Butterfly Delivery - Adrinette

Babycakes

Eleven years after Certified Baby continued

"I hope she's all right..." When Marinette announced her pregnancy to her close circle of friends, she had to share the spotlight. It was coming up on two years since Nino and Alya had their son Idris, and they decided just around the same time that they were ready for another. The momentary disappointment at not being unique was quickly replaced by excitement at the realization that their babies would be born at practically the same time. The two expectant mothers promised they would make all their preparations together, and purposely scheduled their first ultrasounds - with two different doctors - in one clinic at the same time. Alya's doctor had taken her in right on time, while Marinette's was running late - so she expected her friend would be waiting for her when she came out. Instead, it was the other way around.

"She'll be fine, I'm sure of it," Tikki promised. "She wouldn't want you to be worrying about her, you know. That's bad for your baby."

Marinette smiled at the mention of her own child and put a protective hand over her abdomen. She'd just been told it was a healthy little thing, and she'd be loath to let anything happen to it now. Alya was tough; there had to be a good reason her appointment was running long.

"So how was it?" Alya asked when she finally met up with Marinette again.

"You're asking me? I'm not the one whose appointment took three times as long as it was supposed to!"

"I want to hear about your experience first; you're the one going through her first regular pregnancy." Alya's smug expression told Marinette that her friend was guarding a secret, and that the easiest way to get at that secret was by telling Alya what she wanted to know. At least Alya seemed to find her secret amusing, and that assured Marinette that it couldn't be that bad.

"It was cold," Marinette shivered. "I hadn't had an ultrasound since Bridgette's genesis, and I think I forgot a lot about what it was like. The baby is so much... er... not smaller I guess, but so much more underdeveloped than Bridgette was when we first discovered her. It hardly looks like a human yet at all! But, the doctor says it's healthy and it's going to take on a recognizable shape before we know it!"

"Pretty good for a novice," Alya laughed. "I'm hardcore."

"What?! What's a novice or hardcore pregnancy?"

"Well, you're only carrying one baby. I seem to remember you saying my appointment took three times as long as it should have - you were on to something."

"No way, you really are having twi- no, three times. Triplets?!"

"Triplets," Alya confirmed. "Nino is going to have an aneurism."

--

"What are you drawing?" Marinette asked.

Bridgette didn't say anything, but pushed her sketchpad over to Marinette.

"Is it a tophat?"

"It's a cake! Papi said he'd help me bake any cake I design!"

"That's great! But you're drawing it in your design book? I thought you were going to present that book on your next trip with Audrey."

"I don't think I want to design clothes anymore."

"All of a sudden? I thought you liked sewing."

"I do, but... how should I put it, I'm not crazy about it. When I've been sewing for too long, it stops being fun. I still want to sew for myself, but I don't think I want to make a career out of it. You were right, I'm not you."

Marinette felt a little conflicted, but mostly happy. She'd been ecstatic to share her ambitions with her child and would no doubt miss that, but was relieved to see Bridgette develop the confidence to choose a future for herself. No doubt Bridgette's Papi would be pleased as well, now that his granddaughter wanted to try her hand at baking.

--

"Welcome home, Louis!" The family cheered. Marinette held the tiny baby in her lap while Bridgette set a lifesize replica of him on the table. They were going to cherish one and eat the other - that is, if they could stomach it. A 3D cake of the newborn had sounded like a good way to celebrate the new addition to the family, but it came out so startlingly lifelike that the idea of taking a knife to it seemed criminal.

"Maybe it won't be so bad when it's cut open," Bridgette offered shakily. She shared her parents' and brother's misgivings, but she'd put so much work into this cake, it would be a shame if no one ate it. Trembling, she picked up the cake knife and moved to slice a foot off of the bab- the cake. The moment she pressed the knife into the outer layer of fondant, Louis let out a scream. It startled everyone so badly that they nearly jumped out of their seats. The added commotion upset the baby even more, starting a display of tears.

"Hey, what's wrong? You're okay." Marinette bounced the baby in her lap. He had recently woken up, had just eaten, and had been successfully burped; there wasn't much else he could need at the moment.

"Worst timing for colic," Adrien commented.

Bridgette steeled herself and quickly sliced the cake, passing a piece to each place setting on the table.

"I can't eat that," Felix said, admiring the fine details on his piece, "but this, I can!" He flipped the piece upside down, taking a huge forkful from the bottom. "No way I'm passing up homemade cake! But next time, Bridgette - please make it look like food."

"Smaller bites, Felix."

Felix would have obliged, but his food was already gone. "You should make a cake that looks like a pie! That would be really cool, it would mess with your senses when you eat it. You could make a whole line of cakes that look and taste like other foods, but they taste like the wrong foods. People would keep coming back because they never know what they're going to get. What do you say?

Twelve years after Certified Baby

"Immigrants can also become citizens by a process called naturalization. Anyone over the age of majority who has legally lived here for over five years can apply for citizenship. Applicants are interviewed to assess how well they have integrated into French society, and if they demonstrate that they know how to behave in this country, they will be granted their citizenship."

Ariel dutifully took notes, but the lecture failed to catch her interest. She had no idea how important that information would be to her in a short while.