Author's Note:
This is a follow-up one-shot to my story After Were Dad. It starts off with Adrien and Marinette returning from their honeymoon and some follow-up from the previous story before talking about Alya and Nino's wedding, which was hinted at happening a few months after the other story ended.
There's also a story my wife and I have about our wedding (over 21 years ago) that I worked into Nino and Alya's wedding.
And yes, I know I end this story a little quickly, but I didn't really want to rewrite a nearly similar reception as Marinette and Adrien's reception from the other story.
I do not own any of these characters.
The week of Adrien and Marinette's honeymoon was uneventful for the trio of superheroes who watched over Paris in their absence. Upon their return, the trio returned their miraculouses to Master Fu as planned since Ladybug and Cat Noir were back in Paris. They all figured Hawk Moth wasn't interested in anyone else's miraculous and decided to await the return of the newlyweds.
It was a busy day for the duo. They arrived at their new apartment and double checked their stuff. Their first surprise, was being greeted by the Gorilla at the door to the apartment building. Apparently, he had gotten hired as the door man/security guard for the apartment building so he could still watch over Adrien and his family.
Nathalie and the Gorilla had been instrumental in getting furniture delivered and arranged, including Marinette's stuff. They had gotten new furniture for their living room and a dining room table. Marinette's parents donated a lot of kitchen items, which was supplemented by Gabriel's chef. The newlyweds looked over everything and rearranged things some while unpacking the clothes they had taken on their trip. It wasn't a small apartment, but it was still smaller than the mansion even though it included a room dedicated to Marinette designing new outfits. There were even pictures already hung on the walls. All in all, the couple was pleased with how well the apartment had been set up for them.
Most importantly, it had a balcony. Marinette's furniture from her balcony had been brought over and arranged. It didn't have quite as nice of a view, but it didn't face any other buildings, allowing for some privacy for superheroes coming and going. Adrien considered it to be Marinette's good luck to have found a superhero-friendly apartment that was available.
After christening the apartment, the couple looked at the time and then at each other. Alya had asked them over for dinner at 6:00, and the clock read 5:59. They jumped up from their current position and Marinette quickly texted Alya that they were running late. Just before exiting the apartment, Marinette's phone dinged and she saw Alya's reply of, "I'd be worried if you weren't!"
Alya met them at the door and invited them inside. Their eyes were wide as they surveyed Alya's new apartment. They came around the corner into the dining room to be met with Nino. "Hey, dudes!"
The couple exchanged greetings with Nino and sat down. "I knew Alya had invited us over for dinner, but she didn't mention you'd be here also. I'm glad you are," Adrien exclaimed.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Nino retorted sarcastically, "I live here."
Adrien and Marinette looked at each other and then to Alya who was just sitting down. "Surprise!" Alya stated with a large grin.
"Not really," Marinette replied with smile. "We figured if you got an apartment that Nino would eventually move in. We just weren't sure of the timing."
"Makes sense. But I did have another motive for inviting you over for dinner besides surprising you with the news about Nino and me living together..." Alya started.
"Planning your wedding?" Marinette guessed.
"That too, but something else, also," Alya rebutted and grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "There were no akumas while you were gone, and I thought you could give the Ladyblog an exclusive interview to let Paris know you're back."
Marinette looked over at Adrien, who just shrugged gesturing he was okay with it. Marinette nodded back to Alya. She didn't like trying to bait Hawk Moth into striking again, but she knew they couldn't find him without him taking another victim.
Dinner was great. So was the conversation. It felt great being able to hang out with their friends. Adrien had to remind himself each time he was tempted to check the clock that he didn't have a curfew or the threat of being whisked away back to the mansion. Dessert had been provided by Marinette's parents as she and Adrien stopped by the bakery on the way to Alya's new apartment for a quick hug and kiss before joining their friend. They ended up leaving with a chocolate cake also, at Sabine's insistence.
Alya got her phone out to record the interview after Marinette and Adrien transformed. "Hello everyone! This is Alya and I'm here with a newly married Ladybug and Cat Noir, who are back from their honeymoon. So..." Alya leaned in and then flipped the phone around to Ladybug and Cat Noir, "how was the honeymoon?"
"Purrfect!" Cat Noir piped up before Ladybug could stop him. He glanced over to see her smiling brightly at him.
"I agree. It was spot on!" Ladybug quipped back, causing Cat Noir to smile also. He leaned over and nuzzled her neck at the pun.
"Okay you two," Alya smirked from behind the phone, "Keep it PG." At that, Cat Noir sat straight up and blushed, mouthing a sorry at the phone.
"As you can see," Ladybug started, hoping to change the subject, "Cat Noir and I are back and will be here to defend Paris against Hawk Moth whenever he strikes again."
After a few more questions, of which most of them were unanswered for being too personal, Alya wrapped up the interview and posted it to the Ladyblog. Ladybug and Cat Noir detransformed and the guys went off to watch television while the girls talked about wedding ideas.
Across town, Gabriel looked up from his phone at Nathalie and stated, "While I'm glad they had a good honeymoon, they're going to be waiting an awfully long time for another battle." Nathalie smiled and nuzzled Gabriel the way Cat Noir had nuzzled Ladybug. Gabriel giggled and looked deeply into Nathalie's eyes. It'd only been a week, but it seemed like it'd been a month with as much as they had done and as close as they'd grown.
It was hard at first, letting go always is. Each first with Nathalie reminded him of his first with Emilie. The first time they held hands. The first time they hugged. The first time they kissed. Gabriel shed a tear each time, as good it felt with Nathalie was just as much as he missed Emilie. Nathalie reassured him, repeatedly, that she wasn't trying to take Emilie's place, but that she was trying to have something new with him. Those were comforting words to him as it made it easier for him to talk about his feelings with Nathalie. He still felt guilty for pouring his heart out about Emilie to Nathalie. But, she'd simply smile and nod for him to continue until he got it all out.
They had even started talking about Nathalie moving into the mansion. Things were moving fast. Almost too fast. It certainly would be considered too fast by most, if it wasn't for the fact that Nathalie was at the mansion working almost all day everyday anyway. They already had that down. The constant nearness to each other had been present between them for years now. Gabriel had long considered her a friend and confidant given she was the only person who knew he was Hawk Moth, and had even risked her own health to protect him by using the Peacock Miraculous.
The next day, Adrien and Marinette stopped by to visit and have lunch. They were pleased to see that Nathalie was actually joining them. They were extra pleased to see what appeared to be a budding relationship. Adrien was happy for his father. He knew is father deserved to be happy after being miserable and lonely all those years. "I have an announcement," Gabriel stated. "It's probably been obvious, but I feel I should confirm your suspicions and let you know that Nathalie and I are indeed pursuing a relationship."
"Congratulations!" Adrien and Marinette said at the same time. Nathalie blushed a little and then looked to Gabriel. He reached out and she took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
She turned back and smiled at Adrien and Marinette. "Thank you," Nathalie replied sheepishly. "I just want to let you know that I'm not trying to replace your mother, Adrien. I just want to have something new with Gabriel that we can share together."
Adrien nodded. He knew she meant it. He knew she had been with them for so long, that she knew how important his mother had been to them. "I never thought otherwise," Adrien assured her. He looked at his father and added, "You deserve happiness." Adrien could've sworn his ever stoic father choked a little at that.
Gabriel knew he didn't need Adrien's permission, but he also knew how much his mother had meant to him and didn't want to add any strain to their relationship that had been so obviously there the past few years. "I... uh..." Gabriel started, almost afraid of the words that were about to come out. "I want us to heal as a family too, son. I... I'm sorry for the years I wasted holding onto the pain."
Adrien certainly had tears in his eyes. "I'd love that." He looked over to Marinette who reiterated that they'd both love for that to happen.
A few months later and it was time for Alya's wedding. They had had much more time to work on it than expected as no akumas had taken any victims. Marinette had even finished Alya's dress with ample time for Alya to try it on and request alterations. Adrien spent the night with Nino and Alya had spent the night with Marinette. It felt like old times, except for the fact they didn't have to worry about waking up parents.
It was going to be a busy day. The wedding was in the early afternoon followed by the reception that was being catered by Alya's mother. Then the couple had to change and race to the airport to catch their flight. Marinette and Adrien had given them a trip to New York City for their honeymoon. Alya and Nino had opted to fly over the night of their wedding, which made for a late-ish flight out of Paris, but because of the time change, they would arrive about two and a half hours after leaving, even though the flight itself was over eight hours.
Marinette and Alya showed up at the venue early (thanks to Alya, of course). That only made Alya all the more nervous watching the clock and waiting to hear that Nino had arrived. Her inability to control every little aspect of things was also making her anxiety sky rocket. She almost had to be strapped to her chair while her hair and makeup were being done. The twins were already dressed and were currently manning the guest book with instructions to report back once Nino arrived.
Etta finally poked her head in the room and announced that Nino was on site. Alya let out a long sigh and eyed the clock again. Ten minutes until the ceremony was supposed to start. She was going to have to have a long conversation with him about punctuality on their flight, especially since she knew he couldn't escape on the plane.
About five minutes later, everyone was ready. Marinette headed out to join Adrien for their walk down the aisle. Marinette was wearing a simple orange dress with a wide white belt. Not really her colors, but they had a theme and Marinette knew she should go along with it, if only to guarantee she didn't out dress the bride. Adrien was wearing a standard black tuxedo with an orange vest and tie. Marinette was certain Adrien looked better than her, but then again, she was biased about that most of the time. Ella and Etta were dressed similar to Marinette and preceded Alya, throwing rose pedals on the floor.
They were in position and the music started playing for Alya. Everyone stood and turned to watch her be escorted to Nino by her father. Alya was wearing a white blusher veil, and an off-white gown with a sweetheart neck line. Orange highlights ran down the dress, widening towards the bottom and coloring her train a solid orange. Her bouquet was made of orange and white roses.
She looked up to Nino who was wearing white dress pants, a white vest, and an orange long sleeve shirt with no coat. He topped off the look with a white fedora. Chris was standing by Adrien and holding a white pillow with the rings. He was dressed similarly to Adrien. After escorting his daughter to her future husband, Otis took his seat next to his wife. Nora, who had not wanted to wear an orange dress even if it was to save her life, had talked Alya into letting her live stream the wedding onto the Ladyblog.
Alya and Nino had standard vows, but included a unity candle in the ceremony. At the appropriate time, Alya and Nino took their individual candles and lit the big candle in the middle of the table together. Both of them promptly spaced out and forgot to blow out their individual candles. Upon being reminded, Alya brought her candle up and blew it out, forgetting about her veil, which thankfully only smoked a little from the experience instead of bursting into flames. Nino, not noticing what was going on with Alya, pulled his candle back and unfortunately lined it up perfectly with the unity candle blowing out his candle and... the unity candle. Having no clue what else to do, both Alya and Nino returned their extinguished candles to their holders and went back to their respective positions before the candle fiasco.
At the appropriate time, Nino raised Alya's veil and gave her a "church" kiss before escorting her down the aisle and away from the exit to get more professional pictures taken before the reception, which was next door.
The reception was rather uneventful and the flight to New York City was long, but not as bad as the couple had feared (at least after Alya gave Nino her speech about not giving the bride a heart attack by showing up ten minutes before the ceremony). Alya loved New York City and she got to tour several television stations and even got on air during Good Morning America while watching it live on the sidewalk. They took in some plays and took some city tours, including one to the Statue of Liberty. The jetlag upon arriving and on their return to Paris was well worth it and she must've hugged Marinette for a solid five minutes thanking her for the trip.