Smurfette, Hefty, and Papa stared dumbfounded at the sight before them. Whatever was holding Florette to the ceiling wasn't letting up. They had tried using a step ladder and pulling her down manually, pulling her down with a rope around her waist, and even guiding her to the wall to hopefully crawl down that way. Snappy had wandered up and gotten the bright idea to weigh her down using himself. Unfortunately, whatever magic that had Florette stuck up there had no effect on him, and he was left clinging to the baby's onesie. Meanwhile, little Florette happily giggled and flapped her hands about as if nothing was amiss.
"What now?" Smurfette cried.
Suddenly, Brainy burst through the door. "I smurfed over as fast as could! What's the emergency?"
Hefty pointed at Florette. Brainy looked up. "Oh."
"Thank you for smurfing so quickly, Brainy," Papa said. "Although, I'm a bit confused as to who called you."
"A...confidential source informed me there was a disturbance in - "
"Nosy?" Everyone asked.
Brainy went silent. " ... Well, I thought you'd appreciate the help anyway, given the circumstances."
Papa shook his head. "Anywho, I don't think we can smurf anything about this until we can get her down."
Florette shuffled over to the ceiling light and smacked her hand against it. Snappy jerked and shook with the movement.
"Well, this certainly... atypical of most infants of any species," Brainy remarked. "But, it doesn't appear there's anything wrong with her, specifically."
Smurfette whirled around. "What are you smurfing about?! Look at her!"
Everyone glanced back up at the ceiling. Florette crawled happily around the ceiling light, giggling and dragging poor Snappy along with her.
"She has crazy upper-body strength!" he said shaking.
Hefty smiled proudly. "I mean...she seems happy."
"She could fall!" Smurfette cried, trying to remain just underneath her. "We don't even know how she smurfed up there in the first place. And the room was a mess! F-For all we know, something could have flown in here and - "
Snappy's grip let loose, and both landed on the floor on top of each other. Hefty picked up Snappy and set him in the rocking chair before tending to his wife.
"And did what, exactly?" he asked. "Trashed the place, put our daughter on the ceiling, and smurfed itself out?"
She shook her head. "I-I don't know! But there's something wrong here, right? Papa?"
Papa stroked his beard. "Well, Smurf babies don't normally smurf onto the ceiling and stay there. But, since the simplest solution is most likely the correct one, I'd have to say that she somehow smurfed up there herself."
"But that doesn't make sense!" Smurfette glanced back up at her. "How? A-And why?"
The smurflings crowded the nursery door to listen. Nat held Forester as best as he could, but the baby wiggled and twisted around to see into his room. His eyes landed on his sister. He popped his lips together, reaching his hands up towards Florette. She immediately stopped cooing and locked eyes on her brother. Instantly, Flory dropped. Smurfette and Hefty both lunged for her, knocking into each other. Florette landed on both of their heads, no worse for wear. Smurfette snatched up her baby and held her close.
"Oh, thank Smurf you're safe!"
Florette grabbed a lock of her hair and held it tightly. Hefty scooped up her hat and plopped it back on her head.
The room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well, if that's settled, I should smurf the smurflings home." Papa scooped up Forester, handed him to Hefty, and ushered the smurflings towards the door.
"But I wanted to see her float some more!" Snappy whined, but he still let Papa pull him out.
Brainy stepped closer to them and began examining Florette. "I'm aware this might not be the appropriate time. But, we could smurf a few tests to determine what's going on."
Hefty stepped between him and Smurfette. "No, no, no! You are not smurfing my family into your guinea pigs!"
"Actually, Hefty!" She set her hand on his shoulder. "This time...it might help."
Hefty sighed. "Smurfette, no. It's one thing to smurf it on us, but our smurflings are too young for this. And, no offense, Brainy," Hefty said to him. "but, I'm not sure how much I trust you around my kids."
Brainy scoffed. "I assure you, I would smurf down my life for your smurf and blood!"
Hefty clasped his fingers over his mouth. "Let me rephrase: I'm not sure how much I trust you around kids in general."
"I'm good with kids!" Brainy retorted. Hefty and Smurfette exchanged a look. "Even so, if we discover the source of Florette's condition, we may be able to treat it. I'll have Papa Smurf to supervise, and everything will be 100% humane. Smurf's honor."
"I..." Hefty trailed off and glanced back at his kids. Florette began fussing. Forester reached over and grabbed her fist, making little popping sounds. He sighed. "You promise you won't smurf anything weird or dangerous?"
Brainy nodded. "And nothing will be done without your consent, of course."
Florette sat in her mother's lap, her hands tightly clasped around a lock of her mother's hair. Smurfette held Hefty's hand and sat patiently on a stool in Brainy's hut. Papa paced on the other side of the room, rocking Forester to sleep as they waited. Brainy finally emerged from the floor hatch, hauling up several pieces of strange equipment.
"And you're sure all of this is safe?" Hefty asked once again.
"I promised, didn't I?" Brainy plugged a stethoscope into his ears and began listening to Florette's heart. "Besides, this is just a preliminary examination."
Hefty blinked. "I'm sorry, do you even know what you're smurfing about? Sometimes I think you just smurf big words without knowing what they mean."
"Who's the doctor here?"
"Not you!"
"Guys!" Smurfette cut in. "Can we just get this over with? I'm already on edge."
"Alright." Brainy took the stethoscope out of his ears. "If I could try something?" He rushed behind his chalkboard and returned with the bulbous finger gloves.
Hefty facepalmed. "Oh, no."
"Hefty?" Brainy raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"
He gently plucked Florette's hat off her head and gently rubbed his hands over her scalp. Immediately, she grabbed at him and began shrieking. Hefty rushed forward.
"Hold on!" Brainy kept his eyes glued to the scroll of paper spitting out data, hardly paying mind to Florette. Hefty flipped between Smurfette and Papa. Papa held up his hand for Brainy to continue. Smurfette held her daughter close as she fought to pull the hands off of her head. Her eyes met hers, big and fearful.
"Brainy, that's enough!" Smurfette shouted.
With that, the machine sputtered. Sparks flew out. The lights shut off. Everyone was silent.
After a second, the lights flickered back to life and the machine dinged. Smurfette stood up and rubbed Florette's back, calmly shushing her. Brainy hurried over to the giant roll of paper and began reading through it. Sensing the baby's unease, Papa approached Florette and gently rubbed her head. She smacked his hand away and shouted at him. Papa obligingly stepped back.
"I hope you smurfed something out of all this!" Hefty shouted at Brainy.
He remained silent, reading over the scroll carefully. After several seconds, he looked up. "Unbelievable!"
"What?" Smurfette asked, still cradling Florette.
"U-Um..." Brainy turned frantically and dropped the scroll. "T-To properly explain, I think you should see this."
He scrambled over his desk and pulled two equally long scrolls of paper from the pile. He flipped his chalkboard to the blank side and pinned the scroll to the top. Across the paper were spiked and wavy lines, arranged almost in a concise pattern.
"This," Brainy explained. "is the brain reading of Hefty Smurf that I smurfed last year."
He pulled the second scroll up the chalkboard and pinned it directly underneath the first one. Its lines zigged and zagged every which way, nearly jumping off the chart.
"And this is the brain reading of Smurfette that had been smurfed a month earlier." He pointed to Smurfette's chart. "Notice the irregularities. It's erratic, even jagged in some places. I had previously thought that this was a result of the Blue Moon activity, possibly a reaction of some sort. But I was at a complete loss, until Florette."
He dragged Florette's chart over and pinned it under the first two. It was completely different from either of her parents, but it had the same jagged spikes as Smurfette. Hefty furrowed his brow in confusion.
"I have taken a brain reading of nearly every Smurf in the village," Brainy shook his head. "But this has only occurred in the both of you. I suspected it could be radiation, or maybe chemical, but neither of you have been in contact with any of the sort. So then I thought -"
"Brainy, slow down," Papa said. "What are you saying exactly?"
"W-Well," Brainy stuttered, adjusting his glasses. "I'm ... not sure what it is exactly. But, whatever it is, I believe I can reasonably conclude that it's magical in origin."
Smurfette stared at Florette. She had burrowed herself into her chest, clinging to her dress and whimpering softly. So many questions ran through Smurfette's head, but she didn't have the strength to ask. She was numb. No worry, no fear, no guilt. Just this profound emptiness at hearing another change in her life. She was therefore grateful when Hefty broke the silence.
"Just smurf me this, Brainy: is this going to affect her in any way?"
Brainy looked between mother and daughter. "I-If you're referring to Smurfette, then it doesn't seem like it. That is, assuming this was simply part of her from the beginning."
Smurfette held Florette closer and turned her head away.
"If you're referring to Florette," Brainy continued. "then...I don't know. I suppose we'll have to smurf and see."
Hefty sighed and looked back towards his family. Forester was still fast asleep on Papa's shoulder, and Florette's face was still buried in Smurfette's dress. He clenched his fists and strode over to Papa, gently taking his son without waking him.
"Let's just go home."
Dusk had fallen over the village. The singing birds were replaced with crickets chirping and night birds cawing. Smurfette walked slowly behind Hefty, each of them holding a baby. Papa trudged beside Smurfette, trying to match her pace. Hefty glanced back at them, and his eyes met Papa's. He flicked his gaze back to Smurfette. He sure didn't know what to say, but Papa had all the answers, right?
Papa set a hand on Smurfette's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
She mustered a smile and nodded.
He shook his head at her. "Don't lie to me, Smurfette."
She kept her eyes fixed on the ground. "It's because we're both made of clay."
Papa blinked. "Now, Smurfette. We don't know - "
"Yes, I do!" She rubbed her daughter's back. "It's not just because of this. Anyone with a brain can smurf that Forester and Florette...they don't act the same! They never ate the same. They never played the same. They never slept the same! Sometimes...sometimes I don't even think they look the same. I can see in how she smurfs at me. Sh-She sees and knows more than...She can do...She..." she sighed.
How was she supposed to put this into words? Her baby isn't behaving normally because she wasn't born normally, of course! She knew this. She was supposed to know this. She let it happen, didn't she? This is what she wanted.
"Smurfette," Papa said gently. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. No baby Smurf has ever been made from a lump of clay. Even Sassette was older when she was smurfed into the world. We don't know how this will turn out."
"Can you blame me for wanting to know?" she challenged. "It was enough of a journey to figure out who I was. It was more than enough deciding to ..." she stopped. "...deciding how my pregnancy would go. If I could smurf more, then maybe I can properly take care of her."
She stopped a few feet from her front door. Hefty opened the door to let her in but turned when she wasn't there.
Smurfette hung her head. "I don't know which is worse: the fact that half the village still thinks I smurfed the wrong choice, or that sometimes..." her voice cracked. "sometimes I wonder if they were right."
Hefty stopped in his tracks, his hand outstretched to guide her inside. She hadn't even seen him come over, and it filled her with more shame. She waited for his answer, to tell her off for being a bad mother. Instead, he carefully plucked Florette out of Smurfette's hands. With nothing in her arms, Smurfette tightly grasped her shoulders and sobbed.
Papa sighed but smiled and tipped her chin up. "Surprising as it seems, I don't have all the answers. Being a Papa means smurfing mistakes, and...I'll admit, I've smurfed plenty in the past, and I'll smurf them again in the future. But I love all my little Smurfs, and that's the one thing I will always be certain of." He wiped a tear from her cheek. "You made your choice, Smurfette. And only you can choose what happens next."
Smurfette turned to look at Hefty, at her babies. Her family. He smiled at her.
She sniffled and threw her arms around Papa Smurf. It was a small comfort now, but he was right. No matter what happened to her children, she'd protect them. No matter how afraid she was, how broken she felt, she'd learn to be a Mama.
She finally stepped back and smiled back at him, which he gladly returned. He gestured back towards Hefty. Still unsure if she was ready but eager to go forward, she joined Hefty's side and stepped into her home.