"Quick! Shut and lock the door!" Tom insisted as he made his way back into the bakery, closely tailed by his wife and daughter.

"You don't need to tell me twice!" Marinette yelled in response, turning the sign to 'CLOSED' while doing so. Something told the blunette the bakery wouldn't be open for quite a while after their unexpected discovery.

"Marinette! Just look at the state of your feet! And whatever possessed you to go outside in your pajamas?!" The shocking turn of events that morning hadn't deprived Sabine of the ability to scold her daughter.

"E-Er Mom, not the right time!" Marinette insisted, as Tom cleared away the assorted trays and rolling pins off their table to deposit the basket which still contained within a (very upset) baby. "Now that we're far from the madding crowd, can I tell you what the note says?"

"Of course you can, darling!" Tom sheepishly grinned at his only child, to the disapproving 'humph' of his wife in the background. "First things first. You can get changed, and wash your feet later."

"Alright then, here goes…" Marinette cleared her throat, and read everything on the enclosed piece of paper, almost shouting the words just so she could be heard above the jostling outside and the whining that came from the nearby unsettled infant:

….

DEAR SIR/MADAM

You might not know me, but I've been watching you for a while now. You seem like a wonderful family who always seem happy together and truly care about each other. Forgive me for imposing on you in this way, but believe me when I say I have little choice in this matter. Please look after this precious little girl, for I fear I cannot give her the life she needs or deserves. Personal circumstances make it impossible for me to keep her myself, and if I put her up for adoption I'm afraid the people she'll end up with will not provide her the right kind of environment to help her grow into the wonderful young lady I know she can be. I know this is asking a lot, but I have given this a great deal of thought and am completely sure of my decision. Not only will her addition to your family allow her to grow and nurture in the right way, but I'm positive that she'll give you nothing but happiness and joy in return. As long as she's raised in the correct way, which I know she will be in your trusting hands. Please do not attempt to trace me or make any enquiries as to my whereabouts, as I have few friends and am moving far away making all your efforts for nothing. Obviously I have no power to force you to accept this great responsibility I've selfishly placed on your heads, but let me reiterate: I know what I'm doing is right. I can only hope, after reading this, you'll have reached the same conclusion.

Yours faithfully and thankfully

A Grateful Stranger

P.S While most of the things you'll need to take care of my darling can be found in the basket, you may need to purchase additional supplies in the near future. I am mindful of this and also the potential cost involved, which is why if you check further under the pillow you will find a sum of no less than 1000 euros in banknotes. I trust this will be spent wisely on my baby girl's needs. Thank you so much for what you are doing, and much love to you all.

….

"Well, I never…" Tom didn't quite know what to say. Understandably.

"Who does something like that?" Sabine seemed more bothered with the writer's shortcomings as a parent.

Marinette, for her part, said precisely nothing. All she could do was read, and then reread the note over and over again, a billion different emotions going through her head…

...So much so, she didn't even see Sabine reach over to her cell phone until she'd began punching in a number. "Mom, what are you doing?!"

"I'm alerting the authorities, of course. What, you think we're just going to take some random baby off the street, without question?" The frowning Sabine seemed very confident in her actions. "The mother could be ill, she might be suicidal… for all we know, she could've stolen the baby herself! We could get into trouble just for harboring it! No name or age provided either… as if things weren't suspicious enough already! The sooner we get this mess sorted out, the quicker we can return to normality again!"

"M-Mom…" Marinette wasn't used to seeing her mother this snippy. It must be down to the stress of everything. Yes, that's it. "Shouldn't we like, discuss this first? And can't we at least try to stop the baby crying? I'm almost going deaf here from all the noise…"

"I'm sure you and your father can take care of that. Just search for anything else in the basket that can help, while I try contacting someone more qualified to deal with… this." She gestured to the still-bawling infant, visibly wincing as she did so.

"B-But…" Marinette attempted to protest in return, though she wasn't quite sure why.

"We better do as your mother says, sweetheart." Tom gently laid one of his large hands on the shoulder of his daughter. "Someone out there is missing their baby, and it's not right to expect us to just take her in without getting to the bottom of the situation. Come, me and you'll take the baby somewhere quieter, and then… phew, what's that smell?!"

A putrid whiff emerging from somewhere caused the three oldest occupants of the room to gag, and it soon became very apparent that someone nearby had been 'baking brownies'.

Sadly though, these weren't the kind you could put in an oven.

….

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next chapter done. This is coming together quite nicely, and the next update shouldn't be too long either. Maybe even tomorrow. But don't hold me to that. Bye for now! :)