A/N: Mama Marinette is here to save the day, where babies can be her weakness, especially blonde and green eyed ones.
In the end, she took them to her house.
She couldn't swing from one roof to another while carrying three toddlers in her arms, that was a big fat no-no if she didn't want her friends drop to death from several feet above the ground. And they were particularly bouncing, like balls of energy as they talked all the way home, no way was she going to risk that when they were equivalent to rubber balls being thrown on walls.
So she transformed back to Marinette as they made their way home.
She held tightly into Alya and Adrien's hand, Nino holding onto Alya's other hand as the two of them chattered away happily, swinging their arms once in a while as they laughed, seemingly looking happy that Marinette didn't had to worry much.
She glanced down at the blonde haired boy, who was quiet the whole time ever since they started walking. Blonde hair looked absolutely fluffy and soft under the sunlight, his green eyes peered around curiously as he watched people walked past as his small hand clutched onto her fingers tightly, as if a bit wary at the surroundings around him.
She couldn't help but let out an internal squeal at how adorable he looked, wanting nothing more than to squeeze those cheeks. But she shook her head slightly, pursing her lips. He'll run away from you and would call you a crazy lady, and what if he remembers this later?
She would never come out of her room.
She pushed the door when they reached the bakery, and her mother was at the counter wiping the surface when she saw her daughter bringing in three children with her, and then she blinked.
"Marinette?" Sabine asked tentively, eyeing the children as Marinette let them wonder around the shop, tip toeing to see the delicious deserts. "I haven't become a grandmother yet, have I?"
A strip of pink graced her cheeks as she kissed her mother on the cheek in greeting. "Mama," She protested, laughing as she did so. "They're my friends," At her mother's blank look, she gave a smile. "Alya, Nino and Adrien."
Sabine gasped, walking towards Nino as she crouched to his level, where he blinked at her in surprise as she took his face in her hands that his glasses became crooked. "What happened to them?"
Marinette gently pried Alya's fingers from playing with the tongs that hung beside the counter as she thought of ways to answer her mother without revealing much. "A villain called Adolescent changed people to toddlers, and I managed to avoid it while Ladybug tried to stop her, but they weren't so lucky so," She trailed off, watching Adrien took an interest at the multicoloured macaroon mountain on one of the displays, blinking owlishly at it as he grinned so widely that her heart was buzzing at the sight.
"Did Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to catch the villain?" Sabine wondered as she straightened herself up.
Marinette shook her head. "No, if they did, they would be back to normal."
She couldn't help but feel the nagging feeling at the back of her mind when Chat didn't show up for the attack, even when Adolescent was handcuffed in the police car. Where was he? Why didn't he showed up? Surely he would know now since it's out in the news, and yet she hadn't seen him leaping through the rooftops like he always had, making a bravado of his entrance as he always would.
And she had to negotiate Adolescent at the police station as soon as possible, try finding where the akuma would be hidden under all those jewellery.
"Have you contacted their parents?"
She winced. "Not yet," Sure, it was easy to call Alya and Nino's parents, they were regulars to the bakery and she had known them for as long as she could remember.
But to actually inform Gabriel Agreste...
Well.
That was something she would think about for a long while.
"I'll bring them to my room first, at least until the mess dies down," She told her mother as she took hold of Alya's hand, walking towards the stairs. "And then I'll call their parents. Nino, Adrien, let's go."
The boys came tottering to her at her call, tiny feet making pattering sounds on the floor as all of them heaved up the stairs, the three toddlers holding onto the railings for support.
Once they arrived at their destination, Marinette took out the toys she kept for Manon and other children whenever she had babysitting duty, along with some colour pencils, crayons, and papers to make themselves occupied as she was going to make some calls to their parents.
"Colour pencils!" Nino cheered as he took them from her, happily sitting in the middle of her room and started drawing on the spot. He looked up to her, giving her a big smile. "Thank you."
She chuckled, tapping his cap lightly as Alya joined beside him, humming as she lay on her stomach while gripping the red colour pencil. "You're welcome."
Marinette saw that Adrien was searching through the toy box, and she took that moment to study him properly from where she sat beside Alya
He was quiet even when he was a kid, the only time that he did say something when she was Ladybug and latching onto her arms, babbling along with Nino and Alya. Other than that, when she was talking to the police, the three of them were sitting quietly on one of the benches, looking quite scared to see all the adults bustling here and there while there were other toddlers who were sobbing for their parents.
It was obvious that they had the mannerisms and the thoughts of a normal child the moment they were transformed, with no memory of their older selves that they would remember, other than the people in it. She was glad though, after she transformed in the school bathroom again, that they were able to recognise her as Marinette, because as she was playing distress at the police officers, they lit up when they saw her.
She told the police that she was a friend of the three toddlers who became victims to the Akuma, saying that she would bring them home to their parents because they were close friends. In the end, the police agreed, and she brought them to her house without so much a whine from all of them.
Adrien took out a couple black cat ears from the box, fascinated at it for a moment before trying it on. Marinette realised with a giggle that those were something she bought for Manon to wear out of pure amusement, since it reminded Marinette of Chat Noir and the fact that Manon was a huge fan of him. With satisfaction glowing on his face, Adrien stumbled his way towards them, taking a paper and some crayons for himself as he too started drawing.
They were so adorable.
They were so concentrated and occupied with their work they didn't see the red kwami making herself comfortable on Marinette's shoulder, a small squeal escaping her lips. "They're so cute!"
Marinette giggled, standing up as she sat on her chair, getting out her homework. "They are," She paused, before a mischievous smile crossed her lips. "You think I should take a picture?"
Tikki flew to the table, already pulling onto Marinette's phone. "Go for it."
Unknown to them, the moment their backs were turned from the toddlers, another kwami with the colour of the night flew from Adrien's jacket, where the boy was startled for a moment as he watched the black thing zoomed across the room and crashed itself under a cushion, hiding its presence from everyone.
He blinked once, before going back to his colouring.
It turned out that Marinette had to babysit them throughout the whole day.
Their parents couldn't come because of work, at least Alya and Nino's parents were at work, and she had yet to call the Agreste residence to talk about Adrien's condition, where he would probably have a slight break from his modelling carrier due to his insufficient size and inability to walk properly on the cat walk without stumbling and tottering everywhere he went, those cat ears still on his head.
Which was very cute by the way, and she was still tempted to scoop him up and kiss him all over the face.
But now it seemed as if the children were starting to get bored.
"I'm bored," Alya tugged onto her sleeve, the art supply and empty plates from their snacks left abandoned in the middle of the clearing as the boys were playing with the cars they found at the bottom of the box.
Marinette blinked blearily after hours of hunching over her school work, and a yawn broke pass her lips as she stretched her arms above her head. She glanced over at clock, where it was already starting to get late.
"Well, it's almost night time, we can't go out to the park now," She stated as she propped her elbow on the desk, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. "How about we do something else while waiting for your mum to come?"
As if on cue, Sabine called from downstairs about Alya's parents' arrival.
The four of them came bustling down the stairs, and Alya's parents were shocked to see their teenage girl had became younger, where she came running towards them that her father caught her when she jumped onto him. Marinette explained what she could to them, and they bid their thanks and goodbye before they left.
It took her a moment before she called after them again.
"I could take care of her of you want," Marinette told them when they turned around. She gave a sheepish smile. "I, uh, work part time as a babysitter, and since it's the weekend tomorrow, I'll be free then."
Alya's mother seemed to sigh in relief, before nodding with a smile. "Thank you, both of our timetables would be packed tomorrow, we couldn't leave her with her sisters just yet."
Marinette nodded as she grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
A few minutes later, Nino parents came along and brought him back with them, thanking profusely for her help as she made the same favour with them, to which they agreed before they too left.
Which only left her with Adrien.
She watched him from where she was leaning back as she used her arms as support, where he was taking one of the few children books she kept and started reading to himself.
Pursing her lips, she glanced down to the phone beside her, tapping her finger on the floor as the thought of calling his house rolled in her mind, where Nathalie would most likely answer the phone and demand him where he was. Adrien's driver would most likely come to pick him up, leaving him sitting quietly and lonely at the back sit of the limo with no one to entertain him, since Marintte knew that his father was at Rome to attend work there.
Somehow, it didn't feel right to leave him alone.
But, someone from his house had to know.
Tikki was thinking the same thoughts from her spot on her shoulder. "You should do it."
Marinette sighed, running her face with her hand as she straightened up. "I know, Tikki, but Nathalie won't believe me if I called her. Or she would think this is some stupid prank."
Tikki giggled, patting Marinette's cheek. "Well, she can't say much about it to Ladybug, can she?"
A ghost of a smirk passed her lips. "True," She paused. "Do you think it would be okay if I transformed in front of him, Tikki? Would he remember this?"
Tikki was silent for a while, before she let out a small breath. "Maybe, maybe not, we're not too sure. Usually the people who were corrupted by the Akuma would forget what they did, but as for the victims of the Akuma itself, well, it usually depends on how strong the Akuma would be."
Marinette sighed again. "So, no?"
"For the best."
Then, Adrien surprised Marinette by sitting beside her, making himself comfortable as the kwami hid out of sight.
Marinette smiled, her heart bubbling with joy. "Hey there Adrien, what do you have there?"
He shrugged. "A book."
"Oh, what's it about?"
"Winnie the Pooh."
Ah, good ol' Winnie.
To her surprise, he snuggled towards her, his hair tickling her arm as he leaned onto it. Hesitatingly, she pulled it from under his weight to wrap it around his shoulders, bringing him closer to her, where he started to turn the pages of the books as he hummed the theme song under his breath.
She leaned forward and pressed her lips against the top of his head, her heart getting heavy all of a sudden. "I have to bring you home, Adrien."
He looked up at her, pure childlike confusion etched on his face. "Why?"
She gave a small smile. "Because someone would be worried about you."
He didn't seem convinced at her statement, as if he was doubtful that anyone was waiting for him in that mansion of a house. She knew of course, that his relationship with his father wasn't as smooth as she had with her father, but to think that at this age he still remembered the condition of his house was somewhat alarming.
"But I want to stay with you," He ejected, a small frown on his brow. "You're nice."
She felt the heat on her cheeks at the compliment, knowing how truthful a child can be. "But people would be worried, Adrien, and they would probably think you've gone missing since it's late now."
His frown deepened, before looking down to his book. "There's only Nathalie."
Her heart clenched at the words, before running her fingers through his hair in sympathy. Then, an idea came to mind. "How about you come to my house tomorrow with Alya and Nino? We'll have fun together, we can even bake if you want to."
His eyes lit up when he looked at her, the starting of a grin growing at the corner of his lips. "Really?"
She nodded. "Mm-hm. But first," She bopped his nose, where he scrunched it the moment her finger made contact that she giggled. "We have to get you home. I have a friend who can get you there."
He blinked at her. "Who?"
She untangled herself from him, standing up as she made her way to the trap door. "I'll call her right now."
Once she was outside, Tikki flew out of her purse and winked at her before Marinette was transformed into Ladybug, jumping into her room again as she crouched onto her bed while he scrambled to stand up, his eyes wide as the grin on his face came out full force.
"Ladybug!"
It's a miracle really -oh, the puns- that Ladybug would still be remembered even if they were turned into tiny people.
She waved, before making her way towards him. "Hey there Adrien, Marinette told me that you needed a ride."
He nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh," Then, he looked up toward the trap door. "Is she still up there?"
Ah crap. Ladybug laughed nervously. "She already went down through another door, she said you'll see her tomorrow."
He nodded, and she took that as a cue to pick him up, offering her arms towards him.
His gaze flickered from her hands to her face, and he bashfully walked into them, letting her carry him as she settled him on her hip, making their way towards the trap door again, letting the cool air ruffle their hair as she shut it behind her.
"Hold on tight." She murmured into his hair, and once she felt him have a firmer grip on her, she swung from her balcony and into the night.
