Chapter 99

Marinette's P.O.V:

Tuesday morning went about the same as it did the morning before. The only difference this time was the addition of Raven and Gar. Cheerful banter still continued during breakfast and I had bid Damian farewell from the garage just as I had the day before. I had a bit of a pep in my step though when I went back to my room to start on the baby bib.

My room was quite lively considering all the company I had. Jason, Kori, Raven and Gar all hung out in my room to keep me company as I worked. Alfred even checked in every now and then. We could all tell how excited the butler was about the whole baby news.

I did eventually end up finishing the bib a few minutes before lunchtime though. Kori ended up cooing over how cute and tiny the simple yellow bib was.

"It should be quite functional as well." I informed. "The Velcro was surprisingly easy to sew on." I quickly ripped the Velcro apart and put it back together. "I'd be happy to make you more baby clothes in the future as well."

"Thank you so much, Marinette." Kori gave me a hug.

"You're welcome Kori. I'm glad you trusted me with something like this."

"Oh man." Gar bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. "Do you think we will actually surprise Batman?"

"I hope so." Jason said. "Surprising him isn't an easy task."

"Well we did surprise Alfred." Raven spoke up from her spot on the bed. "I'd call that a win either way."

"Yeah." I giggled. "We sure did crack that calm demeanor of his."

"That was very unbecoming of me, wasn't it?" Alfred spoke up from the doorway.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jason asked.

"Only a few moments." The butler informed. "I came to inform you all that lunch is ready."

"Awesome." I took the bib and hid it in my closet. "Let's eat."---------"Are you sure you two won't feel weird not receiving any gifts?" I asked Raven and Gar as I was still working on my dress a little after lunch. "I feel kind of bad about it."

"Don't worry about it." Gar said reassuringly. "We don't expect you to do something like that for us. Especially last minute. Your gift to us can just be the surprise you provided."

"He's right." Raven nods. "Plus, I'm not that big of a fan of receiving gifts anyways. I always end up feeling like I need to repay it somehow."

"If you say so." I smiled before cutting the last piece of thread I was working on. "I'm done!" I say excitedly. "Who wants to see it on?"

"Oh, I do!" Kori said with genuine excitement.

"I'm kind of curious too, Sunshine." Jason sat up from his spot on the loveseat. "You've been working on it for so long."

"I'm just happy I found a fabric with such pretty sequins that I didn't have to hand stitch." I stood up. "I'm going to go try it on. I'll be right back."

I walked to my bathroom with the dress in hand and quickly tried it on. It took me a moment to fully zip it up by herself but once I did, I assessed my work in the mirror. The dress had one single long sleeve on the left side and it was a sleek mermaid style with a slit that stopped just above the knee on the right side. The sequins on the striking red dress seemed to reflect red lights all around me almost like a red disco ball but it was subtle enough that it wouldn't be too distracting to those around me.

Twirling for a moment in the mirror, I checked for any flaws and I found myself happy that the zipper that went all the way down my back seemed to almost be invisible due to the sequined pattern. This was most certainly a dress that I should wear my hair up in but I ignored that for now and decided to exit the bathroom.

"What do you guys think?" I asked as I looked around at everyone's faces.

Everyone's jaws instantly hit the floor once they all got a good look at me.

"Wow." Gar said. "I feel severely under-dressed."

"I don't even have shoes on." I giggled as I looked down at my bare feet.

"You look hot." Raven said without any hesitation.

"You look like royalty." Kori started to clap. "I am very impressed."

"Yeah, Sunshine." Jason agreed. "You are definitely going to stand out, that's for sure."

"You all really like it?" I shyly smiled at everyone.

"Uh, yeah." Raven said like it was the most obvious thing ever. "I didn't just call you hot for no reason."

"Yeah she doesn't hand out complements freely." Gar nodded.

"Do you think Damian will like it?" I questioned nervously.

"I will personally beat his ass if he says he doesn't." Jason stood up to go stand beside me. "Guys. Look at how pretty my little sister is."

"Oh, stop." I rolled my eyes for a moment before walking over to the closet to grab something. "These are the ties I made that match my dress." I held up a red sequin bowtie and a regular red sequin tie.

"Which reminds me." Jason said. "I spoke to Bruce for you and he said that the regular tie works best."

"When did you talk to him about that?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it." Jason shrugged. "Just know that I got you back."

I laughed. "Well thanks, Jay." I looked at the bow tie. "What am I supposed to do with this now?"

"Well you knew you were going to have one left over." Jason shrugged. "It's up to you."

"I'm sure I can think of something." I put the tie away again. "Now that this is finished, do you think Alfred has any garment bags? I hate just laying this out on the floor of the closet."

"I can ask." Jason started to head for the door. "I'll be right back."

The moment Jason was gone, everyone turned their attention back to me.

"Well I now know where to come if I ever need a fancy dress made." Raven gave me a soft smile. "It really does look great on you."

"Thanks, Raven." I looked down at my feet. "I have some heels that I plan on wearing with this for the gala. I promise I won't go bare foot."

"I think you could pull off the barefoot look." Gar joked.

Before I could say anything back, Jason came into the room with Alfred not too far behind carrying a garment bag.

"You look absolutely dazzling, Miss Marinette." The butler smiled at me as he handed off the garment bag. "You do have quite the talent for fashion."

"Thank you, Alfred. And thank you for this garment bag." I gave him one of my signature smiles.

"You are very welcome, Miss Marinette. Might I suggest you get changed soon though. Master Damian should be home shortly."

"You're right." I laughed. "I would hate to ruin the surprise."