Maybe I will marry your father

by DamianTheGamian

Summary:

Mario decides to visit his brother after being away from home for so long. Peach accompanies him, and they both overhear a conversation that was not meant for their ears.

Chapter 1

“I just feel bad, y’know?” Mario kicked a rock in the path. It skipped a few feet before coming to a stop.

“Oh come on, Mario. It’s not like he can’t live without you.” Peach put a comforting hand on his shoulder while they walked.

“I know, I know, but I haven’t slept at home one time in the past month! And I’ve been way too busy for the past three to actually hang out with him like a bother should.” Mario sulked.

Peach sighed, looking far away. “These games do take up a lot of your time.” She sounded tired. “But what are we doing now, huh?”

Mario brightened up. “We’re going to surprise him!” There was a little more pep in his step after he said it.

“Yes, and with all the fresh bread and wine we can carry.” Peach laughed, pulling her basket full of said items closer to her.

They walked for a few more minutes in silence. It was late, past sunset, but Luigi should still be up. From what Mario knew, this was around the time he sat and read his books in the living room. 

Not that he felt like he knew much about his brother now. Making the change to basically live in Peaches castle four months ago had been a hard one, but necessary. Mario had agreed to help Peach arrange the games this year. He had seen how difficult it had been for her in the previous years, and wanted to do all he could to lighten her load.

But now it's costing him most of his free time. If he wasn’t helping someone figure out lodging for over a dozen kingdoms or deciding what flower arrangement looked best where or a million other things, he was doing maintenance around the castle.

He had absolutely no time to hang out with Luigi, and it was crushing him on the inside. But, as he kept telling himself, the games were finally arriving in a few short weeks, and after that he would have all the time in the world to hang out with his favorite brother.

His thoughts were broken when he finally recognised the stone path leading to the cozy cottage he knew was just up ahead.

“There it is!” He pointed, and would have made a run for it if it weren't for Peach holding him back.

“Wait, wait! I see Luigi coming out now! Come on, let's surprise him.” She quickly nudged Mario over to hide in the trees.

Sure enough, Luigi was stepping out of the house. As much as Mario wanted to run up and hug him, surprising him also seemed like a fun idea.

But something was wrong. Mario had assumed Luigi was coming outside to check on his plants or take out the trash or something, but he was… talking to someone? Did he have people over? Mario started to worry they were going to interrupt something, but before he could think any further, Peach spoke up.

“Who is that?” She asked.

Mario gave her a look. “It's Luigi. Can’t you tell?”

“No, no,” She gave him a look back as the words registered. “Of course I can tell, but can’t you see he’s carrying someone?”

Mario looked up and, yep, his brother was definitely carrying something at the very least.

“Huh.” Was it a toad? No, it looked… kind of spiky?

Peach quickly inhaled. Mario looked at her.

“What is it?” He said quickly.

“That’s Bowser's son.” She looked a little more serious than a few seconds ago.

“Bowser Junior?” Mario whipped back around to look at Luigi, but he had started walking in the opposite direction to them. “Why is he here?”

“I don’t know, but we should follow them.” Peach was getting up and grabbed Mario's arm.

Mario got up faster than her and started to walk toward Luigi quickly.

“Mario!” Peach grabbed his hand, pulling him back. “We can’t confront them here.”

“Why not?” Mario was getting angry, and he was worried for his brother. “Anything that slimy lizard is involved in is almost always dangerous and deadly! I can’t let my brother walk into a trap.”

“Look, I trust Bowser just as much as you do. I don’t know what Luigi is doing, but he's smart, right?” 

Mario glanced at the pair moving farther and farther away from them. “Yes, but-”

“If we confront them now, it could lead to chaos and fighting, and that would get us nowhere. It’s safer to just see what's going on, quietly, and, if it's all a big misunderstanding, we wouldn’t have made a big stink for nothing.”

Mario made one last glance at the pair before looking back at Peach, still holding his hand. He sighed. “Fine.”

The two made their way quickly and quietly, careful not to step on a twig or make a loud noise. After a bit of careful rushing, they got close enough to hear what Luigi and Junior were saying.

And the first thing they heard almost knocked the wind out of Mario. 

“Are you and my papa gonna get married?”

Peach quickly grabbed Mario and hid them behind a tree. From their view, they could see Luigi stop and look behind him for a moment. 

Mario looked at Peach with wide eyes. Peach reflected his expression right back. Mario was about to whisper something to her but she covered his mouth with her hand. She shook her head no.

Eventually, they heard Luigi start to move again and slowly followed.

“Uh…I-I’m not sure, Junior.”

Not sure? Not sure? Luigi was not sure if he wanted to marry Bowser?!? If someone asked Mario that question, he would have either smacked them across the face or sent them to the hospital because they must have been crazy.

“For the record I think you should.” Mario heard Junior speak again. “My papa likes you a lot. Like, a lot. He talks about you all the time when you’re not around.”

Not around? When would Luigi be around? Now Mario was confused. He felt like he was missing quite a few pieces to this puzzle.

“Does he, now?”

“Yeah. And I know you like him too. I’m really smart like that.”

“You sure are, bud.”

Mario tried to get Peaches' attention, maybe ask if he was hearing things wrong or going crazy, but she gave him one final look to stay quiet.

“Your father is,” Luigi started, “well, he's very sweet. At least to me. But we’ve only known each other for a very little time, Junior. I don’t think we would get married any time soon.”

‘You wouldn’t get married at all!’ Mario wanted to scream. He was very confused now. Luigi knows Bowser? In more than a ‘he's a bad guy i fight’ kind of way? Also, he likes him? Mario didn’t think it was possible for anyone to like that giant ugly turtle.

Junior made some kind of sound and said, “But- you’re so good! You’re nice to me and my brothers and sisters, and you like my dad, and my dad likes you, and you-”

“Shh, shh, Junior,” Luigi stopped, so Peach and Mario hid again, although this time Luigi did not look behind him.

“Just because I won't marry your father yet doesn’t mean I’m going to leave. I’ll still be here for you and your siblings as long as I can be, okay?”

“O-okay. I guess that's fine. But only if you promise to stay!”

“I promise.”

Mario had a hard time moving his limbs. 

Yet?

Luigi wouldn’t marry Bowser (Bowser! King of the Darklands! Marios #1 Enemy! Huge evil bad guy!) yet?

Mario felt like fainting. The next thing Luigi said almost made that a reality.

“Maybe I will marry your father, kiddo.”

Then, he slipped into a pipe that Mario had not seen before, and disappeared.

Peach and Mario slowly turned their heads to look at one another.

Peach was the one to speak.

“What has Luigi gotten himself into?”

Chapter 2

“Did you like dinner, Junior?” Luigi closed the door behind him and made his way down the path. The air smelled delicious, and he passed it off as his fantastic cooking.

“It was so freaking good! I want to have dinner at your house every night!”

Luigi laughed a little. “We’ve talked about this, Junior. You need to stop sneaking out at night to visit me. It's dangerous, and one day you’re gonna be caught.”

Junior blew a raspberry at him. “I won’t get caught. I’m just as stealthy as my papa!”

Stealthy was not a word that Luigi would use to describe Bowser. 

“Even if your Papa is ‘stealthy,’ he’s not going around sneaking into the Mushroom Kingdom every night, now is he?” Luigi rearranged the grip he had on Junior, moving him to his other hip.

“He does too! He comes here all the time to get the princess!”

Luigi wasn’t too sure how to respond to that. Yes, Bowser did have a history of kidnapping and stuff, but…

Well, he was getting better. It had been months since he last kidnapped the princess, at least.

“When was the last time your papa kidnapped the princess, huh?”

Junior stopped to think for a second. “I guess it has been a while…”

“See? So you should stop sneaking here too.” Junior rested his head against Luigi's shoulder. It seemed the little guy was getting tired. “Plus, I’m at the castle every week! You can always see me then”

Junior wiggled a small, mini tantrum. “I want to see you more!! You’re so cool and your cooking is sooo good and your house is really nice and your really nice and-”

“Okay, Junior, enough.” Luigi was giggling. “All of your other siblings can deal with the fact  that I’m not always at the castle. Why is it you who has to come to my house, huh?”

“They don’t understand how awesome you are.”

“Well, I appreciate the complement, but I promise I am not as awesome as you think I am.”

Luigi swore he heard another raspberry being blown behind him, but he let it be. No use in arguing with the kid.

It was quiet for a long time. The only noises around were the sounds of the crickets and the frogs and Luigi's feet moving the both of them forward. Luigi thought Junior had fallen asleep.

“Are you and my papa gonna get married?”

Luigi stopped in his tracks. He looked behind him. He thought he had heard a noise, but it was probably just his imagination. Or his brain trying to distract him from the question it just heard.

Thank god it was dark out, or else Luigi's bright red face would be fully visible. He coughed once before slowly moving forward.

“Uh…” How was he supposed to answer that?!? “I-I’m not sure, Junior.”

“For the record I think you should.” Junior sounded very tired at this point, but he was still talking. “My papa likes you a lot. Like, a lot. He talks about you all the time when you’re not around.”

Luigi's face probably got a few degrees warmer. “Does he, now?”

“Yeah. And I know you like him too. I’m really smart like that.”

“You sure are, bud.” Luigi had gotten over the initial shock of the question, and now he had time to actually think about it. 

Luigi and Bowser hadn't known each other for very long. Well, that was a lie, they’ve known about each other for almost as long as Luigi had come to this planet. But only recently have they really gotten to know one another. And recently-er have they been, well, interested in one another.

“Your father is,” He started saying, if only to please the kid and answer his question, “well, he's very sweet. At least to me. But we’ve only known each other for a very little time, Junior. I don’t think we would get married any time soon.”

Junior made a sad sound, and it broke Luigi's heart just a little. “But- you’re so good! You’re nice to me and my brothers and sisters, and you like my dad, and my dad likes you, and you-”

“Shh, shh, Junior,” Luigi stopped and pulled Junior up to look him in the eyes. The poor kid was close to crying. Luigi couldn’t help a small smile. “Just because I won't marry your father yet doesn’t mean I’m going to leave. I’ll still be here for you and your siblings as long as I can be, okay?”

“O-okay. I guess that's fine. But only if you promise to stay!”

“I promise.”

Junior looked into Luigi's eyes for another moment, maybe trying to judge if Luigi was telling the truth, then rested his head on his shoulder again. Luigi went on walking. 

Luigi only realized after he said it that he had said yet. ‘I won’t marry your father yet’. Would he really marry Bowser? For the longest time, he seemed like the bad guy, big and scary and mean to everyone. He kidnapped one of Luigi's closest friends every week and routinely beat up his brother.

But, well, Luigi wouldn’t mind seeing those beautiful eyes and handsome face every morning. Being able to wake up and spend the day with Bowser and the kids instead of having to leave after breakfast. Being able to talk to Mario about his life and not feel like he's hiding something all the time.

They had made it to the secret pipe now.

“Maybe I will marry your father, kiddo.” Luigi said quietly.

From the snores coming off of his back, Luigi could tell that Junior was asleep.

He stepped into the pipe and came back home.

Notes:

School starts back up again tomorrow and I am NOT looking forward to it. posting this so I can forget about it for a little while longer!

I wrong this ages ago. I planned to continue it, but after reading it again, I think it works fine as a standalone. I don't know what it is about Luigi and Junior, but their dynamic is really fun to write!

I hope you enjoyed reading!! Have a great day!