Dad!Adrien is the cool, supportive but also protective dad
He loves his son Hugo very much, cuddles him and gives him all the happy memories his dad deprived him of
"Hey Go, it's casserole tonight!" his little son rushed to him in a hurry, climbs up on the small stool near the kitchen counter and screams "Casseole! Casseole!" Adrien laughs
His son figures out pretty quick he's Chat Noir. "How did you know??" "Dad, come on, the puns?"
Adrien buys him Chat Noir merch bc his son loves his papa very much and thinks Chat Noir is cool
His heart aches a little when Hugo wanted Ladybug merch too but he buys it anyway, making sure to keep his gaze fixated on the Chat Noir doll whenever his son plays with them
'Do you purr like a cat too when you're Chat Noir?' 'Why don't you find out?' he transforms and cuddles Hugo close and starts purring. Hugo id so excited and happy but falls asleep soon due to the purrs and his dad's warm hug
Adrien likes to show off as Chat Noir to his son sometimes, he does flips and stunts while hunting akumas or bad guys, and he's on TV. So Hugo can gush about how cool it looked
Hugo sometimes asks about his mom, sees her in pictures, asks about a box that looks very similar to the one housing his dad's Miraculous. Adrien pats his head, saying he'll understand everything soon
On safe days when there are no akumas, Chat Noir gives Hugo piggy back rides and takes him out to watch the sunset or how high he can get with his baton
Hugo loves playing with Chat's ears, he constantly keeps asking if they're real, if they hurt when he pulls.
He also pulls his belt tail, much too similar to how somebody else used to pull it and Adrien's tail is not the only thing that tugs in pain
Adrien, despite his busy schedule, always has days off for Hugo
Adrien's nickname for his son 'Go' comes from a phase in his son's life where, when he watched Chat Noir on TV fighting bad guys, he shouted, "Go kitty! Go! Go! Go!"
Whenever Nathalie calls to check in on them, Adrien switches over to video call so she can see them. He knows she cares deeply about them, Hugo adores her too.
Hugo sometimes tries to pun but whenever Adrien comes with the dad jokes, Hugo sticks his tongue out, "Ugh dad, seriously dad jokes? I like your cat puns better." (Adrien is offended but his inner Chat is oddly proud)
Adrien is a protective dad and villains know that too (for Chat Noir). A villain tried kidnapping Hugo once bc he wore the Chat Noir mask and looked very similar to a certain feline hero. Not even ten minutes after kidnapping Hugo, Chat Noir broke the door down to their hideout, flinging a screaming criminal at a wall, chataclysm activated and eyes glowing toxic green, "Who dared to steal my kitten from me?"
Adrien likes having days where he can just go 'fuck my diet'. He eats anything his son eats, its like a cheat day for them. While Hugo isnt restricted to diets like his model dad, Adrien still promotes healthy food in his house. So the duo eat junk food, sweets and other stuff they normally dont eat in large amounts on cheat days
Hugo adores Plagg. The little cat god is smitten with Hugo too, he doesnt have any snark at all towards Hugo, he loves him to bits and doesnt mind when Hugo cuddles him. Plagg makes fun of Adrien and teases him to make Hugo laugh
On certain nights, when alone in his room, after Hugo fell asleep, Adrien quietly asks Plagg if what he was doing is right. If he was a good father to Hugo, a good hero to Paris. (Plagg always says yes, always curls into Adrien so he can fall asleep better)
On meetings, whenever Hugo accidentally stumbles into them (Nathalie has babysitting duty, but the little rascal is sneaky) Adrien never gets mad or irritated. He gently coaxes his son outside, explaining that papa is working and that he will be with him soon. He introduces his son proudly and when a Asshole Colleague starts whispering how Hugo is a nuisance or why should one even have kids, he gets a very feral, Chat-like glare from Adrien
When Hugo is older, he wants to be a hero just like his dad. Adrien disagrees however. "Why can't I be a hero too?! I want to be a hero like you dad!" "No, you can't Hugo, this is not up for discussion." "But why?! I'm not a kid anymore!" "But you're my kid! And I won't lose someone precious to me by being a hero! Not again!"
Despite being young, single, and successful, the only girl who has Adrien’s attention is his daughter. That is, until the new nanny makes a spot for herself in both their lives in a way that no one, not even the nanny herself, was expecting.
Marinette grinned as Emma ran to the door the second the doorbell rang through the house. She followed behind and opened the door to reveal Alya.
“Auntie Alya!” Emma cried reaching up to hug her.
“Hey!” she greeted, kneeling down to hug the little girl. “How’s my little school girl doing? Is she having a good time in first grade?”
It had been a surprise to them all. Within the first two weeks of kindergarten, the teacher approached them and said that, basically, Emma was too smart for her own good and knew everything she needed to for kindergarten. Marinette and Adrien had a very long talk about bumping Emma up a year, and in the end, they did. Whenever Emma ranted and raved about what they did in class or the cool thing they learned or the friends she was making, it reaffirmed that they made the right decision.
Marinette listened to Emma tell Auntie Alya everything about school until the buzzer went off on the oven, signaling the cookies were done.
“That’s what smelt so good!” Alya commented.
“Emma’s getting really good at helping me make them,” Marinette said as she pulled them from the oven. “Right?”
Emma nodded. “I help mommy read the recipe and measure out everything.”
“And she does a really good job!” Marinette encouraged, holding her fist out.
With a grin, Emma bumped it.
Alya giggled. “Then I’m sure they’ll be delicious. I’ll take some home for Nino.”
“But we can’t give away too many,” Emma spoke with seriousness. “We have to save them for Daddy.”
“We’ll have plenty for Daddy,” Marinette assured. “Don’t worry, but we want to share with Uncle Nino, right?”
Emma smiled and nodded.
“How is ‘Daddy’ by the way?” Alya asked. “I haven’t heard from him in days.”
“He’s exhausted,” Marinette answered with a frown. “He’s trying to balance his job and his father’s while Gabriel and Nathalie are on their honeymoon. Sabrina is a godsend, but even she’s getting weary. And this is during a lull time.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a lull time,” Alya sympathized. “He’s balancing two jobs at once. Of course, it’s going to wear on him. How much longer until he returns?”
“Thankfully, only another two days,” she answered, picking up a spatula to transfer the cookies from the cookie sheets to a cooling rack. “I mean, on one hand, Adrien and I are really glad they went on a two-week vacation because they need it. But on the other… I just want them to come home for Adrien’s sake. It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t have Mr. Rossi breathing down his neck about potentially pulling out.”
Alya’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Something about he can’t be in a company where the owner marries a secretary, and his daughter is throwing a fit that Adrien didn’t marry a model.”
Alya scoffed. “Then give him the money and tell him bye-bye.”
Marinette smirked. “That’s what Adrien wants to do, but he’s trying to have him hold on until his father returns.”
“Fair enough.”
Marinette placed the spatula down and turned off the oven.
“So Emma,” Alya said, turning her attention back to Emma. “What sort of cool projects have you done at school?”
“How about,” Marinette suggested, “you go grab the pictures you painted in class and bring them back down for Alya?”
Gasping as though it was the greatest idea in the world, Emma sprinted upstairs.
Leaving Marinette to collapse in a dining chair.
“You look miserable,” Alya commented, taking a seat across from her.
“I’m just a little tired,” she said, rubbing her hands down her face. “It’s probably just because Adrien’s been working so hard and I’m worried for him. By the way, we need to go shopping.”
“For?”
“I don’t know if Adrien accidentally dried my bras again or what, but they aren’t fitting, so I need new ones.”
Alya looked at her friend with her brows knit together.
Marinette frowned in confusion. “What?”
Alya opened her mouth to say something, only for Emma to run back into the room while excitedly waving around a large piece of paper. “Look!”
Half an hour of visiting and cookie sharing later, Alya was saying how she needed to head out. She gave Emma a hug good-bye, but before she left, she pulled Marinette to the front porch.
Marinette followed, shutting the door behind her. “So, yes shopping? No?”
Instead, Alya dug around in her purse. “Call it a hunch, but no.”
Marinette’s brows furrowed. And when Alya pulled a box from her purse, Marinette’s eyes widened. “No,” she said. “No way.”
Alya quirked a brow. “You’re tired and your bras are too small?”
“It’s only been three months,” Marinette said. “And Nathaniel and I were trying for years—”
“But Adrien isn’t Nathaniel,” Alya said. “Adrien, in case you didn’t notice, has offspring, which means he’s perfectly capable of producing a baby.”
Marinette stared at the little rectangular box. She couldn’t be… could she? “There’s no way.”
“Girl,” Alya said, “you know it’s a possibility.”
“But—”
“And the guy could be just as much at fault for infertility as the woman. Don’t take that all on your shoulders when it’s possible it wasn’t you.”
Marinette bit her lip as she nervously stared at the box.
“Take it.”
“Don’t you need it?” Marinette asked in a small voice.
With a grin, Alya shook her head. “Not with the monster of a period that decided to show up late. I was just getting hopeful way too easily.”
Marinette stared down at the box a moment longer before taking it.
Alya grinned. “Text me a picture.”
Marinette smiled and waved Alya good-bye. Once Alya drove off, Marinette’s gaze fell to the little pregnancy test. Could she really? If she were honest, she fully believed that she and Adrien were going to have to go through fertility treatments. She’d already been researching different clinics. Was it possible that Alya was right and that it wasn’t her fault? That she could have children?
Then her heart sank. But what if she was just getting her hopes up?
With a sigh, she took the pregnancy test back inside and upstairs to her bathroom before going back down the kitchen and guzzling the largest glass of water she could find.
…
Adrien shut the door and leaned back against it. The lingering smells of dinner made his stomach rumble. He dropped his briefcase full of documents he still needed to look though and yanked his tie off his neck.
Marinette was there in the kitchen when he rounded the corner, giving him a smile while placing a plate of food down on the table.
The tenseness in his shoulders fell away, and he couldn’t stop the smile that appeared. Adrien plopped down at the table and dug in to mostly warm food. “This is amazing,” he muttered with his mouth full.
Marinette smiled and rested a hand on his arm. “Only two more days.”
“Thankfully.”
She squeezed his arm reassuringly, pulling his attention away from the food and to her. “You’re doing a really good job,” she said. “And I’m really proud of you for hanging in there. It’s not easy balancing your work week with his, but you’re doing it and doing an amazing job.”
He smiled, his heart warmed by her praise. “Thank you, bugaboo,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to her temple.
“Then there’s cookies for you later,” she said. “And you can take some to Sabrina.”
“That woman deserves a whole cake,” he said.
“Then I’ll make her one.”
Adrien smiled.
“Well, Emma and I.”
“Sounds about right. Is she upstairs?”
“She’s upstairs coloring,” Marinette said. “She took an early bath, but she wants you for a bedtime story.”
“Okay.”
“She won’t fault you for eating dinner first, though.”
Adrien grinned then shoved another forkful of food in his mouth.
Marinette giggled then stood and kissed the top of his head. He leaned into her, causing her to giggle yet again but also wrap her arms over his shoulders and just hold him.
His smile grew. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.” With one last kiss to his head, she slipped away to finish the dishes.
He finished dinner quickly, then took his plate to the sink. Marinette immediately turned to take it from him. “Your daughter wants to tell you about her fun day at school,” she said turning back to the sink.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning flush against her back and resting his head on her shoulder. “Thank you.”
She turned her head against his. “You’re welcome.”
He held her a moment longer before pressing a long, lingering kiss to her cheek. He affectionately patted her hip as he pulled himself away and headed upstairs. He peeked around Emma’s door, spying his daughter coloring at her little desk. He watched her a short moment before knocking on the door frame, calling her attention.
“Daddy!” She was up in a flash and running toward him.
He swooped her up into his arms and hugged her tight. “Hey! How’s Emma doing? Mommy said you had a fun day.”
Happily, Emma told him everything that happened in first grade, from the projects she did to what she did with her friends. Adrien listened to her excited babble and looked at the art projects she presented him with.
“That looks great, Emma,” he encouraged. They chatted a little more before Adrien told her to go grab a book to read.
So she did, and they clamored into bed together with the story book in hand. “If. You. Give. A. Mo-mouse. A. Cookie,” Emma read the title.
While slow going, Emma read the book very well, stumbling over only a couple words. Adrien hugged her tightly, heaping praise upon her once she finished. And Emma beamed under it.
Then he grabbed their long chapter book and read her a chapter from that. “Alright,” Adrien said, placing the story down. “Bed time.” He tucked Emma in and gave her a tight hug.
“Best daddy in the whole, wide world.”
“Best daughter in the whole, wide world.” Adrien gave her a kiss to the top of her head, and then slipped from the room.
Once he left the room, he noticed the lights were off downstairs and on in his and Marinette’s room.
He grinned at that. He couldn’t help but think of how different it was to share a room with her. He swore it was almost easier to sleep at night when he had her to hold on to. It was harder to get out of bed in the mornings because the thought of leaving his wife’s embrace was never pleasant. And then the nights…
No matter if the nights consisted of simple snuggles and chaste kisses or something far steamier—and who was he kidding, neither could say it was all because they were trying to get pregnant—nights with Marinette were far, far more relaxing than trying to unwind by himself in the light of a single lamp in an empty room.
From the hallway, he could see Marinette laying on her back on the bed, rubbing her face in something akin to exhaustion. So, like any good husband, he forwent convincing her that she should just get ready for bed and instead collapsed on top of her.
She let out a slight ‘oof” in surprise before she started giggling.
He played it up, laying more of his weight on top of her and resting his head ‘conveniently’ by that beautifully tender spot her neck met her shoulder.
She giggled and lazily draped her arms over his shoulders and back before turning her head to press her nose into his hair.
“How was your day?” she asked. “Or do you not want to talk about it?”
He almost said that it was a day like any of the others, only to pause when he recalled what exactly was in his briefcase. “Actually, I have something for you. A little surprise.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “A surprise?”
Adrien grinned. “One that would make you Emma’s legal mommy.”
He watched realization dawn over her face. “W… what?”
His smile widened. “I had to wait for the paperwork to come to me, but it did, a couple days ago. I just finally remembered to bring it home.”
“Why?”
“Remember the day that you wrote up the emergency contact information for Emma to go to school and you put ‘mother’ on the sheet. And while it’s true in a sense, we both realized later you’re actually her step-mom? I couldn’t stop thinking about it and so I had the paperwork drawn up for you to legally adopt my daughter.”
Marinette’s eyes were wide as she stared at him, mouth agape. “Really?” she asked on a whisper.
“Unless you don’t want to—”
“No!” she said, quickly interrupting him. “I want to. I do. Really.”
Adrien felt himself relax.
“But you could have waited until you weren’t so busy,” she said.
“I started before these crazy two weeks,” he shrugged off. “I just finally got the papers back.”
Slowly, she smiled and shook her head.
“So,” he said, shifting to hover over her. “What do you say, Marinette? Will you be the mom of my child?”
Her breath hitched, and Adrien grew worried that he’d said something wrong. He opened his mouth, only for the response to die on his tongue when he saw the sweet look that wore. “Adrien,” she said, her voice soft and gentle and precious. “I already am.”
His brow furrowed in confusion.
Her smile grew, and Adrien knew he was missing something.
She took his hand, and he shifted his weight so she could place his hand—
His eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
She nodded, tears now filling her eyes. “I didn’t believe it. But… but Alya made me take a test and…” She sniffed. “Positive.”
His hand spread out over her abdomen. Somewhere underneath his touch was a tiny, tiny baby—his tiny, tiny baby—and it positively blew his mind. “We’re going to have a baby.”
She nodded. “We are,” she said, happy tears now escaping and running down her cheeks. “We are. I can’t believe it, but we are.”
It was the best news he could hear. He and Marinette were going to have a baby. A new little one entering their wonderful, patchwork family.
And he loved it.
…
Marinette was thrilled her parents could take Emma for a couple hours. And when she told them why exactly she needed them to watch Emma…
It was a very fun day.
“Marinette Agreste.”
Marinette looked up at the sound of her name to see the nurse ready to take her back to the doctor’s office. Adrien squeezed her hand, then stood from his seat. Hand in hand, they followed the nurse back into the room. Marinette took a seat on the lounger as per the nurse’s instruction while Adrien took a seat right beside her.
“The doctor will be in shortly,” the nurse said as she shut the door behind her.
Marinette took a breath in hopes to calm her nerves.
Adrien took both her hands in his. “Nervous?” he asked, giving her hands a comforting squeeze.
She nodded, holding on tight. “Yeah.”
He gave her a smile. “I kinda am, too.”
She smiled. She knew he wasn’t exactly involved in Chloe’s pregnancy. This was as new to him as it was to her. He had told her he wanted to be at every appointment and be as involved as he possibly could. Frankly, it was a comfort knowing that he would be by her side through all this. Highs and lows. Ups and downs. He was by her side. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
“That’s my baby, too,” he said, reaching out to touch the slight swell of her abdomen. “Furthermore, you are my wife. I’m not going to let you go through it alone.”
She smiled, ready to lean forward to kiss him when the doctor opened the door. He introduced himself with a grin and gave his whole doctor spiel that Marinette only half listened to because those nerves were acting up again.
Then came the time for Marinette to lay down so they could have the ultrasound. Once Marinette lifted her shirt and slightly nudged her pants lower on her hips so as to reveal the beginning of her baby bump, she reached for Adrien’s hand, which he took tight hold of.
The gel that the doctor put on was shockingly cold. Marinette shivered, which may have masked the squirming of having someone rub her belly in the first place. Soon enough, that part was over, and Adrien squeezed her hand in reassurance. The doctor then placed the little wand over her belly, pressing down a little harder than she thought he would have had to and causing the screen to come alive with an unreadable blur of white, black, and all the shades of gray in between.
He moved the wand around over her belly, the gel allowing it to slide easily until he came to a pause.
“And there’s your little one,” he said, pointing to the screen. “You can see the head here and the body here.”
Marinette’s heart started racing, and soon, the world was forgotten. All she could see was the outline of a baby that, she knew from research, wasn’t any bigger than a raspberry.
Adrien squeezed her hand, hard, and wouldn’t relent. But that was fine because she was in as much awe as he.
Then she heard him sniff and looked over to see her husband getting a little misty-eyed beside her.
“Is this your first?” the doctor asked.
Adrien grinned and shook his head. “No. I have a daughter from a previous marriage.”
“But this is the first time he gets to be included in all this,” Marinette finished, squeezing his hand.
He nodded, unable to speak.
The doctor just smiled. “Then I suppose you’d like to listen to its heartbeat?”
They both nodded, and soon enough, a thumping sound filled the room. To Marinette, it just solidified the fact that she had a baby inside her. A wonderful child of her own with her incredible albeit crying husband.
Sometime later, the duo was walking from the doctors’ offices and to their car, ultrasound pictures in hand and in complete awe. They got in the car, Adrien sliding into the driver’s seat while Marinette plopped into the passenger side. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat rang in her ears and got her heart racing about as fast as the baby’s heart inside her.
She placed a hand over her stomach, her new favorite habit that Adrien hated because he immediately wondered if something was bothering her. She placed a hand over his arm. “I’m fine, sweetheart,” she said. “Baby is fine, too.”
He smiled, reaching over to lay a hand over her abdomen. “There’s a little us in there,” he said, his tone reverent. “It’s got a little head and little body and a fast little heartbeat.”
She smiled, holding her hands over his. “Yes, it does,” she confirmed.
He stared at her for a while. “We’re going to have a baby.”
She giggled. “We’ve established that.”
“I know, but…” he paused, looking up at her. “There’s a baby on the way. Like… I don’t know. There’s a baby and it’s tiny and…”
Marinette patted his hand. “Overwhelmed?”
He nodded. “There’s a baby.”
Marinette giggled. “You do know you’ve had a baby before, right?”
“Yes, but… I didn’t get any of this: the ultrasounds or heartbeat or… or getting to be with my wife. I was just sort of handed a baby, but now…” He patted her stomach. “Baby. There. And it just… blows my mind.”
“Should I inform you that you were the one to put it there, or is that too much for you?”
Frozen, Adrien stared at her, and Marinette couldn’t help but laugh.
…
He should be working. Instead, he found his time was much better spent scouring the internet on just how to broach the topic of telling Emma that she was going to become a big sister.
And how to avoid any questions of how the baby ended up in mommy’s tummy.
“So,” Alya said, picking at her food while helping—read: harassing—Adrien with his research, “just how did the baby end up in ‘Mommy’s’ tummy?”
Adrien felt himself turn a wonderful shade of red. “You’re married and you need a lesson in that sort of thing?”
“I want to know what you two are doing to have gotten pregnant,” she said. “For personal research.”
Adrien looked over at Alya with a raised brow.
She shrugged. “I’ve almost convinced Nino that having a baby now would be pretty awesome,” she admitted. “He loves Emma, and I think having a little ‘Emma’ of our own would be amazing.”
“Just tell him,” Adrien said.
“Like I haven’t already.”
“And what’d he say?”
“That he wanted to wait a little longer because we haven’t been married a year yet and he wants that first year to be just us.”
Adrien tapped his fingers on the table. “I can actually see his point, Alya.”
“But my body’s getting older by the second,” she complained.
“You’ll still be under thirty by the time you and Nino have been married a year. And you two were married in March. You have, what? Four months?"
Alya just shoved a bite of food in her mouth.
“You’ll be fine,” Adrien assured. “In the meantime, talk about actually raising the kid and getting prepared to take on that responsibility, okay? It’s not exactly fun to be rushing around last minute to put everything together and cram as much knowledge as possible.”
Alya sighed and began picking at her food again. “I guess you’re right,” she grumbled. “That didn’t stop you and Marinette from having one right away.”
“Marinette and I have each been married before, and then we’re parents already with Emma.”
Alya frowned. “Touché.”
Adrien stared at his downtrodden friend a little longer before grabbing his food. “However,” he said. “Come your anniversary, may I suggest popcorn, a bottle of wine, and a good video game with an ultimatum.”
Alya raised a brow, a smirk slowly crossing her face. “What sort of ultimatum?”
“Winner gets their way with the loser.”
With an amused snort, she shook her head. “Well, no one can say you two don’t have fun.”
He could feel the heat on his face, his ears, his neck, and knew he was tomato red, but if it got his friend to smile, so be it. “No,” he agreed. “No, they cannot.”
…
It was a rainy December day they decided to tell Emma. Marinette had found a story book that happened to be specifically for telling young children they were going to have a sibling. And it was just too perfect that the story happened to include bears.
So, for their night time reading, they had Emma read the illustrated book. After each page, she would commentate on the picture, pointing out how the family was just like hers.
Then she read about a baby being inside of Mama Bear, and she grew confused.
“You see, Emma,” Marinette said. “When two people love each other very much, sometimes, they have a baby that has to grow inside Mama’s tummy.”
Her confused pout was adorable.
Marinette just nodded. “It starts off really small,” she said, pinching her fingers together. “But the baby then grows until it can join the family outside of mommy’s tummy.”
“But, why does it have to be in mommy’s tummy?”
“Because,” Adrien chimed in. “Mommy takes the best care of the baby. She makes sure that its happy and healthy inside her tummy and protects it very well.”
Emma nodded. “So Mama Bear has a baby in her tummy so it’s safe?”
Adrien and Marinette nodded.
“Oh,” Emma said, turning back to the book. “Okay.”
Marinette and Adrien snuck a glance at each other. So far, so good.
They finished the story, and Emma seemed happy that Little Bear had become a big sibling and the big helper to Mama Bear.
“So, Emma,” Adrien said. “Do you remember how you said we’re like the bears? There’s you and Mommy and Daddy?”
Emma nodded.
“Well,” Adrien continued. “Just like Mama Bear, Mommy also has a baby in her tummy.”
Emma’s eyes widened as she looked at Mommy.
Marinette nodded. “Meaning you’re going to be a big sister, just like Little Bear.”
Emma stared at Marinette before scrambling off her daddy’s lap and into Marinette’s. “You have a baby in your tummy?”
Marinette nodded, then took Emma’s hand. “It’s right here,” she said, placing Emma’s hand over her abdomen.
Emma’s eyes got really wide, and for a moment, Marinette was nervous that Emma was going to freak out, and not in a good way.
Instead, Emma smiled and looked up at Marinette. “Is it ready to join us out here?”
Marinette’s heart soared as she shook her head. “Not yet. The baby has to stay in my tummy until it gets big and strong enough to join us out here. Right now, it’s only this big,” she explained, making a little circle with her hands.
“That’s not very big.”
“No,” Marinette said. “Which is why the baby needs to stay in my tummy longer.”
Emma almost looked disappointed. “Oh.”
“But when the baby does come,” Adrien said, turning the conversation. “You’re going to be a big sister, just like Little Bear.”
Emma smiled once again. “Okay.”
“All right,” Adrien said. “I’m really proud of you. You’re going to be the best big sister ever.”
Emma beamed under her father’s praise.
“Now, it’s bed time,” he said. “Say goodnight to Mommy.”
She reached up to wrap her arms around Marinette’s neck. “Goodnight, Mommy.”
“Good night, sweetheart.”
Then, Emma let go and bent over to put her face against Marinette’s abdomen. “Goodnight, Baby. Don’t worry. Mommy will take good care of you.”
Marinette and Adrien shared a gaze that revealed they were each on the verge of happy tears.
After Adrien hugged Emma goodnight and tucked her in, he and Marinette slipped from the room to their own. “That,” Adrien began, “Went better than I had hoped it would.”
“Yeah,” Marinette said, laying down on the bed. “I’m so glad she accepted that so easily. I’ve read horror stories of how it could go.”
“So have I,” Adrien agreed, laying down beside his wife and pulling her close. With a happy sigh, she shifted against him and nestled her head under his. He kissed her forehead and held her close. “Sleep well, sweetheart,” he whispered into her hair, reaching over to turn off the lamp light.
She hummed, reaching her hands upwards to pet the hair at the base of his neck. “You, too.”
“With you doing that, it’s nearly guaranteed.”
She giggled. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
…
Marinette rubbed the bulge that was her five-month belly. The one that contained her baby that she only recently found the gender of.
Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. Honestly, she would probably have been happy either way, but she just couldn’t help but think of just how ridiculously proud Adrien was of himself.
“I gave you what you wanted, didn’t I?” he had teased with a smug grin and waggling brows. “I’m that good.”
Marinette decided to forgo the whole “gender reveal” party and decided to just tell her friends one by one. That way, she could relish in each person’s excitement.
She baked macrons for her parents, filling them with a blue icing that could only be discovered when it was bitten into. Her maman had squealed, and her papa had given her a tight hug.
Alya and Nino had also been a blast, flat out telling them that she was getting her Hugo. Nino had grinned, and Alya had squealed. They both congratulated her—and Adrien—and then swore they would be the best aunt and uncle a boy could have.
But Emma had been the most fun.
“Now,” Marinette explained to her while Adrien filmed the whole thing. “You have to pop the balloon, and confetti is going to fall out of it. If it’s pink, then you’re going to have a little sister. If it’s blue, you’re going to have a little brother.”
Emma’s grin was bright as sunshine as she carefully took the large sewing pin Marinette handed her.
“Do you want to guess what it is, Em?” Adrien asked.
She paused a second. “Um… a brother?”
“Is that what you want?”
She nodded. “Just like Little Bear.”
Adrien and Marinette shared a knowing look just before Emma poked the black balloon with the pin, Sending blue confetti everywhere.
She squealed. “I’m gonna have a baby brother?!”
“You’re going to have a little brother,” Marinette confirmed.
She squealed once again, and Marinette took the pin from her hands before Emma could hurt herself with it with as much as she was flailing around. “I’m gonna have a little brother!”
…
“Adrien, you just missed it.”
Adrien pouted, his hands on Marinette’s swollen abdomen. He’d come too late, apparently, and missed the baby shifting.
She giggled and placed her hands over his. “You’ll have the opportunity to feel it again.”
“But it was the first time,” he moaned. “And I missed it.”
Chuckling all the while, she patted his hands. “I’m sorry.”
He mock pouted. “Fine.” With that, he wrapped his arms around her lower torso best he could and laid down between her legs, his head resting on her upper thigh. “I’m staying right here until it moves again.”
“Adrien,” she giggled. “It’s probably not going to do it right away.”
“Don’t care,” he said. “I’m not letting you go until I feel it.”
She just laid her head back on headboard of their bed with a mocking sigh. “What am I going to do with you, Adrien.”
“Love me because I’m your husband.”
She hummed, then started running her fingers through his hair. “Well, that’s true.”
He grinned at that, shifting just slightly so he was able to press a kiss to her belly.
They stayed like that for a while, Marinette stroking Adrien’s hair while he rubbed little circles on her back. And it was interrupted by the little patting of feet entering the room.
Adrien cracked his eyes open just in time to watch Emma scramble up on the bed. She looked between her daddy and mommy with a concerned little frown.
“Daddy’s being silly,” Marinette said with a smirk.
Emma smiled at that, then laid over her daddy’s back. “Stop being silly.”
“But being silly is the best,” he said, letting go of Marinette to reach down and tickle Emma. She squealed and laughed, scrambling away from her dad.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” he playfully said, smile now fully on his face as he reached to grab her and yank her into a smothering hug.
She laughed and shrieked with happiness, but submitted to his embrace.
“Adrien!”
Marinette grabbed his hand and yanked to her belly, holding it over the spot where he could clearly feel a little thumping.
His own wonder was interrupted by a little gasp, and that’s when he realized that Marinette had pulled Emma’s hands to her stomach, too.
“Do you feel that?” she asked. Emma nodded. “That’s the baby.”
“That’s the baby?”
Marinette nodded. “Yup, that’s the baby inside my tummy. He’s shifting around.”
“Wow.”
Adrien could fully agree with that sentiment. Wow was about the best term for it. That was his child underneath his hands, kicking out of his wife’s stomach.
“Is it strong enough to be out here with us?” Emma asked.
Adrien couldn’t help but giggle. “Not yet, Emma. Little baby Hugo is getting closer, but he’s not strong enough to come out and meet us yet.”
She pouted, and neither Adrien nor Marinette could contain their laughter.
…
The last three months sucked.
She moaned on the couch, unable to get comfortable, unable to sleep, unable to do anything but hurt at the belly that was…
What was it?
Oh yeah, 41 fricking miserable weeks.
She seriously could just burst into tears for the umpteenth time during her pregnancy. She was so immensely thankful that Adrien put up with her. Like when he found her on the floor last week having a complete meltdown because she slightly over-baked the cookies she made for Emma. Instead, he sat on the floor with her and held her until her tears subsided.
Adrien came through the door, and Marinette forced herself up off the couch to greet him and Emma
Only to see there was no Emma.
She opened her mouth to ask, but he beat her to it. “It’s Wednesday,” he said. “And I know we haven’t exactly been doing our regular date nights because you haven’t been feeling up to it, but tonight, I say we actually spend some quality time together. Doing anything. Seriously, if it’s just having the house to ourselves tonight and an early bedtime, I’m perfectly fine with that.”
Marinette’s shoulders sank. “I’m pregnant and miserable and there’s no way I’m up for any sort of date night.” Suddenly, she felt the tears come on again. “I’m sorry. I’m a horrible wife.” And then her tears over took her.
Patiently, he wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. “You are a fantastic wife whom I love and adore and still find incredibly beautiful.”
“I’m huge,” she sobbed.
“You say that like I wouldn’t want you just because you’re pregnant.”
She sniffed and shrugged.
He smiled. “Let me make one thing clear to you,” he whispered in her ear. “I absolutely still want you in all the wonderfully intimate ways no matter how pregnant you are.”
Happily, she leaned into his embrace, her tears still flowing.
He squeezed her tighter. “I know you’re miserable,” he said. “And I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it easier?”
“Can you make the baby come already?” she asked jokingly around tears.
He paused. “Well…”
She looked up at him with curiosity.
“I heard some old wives’ tales,” he said.
“Which include?”
“There’s a couple certain types of tea,” he said. “Then castor oil, but I know your stomach is very fickle right now, so…”
“I’m growing desperate, though,” she mumbled.
“Walking supposedly helps.”
“Like I haven’t been doing that.”
“I know,” he said, holding her tight. “There’s one more.”
“Which is?”
“Well… supposedly, sex.”
She paused, completely caught off guard.
But hell, at this point, she was up for anything that got this baby out of her. She grabbed him by the belt, and they barely made it up to their bedroom before they were completely lacking in any sort of clothing.
…
41 weeks and ten hours, the bed was wet from her water breaking.
“If I’m being honest, I really didn’t think that was going to work,” Adrien said.
“I don’t care,” Marinette moaned, feeling the tightness of early contractions squeeze her belly. “It did, and I’m so happy this baby is coming out.”
Adrien chuckled.
Then Marinette looked at him. “Wait a minute,” she said, shooting him a teasing grin. “What do you mean ‘you didn’t think it was going to work’?”
He smirked. “Well, I mean, it’s an old wives’ tale? How often do those actually work?”
“Mm-hmm,” Marinette said, listening.
“And I really just wanted to spend a night with you.”
“There we go,” she said, her grin widening.
“I wasn’t exactly hearing you object.”
Well, when her husband made love to her like that, of course not.
As time went on, her contractions getting closer together and steadily growing more intense, Marinette was pacing the house, just like her mother told her to do.
“It helps open your hips, dear,” she had explained. “Easing the pain and speeding up labor.”
Hence why she was currently wearing a rut into the floor.
And Adrien was not helping.
“Are we sure this is the best decision? Having the baby at home?”
Marinette sighed. “We talked about this, Adrien,” she said. “No cesarean.”
“We both agreed to that.”
“But my family—”
“But are they sure?”
“Nathalie,” Marinette interrupted, “did research, and gave you a handful of statistics that agreed with my family.”
“But—”
“Adrien,” Marinette cut in, only to be interrupted by a contraction that forced her to pause and lean with one hand against the wall.
Adrien was next to her in a heartbeat, only for her to stop him with a hand squarely against his chest. Only once the contraction passed did she look back up at him. “Give Rose a call,” Marinette finished. “And she’ll come right over and help me deliver my baby here. I will be fine.”
Adrien sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” Marinette said. “Just trust me a little, here.”
“I do,” Adrien said, standing back as Marinette took up pacing the living room again. “I just care for you and the baby.”
“I know you do,” she said. “But this is what we’re doing and no arguing with the laboring pregnant woman.”
He cracked a smile. “Understood.” He then reached for his phone to give Rose a call.
Bless her heart, Rose normally didn’t stay in France this long, but the moment Marinette had called her and told her old school friend she had remarried and was in the family way, Rose had lost it.
“You went and got married when I wasn’t in the country, and as my friend, you will not go behind my back and have anyone else deliver that baby, am I perfectly clear?”
With a laugh, Marinette agreed. After all, Rose was a registered nurse as well as a mid-wife who spent her time in third world countries providing all sorts of medical assistance. And with as many babies as Rose had helped deliver, Marinette trusted Rose to help her through her own delivery.
Within twenty minutes, when the contractions had grown steadily worse to the point Marinette was barely able to keep walking, Rose had arrived.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Fine, I think?” Marinette said.
“Where are you at pain-wise and how far apart at the contractions?’
“About four minutes, steadily,” Adrien answered.
“And they just got way worse,” she gritted out, leaning against the wall as another contraction hit her.
Rose nodded. “Hot water is amazing for this.”
“Great. Bath. Okay.” Marinette grunted.
So Adrien ran up to start a bath before Rose coaxed Marinette up the stairs. The other wonderful thing about Rose, Marinette soon realized, was that Marinette was comfortable enough to strip down in front of her old friend and allow her to look, well, down there to bring the baby into the world. That was one of the many points her family gave her to help relieve stress and keep relaxed: having as few people around her as possible as well as only people she trusted.
A few hours later, Marinette was on all fours on her bed, crying out as Hugo made his way into the world.
And then there was cry that she vaguely realized wasn’t hers. Adrien put his hands on her shoulders as she panted to catch her breath. “You did it.”
The next thing she knew, she was holding her baby and smiling because this was her baby that was still connected to her and it was odd yet so magically amazing she didn’t know how to process it all. So she didn’t. She lay on her bed, her baby in her arms, and cried over the fact she had a child and he was absolutely perfect.
…
“Rose,” Adrien said, slipping from the room to show her out. Marinette was fast asleep with the baby next to her on the bed, swaddled in one of the many baby blankets she had made for him. “Thank you so much for everything.”
“Of course,” Rose said quietly, smile taking up half her face. “I’m so sad I didn’t get the chance to make it to your wedding, or that I was even be close enough to receive an invitation. But when she told me she was pregnant and thinking about having it at home, I just had to be here! Marinette is one of the greatest, sweetest, most amazing people I’ve ever met, and she always makes quilts for my charity drives and always supported me, and I’m so happy to have met you and help deliver Hugo. Oh, she’s been wanting to have a Hugo since our school days, and I’m so happy for her.”
Adrien chuckled. Marinette had warned him that Rose was literally the sweetest, bubbliest person he would ever meet in his life, and she was right. “Thank you again for being here.”
“Of course!” Rose chirped. “Now, I’ll head out so you can go be with your baby and call the family and tell them the great news, okay?”
With one last wave and ‘thank you’, Adrien showed Rose out.
“Text me pictures!” she said on her way to her taxi. “I want to see the big sister and little brother together, okay?”
“I promise.”
With one last frantic wave good-bye, Rose got into the taxi and drove off.
And Adrien hustled back upstairs into the bedroom.
Marinette was fast asleep, exhausted from laboring while little Hugo, his newborn son, slept swaddled on the bed next to her. He resisted the urge to pick him up his baby boy and hold him close, though only for a moment. He had two sets of grandparents as well as an aunt and uncle to inform about the newest addition to their family.
Once that was done, Adrien scooped Hugo up into his arms and sat down in the rocking chair. Hugo fussed only a second before settling right back down into sleep. Adrien’s smile split his face as his eyes grew misty. Here was his little boy, perfectly healthy and happy, and Marinette was doing just fine. It really took a weight off his heart.
His phone buzzed with replies, demanding to know how it all went and where pictures were and when they could all come over to see the baby.
So, he sent out a single reply asking for a little time for Marinette to rest and recoup, and once she woke up, he’d invite them over.
Sabine was the first to text back, saying that it was a good idea for the new mother to get a little rest while Alya sent back about ten different pouting faces before admitting he may be right. His father sent back a text saying Emma was excited that the baby was finally here and that she was ready to meet her new brother.
Adrien couldn’t help but grin as he set his phone down.
“You’re quite the stir, little buddy,” he whispered to his precious, sleeping baby boy. “Everyone can’t wait to meet you.”
…
Marinette was so thankful Adrien let her sleep before inviting the family over to see the baby. It wasn’t a surprise that Gabriel, Nathalie, and Emma were the first ones over. Adrien led them all up to her, Emma walking closely beside her dad as he walked into the room. She sided up right next to the bed, staring at her mom and new brother before Marinette invited Emma up to sit beside her.
Carefully, Emma crawled on the bed beside her and stared at the bundle in Marinette’s arms. With a smile, Marinette pushed the blankets away from Hugo’s chubby little face, eliciting a gasp from Emma. “Meet your new little brother, Emma,” she quietly spoke.
Emma just stared, her eyes wide and full of wonder. Her mouth was open, completing her awestruck expression. She shifted closer to Marinette to get a better view.
Marinette looked past Emma to see Gabriel and Nathalie standing there with fond looks of their own. Gabriel glanced over at Adrien before placing a hand on his shoulder.
Adrien could only smile.
Emma shifted again, trying to look closer at Hugo, her eyes still wide but her mouth now closed.
“Do you want to hold him, Emma?”
She froze, looking up at Marinette before she nodded.
“Sit down beside me.”
Emma did as told, sitting down and holding her arms outstretched. Carefully, Marinette placed Hugo in his sister’s arms. And she positively lit up.
Adrien immediately started taking pictures, Emma being all smiles and Marinette as proud as a mother could be. All lingering doubt about how Emma would react to Hugo completely faded away as the six-year-old held her new baby brother.
Marinette’s parents were the next ones to show up, and just as Marinette thought they would, they immediately started cooing over their first official grandchild. Marinette told Emma to let Mimi hold Hugo, and with great reluctance, Emma gave him up.
Gabriel congratulated Tom and Sabine on their first grandchild, to which they beamed and thanked him before going back to cooing over Hugo.
Alya and Nino were the last two to show up. Alya had a work day to finish up, after all, and there was no way that Nino could come without her and still be a married—or living—man.
Finally, once everyone had a chance to hold the baby and have their picture taken, they began filing out to give the family downtime. Which Marinette appreciated considering she felt exhausted all over again.
“I’ll send everyone the photos,” Alya promised, her camera hanging on her neck. “They’ll be great, I’m sure.”
“Without a doubt, Alya. Thank you,” Adrien said.
“It’s getting late,” she commented, “and I’m sure you’re hungry. Do you want me to go pick up Mimi’s for all of you?”
At the mention of food, Marinette perked up. “Please?”
Alya grinned. “I go you. Just as long as you promise to return the favor.” With that, she patted her tummy.
Marinette grinned. She still couldn’t forget the day Alya had nearly tackled her in a hug squealing how she was pregnant and excited because their babies were going to be close in age and how adorable was that? “I will absolutely get you anything you want. Cross my heart.”
“What is it?” Emma asked.
Adrien chuckled and looked down to Emma. “You’re going to have a cousin very soon, too. Just like Mommy had a baby in her tummy, Auntie Alya has one in hers.”
Emma gasped before running up to Alya and pressing her hands over her tummy. “Don’t worry, Baby,” she said. “Auntie Alya will keep you safe.”
Alya looked over at Adrien with a heartfelt smile. “Should I tell her there are actually two of them?”
…
Hugo was six-months at Christmas. Marinette had told Adrien her hesitations, specifically that Hugo was too young and that they were looking to move soon, but Adrien was convinced Hugo was plenty old enough and that moving wouldn’t matter so why not now for Christmas.
Marinette was not convinced.
So Adrien sat down and wrote a contract, being sure to include two very important lines that basically summed up to “Mom will not have to deal with cat litter.”
For good measure, he laid on the kitty-cat eyes before pulling his trump card.
“It’s for the kids.”
Exasperated, Marinette relented.
Since it wasn’t exactly something they could wrap up, Adrien printed off a picture before folding the paper and placing it in a large box. Marinette thought it was genius.
Come Christmas, everyone gathered at Adrien and Marinette’s. It was the second time they had a large Christmas together, and Adrien still couldn’t quite get over just how wonderful it was to have everyone around the tree, talking and laughing and being merry.
Presents were passed around and opened and talked about and adored. And then Emma finally got to open the big box that said ‘Open Last’ on the top.
Her entire expression fell when she saw just how empty it was. And when she took out the paper, there were a couple laughs by Tom and Sabine as well as inquisitive looks by Gabriel and Nathalie. However, that all changed in an instant when Emma opened the paper to reveal the picture.
“We’re getting a cat!”
Suddenly, there was a very happy, squealing, excited six-year-old, who was giving out hugs to the entire room. “I’m getting a cat! I’m getting a cat!”
It wasn’t for Christmas but well into January, once all the holiday cheer had worn off and people realized that Christmas kittens and puppies were far too much work and therefore packed them in a shelter, that the Agrestes found themselves looking at the cats for adoption. There was one that Emma found—large, black and fluffy—that she insisted was the best and was determined to get.
Adrien looked over the information, finding out that the kitty was good with kids having been with a family that had a baby. However, there was one little catch with the wonderful black cat named Felix.
“What?” Marinette asked, spying the look on Adrien’s face. So he walked over to show her the catch that Felix came with.
She looked at the line, then looked exasperatedly up back at her husband before looking over at Emma, who had her hand stuck through the cage to pet a clearly very tolerant Felix.
A shelter volunteer walking a hyper red and white spaniel came up to them. “Can I help you with anything?”
Hugo immediately started fussing, and for the first time, Adrien was worried that this may have not been the best idea.
“She’s friendly,” the worker assured, looking at the baby. “Very friendly.”
Adrien looked back over at Hugo to reassure him, only to see Hugo’s fussing was because he couldn’t reach the dog. Marinette knelt down so Hugo could reach the object he was grasping at. Upon touching the dog’s snout, he immediately became a smiley, giggly baby. And the dog just sat there, nuzzling Hugo’s hand and causing him to squeal happily.
Adrien grinned. “Actually, I just have a question. The black cat here, um… Felix. It says he’s bonded with a dog, Bridgette?”
The worker smiled and pointed down at the spaniel that was happily basking in the affection of Marinette and Hugo. “Bridgette.”
Adrien looked down at Marinette, who glanced up at him. “Well,” he said to her, smiling all the while. “You told me you wanted a dog.”
She sighed, though she was still petting the pooch that had made a home for itself against Marinette’s side while Hugo happily patted the dog’s nose. “I guess I did.”
So, half an hour later, there were not one but two new members to the Agreste family.
When everyone was happily strapped into the back seat, Adrien and Marinette slid into the front.
“You know what this means, right?”
Adrien looked over at Marinette with a quirked brow.
She sighed, looking back at Bridgette who watched over a giggly Hugo while Emma snuggled Felix. “We’re going to need a bigger house,” she said. “Because I feel like we just officially outgrew ours.”
Adrien glanced behind him to take in his whole family before turning back to Marinette. “Then I think it’s high time we start seriously searching.”
…
“I’m going to miss this place,” Marinette said as she looked over the house that was full of boxes.
“So am I,” he said. “But the new place is perfect. It’s going to be the place we, together, raise our family in. But most importantly, it really is ours. One we picked together.”
Marinette smiled up at him. “True,” she said, wrapping her arms around his torso in a hug. “Very true.”
Adrien smiled and held her close against him. “Are you going to miss the kitchen, though?”
Marinette looked behind her at the kitchen. “Yeah,” she said. “I’ll never forget the day I walked in and saw this.”
Adrien gave her a squeeze. “We can remodel.”
“What’s the point?” she said. “The kitchen is really nice there, too. And it’s not one that Nathaniel made himself. But you know, that’s okay.” She turned back to him, looking him in the eyes. “This is the new chapter. This is our new adventure. And I’m really excited for it.”
…
The movers came the next day to pack up the entire house into the moving truck. Once that was finished, Adrien packed his family into the car. “Two kids, cat, dog, and wife. Yup, everyone’s accounted for,” he joked. Marinette smacked his shoulder but didn’t bother hiding her smile.
They drove over to the new house and unloaded everyone. Bridgette and Emma immediately ran into the backyard to play fetch with Bridgette’s favorite squeaky donut toy. Marinette took Hugo inside in his car seat while Adrien grabbed Felix’s crate, carrying it into the bathroom where the litterbox would go. He shut the door, let a grumpy Felix out of his crate, and set up a brand new litterbox. “You stay here,” he said to the cat, patting its head. “No need for you trying to make a jail break when the movers are here.”
Felix mewed pitifully while swishing his tail, but Adrien knew Felix would be fine.
Adrien exited the bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind him before Felix could slip out, and immediately found Marinette staring frozen at the kitchen.
He grinned and marched up to her side to look at the kitchen he secretly had renovated to resemble theirs. “Do you like it?” he whispered. “I know you said we didn’t—”
She kissed him, yanking him down by the shirt and firmly pressing her lips against his in something long and fiery. “Shut up,” she said once she pulled away, only to dive right back into kissing him again.
Adrien was more than happy to oblige.
…
Once the movers had come and gone, Felix had been released from the bathroom, and the food that went in the refrigerator was unpacked, Marinette decided to make lunch for everyone. Sandwiches were probably the easiest thing to do, and they could sit outside on their new patio with the new outdoor furniture that she and Adrien had picked out.
Marinette laid out all the things for sandwiches, turning away for a second to grab the paper plates. When she returned, Felix was on the counter, head over the cheese. “Felix!” she shouted, tsking the cat for being on the counter. Before he leapt off, he snagged a piece of cheese and bolted off into the house who-knew-where.
Marinette sighed. One would think that she would have learned by now that Felix had a dairy obsession. Apparently not, considering she left cheese up on the counter in full view.
She returned to making the sandwiches, only to get one finished before a jingle called her attention. She looked down to see Bridgette looking up at her, her tail wagging against the ground and her expression saying “See? I’m a good girl. Do I get a snack, too?”
“Fine,” she said, taking a piece of ham and giving it to Bridgette.
The spaniel carefully took the ham from Marinette and waited until her owner let go before running off into the yard to wave around her treat.
“See,” Adrien said, coming up behind her. “You chase away Felix, but you give Bridgette the ham. What’s wrong with this picture?”
“Your cat’s a pain in the butt and my dog is an angel.”
Adrien snorted a laugh, and Marinette couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
“Sure,” he said, filling up several water glasses to take outside. “I’ll believe that when you take the cat bed off your sewing desk.”
…
New Year’s Eve in the new house, and Marinette and Adrien couldn’t help but want to have a little party since they couldn’t find a babysitter to watch the kids so they could go to Alya’s New Year’s Bash. Gabriel and Nathalie were at a fancy New Year’s event somewhere in England while Tom and Sabine were visiting friends. They would have dropped the event to babysit, hence why Marinette was certain not to ask. Neither she nor Adrien wanted to ruin their plans.
So, they just made plans of their own.
“Kids are in bed,” Marinette said, holding a bag with take-out containers of Chinese as she slipped into their bedroom.
“Console is set up,” Adrien said, holding up the controllers.
“Something we’re both good at?”
“Winner gets to love loser into the new year.”
Marinette smiled. “Better get ready, because you’re going down.”
He waggled his brows. “Sorry, you’re not going to come out on top this time.”
She snorted. They were so gross.
She loved it.
They dug into the take-out, each having their own container of broccoli beef as well as chow mein.
“When was the last time we had cheap chinese food?” Adrien asked.
Marinette frowned. “Um…old house. We kinda switched to wine and popcorn. Or chocolate.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I missed this. Reminds me of our first time playing video games together.”
Marinette smiled in fondness. “That was fun,” she said. “I like our tradition.”
His smile turned sweetly sincere. “So do I. And not even for the afterward. Just… this.”
“Us?” Marinette offered.
Adrien nodded. “Yeah.”
“I think that’s why there is an afterward.”
He snorted a laugh. “Probably. That, and we still need one more child.”
He was teasing, but Marinette wasn’t. “No, we don’t.”
Adrien’s brow furrowed.
She grinned. “Why do you think there’s no wine tonight?”
Adrien’s eyes widened, and he nearly dropped his take-out on the floor. Thankfully, Marinette took that as her cue to set down her take-out before Adrien tackled her with it in hand. He started peppering her face in kisses, causing her to giggle.
“Are we even going to wait to the new year or no?” she teased.
Adrien paused his ministrations to ponder this. Rather, pretend to ponder. Marinette knew her husband well.
“Why not both?”
Marinette just shook her head. “Food is going to get cold.”
With a lopsided grin that drove her heart crazy, he shrugged. “Whatever.”
My fourth submission for @miraculousfluffmonth. It’s still August, okay?
Prompt: Bubblebath, Word count: 1,150
Adrien was already frazzled, and this only made matters worse, though Hugo looked remarkably calm about the whole situation.
It had only been eight days since Hugo had been born. Eight days since Adrien had acquired the title of "daddy." Eight solid days of learning over and over how woefully inadequate he was.
Marinette was upstairs taking a nap. Hugo had kept her up almost the entire night, and she'd stubbornly let Adrien sleep through the whole thing. ("You didn't wake up when he fussed, so I figured you needed the rest.")
She'd only been upstairs for 15 minutes when it happened: Hugo spit up all over himself, soaking his shirt, all the way down to his onsie underneath. Adrien peeled back the sticky layers of clothing while Hugo serenely studied the room around him, not concerned in the slightest.
"How big is your stomach, anyway?" Adrien asked him. "It's everywhere!" He bunched up the clothes and tickled Hugo's belly, only to draw back his fingers immediately. It had soaked all the way through two layers, and Hugo's skin was a slick with a thin film of the... stuff. He was going to need a bath, and Adrien started to panic.
Sabine had been by last week to show Marinette how to bathe a baby, but Adrien hadn't been there. Marinette said she would show him later, but she hadn't gotten the chance yet. He should go get her...
Well, she should have gotten him up last night. This would be payback. (And the sweetest revenge he'd ever dished out.) Really, how hard could it be to give a baby a bath? It wasn't like he could splash around and make a mess yet.
"Okay, Hugo," he said, cradling him in one arm and walking over to the kitchen. "Let's do this."
He placed the bright green baby bather seat in the sink and started the water. He immediately ran into a problem. Soap. How much should he put in? He looked down at the sheen of spit-up on Hugo's chest and figured more was probably better, so he added in several generous squirts of liquid and finished removing Hugo's clothing.
The soap was only the first thing to go wrong that bath. He'd added far too much, and suds piled around the bather chair and up and out the edges of the sink, though Hugo didn't seem to notice them as Adrien laid him down in the seat. But he did notice the water and started to squirm uncomfortably. Was it too hot? Too cold? Did some of the soap get in his eyes? Did all babies just hate water?
Adrien tried to hurry, but Hugo started to cry before the first minute was up. "No," he begged. "Shh. Don't wake your mother." He looked around for a pacifier. He knew there was one by the crib, but he couldn't leave Hugo in the sink alone. He settled for sweet words and funny faces, which did nothing to soothe the cranky baby.
Adrien reached for the plug a minute later and tried to will his anxiety to swirl down the drain with the soapy water. That was done, he told himself, and he hadn't needed help after all. With the water gone, Hugo even stopped fussing. He reached for his son, making sure to support his head and neck, like he'd been told. See? Nothing to worry about.
He scooped and lifted and had a moment of panic when Hugo started to slip in his hands. Adrien yelped and clutched Hugo close to him, staying still for a few seconds to make sure it wouldn't happen again, and to let his heart rate return to normal.
Hugo hadn't minded the sudden movement. He hadn't made a sound. Adrien reached for the towel, only to realize he'd forgotten to grab one, and his son was starting to shiver.
"Why am I so awful at this?" Adrien shouted. And that did make Hugo cry. "Sorry, I'm sorry," Adrien said quickly, "Shh." Water started to seep through his shirt. He needed to dry his baby off. He could feel terrible about his sub-par parenting skills later.
One fluffy towel and new set of clothes later, Hugo was quiet and looking tired. Adrien held him, wondering if he could be trusted to put together a bottle for his child. He wasn't sure. He delayed the decision, rocking from side to side while Hugo yawned in his arms. When he looked down again, the baby was asleep.
He trusts me, Adrien realized. That was a terrifying thought. He padded through the house and nudged his bedroom door open with his toes, slipping in quietly and laying Hugo down so he wouldn't wake up Marinette.
"Hey," Marinette whispered from behind him. "Thanks." She hadn't moved from her spot on the bed, but her eyes were open and she was smiling at him.
He couldn't smile back. "Why didn't anyone ever tell me that wet babies are slippery?"
Marinette patted the spot next to her. "You gave him a bath?"
He laid down and threw an arm over his face, so she couldn't see how stressed he was. "He fell asleep right after I dried him off. It was scary."
"A sleeping baby scares the great Cat Noir, huh? Those are formidable foes, though personally, I'm more afraid when he's crying and I don't know why." He wasn't going to be cheered up so easily, and she caught onto his mood after a few seconds of silence. "Adrien? You okay?" She scooted closer to him and lifted his arm away from his face.
"He trusts me," he said. "And it's so misplaced. I couldn't give him a simple bath without it turning into a catastrophe."
She hummed, thoughtful. "You missed a perfectly good cat pun," she said, brushing a few strands of hair out of his eyes. He tried and failed to take comfort from the familiar gesture.
"Sorry to disappoint," he said. "I know how much you love them."
Marinette settled next to him, laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping an arm around his chest. "I called my mother nine times yesterday."
"What? Why?"
"Because I don't know what I'm doing either. She says feeling overwhelmed like this is normal. You got him to sleep, though. That's good." She nuzzled closer to him, but didn't say anything else. Soon, Adrien was the only one left awake.
Feeling like this was normal? Even Marinette thought she was a bad parent? But she was so good with him.
Adrien got up slowly, so he wouldn't wake his wife, and went to stand next to the crib. His son trusted him, which meant that, so far, he'd always felt safe in his father's care. He reached down and kissed the baby's forehead and reached for Hugo's tiny fingers, which wrapped tightly around his.
Red was her color. He swore she stole the breath straight from his lungs every time she answered the door dressed in a red blouse or red skirt or red dress. This time was no exception in an adorable blouse and pencil skirt that was enhanced by a thick belt showing off her thin waist. There had to be at least three different reds in that little number plus the red ribbons falling from her half-updo.
“You are going to kill me,” he said, his voice a bit breathy.
She snorted. “Flatterer.”
“I’m dead serious,” he swore. “You look absolutely adorable, and I all I want to do tonight is show you off. Because there have to be very few men in the world who get to parade around with a woman as stunning you.”
Her cheeks turned yet another shade of red. But his were burning, too, so she wasn’t alone. “I’m serious,” he repeated.
She bit her red lip—honestly, how many shades of red could this woman be wearing yet still look completely put together—and looked up at him with brilliantly blue eyes shadowed by a thick curtain of long lashes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “That’s very sweet.”
He held his hand out for her to take, then led her down the stairs to his car.
“Where are we going tonight?” She asked. “You never told me.”
“A place I don’t go often, yet very much enjoy.”
She quirked a brow at him. “That doesn’t narrow it down.”
“Well, maybe I want it to be a surprise.”
Her smile grew and her eyes sparkled with playfulness. “All right.”
He started the car and braced for her new favorite habit: resting her hand on his knee. Tonight was no exception. Her hand found his knee within moments of him pulling out of the parking space.
When he got to a stoplight, he plucked her hand from his leg, holding in gently in his own. “You love distracting me, don’t you?”
She cocked her head in feigned innocence. “I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”
He smirked and shook his head at her. Her smile widened. He pressed a lingering kiss to her knuckles before placing her hand back in her own lap.
She hit him with a flirty smirk that would have knocked him off his feet had he been standing, and then she tapped his nose in a way that completely stopped his heart. “Green light.”
For what? He then turned to look at the light, only to see it shining bright green to go. He put his foot to the gas all while his cheeks were burning.
Her hand found his knee again and squeezed. He sighed. She chuckled.
No matter how much she tormented him, he loved that woman.
He parked the car in the street, then walked hand in hand with Marinette to the restaurant he had planned taking her to.
She gasped. “There’s, like, a month-long waitlist for this place.”
“I know,” he said. “I’ve had this planned for at least that long.”
Her blue eyes were wide as she stared at him.
He smiled, pulling her hand up to his lips. “Only the best for my lady.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.
She then gave him the softest look he could imagine. “Thank you. It’s… wow.”
“That’s what I say every time I see you.”
He could tell a blush was crawling across her cheeks, and he took pride knowing that he was the one to do that to her.
Dinner was delicious. They decided to share their two entrees between them, as was slowly becoming their custom. He decided her entrée was the better dish, but she liked his choice better.
“We’re a pair, aren’t we?” he joked.
But her smile was sweet. She reached across the table to place a hand over his. “Yeah. I like us.”
He grinned so wide his cheeks hurt.
He reluctantly took her home. He never liked parting with her, and he hoped that sometime in the near future, he wouldn’t have to.
They got to the door, and Marinette herself looked like she didn’t even want to touch it.
“Marinette,” he said quietly, drawing her attention.
She leaned closer. “Hmm?”
“You should know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, “that I love you.”
The words clearly caught her off guard, but he felt those words were long overdue.
Slowly, her surprise morphed to something softer, sweeter, happier. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
His grin was wide and so happy. He was so happy. He wasted no time laying a kiss on her lips.
She was quick to join him, reaching up to wrap her arms over his neck and grab his hair to pull him closer, closer, closer until she was practically flush against him and their lips were firmly locked.
Four, five, six kisses later, Adrien pulled away to press his forehead to hers. “I love you,” he repeated.
“I love you, too.”
He squeezed her tightly, a smile splitting his face in two. “I don’t want to let you go. Ever.”
“I know,” she agreed. “I don’t either.”
He gave her one last squeeze, then placed a firm kiss to her forehead before forcing himself to let her go.
She pouted as he backed away, yet she still pulled her keys from her purse to unlock the door. “Goodnight,” she said.
“Goodnight.”
“Text me.”
“I promise.”
She smiled, then walked inside, officially ending their time together.
Until tomorrow.
…
“What’s wrong?”
Marinette jumped from her skin. She whipped around to see Adrien directly behind her.
“You practically slammed that oven door,” he commented. “And have been storming around the kitchen since I got home. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she dismissed.
He scoffed. “Yeah, I believe that.”
“Really,” she countered. “Nothing. Just… nothing.”
Adrien boxed her in against the counter. “Marinette,” he said. “Please don’t lie to me.”
She shrugged. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”
“If it’s bothering you, of course I need to concern myself with it.”
The sincerity in his voice surprised her.
“What’s wrong?”
She sighed. She couldn’t counter him. “I’m just worried about crossing paths with Sabrina tonight. That’s all.”
“You don’t have to be here,” he said.
No, she didn’t. He’d told her many times throughout the week that she didn’t have to stay for dinner. That she could just take a portion of dinner for the night and be on her way before Sabrina came. Yet, it didn’t feel right to leave. “I’m staying,” she quietly said.
“Okay,” he said. “I would like if you did.”
“You always like when I do.”
“I do.”
How his forehead found way to hers, she didn’t know, nor did she know how her hands found themselves on his shoulders. Probably the same way his hands found their way to her hips.
“I should finish dinner,” she whispered.
“Okay,” he said. He leaned forward to place a peck on her lips. “Thank you, Marinette. I very much appreciate that you made dinner tonight and that I’m very proud of you for staying.”
She smiled.
He pulled away to let her finish dinner. She was far more relaxed, happily making her way around the kitchen to finish preparing dinner while simultaneously cleaning up, but a knock on the door sent Marinette on edge again.
No matter how hard she tried, she really didn’t feel prepared to see Sabrina again.
And when she turned around to greet her, she knew she wasn’t prepared, but it was too late to back out.
“Hi,” Sabrina said, her tone betraying just how uncomfortable she was, as well.
“Hi,” Marinette said, giving an awkward wave.
“I haven’t seen you since we graduated. How’ve you been? I mean, besides um…” she quickly grew abashed. “I heard of that… I’m sorry.”
Thankfully, Emma came scampering down the stairs. “Marinette, look—” She instantly froze in place upon seeing Sabrina.
“Emma,” Adrien said, kneeling down next to her. “This is Miss Sabrina. She knew you when you were really little.”
“Hi Emma,” Sabrina said, bending over. “It’s very nice to see you. You’ve grown up so much.”
Emma just waved, then scampered over to Marinette and hid in her skirt.
Marinette’s heart swelled. She placed a comforting hand on Emma’s head.
Dinner itself was a little awkward. Emma stayed close to Marinette while Adrien and Sabrina tried to keep conversation going. Marinette did her best to be mature and add to the conversation, but it wasn’t easy. Emma herself was very quiet, only speaking when spoken to. It was clear she was uncomfortable. She didn’t open up like she had when talking to Marinette’s parents for the first time, but at least, she was polite.
After dinner, Emma quickly retreated to her room.
“I’m going to check up on her,” Adrien said. “I’ll be right back.”
Leaving Sabrina and Marinette alone.
“I’m sorry.”
Sabrina’s words caught Marinette off guard. “Pardon.”
“Chloe and I were so horrible for you for no reason,” she said. “And I’m so sorry for being so mean to you.”
Marinette blinked, absorbing her words. “Thank you,” she said.
Sabrina gave her a small smile and nodded. “It’s long overdue.”
“I forgive you,” she said. “Nathaniel forgave you and Chloe a while ago. Without him, I don’t think I would have let it go as quickly as I did.”
“Thanks,” Sabrina said.
A small silence slipped between them, but it wasn’t as tense before.
“I’m glad you’re here for them,” Sabrina started. “For Adrien and Emma.”
“I’m happy to be here for them, too,” Marinette said.
“Adrien says you two are dating.”
Marinette paused, but she couldn’t disagree. “Yeah. We are.”
“He seems really happy about it.”
“I am, too,” Marinette said. “It’s… hard learning how to do this again, you know?”
“I’m sure,” she said.
“But it’s… it’s good.”
“Good,” Sabrina said. “Emma seems to really like you, too.”
Marinette’s heart warmed. “Yeah,” she said, almost dream-like. “She’s so precious. I was so hesitant to take on Chloe’s daughter, but… Emma is the best. I love her.”
Sabrina’s smile grew. “I’m sure Emma’s name isn’t lost on you.”
“It’s not,” Marinette said.
“Chloe was always jealous of you,” Sabrina said. “She always wondered how you could be so happy and wanted whatever you had that made you that way. I’m not saying that’s an excuse to why she treated you the way she did, but I’m saying that’s why.”
Marinette paused upon realizing her words. “What?”
Sabrina nodded. “Yeah. So when she overheard you telling someone one day what you wanted the names of your kids to be, she couldn’t help stealing one.”
Marinette completely froze as her mind slowly processed her words.
“Sorry,” Adrien said, reappearing in the kitchen. “Emma kinda hid herself away in her room.”
“That’s fine,” Sabrina said. “I understand. It was just so nice to see her again. She’s so much like Chloe, but I can see you in her, too.”
Adrien grinned, but Marinette saw how pained it was. “There are days I see nothing but Chloe in her and it kinda blows my mind.”
Sabrina nodded. “I think it’s time I took my leave,” she said. “Thank you so much for having me over. And thank you for dinner Marinette. It was delicious.”
“Thank you,” Marinette said. “It was nice to see you. And I’m not just saying that.”
Sabrina’s eyes brightened. “It was nice getting to see you, too.”
Adrien saw Sabrina out the door while Marinette began cleaning up. She had removed all the dishes from the table by the time Adrien returned. “That went very well,” he said.
“It did,” Marinette agreed. “Surprisingly.”
She could feel the smile Adrien was shooting her, and she pointedly avoided eye contact.
“I see what you’re doing,” he commented.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye, and she saw just how big his smile was.
And that’s when he shifted, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and pressing his face into the side of her head. She giggled.
“I’ve got the dishes,” he said, pulling her away from the sink.
“Adrien,” she warned, though her smile was growing.
“Hmm?” he hummed innocently.
“Let me wash my hands at least.”
He froze, then released her. He didn’t hover far, though, ready to grab her and pull her away again.
“I have to do those at sometime, though.”
“They can wait until morning.”
She sighed.
And that’s when Emma came patting back down into the kitchen. They stole a quick glance at each other before turning down to Emma. “It’s almost bedtime,” Marinette said, kneeling down before her. “Meaning you are going to need a bath.”
“Do you want me or Marinette to help you?” Adrien asked.
Emma looked back and forth between Marinette and Adrien, her smile pressed into the back of Plagg’s head. “Marinette.”
“Okay,” Adrien said with a grin. “Marinette will give you a bath and then we can read a story afterwards.”
“Okay.” With that, she scampered up the stairs.
Adrien playfully tapped her hip. “Go on. I’ve got the dishes.”
She gave him a smile. “Fine. You win.”
He gave her a proud, winner’s grin that made her laugh.
After the bath, Emma settled on her daddy’s lap in the middle of her bed. But that was only after Marinette joined them.
Adrien read one chapter then Marinette read another. After that, the book was closed, much to Emma’s disappointment. Still, she crawled under the covers as Adrien placed Plagg and Tikki around her. “Goodnight, Emma,” he said, giving her a hug.
“Goodnight, Daddy.”
Then it was Marinette’s turn to collect her hug.
“Goodnight, Mommy.”
Marinette froze again. She struggled to find words. “Why do you think I’m mommy?”
“Because you’re just like mama bear in the book,” she said. “Daddy’s papa bear, and you’re mama bear, just like I’m little bear.”
Her heart felt like it was being yanked around inside her chest, and her smile was warbly. “I can’t be your mommy, Emma,” she started.
Emma’s excitement immediately disappeared.
“Because,” Adrien jumped in. “Mama bear is married to papa bear, but Marinette and I aren’t married, so she can’t be your mommy.”
“Why not?” she whined. “I want a mommy.”
Marinette’s heart was breaking into little, tiny shards at this point. “I’m sorry, Emma. I’m not your mommy.”
With a cry, Emma flopped down on the bed and buried her face into Plagg’s head. Adrien shushed her, and Marinette tucked her in.
“Mommy,” Emma cried.
If Marinette’s heart wasn’t shattered beyond repair beforehand, it was now. “Good night, sweetheart.”
“Mommy,” Emma whined one last time as Marinette forced herself out the door. She shut it, only to hear a new round of tears start up. Adrien was leaning against the wall, his eyes shut and head back. Marinette just stood guilty. Emma didn’t understand. She couldn’t. Yet Marinette felt like one of the mort horrible people to walk the face of the earth for doing this to her.
“I think,” Adrien said, finally turning his head to look at her. “We need to talk.”
Marinette simply nodded her agreement. She followed Adrien down to the living room. She took a seat on the couch, him following suit. They need to have a heart-to-heart, only neither knew what to say.
“I didn’t want to have to make this decision right now,” Adrien finally said, “for your sake. But I know Emma, and she’s not going to stop calling you mom so easily. And I… I’m sorry, but I can’t let her believe you’re mom if…”
“I know,” Marinette assured. He didn’t need to finish. “She’s not even five, yet. She doesn’t understand. Nor will she understand if I become her mom figure and then…” She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t finish that sentence.
But Adrien nodded in understanding. He reached out and grabbed her hand. “So here are my cards on the table,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze and looking her straight into the eye. “I’m not dating you just for the sake of dating. I’m absolutely pursuing you with the intent of marrying you.”
Somehow, those words sent her heart thundering in her ears. She swallowed hard as her vision grew blurry. Wedding. Marriage. A life with him.
A new last name.
Her chest felt tighter by the moment, and she couldn’t tell if it was fear or excitement or some other emotion or some insane mix of all the above. She just didn’t know.
“I know what we have is… well, not quite new,” he said. “But it is fragile, and I know we are taking it slow because you’re still in the healing process, and I fully respect that. But…” Adrien sighed. “I don’t know how to approach this.”
“I know what you’re saying,” she said, her voice weak and whispery. “I understand and agree and…” she swallowed. “I know that Emma comes first,” she said. “I know that Emma doesn’t understand. But I know… I know I either need to be mom or I need to walk out of her life right now. I won’t get that girl’s hopes up, only to crush them in the end.”
They sat in a long silence, the reality of it very heavy. Marinette felt as though the world was on her shoulders because this wasn’t only just deciding if she wanted to be a mommy to Emma. This was them deciding where their relationship was going to go. Marinette felt like it was still too early to call it, but sadly, this was the definitive line. And it was all on her shoulders. Adrien had made his intentions perfectly clear. Now, it was her turn.
“You at least have the weekend,” Adrien said, his voice quiet. “Think it over.”
“I’ll try not to keep you waiting,” she said.
“I appreciate it.”
…
Sleep didn’t help. In all honestly, she felt like she’d been hit with a sack of bricks when she woke. The world was on her shoulders, and she’d cried herself dry last night.
She forced herself up and barely made it to her desk.
Where Nathaniel’s ring lay.
The sight was nearly enough to make her break into tears again.
She’d spent a good portion of the night awake. Wide awake, her body jacked on adrenaline and anxiety and excitement and who knows what else. One moment, she felt like she could move forward, the next she was reminded that moving forward meant Adrien would be her second husband, which felt like replacing her first husband, and she really hated how cheap it made the term ‘husband’ sound when Nathaniel had been so much more than something she was just shopping for or trying to replace and—
She reached for a tissue and immediately broke into tears.
She didn’t know what to do. There was a little girl who loved her enough to call her mommy and a man who treated her like a queen and she was held back by a man who had adored her but was no longer in her life.
The grief books didn’t offer any help to what one was supposed to do in this situation.
She didn’t make it downstairs until well into the morning.
“I was wondering when you’d be up,” her mother said. “It isn’t like you to slee—what’s wrong?”
Marinette plopped down at the table, a pitiful smile flashing across her face. Nothing escaped her mother’s notice. “Emma called me mommy last night,” she whispered weakly.
Her maman paused, then slowly came over to take a seat at the table. “And?”
Marinette bit her lip.
Maman place a hand over her daughter’s arm in comfort.
“I can’t be her mommy,” Marinette began, her voice warbling with tears, “unless I marry her daddy. And… I’m not…”
Before she could burst into tears, Sabine stood to wrap her daughter in a hug. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“I just… I don’t know,” she cried. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
The tears now flowed freely. Sabine didn’t let Marinette go until the tears finally began to slow.
Eventually, Marinette calmed enough for Sabine to let go. “I only have the weekend,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I have to decide because I’m not going to go back if I’m not going to be Emma’s mommy because I just can’t do that to her.”
“Marinette,” her mother warned. “It’s too late. You are Emma’s mommy in her eyes. You leaving is still going to hurt her. It just won’t allow her to grow any more attached.”
Marinette felt absolutely sick to her stomach. “I… I never thought…”
“You’d become her mommy?”
“Yeah.”
Sabine patted her arm. “I knew you’d become close to her,” Sabine said. “When you started this job, I knew you’d be a fantastic nanny. But as time went on, I noticed how attached you got to her, and from your stories, I could tell she was getting attached to you, too. And then you finally brought her over for the Christmas party, and I saw the way she interacted with you. She looked up to you like you were her mom already.”
“I love her,” Marinette admitted. “She’s… she’s so precious and I love watching her learn and grow and going on adventures together—”
“You love being her mother.”
Her words gave Marinette pause, but she couldn’t deny them. “Exactly.”
Her mother gave her a knowing smile. “Then that’s not really what this is about, is it?” her mother pressed. “This is about your relationship with Adrien.”
Marinette bit her lip. “He said he wants to marry me,” she told her. “And somewhere in my mind, I knew that.”
“But Nathaniel,” her maman finished.
Marinette nodded.
“Marinette,” she began. “You know that you two don’t have to get married right away like you and Nathaniel did. For now, you are slowly taking in the fact you are in a relationship, and you’re letting that relationship bloom. And that’s okay. The question shouldn’t be ‘are you ready to marry him’ but instead ‘can you see yourself marrying him’? Can you see a life and a future ahead? That’s the question you should ask yourself and answer.” With that, Maman stood and pressed a kiss to the top of Marinette’s head. “And when you answer that, then you’ll know what to do.”
Her maman was halfway out of the apartment when Marinette spoke up. “But what if Adrien and I don’t work? What if we break up down the line.”
Sabine turned to give Marinette a doubtful look. “I seem to remember a young bride on her wedding day who was breathing into a paper bag, terrified that she was too young to be married and wondered if her marriage would last.”
Marinette blushed bright red.
“You know what makes me so certain you two aren’t going to break up?”
Marinette shook her head.
“The fact that you already are a family.” With that, Sabine walked out the door.
Leaving Marinette to think heavily about her words.
“Adrien, hunny, calm down and take a breath,” Alya said over the phone. “What do you need help with?”
“I just asked Marinette on a date.”
He’d just asked Marinette on a date. He’d just asked Marinette on a date.
He grabbed a handful of hair because he did not know how to process this and he felt like he just might explode any second.
“Say what?” Alya screeched in the phone.
“I just asked Marinette on a date.” No matter how many times he said it, it was not getting any easier to absorb.
“And she said yes?”
“YES!” he cried. He was two steps from flying over the moon at this point. “She said yes. She said one date. Just one because she doesn’t know if she’s ready or—”
“Adrien,” she interrupted, halting his rant. “Calm down. Speak slower.”
Adrien took a handful of deep breaths but they didn’t feel like they helped. “She said yes, but she also doesn’t know if she’s ready.”
Alya snorted. “Oh, hunny, she’s ready. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
Adrien’s brow furrowed. “What? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Of course, it does,” Alya argued. “You have to understand Marinette was unwaveringly loyal to Nathaniel. She’s been his best friend, his girlfriend, and then his wife. That’s been her life for the past eleven-odd years. I think she just needs a little time to fully close that book, and a little more to realize that it’s okay to open a new one.”
Adrien paused as he absorbed her words. “So, you’re saying that… she’ll really be okay with this?”
“Just take it one date at a time, and I think you’ll be fine.”
Adrien took comfort in that. “Okay.”
“Okay. Are you going to be okay?”
“No,” he whined. “Because if the second date relies on the first date going well, then the first date has to be perfect and I don’t know how to do this.”
He could hear Alya sigh over the phone. “You are hopeless.”
…
Marinette zipped up her dress, one she wore far too little. She rarely attended any events fancy enough to justify taking it out of her closet, which was why she'd only worn it three times since its creation. Yet, she always liked this dress. Bright red sweetheart neckline underneath a layer of black lace that extended up to a high neck and down into long sleeves. It hugged her shape down her legs to end at her knee. While hardly a fancy evening gown, she always felt beautiful in this dress.
She bit her lip as she examined herself in her mirror. It was scary to think that she was going on a date. But she was going out with Adrien, and she always had a good time with him.
But she was still really nervous. Because for the first time in her life she was going on a date with someone who wasn’t Nathaniel.
A knock on her door nearly sent her leaping through the ceiling. “Come in.”
Her door opened to reveal her maman. Sabine smiled at her daughter through the mirror, then came up behind her to place comforting hands on Marinette’s arms. “You look beautiful.”
Marinette gave her a shaky grin. “Thank you, Maman.”
Her maman gave her arms a squeeze. “And Adrien’s going to think so, too.”
Marinette’s grin faltered.
“What’s wrong?”
She wrung her hands together and chewed her lower lip. She opened her mouth, only for a strangled sob to escape. Within seconds, she was crying into her mother’s shoulder.
“Oh, sweetheart,” her mother cooed, holding Marinette tight. “It’s okay.”
They stayed like that for a moment until Marinette was able to calm down. Her maman guided her over to her chaise lounge to sit down. “Now, what is it?”
“Nathaniel.”
Her mother cooed, pulling Marinette closer to rest her head on her shoulder. “It’s okay to miss him.”
“I… I know he’s gone, Maman,” Marinette said. “And… that it’s not okay, but it’s okay, you know?”
“You’ve accepted the fact, yes.”
“So… so it should be okay to go out with Adrien.”
“Yes,” her maman said. “It is perfectly okay to start a new relationship.”
“And I know that,” she sputtered, whipping her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“You’re overwhelmed,” her mother said.
Marinette nodded.
Her maman stroked her hair. “I understand. You’re starting something new even though you still love Nathaniel. And I don’t think you’ll ever stop loving him.”
“That’s what Adrien said,” she whispered.
Her maman grinned. “You see? He knows what you’re going through. So if you wanted to cancel the date—”
“No,” she said, raising her head to look at her mother. Though quiet, her voice held a surprising amount of force.
With a wide smile, Sabine took her daughter’s cheeks in her hands. “You are ready to this. Just take it one date at a time.” With that, she pulled her daughter forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Now, would you like to do your hair, or would you like me to?”
Marinette bit her lip in thought. “Would you?”
Her maman nodded. “Come on.”
Marinette sat down at her vanity and allowed her mother to style her hair into a half-updo. After her maman finished, Marinette reached for her necklace.
But she paused.
That was Nathaniel’s ring. Nathaniel’s charm. But it wasn’t Nathaniel she was going on a date with. Slowly, she pulled her hand back. Out of respect to Adrien and their date, she wouldn’t wear it. No matter how hard it was.
Marinette opened her drawer. The ladybug earrings stayed in her ears all the time, nowadays. She couldn’t bear to take them off, but tonight, the ladybug necklace would come out to join them. She’d worn it a few times, but never alone.
Her maman took it out of the box for her and draped it over Marinette’s neck. The weight settled right on her collarbone, and she tried hard to swallow the emotions that bubbled up. It was okay. There was nothing wrong with wearing the ladybug necklace instead of Nathaniel’s. This was okay. This was good.
It meant moving on.
It scared her a little more than she thought it would have.
“I’m so happy for you,” her maman said once she was finished. “I know you are going to go out and have a good time with someone I know you care about.”
Tears warbled in Marinette’s eyes. “Thank you, Maman.”
“Anything for you, my dear.” She pressed a kiss to Marinette’s hair, then took her leave.
Marinette sat and stared at herself in the mirror for what felt like the longest time. After taking a deep breath, she forced herself to head downstairs to where her parents were.
When she caught her papa’s eye, she smiled. He looked at her with sweet pride. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you dressed up and happy like this.”
“I was dressed up for the Christmas party,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but this… this you’re doing for you. You organized the party for Emma and everyone had a great time, but going out on a date is something for you. I like having my daughter back.”
Marinette grinned then dabbed at her eyes before the rapidly forming tears could run down and ruin her make-up.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Her papa stepped forward and wrapped her in a bear hug, and Marinette happily leaned into his embrace. “We’re really happy for you. We just want you to be happy, and you are.”
“I know you do,” Marinette said with a sniffle. “I know. Thank you for everything.”
“I’m your papa,” he said, pulling away and lifting her chin up so she’d meet his eyes. “That’s my job.”
At this rate, she was going to burst into tears no matter how much she willed them away.
“And mine,” her maman cut in, coming up to snag a hug from Marinette as well. “I’m glad to see you finding happiness again.”
Marinette squeezed her maman tightly because she was going to choke if she tried to say ‘thank you’.
A knock on the door interrupted the moment.
“I’m going to bet that’s Adrien,” her maman said with a wink. “Go answer the door.”
With a grin, Marinette dabbed her eyes one last time before answering the door to reveal Adrien, standing in all his suited, smiling glory complete with a halo of perfectly tamed golden hair.
“Wow,” he breathed, looking her up and down. “You look spectacular.”
Heat flooded her cheeks, but she grinned. “You look rather handsome yourself.”
His grin brightened, and he extended his hand for her to take. “Shall we?”
She placed her hand within his, taking comfort when he tightened his grasp. He gently pulled her over to his side, hooking her hand around his elbow before guiding her down to his awaiting car.
For the first time in a long time, she felt special. He treated her reverently, politely, like a classic gentleman would treat his lady. How he could make her feel like this just by opening a few doors or giving her a sweet smile, she didn’t know. But she loved it.
They ended up going to the same restaurant that they had spent their awkward friend-date in. It made her somewhat nostalgic to look back and realize how far they’d come.
And it was only their first date.
She was pretty sure they had the same waiter, too. The one who spent the night referring to them as a lovely couple and such. This time, she didn’t mind. She’s fairly certain she blushed every time, only for Adrien to make it worse when he encouraged the man with “I’m the luckiest man alive” and "isn't she the most beautiful woman in the world?"
Towards the end, she managed to throw in a "I'm the lucky one," and grinned when Adrien's cheeks tinted pink.
They finally did get to try the dessert that night. Marinette had admit that the cheesecake was phenomenal, even though her father’s would always come first.
When the night came to an end, Marinette found herself reluctant to go through her door. No matter how nervous she had been before the night began, she didn’t want to leave it now.
“You wore the ladybug necklace,” he noticed.
She reached up to touch it out of habit. “I did.”
“I was worried that you wouldn’t like wearing it because you always wore your other one.”
“I love it,” she assured. “Really, I do. It’s just…”
“I get it,” he said, giving her hands a squeeze. “That’s your ring.”
“Was my ring,” she said softly. “It was my ring.”
His eyes widened in surprise, then brightened when he smiled.
“One step at a time,” she whispered, hoping the emotion she felt bubbling inside her would stay down until she could get inside.
“I will gladly wait as many steps as you need,” he whispered back, his tone earnest. He took one of her hand in both of his, bowing over it to press a reverent kiss to her knuckles.
All air left her lungs at the action.
“I always enjoy time with you,” he said. “Always. But tonight was very special.”
She nodded her agreement, unable to do much more than that. “Yeah,” she somehow managed. “It was.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “Can we do this again, soon?”
She quickly nodded.
His smile brightened. “How about next Wednesday?”
“Okay,” she said. “Where to?”
He paused, brow scrunching in thought. “There’s new movie coming out.”
Her grin widened. “Isn’t it that one based on—”
“Ultimate Mecha Strike,” he admitted. “Not ‘classy’ per se, but something I think we’d both enjoy.”
Her heart fluttered at the thought. “I’d really like that.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, his expression bordering on excitement. It was adorable to see him look something akin to an excited teenager.
But then again, she kinda felt like a teen, too.
“I’ll check movie times and we’ll work one out?”
She nodded. “That sounds good.”
“Okay,” he said. “Okay. Good. I’m glad.”
Her smile grew. “Okay.”
He stood there, looking like he wanted to say something, but didn’t. “Umm,” he eventually managed. “I guess this is good night.”
“I guess it is.”
“Good night, Marinette.”
“Good night, Adrien,” she said. “Text me when you get home.”
“I promise.”
She didn’t know how those two words hit her so hard, but they did. “Good night,” she whispered once again before turning and entering her house.
She closed the door, collapsing back against it and letting her eyes close. She took a moment to collect herself and beg her heart to steady its pace.
“Marinette?” her mother shouted. “Are you home?”
“Yeah,” she called back.
“How’d it go?” Maman asked, rounding the corner.
“It…” She swallowed, surprised at how suddenly it was hard to talk. “It went really well.”
Her mother gave her a smile, one Marinette returned, and suddenly, Marinette’s eyes were filled with tears. She sniffed, and those tears fell from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. “I… I don’t know why I’m crying,” she said. “I’m really happy.”
“You’re overwhelmed,” her mother pointed out, stepping closer and placing comforting hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “It’s okay.”
Marinette sniffed, dabbing her nose with the back of her hand before rubbing away the tears in her eyes.
Her maman smiled. “Get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning. Trust me.”
It had been a week since Adrien had taken Marinette out for a date, and he was still riding on the high.
Of course, it might have been because he was taking her on another one tonight, but no matter.
Right now, he needed to focus on interviewing potential assistants.
As yet another young woman left the office, he crossed her name off of the list. Nathalie had been amazing at organizing a list of potential assistants for him. Now, he was tasked with interviewing all of them.
Nathalie had offered to do it for him, to screen the potential employees, but Adrien had insisted he take that task over so Nathalie could finally start planning a wedding.
She had grinned and quietly thanked him.
He interviewed the next prospect, only to dismiss her halfway through and cross off her name. He glanced down at the next person on the list and had to do a double take.
He blinked a few times before going out into the main room and looking it over. Sure enough, she was there. He didn’t recognize her with the way she grew her hair out, and she wasn’t wearing glasses. Yet, that was certainly her.
“Sabrina Raincomprix,”
She looked up, then stood and followed him to his office. He shut the door. “Fancy seeing you here.”
She gave him a smile, but it was forced. “I told Nathalie it wouldn’t be a good idea,” she said. “Not with… well, our whole past. I considered not showing up but… it’s so rude.”
He smiled. Same old Sabrina. “Have a seat.”
She quirked a doubtful brow. “You aren’t seriously considering—”
“You’re here,” Adrien said, taking a seat in his chair. “If anything, it’d be nice to catch up. I haven’t heard from you for four years.”
Hesitantly, she took the seat and set her purse down.
“Honestly, I want to know what brings you,” Adrien began. “What happened to your old job? You had a position working for some multi-millionaire keeping his business in check.”
“I did,” she shrugged. “But he didn’t appear know the difference between a secretary and an escort.”
Adrien choked.
Sabrina shrugged. “I told him it wasn’t my job nor paygrade when his advances got too obvious. And when he tried to raise my pay, I smacked him over the head with a stapler and marched out of his office.”
Adrien bit his lip to keep from laughing.
“That being said,” she started sheepishly, “that means I’m out of a job and kind of blacklisted because no one really wants to hire someone who assaulted her boss.”
“I’d hire you.”
Sabrina stopped in shock.
Adrien nodded. “It’d be nice to have someone I know I can trust to be my assistant.”
Her entire expression faded. “Even though I assisted Chloe in hiding her pregnancy from you?”
Adrien’s expression warbled.
“I still feel terrible about it,” she said. “Emma was your baby, too. It wasn’t fair for me to side with Chloe and leave you out in the cold like that.”
“I understand why you did it,” Adrien said. “You sided with Chloe just like Alya sided with me. When things got sour, you were concerned with your loyalty to her.”
“That’s still no excuse. You should have been told immediately.” Sabrina’s gaze hit the ground for a while before she raised her head with a new strength. “Chloe denied she was pregnant for weeks,” Sabrina said. “I knew; she missed her period and some of her favorite foods began not sitting well with her. I forced her to take the test, and when those two little lines appeared… Adrien, she panicked.”
Adrien sat in rapt attention, hanging on to the words he’d never heard before.
“I set up her first appointment. I sat in the room and held her hand while she cried over the fact there was a baby inside her. It was already hard on her to leave you, and now she was carrying your child and… Chloe was not dealing well.”
Adrien scoffed. “She left before I woke up.”
“That doesn’t mean it didn’t wreck her,” Sabrina said. “Chloe still loved you, Adrien. She almost went back. But she didn’t because she realized she gave you up and was really embarrassed by it. That’s why she wanted to take Emma out of the country. When she told me that, that was when I told you she was pregnant.”
“I always was glad you slipped up.”
“It wasn’t a slip,” Sabrina admitted. “It was just phrased that way so that Chloe couldn’t blame me for telling you.”
Adrien would have dropped anything he was holding at that point. “W…what?”
“She wasn’t going to tell you,” she said. “And I just couldn’t keep hiding it from you any longer. Not when I was worried that she was going to do something so rash and seemingly on her own.”
It felt like time had stopped. A trance that was only broken when Sabrina stood from her seat. “I should go,” she said, grabbing her purse from the ground. “It was nice to see you, Adrien.”
“Wait.”
She stopped before she could reach the door.
“Can you start tomorrow?”
Her eyes widened as she turned to face him. “You’re not seriously going to hire me, are you? After all I did?’
“Yeah,” he said. “I want to. If you want the job.”
She was frozen, her hand hovering over the doorknob for the longest time. Eventually, she clasped her hands together in front of her. “I’d like to make it up to you. To prove I’m worthy of your respect and friendship again.”
“I’m willing to give you that chance,” Adrien said. “Come here at nine tomorrow. Training starts then.”
She nodded. “Nine o’clock. I’ll be here.”
Adrien smiled. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“B…before I go,” she hesitantly said. “Can I ask how Emma is doing? I haven’t seen her since…”
Without pause, Adrien took out his phone and pulled up a picture of Emma holding the fabric of the latest quilt she and Marinette were starting. “She’s doing really well.”
Sabrina took the phone to look at the picture, and a smile grew across her face. “She’s got your smile, but Chloe’s eyes.”
“Her stubbornness, too.”
Sabrina smirked. “And if Alya’s her role model, heaven help you.”
“Actually, she’s taken up following her nanny to a tee.”
“Hopefully her nanny is good,” Sabrina said, handing the phone back.
“Do you remember a Marinette Kurtzburg? Or Dupain-Cheng was her maiden name?”
Sabrina froze, wide-eyed.
Adrien nodded, shuffling through pictures on his phone to find one of Emma dressed in red and pigtails just like Marinette. “Emma adores her.”
“Of course, she would,” Sabrina said taking the phone back. “Everyone loved Marinette. She was the kind of girl everyone adored. Even Chloe was jealous of her.”
There was a silence while Sabrina stared at the picture. She handed it back with a smile. “I’m glad Emma has such a great role model. You couldn’t have found anyone better.”
Adrien grinned. “I’m glad you think so. Marinette is a special lady.”
Sabrina quirked her head before giving Adrien a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
…
For the date, he may not have been completely decked out, but Adrien thought he looked good in his button down, one he rolled up to his elbows, and his slightly ruffled hair.
His heart gradually increased its pace as he drove over to Marinette’s to pick her up. He was excited. So excited. He got to take her on a date and they were going to go see a movie and it was going to be great.
Because it was with Marinette.
When he got to the door, he ran his hands through his hair and adjusted his shirt one last time before knocking. But it wasn’t Marinette who answered the door.
“Come in, son,” Tom said. “The girls will be down in a moment.”
Adrien nodded, stepping inside. “Sorry, I must have showed up a little early.”
“No, you’re on time,” Tom assured. “Marinette just lost track of time.”
Adrien chuckled. “I can see that. I accounted for it by saying I would pick her up early.”
Tom grinned. “Have a seat, Adrien. We can talk until she come down.”
Adrien took a seat on the couch, Tom sitting across from him on the chair. “Just so you know,” Tom began, “Just because she’s twenty-six doesn’t mean she’s not still my little girl.”
Adrien grinned. “Oh, is this the father/daughter’s-date talk?”
Tom smirked. “You’ll understand one day.”
“I have no doubt. How long do I have until I become the ‘don’t even look at my daughter’ dad?”
“With Emma, my guess is only about nine years.”
“Crap,” Adrien grumbled. “Teach me your ways?”
Tom outright laughed.
After a short talk that made Adrien want to take up karate again, Sabine finally appeared. “She’ll be down in a moment,” she said. “She’s reapplying her make-up.”
“She okay?” Tom asked, which immediately got Adrien to worry.
“Is something wrong?”
With a smile, Sabine shook her head. “Marinette just need a little more time to accept the fact it’s okay to date you,” she explained. “Each step is hard.”
“I know the feeling,” Adrien said. “It sounds like she loved him very much. Losing my mom was hard enough; I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to lose him.”
A heavy hand came down to grab his shoulder, and Adrien looked over to Tom. “Then you understand that she needs time?”
“She can have all the time in the world if she needs it.”
Tom grinned.
“I want to take care of your daughter, sir,” Adrien admitted. “She’s very precious. I know she needs time, and I’m more than willing to give it to her. But to be honest, I am pursuing her for keeps, and I’m not going to stop until she tells me I need to.”
Tom’s grin widened. “I knew I liked you.”
A door opened somewhere, followed by the sound of someone descending a set of stairs. Adrien immediately stood in wait for her. When she appeared, his heart nearly stopped.
Good. Gracious. She. Was. Adorable.
Her hair was up in pigtails that she curled at the ends and tied up with red ribbons. Her shirt was black and form-fitting, and he tried not to admire it too much, especially with how much of her shoulders the wide neckline revealed. And then her knee-length polka-dotted skirt that had to have more than just one petticoat underneath it.
But one look at her face, and it was clear by her red eyes she’d been crying.
His first instinct was to engulf her in a hug and wait until whatever pain was haunting her disappeared. But he stopped short and grabbed her hands instead. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
She forced a smile then shook her head. “No,” she said, her voice weak enough to prove her lie. “It’s nothing.”
He frowned. “Are you sure? We can wait if you need to.”
She paused, biting her lip, and he was sincerely concerned she might take him up on his offer. Somewhere in the very back of his mind, it occurred to him that it was very selfish of him. In the end, he was relieved when she shook her head. “No,” she said. “I was looking forward to this. Let’s go.”
“Okay,” he said, squeezing her hands reassuringly before taking one of her hands to wrap around his elbow. “But do you promise that you’ll say something if something’s wrong?”
With another faked smile, she nodded. “Promise.”
She was silent as he led her out to his car. He treated her like the lady she was, opening the car door and shutting it behind her. He then got into the driver’s seat and started up the engine.
“How was your day?” she asked. “Did you have fun interviewing people?”
He scoffed. “Sure, let’s say it was fun.”
She smiled her first real smile of the night, and it lifted the weight that had settled on his heart.
“I did hire someone, though.”
“Really?” she asked. “Will they be a good fit?”
“Do you remember Sabrina Raincomprix?”
She froze a second. “Yeah. I remember her.”
“I hired her.”
Marinette nodded. “I… I can see that. She was really good about keeping everything in line for Chloe.”
“Say it.”
“Say what?”
“Whatever you’re holding back.”
She grimaced. He knew her too well. “Can you trust her?”
It was a really good question. A very legitimate one. “I think I can,” he answered. “We had a talk instead of an interview. She was honest with me to the point where she admitted she didn’t believe I would hire her and she almost didn’t show up.”
“So you two talked it out.”
He nodded. “Even though we’re still on shaky ground, I still feel like I would be able to trust her far more than someone I didn’t know.”
“Then that’s all that matters,” Marinette said. “I’m happy for you. Maybe this will help with your hectic work schedule.”
“It will,” he admitted, “but it’s mostly to help Nathalie and my father.”
She looked at him, waiting for him to explain.
“My father is slowly handing more and more responsibilities to me so that he has more time to spend on his designs. And then Nathalie has always functioned as my assistant as well as my father’s. It’s time I hired someone of my own to take care of that, especially since they’re engaged. They’ve been workaholics for so long, it’s best that I stop encouraging that habit.”
He glanced over at her and caught the smile she was shooting him. She reached over the console to place a hand on his leg. “I’m proud of you.”
Thank goodness they were at a stoplight, because Adrien was sure he would have crashed otherwise.
They made it to the movie theater in one piece, thankfully. They got in line for tickets which Adrien paid for then argued over who was going to pay for popcorn.
Adrien ‘accidentally’ knocked the credit card from Marinette’s hand.
“You,” she chided, taking a piece of popcorn and tossing it at his nose. “Are a brat.”
“And you,” he said, returning the favor, “are stubborn.”
“You paid for tickets.”
“I’m paying for the date. In its entirety. That’s already decided.”
“By who.”
“By me.”
“Which is only fifty percent of who’s on the date.”
“Well, this fifty percent love spoiling the other fifty percent. So will you let me or not?”
They paused in front of the door to their theater, Marinette leaning back against it.
“Okay,” she relented. “Just this once.”
“Not going to happen,” Adrien countered.
A smile spread across her face, causing a matching one to grow on his. And in that moment, he realized her smile was bright and her eyes were shining and clear. His heart fluttered.
“You’re really beautiful, you know that?” he hushedly asked.
Her cheeks turned bright red, but she was still smiling. “Um…” She tapped on the door. “I don’t want to miss the movie.”
He grinned widely. “Okay.”
They found good seats in the theater, then chatted through the previews while occasionally tossing popcorn at each other. They fell silent when the movie began, the popcorn being passed between them until it found a permanent spot on the ground. By the end of the film, Marinette had her arms wrapped around one of his and her head on his shoulder. He allowed his head to rest on top of hers and relished the feeling of her hand in his. And he didn’t let go of her hand until they got to the car.
But then she kept her hand on his knee all the way home.
"It's really hard to drive like that," he commented.
"Really?"
"It's very distracting."
"This?" she patted his knee.
He placed a hand over hers to stop her. "Yes, that."
She grinned. "Never would have guessed."
"Well," he said, teasingly. "You see, when a beautiful woman has her hand on a man's knee, it's a very dangerous thing, because it's a constant reminder that he has a very beautiful woman beside him that he can't look at."
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her looking away. He wondered if it was because her cheeks were pink. "You're such a flatterer."
He pulled up in front of her house and put the car in park. "You don't think you're beautiful."
"No, it's not that. It's just…" she turned back to him. "You say it so reverently.”
With a grin, he picked her hand from his knee. "Trust me, my lady," he said, kissing the back of her fingers. "You're beautiful." He kissed her knuckles. "Stunningly so." The back of her hand. "Trust me." Her wrist.
He looked back up to meet her eyes and swore she had never looked as beautiful as she did now.
Her smile was warbly, but it didn’t look strained. “Thank you for being patient with me at the beginning of the date,” she said on a whisper, seemingly not being able to speak any louder. “I know better than to doubt my time with you, but…” her gaze fell. “It’s… how can I say this without being mean?”
“Say it,” he said. “And I’ll understand.”
She chewed her lip. “It’s overwhelming,” she finally said. “To have someone other than my husband take me out on a date.”
Dread made a home for itself in his gut as his expression fell. “Do you need more time?” he asked, though the thought of her saying yes killed him.
She flashed him a smile that likely meant to be reassuring. “No,” she whispered. “I don’t want to cancel Wednesdays. I look forward to them. It’s not wearing his necklace that still gets me.”
“Then wear it,” Adrien told her, tightening his hold on her hand. “I’ll understand.”
“That’s not fair to you, Adrien,” she said.
“If you’re not ready to let go, then I’m not going to force you to let go.”
“I am,” she countered. “I have to take steps forward to do so.”
“Only if you’re sure.”
“It’s the only way.”
“Then I’ll be here for you,” he said. “Supporting you or helping you through. I am here.”
Marinette’s smile was sweet, but Adrien could see the tears start in her eyes. Before he could react, she hopped out of the car.
He was quick to follow, fully prepared to run after her. Only to have her engulf him in a hug and bury her head in his neck. “Thank you,” she said before she started to cry.
So Adrien just held her. Tight. He wasn’t going to let her go, and more than anything, he wanted her to know that. He wanted to be her support, her safe place.
Figures he was ready for so much more when she was barely ready for a relationship.
But she was worth it. That was clearer than day. She was worth the wait.
Marinette found herself looking at Adrien more and more often. Her mind was constantly drifting to a fantasy where she wasn’t just playing house, but actually living it. How would things change? Would things change at all? Or would their interactions stay the same? Would they last?
And was this okay?
That was the big question. Yes, she’d had a year to mourn. She was beginning to let go. She had accepted the fact that Nathaniel was gone and she was left a widow. But… was she really ready to try a new relationship? Or were lines she shouldn’t cross being blurred with a fantasy? It was hard to forget the way Adrien looked over at her when she put on the ladybug necklace. It was impossible to forget the feeling of pride when Emma called her mom.
But was it all in her head?
So many questions. So much to consider. So much on the line.
“Marinette, look!”
Marinette grinned down at the drawing Emma was holding up at her, one covered in red, pink, and purple hearts in honor of Valentine’s day. “Very nice, Emma.”
“It’s for daddy, but don’t tell him.”
“I promise,” Marinette said, crossing her heart. “Do you want to write ‘To Daddy’ on it?”
Emma shoved the paper over to Marinette. “Yeah.”
With a pencil, Marinette lightly wrote the words on the paper so Emma could trace it in crayon. It had become something they did together, with Marinette writing things out for Emma to trace. Usually, it was in the form of labeling things, like ‘cat’ or ‘dog’, but as far as Marinette and Adrien were concerned, it didn’t matter. It was a start, and Emma was soaking it up like a sponge.
Emma’s face scrunched in concentration as she traced the lettering in red crayon. She took everything she made for her dad very seriously. It was tremendously sweet.
After this was done, they were going to go bake cookies to decorate. At Marinette’s house, of course, because Emma said that they couldn’t risk Daddy walking in on them. It had nothing to do with the fact Emma really wanted to see Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Dupain again.
“Done!”
“Very nice,” Marinette said. “Now, are you ready to go make cookies?”
Emma was up and scampering to the door like a shot.
Marinette chuckled before following after her. She popped her head into Adrien’s office to let him know where they were going, which he acknowledged with a wave and a ‘have a good time.’ Then, Marinette grabbed Emma’s car seat before heading out to the car.
Emma bounced excitedly the whole way there, then followed Marinette up the stairs to the apartment.
“Hello,” Marinette called. “We’re here.”
“In the kitchen,” her maman called back.
Emma scampered into the kitchen. “Mrs. Cheng!” she cried.
“It’s so nice seeing you, Emma,” Maman returned.
After hugs were exchanged, Emma bounded back to Marinette. “The card.”
Marinette peeked into her bag to give her the card that Emma had made for Maman. Except she couldn’t find it.
Uh-oh.
Her maman could read her face. “Did you forget it?”
Marinette shot her a sheepish grin.
With a smile, Maman shook her head. “Go on. Emma and I will start in on the cookies while you go grab it, okay?”
“Thanks, Maman.” With a kiss to her cheek and a ‘be right back’, Marinette hustled out the door.
…
When there was a knock at the door, Adrien was sure Marinette, being Marinette, just forgot something. She was adorable, really. He’d grown accustomed to holding whatever item Marinette forgot out to her as she rushed back in.
He took a quick peek around but didn’t spy anything immediately, so he settled for just teasing her. He swung open the door. “Forget some—”
And stopped short.
Because Marinette wasn’t tall, brunette, or had green eyes.
“Hey,” Lila purred, stepping closer.
He took a half-step back. “What brings you, Lila?”
She chuckled. “It’s Valentine’s Day, silly. A day where lovers can be together. Or, in our case, get together.”
She was running her hands up his arms, and he quickly stopped her. “I don’t understand.”
She gave him a sultry pout. “Come now, Adrien. We always have such a good time when we’re out together. Yet, I didn’t get to see you when you were in Italy. I was so sad to learn you were in Italy an never stopped by.”
That had been the goal. “I was there on business.”
“You weren’t on business the whole time. You should have called me, and we could have gone out to dinner. I still have a fantastic place in mind.”
“I actually was busy the whole time. I wanted to get everything done so I could come back and spend time with my daughter.”
She seemed to stiffen at this, and Adrien mentally cheered. Hopefully, he could keep this up long enough to get her back out on the porch instead of in the doorway.
“You know,” Lila said, her posture relaxing with the ease of a well-practiced actress. “I’d love to meet your little girl. Is she around?”
Adrien inwardly cursed, knowing he couldn’t lie. “No, she’s out with her nanny.”
A sly grin curled up on her lips. “Oh. Well then.” She took another step forward, while he took one back. “We can get to know each other a little better.”
“Lila,” Adrien interrupted, taking her firmly by the arms and holding her at a distance.
“Adrien,” she purred.
“Sweetheart?”
Adrien and Lila turned to the door.
Where Marinette stood.
Adrien took yet another step back, distancing himself from Lila as much as possible.
“Who are you?” Lila asked.
Marinette quirked a brow, but instead of answering her, she sidled up next to him. With tender touches that would have made him melt through the floor at any other time, she wrapped her arms around his. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, sweetheart? Who’s your friend?”
Adrien’s heart was pounding inside his chest, and he found it shockingly hard to breathe. “Um… M-marinette,” he shakily began. “This is Lila Rossi, one of the models for Gabriel’s. Her father is one of our most prominent investors. Lila, this is Marinette Kurtzburg, my… sweetheart.”
Marinette squeezed his arm, making a show of snuggling closer.
Adrien was about to have a heart attack. A sweet death, but…
What was the downside, again?
“I got the text that your nanny and Emma were out for the day so I thought I’d spend a little time with you,” Marinette said. “Hope you don’t mind I didn’t take the time to dress up. I may have gotten a little excited and rushed out the door.”
“I don’t mind,” he instantly said, forgetting that this was a ploy and not reality.
Lila cleared her throat, calling their attention. She flashed a fake smile towards Marinette. “Adrien’s never mentioned you.”
“And that’s because I asked him not to,” Marinette supplied. “I didn’t want to spoil anything when it’s still so new.”
Lila’s eyes narrowed.
“Forgive us, Lila,” Marinette continued, her voice dripping in fake sweetness. “But… it is Valentine’s day.”
Adrien forced a smile that he hoped wouldn’t show how badly he was dying for this to be reality. Forget work, he’d happily spend the day cuddled up with this woman.
With a forced look of pleasantry, Lila nodded. “I understand,” she said, her voice strained. She turned to head out the door, only to pause after a couple steps. “How did you meet, again?” she asked. “I’ve never heard of you.”
“His best friend, Alya, is getting married to my best friend. We’re both in the wedding party.”
Well, that was true.
With one last skeptical look, Lila marched out the door.
And Marinette was quick to shut it behind her. “Gah. Thought that floozy would never leave.”
Adrien blinked a few times. “Wh-wait-what?”
Marinette quirked a brow. “Adrien, when you told me she was a flirt, I was expecting pick-up lines or trying to weasel her way into your life. I didn’t expect a hussy trying to yank you into bed. She wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it.”
“Well, yeah, I know,” Adrien lied. He could agree once she pointed it out, but his brain had been too fried to notice it immediately. “But you… what… was…?”
She paused, and he watched as she slowly turned pink in realization. “Oh, um… that was me… trying to help.” She looked away and started twisting her hands together nervously. “You were looking really uncomfortable and you’ve told me so many times how much you can’t stand when Lila rubs up against you, and there’s really nothing like a girl to get another girl to back off.”
His jaw went slack. “Yeah. I… thanks.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Um… I forgot some Valentine’s cards Emma made for my parents. I’ll… just go grab those real quick.” In a flash, she spun on her heel and tripped up the stairs. She caught herself quickly and continued to scamper up to Emma’s room.
Adrien couldn’t take his eyes off her. His heart was pounding, his mind was shot to pieces. The only thing he could think of was the wonderfully adorable woman he’d undoubtedly fell for. He watched the red ribbons of her pigtails bob with each step, her hair brushing against the oversized, red sweater that looked so good on her. It was a stark contrast to Lila who wore a slim dress and tights that showed off her figure. With his mind mostly back in gear, he could easily peg it as a woman who wanted to draw attention to her body. Funny how the only body he could think about right now was the one that was dwarfed by an oversized sweater and plain jeans.
She bounced back down the stairs, waving the cards in the air.
He grinned. “And you have everything, correct?”
“I’m nearly a hundred percent certain,” she said with a smile.
“Is that Marinette certainty or—”
She smacked his chest with the back of her hand. “Knock it off,” she said, though her smile gave her teasing away.
He made a show of rubbing the spot she smacked him. “That hurt,” he whined, exaggerating a pout for effect.
She rolled her eyes, then completely wrecked him when she took his cheeks in her hands and shot him a teasing smile. “Something tells me you’ll be just fine.”
With two pats to his cheek, she slipped away and out the door before he could even register she was gone.
…
Wednesday night rolled around, and Marinette was well prepared. She’d gone to the store, wandered down the sale aisles, and bought expensive chocolates and ice cream for under half price.
Who said dinner had to consist of anything healthy tonight?
She happily showed her finds to Adrien. “Valentine’s day may be all about the gifts, but wait until after to buy anything.”
“Then what do you do for Valentine’s day?” he questioned.
“Time,” she said, walking through the door. “You give your time to the other person. Do something they don’t want to do so they don’t have to do it. Spoil them with affection and words. Just be there,” she answered. “Valentine’s day is for lovers. So love them.”
“You make it sound so simple,” he said, a bit breathless as he shut the door.
She shrugged, her heart racing at his voice paired with the earnest look in his expressive eyes. “Who said it has to be difficult?”
Adrien paused, his gaze falling away for a moment. “You know what I think would go really well with this?” he eventually asked, reaching for the bag of goodies before wandering into the kitchen.
After kicking off her shoes, she followed him. He walked over to the wooden bench that was along the wall and removed the seat, revealing a collection of wine bottles.
“So this is where you hide it.”
“My father bought it for me when Emma was born so that I could hide the stash in a place she wouldn’t get into. I don’t usually break into it, but now, I think it’s time to pull a new bottle.” He reached over decisively, pulling a bottle, glancing at the label, and putting it back. He grabbed the next one over then presented it to Marinette.
She read over the label over before catching the date. She looked up at him with wide eyes. “This must be worth a small fortune.”
“Maybe,” he shrugged, taking the bottle from her grasp then fishing through the kitchen for his bottle opener. “But it was a gift from years ago. There’s an investor that always brings my father and I bottles of wine as gifts. It does little good if it’s sitting under that bench.”
Soon enough he was holding out a glass for her to take. She had to admire it for a second before taking a sip. “Mmm,” she moaned appreciatively. “That is fantastic.”
Adrien followed suit. “Agreed. But I think it would go well with these.” He pulled out the biggest box of chocolates.
“I know it’s kinda breaking tradition,” Marinette said. “But I was thinking maybe a movie tonight?”
He grinned with approval. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”
Slowly, he wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her toward the living room. Her smile came unbidden as she allowed him to guide her, even though she knew where to find the grown-up movies. She hadn’t had the opportunity to look them over before, so when she saw the title of one of them, she had to do a double take. “You have Pride and Prejudice?”
He pointedly didn’t make eye contact. “Maybe. Maybe it was something Chloe left. Maybe it’s something I use to cheer Alya up every once in a while.”
She smirked knowingly. “Mmm-hmm. I totally believe that.”
After popping that movie into the DVD player, she settled herself on the couch. Adrien handed her back her glass of sweet wine before setting the open box of chocolates he retrieved from the kitchen on the coffee table. He then proceeded to settle beside her. “Comfy? Want a blanket or anything?”
She bit her lip to keep off a smile.
“Yes,” he said, standing up to retrieve a couple blankets. He then handed over her favorite one with a knowing smile.
Her heart skipped when she took it.
Forty minutes later, two empty wine glasses were sitting on the table and one chocolate remained in the box. Marinette looked at the chocolate before looking to Adrien, who was looking at her with a glint in his eye.
Marinette launched herself at the box, but Adrien tackled her before she could get a good grip on it. “Oh, no you don’t,” Adrien teased, pinning her to the couch underneath him. “Mine.”
“I bought them,” she retorted with a grin, smacking his chest and trying to get out from under him.
And that’s when they realized the box and the chocolate were on the ground.
“Now look what you did,” Adrien said.
“I did?”
“Yeah. You’re in trouble now.”
“Oh, really?” Marinette teased. “What sort of trouble could I possibly be in?”
A glint sparkled in his eyes as a smirk twisted up across his lips.
And suddenly she wasn’t feeling so confident.
“Tickle monster.”
She squealed as he assaulted her sides. “Stop!” she cried through her helpless giggles.
“Never!”
Her laughs never stopped as she continued trying to shove him off her, but he just grabbed on tighter, collecting her in a hug that prevented her from moving anywhere.
She sighed in relief, though her smile never left her face as she let her arms wrap around him. They stayed like that for a couple long moments before she realized that he was on top of her. Holding her. And she was holding him.
Heat flooded her face as she pushed Adrien off her and scrambled to the side. This was her boss. Her friend. Not anything more.
Their eyes met. And Marinette realized that she wasn’t the only one blushing.
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I… that was out of line.”
Marinette couldn’t bring herself to agree with him, but then again, she couldn’t bring herself to disagree with him either. Her face was red and her heart was pounding because there was a very handsome-despite-being-massively-flustered young man sitting beside her that she may or may not like more than just a friend.
She… she just didn’t know.
“Well,” she finally spoke upon finding her voice. “So was the… um… smack in the kitchen last month,” she finished shyly.
He rubbed his now red neck and couldn’t look her in the eyes. Not that she really noticed considering she could barely bring herself to look at him.
“I’m sorry,” Marinette finished. “I used to do that to Nathaniel, and when you and I were arguing about the laundry it was just… so automatic—”
“I understand,” Adrien said. “I knew it wasn’t on purpose. You looked horrified then ran before I could even string a sentence together.”
Marinette’s blush grew brighter.
“That being said,” Adrien continued, finally turning to look at her. “I… I think we should have a talk that… I’m not sure you’re ready for, but it needs to happen.”
She forced herself to look at him. “What is it?” she asked breathlessly.
Adrien sighed, taking a moment to collect himself. “I… I really like you, Marinette,” he forced out. “I have for a while.”
She blinked, her mind shutting down at the sudden confession.
“That’s why it was so awkward,” he continued, rubbing the back of his neck. “Because I like having you around. I look forward to our game nights with more excitement than I should. And watching you interact with my daughter… it gets to me. She adores you, and to watch her bloom under your care, it…” He shook his head and sighed. “I know you may not be ready to move on from Nathaniel. It’s why I’ve bit my tongue so many times on so many occasions. I wanted to give you time before I sprang anything on you but I can’t keep quiet any longer. Marinette, I really like you, and if you would allow it, I’d like to try something more than what we have.”
Marinette could only stare. Her heart was racing. Her mind was blank. Her mouth was agape. She managed to shut it, swallow, and open it with the intent of saying… what? What could she possibly say to that?
Slowly, as she fought for words that wouldn’t come, she watched the hope drain from Adrien’s eyes. And it wrecked her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I… I don’t know what I was thinking. I just… I had to try.” His gaze fell from her face to the ground. “I’d understand if you weren’t comfortable with me after this. I should have told you earlier, but my father found your application. He looked it over and told me that he would have liked to hire you when he had the chance. He’ll have new positions open come early summer. If you want, I’ll tell him you’d like the job.”
Her mind was completely shot. She couldn’t think straight. It was like ten different, disjointed pieced were all functioning at their own pace and the only words that managed to come out from the chaos were, “That means I’ll have to leave you.”
He turned his attention back the her, his eyes wide and sparkling with… something. Something unreadable just below that dazzling green surface. Her heart was pounding, but there was no denying it. Not anymore. She reached over to place a hand on his knee. “Adrien,” she began, “you and Emma… you two are so important to me. I love Emma. She’s the most precious thing. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be just like her. And you…” The words got choked up in her throat and it took a little work to force them out. “I’d miss game night. But more than that, I’d miss the moments we steal between… life. Dinners and movie nights and teasing Chat Noir for stealing Plagg. I…”
He shifted closer, and she wasn’t sure she could take much more of this.
“I…” She stuttered, stopped, and swallowed. “I don’t know. I… I want to. But I don’t know.”
The next moment was just silence as Adrien slowly reached out to take hold of one of Marinette’s hands. “Would you be willing to try?” he asked, his voice cracking at the end. “To take one step at a time? If all I’m asking for right now is a single, proper date night out… would you say yes?”
Her heart was flailing wildly in her chest and threatening to break her ribs. She took a handful of heavy breaths, yet her voice was weak when it came out. “Yes.”
His grasp on her hand tightened as a smile grew across his face as bright and unstoppable as a wildfire.
“Yes,” she repeated. “One date.”
“That’s all I ask,” he assured before bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “And we can go from there.”
“Okay,” she said, her heart skipping beats as he rubbed little circles on her hand with his thumb. She tried to take a breath to steady her heart, but it was no use. It wouldn’t calm for the rest of the night.
Marinette’s fingers and toes were crossed that this was going to end well. She and Adrien had gotten Emma hyped about his absence, promising movies and girl-time and sleepovers. And Emma was excited.
Just how far that excitement would go was the question. She and Adrien hoped it would go a very, very long way, but they had their doubts.
So far, day one was a success. She and Emma had spent the day just as normal. They watched a movie in their pajamas with popcorn and Emma fell asleep in front of the television.
Marinette had texted Adrien such, and he texted back a big thumbs up.
Day two started out fine. They made pancakes and played superheroes and colored and then it was suddenly six-thirty and Marinette was calling Adrien on skype for her and Emma to talk to.
“Are you and Marinette having a good time?” Adrien asked Emma.
And she happily launched into everything that they did that day.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Adrien excitedly replied. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”
Emma nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
“Emma,” Marinette said. “Why don’t you go grab the pictures we colored to show your dad?”
“Okay!” And just like that, she vanished from the room.
Marinette leaned conspiratorially closer to the computer screen. “Day two was a success.”
“I’m so happy,” Adrien said. “At least one thing’s going right today. Two down, three more to go. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly.”
Marinette crossed her fingers just as Emma came running back into the room. “Look, daddy.”
After she showed off her pictures, Adrien praising them all the way, it was time for him to go, so they said their goodnights and good byes. “Have fun with Marinette on your adventure.”
“I am.”
This was good. They were doing good. Bath time went smoothly, and then they built a fort in Emma’s room before they read a story. By eight-fifteen, Emma was in bed snuggling Tikki while Plagg was at her back. Marinette slipped out the door, then took a quick shower before slipping into the guest bed. After turning her phone on silent—she didn’t want to risk any dings or noises waking Emma—she sent off a text to Adrien. Day two, success.
She put the phone on the nightstand, then shut off the lamp, tossing the room into darkness. Until her phone screen lit it up with a call.
Adrien.
“Hey,” she said quietly.
“Hi. I just wanted to see how she was doing.”
“Like I said, the day went really well. No signs of her being stressed out without you, yet.”
“Good,” he said, relieved. “That’s really, really good. Best news of the day.”
“How are you holding on?”
“My father was right to send me. The company I audited did lax on a few policies, which my father suspected they would if he sent me in his stead. But that only means more work for… I’d like for you to guess who.”
“You.”
“And we have a winner.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It happens,” he sighed. “Unfortunately.”
“Still, that’s rough. I know how much you already have on your plate.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who would make a really good assistant, would you?”
“You considering hiring one?”
“Big time.”
She paused. “Not that I can think of off the top of my head.”
“Worth a shot.”
Marinette grinned. “I hope for your sake everything else goes smoothly.”
“Yeah. So do I. I think my toes are crossed at this point because all my fingers are crossed for Emma.”
She chuckled. “Here’s wishing you all my ladybug luck.”
“This black cat will take all he can get,” he fondly said. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Anything else going on?”
“I’d much rather hear from you.”
“Nothing more than what Emma told you about.”
“What do you have planned for tomorrow?”
“Surprises.”
“Oh?”
“Emma will tell you all about them.”
“Fair enough,” he relented. “Then I guess I’ll let you go. Get some sleep.”
“You, too. I know those hotel mattresses cannot be as comfortable as the one in your guest room.”
“Or my own,” he sighed. “But it will have to do. Sleep well, Marinette.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
…
The next morning was spent going to her parents’ house for pastries. Emma had quickly grown attached to them during the holiday party, and now she had no fear running up to Marinette’s Papa and tackling his leg in a hug, fully expecting a bear hug in return. She squealed in delight as he picked her up and gave her a squeeze.
“He’s not going to give her back,”’ Maman warned, coming up to Marinette’s side.
Marinette shrugged. “Adrien said it was okay.”
Her maman giggled. “Where’s he at again?”
“Parading across the continent, looking at the design houses to make sure they’re up to Agreste standard.”
“Ahh.”
“He didn’t want to do it, but that’s his job.”
“Understandable. At least he left his daughter in good hands.”
“I try.”
“You do,” her maman assured, watching Emma make expressive hand motions as she told a story to Papa. “I know you do, otherwise I don’t think that girl would be remotely as happy as she is.”
Marinette’s heartstrings tugged. “She’s so precious. I adore her.”
Her maman patted her arm tenderly.
“I’m hungry,” Emma said, grabbing Marinette’s attention.
“Well,” her maman said. “We do live in a bakery. What do you want?”
With that, Marinette pulled breakfast for both her and Emma, then she took it upstairs to the kitchen table. After breakfast was completed, Marinette asked Emma if she wanted to go exploring. Marinette already knew the answer, but she had to make it seem exciting.
So Marinette took Emma up to her room, showing off the pink color on the wall.
“It’s just like mine!” Emma exclaimed.
“I told you so.”
The duo spent the entire day up there, exploring, going through Marinette’s things, and finding Marinette’s old sketch books.
Old enough to have Adrien’s teenaged modeling pictures.
Marinette inwardly cringed. Emma recognized her dad immediately, so there was no escaping it. Thankfully, they were able to move on quickly afterwards.
They ate dinner with Marinette’s parents, which Emma was happy about. Emma and Tom talked back and forth the entire time, Sabine chiming in here and there. Marinette was happy to stay in the background and simply watch the exchange.
Once dinner was over, Marinette helped clean up the dishes until an alert in her pocket reminded her that she and Emma were expecting a call.
“We can finish up,” her maman assured. “Go answer.”
“Thanks, maman.” Marinette turned to look at Emma. “Your dad is calling. Ready to tell him about our day?”
“Yeah!”
Marinette led Emma back up to her room, pulled her into her lap, and answered the video call.
“Hi, daddy!”
“Hey, where are you guys?” Adrien asked.
“We’re exploring my house,” Marinette answered.
Emma nodded.
“Yeah?” Adrien asked, clearly intrigued. “Is it cool?”
Emma launched into her story of everything they did that day.
“And Marinette has pictures of you from when you were little.”
There was a pause on the other end where Adrien was staring at the computer screen with bewilderment while Marinette turned what she fully believed to be the deepest shade of red she’d turned in a long time.
“Really?”
Emma nodded then turned to Marinette. “I want to show him.”
Marinette forced a smile and allowed Emma to grab the picture from her old sketchbook. “See?” Emma said, holding the picture up to the computer. “It’s you.”
Adrien stared for a while before breaking into a smile. “Yup. That was my old job. I used to dress up for pictures.”
As the conversation progressed, Marinette gradually returned to her normal color just in time to bid Adrien good-bye and get back home.
“Are you coming home now, daddy?”
And in a snap, Marinette’s heart sank through the floor.
Adrien’s undoubtably did, too. “I’m going to be on an adventure a couple more days, sweetheart.”
Emma’s expression fell.
“But I’ll be home soon,” he assured. “And Marinette is there, right?”
Emma nodded.
“So you two are going to have more fun together before I come back. Okay?”
She frowned. “Okay,” she said, her voice soft with disappointment.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Best daughter in the whole wide world.”
“Best daddy in the whole wide world.”
“I’ll be home soon, okay.”
“Okay.”
“I promise. But for now, I’m going to say good night and I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good night, Emma.”
“Good night, daddy.”
With that, Marinette clicked out of the computer. “Ready to go home? We’ll set up a pillow fort and read a story?”
Emma simply nodded.
She wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as normal, but the fort still got built and Emma seemed happy about being in the fort. When she crawled in Marinette’s lap, she snuggled closer than normal, her head half buried in Marinette’s shirt.
Two chapters in, and Emma was yawning. Thankfully, she put up no fuss when Marinette put her to bed.
“Night night, Emma.”
“Night night, mommy.”
Marinette’s heart froze for a second before it ramped back up to superspeed. Her mind ran a million miles an hour, trying to process that her favorite little girl in the world just called her ‘mommy’.
And she loved it.
She bent down, pressed a kiss to Emma’s temple, and whispered, “sleep well, sweetheart,” before slipping from the room.
She took her time in the hot shower, thinking over Emma’s words and trying to process them as well as face the guilt that came over not being able to regret just how pleased it made her.
Marinette got out of the shower, drying off before tossing on her pajamas and checking her phone. One message from Adrien. She gave him a call.
“Hey.”
“Emma called me ‘mommy’.”
The silence between them was a surprised one.
“What?” Adrien asked, his unsteady voice proving it was about the only thing he could say.
“Emma called me mommy, tonight,” Marinette repeated.
Another silence. One where neither knew what to say.
“What should we do about it?” Marinette asked. “I… I don’t want her to get used to her calling me that.”
“I’m okay with it.”
Another silence.
“But… I’m not her mom.”
“Nathalie wasn’t her grandmother.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I’m not family.”
“You could be.”
Marinette’s heart skipped a beat.
Adrien cleared his throat. “Like Alya.”
She worked her jaw, hoping words would come out at some point. “But… Auntie Alya is different than being her mom, Adrien.”
There was a tense sigh from over the phone. “Well,” he said. “I… I guess I’ll let you decide what you’re comfortable with Emma calling you.”
Mommy. Marinette thought. She can call me mommy. “We’ll see if she’s back to ‘Marinette’ in the morning. She was tired so… I’ll cross that bridge if and when I get to it.”
“Okay,” Adrien agreed on a sigh. “That’s… a good idea.”
Another pause.
“So,” Adrien said. “I… um, just wanted to give you a call to check in on how Emma was doing after we got off the skype call.”
Marinette took a breath to refocus herself. “She’s just missing you,” she answered. “At this rate, I’m worried that the next two days are just going to be a bundle of fun.”
“Um…” there was a pause. “Call Alya. Maybe try to pump Emma up that way.”
“Worth a shot,” Marinette said. “I’ll do that tomorrow. Maybe I should have waited for the bakery trip until later.”
“Oh well, nothing you can do about that now. Maybe try taking her to the zoo? She’ll enjoy that.”
“Worth a shot. Anything to keep her mind off you.”
“Sorry for making your job so difficult.”
“You can’t help it,” Marinette assured. “You have a job to do.”
“Guess you’re right.”
“How’s things going, by the way?” she asked. “Was today better than yesterday?”
“Much,” Adrien said. “Thankfully. And I found out something interesting.”
“Really? What is it?”
“That my nanny apparently has my modeling photos when I was a teen.”
Marinette’s gut sank to the floor while her face flamed. She could hear that smile on his face, and she knew he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. “I can explain,” she rambled off.
“Please do.”
“You know I like fashion,” she said scrambling to get her story together. “And your dad was a big inspiration to me. So the totographs were because I loved you-R father’s fashion!”
“Hmm? Really?”
“Yup!”
“So… that’s why you have a picture of just my face?”
Oh, she could hear the smugness in his tone, and her heart was running faster than a racehorse, pumping heat from the pit of her stomach to her face. She was sure she was red as a ladybug. “GottaGoBye!”
She hung up on him, tossing the phone onto the dresser and faceplanting onto the pillow. She let loose a groan as ‘almost admitting to her boss that she had a crush on him’ found it’s way to the top of her ‘most embarrassing moments of her life’ list.
…
Alya was a huge help in perking up Emma. Big time. They spent the day together, went out to lunch, and just hung out like girls do. Sadly, Alya had to leave at three, meaning Marinette and Emma were left to their own devices. So they went to the park and played a bit before heading home for dinner.
And when Adrien called, Marinette realized with a large grin that they only had one more day to go.
The conversation started out really well…until it ended in tears. Marinette held Emma tight, soothing her while she cried about how much she wanted her daddy.
“One more day, Emma,” Adrien said over the computer. “I only have one more day, and then I get to come home to you.”
Of course, it didn’t help. So Marinette suggested an early bedtime. She got Emma bathed and in her pajamas before settling her down for the night.
Once she shut the door to Emma’s room, Marinette let go a heavy sigh. How was she going to get through one more day?
She hoped spending a decent amount of time in the magical portal known as the shower would bring some ideas to mind. Sadly, no such luck. After she finished, she stepped out of the bathroom into the hallway.
Only to see Emma sitting cross-legged in front of Adrien’s bedroom door, Plagg in her hands as she cried for her dad.
With her heart officially in shambles, Marinette went up to Emma, sitting beside her. “Emma, let’s go to bed.”
“Daddy,” she cried, tears running down her face. “I w-w-want d-daddy.”
Marinette pulled the girl into her lap. “Daddy will be home soon. Don’t worry.”
But Emma just cried into Marinette’s shoulder, her squealy sobs wracking through her little body.
Marinette stared up at Adrien’s door. Well, desperate times called for desperate measures. “Come on, Emma. Let’s go to bed.”
It took a moment for Emma to calm enough so that Marinette could lead her into Adrien’s room. It felt slightly invasive, but he’d surely understand.
Emma leapt onto his bed, crawling around before settling into a ball on one of his pillows and crying into the back of Plagg’s head.
Marinette took the other side, crawling under the covers and pulling them up around Emma. She sided up next to her, snuggling the crying girl against her and rubbing her back soothingly until the tears subsided and she finally fell asleep.
…
He’d begged Nathalie for a red-eye flight. It was only half a day, but he’d be home and there for Emma to wake up to. He couldn’t stand the way her tears shook him last night. Thankfully, Nathalie pulled through.
Hence why he was getting on a very late fight that was projected to get him home just after midnight.
“A-choo!”
“Bless you,” Adrien said to the man sitting beside him.
“Thanks,” he said, digging into his bag for a tissue.
Adrien was anxious to be home. To get off this flight surrounded by people, take a hot shower, and crash in his own bed, only to be there for Emma when she woke. That was his plan.
He did catch a few minutes of shut eye on the plane, though it was difficult when Mr. Sick beside him was snoring like a chainsaw. Soon enough, Adrien was back in France. Then he was back in Paris. Then, finally, just after midnight, he was back home.
Oh, he was so happy.
He dropped his bags on the floor, a signal to Marinette and Emma for when they woke, then started up the stairs. However, before he did anything, he went to peek in on Emma.
Only to find her bed empty.
His brow furrowed. He walked over to the guest room. The door was open, and while he hated peeking in on Marinette, he wanted to know where his daughter was.
Except that bed was empty, too.
Now he was worried. Had they stayed somewhere else? No, Marinette would have texted him. Right?
He got to his door, opening it, and immediately freezing upon the sight. Emma was curled into a ball under the covers, Marinette’s arm over her protectively, holding Emma close to her chest. She shifted, holding Emma tighter, and that’s when Adrien realized he should shut the door, keep out the light, and let them sleep.
Well, so much for his shower and his own bed.
He peeked in the other bathroom, finding Marinette’s things on the counter as well as in the shower, but Emma’s bar of soap and shampoo were in there, too. It would do, and he desperately wanted to rinse off the airplane. So, grabbing his pajamas from his bag, he showered off, already feeling better, before collapsing on the bed in the guest room and promptly falling asleep.
…
Marinette woke before Emma, which was shocking. She slipped out of bed and quietly shut the door behind her, allowing Emma to sleep. She was probably still tired from her crying fit again last night. They’d managed to make it though the day with minimal tears, only to break down when they got home.
At least Adrien was coming home today.
She made it halfway down the stairs before she paused. Because that looked an awful lot like luggage in the hallway. She looked back upstairs, only to notice that her bedroom door was shut.
And that’s when she realized Adrien was home.
She grinned. He was home.
When he got in last night, she didn’t know. Nor did she care. All she cared about was that he was home and Emma would be happy to see him again. Since she didn’t want to start breakfast, yet, she decided that she could get her sketchbook…
Which was in the guest room. Where Adrien was.
Along with her clothes.
And basically, sleeping in her bed.
She tried not to dwell on that.
Instead, she pulled a couple pieces of blank paper and a pencil from Emma’s room, then started the coffee she really needed.
After downing cup number one and filling out a couple really terrible pages, she heard a door open. She was sure it was Emma, so she rounded the corner with a grin, ready to greet her good morning.
Only to see Adrien at the top of the stairs.
Her smile only grew. “Good morning.”
His bedhead was one of the greatest things she’d ever seen: wild and fluffy. Oh, so fluffy. She really wanted to run her hands through it.
… She needed more coffee.
“Hi,” he greeted with a yawn. “Forgot to turn off my alarm.”
She chuckled. “What time did you get in last night?”
“Morning,” he said, descending the stairs. “Early, morning.”
“Oh.”
He nodded. “But I’m here and that’s all I really care about.”
“I’m glad you’re home,” she said. Then realized how that sounded and quickly tacked on, “For Emma’s sake.”
Was it her, or did he look disappointed. No, he was just tired. He had to be tired. And so did she.
She needed more coffee.
“Coffee?” she offered.
“Yeah, that sounds great.”
She shooed him to sit down at the table before pouring a mug of coffee for him.
“Cream or sugar?”
“No, just black.”
She quirked a brow as she handed off a mug. “How do you drink that stuff?”
He took it with a thankful grin. “It’s most potent when not dressed up.”
She shrugged then proceeded to pour cream and sugar in hers.
“So…” he started. “Any particular reason that, um… You were in my bed last night?”
The spoon clattered against the counter as heat flooded her cheeks. “Um…” she struggled, not daring to look him in the eye lest she remember that, yes, she was sleeping in his bed and she enjoyed it because the sheets were warm and soft and smelled like him. “Emma… she, uh, that second to last night, she just… it was rough.”
“Really?”
At the tightness in his voice, she turned to see he was wearing a grimace. “Yeah, she… she was outside your door crying for you, so I hoped that maybe it would calm her if, you know, we slept in your bed. And it did, thankfully.”
He nodded. “Good. I mean, not good but… good she got sleep.”
“I was willing to do anything at that point.”
An awkward silence slipped between them.
“So how did everything go?” she asked. “With the fashion houses, that is.”
“Fine,” he answered. “Long. Not fun.”
“Anything other than the one troublesome house?”
“No, thankfully.”
“Did you get any time for sightseeing?”
He shook his head. “I was either walking through our fashion houses or doing piles upon piles of paperwork.”
She frowned as she took a seat beside him. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “What are you gonna do? That’s just part of the new year.”
“Still,” she said, reaching out to place a hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry. I had hoped that things would go smoothly for you or you might even get a chance to relax a bit. I know how busy you’ve been lately. Would have been nice for you to have a few moments to yourself.”
“I would much rather have just gotten as much done as I can so I can spend time with my daughter.”
“It would have been okay to have a bit of time to yourself. You were out of the country. You could have enjoyed a little sightseeing.”
“Well, that’s a little hard when I was far too worried about the sight of Emma crying.”
She squeezed his arm. “Yeah. It was rough and long for her.”
“Hence why I wanted to get stuff done,” he said, taking another sip of coffee. “Because I know she would like to have her dad back.”
Marinette stared at him for a while, just long enough for him to notice and stare back at her. “You’re a good dad. Emma’s very lucky.” She patted his arm. “But don’t worry about taking care of yourself a little bit, either. Don’t work yourself into the ground in the process.”
He held her gaze a while before reaching over to place a hand on top of hers. It made her realize that she had her hand on his arm, a very intimate gesture. She should remove her hand; his hand was only a light presence, allowing her to do such an action. But she didn’t want to.
The pitter-patter of little feet descending the staircase called their attention.
Marinette retracted her hand quickly just as Emma came into view. Marinette grinned at the sight of Emma in her pajamas, Tikki in her grasp. “Look who’s home.”
Adrien stood from his seat, and Emma lit up like the morning sky. “DADDY!”
Tikki was immediately forgotten as she ran to Adrien’s open arms. He scooped her up and swung her around. “I’m so happy to see you,” he said, squeezing her tight.
Marinette watched the reunion with a wide grin.
Tears were involved, but that was mostly because Emma absolutely refused to let her daddy go lest he disappeared again.
“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere for a long time. I promise.”
Emma sniffed. “Pinky promise?” she asked, her voice warbling with tears.
“Pinky promise.”
It wouldn’t be for a while for Emma’s cries to stop, now only the occasional sniffle escaping her.
“Emma,” Marinette said. “Why don’t you tell your dad about our adventures while I make breakfast? Does that sound good.”
Emma nodded, then started in on telling her dad about their adventure in the zoo yesterday.
Marinette dug through the cabinets before deciding on sweet crepes for the occasion. Emma, and Adrien, watched with fascination as she easily flipped the crepes by tossing them in the air.
Adrien cleaned up the dishes once breakfast was over. “Thank you so much for everything,” he said. “I’ve got this.”
“I’ll help. It’s no trouble.”
And that’s what she said throughout the whole day as she helped do laundry and generally clean the house.
“Marinette,” Adrien said, stopping her before she made it to the laundry closet. “I’m serious. Thank you for everything, but I’ve got this.”
“It’s a load of laundry.”
“You said that three loads ago.”
“It’s no trouble.”
“But you don’t have to. I can handle this.”
“But I’m here and don’t have anything to do today.”
“Yes, but you’ve been here for five days straight and I need to pull my weight.” He reached for the laundry.
But she pulled it away. “You said you came home for Emma, so go play with her.” She smacked his rear to emphasize her point.
And that’s when it hit her.
He wasn’t her husband.
She stared at him a while, her mind blank. His expression mirrored her own: wide-eyed and stunned. Slowly, bright red sprawled across his cheeks as he looked away.
And her face… her face was on fire. “Um… I’ll… put this in then I think I’m going to head out.”
