Old Places, New Beginnings [Beatrice x Bertrand]

Epilogue

 It had been nearly a year since the Baudelaire parents had moved into the mansion. Violet had grown fast, and looked extraordinarily like her mother.

One evening, Beatrice and Bertrand were in the kitchen together, preparing a cake. It was the sort of cake that had to rest in the refrigerator for several days before being cooked, and now they were finally finishing it. Violet sat on the counter, tasting the batter from time to time and listening to her parents discuss a book they'd read.

Bertrand glanced at the recipe book once again, and turned on the mixer. It sputtered weakly a few times, then, with a small flash of light and an uncomfortable noise, stopped working entirely. Both Bertrand and Violet jumped.

Beatrice put down her knife from layering the cake and looked up. "That doesn't sound good," she said. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure..." said Bertrand, taking the metal whisks out and examining the base. "The mixer broke."

Beatrice frowned at the mixer and went to see the damage. "It's messed up pretty badly," she agreed.

"Do you want me to run to the store and get a new one?" Bertrand asked.

"It's okay," said Beatrice, opening a cabinet. "I think that'll take too long."

"Should we use a whisk?"

"Maybe..." Beatrice took a breath and brought out a whisk, but one glance proved it was too flimsy.

Violet wasn't listening. She was looking at the mixer, very closely. Then, with steady and tiny hands, she moved over and adjusted the mechanism.

"Fixed!" she said, so suddenly that both her parents turned to her in surprise.

Bertrand turned it on. Sure enough, it worked.

Beatrice and Bertrand shared a glance with one another, then with Violet, and kissed her.

"Good job, dear," said Beatrice to her daughter. "The cake is saved."

"You know who you are?" asked Bertrand very seriously. Violet looked up at him. "You are Thomas Alva Edison."

Beatrice nodded with the same sincerity before returning to cutting her cake. "Violet, you're the greatest inventor in the world."

Inventor.

Violet liked that word. Even more than she liked the cake, which, as it turns out, was delicious.