Butterfly Delivery - Adrinette

Two's Company

Two years after Certified Baby

"I can't believe I passed! That test is known to be hard normally, not considering students who have to juggle studying with raising a child!"

"Nah, the school wouldn't have flunked any of us. They can't wait to get us out of here!"

"What am I going to do now? None of the universities want to take someone with a butterfly child!"

The class buzzed with excitement and uncertainty. This was it! They'd graduated! They'd been working toward this as long as they could remember! Now what?

Even Miss Bustier was feeling uncertain of the future. For the past three years, she'd been shuffled along with her class from the time of the 'incident'. She'd grown more attached to this group than any before them, and she didn't want to tell them she'd just been let go. The school claimed to no longer need her. She didn't want to tell her students and ruin their day, but she was now among the majority of them facing an inhospitable job market. Sure, she had credentials that none of them had, but she was no longer confident how far they would get her.

"I feel bad for our classmates," Adrien whispered to Marinette. "At least we've got jobs lined up." He was expecting little change to his workload, only more photoshoots piled into the time no longer taken up by school. Work was work; he didn't love it, he didn't hate it, but he expected working full time would become much more tolerable with Marinette coming on board at the company.

Marinette had been thrilled when Gabriel offered her a job. Working for his company had been a dream before she had met or even heard of Adrien. Now that her dream job was hers, and came with the bonus of working beside her boyfriend, everything seemed perfect - but there was still one surprise left.

--

One month later

"Sit down."

Marinette did as she was told, not sure why she'd been called into her boss's office.

"How do you like it here so far?"

"It's good..." Parts of her experience had been more than good. It was indescribable for her to have so far seen two of her favorite designs appear on the racks in high-end stores. Then there was that one thing that left a bitter taste in her mouth. Gabriel had forbidden her from doing free or low cost repairs on the side. He admired her industry, he said, but if she was going to run a side business while working for him, she'd better charge what she's worth. He was trying to inflate the demand for her, and it would never work if she was selling herself short. Mending people's favorite articles of clothing, seeing the relief when they realized they wouldn't have to throw them out, was a hobby for her. Being charitable was half the fun! But Gabriel knew how she felt about that, and she knew how Gabriel felt about that, so she didn't bring it up then.

"So, do you think this is what you want to do for your permanent career?"

"Absolutely!" Marinette had no doubt about that; she'd known the answer to that question since she was little.

"Good - then I have a proposition for you. I've known for a long time that Adrien isn't interested in my line of work. There was a point when I hoped I could change his mind - show him that men could be interested in clothes too - but I no longer believe that is anything to do with it. It simply doesn't strike his fancy. I've come to accept that, but I'm afraid he's disqualified himself from being the company's heir. I can't allow it to be inherited by someone who has no passion for it, even if he is my only child and the heir to my personal estate. Now, I'm nowhere near the age of wanting to retire, but properly training the company's heir could take decades - which is why I concern myself with it now. I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't let my company go to just anyone, but by bringing you into the picture, Adrien seems to have solved the same problem he created. So what do you say, Marinette? Would you want to run this company someday?"

"I - uh -" 'Yes!' she screamed internally, but she couldn't get it out.

"I should mention that my offer is not contingent on your relationship with Adrien. It would be convenient if the two of you stay together, but it's yours even if the two of you break up. The spark of young love sometimes fades, but I can trust the two of you would remain civil even then, am I right?"

At this point, it would take some big controversy to tear her and Adrien apart. It would most likely not be pretty were it to happen, but it was quite unlikely such a thing would happen at all - so she agreed.

--

"Wow! He really said that?"

"Yeah... but are you sure you're okay with that? It's rightfully your inheritance."

"I think you'll do a wonderful job with the company some day! I'm glad Père sees the value in you, too. Besides, what's mine is yours... Bugaboo."

"Adrien, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"How many times have I not listened? Can I still not use endearments with you?"

"It's not about endearments in general, it's that one. If I've told you for this long not to use it -"

"I use it sometimes and you forget to scold me. You don't hate that name, Bugaboo, it's a tradition. You've told me before that you don't like that name, so now you have to say it every time, but you're already tired of protesting and one of these days you're going to give it up for good. That's when you will truly become Bugaboo."

"Fine then," Marinette snorted. "I give up, I'm Bugaboo. But if I just go along with it, is that any fun for you?"