Adrien stepped out of his office, quietly shutting the door and locking it as he called to his secretary, "Madeleine, I'm leaving now. If there are any problems while I'm out of the office, give me a call."
"Oh, it's already the 18th, isn't it?" The woman smiled gently as her fingers continued to tap away on her keyboard. "Tell Marinette 'happy birthday' for me, would you dear?"
"Of course, thank you, Madeleine. Have a good afternoon." Adrien waved as he headed towards the elevator. He hit the call button and waited, tapping his foot along to the song stuck in his head. The tune was one of Marinette's favorites, and he grinned as he remembered the time he had caught her dancing around to it in her underwear.
The doors opened and Adrien stepped into the car, pressing the button for the ground floor. He hummed along with the tune as the elevator slowly descended twelve stories. He was lucky to have an office with a great view, but working at the top of the Agreste Fashion Tower meant one heck of an elevator ride.
Finally, the bell dinged and the doors reopened, releasing him into the lavish lobby. He waved to the receptionist as he passed, and she covered the mouthpiece of her phone to whisper, "Tell Madame Agreste happy birthday!" He nodded that he would, continuing through the large front doors and out to his car.
As he turned out of the lot, he flipped the radio on, chuckling as the song that had been stuck in his head all morning began to echo out through the speakers. How lucky that his wife's favorite song would be playing on her birthday! He'd have to tell her that later.
While he drove, he sang along to the songs he knew, making up lyrics to the ones he didn't. It was one of his favorite games, and he'd always loved making up silly lines to make Mari laugh. He kept it up the whole way home, imagining her reactions to his clever lyrics.
He parked in the drive and hopped out, heading for the front door. He let himself in and slipped his shoes off, a custom that had carried down from Marinette's side of the family. Whistling as he rolled up his sleeves, Adrien headed into the living room, setting his briefcase down and quickly catching sight of his other favorite girl.
"Emma," he cooed as he waved hello to Leona, the girl's nanny. He stooped down and picked her up off of her play mat, giving her several kisses all over her little face. "How's my sweet girl today?"
"Papa!" Emma tossed her tiny arms around his neck and gave him a mighty—for a three year-old—squeeze. After a moment she released him, leaning back to look him seriously in the eye. "Papa, Leona tol' me is Maman's bird day. What kinda bird is Maman?"
Adrien laughed, thinking to himself, A ladybird, technically, but I don't think that's what she means. To his daughter, he replied, "Maman's not a bird. Leona was saying it's her birth day." He tapped his daughter on her freckled nose. "A long time ago, on the same day as today, your maman was born. She was just a tiny baby back then, smaller than you, even."
Emma was not convinced. "Maman really not a bird? Sure?"
"No, sweetheart, she's not."
"Oh." The little girl almost looked disappointed. "Okay."
Leona stood up from the couch, stepping over with her arms outstretched to take Emma from him. "Okay, little one, it's time for your nap. Say bye bye to Papa."
Emma yawned, as though the mere mention of sleep was enough to exhaust her. "Bye bye, Papa."
"Bye, love." Adrien blew her a kiss as she was carried away to her bedroom. He smiled to himself as he turned and headed for the kitchen, thinking about what a sweet girl his precious daughter was, just like her mother. In fact, Emma was the spitting image of Marinette, with dark hair and those gorgeous blue eyes. The older she got, the more she took after her mother's personality as well. His father-in-law, Tom, was always telling him how much his granddaughter resembled Marinette at that age.
"She used to sneak onto the table when I wasn't looking and dip her little hands into my frosting." He'd roar with laughter, eyes twinkling at the happy memory. "I swear, if we looked away for one second she'd manage to make a mess. But she was the sweetest little girl I ever knew."
Adrien chuckled to himself as he grabbed some chicken from the fridge. Tom was definitely right—Emma was always landing herself in trouble. Just yesterday, in fact, she had been reaching for something on a shelf and managed to bring a stack of towels crashing down on her head. Adrien had just been thankful that it hadn't been something more lethal.
The man placed the package of chicken on the counter before leaning down to grab a cutting board from the cabinet. He scooted the cookie jar out of the way to set his cutting board on the counter, and was startled by Tikki appearing suddenly from nowhere.
Though Hawkmoth had long since been defeated, Tikki and Plagg had decided to stick around in case a new villain popped up, and to watch their kwami-daughter grow up. The family enjoyed having them around, even though Plagg was still the same grumpy cat all these years later.
"Hi, Adrien!" Tikki chirped as she flitted around his head. "Where's Plagg?"
"Probably still asleep in my briefcase. I left it next to the couch if you want to check."
"Okay." She was about to soar off in that direction when she turned her large, indigo eyes back to the man. "We're going to visit Marinette for her birthday later, right?"
"Yup. I'm about to make her favorite, chicken and pasta, and we should be able to leave when Emma wakes up at three."
"Okay, thanks!" She zipped off, and Adrien turned back to his cooking.
Footsteps neared the kitchen a moment later, and Adrien looked up from the chicken he was cutting. "Oh, Leona! Thank you so much for putting Emma down."
"Just doing my job, Monsieur Agreste. I'll be leaving now. Wish Madame Agreste a happy birthday for me, please."
"Of course. I'd walk you out, but I'm a bit preoccupied with this chicken, so you're going to have to wing it."
Leona laughed and bid him a good day before exiting the kitchen. Adrien hummed to himself as he once again resumed his cooking. He planned to make several of Marinette's favorite foods as a birthday surprise; after all, it was a special day.
Two hours flew by, and finally everything was ready and being packed into a picnic basket. Adrien had made a chicken and pasta dish, a sweet berry salad, and a double batch of Tom's famous secret-recipe chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
"Tikki!" he called as he busied himself with whipping up some powdered lemonade.
The kwami zoomed into the kitchen, closely tailed by a grumpy Plagg. Before Tikki had a chance to ask what he'd needed, the black cat let out a loud yawn, complaining, "Why didn't anyone tell me the little stinker was taking a nap? I could've gone to watch over her."
Adrien grinned. "And by that you mean you could've gone to sleep on her head."
"Same thing."
"Anyways!" Tikki interrupted. "What did you need, Adrien?"
"Would you two go wake Emma up? I'll be in to get her as soon as I finish this."
"Got it!" Tikki twirled and flitted back out of the room, dragging an annoyed Plagg along behind her.
Having the kwami was like having two tiny live-in nannies, and Adrien was very appreciative of their help. Emma could be quite the handful, but the magical beings did a good job at keeping her entertained. Granted, they couldn't do everything, he was reminded as he heard a loud wail coming from the nursery.
"Daddy's coming, sweetheart," he called as he poured the finished lemonade into a sealable pitcher, sticking it in the fridge before wiping his hands on a towel and rushing down the hall towards his daughter's room.
"Emma!" Adrien cooed as he picked up his beautiful girl. "How's daddy's little angel?"
Emma's cries stopped almost as soon as she was in her father's arms. She rubbed her eyes, then blinked up at him curiously. "We go see Maman?"
"Soon. We have a couple of important things to do first to surprise her. Will you help Daddy?"
"Yeah!"
Adrien chuckled, pecking the girl on the cheek before heading towards the door. "Okay, the first thing we have to do is put everything into the car. You can help me by carrying the blanket for our picnic." He set Emma down carefully, then grabbed an old blanket from the hall closet and handed it to her. "You hold that tight, okay? It's very important."
"Vewy impotent," the girl repeated sternly, gripping the cloth as tightly as she could with her little chubby fingers. Adrien's heart melted a little at the determined face that so resembled her mother's.
He led her to the kitchen, quickly scooping up the picnic basket and grabbing the lemonade from the fridge. As he found his keys, he called out, "Plagg, Tikki, we're leaving now!"
The kwami appeared immediately, Tikki settling on Adrien's shoulder as Plagg took up residence on Emma's head. The little girl giggled as she toddled after her father out to the driveway, tilting her head back in an attempt to catch sight of the small black cat.
Adrien unlocked the car and set the picnic supplies inside before turning to his daughter and scooping her up once more. He opened the back door and set her in her carseat, carefully doing up the buckles. Once she was strapped in, he gave her a swift peck on the head before closing the door and heading around to the driver's seat.
"Everyone ready?" he asked as he turned on the car and began to make his way down the driveway. He grinned at the excited cheers that came from Tikki and Emma, rolling his eyes at the typical, unenthused snort Plagg gave.
Adrien stopped at a light, waiting for it to turn green before turning left and heading down the street. "We just have to make a quick stop and then we'll really be on our way," he commented as he pulled into a spot on the side of the street. He quickly asked Tikki to watch Emma for a minute before jumping out of the still-running car and heading into the florists he'd parked in front of.
"Be right with you!" a sweet voice called from the back of the shop as the bell signaled his arrival. Adrien stepped up to the counter, peering around the store at the various arrangements on display as he waited patiently to be seen.
A small woman appeared from the back room, looking down to tug off her gloves as she said, "Hi there, what can I help you with—Adrien!"
He grinned as she dashed around the counter to give him a big hug, which he returned. "Hi, Rose. How are things?"
"Great! Juleka's really happy with how the shop is doing, and I'm loving teaching at the new school." Rose gasped, clapping her hands to the sides of her face. "Oh, if you're here it must be that time. I forgot it was coming up, but Juleka mentioned getting your order together a few days ago." She bustled back behind the counter, motioning for him to wait for a moment as she went to find his flowers.
As Rose disappeared behind the door to the back room, the bell tinkled behind Adrien, signaling a new arrival. The man turned around, only to be faced with the owner of the shop herself.
"Juleka, it's nice to see you."
The woman smiled softly, giving him a gentle hug in greeting. "You too, Adrien. How's Emma doing?"
"Looking more and more like her mother every day." Adrien grinned. "She's getting into more and more trouble every day, also like her mother."
Juleka chuckled quietly as her wife reappeared from the back. Rose handed him a lovely arrangement of pink peonies and cherry blossoms as Juleka pecked her on the cheek.
"Be sure to wish Marinette a happy birthday from us," Rose instructed after Adrien had paid and was headed towards the door. Juleka nodded in agreement, giving him a small wave as he left the store, promising he would do so.
Adrien hopped back into the car, carefully resting the bouquet in the passengers seat before buckling up and steering them back out onto the street. He put in one of Emma's CDs and sang along with the children's songs in exaggerated voices to make his daughter laugh.
They drove a bit out of town, turning onto a quiet road that lead to a large clearing in the woods. Adrien pulled off to the side, parking the car out of the way of the entrance in case there were other visitors that day. He climbed out of the car and headed around to his daughter's side to unbuckle her. She kept her tight grip on the blanket he'd given her as he set her on the ground, reminding him, "Vewy impotent."
He ruffled her dark hair lovingly. "Yes, sweetheart. You're doing a great job."
Emma beamed as he gathered the rest of their picnic supplies before closing the doors and locking the car. Neither father nor daughter had a free hand, so he instructed Emma to stay close by and watch her step as they made their way through the grass.
They wove their way around various stones and markers, taking a meandering path to a large tree in the center of the clearing. At the base of the tree stood a simple gray headstone, and it was there that Adrien laid the bouquet.
Adrien set the picnic basket and pitcher down next to the headstone with a sigh. Retrieving the blanket from Emma, he shook it out and spread it next to the grave, taking a seat on it to remove the food from the basket and arrange it nicely. The wind provided a cool breeze and the tree shaded the spot from the sun, creating the perfect location for a birthday picnic.
As Emma chased the kwami around the tree, Adrien leaned back on his hands and sighed again, staring up through the leaves at the sky that reminded him so much of Marinette's eyes. Wistfully, he murmured into the wind, "I wish you were here, My Lady."
"Turn around, you dork."
Adrien jumped up, spinning around to see his love standing behind him. "Marinette!"
His wife giggled as he hugged her tightly, spinning her around in a circle as Emma screeched behind them, "Maman! Maman!"
When Adrien finally set her down again, Marinette pecked him on the lips. "Why are you always so dramatic, Kitten? You saw me just last night." She giggled again at his exaggerated pout as she picked up their daughter and covered her face in kisses.
"I didn't get to see you this morning since you left so early. Is it so wrong of me to miss you?"
"Not at all, Chaton." Marinette gave him another kiss, before motioning to the blanket. "You didn't have to do this much though."
Adrien grinned at her as he led her to it and sat them down. "Your birthday wish was to spend time with Master Fu. This was the least I could do to make it come true."
Marinette smiled wistfully, running her fingers over the edge of the tombstone. Her blue eyes slid closed for a moment as she seemed to offer up a message to their recently departed teacher. When they reopened, they were slightly misty, and Adrien gave her a tender kiss on the forehead, hoping to ease her pain.
"I'm sure he misses us, too," he commented.
Tikki landed on the headstone with a gentle smile. "Especially Emma. They got on like a house on fire." Plagg nodded sagely beside her, his whiskers drooping sadly.
Marinette chuckled at the outdated idiom, wiping the corners of her eyes delicately. "I'm glad he got to know her a bit, at least."
"That's right, smile!" Adrien grinned as he scooped his family into a big hug. "He'd want us to be happy today."
"No cwy, Maman," Emma put in, tugging at her mother's dress.
Marinette gave one final sniff. "You're right, little one. Maman won't cry anymore."
Emma seemed very pleased with herself. "Good."
"Yes, very good." Adrien looped his arm around his wife's waist pulling her close to his side as he nuzzled into her hair. "After all, you can't very well have a happy fortieth birthday if you're crying."
Marinette pulled out of his embrace and whacked him on the shoulder. "Excuse you, I am not turning forty."
Adrien grinned deviously. "My mistake. What was it then, forty two?" He bolted up and dashed around the tree, attempting to stay out of his wife's hitting range as she leapt after him, yelling at him to come back so she could teach him a lesson.
Even though he was running for his life, Adrien was delighted to hear a hint of laughter in Marinette's voice as she shouted at him. Just before he allowed himself to be caught—or so he would later say, though in truth his wife was quite the speed demon—he glanced up at the boughs of the oak tree and sent a silent thank you to Master Fu for all he'd done for their family. As he was tackled into the grass, he swore that he heard a quiet voice carried on the wind whisper, "You're welcome."