Butterfly Delivery - Adrinette

Brotherly Love

A/n - Originally this was supposed to happen when they were thirteen, but I made a mistake with the timeline. The kurinji shrubs already bloomed when the children were one year old, so they're set to bloom again when they're thirteen. I needed this to happen a couple of years before the shrubs bloom again, so instead we have a couple of early blooming eleven-year-olds.

Eleven years after Certified Baby

"Of course I love you, Bridgette, you're my sister."

"Not really, we're not really related, so then it's okay. It's okay if I have feelings for you that aren't what a sister should have for her brother - because you're not my brother!"

"I'm sorry. I will always love you, but never like that." Felix then made the decision to turn and walk away from the conversation. How had it come to this? His own sister had just confessed her love to him. Yes, she wasn't his sister by blood, but she might as well be. He remembered when they'd legally become brother and sister at their parents' wedding, but their relationship went back farther than that. He and Bridgette had been raised side by side since they were babies! Bridgette's mother was the only mother Felix had ever known. His father was the only father she had ever known. If that didn't make them siblings, he didn't know what did. He did most everything with Bridgette, and he didn't want to have to avoid her - but after that, it seemed best to put some space between them for a little while.

Bridgette felt dejected. Why couldn't Felix see it? He'd just very definitely rejected her, and on the basis of them being brother and sister - but there was one big problem with that. Calling them brother and sister was a false label! Mrs. Bourgeois had helped her to see she was no ordinary daughter to Marinette; she was her exact copy, so it made sense for her to imitate Marinette in every way, including her choices in love. Adrien and Marinette were perfect for each other, and Felix was the exact copy of Adrien, so it only made sense.

--

"What's going on with you two?" Adrien asked the kids.

Bridgette poked at her food, obviously in a sour mood about something. Beside her, Felix was concentrating especially hard on his food, ignoring Bridgette. That in itself was strange - the two were practically inseparable, and when one was sad, the other would do anything in his or her power to cheer up "the other half".

"Bridgette, will you tell us what's wrong?" Marinette prompted. Bridgette shook her head.

"Felix, do you know?"

"Girl stuff," he mumbled. He sounded a little irritated with her when he said it. Perhaps they were getting old enough to have their gender differences.

The parents had no luck getting anything out of either one while at the table - so when they were done, they tried to talk to the children separately. Adrien wracked his brain for what kind of "girl stuff" might be responsible for Bridgette's mood. All he could think of was periods. He'd been married long enough that he knew pretty well when Marinette was menstruating just from her behavior... but was Bridgette old enough to start? He knew some girls got their first period at eleven, but Bridgette was sure to start at the same age Marinette had - and Adrien had never cared to ask when that had been. The topic still made him uncomfortable, but when the time came they would need to know so that Marinette could walk Bridgette through it.

"Can you elaborate on what you meant by 'girl stuff' earlier? The girls can't hear what you say now; you're not going to offend anybody."

"Bridgette thinks that, because we're not blood related..." Felix broke down and told his father everything. By the end of it all, he was sniffling. "I don't want to lose my sister."

"We'll talk to her," Adrien promised. Though he didn't say it, he was pretty sure that he was going to talk to Marinette, and she would be the one to have this discussion with Bridgette. Most kids would probably be more willing to talk about this kind of thing with their parent of the same gender.

Marinette was upset when Adrien relayed to her what Felix had told him, but she had to calm herself before she attempted talking to Bridgette. This was no doubt a confusing time for Bridgette, and she would need calm guidance to work it out as best she could. Marinette determined she would have to pretend she wasn't as concerned as she really was.

"Not that I would want our kids to date each other," Adrien had told her, "but I'm surprised he had the presence of mind to to turn her down. When I was his age, before I met you, I was desperate to find love. If a nice girl had confessed her love for me, even if she was part of my family, as long as I knew she wasn't blood related to me, I think I would have jumped at the chance. Felix is supposed to be a copy of me, so how is it he can act differently?"

He had a point; the butterfly children were becoming their own people, and Marinette could no longer claim to always know what Bridgette was thinking (right now, for example) but she was going to find out.

"Bridgette, would you mind telling me what's upsetting you like this?"

Bridgette wiped her eyes and nodded. "You'll understand, won't you? After all, we're the same person."

Bridgette's words hit Marinette like a splash of cold water. She and Adrien had just been talking about how their kids were becoming their own people, but Bridgette evidently didn't see it yet.

"He doesn't love me. Felix wants to treat me like his sister, but if I'm you and he's Papa, we're supposed to belong..."

Bridgette was right. Marinette did understand; it explained a lot of things about Bridgette's recent behavior - including her sudden interest in sewing - but she didn't agree, and she needed to convey that in the gentlest way possible. "Stop right there. I need to ask you one thing. Do you feel that way about him because that's what you want to feel, or because you think that's how you're supposed to feel?"

"I can't help it, Maman. Papa always says that you belong with him, so naturally, Felix and I -"

"You're not me! I see what you're trying to do, but I don't want you to be an exact copy of me!" So much for being calm; it was extremely upsetting to see. Even Bridgette didn't see herself as an original person. If Bridgette wanted to like the same things Marinette liked, that was fine, but she didn't want her daughter to be a contrived person.

"If I'm not you, then who can I be?"

"Yourself. You're my little girl and I don't want to see you having to worry about this kind of thing. I want you to become who you want to be; you can worry about finding love after that."

"I'm not a baby anymore. I'm almost in collège now. You were still in collège when you met Papa!"

"You know what? You're right."

"... I am?" Bridgette had wholly expected her to tell her she was still a baby, that she would always be her baby. Marinette's response caught her off guard.

Marinette had had half a mind to tell her just that. After all, she knew she was still her parents' little girl, and had come to the understanding not only that she would always be, but why. She also had a plan. If Bridgette was so determined to grow up all of a sudden, she couldn't have it both ways. "You're right. You're not a baby anymore, so you couldn't blame Papa and me if we want a new baby in the family."

--

"I think I've got it," Adrien said, climbing into bed that night.

"What have you got?"

"The reason Felix responded the way he did. He's never been starved for love! The reason I wanted a girlfriend so badly at such a young age was because I was being pushed away by my family. Felix has always had us, and Bridgette (as a sister), so he doesn't feel like anything is missing. He is just like me, how I would have been if I grew up in his circumstances."