for us. You know, smooth the way."
"I will drag mom to see my art projects when she gets here and you can tell Andy, then." Cassidy suggested with a nod.
Her sister gave her a thumbs up. "We just have to make sure dad and Amanda don't annoy mom tonight."
"That's why mom is going to sit right here..." Cassidy pointed at the first chair, located just beside Angie's own chair. "So Andy can sit here..." She pointed to the second chair. "Then Amanda and then dad. Far enough and Andy will be between them too."
"Why is Andy going to be here?" Angie asked suddenly, interrupting whatever Caroline was about to say. "This is a parents meeting."
"Amanda is going to be here." Cassidy said as a matter of fact, not leaving space for doubts or any more questions. "We want them to see our drawings."
And it was true. They had made some very nice drawing in art classes earlier that month, both had spent quite some time on it, and they were exposed in a white board in the back wall of the class. They wanted their parents to see it, because it was some awesome job and they both knew it, and later they would go to McDonald's with Jonny and Jeremy, their younger half brothers, to celebrate their grades. And their mom agreeded they could share a McFlurry!
"Hey, watcha doing?" Angie leaned over Cassidy's shoulder, trying to see the girl's card.
"What everyone else is doing." Caroline was the one who answered, managing to sound bored and concentrated at the same time. She was applying some glitter in the card in front of her, and there was another one, who had no glitter but had a very beautifully hand draw dress and a big bow, by her side. "A card for Mother's Day."
"Yeah, but..." Angie looked between them looking confused as ever. "Why are you making two?"
"Jesus, Angie. I hope you're not expecting mom and Andy to share one." Caroline actually looked over her shoulder to give their friend a disappointed glare, before shaking her head and going back to her work.
Angie managed to wait five seconds. "Why is Andy getting one too?"
It hit Cassidy like a train. "Oh." She froze, hand still holding the Winnie the Pooh sticker that she was going to use to glue her card closed. "Angie..." She turned on her seat and gave the girl a gentle look. "Angie, you know that Andy and our mom are... like...” She tried to use her hands to wave around like the word was flying around her as she pursed her lips and frowned.
Caroline, always the least patient one, rolled her eyes. “Together, Angie. Mom and Andy are together, like Dad and Amanda. Get it?”
And it was true. Andy and their mom were dating for over four years by now, the journalist had being a part of their lifes since they were eight, and she was getting a card on Mother’s Day. She might have gotten there after Amanda – their dad met Amanda a years after he divorced from their mother – and she might not be married with Mom like Amanda was with Dad, but they cared about her just as much. Maybe more, but they knew they weren’t suppose to say that out loud. So yes, she was getting a card too, even if Angie didn’t get it.
“Hi, Ms Priestly.” Angie waved from the door, not stoping to actually see inside the office where her friends’s mom was working. She knew Cassidy and Caroline for over five years now, and she had never steped inside that office. It was quite scaring, actually, so she just avoided it every time she had to walk down that hall to reach the backyard.
Caroline was walking in front of them, chating about Mark, the cute boy in the Math Club who showed up to watch one of her practices, and she almost bumped into Andy since she was looking over her shoulder. The tall brunette – and Angie had realized she looked a bit like her aunt Maggie – was able to stop in time before she knocked the redhead over, using the doorframe to hold on and stop her fall.
“Hey, there, cowboy.” Andy giggled when she took a more steady step foward and placed a hand in Caroline’s curled hair. “You ok?”
“Yep.” Caroline nodded and waved her hand away when Andy tried to mess up her hair. “We’re going to play with Patricia.” She informed while walking around the woman.
Andy nodded with a smile. “Sure. I will ask Cara to bring some lemonade for you guys.”
“Thanks, Andy!” Cassidy shouted with giving her a high-five.
Andy laughed. “Hello, Angie. Nice to see you again.”
“Hey, Ms Priestly.” Angie offered a smile as she walked after her friends, eager to see the big dog. Her mother didn’t let her have a dog because they lived into an apartment, which sucked.
“They aren’t married.” Cassidy said after a while, when they all had a cup of lemonade in hand and a plate of cookies between them in the grass.
Caroline, who was layed in the grass with her head resting against Patricia’s belly, nodded which made Angie frown a bit. “Why not?”
“Cus they can’t.” Caroline sighed.
“Oh.” Angie looked down at the slightly yellow liquid inside her glass for a couple of seconds. “But Andy lives here, right?”
“For two years now. That was when mom finally allowed us to move upstairs.” Cassidy grabbed a cookie. “Didn’t we tell you that?”
“You said you were going to change rooms, but...” The girl bit her bottom lip. “You never talked about Andy.”
The twins turned their heads to lock eyes, silently communicating. “Guess we didn’t.” Cassidy finally complied with a sight.
“Andy was always there.” Caroline shrugged. “Well, since she started to be there.”
“How so?”
“Let me see...” Since her twin had started eating, Caroline took charge of the conversation. “She teached me how to ride a bike and Cassidy how to swin. She make us breakfest everyday and she’s always home for dinner, and she makes mom be here too which is great. She was the one who picked us from school when dad had that accident last year, she drove us to the hospital when Jonny was born and she’s the first emergency contact at school. And she got us Harry Potter.”
“She did.” Cassidy agreeded briefly while leaning to get another cookie.
“Oh.”
They stayed in silence for five or six minutes, until the lemonade was gone, the cookie was finished and Patricia was ready for another round of running around the yard with the girls. When they got up from the grass, between groans and sighs, Caroline put a hand in Angie’s shoulder.
“Did we never talked about her, like, for real?”
“Not that I remember off. One day, she showed up to pick you from school and... she just kept showing up. Altought, the first time I saw her was just like a year ago.”
“That’s when she changed jobs. She manages to get out earlier now.” Cassidy explained with a shrugg. “She picks us from school and takes us to eat ice cream, but don’t let mom hear about that or she will flip a table.”
“Oh, okay.”
Another silence, but that one didn’t last for longer until Caroline decided to talk again. “Andy is family.” She declared. “It has being like that since the beggining. She just... became part of us.”
“Like she always were.” Cassidy agreeded with her sister with a nodd and Caroline also nodded to her twin’s explanation. “I don’t know. Does that make sense?”
“Sure.” Angie nodded and shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t makes sense.” Caroline said. “She’s Andy, that’s it.”
And it was true.