She looked so much like his mother it hurt. It wasn't so much in the blonde curls that framed her face, but in the shape and warmth in her blue eyes (although the color hadn't come from his mother). It was in the smooth planes of her face, ones he had grown up seeing everyday. Her jawline curved the same way his mother's did, her skin was the same porcelain color, and her upturned nose was identical to his mother's.
And her twin looked almost the same, the same facial features, although instead of curls he had long, sideswept blond hair. But where the girl exuded warmth, he gave off a cold aura that made Adrien hesitant as they walked up the stairs. This boy and girl . . . no, he shouldn't call him that. Boy and girl. He needs to get it through his head. They're not some random strangers in his home, they're his brother and sister.
Well, half-brother and half-sister, according to Nathalie.
When Adrien had woke up that morning, nothing was out of place. His alarm went off like it always did, he ate breakfast alone, he was driven to school and dropped off. Everything was normal. It was just another Friday.
"I'll see you after lunch," Adrien told Nino once the bell had rang for their break.
"See you then. I'll have Marinette save you a few pastries," Nino said before going off to join her and Alya for a picnic. Adrien had wanted to go, but Nathalie had refused his request. That hadn't surprised him. His father liked Alya and Marinette, but Nino was still banned from the Agreste Mansion and Adrien knew Gabriel disliked his friend.
As usual, the Gorilla was outside the school waiting and when Adrien climbed into the car, he noticed Nathalie sitting in the back of the limousine. Her arms were crossed, lips twisted into some kind of pout. What, Adrien thought as he fastened his seatbelt. Why's Nathalie here?
"Do I have a photo shoot right now?" he asked.
"We're going to the airport. We have some kids to pick up," Nathalie said tersely.
"Wait, who are we picking up?" he inquired. Sometimes if an international model was coming to work on an Agreste shoot, Gabriel would have the Gorilla pick them up, but Adrien never came along. Nathalie exhaled slowly, eyes darting away from him.
"We've finally located your mother," Nathalie began and his heart began to beat violently in his chest. They found her?! She's coming home? She's coming home! he thought happily, heart racing. "She's been in New Orleans, Louisiana for the past few years. She . . . Adrien, your father and I want you to understand that sometimes marriages . . . marriages don't work out and instead . . . your mother loved you but she and your father had some rough patches. God, I can't believe I'm having to tell you this," she groaned. What does she mean, marriages don't work out? Has she just been living away from Father because they had a fight? he wondered. The elation running in his veins began to slow down, but he had to stay positive, he reminded himself. His mother was coming home and that was all that mattered.
"It's okay, Nathalie. I can just ask Mom myself," he said.
"Adrien, we're not picking up your mother." His hopes dove into the ground at her words and his heart went from pounding to dead still in a second. "What I'm trying to say is that affairs happen. And sometimes, the siren's call is too much to bear."
"What are you saying?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Your mother went to New Orleans to be with her lover. My understanding is that he's dead and your mother stayed behind to take care of their kids. She passed away a few days ago. I'm sorry." Everything came crashing down onto him. Vomit rose in his throat and acidic tears burned his eyes. No, no she couldn't be dead. That wasn't possible. That couldn't be possible.
"Then . . . then who are we picking up?" he asked, biting back the vomit and tears.
"Your father thought it would be a good publicity move, that and he's unhealthily devoted to your mother even through all the bullshit she put him through, well he said Emilie would want this and it'd look good if he took in your half-brother and sister."
"WHAT?!" Adrien demanded. My brother?! My sister?! What?! "But why?!
"Well, there's always the off chance they're his, anyway. They look too much like Emilie for me to tell, and I don't know what their supposed father looked like, but as I said. Your father loved her too much and along with you, they're all he has left of her. It's a bad move if you ask me." Nathalie sat back in her seat, glaring out of the window. "I tried to talk him out of it. They have no place here and frankly, if he can barely take care of you he has no business bringing in two more kids. But he insisted that it's what Emilie would have wanted him to do."
Adrien's head was spinning. His mother was dead? He had a brother and sister? His mother had left him and his father willingly? What was going on? Was this even reality? He prayed he was just having a nightmare and he'd wake up in bed any moment now. But the closer they got to the airport he realized this was not a dream. This was really happening and he had to keep moving forward through all of this. His first instinct was to curl up and cry, but he couldn't do that with Nathalie in the car. The Gorilla wouldn't mind, but Nathalie no doubt would be less than kind if she saw him crying. "You're an adult, Adrien," he could hear her voice in his head. "Stop crying like a child."
With no other option Adrien did his best to keep himself together, wishing he could feel numb.
They waited for them in the airport, Nathalie holding a tablet bearing their names on it. Félix and Charlotte D'Aulnais. Nerves were boiling in Adrien's stomach. Sure, he had always wanted siblings when he was younger, but not like this. He didn't want siblings knowing that his mother had left on her own free will. She willingly left him and his father behind for another man and had two kids with him during that time.
Hell, did they even understand the situation? They couldn't be more than toddlers. They couldn't understand what was going on. All they knew was their parents were dead and they were on their way to a foreign country, where Adrien knew he'd have to be the one taking care of them. Gabriel had been loving and caring when he was a toddler, but given his recent track record Adrien doubted he would have much to do with the twins.
God, today couldn't get any worse.
"It's about time they got here," Nathalie grumbled, looking down to her watch before looking back into the crowd. But Adrien couldn't see any little kids in the crowd. Instead, two teenaged blondes made a beeline towards them. They're not toddlers?! Adrien thought in shock. How can they be teenagers?! Unless . . . unless Mom didn't start the affair right before she disappeared. His stomach was knotting on itself and bile was rising in his throat. This couldn't be happening. His mother would never do something like that. She'd never have an affair, let alone one long enough to have kids near his age, and she'd never leave him and Gabriel behind.
And yet, the proof of all his worst nightmares were standing right in front of him.
"Sorry for the delay, luggage took a while to get to the baggage claim and we got lost. All those escalators are confusing," the boy said. He was tall and thin, not unlike Adrien, although Adrien had to admit this guy was far more lanky than he was. "You must be Mme. Sancoeur. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, Félix," Nathalie said, shaking his hand. "Mr. Agreste apologizes that he couldn't be here. He's overseeing that your bedrooms are getting properly furnished." The twins hadn't been here for more than five minutes and they were already getting one of Gabriel's trademarked lies, Adrien realized resentfully. No doubt his father just didn't want to show up at the airport when he could be home hiding in his study.
"That's fine. We know he's a very busy man," Félix commented. At his side, his sister - their sister - nodded solemnly. Is she uncomfortable? Adrien wondered. Part of her body was obscured by Félix, head tilted to peek out. It was almost as if she were using him as a human shield. She wasn't as tall as Félix. In fact, she was pretty short and where Félix was lanky, she was a little chubby. They definitely weren't identical twins, but definitely out of the two she had more of a resemblance to his mother.
"It's nice to meet you," Adrien told her. Had he already done something wrong? She went from looking nervous to looking scared, like a deer caught in the headlights. "I'm Adrien. I'm your older brother." God, that sounded so weird to be saying, but he kept a friendly smile on his face and ignored the awkwardness and inner turmoil warring in his body. He stuck his hand out to her and waited. Gingerly, she pried herself from Félix's side and shook his hand.
"I'm Charlotte. It's nice to meet you too," she replied quietly. Félix's icy blue eyes slid over to Adrien and he had to stop himself from recoiling at Félix's harsh look.
"Same," he said, reaching out to shake Adrien's hand.
"You two have everything? Good. We're going to head back to mansion for lunch. Mr. Agreste expects you both to attend the latter part of the school day," Nathalie told them.
"We wouldn't expect anything else," Félix replied. Back in the car, Adrien tried to sit between the twins only to be shunted to the window seat by Félix. Did I do something to make them upset, Adrien wondered, glancing over at them. Félix was on his phone and Charlotte's nose was pressed to the tinted glass, staring at at the city.
"After school's over, Adrien will take you shopping for clothes and any other furniture you might want in your bedrooms," Nathalie said, fishing something out of her purse. "I already alerted Gabriel's boutique that you three will be swinging by and he's already given you two the green light to take whatever you want."
"Oh no, we couldn't possibly do that," Charlotte spoke up, eyes wide as she turned to Nathalie.
"He insists. You're living in the Agreste household now and you need Agreste clothes, simple as that." Nathalie handed over a sleek black credit card to Adrien. "Use this for any purchases outside of his boutique. The pin is your birthday, Adrien."
"Got it," he said, slipping it into his wallet. Charlotte opened her mouth again but a quick look from Félix silenced her. She turned her head back to the window.
Adrien knew he should start a conversation with them. But what to talk about? General icebreakers? How New Orleans was? What could he talk about with them? He didn't know the first thing about then and he had a feeling even if he tried to start a conversation, Félix would shut him down and he'd make Charlotte stay quiet. Once again, Adrien decided to stay silent.
The car pulled into the garage and everyone got out. Nathalie motioned for Félix and Charlotte to follow her, Adrien trailing behind The twins had rooms in his side of the house. His door was at the end of the hallway and Charlotte's was to his left and Félix's to his right. At least we'll be close together, he thought. Maybe this will be an excuse to talk to each other.
"Do you need help unpacking?" he asked Félix.
"I'll be fine, thank you," he responded tersely.
"What about you, Charlotte?" he inquired.
"No thank you, Adrien. I'll be okay. Go ahead and have lunch without us. We need to unpack," Charlotte replied. Like a whip, Félix's head turned to his sister and gave her a critical look.
"Charlotte, go have lunch with Adrien. I'll unpack for you," he said.
"You don't know how I like my things organized," she argued.
"Go have lunch, Charlotte," he said again, forcefulness straining in his voice.
"Hey, I can wait for you guys to unpack and then we can all have lunch together," Adrien interjected, moving between the twins. Félix pursed his lips and turned on his heel, going into this room and shutting the door behind him. Charlotte murmured thanks to Adrien before going into her room and quietly shutting the door.
"Wow, talk about tension. You're going to have your hands full with those two," Plagg commented, poking out of a pocket as Adrien retreated into his bedroom. "Are you okay?"
"No," Adrien replied bluntly. "What am I supposed to do? My mom's dead and never coming back and she left me! She left me and Dad willingly! Did she even love us?"
"Of course she loved you!" Plagg exclaimed.
"Then why did she leave?" he demanded. "If she loved us, why did she run off to be with another man? Why did she have kids with him only a few years after I was born?!"
"I'm sure there's a good reason -"
"How can any of this have a good reason?!" Adrien demanded. "What good reason is there for leaving us behind?!"
"Okay, so maybe there isn't, but -"
"But what?" Adrien sat down on his bed, hands cradling his face. Everything surfaced back up and tears stung his eyes. His mother was gone and now it wasn't just about healing with his father. It was about healing with two strangers that clearly weren't going to make things easier. And how could he even heal from this? Everything was conspiring against him and he couldn't see the silver lining of this situation.
For the first time in years, Adrien just sat on his bed and cried until dry sobs wracked his body.
So I have a sad headcanon but not really a headcanon that nothing bad happened to Adrien's mom and she just left on her own free will. I thought it'd be interesting to see Adrien's dynamic with siblings and trying to piece his life back together after all this bullshit goes down.
As the story goes on more and more will be explained, like the full story of Emilie and Gabriel's relationship and its problems, why exactly Gabriel took the twins in, and why Félix and Charlotte aren't much younger than Adrien (he's 18 and the twins are 15 turning 16 in a few chapters). We'll also get to see some stuff from Gabriel's point of view, and maybe Félix and Charlotte (although I haven't fully decided on that yet).