Between Generations

Chapter 48

The black sky, save for lamp posts around the backyard, seemed so quiet, so calm, as if Lise were in a different world than the loud commotion in the house. She was standing on the red bridge over the bubbling stream that weaved around the extravagant backyard of the new Lahiff-Cesaire household. The dark water rippled softly below her as koi fish pecked the surface, searching for food. She gazed around, taking in the view. The fairy lights along the brick paths illuminated the bright green grass as it led from the household to the bridge and to the bright red gazebo at the farthest corner of the gardens. Strings of light bulbs wrapped around the gazebo roof made a calming atmosphere in the dark night.

"Lise?"

Lise jumped. She relaxed when she noticed Marinette walking down the polished white steps from the back door. She stepped across the patio surrounded by trimmed rose bushes and approached the red bridge where her daughter was standing.

Lise gave her a small smile, and turned her attention back to the small river below her. "Hey." She couldn't call Marinette anything yet. Calling her Marinette seemed disrespectful, but calling her Mom seemed like a betrayal to Alix for all she'd done for Lise.

"How are you doing?"

Lise shrugged, wrapping the cardigan tighter. "A lot of things have happened."

"I know. And I couldn't be any prouder."

Lise glanced at her, frowning with confusion.

Her mother looked up at her with her glowing blue eyes, full of love. Her long wavy blue hair rested perfectly on her shoulders and hung like elegant silk on her back. Lise envied her mother's beauty, and suddenly missed her own long blond hair. "You've done so well," she said. "Even when you went back in time by accident...you still succeeded. You were able to bring me and Adrien back together. And when you came back to the present...you helped Chat Noir and Ladybug defeat Master Fu. You found the book. And then you got injured because of me...you pulled through. Lise...I look up to you."

Lise's eyes widened with surprise. "Really?"

"Of course. At your age, I wouldn't have been able to do everything you did."

Lise stared at her hands awkwardly. A thought occurred to her. "Wait. I found the book?" She met Marinette's eyes. "It was you? You hid the Miraculous book in the bakery?"

"I put that there the night of your birth. I was there, visiting my parents before everything happened, just to warn them." Marinette looked away. "But...Fu had all of the information already. I missed one important fact--he had a digital copy. My attempt was for nothing."

"No it wasn't!" insisted Lise. "The book--I found it because I heard your  voice. I heard your voice when I passed by the bakery. If I hadn't--none of this would've happened! I would've never gone into the past. I would've never met you. We wouldn't have..." She gestured at the guests conversing in the house. "...any of this."

"So...you're happier now?" Marinette asked quietly. "You don't feel torn?"

Lise didn't need to ask to know what she meant. Having two sets of parents. She remembered that she hadn't had the uneasy feeling of dissatisfaction ever since she was at the bakery. Wow. I'd almost completely forgotten about that...Is it going away now? "No. I'm not." She thought about the designs she'd seen in Marinette's bedroom. My birth mother is a designer, and passed that passion on to me. I now have someone to talk to about my designs!

"Another thing, Lise," Marinette began, startling Lise out of her thoughts. "Adrien and I were talking. We think that it's best for you to continue living with Kim and Alix."