She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 99: Finishing the Gifts

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 Marinette had bid Damian farewell from the garage just as she had the day before. She had a bit of a pep in her step though when she went back to her room to start on the baby bib.

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

Marinette 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." The bluenette informed. "The Velcro was surprisingly easy to sew on." She 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 the girl 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." Marinette 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." Marinette took the bib and hid it in her closet. "Let's eat."
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"Are you sure you two won't feel weird not receiving any gifts?" Marinette asked Raven and Gar as she was still working on her 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." Marinette smiled before cutting the last piece of thread she was working on. "I'm done!" She says 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." The bluenette stood up. "I'm going to go try it on. I'll be right back."

Marinette walked to her bathroom with the dress in hand and quickly tried it on. It took her a moment to fully zip it up by herself but once she did, she assessed her 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 her almost like a red disco ball but it was subtle enough that it wouldn't be too distracting to those around her.

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

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

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

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

"I don't even have shoes on." Marinette giggled as she looked down at her 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?" She 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 will personally beat his ass if he says he doesn't." Jason stood up to go stand beside her. "Guys. Look at how pretty my little sister is."

"Oh, stop." Marinette rolled her eyes for a moment before walking over to the closet to grab something. "These are the ties I made that match my dress." She 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?" The bluenette asked.

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

Marinette laughed. "Well thanks, Jay." She 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." Marinette put the ties 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 the bluenette.

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

"Thanks, Raven." She looked down at her 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 Marinette 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 her 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." She gave him one of her 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." The bluenette laughed. "I would hate to ruin the surprise."