Adrien really needed to stop putting his foot in his mouth. It was one thing saying he'd go to the Dupain-Cheng bakery with Félix and another thing entirely to actually do it. Tension was thick in the limo like humidity, suffocating and making Adrien's skin crawl. Félix was silent the whole way there, staring out the window. If this was bad, how bad would a pastry run with him be? How bad would living with him be?

The Dupain-Cheng bakery was empty when Adrien and Félix stepped inside. Marinette was just stepping out of the kitchen, apron wrapped around her thin frame and a platter of cookies in her arms.

"Adrien! And Félix! Hi!" Marinette greeted them, coming forward with a plate of cookies. "Wait, where's Charlotte?" she asked, looking around the small space as if the girl was hiding somewhere among the displays.

"She needed to go Adrien's and finish unpacking," Félix replied.

"Oh, okay," she said. "Do you guys want a sample cookie? They're fresh out of the oven."

"Thank you," Adrien replied, hurriedly snatching one up. Félix murmured thanks and took one, chewing on it as he went to a glass display and carefully inspected the pastries. "I didn't know you worked in the bakery," Adrien told her.

"It's not so much working as it is helping out. I'm not paid or anything," Marinette shrugged. "But I don't mind. I get to work on displays and decorating, hand out the occasional cookie. It's not a bad job."

"You get to decorate? Which ones did you do?" He tried his best to ignore the adorable blush on her cheeks as she took him over to a display and pointed out the ones bearing her handiwork. Marinette was an incredible artist; for a moment Adrien wondered if he could commission her for some kind of art piece when Félix spoke up.

"Uh, Marinette, can I get two of every macaron, please?" Adrien was taken aback by how polite he sounded. If there was one thing Félix had proven himself to be, it was rude.

"Yeah, of course!" She shot Adrien an apologetic look while she went to the display and started placing macarons in pretty white boxes. "What about you, Adrien? Do you want anything?"

"Uh, I'm still trying to decide," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay. Just let me know when you've decided," she said happily as she handed Félix his box of macarons.

"Could I also get some éclairs, please?"

"Of course!" Is he going to buy the entire store, Adrien wondered as Marinette put five in a box for him. Adrien had a sweet tooth, but clearly Félix had more than one.

"Marinette, I want a few of the cookies you decorated," he said. A pink flush appeared on her face and she pointed to the other side of the bakery to a few cookies on a tiered porcelain display. "What kind are they?"

"Just sugar; I didn't frost the others. We have other kinds -"

"No, I'll take three of them. Or maybe four. If Charlotte likes cookies, I should bring her back one," he added as an afterthought.

"Don't bring back anything for Charlotte. She won't eat it," Félix replied. And there it was. The argumentative side of him was coming out

"Really? She'll refuse a cookie?" Adrien retorted skeptically.

"I think I know my sister better than you, but okay," he said, eyes rolling.

"We, uh, we have some savory pastries if that's her kind of thing," Marinette offered helpfully. "A croissant might be good to bring back to her. They're not too sweet."

"I'll take one of those for her," Adrien said. He wasn't going to fight Félix here but God, if he didn't cut it out, Adrien would chew him out once they left the bakery. But Félix said nothing else as Marinette boxed up their goods for them and gave them their total, only looking around the bakery with his foot tapping a beat to unheard music. Maybe things will get better, Adrien wondered as Marinette gave him back his credit card and sent them on their way. After all, he dropped me getting Charlotte something.

"By the way, Adrien, your girlfriend Marinette is pretty cute," Félix said loudly to him as he stepped outside the store, pushing past a flustered Adrien and leaving him behind with a squawking Marinette.


The first thing Gabriel noticed about Charlotte was her resemblance to Emilie. If the girl straightened her hair, maybe she'd be the spitting image. She had considerably less shopping bags than Gabriel imagined she would; she certainly didn't have Emilie's love of shopping. Charlotte seemed to pick up on him lurking in the doorway of his office and gave him a tentative wave.

"Hello, sir. I'm Charlotte," she said, dropping the bags and slowly walking over to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. Where's my son and Félix? I thought they were shopping with you," he asked. He'd had a few Skype calls with Félix before he came to France, but Gabriel had hoped to meet him in person today. But apparently, that'd have to happen later.

"They went to a bakery, or something," she told him. Gabriel couldn't see any traces of her father in her face. Of course he knew there had to be some. Kids don't come out looking like a clone of their parents. But he could only see Emilie in her and none of him. To be honest, he'd been hoping Charlotte and Félix were in fact his and Emilie had just assumed they were the other man's. But he couldn't tell by looking at Charlotte. Félix didn't have his square jaw but had his eyes. Or at least, Gabriel liked to think Félix had his eyes. After all, maybe Emilie's other man had the same kind of eyes, but he didn't like to entertain that thought. No, it was much better to assume Charlotte and Félix were his but only took after Emilie.

"And you didn't go with?" he inquired.

"No. I, uh, I'm not very fond of pastries." He knew what that translated to, from her muddled words to the uncomfortable squirm she did, but he wouldn't intervene. If she didn't want to eat pastries, that was her business.

"I see." She paused and he could see concentration in her eyes as if she were choosing her words carefully.

"Thank you for taking us in, considering the situation," she said quietly. Before he could reply, she grabbed her bags and hurried up the stairs. Well, she was a lot terser than Emilie was, but then again no one was poetic as his late wife.

Maybe Charlotte did get something from him after all.


Another day, another try, Adrien thought as he woke up the next morning, his mind heavy with sleep and exhaustion as he went through his morning routine. A shower, blowdry and style his hair, cover up dark circles with concealer, get dressed, brush teeth. After the bakery incident he and Félix had come home and spent five awkward hours helping them unpack and rearrange their furniture to how they liked it. And that was followed by another silent meal filled with tension and Félix scolding Charlotte for picking at her food and Charlotte retorting that he was eating too much and would become unhealthy. Adrien groaned as he put down the hair dryer. If he had to get between the twins again when they screamed at each other, he would jump off the Eiffel Tower.

Plagg was still sleeping on his special pillow when Adrien came into the room and sat down to put his sneakers on. He'd probably have a few things to say about his holder jumping off of a tower, but if he'd been there, he would have understood. Maybe. Who knew what went on in Plagg's head. A sharp rapping at his door hoisted Adrien out of his thoughts.

"Come in," Adrien called as he threw a blazer over Plagg. Charlotte walked in, dressed in the peasant blouse he'd gotten her yesterday and jean shorts. But his eyes zeroed in on the air horn in her hand.

"Good morning, Charlotte. Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine. I'm just warning you I'm going to go wake up Félix. Is your dad's room nearby? Should I warn him too?" she inquired.

"No, he's at work already," Adrien told her. Is that why she has an air horn?

"Oh, good. Well, yeah, I'm going to go wake him up. If you hear yelling, everything's fine. He's just hard to wake up and he's not a morning person." And without further ado Charlotte left his room, quietly shutting the door behind her. Not five seconds later he heard Félix's bedroom door slam open and loud blasts from the air horn cut through the mansion.

"WAKE UP MOTHERFUCKER IT'S MORNING TIME!" Charlotte's voice radiated through the Agreste Manor, rising over the air horn. "COME ON FÉLIX IT'S TIME TO GET THE FUCK OUTTA BED!"

"FUCK OFF CHARLOTTE!" Félix's voice yelled back, just as loud as his sister.

"Geez, why are they so loud?" Plagg groaned, crawling out from under Adrien's discarded shirt. Giggles burst from Adrien and he was rolling on his bed, gasping for air as he laughed hysterically. "It's not funny! They woke me up!"

"S-sorry, Plagg. I just, I just can't believe that's how she wakes him up," Adrien said, breathing hard as he tried to stop his laughter. Of all the ways to wake someone up, he never would have thought of screaming coupled with a goddamn air horn.

Félix still looked half-asleep by the time he joined Adrien and Charlotte in the dining room, hair wild and pajamas still on. His plate was already set and he had no problem digging in as soon as he fell into his chair.

"I'm loving the pajama couture," Charlotte teased him. She snorted into her fruit as Félix glared at her.

"I'm loving the short-shorts and the huge shirt," he fired back.

"That's literally what you're wearing," she replied.

"I know, that's why I said it." Adrien joined Charlotte and Félix laughing, tension in the air melting away like chocolate in an oven.

His eyes glanced over to the family portrait hanging above the mantle. Pain tugged on Adrien's heart as he saw his mother, smiling and happy. Would she be happy knowing the twins were living with Adrien and his father? Or would she have rather kept the twins isolated in New Orleans? He didn't know the answer and he didn't know whether he liked living with them yet, but this was just the beginning. Who knew what was going to unfold now that every secret was out?


Yay, the introduction arc is done! Now we can get to the nitty-gritty Adrien mourning the loss of his mother and her other life as well as getting to know the twins! I did let some of Félix's cool facade slip in this chapter but eh, it's a good segue to the next chapter!