Sabine looks up when she hears the bell at the door ring. Ready to greet a new customer, she puts on her smile and starts "Welcome to Tom &.. Oh! Adrien, hi honey, how are you? "
"I'm fine Mrs. Cheng, how are you?"
"I'm doing well dear, thank you for asking. What brings you to our fine establishment? Are you looking for Marinette? I'm afraid she just stepped out for a delivery but you are welcome to wait for her upstairs."
Adrien looks embarrassed, like he is trying to get something off his chest and has no idea how to go about it. Finally, mustering up his courage, he grips his backpack strap and says, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you, if that's ok?"
Sabine blink, a little taken aback but smiles nonetheless, trying to ease a bit of the anxiety she could feel radiating off of the young man.
"Of course Adrien, what can I do for you?"
Adrien takes a breath and reaches down into his backpack, carefully extracting a familiar looking blue scarf from it.
"You see, Marinette made me this a couple of years ago. I love it, it's very soft and warm and makes me think of her whenever I use it…" Adrien smiles, stroking the soft yarn of the well used scarf. Sabine remembers when Marinette was making it, she was adamant that it had to be perfect and flawless since it was going to be a present for a 'special someone'.
"I wanted to ask, " Adrien continues, "if at all possible, could you teach me to knit?, I really want to make her one but I'm afraid I have no idea how to and… well, Marinette is so amazing I just want her to have something that hopefully makes her smile, the way this one does to me."
Sabine feels her heart melt a little, this boy really cares for her daughter. She gives him a gentle smile and says "Of course! I'd love to teach you but I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person."
Adrien's expression falls and she rushed to explain, not wanting to make him feel like his request was being denied.
"The person you want is Marinette's father, Tom"
"Tom?"
"Yes, he is the knitting genius in the family, followed closely by Marinette, I just never picked up the habit, don't really have the patience for it I'm afraid. Give me one moment, I'll call him over"
Sabine turns around and looks at her husband, who is doing a remarkable job at pretending to knead a ball of dough. She walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper to him "I assume you heard everything, " he looks a bit sheepish "you want to take over this one?"
"Yes, of course " he leans down to kiss his wife's forehead, "Can you keep an eye on the oven? The loaves in there should be ready soon"
Sabine nods, grabs his collar before he can straighten up for a quick kiss of her own then moves further into the back, closer to the oven to look at the timer.
Tom smiles at his wife then turns around, walking to the front of the bakery to stand in front of Adrien.
"So, what's this about wooing my daughter with a homemade scarf?"
Adrien blushes furiously and starts stammering "It- It's not like that! I mean, Marinette is amazing a beautiful and I'm thankful she picked me as her boyfriend and I just want to see her smile and make her happy and-"
Tom can't help but laugh at this, they we're both so easy to tease, he would miss this awkward teenage years once they were gone. He puts a hand on Adrien's shoulder to try and stop his rambling "Relax son, I understand."
Adrien takes a deep breath to try and calm himself then looks up at Tom. "Can you teach me? Please?"
Tom pretends to think, pulling a exaggeratedly serious face while humming "I don't know.. Do you think you can handle the responsibility, that comes from wielding the knitting needles?"
Adrien smiles, being around Marinette enough that he learned to pick up on the playful tone her father was using.
"Yes! I promise to only use my knitting powers for good"
"Good good, don't want you to turn around and become one of those yarn bomber rapscallions that are running around Paris lately." Tom sneaks a quick glance at his wife who is doing her best to hide a mischievous giggle hidden behind her hand.
"No no,I swear I'll be good!"
Tom smiles and wraps his arm around Adrien and gives him a gentle shake "Alright then, let's get started, you have a lot to learn!"
Adrien beams up a Tom, barely able to contain his excitement.
Over the course of the next few weeks Adrien starts taking covert knitting lessons at the bakery with Sabine running interference for Marinette.
Tom was a gentle teacher, explaining what he did wrong in detail, taking time to show him how to improve and celebrating his progress.
Slowly, the scarf took shape. Only to be unraveled and remade at the slightest imperfection, Adrien wanted his scarf to be perfect, much like Marinette did when she was making his.
Finally, the scarf was done. It was a lovely shade of pink. Adrien held it in his hands, marveling at the payoff for all his hard work.
"It's perfect… " Adrien turns around to look into the proud expression Tom was sporting. "Thank you so much!"
"No, thank you, son, Marinette is going to love it"
"You really think so?" Adrien says excitedly, holding the scarf to his chest.
"Of course! She's gonna talk about it non-stop, it will make her week when you decide to give it to her" Tom says, patting the young man in the back.
"I hope so!" Adrien looks at his watch and stands up, "I have to go, again, thank you so much I had a lot of fun making this"
Sabine stands up to walk Adrien out while Tom puts away the supplies they had been using. He faintly hears his wife tell Adrien to come visit for diner some other time.
Once everything is back in order Tom turns around to receive his wife at the door with a hug.
Sabine sinks into the hug, they both stand there, enjoying the moment and each others company.
After some time, Tom leans down and asks, "How did the pictures come out?"
Sabine giggles "They came out great, I already added them to the box of memories we're keeping for their wedding"
Tom smiles, giddy with the prospect of seeing those two, years from now, blushing up to their ears when confronted with the collection of adorable pictures he and his wife had been safekeeping. It would be so good.