"I can't believe how early you have to get up," Emma said, sitting at the table eating a croissant lazily as her father rushed around the kitchen as he made a cup of coffee.
Adrien stopped his motion of reaching for the cabinet to look back at his daughter, raising an eyebrow, "It's only a half hour early than the other school I taught at." He turned back toward the cabinet reaching in to grab his to-go mug.
Emma stretched her arms back, barely paying attention to her father's movement. She knew his basic routine, but this was a new school. Not only that it's the school that both of her parents went to, and as far as she knows where they met. She knew her parents have known each other since they were fourteen and that they got together around sixteen, but everything in between is a blank. Emma mentally hit herself over the head remembering the conversation she was having with her dad, she couldn't believe school could start so early.
"Yea, but a half hour in the morning is at least a two-hour difference when it comes to being able to sleep in."
Adrien gave out a chuckle, "What are you doing up anyway?"
The young blonde shrugged, Emma didn't really know how to respond. If she was honest, she was hoping her mom was going to call her back last night, but at since that didn't happen. Emma stayed up most of the night overthinking her conversation with her mom, plus trying to make a plan of how she and Louis are going to find all of the stuff she knew her dad didn't want her to find.
Honestly, though she did miss her dad, he was more comfortable to talk to sometimes and she really just enjoyed his presence.
"You were loud, and it sounded like you were talking to someone this morning. You need to learn to be quieter." Emma said, leaning forward on the counter with a small smirk.
Okay, sure, she wasn't really sleeping, but she definitely knew that her Dad was talking to someone pretty early this morning.
She watched as her dad paused for a second as he went to place the mug down under the coffee maker.
"Sorry… I was… on a call. I'll try to keep it down next time." Adrien replied, looking at Emma out of the corner of his eye was a sorry glance as he placed the mug down, going into his usual routine of making the coffee.
Emma took another bite off the croissant, content with her father's reply, as she listened to the coffee maker start, she swallowed before starting up a conversation with her dad.
"Are you going to talk to the school about Louis and me visiting?"
Adrien turned around to look at her before leaning against the counter crossing his arms. His glasses were slightly sliding down off his face, as he gave a sigh reaching up a hand to push back the black frames.
"We'll see. Like I said, they should be okay with it, but the principal now is much different from the principal from when I went to school there."
Emma watched as her father paused for a moment as if he was thinking, sometimes she wished she could jump into his head to know exact memories that come across his mind.
She wondered if any of them were about her mom.
"Dad?" The young blonde finally said after a time of silence. Adrien looked up quickly, shaking his head softly, turning back around to grab his coffee mug.
"Sorry… I was just thinking…" Emma didn't reply as she continued to watch her father for a moment as he stirred the coffee to cool it down. Even though her dad was easier to talk to, she knew from early on that she shouldn't bring up her mom really often with him. The blonde didn't know to what extent her parent's dislike for each other went or even where it stemmed from, but she was going to find out.
She reaches down for her croissant as she took the last bite and Emma started to roll the napkin her breakfast was initially sitting on. It was a weird habit she picked up at a young age, mainly when she was nervous or overthinking.
Adrien watched his daughter for a second as she rolled up the napkin before speaking,
"Emma?"
The blonde looked up, "Yea?"
Adrien gestured down to the napkin, "Are you okay? I haven't seen you roll up the napkin that small in a while."
Emma shrugged, "It's… nothing. Don't worry about it."
Her father shook his head, "Remember what I said? If something is bothering you? You can tell me, Emma."
The young girl stopped rolling the napkin and looked up at her dad before giving out a sigh, "It just deals with Mom, and I know you don't like talking about her… and you have school and… stuff."
Adrien paused for a moment, before reaching over and grabbing the napkin from Emma. "I know that your mom and I don't see… eye to eye, but I've noticed since you've been back that things don't seem okay between you two."
Emma watched as her dad continued to stare at the napkin for a moment longer before leaning himself against the counter, dropping his arm that held the small rolled up napkin looking Emma in the eye.
"I think you need to let her know what is going on, your Mom and I definitely do not catch onto things easily. She won't know there is something wrong unless you say so, okay?"
Before Emma has a chance to respond, Adrien stands fully back up and stretches out his back.
The young blonde thinks over her father's words as he walks over to the fridge, grabbing his creamer, and closing the door once more. There is a small moment of silence between the two as Adrien begins to mix the creamer into his coffee. He looked up in surprise suddenly with a small smile.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you. Aunt Chloe and Annalise got back in town yesterday."
Emma shot up slightly in her seat, "But- Annalise told me she wouldn't be back for a couple more weeks."
Adrien gave a small shrug, "Well it looks like she tries to pull the wool over your eyes. I spoke to Chloe yesterday, and she wanted to make sure Anna was back in time for school."
Emma smiled, although she didn't talk to Annalise often, mainly because the brunette was always on the move. Anna was one of Emma's closest friends, not just from growing up together, but they have bonded over having every…. similar situations.
"Definitely sounds like Anna. She probably wanted to surprise me." The young blonde said as she got up to throw away her trash.
"You guys are so loud." A third voice said, coming into the room. Both blondes looked over toward the entrance of the kitchen to see Louis with tired eyes still in his pajamas, holding the puppy.
Adrien gave a small chuckle, "I've been told that twice this morning. Sorry, Lou."
Louis gave a nod of acknowledgment to his dad before looking over at Emma, "It's your turn to take him outside."
Emma glanced down at the puppy who looked very comfortable being held in Louis' arms. "I don't know he looks so happy with you."
Louis looked at her with a small glare, "Your turn."
Emma sighs, slightly waving her hands in defeat. "Okay. Okay."
Her brother carefully handed her the small dog as Emma takes him outside, petting his head along the way.
Louis looked over at his father, "I don't know how I live like this."
Adrien gave him a look before shaking his head with a smile, as Louis tiredly made his way back to their bedroom.
"Alright. There is stuff in the fridge for lunch, and Uncle Nino has the day off so if you need anything don't be afraid to call him. If it's an emergency you guys can text or call me and the line for the school is written on the paper on the side of the fridge."
Emma waited for her dad to finish his monologue, he always did this the first couple weeks of them coming back here. She and Louis have learned just to let him run through his list.
"And especially with Milou... Text me to let me know if you guys decide to take him on a walk today, okay?" Adrien finished, as he pulled his jacket on all the way. He turned back around to look at both kids.
Emma gave a nod, "Of course! Don't worry, Dad. It's only for eight hours? It's not like you are going on a trip for two weeks."
Adrien sighed, "I know, but you know I worry."
Both kids nodded, as Adrien fixed his glasses, reaching down to grab his brown over-the-shoulder bag and went to the door.
"I'll see you both later for dinner. Remember please text me if you need something! Love you!"
"Love you too!" Emma and Louis both said at the same time as Adrien closed the door behind him.
Emma looked over at Louis, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow at her brother.
"Where do you think Dad would keep all of the stuff he wouldn't want us to find?"
Louis watched as his sister dug through the hall closet, making a mess of jackets and boxes in the hallway.
He looked up from his own search through the cast aside boxes, "I don't know if we are going to find anything, Em."
He heard a sigh from the closet before some movement as Emma stuck her head out.
"He has to keep it all somewhere." Louis looked back down at his current box which contained mostly old physics books alongside some older DVD movies.
"What if… he didn't." Louis said, dropping the current book he was holding back into the box.
Emma looked over at her brother, "Didn't keep it?"
The boy nodded, fixing his glasses as he closed the box back up. "Obviously they don't like each, Em. We figured that out already, why would he keep stuff that would make him miserable?"
The young blonde thought for a moment, not sure of how to reply to her brother. Maybe he was right? What proof did they have that their parents kept anything from their marriage? Emma doesn't even know what her mom's wedding dress looked like or if she even had one at all!
Emma shrugged as she looked at Louis. "It's not just their story though Louis. It's ours too. They couldn't get rid of it all because it's not just them, it's us. It's our pictures too, we had to have taken photos all together at some point."
She looked back at her brother, who looked as though he was thinking. "We mentioned Dad's closet, right? Before?"
Emma thought for a moment before nodding, "Do you think there might be something in there?"
Louis smiled before shrugging, you could tell he was unsure. "Like you said…. it's us."
Emma turned on the light to their dad's walk-in closet as Louis walked in behind her. He looked at the lines of clothes along the walls.
"You know, for a teacher, Dad has an excessively large wardrobe."
The blonde rolled her eyes as Louis' remark, knowing why their dad's closet is so large. She knew that a lot this probably came from their grandfather and their dad being, well their dad. Probably didn't have the heart to say no or give it away. Emma knows that her dad and Grandfather have had a lot of trouble in the past, but she still didn't know what about. It really hurt their relationship for a long time, as far as Emma knew they didn't start speaking again until she was born.
She looked around the colorful closet, jackets, shirts of every style hung around her. Emma could probably guess that their dad didn't use half of the stuff in the closet.
"Where do we even start?" Louis asked, looking back toward his sister as she gazed off still in her own world.
Emma paused for a moment as she took a look around the room, "I guess back to front?" She suggested as they started to move things around in the closet.
Emma worked around her brother as he did the same to her, they had found a few different things like random physics books and a box of graded papers.
Louis picked a few of the papers, "Why doesn't he give these back?" Emma gave a shrug as she started to push the box back into its place. She gave it a big shove, but it wouldn't push back in all of the ways.
The blonde gave a sigh, trying once more to push it in all of the ways.
"Really?"
Her brother looked over at her in confusion, "It's not going in?" Emma shook her head, pulling the box back out.
"I think it's stuck on something." Emma sat up slightly moving over to push the line of button-up shirts out of the way revealing another box hidden behind the clothes. The two stared at the box in confusion before Emma started to reach for it, pushing the previous box entirely out of the way.
"Do you think Dad was trying to hide it?" Louis asked, sitting down next to Emma as she continued to stare at the box.
She nodded her head, "I think so…"
Louis watched as Emma grabbed the lid of the box, but didn't move to open it. He waited a moment hoping that she would open the top, but his sister just continued to stare at it.
"What are you waiting on?" He finally asked, his sister didn't respond for a moment, and Louis was about to repeat himself before she finally answered.
"Do you feel like we are breaking his trust by opening the box?" Emma asked looking over at him.
Emma knew the consequences of doing this, maybe there really wasn't anything important inside. If there was… Would she ever be able to look her Dad in the eye knowing that she had completely invaded his privacy? She knew that this is what she wanted, to find the secrets, but Emma forgot that she would be breaking both of her parents' trust along the way.
She looks up at her brother, "If we open this… we can't take it back." She watched her brother look down to the ground for a moment thinking as he picks at the carpet.
The silence between the two of them feels deafening, the only sound Emma can hear is that of her own heartbeat which is quickening its pace.
Louis finally looks up, "Sometimes I feel like they already broke our trust you know? If there is something in that box, maybe we deserve to know what is in it?"
Emma thinks about her brother's words for a minute, knowing that it's true. Everyone has their secrets, but when you are affecting the people around you, it's going to have consequences. With that, Emma opens the box.
They both look down inside to see….. a Ladybug poster?
Emma raises an eyebrow as she reaches inside to pull it off the top, underneath is a poster of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Emma also grabs that one, showing them to Louis who instantly starts laughing.
"I think Dad probably had a high school crush!" Emma gives a chuckle but doesn't respond as she looks back into the box. Her eyes go wide at what lays before her.
"Oh no," Emma says, reaching in.
"What?" Louis says, looking in as Emma pulls out a Ladybug and Chat Noir Action Figures.
Louis reacts instantly falling backward onto the closet floor. Emma stares down at the figures for a moment. Why on earth would their Dad have these in the back of his closet?
Her brother takes a moment to compose himself before looking back up at Emma with a sigh, "Okay. He was definitely a Ladybug and Chat Noir fan."
Emma pulled out the last remaining papers from the top of the box, more pictures or magazine with the Miraculous Team on them. On top of one of the magazine were at least ten post-it notes?
Emma raised an eyebrow as she read over what they said.
"Adrien. CHEESE."
"IM DYING."
"CHEESE. CHEESE. CHEESE"
"Marinette is better."
"SO MATTER WHAT SUGARCUBE SAYS. I DIDN'T DO IT."
Emma shook her head at the notes, why would her dad keep all of this stuff?
Louis grabbed the magazine from her hands and reads over the notes, "Who is Sugarcube?"
The blonde shrugs looking back into the box… Lined up on the side were photo frames? Emma stared at them a moment longer, not reaching out just yet. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but why else would they be in the box?
Emma reaches down and grabs one of the frames out of the box, her eyes go wide at the picture.
It was her parent's wedding.
The blonde sat in shock for a moment, trying to figure out if this was actually real. Louis frowned at his sister before looking over at what was in her hands.
"Dad still has that?" He reached over and grabbed it out of her hands, getting a closer look. Louis studied the photo for a moment before looking up at Emma.
"They look so happy."
Emma didn't know how to reply and only shook her head as she gazed at the picture in her brother's hand. It was apparent that their Mom designed her own dress, Emma wouldn't have expected it to be any other way. What really caught her attention was the way her parents were looking at each other. You could see the history and love behind each of their gazes, Emma wished she could remember a time when her parents looked this happy next to each other.
"Yea…" The blonde says, still lost in thought. Louis looks up from the picture to look at his sister.
The next picture was a picture of her when she was probably no older than two sitting on the ground holding plush Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls. She knew her parents were fans of the heroes, even when she was younger. She remembered bits of pieces of the heroes from an early age…
The next was a picture of everyone together at the beach, she was older sitting on her Dad's lap with a hat on her head that was more than likely her Mom's. She was smiling brightly at the camera, while her mother held Louis in one arm, her other arm stretching out to take the photo.
The last picture in the box was definitely from before either of them were born. Emma could guess that they were probably in late teens or early twenties when this picture was taken. The two of them were sitting on a couch, Adrien in a hoodie, actually sitting on the sofa and Marinette, in a light blue knitted sweater, in front of him while the blond's arms were wrapped loosely around the neck of their mom in front of him.
Emma handed all of the photos over to Louis as looked back into the box again. Louis flipped through the pictures, pausing on each one for a moment. He looked up at Emma, "Do you think Dad would care if I took pictures?"
Emma looked back at Louis for a moment before shaking his head, "Like we said, it's our pictures too." Louis gives a nod as he pulls out his phone, Emma turns back toward the box reaching inside and pulling out the last couple of items.
They were... DVDs?
Emma opened up the large case as she began to read some of the written titles.
"Emma's first birthday." "Thanksgiving." "Louis First Christmas"
"What?" Louis said
The blonde looks up not realizing that she had read those out loud. The girl holds them up for her brother to read. Louis reaches for the album, taking it away from Emma.
"First Trip to the Effiel Tower?" "Beach Day." "My Lady Moments?"
Louis looks up, "Do you remember Dad ever recording?" Emma thought for a moment before shaking her head, "He must have stopped when we were younger."
Louis frowned for a moment before nodding as he continued to flip through the DVDs.
After a while, they decided that they would take the DVDs with them for now and watch them later. It had been a couple hours since they started their digging and figured it would be best to clean things up for now.
Emma gave the last box a push, but it accidentally hit the shelf, causing the whole thing to shake.
"Emma!" Louis yelled, scared from the sudden loud noise.
"Sorry!" Emma said, just as they heard something towards the door of the closet fall out of one of the cubbies. Both kids turn toward the noise, relieved it was just shoe box.
Emma stands up, stretching not realizing how long it had been since she had stood last. She went over and picked up the box, expecting it to be empty.
The blonde raised an eyebrow at the box when she felt something rattle around inside.
"What's wrong?" Louis asks, Emma shakes the box once more.
"There's something in here."
Emma sits back down on the ground, Louis not far behind as she opens the lid.
Emma tilted her head the contents, it was only two small jewelry boxes and a blue scarf.
Louis gave out a huff, "You got me all excited for nothing!" Emma sighed as she sat the box down in front of her reaching for one of the two boxes holding it up.
The front of the box has weird red detailing that made some sort of symbol. Emma started to open the lid.
"Emma! You are so slow!" Emma turns her head to look at her brother before narrowing her eyes and sticking her tongue, bringing her attention back to the box.
She opens the lid quickly curious to see what's inside.
"It's empty…"
Louis gave another huff, leaning back fully on the ground of the closet.
Emma sighed as she closed the box and set it down. She reached for the other box, "Maybe this one has something in it…"
Louis sat back up again, looking over Emma's shoulder staring intently on the box.
The blonde started to open the box slowly, a soft glow of pink began to pour from the box.
"Kids?" A voice shouted, Emma quickly shut the box, almost throwing it into the shoebox once more, getting it back into its place just as Nino called out for them again.
Emma looked back at Louis, who was putting the closet back in order. Emma decided to answer, "Uh...Yea! We're in Dad's room!"
There was no response for a few moments before Nino stuck his head into the closet, "What are you guys doing in here?"
Emma tried to think of response quickly, "We were…."
"Looking at all of Dad's clothes! Did you know he was a huge assortment of bow-ties? Like at least twenty of them."
Nino gave a laugh, "Yea that's definitely your grandfather's doing. I've been telling your Dad he just needs to get rid of them, but he keeps almost all of it for one reason or another."
Emma gave a nod, "So… what are you doing here Uncle Nino?"
The older man gave a laugh, "Oh Yea! I almost forgot. Your dad told me you guys were here all alone so I thought I'd come to check on you and see if you guys wanted to go to the store with me at since I'm heading that way now."
Emma looked back at her brother who nodded before looking back at Nino, "Sure! Let me just go get my shoes on."
As they started to make their way out of the closet, Emma looked back at the cubby hole one last time. Something was definitely inside of that other box, but what could it be?
Hi everyone! I'm so so sorry! I went back to school, fully set to continue writing this and….. school got in the way along with other things. We had a lot of new episodes and new information release though as well, so I wanted to try to start to incorporate as much of that as possible! I was hoping to catch up a little before the premiere of Season 3, but that quickly went out the window at since we got it much sooner than expected! I'm going to try to get onto a schedule now, next chapter is basically going to be a lot of one-shots all put together and will have a little Christmas in it! I hope to be releasing it a couple days after Christmas, but you all with definitely have chapter 8 before the New Year!
Please keep reviewing it warms my heart to see how much you guys are enjoying this story! No worries I'm not giving up on this, but life can get a little crazy! Other things I'm working on for this are all of the pictures that the kids saw and a giant character sheet of all of the characters. I will be posting links when I have these done!
See you all in the next chapter and Happy Holidays!
~Haley
