Chapter Text
“So, was it as terrible as you feared?” Marinette plucked a long strand of grass from the base of the fencepost as she watched Adrien scratch the ears of a goat. Sami was spreading fodder inside the pen and checking the drinking water supply.
“It wasn’t. Riva is gone, for starters; apparently, her ‘wild claims’ attracted the attention of the school counselor, who recommended a psychological evaluation after discovering what she did to Franco and me. Next thing Franco knew, she was gone, and her family isn’t talking. And without her pushing, everyone pretty much forgot about what she said. Franco now has friends again, and so do I, which is great.” Sami brushed his hands off on his pants and came back to the fence. “Adrien, if you keep scratching Chocolate, she’ll probably fall over from bliss in a minute.”
Marinette giggled. Maybe it was a bit frivolous to use the Horse Miraculous to visit Sami, but- it was cheaper than the train, and they could be home in time for dinner. Their relationship had taken off after Sami left, with Emilie and Tom both cheering from the sidelines and embarrassing their children thoroughly in the process. Sabine, the voice of reason, decreed a two-family dinner twice a month, and the rest of the dates were up to the kids so long as their grades were kept up.
And Adrien had been looking forward to this little trip; he had never been to a farm before or seen anything but small animals and horses close up. Neither had Marinette; already, several ideas had come to her as she took in the fields of cows and goats, and the lush green forest that bordered the farm on one side.
Plagg and Tikki were enjoying the trip too; Tikki was curled up on Chocolate’s back, while Plagg sprawled on top of a fencepost in a sunbeam. Kaalki had declared the whole thing beneath her, and per her request, Marinette had put the glasses away in a box tucked into her purse.
Just then, Ryker, one of the farmhands, came jogging up to Sami. “Your dad wants you in the goat barn; Banana’s in labor and he needs your help.” Sami nodded and took off at a run; Marinette glanced at Adrien, and they scooped up their kwami and ran after him.
When they caught up, Sami was already scrubbing his arm in a bucket of soapy water. “What’s going on?” Adrien asked.
Nikolai responded from inside the barn; he was kneeling next to a goat with an almost creamy-yellow coat. “Banana here is having trouble delivering her kids. Sami’s hands are smaller than mine, and he’s really good at deliveries; the vet’s been having him help for years.”
Banana certainly looked like she was having trouble; the poor goat was nearly as wide as she was tall. Marinette’s jaw dropped; Adrien’s eyes were wide. Tikki flitted forward, excited, while Plagg yawned and tucked himself into Adrien’s pocket.
Sami had finished scrubbing and stationed himself at the goat’s back end; Marinette couldn’t see what he was doing, but his eyes were closed as he tried to find the problem. “Two babies trying to come at once, Dad. One’s in a little better position; I’ll try to pull it first.”
Nikolai nodded and kept his eyes on the goat’s. Marinette thought he was probably helping to keep Banana calm. As Sami worked, Ryker and Efram came back with Sami’s sister Tallis; all three had handfuls of towels and stood near Sami.
Sami pulled back suddenly, with a wet baby goat in his hands. Quickly he handed it off to Efram, who made sure the baby was breathing and gave it a quick rub with the towel before putting it down in front of Banana. Sami pulled a second one just as fast, which he gave to Ryker, who did the same.
Banana looked so much better that Marinette was surprised when Sami continued to work. “Isn’t she finished? She had two,” she asked Nikolai.
Nikolai shook his head. “First rule of animal births; always check for another baby.”
“Dad?” Sami said, his eyes closed again.
“Yes?” Nikolai glanced back at Sami.
“Triplets.” And Sami pulled a third little baby goat from its mother, handing it to Efram. Sami worked for another minute, as Nikolai showed Banana her babies, and she began to lick them off.
“That’s it,” Sami said, moving over to the bucket to wash; Tallis handed him a towel. Adrien was clearly fascinated by the babies. “Three girls, right?”
“Yep. Names?” Nikolai was getting up from his position next to the mother. “We have a tradition,” he explained to Marinette. “Goats get named after sweet things because they really aren’t that sweet. Girl kids are named after their mothers.” He looked at the babies; one was already trying to stand up. “So, a brown, a white, and a black. It’ll be Banana Bread, Banana Cream, and-“ He paused, at a loss.
“Banana Noir,” declared Marinette. Adrien threw her a glance.
“Really?” he asked, deadpan.
“Sweet things,” she said lightly, smirking at him.
He shook his head, turning slightly pink before returning his gaze to the goats. Sami and Nikolai looked on, bemused by the byplay, before shrugging at each other. “Okay, Banana Noir it is,” Nikolai agreed. “Who am I to argue with a baker?”
The threesome left, wandering over to the cow barn to look at the calves. Marinette asked Sami, “What about that girl- Candace? Are you two still emailing?”
“And video-chatting,” Sami said, a soft smile coming across his face. “The whole eye contact thing isn’t a problem over the internet. I gave her a virtual tour of the farm, and she showed me around hers. I think, maybe- if she wanted to come here, I’d like that.”
“Would you go there?” Adrien asked. Sami shook his head.
“Candace already said she’s not interested in staying in Michigan forever; that was one of the reasons she wanted to travel. Her youngest brother is going to take over the family farm; one of her brothers is already bonded and moving to California, and the other two have potential mates already contacted. Candace was the odd one out for not wanting to be on the vampire version of Tinder yet.” Sami shrugged at Marinette’s look of disbelief. “We aren’t that numerous; that combined with the bonding issue, you had to figure that we’d jump on that technology when we saw it. Keeps us from bonding with our cousins too often. I’d have joined next year if I hadn’t met Candace.”
Marinette blinked. She- hadn’t thought of that. Conducting all your dating and courtship by email and chat- she couldn’t imagine it. She glanced over at Adrien, more grateful than ever that he was here, with her, and that she didn’t have to wait to see him if she didn’t want to.
Sami moved his visitors on, heading for the farmhouse. “What about Paris? Anything new for the Ladybug and the Black Cat?” He was genuinely curious; he had a fondness for the city now that he hadn’t had before his time there.
Adrien smiled. “Nothing major. There were a couple of fake akuma reports that we had to check out to find out what was really going on. Seems Hawkmoth had a small fan club, and they were trying to fake attacks to ‘get him to return’. A round of dealing with real superpowered people didn’t stop them, but they got themselves arrested for disturbing the peace and filing false reports.”
“On the other hand – Luka told us about a couple of boats that sank under suspicious circumstances along the Seine- one right in front of him,” Marinette said. “He thinks there’s something under the water; we may want to look and see. But no one official has said anything yet.”
“Plus, we’ve added trips to Tibet to train as Guardians. That’s taking more of our free time, especially since summer’s coming,” added Adrien. “We won’t have any free time during the school year, and Marinette still has commissions to do. She’s getting more popular than ever!”
Climbing the step to the front door, Sami grinned at his friends. Who’d have thought- the Black Cat and Ladybug friends with us! “Then let’s enjoy lunch, and I’ll show you the dairy after. Plagg may even get enough cheese for him!”
“Never!” shouted the kwami, catapulting himself into the farmhouse. Laughing, Sami and his friends followed.