Chapter Twenty-Three: Santa Claws.

The superheroes spread a little festive cheer throughout Paris.

Monday 23rd December 2019. 10.30 a.m. Marinette's bedroom.

Marinette hummed to herself happily as she dipped her favourite embroidery needle in and out of the fabric and brought her design to life. If she happened to be humming sappy romantic songs more than her usual rock preferences, well, that was just because she was finishing the quilt for her amazing boyfriend.

A happy sigh fell from her lips.

Her boyfriend. Adrien Chat Noir Agreste was her boyfriend. She didn't think she would ever get over how wonderful that made her feel. Or how wonderful and special he made her feel.

A small squeal escaped her as she thought about their first real kiss last night. She couldn't help it, and she deliberately ignored Tikki's smug giggle. It wasn't the first time she had squealed this morning and it wouldn't be the last. It had been perfect. As had the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. They'd been a little clumsy, and knocked noses a few times, but practice makes perfect and they'd certainly practiced enough last night to start to get the hang of it.

Marinette bit her lip and wondered if she could convince him to come over today and practice some more.

She yelped when the needle pricked her finger again.

Tikki giggled. "Either embroider or daydream. You can't do both."

Marinette mock-scowled at her kwami but reluctantly admitted she was right. Sighing and dreaming about the kisses they had shared last night, those amazing kisses, those tender and perfect kisses, the kisses that put all of her previous fantasies to shame, the-

Another yelp and this time the needle dug deep enough to draw blood. Tikki giggled again and Marinette sighed. Daydreaming or embroidery, she had to pick one and stick with it. Much as she would love to continue daydreaming, and she really did, there wasn't much left to do on Adrien's special quilt so she would stick with embroidery for now. That way she could give it to him on their special Christmas Eve date tomorrow.

As Marinette was searching for a plaster to wrap around her finger to stop any blood from staining the quilt she heard her phone ding with a notification. Tikki was using her phone to browse cat photos to send to Plagg and she would tell Marinette if it was anything she needed to pay attention to. Marinette doubted it would be anything important though. Not at this time in the morning.

"Marinette!" Tikki squeaked. "Hide the quilt, quick."

There was only one reason why Tikki would say that. There had to be a Chat Noir sighting on the Ladyblog.

She ignored the plaster and scrambled to fold and hide the quilt before he got here. "Why is he coming over now?" she hissed to Tikki.

Marinette had been helping her parents in the bakery all morning, hence why she was awake so early in the school holidays, and Adrien knew that. She was on her half hour morning break right now but she hadn't told her boyfriend when she was taking it, determined to work on his quilt as much as she could before returning to the kitchens. So why was he coming over now?

She and Tikki tidied away all of the evidence of her sewing that they could find and she grabbed a book and opened it to a random page, hoping to look somewhat presentable when he showed up.

When almost five minutes had passed with no sign of the black cat hero landing on her balcony, she turned to Tikki in confusion. "What could be keeping him?"

"I have no idea," Tikki shook her head. "The Ladyblog alert said he had been seen near Notre Dame. I thought for sure he would have been here by now. Unless…" Tikki's confusion melted into a teasing grin. "Maybe he's off to buy his girlfriend more gifts."

Marinette blushed. "Tikki!"

"I'm just saying."

"Well don't!" Marinette huffed and reached for her phone. "Let's see if Alya has put anything else up and- oh!"

Tikki floated over to read over her shoulder and cooed at the article. "Oh, he really is a sweetheart, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Marinetted sighed.

Alya's article talked about how Chat Noir had been seen out and about, most recently near Notre Dame, with a Santa hat set on his head and doing good deeds for the people of Paris. He had helped people carry their shopping, saved a bicyclist from a collision, rescued pets, and joined in snowball fights with several young children. He had the kindest and largest heart she had ever known. Now that she knew he was Adrien though she realised just why he gave so much of himself when in the suit. He wanted the recognition he received to be because of what he had done, not who he was or how he looked. More than that he just wanted to be happy and be with people.

An idea formed in the back of her mind then and she looked at the quilt. There really wasn't that much more to do there, surely she could take a little break from it?

"Hey Tikki, are you up for a little baking?"

If Tikki was surprised by the sudden change in subject she didn't show it. "Always. What are we making?"

"Something to help Chat. But first, Ladybug needs to make a phone call." Marinette smiled at Tikki and tapped her earrings. "Do you mind?"

3.30 p.m. l'Arc du Triomphe.

After a fun but long day racing about the city and doing good deeds, Chat Noir was tired. It had been an amazing day and he had laughed and joked with so many wonderful Parisians, including that lovely grandmother who had insisted on feeding him for saving her grandson from the too tall tree he had climbed, and oh god was that food good, but right now all he wanted to do was to head home and fall into his bed for a well-earned cat-nap.

Or at least that was his plan until he caught sight of a certain lady in red stood on top of l'Arc du Triomphe.

He was running to her before he even realised he had changed direction.

"Bugaboo!"

He landed close to her, crossed the roof with three large strides, and swept her up into his arms with a delighted laugh. She was ready for him this time and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he twirled her around, giggling at his exuberance, and pressing their foreheads together. When he finally slowed to a stop and lowered her to her feet Chat couldn't resist leaning in for a hello kiss.

Judging by her happy hum and the way one kiss turned into two, then three, then more, he would bet that she had been looking forward to this as much as he had.

Chat finally broke the kiss for air and nuzzled his nose against hers. "I missed you."

She giggled. "You were with me most of yesterday, silly kitty," she teased, but then he was treated to her gaze becoming softer and warmer. "I missed you too, though," she admitted, pushing herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. He gave a low purr and ran one of his hands up her back and over her neck to tilt her head just enough to deepen the kiss and pull that happy sigh from her again. She was the one to break them apart this time. "I saw on the Ladyblog that you've been having a fun day."

He shrugged. "I'm just spreading some Christmas cheer and having a bit of fun before Père returns tomorrow." It was always the same whenever Gabriel returned from any kind of trip away. He was always disappointed in the quality and quantity of work that his son had done in his absence and curtailed his freedoms until, in his cold eyes, Adrien had made up for his mistakes.

Ladybug held him tighter and that but thankfully didn't comment upon it. "I remember how much fun you had playing Père Noël last year-"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Chat waved a finger in her face with a grin. "That's Santa Claws to you, my Lady."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and ignored him. "-so I thought I'd come and help you out today."

She pulled back from him only enough to turn and gestire to the large bag he had somehow missed seeing as he raced to her side, filled to the brim with boxes from the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie-Pâtisserie that contained, to his eternal delight, Ladybug and Chat Noir themed cookies.

"When did you have time-"

She pressed a gloved finger to his lips and winked. "Well," she drawled, and he instantly knew this was going to be a good story. "When I saw my sweet kitty out and about on the Ladyblog I figured I had to come and join him. Then I remembered that lovely little école carol concert that got ruined by an akuma, and then I remembered the reason why they were singing, and then I remembered there is a lovely little bakery right near the collège where we fight most of our akumas."

She winked at him and he had to bite his lip to hold in his laughter.

"Since the école were going to the children's hospital today I thought a superhero entourage might be appreciated, and of course I had to bring gifts. That bakery seems good enough so I swung by to see if they could do a special order for us. I think I gave their daughter a heart attack when I dropped in on her."

Chat couldn't keep it in any more and burst into laughter. Only his Lady could come up with such a convoluted and yet believable cover story as to why she was suddenly making hundreds and hundreds of cookies.

"You are the best, my love," he managed to say through his giggles, and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "Just when I think you can't get any more wonderful, you go and surprise me like this. So where are we going?"

"I spoke to the hospital and the school earlier, and I may have let a hint or two slip to the Ladyblog," she grinned. We're meeting the children at the school at 4 p.m. and going to the hospital with them on their coach."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

5 p.m. Local Children's hospital.

The trip to the hospital had been full of happy screaming children and parents and teachers begging for selfies with the heroes. When they got to the hospital the screaming and the selfie requests had only gotten worse. What should have been a three minute walk from the front door to the main children's ward took twenty minutes as they were stopped by just about every person in the hallway.

Alya was there recording for the Ladyblog but at least she had the decency to stay back and let the kids monopolise Ladybug and Chat Noir's time. Ladybug made a mental note to give Alya another exclusive interview for this. They had left the school and the very excited children in the main ward and were now touring the other wards with the hospital director and his head of staff and, of course, Alya and her ever present camera. Everywhere they went they were greeted with delighted children who adored the cookies as much as they adored the heroes.

Ladybug could understand why Chat loved to do this so much when she saw their happy faces.

The final ward they visited was for children recovering from surgeries, both minor and major, and they were just as crazy about superheroes as all of the other children had been.

Ladybug got roped into a conversation with a sweetheart of a girl called Aimee, completely decked out from head to toe in Ladybug pyjamas, socks, and slippers, who jabbered away a mile a minute while her parents looked on fondly. Aimee looked like she might faint when Ladybug signed both her arm cast and the giant get well soon card on her bedside table.

"Ladybug!"

She looked over to where Chat was on the other side of the room, beckoning her over with a wild smile, and nodded. She made her excuses to Aimee and her parents and hurried to join her partner, waving at the other children and giving some of them high fives as she went.

Chat's smile only grew as she approached. "Come and meet Hugo, my Lady!"

Ladybug suspected it was only the magic of the suit that kept her knees from giving way beneath her when she saw the child that Chat wanted her to meet child - one with bright blue eyes and warm blond hair, wearing home-made Chat Noir pyjamas with fuzzy green socks, sitting happily in her partner's lap and gazing up at his hero in pure joy.

For the briefest of moments, the tiniest iota of a second, she felt like she was looking at her future as she watched the man she loved laugh and talk with a giggling child. It was so easy to imagine that this Hugo was actually theirs, it was so easy to picture their two other children there, one blonde and one dark-haired, their Louis and Emma, clambering about their father, excited to be picked up and play with his magical cat ears.

She was going to marry this man.

She had been saying that for years, of course, but she never truly believed it until this moment. Not until she saw him there with a Hugo who wasn't theirs and smiling so happily and so lovingly over at her as he beckoned her to meet his newest friend. He was her future.

"Hugo, this is Ladybug."

She took the hand he offered and let him pull her onto the chair with them. It was a tight squeeze but they made it work. "Hello there sweetheart."

"Hi," he mumbled shyly. "Where's your hat?"

"I let Aimee borrow it for a while," Ladybug smiled.

Because of course Chat had made her put a bright red Santa hat on before they came to the hospital. It had barely spent any time on her head though, all of the kids wanted to wear Ladybug's hat and so she let them share it. Ainee had looked at it like it was a priceless treasure and not a cheap €1 hat from a supermarket's seasonal aisle. Still, the kids loved it, so who was she to protest?

Perhaps that was why Hugo was asking? "Would you like to borrow Chat's hat?"

Hugo shook his head forcefully. "Nu-uh. Without his hat, he can't be Santa Claws," Hugo picked Chat's hand up and pointed at his claws with a grin. "Get it? Claws!"

Chat and Hugo both dissolved into fits of giggles and Ladybug bit back a sigh. Did she really want to marry this dork?

The answer to that would have to be yes. As she looked up at him, laughing in delight with Hugo over that silly little pun, she knew that she did. He was her future, bad jokes and all. She couldn't wait.

Author's notes. Reminder, I have still not seen all of season 2 and none of season 3. Please check my author's profile for a list of the episodes I have seen and please don't spoil it for me.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time with your friends and loved ones. Pop a note in your comments and tell me all about your day! The hubby, the sproglet, and I had so much fun. The hubby got some tech and gadgets, the sproglet got so many toys (so, so, so many, and why do they all need batteries?!) and I was overwhelmed by getting a brand new sewing machine. Whoop! My old one was about to give up the ghost so this came just in time. And, funnily enough, would you believe my next big project once I've altered the sproglets school uniform is to make a patchwork quilt? Life imitates art, eh?

We're doing Christmas part 2 at the in-laws tomorrow so there will more than likely only be one chapter coming out on the 26th but I'm still hoping to get this all wrapped up by New Years Eve.

Replies to reviews. Sorry I missed a few days, I hope I've not left a review off here.

This is going to be a long answer list so skip it if you wish.

Chapter 19.

bunnywabbit29 - oh, thanks for letting me know. Both 'blessing' and 'fortune' work with the context I was going for so that was a stroke of luck. Thanks for the review and Merry Christmas to you.

owlthewriter - my thoughts exactly. How can he not know? Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

OnlyLonelyStars - I know, I know! I will do my best to add it to our Christmas baking next year - and hopefully fine a place in England that sells them before then. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

ELinkA - aww, I'm glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

yellow14 - your punny reviews are awesome, don't ever stop! Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

Chapter 20.

yellow14 - you have no idea how tempted I was to write a scene with the reindeer actually in it, but time, the sproglet, and my wrist were all against me. Maybe next year? Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

bunnywabbit29 - what else would Kim be doing haha. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

Guest - thanks for letting me know about youtube. With a bit of luck I'll have some free time soon and I can look them up. I usually don't have much free time though so I watch them on TV while I'm doing other jobs. But thanks again that was super helpful to know. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

OnlyLonelyStars - there is nothing better than a purring cat in winter time! I can guarantee there will be a lot more purring in the rest of this story. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

Chapter 21.

yellow14 - yes, do it, do it, start another story! As for the gifts they will be making another appearance in this story, but I mostly wrote it because its a plot bunny of my own that I more than likely won't get around to developing fully. Have at it if you wish. Also, there are at least two more Julerose scenes coming up. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

Fire - I'm really glad you like my story enough to binge read it. Thank you so much. As for not seeing s3 it isn't on the TV channels I have access to and I usually don't have the time to go looking online. I'm hoping to get some free time soon but for now I'm ok with watching s2 on TV. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

Chapter 22.

kazza2182 - he is the sappiest of romantics. I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

yellow14 - I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

bunnywabbit29 - glad you liked it. Did you have a good holiday? Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

Cals1686 - yep, there will be a full 31 chapters in this. I will hopefully have it all up by New Years Eve, time, sproglet, and wrist permitting. I hope your travel were safe and fun. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

ELinkA - I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

owlthewriter - gosh, thank you, that's so sweet of you to say. I adore those two silly kwamis. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas.

OnlyLonelyStars - I'm really glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing and Merry Christmas to you too.