Butterfly Delivery - Adrinette

Love is ...

Seven years after Certified Baby

Just minutes earlier, husband and wife had been confident about their decision. They were three years into a stable marriage and already sufficiently versed in caring for children. Were it only between the two of them, their plan felt like a natural form of progression; all that remained was explaining their intentions to the family they already had. Facing the two youngsters over whom they already had guardianship, they began to feel a little bit nervous.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Felix asked. His parents didn't usually interrupt his playtime like this; something must be serious.

It was hard to decide where to begin. These children were at an age where they could hold a surprisingly intelligent conversation, then do something that reminded once again that they were indeed still children. They still weren't ready to have the discussion of where non-butterfly children came from.

"Your Maman and I have come to an important decision," Adrien began, "but we wanted to get your opinions before we do anything." He paused, making Marinette wonder if he wanted her to share the news.

"We want to have a baby. How would you feel about having a little brother or sister?"

The kids stood openmouthed for a few seconds, processing. The idea of introducing a baby into their family totally disrupted the world that they knew. Bridgette's eyes began to water. "Do what you want," Felix sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"You want to replace us?"

"No! Why would we ever want to replace you?"

"Then why do you need a baby? I want to be the baby!"

This outburst was completely unexpected. If anything, they thought the kids would be happy about this! Before she could think what she was doing, Marinette was down on their level. "It's okay, I'm not going to do it. If that's how you feel, I'm not going to have a baby, I promise."

Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it again without saying anything. Hadn't they just gotten through deciding they were going to have a baby? Before he could ask his wife about what she'd said, Bridgette dried her own tears and looked up at her mother. "Do you promise?"

"For now." Marinette hugged her daughter. "Papa and I would never want to replace you and Felix. We love you with all our hearts, but you've got to understand how we feel. You're exactly like me, and Felix is exactly like Papa. As a couple in love, we can't help wanting to know what a baby that's like both of us would be like. Papa and I are going to have another baby someday, but we would like to have your blessing when we do. It's okay with me if you still want to be the baby a little while longer. Is that okay, Bridgette?"

Bridgette sniffed and nodded, now reassured of her mother's love for her. Marinette looked up at her husband and repeated her question. "Is that okay, Adrien?"

Adrien nodded. All he wanted was a happy family, and their butterfly children absolutely counted toward that. Now, at this point he wanted a natural baby as much as Marinette did, but they had time for that. He was confident that when ready, their kids would welcome a little sibling into the family. All they needed was time.

--

"Your smile is like music,
Then it makes me carsick."

Alya stopped outside her son's door and listened. He stopped singing. "No, that's not right." She could barely hear him speaking to himself. "Bridgette wouldn't like it if I said she made me sick." He blew a few notes on his French horn before trying again.

"Your smile is like music,
It's pretty like ... ... acoustic."

"Carl, what are you doing?"

Carl jumped as soon as his mother opened the door to the room. "I'm writing a song!"

"That's nice, could I hear it?"

"Sure!" Carl picked up his horn and began blowing out his self-made tune. It was comprised of recognizable bits from other songs that Alya knew the boy liked, but strung together with a melody that as far as she knew was completely original. She made a mental note to get Nino to talk to their son about musical copyright before Carl got too deep into writing his song, but she was impressed with what she'd heard so far.

"Didn't I hear you singing a minute ago? So, it has words too?"

"I just started writing them,

Your smile is like music,
It's pretty like acoustic,

That's all I've got."

Alya grinned, looking forward to teasing him. "It sounds like a love song to me."

Carl blushed, but agreed. "It's for a girl I like at school."

"Who is it?" Alya asked. She already knew very well from listening to Carl lecture himself, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"It's ~~," Carl dropped his voice to an inaudible whisper.

"Who? I couldn't hear that."

This time Carl pursed his lips and shook his head. He wasn't going to say. He was obviously still confused as to why he was having these feelings in the first place. From the adult perspective, it was cute and silly, but to Carl it was real and serious. Alya took pity on him. She'd had her fun; time to be the supportive parent. "It's okay if you don't want to say, but do you mind if I take a guess?"

Carl shook his head, and Alya pretended to think. "Let's see, could it be... Bridgette?"

Carl's mouth gaped open. "How?!"

"There are certain things that mothers just know. For example, Bridgette is a nice girl - why would you say she makes you sick?"

"Because sick rhymes with music," Carl justified himself. "And, I don't know how else to explain it - my stomach gets kind of tingling every time I see her."

Alya assured him that he just had a crush, and that it was a normal thing for his age. It also didn't hurt if it got his creative inspiration flowing. She left his room smiling to herself; she would have to tell her husband, then her best friend, and then her blog.

--

"Hey, Little Dude." Nino walked into his son's room and sat down on the bed. "How's your song coming?"

"I don't think I'm going to finish it," Carl admitted.

"Why not? I thought it was pretty good."

"I lost my inspiration. Bridgette is, she's cool, but I don't think I like her that way anymore."

It had barely been two weeks since Alya had informed Nino of Carl's first crush. Since then, Nino had checked in periodically on his son's emotional wellbeing as well as the musical piece that Carl planned to perform for the girl he liked. Nino understood - that was how first crushes generally went, but it was a shame if the partially composed song went to waste. "Don't you think you could at least finish the song? The tune is done, all you'd have to do is give it a new set of words. It doesn't have to be about Bridgette."

"Then who would I write about? I don't like anyone else."

"It doesn't have to be a love song. You still like her as a friend, don't you? You could still write about her, or any of your other friends. It doesn't even have to be about a person if you don't want it to."

Carl thought about it. "The third verse is still about her. The first verse is about me, the second verse is about Anima, and the fourth verse is about Felix!"

--

A/n - I'm going to need baby names for children of Nino and Alya, any suggestions?