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Cassidy likes the way Mom makes scrambled eggs.
It’s fluffy and creamy all at once, and tastes better than Dad’s silly girlfriend’s version, which is just too egg-y. And Mom even adds cheese on occasion, which means she’s in an exceptionally good mood and that usually entails a day out, just the three of them.
Mom mostly makes breakfast on weekends. She doesn’t really have much time to do it on weekdays. And even if it’s Mrs. Bailey, who makes breakfast on weekdays, Mom always makes sure everyone sits together at the table for breakfast before she leaves for work (except on days where she has to leave early). Honestly, Mom never eats anything and only drinks coffee, but she still fusses and makes them eat before school, and that makes Cassidy happy. She likes when Mom fusses because it means Mom is looking. Caring. Loving.
Mondays to Fridays are just fillers. They’re boring, because classes at school are boring, and Mom is too tired when she comes home from work to do any cooking. Cara’s snacks are okay, and Mrs. Bailey’s dinners don’t come close to Mom’s. But Cassidy knows that Mom works really hard for them, so she tries not to complain and make Mom feel guilty whenever she is too tired to try. She can tell when Mom is feeling guilty. The presents get more expensive, and they always get a trip to the Hamptons after that. They have a pool there, so it’s fun.
Mom tries very hard most of the time and especially on weekends. Even if Mom doesn’t make the food, she always makes sure to squeeze in fifteen minutes of “talk time” with Cassidy and Caro every single evening before they go to bed.
“Talk time” usually means they have to update Mom on dumb stuff happening in school, but Mom likes to know everything so Cassidy makes sure she doesn’t leave anything out. Caro still hasn’t told Mom about her crush on Thomas but Caro changes her mind on boys all the time, so Cassidy honestly isn’t sure if it’s worth the effort.
Caro lives for the weekend day outs, because Mom will let her have ice-cream and all the junk they’re not allowed to have on weekdays.
It’s not what Cassidy truly cares about though.
Cassidy lives to wake up to Mom’s breakfasts on a Saturday morning.
It’s funny to think that Mom enjoys cooking, because everyone always thinks that Mom has a rule against eating food or something. Once, Cassidy caught Emily in the foyer, halfway eating a cheese-cube, and pretended that she was going to tell Mom about it, earning big fat tears and endless promises of “anything”. It was pretty fun.
Emily was being dumb, but Cassidy got a huge kick out of it.
She’s not surprised that people think a lot of things about Mom, most of them untrue. Some of them are really mean too. She doesn’t really mind, so long as Mom doesn’t mind. Knowing things other people don’t know makes Mom special, and separate from Miranda Priestly, because Miranda Priestly is a legendary fashion icon and Mom just likes good food and Saturday movie nights with lots of snuggles.
The world can have Miranda Priestly. Mom is theirs, and theirs alone, and Cassidy doesn’t really want to share her with the world.
When Stephen was still around, Mom used to make a chicken casserole dish he likes on Friday nights when she had the time. They were really happy together once, even if Mom now pretends that she has never loved him. Like he was a mistake.
Cassidy remembers catching them in the kitchen a long time ago, after dinner. Mom was checking on a cranberry pie in the oven (Cassidy remembers how good it smelled, how her mouth watered when Mom opened the oven door) and Stephen sneaked up on her to pull her aside for a kiss. She remembers squeezing her eyes shut because it was really gross, but Mom’s laughter made her feel warm and tingly inside.
It sucks that she can’t remember much about how it was like with Dad, not the good parts, since by the time she was old enough to remember, Mom and Dad were already fighting all the time. It’s too bad, how everything with Stephen got messed up, since Cassidy was pretty sure that he would stay, at least for Mom’s cooking. He really loved Mom, and he didn’t even mind that Caroline and Cassidy had a different Dad. He even told Cassidy once, before he and Mom got married, that he wanted them to have a little sibling too.
Cassidy wonders what happened with that.
Anyway, after Mom came back from Paris, she was in a mood, and it made Cassidy worry that Mom might be becoming less Mom and more Miranda Priestly for a few painful weeks.
She knew something was wrong, but she didn’t dare to ask, until Mom finally told them that she and Stephen were splitting up.
That really sucked.
Things got a bit better though, after Cassidy made her a “Best Mom” mug in art class. At breakfast the next morning, when Mom saw the mugs that Caro had made for Cassidy and herself in her own art class project (they each said “1/2 Best Daughters Ever”), she laughed for the first time since Stephen left.
A proper Mom laugh. Not a Miranda Priestly laugh.
Cassidy couldn’t keep the spring out of her step the entire day.
Things are much better now.
This morning, Mom’s scrambled eggs include an extra helping of cheese, and Cassidy can see Caro’s eyes gleaming in excitement at all the possibilities already. Mom lets them do a lot of things when she’s in a good mood.
It has been a while since Mom was in a good mood like this.
They go to an arts and craft fair right after breakfast, and Mom wears her plainest linen shirt and pants. That’s her uniform when she wants to pretend to be not-famous, and wants to blend in. It’s hard for Mom to blend in with her hair, but it works most of the time in some parts of New York.
Caro spends the morning dragging them to every single booth. Cassidy likes art to humour her sister, but Caro breathes art and Mom doesn’t seem to be interested in anything in particular at the fair so Cassidy knows this trip is more for their enjoyment than Mom’s. After two hours, and two bags full of art supplies, Mom declares that it is lunch time, and they stop by a corner bistro.
Nobody seems to pay too much attention to Mom when they walk in. It’s not the sort of place celebrities go to (because Miranda Priestly is kind of a celebrity), so that’s nice. Even so, people still look over to their table occasionally and Cassidy can’t blame them. Mom’s still really pretty, even without her fancy work clothes, and her hair is special so people always look. It’s okay though, because they don’t come over and try to talk to Mom which usually ends up really awkward because Mom’s not Mom anymore (she has to be Miranda Priestly) and they have to sit there and wait until the intruder leaves.
Except, someone does come over and Cassidy’s eyes widen in shock when she realises who it is.
“Andy!” Caro cries, missing the flash in Mom’s eyes.
Cassidy watches Mom carefully.
“Hey, squirt,” Andy says, flashing a big grin. Even with barely any make-up on, Andy is prettier than all the other girls who work for Mom. She has really nice eyes, kind of like a princess, she thinks.
“Hi Andy,” Cassidy says, a bit more cautiously, because she feels Mom tense up, and that is never a good sign. She likes Andy a lot though, and hopes Mom doesn’t hate Andy.
“Hey, Cassidy,” Andy says, and Cassidy's eyes widen further.
“So cool,” Caro whispers, but it’s loud enough that Cassidy is sure Mom hears her. It is cool though, that Andy can always tell them apart.
“It’s good to see you, Miranda,” Andy finally says, and sounds like she means it.
“Likewise,” Mom says, but there is something in her voice which Cassidy can’t make out. Huh. Cassidy is confused at how Mom hasn’t gone all Miranda Priestly yet, because Andy used to work for Mom, and Mom is always Miranda Priestly to various degrees with her employees.
“So you guys went to the fair?”
“Yeah! It was great. Did you go too?” Caro immediately says, excited.
Andy laughs, and brushes her bangs sideways. “Yeah, I was there to help out at a friend’s booth. She’s getting some sign-ups for a thing she’s doing at her gallery. Wanna join?”
“Sure!” Caro says, forgetting that she has to get Mom’s permission.
Andy puts a flyer down on the table, which Mom picks up.
“I want to be an artist someday. Last week at – ”
Mom clears her throat elegantly and Caro shuts up. She’s like that. She never thinks before she speaks and gets them into trouble all the time. At least she understands when to take the hint. “Caroline, I’m sure Andrea has things to do this afternoon. It’s rude to take up her time like that.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess. Sorry, Andy,” Caro says, slightly disappointed.
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I just wanted to come over to say hi. It’s been a while.” She shoves a hand into her denim pocket. “You look really good, Miranda.”
Mom tilts her head, and studies Andy slightly. “Thank you,” she says softly, and it sounds real. She doesn’t return Andy’s compliment though, which is sort of classic Miranda Priestly, so that makes a bit more sense to Cassidy. But then, Mom adds: “Have a good weekend, Andrea,” which is odd, because Cassidy has never heard her wish Emily or any of the new assistants a good weekend, or a good anything before. And isn’t everyone Emily?
To Mom, Andy says: “We’ll be at the booth till four if you wanna come by.”
Mom looks at Caro, who is doing her puppy eyes thing. Cassidy doesn’t know why she does it. It never works. Cassidy watches Mom look up at Andy.
Who is also doing her own version of the puppy eyes.
“For a short while, perhaps,” Mom says.
Wow. Okay.
Andy has a special name so maybe she’s kind of special to Mom.
“Have an awesome weekend, guys,” Andy says, and winks at them. “Don’t make a mess, Caroline. Your mom would totally hate it. Hope I’ll see you later!”
“I won’t!” Caro replies, giggling.
“I shall hold you to that,” Mom says to Caro, though she sounds more amused than stern.
“See you, Miranda,” Andy says, again, like she really means it.
Mom nods her head, and offers Andy a really small almost-smile. Wow.
As Andy waves and goes back to her table at the other end of the room, Cassidy can’t help but say the first thing on her mind.
“Mom, didn’t you fire Andy?” Cassidy asks. Andy seems too comfortable to have been someone Mom fired.
“No, as a matter of fact, I did not, Cassidy. Why would you think that?” Mom says, appalled.
“Andy stopped bringing The Book … so we thought you fired her,” Cassidy says, catching Caro’s curious gaze from across the table.
“Well, no. Andrea had decided to move on to other things. She is a journalist now.”
She breathes a sigh of relief. They had actually been a little worried about Andy, when she stopped coming by after Paris. “Oh, okay. That’s good. She was funny.”
Cassidy sees Mom’s eyes flick to the corner of the room where Andy is at. That’s pretty interesting too, because Mom is really good at ignoring people and things she doesn’t like. She just pretends they don’t exist. Stephen practically doesn’t exist to them now.
Andy is sitting with a friend who isn’t as pretty as she is, but they’re laughing and Cassidy thinks Andy must be a fun person to hang out with.
“What would you girls like to have for dinner?” she says, instead, meaning she’s in a great mood and plans to cook, and Cassidy gives her the number one item on her wishlist.
Before they leave the fair, they stop by Andy's friends' booth for ten minutes. It's really more like a boring adult thing but Caro seems to enjoy herself and Andy's friend Lily is nice, so Cassidy doesn't mind. Andy and Mom chat a bit, and the sound of Mom's startled laugh shocks Cassidy because it's a real laugh. She wants to listen to what they're saying, but Mom is already saying goodbye.
Andy says, "I'll see you," to Mom, which makes Cassidy happy. It means they'll have a chance to run into Andy again some day.
They have lasagne for dinner, with cauliflower mash (it’s a thing that Mom is trying out) that somehow turns out tastier than actual mashed potatoes. They don’t have dessert, because Mom lets them have caramel popcorn (win, because Mom almost never lets them have that) while they watch Hook for movie night. Now that it’s just the three of them, Mom lets them pick all the movies. Dad’s the movie guy. Stephen’s the movie guy. Cassidy figures that Mom isn’t really a movie person, so maybe if Mom gets married again, the next guy will be the movie guy.
Mom can cook without measuring anything, and Cassidy likes watching the magic unfold in the kitchen, even if she’s not allowed to eat the scraps. Mom thinks the scraps will make them sick if they aren’t cooked properly and Cassidy thinks that it’s because of that one time Caro got super sick with food poisoning and had to be hospitalised. It was really serious and Caro likes telling people all about the time she had to have a camera shoved down her throat for it to take photos of the insides of her stomach. It sounds gross, but it’s pretty cool. Cassidy doesn’t have photos of the insides of her stomach.
Anyway, the lasagne is awesome and Cassidy asks to pack leftovers for Monday’s lunch at school. They have lunch at school, and it’s usually pretty fancy food, but she likes the taste of Mom’s food. It feels like a warm hug and Mondays are always busy for Mom, so it’ll be a good substitute. She knows her request makes Mom happy, because Mom snuggles both of them on the couch and tells them that they are her perfect girls.
Cassidy loves it when Mom is down for a snuggle. Mom always smells like home.
Mom starts going out on Thursday nights for dinner and Cassidy starts counting the amount of times Mom adds cheese into their weekend scrambled eggs. By the time they reach her fifth weekend of scrambled eggs with cheese, she suspects that Mom has a new boyfriend.
She discusses it with Caro, and they agree to wait to see if they make it to the tenth weekend with cheesy scrambled eggs, which will pretty much confirm it. Then, they’ll ask. The days pass by slowly, because Cassidy is dying to ask right now, but she knows how sad Mom was after the entire mess with Stephen and she doesn’t want to risk bringing it up if it’s not a thing that’s going to be real.
They don’t make it to the tenth, because by the eighth weekend, Cassidy wakes up to cheesy scrambled eggs and Andy in their kitchen. She gasps in shock, almost stumbles backwards, and Andy laughs at her like she’s made a really funny joke.
“Whoa! Careful there, Cassidy,” Andy says, with a smile, wearing a big T-shirt and shorts that don't look like outside clothes at all. She’s not even wearing shoes. Wow.
“Mom?” Cassidy says, confused, standing at the doorway. She stares at Andy, and then at Mom standing at the stove, who is carefully plating the eggs she just cooked.
“Good morning, Bobbsey,” Mom says, looking at her in a way that makes her feel that what she says is going to be really, really, really important.
Cassidy swallows hard, wishing that Caro is here right now. She looks at Andy again.
“Um, good morning, Mom,” she says, carefully, hoping it’s the right thing to say. She doesn’t want to disappoint Mom. “Morning Andy.”
Andy grins at her. “Morning, squirt.”
Mom uses her “calm voice” when she next says: “I hope you don’t mind if Andrea joins us for breakfast, Bobbsey. Is your sister awake?”
“I don’t mind, I guess,” Cassidy says, feeling the air change in the room. Somehow it’s warmer, in a good way.
Cassidy climbs up on a kitchen stool.
“Andy?!” Caro sounds even more shocked than Cassidy is feeling right now. She stares at Mom, then at Andy, and then at Cassidy. She practically launches herself into the kitchen. “Andy is Mom’s new boyfriend?!” Caro blurts. Typical.
Cassidy shoves her hard. “Shut up!”
“Bobbseys… ” Mom starts to say, looking alarmed, but Caro is already ahead of her.
“So are you coming with us to shop?” Caro asks, already pushing herself up on the stool beside Cassidy. She’s not going to even let Mom speak. Caro never lets anyone speak. “We’re going to get new shoes today for the new season. I mean, are we still going, Mom?”
Mom looks like she’s about to say something, but Andy speaks first.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Andy asks Caro, looking at Mom. She’s saying something with her eyes, Cassidy can tell, because Andy’s eyes say a lot. Mom isn’t saying anything, but she’s still watching Cassidy and Caro like she’s waiting for them to say something important.
Cassidy looks at Caro.
Suddenly, she knows what she needs to say.
“Yeah, you should come with us, Andy,” Cassidy agrees, trying to make sure she sounds like she’s just as excited as her sister. “It’ll be super fun, and Mom promised we could go to Gucci.”
“Christ, Miranda,” Andy says, laughing. “Your kids are spoiled.”
Mom rolls her eyes, but Cassidy can sense her entire body relaxing. Like she’s breathing again. Mom ignores Andy, rounds the counter, and places a plate in front of Cassidy, and then one in front of Caro.
Mom gives each of them a kiss on the cheek, as if she is saying Thank you.
Cassidy picks up her fork and digs in.
It’s the best scrambled eggs Mom has ever made.