! BAD GIRLS ! BAD GIRLS !

( a sex and the city fic )

CHARLOTTE YORK-BOYD
( 38. stay at home mother. volunteer. )

charlotte prided herself on being the perfect mother. and if perfect mothers did one thing, it was ensuring their children's futures before they even understood what the word future meant.

which was why she was currently perched in the impossibly pristine admissions office of new york's most prestigious and unreasonably exclusive academy for the gifted. charlotte clutched lily's girl scout cookie order form like it was a golden ticket.

next to her, dakota sat with his usual unshakable calm, one arm draped over the back of her chair, looking entirely unbothered by the high stakes moment unfolding.

"lily, sweetheart, remember what we practiced," charlotte whispered, smoothing her daughter's bow.

lily, six years old and completely unfazed, shifted the cookie box under her arm. "you mean when i say, 'hello, would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?' and smile?"

"yes! but bigger." charlotte exclaimed.

lily flashed an exaggerated, borderline terrifying grin.

dakota chuckled under his breath. "that's my girl."

the admissions director, a sharp looking woman in a tight blazer, smiled politely. "we don't allow outside sales during interviews."

charlotte's stomach dropped. "oh! no, i didn't mean...i just thought it showed her leadership skills."

lily sighed. "she really wants me to get into this school."

charlotte let out a nervous laugh. "she's being silly! but, um, just so you know, she is exceptionally bright."

the director's polite smile did not waver. "we'll be in touch."

that was never a good sign.

as they exited the building, charlotte turned to dakota, already spiraling. "oh my god, what if i ruined it?"

dakota raised an eyebrow. "by what? encouraging her to hustle?"

"she not hustling, she's demonstrating initiative." charlotte corrected.

"right. and if this school is too uptight to appreciate a kid with personality, maybe it's not the right place anyway." he explained.

charlotte huffed. "you don't believe that."

dakota smirked. "no, i bsolutely don't, but i do believe you should relax before you drive yourself insane."

before she could protest, her phone buzzed with a text from carrie: "hurry up. we're already drinking."

charlotte sighed, she leaned into dakota for just a moment before straightening up. "alright, kiddo. let's drop you off with daddy. mommy needs a break."

dakota leaned down to kiss her temple. "try not to convince the waiter to enroll her while you're out."

charlotte rolled her eyes, but she was already feeling better.

SAMANTHA JONES
( 45. public relations executive. )

samantha jones did not do modesty.

she strode into her office, the click of her designer stilettos commanding attention, and ignored the massive stack of scripts on her desk. she was the top publicist in new york. let them wait.

"lorraine," she called to her assistant. "cancel my afternoon."

lorraine, who had survived years of working for samantha, barely looked up. "you have a lunch with the producers of the next big thing."

samantha rolled her eyes. "oh, please. the last 'next big thing' ended up in rehab three months after their premiere. i have better things to do."

her phone buzzed, smith. "dinner tonight? miss you."

samantha smirked and typed back: "of course you do."

she adored smith, but she wasn't the type to drop everything for a man. cancer had nearly taken her out once, she'd be damned if she wasted time pretending to be some demure girlfriend.

she adjusted her top, grabbed her purse, and strode out. "i'm off to remind the city why we're still the most fabulous women in it."

JAMIE BOYD-WRIGHT
( 37. english literature professor. )

the house was full of pure chaos.

jamie dodged a flying stuffed animal as she stepped out of the kitchen. "mia, get jude! he's got the sword!"

jude, her wild four year-old, was sprinting through the house wielding a foam pirate sword like a tiny, giggling gladiator. mia, six, was in hot pursuit.

"jude andel, drop the weapon!" mia shouted.

rufus, duncan's golden retriever, barked excitedly, running alongside them like this was the best day of his life.

jamie sighed, one hand on her hip, the other adjusting her glasses. "jude, i love you, but if you poke your sister in the eye, i'm selling that thing."

jude cackled, completely ignoring her.

duncan entered the room, coffee in hand, still adjusting his tie. "alright, little man, hand over the sword before your mama loses it."

jude skidded to a stop, blinking up at duncan. "you'll buy me another one, though, right?"

duncan tried to keep a straight face. "not if your mama buries me in the backyard."

jamie smirked. "good answer."

just then, her phone buzzed. emmett from columbia.

"professor wright," emmett teased when she picked up. "how does it feel to be on the other side?" he said referring to not hearing lectures but giving them as she'd just landed a job as an english lit professor at columbia.

jamie scoffed. "like i tricked them into hiring me."

"no, you were born for this," he said sincerely.

she exhaled. maybe. but for now, she had a girls' night to get to.

she leaned up to kiss duncan quickly. "hold down the fort?"

he grinned. "i'll make sure no one loses an eye."

"great. i'd like to return to a house not under siege." she said. and with that, she grabbed her bag and left.

MIRANDA HOBBES
( 37. corporate lawyer. )

mornings in the hobbes-leeds household were a controlled kind of chaos. miranda moved through her usual routine. making brady's lunch, checking her emails, mentally preparing for the mountain of work waiting for her at the firm while her six year old son bounced between getting dressed and finding new ways to test her patience.

robert, always the calmer one in the morning, walked into the kitchen already dressed for work, effortlessly put together as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"you know, some couples actually enjoy their mornings together," he teased, leaning against the counter as he watched as miranda juggled a half eaten piece of toast and her phone.

she didn't even look up. "some couples don't have a six year old who thinks wearing two different shoes is a fashion statement."

robert smirked, walking over to press a kiss to the top of her head. "let me take him to school today. you can actually finish that coffee before it turns into an ice cube."

miranda paused, skeptical. "what's the catch?"

"just a husband who likes his wife not running on fumes before 9 a.m.," he said smoothly, grabbing brady's lunchbox off the counter.

brady came sprinting into the kitchen, nearly colliding with robert's legs. "robert's taking me to school?"

"sure am, buddy." robert responded.

brady grinned. "can we listen to music in your headphones like last time? specifically earth, wind & fire?"

robert chuckled as he ruffled the boy's hair. "like there was ever another option."

miranda exhaled, watching as robert effortlessly corralled brady toward the door. he was good at this... the whole parenting, partnership thing. it still caught her off guard sometimes. with steve, things had been messier, more complicated. with robert, there was balance. stability.

as they headed out, miranda took a moment of rare quiet before checking her phone. a text from jamie popped up: "see you soon!"

miranda grabbed her coat, typed back a quick on my way, and stepped out the door.

CARRIE BRADSHAW
( 38. newspaper columnist. )

carrie was having a good day.

she'd written a solid column about self love, treated herself to a coffee, and flirted with the barista, who eventually asked her out.

feeling spontaneous, she said yes.

and two hours later, she had regrets.

her date was the worst, he droned on about his writing, barely asked about hers, and then the final gut punch... she spotted big.

he was seated in the restaurant with natasha.

her stomach twisted. she wasn't in love with big anymore, but seeing him there, all comfortable and happy with natasha, was a hit she hadn't braced for.

by the time she fled the date and met the girls at the restaurant, she was exhausted.

CAFE CAFE
new york, new york
12pm

carrie plopped into her seat. "long story short, i'm officially happy being a single girl."

the girls raised their glasses.

"to knowing what we want," charlotte said.

"to getting exactly what we want," samantha corrected.

"maybe not. i really want lily to go to this private school but i think i screwed it up today." charlotte admitted, sighing as she stirred her tea.

miranda raised an eyebrow. "how do you screw up a first grade interview? did you call the headmistress a capitalist leech?"

"no!" charlotte protested. "i just... lily was selling girl scout cookies, and i might have gotten a little... overenthusiastic about it. dakota had to pull me back before i started making a presentation on why thin mints are superior." charlotte said as she handed out the girl scout cookies sign-up sheet, each woman signing off for their choice of cookies.

carrie stifled a laugh. "so you basically tried to network your daughter into first grade with cookies?"

charlotte groaned. "when you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous."

"because it is ridiculous," samantha said, popping an olive into her mouth. "you need to let the kid be a kid. who cares about some fancy private school? she'll be fine as long as she learns the basics: how to read, how to manipulate men, and how to spot a fake chanel."

miranda rolled her eyes. "yeah, that's exactly what we should be teaching the next generation."

jamie smiled, setting her fork down. "speaking of the next generation, jude and mia spent the morning chasing duncan around the house with plastic swords. i swear, if i didn't stop them, they would've tied him to a chair like some kind of hostage situation."

carrie laughed. "that's what he gets for signing up for fatherhood."

"he loves it," jamie said, shaking her head. "but then, of course, rufus decided to get in on the action and stole one of the swords, so it turned into this chaotic battle. meanwhile, i was just trying to make it out the door without stepping on a lego."

charlotte sighed wistfully. "that sounds... kind of perfect. and you're a professor! now you and duncan can both answer to dr. wright." she joked.

jamie smiled. "funny, huh? i'm excited to start teaching at that age. but about the swords and the kids, i might need noise canceling headphones before i lose my mind."

"see, this is why i stick to dogs. my dog in specific," samantha said, sipping her drink. "she's loyal, doesn't argue, humps everything that moves and she doesn't expect me to pay for her college tuition."

"well, brady's still obsessed with earth, wind & fire," miranda said, setting down her napkin. "robert took him to school this morning, and i swear, if i hear september one more time, i might lose it."

carrie smirked. "you love september."

"i did," miranda said. "before it became the only song playing in my house, my car, and my nightmares."

the table erupted into laughter, the conversation flowing as it always did. natural, unfiltered, and effortlessly them.

maybe life wasn't perfect, but at least they had each other. it was hard to find people who love each other no matter what, but these five were lucky to find each other. they love each other endlessly.

housekeeping notes !

craving some thin mints right about now...

one more chapter left my lovers.