Hey guys, this chapter is going to be just a little short than usual, short by about 5,000 words but I'm working on making the chapters just a wee bit shorter. Although not as short as this but I hope you guys enjoy the chapter anyway since... well... what happens in this chapter doesn't exactly go well. I don't know when will be the next update but watch for Chapter 8 since I have an idea for what it could be. Chapter 7... is... kinda blank right now. I like writing long chapters so again I apologize if this is a bit short. Enjoy!

"Oh my god... I'm so nervous..." Marinette sighed as she paced back and forth in the apartment, she could hear Louis playing a soft ballad on the piano in the background, and it calmed her somewhat. She was supposed to meet with Adrien today- AT HIS HOUSE! Marinette swore that she would never step in that ironic abomination of an immaculate house that probably had every dirty business exchange Gabriel has done in existence. She knows he confines his dirty work to inside his office but everything else is ok. It wasn't the house she had an issue with, it's the one specific room that had the bane of her existence in it.

"Don't be so nervous Mom, you've done projects like these before, even though this might be a little hard for you considering who you're potentially working with. You'll probably only meet with Mr. Agreste instead of Gabriel," Louis said as he continued to practice on the piano. Marinette sighed as she knew Louis was right, she had to counsel him on not calling Adrien 'Dad' since... well... he can but just not around Hugo and Emma, she didn't want them to have the wrong idea.

"I guess you're right... wait, don't you have school?" Marinette asked as she glanced at her watch and realized she forgot to make Hugo and Emma's lunch in her worry about the new project, "Crap! I forgot to make the kids breakfast!" Marinette exclaimed as she immediately ran to the kitchen to open the fridge to warm up some leftovers. She heard a screeching of a piano bench moving back as Louis went to the twins' room to call them out.

"Hugo! Emma! You're gonna be late!" Louis called out but he heard a call from his right to find Hugo standing outside the bathroom, "Hugo... what are you?"

"It's Emma... she's spending forever in there! Emma can you please hurry up! I need to go! And get ready!" Hugo called out desperately to the door and Louis and Hugo could hear an immediate reply.

"Sorry bout that Hugo!" Emma called as she opened the door and quickly let the boy in as Hugo quickly shut the door behind him and Emma bounced into the kitchen and caught the lunch bag as Marinette slid it over to her.

"Sorry for making it so late, you guys have about 25 minutes to get to school, Louis, you have 15. You know what? I'll drive you guys! That way you can get there fast," Marinette quickly said as the trio heard Hugo come out of the restroom and slipped on his usual hoodie that was modeled after some superhero in a TV show called 'Miraculous Ladybug' or something. Marinette was sure Hugo mentioned that it was modeled after 'Chat Noir,' his favorite superhero in the show. Marinette did think it was cute; the inside of the hood was bright green and there was cat ears on the outside of the hood. Marinette got her keys and her purse and quickly got the kids out. 12 minutes later, she was dropping Louis off leaving Louis 3 spare minutes to run to his first class. 5 minutes after that, she personally went out with Hugo and Emma to drop them off. Parents were allowed to come with the kids to a certain point before they had to let them go with the other kids onto the blacktop and into their respective lines to go into class. Thank goodness Hugo and Emma had the same class though, Marinette knew how antisocial Hugo was and if he was all alone... she couldn't bear that for him. Marinette sighed as she went back to her and drove back home, she had to get ready for the beginning of the project today. As she parked back in front of the apartment/condo complex building, she noticed a familiar black sports car parked in front of it. When she got out, she suspiciously stepped closer to the car and realized that the car was Adrien's, she knew she gave the paper with her address and house calling number, but she didn't think he would visit this soon. As she looked around, she heard a call for her name and she whipped around to find Alya and Nino shouting at her.

"Mari! OVER HERE!" Alya called as Marinette immediately dashed over to her and gave her a big hug. She then immediately turned to Nino and gave him an equally big hug.

"Alya! Nino! What are you doing here?" Marinette asked as Alya gave her a smirk.

"Adrien was busy but he said for us to pick you up!" Alya said as she spun around Adrien's car keys like it was hers to brag about. Marinette narrowed her eyes at the keys and sighed.

"I guess it's to be expected, he can't be free all the time, but why didn't he send one of his butlers or Gorilla?" Marinette wondered aloud as Alya looked at her in mock offense.

"Wha? You don't want your best friend? To drive you? I am. INSULTED. Disgusted!" Alya excessively said in a mocking tone adding a pause between every phrase to make it more dramatic. Marinette automatically knew she was kidding and apologized.

"Alya, I didn't mean it like that, I know Adrien usually sends one of the butlers on Gorilla on these sort of errands," Marinette explained but Alya corrected her with a 'tut tut tut.'

"You're talking about Gabriel who does that," Alya corrected as the words stung on Marinette's ears, Alya could see Marinette physically wince at the name, which worried her, but she didn't say anything, "It's Adrien, of course he would send us to pick you up, in his Mercedes." Alya said dreamily as Marinette rolled her eyes.

"You ok there Alya? I can see you drooling," Marinette teased as she heard Nino stifle a laugh as Alya huffed jokingly.

"Just get in the car."

"Alright, alright." The trio got into Adrien's car and Nino drove off to the Agreste mansion, with Marinette praying she can keep her wits about her. It's been a while since she's last been to that place, the last time she was there, that was the day she signed the contract to erase herself from the existence of her friends and family. 15 years ago... of course Marinette had still kept in contact with Gabriel even though she really wished she could never see him again. It was nerve-wracking, soul-crushing to even think about returning there. Before she knew it, they had arrived at the mansion. Marinette felt herself grip her purse until they were a unsettling white mixed with red from the blood, which didn't go unnoticed by Alya and Nino. They pretty much deduced by now that Marinette doesn't have many good memories of this place. The trio walked up to the front gate where the security checkpoint was. Marinette secretly hoped Gabriel's voice wouldn't be on the intercom but she wouldn't get her hopes up. When they stopped in front of the gate and a camera and a speaker came out of the wall to greet them.

"Who is it? State your business," Marinette heard that icy cold voice that was all too familiar. She stared right into the camera because she knew Gabriel was watching.

"Marinette, and you know exactly the reason why I'm here, open up," Marinette said almost monotonously but with a hint of... resentment? Anger? Indifference? Maybe a mix of the three?

"Ah Ms. Dupain Cheng, Adrien's been expecting you, you know exactly what's at stake with this fashion project, proceed," Gabriel responded coldly as the door opened and Marinette walked briskly in with Nino and Alya following close behind her. To the couple, they assumed Gabriel was just talking about the economics and financial consequences that came with the ambitious project. However, for Marinette, she knew exactly what he was talking about: the kids. As the trio approached the double doors, the doors opened automatically to see two maids welcoming the trio into the mansion.

"Thank you ladies," Marinette thanked the maids as the trio stepped inside and took in the white, pristine house with gold accents. The walls and the marble floor are unruffled nothing was touched and there was practically angel choirs coming from the holy whiteness of the house, which Marinette did not believe in the slightest. The trio were then approached by Nathalie, who came out of Gabriel's office at the top of the stairs.

"Ah Marinette, you're here, Adrien is waiting for you in the study room," Nathalie eyed her worryingly as Marinette gave Nathalie a curt nod and a small smile, it was the least she could do. Marinette turned around to Nino and Alya who smiled at her.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Marinette asked.

"We're going to be hanging out around here, when you're done for the day, we can all head out of lunch," Alya explained as Marinette nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good, I'll see you then!" Marinette exclaimed happily as she hugged Alya again before proceeding up the stairs to the study room with Nathalie. It was long hall as Nathalie led Marinette to the door at the end of the hall, Nathalie then opened it and announced their arrival.

"Adrien, Marinette has arrived," Nathalie said as Adrien turned around and brightened at the sight of Marinette. The study room was quite large, there was a large amount of stand up boards with fashion designs pinned onto them. It was a pristine white room like the rest of the mansion and there was a window the length of the room that allowed the sunshine to come in although it wasn't cover the entire width. There were desks with sewing machines on the other side of the room and there were chairs strewn about for working. There was a plentiful bounty of fashion supplies for Marinette to work with and this would have been heaven with Adrien if it wasn't for the fact that this was Gabriel's house. In the middle of the room, there a elevated plateau and Marinette assumed that was for testing the clothes and designs on models.

"Marinette, I'm so glad you could make it, I assume you had a good time with your special chauffeurs," Adrien smirked at her as Marinette crossed her arms as she decided to tease right back.

"I don't necessarily think you calling Alya and Nino chauffeurs is right when you had our friends pick me up," Marinette smiled as Adrien continued to smile brightly at her. (They're doing a lot of smiling huh?)

"You gotta give me some credit, at least it wasn't Gorilla," Adrien shot her a knowing look as Marinette laughed lightly.

"That, I thank you for," Marinette giggled as she walked over to one of the desks and looked at them, these must be her and Audrey's designs that were sent over. Good. Everything's here then, "Alright, should we get to work?" Marinette inquired hopefully as Adrien nodded in agreement and they both turned to the door to silently ask Nathalie to leave. Nathalie stood there, eyeing both of them nervously as Marinette shot Nathalie a quizzical look as she had an idea of why Nathalie wouldn't leave.

"Ummm... Nathalie... do you mind leaving Marinette and I to work?" Adrien asked as Nathalie shot them one last look and bowed out and closed the door.

"Where should we start first?" Marinette asked as the two of them sat in front of the desk together to look at the designs as Adrien took Gabriel's designs from a list that he procured and spread them out side by side with Marinette and Audrey's.

"I guess we should start by making comparisons, how you think we can incorporate both their designs into one fashion line," Adrien asked as Marinette made a contemplating face, considering the clean elegance of Audrey and her's designs versus the high class vibe of Gabriel's designs.

"Hmmm... I personally think that Gabriel's designs are a bit over the top and need to be toned done a little. More doesn't always mean better, no offense," Marinette picked up a design of Gabriel's and looked closely at the additions Gabriel made to the core dress. Some of them are perfection enough but then it becomes too stuffy. Marinette tried to say it with as little venom as possible.

"None taken, I find your input refreshing, I haven't met anyone who has complained about my father's work, it's always those diehard fans who refuse to see that there's anything wrong with his designs since he's so respected," Adrien commented as Marinette picked up another design and examined it.

"I have to agree... Hmmm... but how do we go about this?" Marinette huffed in frustration as she got several fabrics together to see which would match with the outfit, "There's so... many colors to choose from, but which one would ACTUALLY work?" Adrien frowned at Marinette's continued frustration as they continued to work into the afternoon. They managed to make some progress but the time they were done, they managed to agree on the colors that were gonna be used for the line. All in all, both of them ended up extremely happy with the progress they made, it wasn't a lot but it was something for the first day.

"Oh my goodness... we're finally done..." Adrien leaned back in the chair with his hands behind his hand as Marinette finally set down the assorted colors for the outfits and leaned back with him with a large sigh.

"What time is it?" Marinette asked as Adrien looked quickly at his watch.

"It's... 2:15-"

"Oh! The kids should be getting out by now, I should probably go home, we made a lot of progresss today Adrien, hopefully tomorrow will be as productive as today," Marinette sighed happily as she gather her things. Adrien the moved to help her pack the rest of her things and handed her purse to her. Marinette graciously took it and smiled at him, "Thank you."

"Umm... no problem," Adrien, a little spaced out, gave her a small smile and followed her on the way out. As they made their way back to the main hall, they found Alya and Nino already waiting for them.

"Hey guys," Adrien and Marinette said simultaneously as they looked at each other for a second before looking back at the pair, who shot them questioning looks.

"Uh huh... ok? Well, should we get going to Marinette's place? I can bring my son Gavin to meet my best friend," Alya asked as Marinette snapped her head at Alya with a surprised look. As much as Marinette wanted to have them all over and meet Alya's son for the first time, something about this situation seemed off.

"Wait... all of you are coming to my house?" Marinette nervously as the three quickly caught on to her tone. Adrien looked at her with a concerned expression as he wondered why was she so nervous about them coming to her house if she gave them her address.

"Oh dudette, is there a problem with that? We don't mean to make you uncomfortable," Nino reassured Marinette as she contemplated having all three of her friends over at her house at once. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gabriel outside the door of the office shooting a piercing look. Marinette didn't cower under his gaze but her gaze hardened back at him. The three saw her physically tense and followed her gaze to Gabriel. Adrien looked between Marinette and Gabriel and almost shrank back in fear by the icy aura between them. It was full of ice, venom, and malice that would make anyone throw up.

"You know what? I would LOVE for you guys to come to my place, there's no harm in having good old friends over," Marinette slowly said as her gaze never left Gabriel's, who let out a 'hmph' and walked back into his office.

"Marinette... is there something between you and Gabriel?" Adrien asked and it was as if Marinette had a mood switch as she completely switched back to her happy self.

"What? What are you talking about? We just looked at each other, THAT'S IT. Could you read the air? It was a completely... professional stare.." Marinette dismissed it nervously as the three shot her a look of uncertainty as they all went out together.

"That was not a professional stare, that looked like the stare of ice that sunk the Titanic," Alya murmured to Adrien as they went out to the car and headed to Marinette's complex/apartment. When they got there, Marinette's children were beyond elated to have all of them come into the apartment. On the way home from school, Adrien picked up Gavin from school and Marinette seemed to like him enough. He went to Louis' school so maybe Louis knows him. When Marinette put her key into the lock as the others made it to the door, the door immediately swung open to reveal a smiling Louis to greet them.

"Hey Mom, hey guys! Come in!" Louis said as he gestured for Marinette and the others to come in but he set his eyes on Gavin and his eyes widened, "Gavin?! You're my mom's best friend's son?!" Louis asked incredulously as Gavin smiled wide and pointed at him.

"Oh! Louis! So YOU'RE the son of my mom's best friend that she keeps raving about! Dude! What a coincidence!" Gavin exclaimed as the two boys immediately did their secret handshake and winked at each other. Marinette and Alya coughed nervously as their eyes flitted between the two boys.

"So? You guys know each other?" Marinette asked hopefully as Hugo and Emma came up and hugged Marinette, who reciprocated their hug. Afterwards, the two went to greet Adrien and Nino. Gavin swung his arm around Louis and grinned. Gavin looked very similar to Nino but with curly hair and his face was more like Alya's. However like he shared his parents' trait of having glasses. His skin was a fair brown just like his parents' and he had the brown eyes to match.

"This is gonna sound extremely coincidental since you two are best friends but Louis and I are also best friends!" Gavin exclaimed as Louis chuckled and gave Gavin a slight nudge in the ribs.

"That's nice! It looks like our friendship lasted through a generation, cause look, our sons are best friends just like us. It's truly a moving thing," Alya commented as Marinette smiled widely at her. It was like everything was coming full circle. However, there was always that nagging feeling in the back of Marinette's head that things were going too smoothly. The group made themselves a home as they chatted and hung out just like old times. Just like old times... that's a nostalgic phrase, but yet it has a lot of meaning.

"Wanna play Ultimate Mecha Strike 7?" Gavin asked as Louis immediately shot a sideways glance at Marinette, who noticed and grew annoyed at the question. Truth be told, Louis did want to play Ultimate Mecha Strike 7 since he does have the game but Marinette would never let him play it since she argues the 3rd one is the best.

"Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 is the best game! You don't need to play the new installments to know that!" Marinette called out to the boys, who sighed nervously. The evening actually went pretty smoothly, Marinette, Alya, and Nino caught up with a lot of things in their lives with Marinette leaving out the obvious. Alya was elated for the chance to get to know Marinette's kids and she gladly took it. Louis, Gavin, Hugo, and Emma played on a multiplayer mode for Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 with Louis and Emma on one team, Gavin and Hugo on the other. For the first time, in a long time, the Dupain Cheng family felt happier than they've been in a long time.

"Emma, I need you to use your special!"

"Got it! I'm actually helping you for once in this game!"

"Ok Hugo, I'm gonna need you to use your Falchion cutter and I'll follow up with a side special attack."

"Yeah yeah, I know, let's do this!"

Soon, Alya, Nino, and Gavin went home with Alya assuring Marinette that they have their car parked just right around the corner so Marinette wouldn't have to give them a ride home. Leaving just Marinette, Adrien, and the kids. Hugo and Emma went into the restroom to brush their teeth and get ready for bed while Louis was sitting in the kitchen, sipping a lemonade iced tea. So essentially, Marinette and Adrien were alone with Louis listening in on their conversation. Little did Marinette know that the decision that she makes at this point would be her biggest regret.

"Adrien, thank you, truly for staying, you didn't have to you know," Marinette smiled softly at the wall past Adrien's shoulder with a content and happy atmosphere as Adrien looked at her closely with the same soft smile.

"I don't mind really, your place is really capacious, but it's cozy enough to have that warm, familial feeling. I think it's really nice," Adrien commented as Marinette sighed and did a once over around her flat/apartment with a smile.

"Yeah... I suppose so... Adrien, I need to tell you something, you know how when you were hanging out with the kids the other day and other people found it odd that you seem so close and familiar with them even though you're seemingly not related to them?" Marinette asked carefully as Adrien furrowed his eyes in thought. It did bother him for a while as those incidents made him really confused but he felt his head throb when he thought about it. It was a dull headache but it still made him agitated nonetheless. Marinette had made up her mind a while ago about telling him, even though it may compromise her safety well as the kids' safety because of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he has the right to know.

"Well... I do admit that it did bother me for a while, but what does that have to do with what you're telling me now?" Adrien asked slowly as Louis gripped his cup tightly as he heard her words. He knew exactly what his mom was trying to do. However, he didn't know why he didn't feel good about what his mom was going to do, he should be overjoyed about that fact... but he isn't, for some reason.

"Ummm... this is a little... hard for me to say... but, you are related to them... since you're their father. And before you freak out! Let me explain!" Marinette quickly added as Adrien slowly processed what she just said and his entire body felt like a flood of ice just filled all of his veins and before Marinette could explain, he cut her off.

"Seriously Marinette? You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?" Adrien asked quietly as Marinette immediately shrunk back with a look of fear plastered on her face.

"Wha-?"

"TWO OF YOUR KIDS ARE EIGHT MARINETTE! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN 15 YEARS SO DO YOU HONESTLY EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THE SHIT THAT'S COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH? I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU IN 15 YEARS, HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE ANYMORE?" Adrien yelled at Marinette, immediately rising to his feet as he looked at her with a cold glare. Marinette suspected he would act this way, who says that sort of thing after 15 years? Marinette you're such an idiot.

"Adrien please! Let me explain!"

"Hmph... and to think... the Marinette that I knew turned into a gold digger, figures. You know that I'm engaged and then you "suddenly" spring this onto me, expecting me to leave Kagami?" Adrien spat out like venom as Marinette gaped in shock and then she stood up indignantly. By this time, Hugo and Emma came out of the restroom and were looking at the scene in confusion and horror.

"A gold digger? Adrien, you have no right to say that! What makes you think that's the reason?! BESIDES, IT WAS JUST A JOKE!" Marinette yelled at Adrien, who softened at her last words but before she could continue, the pair heard a glass break and they both turned to look at Louis, who was gripping his glass so hard that he shattered it, pieces of glass lodged in his hand with small amounts of blood staining the now broken cup, "Louis..."

"That's not funny Marinette," Adrien looked between Marinette and Louis. Marinette was glad she just made it like a joke, she didn't want to lose him but maybe this wasn't the best time to tell him anyway. Although, Louis thought differently.

"Get out..." Louis whispered quietly with such a malice of death that Adrien couldn't hear it the first time.

"What?"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Louis stood up angrily, clenching his fists even tighter as Marinette noticed the glass pieces sinking even more into his hand.

"Louis! Your hand!" Marinette let out a gasp as Louis could hardly even care less.

"Do you think I am just going to sit here and let you call my mom a gold digger? You can bet your sorry ass that I'm not," Louis said through gritted teeth as Emma leaned over to Hugo to whisper loudly in his ear, with everyone else hearing.

"Hugo... what's a gold digger?"

"It's basically a person who fakes liking someone else or only likes someone for their money and basically leeches off that other person. It's a heinous insult," Hugo explained coldly as his bluebell eyes never left Adrien. Emma gasped, covered her mouth with her hands and looked at Adrien.

"That's not nice Mr. Agreste! Our mom has suffered more than you know! You don't have any right to call her a gold digger!" Emma retorted angrily as all three kids looked at Adrien with hatred and at this point, Adrien regrets even reacting so badly.

"Kids... it was just a joke... I was just making a joke out of what the server and Nurse Joy said the other day about Adrien's resemblance, no harm, no foul," Marinette sighs defeatedly as Louis looked at her with a piercing and knowing look. He knows she's lying since everything she was saying was true but for the sake of her cover, he'll play along.

"I don't care whether it was a joke or not! You called our mom a gold digger and that is an insult to who she is. Also! What do you mean that she's an old friend and that she's turned into something you can't even recognize huh?" Louis asked angrily as Hugo added on for Louis, adding even more to the guilt.

"She is your friend, right here and right now, and you just hurt her. Mommy has done so much for us for the past 8-15 years-" Hugo continued but was cut off by Emma who also wanted to say her piece.

"We won't stand here and let you insult our Mommy and her pride as a woman. She was all alone for 15 years, raising Big Brother and the both of us and this is what she gets after coming back to her friend? Louis is right! GET OUT!" Emma yelled as Marinette looked at all of them with a newfound pride and respect for her kids, standing up for her, she couldn't have been any prouder of her kids.

"Adrien... I think you should leave..." Marinette said quietly as she walked over to her kids and placed herself behind them, all of them looking at a dejected Adrien with hatred. Without saying anything, Adrien silently picked up his things and started towards the door. He took one last regretful look at all of them and as he set his hand on the doorknob, Louis added something else.

"I take back what I said before, you weren't everything my mom said you'd be, and I was stupid for thinking that you would be," Louis said quietly as he saw a flash of pain and hurt cross Adrien's face as Adrien went out the door into the night. He took one last look and said before he closed the door:

"I'm sorry..."

When the door shut, everyone in the room collapsed to the floor with a large sigh. Marinette, Hugo, and Emma immediately checked Louis' hand and winced at the amount of glass shards embedded in his hand.

"I'll go get the disinfectant wipes," Hugo said calmly when in truth, he was really scared for Louis. Hugo came back with several wipes as Marinette and Emma carefully picked out the glass shards with Louis wincing at every movement as the two wiped his hand carefully. Hugo then carefully wiped the glass and sighed as he sat down next to Louis again and leaned into his side.

"Louis... you always go overboard when you're acting all protective... I wish you wouldn't hurt yourself like this," Emma whined as Marinette chuckled grimly and finished taking the rest of them out with tiny tweezers.

"That's just Louis for you... he loves this family just as much as we do... thank you Louis, how lucky am I to have you as my son?" Marinette asked contently as Louis gave her a big grin to which Hugo and Emma laughed.

"No... I'm the lucky one," Louis replied, ruffling Hugo's hair as Emma pounced into his lap and let out a bubbly laugh as Marinette chuckled and wrapped Louis' hand with a bandaid wrap. For now, this family is perfect because they have each other and that's enough for the time being.

"Although... we could hear from the restroom... so Mr. Agreste is our dad? I know you wouldn't joke about that sort of stuff Mommy," Hugo commented as Emma and Louis looked sadly at him and his comment as it was true, "although, I completely get why he would react so badly-"

"But that doesn't give him the right to call Mommy that, that was uncalled for! But it's true isn't it... Mr. Agreste is our dad," Emma interjected with Hugo and Louis nodding their head in agreement.

"Yes... that's true... but now that you guys know, you have to keep it a secret for now... but I hope you won't judge him too harshly..." Marinette droned on as Louis reassured her.

"We know... he's a great guy... but that doesn't mean that we can't be mad at him. Now I feel bad about what I said before he left," Louis chuckled nervously as Marinette laughed nervously along with him.

"It's ok... because you'll apologize for that next time you see him, but you weren't completely in the wrong when you said that so it's justified," Marinette explained as all of them sighed contently. Today was an... interesting day and the reveal didn't go as well as Marinette hoped but for now, Adrien not knowing is going to be really frustrating but they have no choice but to keep it under wraps.Maybe him knowing is for the best since Louis and Marinette know what's coming. And what's coming isn't good at all.