Butterfly Delivery - Adrinette

Fantastic Cutesy Us

A/n - As anyone who has seen one of my unfinished chapters (which I occasionally post accidentally) may have noticed, I use placeholder names for my chapters until after they've been edited. I get them by dragging my finger across the keyboard and letting my predictive text decide what it thinks I meant. I've had Gangrenous Burns, Hella Fly, Firefox Schema, and Hyena Chakra, but now it gives me a title that I find vaguely appropriate and I think I'll keep it: Fantastic Cutesy Us.

Ten years after Certified Baby

"Look at these clothes; they were all made by the three most popular designers in the United States."

"Maman would love those!" Bridgette beamed.

"What about you? You're her exact copy, aren't you? Shouldn't you love them too?"

Bridgette thought about it. "I love them!"

Audrey smiled to herself, 'So deliciously malleable'. Four years really did make so much of a difference. From the first time she had met Marinette, she recognized an awesome talent, but had been disgusted to learn that at just fourteen the girl was already too set in her own ways for Audrey to mold to her own will. That's why,. when she learned of Marinette's butterfly child, she had vowed she would get to Bridgette while she was still young and impressionable. Unfortunately, Marinette turned out to be quite the attentive mother, leaving Audrey with very little opportunity to get near young Bridgette. If it wasn't Marinette, the little girl was always under the supervision of her adoptive father; one of her three able grandparents; her teacher; or a trusted family friend. The only opportunity Audrey had was to turn to her own daughter, Chlorine. Courtney was at least on speaking terms with Marinette and was actually quite close friends with Marinette's husband, Adrien Agreste. Adrien was in fact the son of Gabriel Agreste, one of the greatest talents Audrey had scouted in her career. Oh, what a small world.

Casserole didn't understand what was going on. When Audrey mentioned that she would like to take Bridgette with her to New York, Claudette had the audacity to suggest that her mother might want to take her own daughter... Chloe? instead. If Chloe was a clone of her talentless mother, then Audrey was not interested - but if it was a way to get to Bridgette... She agreed she would take her granddaughter to New York if Clara could find some way to bring Bridgette along as well. Claudine came through all right, though she ended up saddling Audrey with not two, but three kids to watch for an entire month during their summer break. One month with a ten-year-old should be sufficient time to put a bug in the girl's ear, and she was prepared to look after her own sniveling excuse for a granddaughter, but she hadn't bargained for Bridgette's brother, Felix. That boy was mischief incarnate. He was supposed to be a clone of Gabriel's son, but Audrey had no recollection of Adrien ever being that wild. Perhaps Felix was testament to who Adrien would have been were he not raised with such a firm hand. Adrien was certainly a more permissive father than his own had ever been. Felix wasn't a bad kid; he was sweet tempered and really quite generous, but he would prank you as soon as look at you. It was going to be a long trip.

The mall served as Audrey's tool for keeping the kids occupied; there was something there for everyone. She allowed Felix and Chloe - the girl insisted her name wasn't Chloe, but Audrey couldn't remember what she'd said it was - to find things that would keep their interest for at least a few hours. She bought them their decoys in an effort to keep them out of her dealings with Bridgette. Those two kids were still with them, but paid little attention to their surroundings, too absorbed in playing with their gifts. Bridgette, who hadn't found her item of interest yet, was still looking around for it - which was exactly what Audrey wanted. Get her interested in the designer clothes, then suggest that Bridgette could do better herself. By the end of the day Bridgette should decide that she wanted a sketchbook; then, back at the rental, Audrey could find her some tutorial videos on design composition. If the girl's drawings proved to be worth the investment, Audrey might take her shopping again later in the month to get her own portable sewing machine. Give it a year, and as innately talented as she was, Bridgette might have a creation worth the public's notice at just eleven years old! She could see it now. The industry's attention would be focused on the growing star all through her teenage years, and it would be none other than Audrey ... what was her married name again? Even after twenty-eight years with Anthony, it was still hard to remember. Oh, yes - she, Audrey Bordeaux, would scout that talent.

--

"Lookit, Mrs. Bourgeois, I drew another one!"

"Yes, very good B... Bridgette, keep it up." It was remarkably easy to convince Bridgette that she shared her mother's passion for design. After being given a sketchbook she cranked out design after design, and insisted on showing every one of them to Audrey. At first Audrey's enthusiastic response was genuine, thinking the girl only needed a little more coaxing to produce something great - but having to look over several dozen similar drawings in the course of a few days became tiresome. Audrey got bored with Bridgette, to the point that she almost forgot Bridgette's name. Luckily she caught herself; she wasn't ready to give up on this one quite yet. Bridgette still might be a force to reckon with, given time; Audrey just wished Bridgette would hold off on showing her more of her drawings until then.

--

"Maman, look what Mrs. Bourgeois got me!" Audrey had gone ahead and gotten Bridgette the sewing machine. Bridgette had decided all of a sudden that she really wanted it; hopefully that enthusiasm would translate into skill in using it. Audrey hated wasting her money on things that didn't give her anything in return. Bridgette had spent the rest of the vacation, after she got the machine, tinkering with all the settings and learning everything her new toy could do. Now that they were back home, the first thing she wanted to do was show her present to Marinette.

"A sewing machine? Sweetie, I didn't even know you were interested in one!" Aside from being appreciative of the clothes her mother made her, Bridgette had never seemed interested in Marinette's work. She had a room filled with the best machines - each created for a specific function - and she would have eagerly showed Bridgette how to use them if the girl had just asked. She excitedly went over every feature with her daughter. The portable machines usually weren't as high grade as the ones that were built into a sewing table, but just by looking at it, Marinette could tell this one was expensive. She hadn't had a machine like that until after she was married! She knew that Audrey had the money to spend, but that she didn't have the history of being incredibly generous with it. The more meager gifts she'd given Felix and even Auriana, her own granddaughter, were proof of that. For some reason she'd taken a special liking to Bridgette, and that most likely meant she wanted something in return.