InsaneJournal

She had only wanted an evening out. Not even that a couple of hours only. Despite all her calmness, she was the type of mother who thought up of a thousand, 'what if' scenarios and held on tightly during the first day of pre-school, only to break out the baby pictures when she got back home. Not that she'd never left the twins at her mother's or the daycare before. It was just that when there was a new situation or someone she didn't know, Andrea became ... antsy.

However, something, when she'd looked at Lois' face when she'd asked her to baby-sit her kids for a couple of hours, gave her the bit of genius to extend the hours into an entire day. It probably had a bit to do with the fact that Lois had actually started backing out of the room and looked very much like she would have locked herself into the closet if not for the fact Addie-with wonderful timing-while playing with her trucks bumped into the back of the other woman's legs. Further movement would have sent them both tumbling.

Andrea had been in Lois' place before. Child-phobia. Honest to goodness. It would have been as if she was breaking out in hives if they were younger than tweleve, and even tweleve to sixteen had left her iffy. She'd been a teenager not that long ago, well not that long ago before she had her kids. She knew what emotional, little wrecks of a headache they could be. She had a great mom and a fantastic grandmother and she'd still managed to have more than the normal share of terror .. when she wasn't be a total utter recluse. And forget about anything four. She'd be absolutely convinced that they all hated her.

Motherhood had been an awakening for her, and the jury was still out on whether or not it had been a rude one. Even with her mother's help and Van being around when he could, it'd been a panic, not exactly a nightmare ... but it took months to get the hang of, to get all the cries and the tears, and everything. Everything she'd seen others get in weeks. She'd felt horrendous, but the thing was a lack of confidence. Her. Lacking in confidence. Motherhood could do that to a person.

Lois ... didn't have her mom, or a mom from what she remembered of the other Lois and this one had told her. She had Chloe who was great but had less experiance than Lois. At least Lois had half-raised her little sister. And with the way Sam was acting ... and Dios, only knew how things would go with the dimension situation. Confidence. A little experiance. And a safe environment. And at least her kids were four years, and not four months. They were potty-trained (mostly), and Tal knew how to get the cereal box and open it. So Dios-forbid, Lois went numb and had a breakdown, at least of the three, two of them wouldn't starve.

Andrea had some ice cream, having come from a late dinner at one of the smaller restaurants in the city, refusing to give into the need to check her PDA. She could catch a movie, go to a spa, and be in and then out before Lois (thanks to superpowers only used in an emergancy) and the twins even knew. Or maybe she would check the map on the PDA to see if they had any little inns or something. Other-her had saved quite a nice sum the few months she'd been here, sparse living and being a bachelorette. She remembered those days, unfondly.

Liking the tip of her finger as a drop of the ice cream fell after she finished her cone, Andrea fisted her hand, so she wouldn't reach into her purse for that PDA. She had a stronger will than that, just that .. she missed her babies already. With a small sigh she walked down the streets. She'd find something to distract her.