So this is mostly a filler chapter XD

Next chapter will be more important... and maybe develop something interesting ;D


Part 12


Maria awoke the next morning with a big gasp. She began to shuffle around her room.

"Where is it?" she hissed looking around for a present bag that had her gift for Adrien. It was his birthday and she wanted to make sure he got her gift. She quickly threw on her clothes for the day and ran out before her family could ask questions.

She was on her way to the Agreste Mansion. She knew the two would be up at this time—Adrien had a strange habit of tell her the schedule for the Agreste family at the beginning of the week—so she would be able to deliver the gift to the boy just in time. He had begged her to come see him early morning anyways.

She pushed the doorbell button and was surprised to see a screen pop up with Nathalie looking at her.

"Good Morning Miss Balboa." She said.

"Hey Miss Sancouer," She greeted with slightly nervous smile. "Um… is Adrien awake? I told him I would be visiting him at this hour yesterday."

"He's in the dining room with Mr. Agreste." Nathalie said as the gates opened.

"Thank you." She said with a nod.

She walked into the mansion and looked at all the workers. Surprisingly they were fixing up the place which had her wondering. As far as she knew, Gabriel Agreste did not like parties and only showed up to most social events an hour or so. Maybe Adrien was having something?


Adrien was surprised to see Maria walk into the dining room with a gift bag in tow. She had told him she would try to visit him in the morning. He looked to his dad who seemed less than happy to see her.

"Am I interrupting breakfast?" She asked with a nervous chuckle.

"No!" Adrien said with a hop.

"I suppose not." His father said with a bored look.

Maria gave a nervous smile before holding out a gift bag.

"I just came by to drop off Adrien's birthday present," She said. "I have to go run some errands quickly."

Adrien smiled and got up taking the gift from her. He wanted to peek inside but decided against it.

"Well if they're quick, join us for breakfast!" Adrien insisted. He hoped that somehow the fact that it was his birthday would get her to stay. He wanted to have her and his dad in the same room. The therapy was helping for them to connect better but it would be nice to have a chatter box force them into conversation.

"I can't," She said with a rueful smile. "I have to go buy a shit ton of coffee and then go pay some bills before I'm off wasting your father's time."

"Aaaw…" Adrien said looking at the gift. "Thank you."

"Tell you what, though," She said with a smile. "I'll give you the gift of new friends. My younger brothers are in need of a tour and who better than you! Arturo understands French and speaks it really well. They'll love you."

Adrien smiled widely. She wanted him to meet her family. Maybe he could get her brothers in on his plan! Aaron was useless but amusing in his opinion—and maybe he was a bit sore that he had managed to make things happen a bit faster than him.

"Really?" He asked trying to contain his excitement.

"Yeah," She said. "If you don't like the gift, blame Aaron. He said you would love it and I trusted his judgment against my better reasoning."

"Thanks Maria!" He said.

"Well I'm off," She said with a smile. "You guys later!"

"Bye!" He said. "Dad."

"I will see you later, Miss Balboa, please don't be too early." Gabriel said looking through his newspaper

"I will do everything possible to waste enough time so that I won't cost you more overtime boss." She said with a laugh before taking her leave.


Gabriel looked to the disappointed boy and then to Miss Balboa who strutted away. He watched as his son sat down. He was a bit worried.

"Do you like Miss Balboa?" He asked when he heard the doors shut.

"Yeah, she's awesome." He said with a grin.

"I mean like... You know…?" Gabriel really couldn't help but worry. Adrien was a still a child and she was a woman.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!" Adrien cried upon the realization of his father's insinuations. "Gross! She's like a mom to me!"

"I was just worried for a minute because you seemed so disappointed to see her leave." Gabriel said.

"Well yeah, I would have liked to have breakfast with you and her…" He said looking down. "It would've felt like having breakfast with a full family."

"Oh…" Gabriel said looking at his newspaper.

"I agree with Etoile that you need to start dating," Adrien said looking away from the table. "You seem so tense so it might help you in the long run."

"Adrien…" Gabriel began. "I don't think I should start dating until perhaps we're in a better stage with family as it is."

"I think we're at a good stage." Adrien said.

"I don't." Gabriel replied. "Look, son, we'll discuss that later. For now, tell me what you want for your birthday."

"I dunno, a pet cat?" Adrien said with a shrug.

Gabriel frowned. He shouldn't have brushed off Adrien like that.

"I have a serious question." He said.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"Why are you so hell bent on setting me up with Miss Balboa?" He asked.

Adrien looked at him and then at the floor.

"She makes you feel stuff." He explained

"I beg your pardon?" Gabriel said. He was pretty sure he knew what he felt and when he felt it so this was not exactly the response he had in mind. He figured something that she reminded him of his late mother in some ways.

"She makes you talk and lose that composure you have. She makes you seem more human and approachable," Adrien elaborated. "I feel like she gets a side out of you that no one expected you to have. I like that side of you and I thought that if Maria could bring it out then maybe she's what we need in this house."

"I see…" He said. Miss Balboa did have bad habit of making him lose his cool. She often did not mean to start to it but she had a way of crawling under his skin and lately into his sleep. He would admit that she was much appreciated but other than that, she was not necessary in his life.

"I think you should date, because you're really obvious." Adrien said.

"What am I obvious about?" Gabriel asked

"That you like her. You can pretend you don't but it's there." He said with a firm look. "And it would be nice to have her in the family."

"Adrien… let's say that I do like Miss Balboa, wouldn't you be worried that I wouldn't have time for you?" Gabriel asked.

"As if being single stopped you from ignoring me before." Adrien scoffed.

Gabriel winced. He should've seen that coming a mile away. He sighed in defeat. The boy wanted a mother and honestly he was not sure if he was at a point where he should be dating. Etoile made it seem like a good option. Adrien was practically throwing him at her… but he wasn't sure if it was the right idea.

His relationship with his son as it was now was not one he wanted. If anything dating could possibly make it worse.

"I know," Gabriel said. "That is why I would rather focus being a parent before I do any life changing actions."

"Dad…" Adrien said looking up at him slightly teary eyed. "Are you actually saying you're putting me first for once?"

"Of course…" He said.

Adrien smiled and dashed out of his seat. Gabriel stiffened as the boy embraced him. He was still not sure how the hell hugging worked. He was pretty sure he had never been hugged until he and Clarisse had formally declared their intention to court each other. Other than that hugs were a foreign thing to him.

"Uuuh… son, is the hugging necessary?" He asked.

"Yes!" Adrien exclaimed.


Adrien smiled as he got to school. He felt like it was his best birthday ever! His father had pretty much told him that he was a priority! He didn't know how happy he had made him. It felt like they were finally getting to place that could be okay! That still didn't mean he didn't want Maria and his dad to get together. They were cute and he would be damned if they missed out on each other.

"Hey Adrien!"

Whatever coherent thought Adrien had completely stopped. Marinette was standing in front of him with her hair loosely curled and simple baby blue sundress holding a small bag.

"Uh… hi?" He managed.

She smiled at him shyly. He hadn't thought he could blush that hard. He knew Marinette was pretty and would admit that if she asked him out he would say yes without much thought but that was too much. She was pretty much stunning in his opinion.

"Is everything okay?" She asked tilting her heard to the side.

"Yeah…" He said. "You look beautiful."

He was surprised when he saw Marinette blush. She looked down at the floor and he turned even redder. Oh shit. How the heck had things gotten this weird. He was pretty sure he liked ladybug but Marinette was also pretty cool. She was a video game buff and that made him want to hang out with her more outside of class and the few outings they had been on made them grow closer.

"Thank you…" She said quietly holding out the small bag. "Happy birthday!"

He stared at the small bag before taking it gently.

"Thank you… We should go inside!"

"Right!"


Maria sat at her station staring at her sketches. She wondered if she should just ask for a vacation and suffer through her aunt being there. She really didn't want to hear anymore of her sanctimonious preaching especially since Aaron had kindly let it slip that she was crushing on her boss.

Yes she admitted that she was crushing on him. She liked him and it was making shit worse. Of course this had sparked a loud yelling fest between her mother and aunt. Her father's only comment was that he hopes he died before his future son-in-law.

She groaned and laid her head on the table. How had things gotten so out of hand? She sighed and was grateful that Adalina had not mentioned a single thing. The younger of the twins had always been much quiet. That was why she was considered the more reasonable twin.

"Miss Balboa, could you call Miss Laura? I would like to have a word with the two of you." Mr. Agreste said walking towards her.

"Right on it boss!" She said. "Oh by the way, did Adrien like the gift?"

"He didn't have a chance to open it." He said.

Maria sighed and said, "Okie dokie. I'm gonna go get Eponine."

She quickly made her way to Eponine who was drinking her coffee ever so happily. She shook her head and walked up to her.

"Hey, girly, the slave driver demands our presence." She said.

"I've only been on duty for ten minutes." Eponine whined.

"I know! But, work is work!" She said with a laugh.


What did Adrien get for his birthday?

Will his plan succeed?

Why is Marinette so Pretty?

What does Gabriel plan on doing?

Check my tumblr for spoilers guys.