I don't know what is with me and Christmas chapters, but I love writing them. Anyway! I started this chapter literally the day before Christmas Eve so how could I not? I hope you guys enjoy the story so far and I hope you continue to comment and read through the story!

New Author's note: Hey guys! SnivyLord here and I wanted to tell you guys that I had a lot of these chapters prewritten so you guys are gonna see a lot of chapters up until Chapter 24, so enjoy reading until then. I really love writing Christmas chapters and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next because they are both Christmas themed and has enough drama and fluff to satisfy you guys! Enjoy!

"Oh my god Hugo! It's only a day until Christmas Eve!" Emma cheered as Hugo smiled warmly at her and put on his red beanie with a white tuff on top. Hugo always looked forward to Christmas, it was a day where he gets to see Maman smile for the whole day before either frowning from work or crying occasionally in her room the day after. He and Emma were busy finishing the rest of the decorations on the Christmas tree they had in the living room. The family usually decorated for Christmas late since they like using Christmas lights and can't afford to pay a huge electric bill.

"Yep, the most magical time of year," Hugo agreed as he put a particularly beautiful silver and gold ornament with a fancy design on the tree. Louis then came down the stairs with a huge smile on his face and hugged Marinette, who was in the kitchen.

"Good morning Louis, nice sweater!" Marinette commented as Louis held out his dark blue Kingdom Hearts Christmas sweater.

"This is possibly the coolest sweater ever! I am so ready for Christmas!" Louis cheered as he ran over to Hugo and Emma and held out his hands for a high five which they took gladly. Marinette then came over to where they were and helped her kids with the rest of the Christmas decorations. They did have other decorations to put up but they'd save that for later. Marinette then turned on the portable bluetooth speaker she had on top of the fireplace and blasted "Underneath the Tree" by Kelly Clarkson all throughout the house. It was also this time of year where they could all sing to Christmas songs they want.

"You're here where you should be!" Marinette started as the kids sang along, they've done this enough times to know this song by heart.

"Snow is falling as the carolers sing!" Louis sang as he danced with his family, shuffling in his dark blue pj bottoms.

"It just wasn't the same!" Hugo and Emma sang together in unison with Kelly.

"Alone on Christmas Day!" All of them sang together as one.

"Presents! What a beautiful sight!" Emma sang and Louis continued.

"Don't mean a thing if you ain't holding me tight!" Louis sang as he hugged Emma and spun her around with her shrieking in joy.

"You're all that I need!" Marinette harmoniously continued and everyone joined in on the next line, creating a harmonious air throughout the house.

"Underneath the tree!" The family sang together as they laughed and continued to set up Christmas decorations around the apartment while singing the rest of the song. During their performance, Louis heard a knock on the door and he opened it while singing to find Alya, Adrien, Nino, and Kagami smiling on the other side.

"Then! One day," Louis started and Marinette, Hugo, and Emma chimed in with Kelly, "EVERYTHING CHANGED! You're all I need! Underneath the tree!" Marinette, Hugo, and Emma sang as Louis invited them in while singing. The group were a little bit in awe for the Christmas cheer that was in the air and all over the walls. There were wreaths, bundles of poinsettia, and Christmas lights strung around the house. Their Christmas tree was beautiful, with sparkling golden and silver lights around the tree with matching ornaments with red thrown in there.

"Wow, you guys really like to have fun here," Alya smirked as Marinette giggled and then she made eye contact with Kagami. For some reason, it all went quiet and the music even died down. Marinette and Kagami just looked at each other with an expression that couldn't be read. It only makes sense, but there seems to be tension that shouldn't even necessarily be there, but it was there nonetheless. Adrien looked between the two with slight fear but he wasn't afraid. Louis, Hugo, and Emma looked at Kagami with slight contempt as they knew who she was.

"Hello Kagami, it's been quite a while, I heard about your guy's engagement, congratulations, you have my best wishes," Marinette said calmly as she slowly felt her heart split in two as Kagami cracked a slight smile and nodded back at her.

"Same to you Marinette, I hope you've been well, it's great to see you after all these years," Kagami said as the group made themselves at home and Marinette nodded. Kagami still kept the same look after all these years, the same weird bob haircut, but she wears a three piece suit instead of her two piece suit with a skirt. Alya looked sadly at the kids since it must be hard for them to hear. Louis forced on a smile and went into the kitchen where he found his mom's in progress Christmas cookies.

"She didn't finish them?" Louis mumbled to himself before grabbing a rolling pin and flattening out the dough. Louis looked up slightly and saw the Dupain-Cheng recipe book opened to a page, "this must have been the cookies she was working on, at least this is keeping Adrien and Kagami off my mind.." Louis mumbled before he was snapped out of his thoughts by his sister.

"You're bothered too Louis? You know, I can't help but think how Maman could have been the one in that lady's shoes," Emma commented sadly as she washed her hands and poured some powdered sugar into a bowl along with some food coloring on the side, "I'll make the royal icing." Emma said as the siblings were interrupted by Hugo.

"Then... that makes three of us, I can't stand being in that room...watching them is too painful," Hugo whispered as he reached over to the stand mixer to plug it in, but he couldn't reach. Louis then reached over and plugged it in for him with the two sharing a smile, "thanks Louis, I'm gonna get Maman's cupcakes out from the oven and I'm gonna make some Swiss buttercream for the specific Christmas tree cupcake she had planned..." Hugo said with a depressed undertone.

"Don't worry you guys, we just need to drown our depression in Christmas cheer, and pray that the Christmas cheer crowds out the sadness," Louis reassured the two while Emma pouted while she was mixing the royal icing mixture.

"How are we gonna to do that when we have a constant reminder that Mr. Agreste is married shoved right into our faces?" Emma asked as Hugo nodded and added to the notion of how difficult drowning their sadness would be.

"It doesn't exactly help matters knowing that Maman has PTSD and Mr. Agreste is engaged. You know... I would like to say that he's with the wrong person, but I can't judge," Hugo commented as he brought the tray of cupcakes out from from the oven and stuck a toothpick in each one. Louis frowned as he did agree with Hugo. He knew that Adrien was with the wrong person but he didn't have the heart to say it to him because it wasn't in their place to judge.

"He is with the wrong person, and I feel like Adrien knows that as well. However, we can't outright tell him that and he won't admit it so there's not really much we can do," Louis replied as he got out the Christmas themed cookie cutters and with his siblings, they cut out what they could and set the cookies into the oven. They soon saw Marinette walk into the kitchen with a complacent smile on her face.

"Hey you three, are you guys finishing up the Christmas themed pastries? I could have done them myself you know," Marinette asked as Hugo finished setting the temperature for the cookies and Emma set the royal icing mixture aside.

"It's not a problem Maman! We wanted to do them for you!" Emma chirped as Louis and Hugo hummed happily as they finished the buttercream together. Suddenly, as Hugo was turning around, his elbow changed the stand mixer setting to high and the stand mixer started to mix the buttercream like it was on steroids.

"AHHH! The mixer!" Louis exclaimed as he attempted to put the setting back to medium but the lever was stuck and buttercream started flying out of the bowl, "Mom! Can you help me set this back to medium speed?!" Louis called out as Marinette turned around from watching the cookies bake. Marinette's eyes widened and immediately rushed over to forcefully pull it back to medium. With both their forces, they finally got the lever to move and when the family looked at each other, their faces were lightly caked with buttercream. None of them said anything for a moment before laughing hysterically and clutching their stomachs in laughter.

"Oh Louis! You have buttercream all over your face!" Marinette giggled and tried to hold in her laughter as Louis swiped a bit of buttercream off his face and tasted it.

"Hmm... at least it tastes good Hugo," Louis commented as Hugo laughed and tasted it himself.

"You're right, we did good Louis," Hugo smacked his lips and the two brothers shared a grin. Marinette and Emma continued to laugh as Adrien and Alya came up behind them.

"You guys didn't tell us you were holding the party in here," Alya chuckled as she looked at the state of the four. Adrien found it extremely cute as Marinette continued to wipe buttercream off her daughter's face and both of them tasting it together.

"I think you've outdone yourselves boys, this is good buttercream!" Marinette exclaimed as Louis and Hugo's eyes shone with pride as they high-fived each other. Adrien noticed that she still had a little buttercream left on her nose, and he didn't know what possessed him to lean closer but he did without hesitation.

"Wait Mari, you got a little on your nose," Adrien said as he used one of his fingers to swipe the glob of buttercream off her nose and taste it himself with a light smack of the lips, "Mari's right Louis, this buttercream really is good, bravo." Marinette felt herself blush slightly at Adrien's gesture and it only took a couple of seconds for Adrien to realize it himself and glance at her awkwardly with a slight blush. Alya looked at them with a smirk as she witnessed everything that transpired and so did the kids.

"Hehe... thanks Adrien, for the kind words, I think the cookies should be out soon and when we're done cooking the rest of the treats, we'll bring them over to Chloe's hotel tomorrow on Christmas Eve," Marinette struggled to say as Adrien nervously chuckled and nodded. Louis almost reached for popcorn but realized he didn't have any as he watched this whole thing play out. Marinette coughed and she and Alya went back into the room to keep Nino and Kagami. Adrien stayed in the kitchen and watched as the cheery mood in the air pick up as the kids went back to working on the desserts. Adrien walked over to where the recipe book was and looked at the desserts that they were making. He noticed that they were literally making every single pastry and dessert in the Christmas section of the Dupain-Cheng book.

"Ummm... guys, you think you can do all of this by tomorrow?" Adrien asked as he got a response from the other side of the kitchen.

"Oh course we can, but if you want to help make this process a little easier, then go ahead, there's a spare apron on the coat rack right outside the kitchen," Louis called out as Adrien headed right outside the kitchen and found the spare apron he was talking about. Adrien then brought the apron strap over his head and tied the two apron strings behind his back. Emma giggled as he came back in.

"That apron really does look cute on you Mr. Agreste," Emma commented as Adrien huffed playfully and washed his hands. He then rolled up his sleeves and turned to Louis who smiled warmly at him.

"Alright Louis, what can I help on first?" Adrien asked as Louis put his finger to his lip and looked around the kitchen as the three worked like a well oiled machine. He had to think of Adrien like a gear: where could he put Adrien so that the machine doesn't get jammed up or malfunction the entire operation. Finally, Louis figured it out.

"Hey Adrien, are you any good at decorating cookies and cupcakes and things of the like?" Louis asked curiously as Adrien cocked his head to the side slightly.

"I mean... if you gave a picture of what to decorate, I could probably recreate it pretty well," Adrien replied as Louis was deep in thought before smacking his head in a revelation.

"Wait, I could just teach you to decorate them correctly duh, ok Adrien," Louis instructed Adrien as he made his way over to the counter with the freshly baked cookies and cupcakes. Adrien picked up a piping bag that Louis had prepared and Louis continued.

"Alright, for the snowmen cupcakes, you have to put a dollop of buttercream, let it set, put a smaller dollop of buttercream, and so on. Each snowman as you know have three parts to its body, so make every dollop smaller than the last. This is pretty much self explanatory, I don't even need to explain the specifics to you. We'll handle the face, arms, and fondant scarf later ok?" Louis explained as Adrien processed everything and saluted jokingly to Louis, who smiled.

"Aye aye captain," Adrien joked as Louis smiled and got to work with him, starting with the snowmen. Adrien actually did pretty well as Louis reminded only from time to time if he messed up. Hugo and Emma were not the only ones to notice this change in Adrien's mood as Marinette kept an eye on them from the living room and knowingly smiled at the bonding time Adrien got to have with the kids. Turns out, Adrien and the gang were only visiting before Christmas before they went out to go Christmas shopping. Adrien managed to help a lot with the Christmas treats, and though he was reluctant to go, he was forced to by Alya and Kagami.

"See you on Christmas Eve Marinette," Adrien murmured as Marinette accompanied him to the door and saw him out.

"See you Adrien," Marinette replied happily as Louis, Hugo, and Emma happily came up behind her and waved good bye.

"See ya Adrien! Thanks again for helping us with the Christmas treats, we still have some more to bake but we'll get them done sooner thanks to you!" Louis said as Adrien grinned and stuck his hands in his coat pockets.

"Bye bye Mister Agreste!" Emma chirped as Hugo added to the harmony of voices.

"Merry Christmas Eve's Eve!" Hugo added as his family looked at him with a confused expression with Adrien letting out a small laugh before winking at him.

"Merry Christmas Eve's Eve to you too," Adrien replied before he left with the rest of the group. Marinette sighed before closing the door and ushering them all back into the kitchen.

"Alright kids! It's time to finish baking!"

"Yeah!"

A day passed after that, and it was Christmas Eve. Chloe thought to have the party the day before so they could count down to Christmas and spend the next day with their families. Marinette and her family had been invited and Marinette was rushing on Christmas Eve through a mild blizzard in Paris to get her last minute gifts. Marinette bustled through the streets with a multitude of bags in tow, she had managed to gather gifts for everyone but... you guessed it! Adrien. She doesn't know how but it happens every year right up until she disappeared for 15 years, she doesn't know what to get him and then miraculously, she ends up getting him the perfect thing. She just wonders if she can pull it off this year.

"Hnrrrgh... This happens EVERY YEAR! I could never figure out what to get him until the last minute!" Marinette exclaimed exasperatedly as she fidgets with her charm bracelet on her wrist. She still wore it of course, but thoughts keep flying through her head like: Does this bracelet still have any luck left in it? Continuing on through the blizzard, she managed to make it to the Arc de Triomphe and the giant Christmas tree planted there and she stopped to think as other last minute shoppers bustled by, "Let's see... what do I get for Adrien after 15 years of being completely out of touch?"

Marinette wondered to herself before a voice as cold as the blizzard broke her out of her thoughts, almost making her silver scarf adorned with silk snowflakes scatter in the wind from the shock.

"May I suggest giving him the slip, the same way you did 15 years ago?" Marinette whipped around to see Gabriel standing right behind her with his back turned to her. Marinette stepped back a couple of steps from the fear she felt in his presence.

"Gabriel! What.. are you doing here? What do you want?" Marinette said slowly with a fearful tone quickly rising in her throat. She swore she felt the blizzard pick up and blow harder when he spoke.

"I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas Eve, after all, it's all I can do for the mother of my grandchildren," Gabriel lowly said as Marinette grit her teeth and glared at him through the blizzard. Her confidence was somehow returning, at least for an instance anyway.

"You don't get to call them that, especially when you tried to get all three of them killed!" Marinette whispered harshly through the blizzard, barely making out his figure in the flurry of snow.

"And I don't get to call you my daughter in law, alas we don't always get the things we want," Gabriel replied as Marinette scoffed and stomped her foot down.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Hmph, don't forget that your son was the one who attacked me and pressed the button to launch the hospital chair forward... almost killing you and your twins."

"One, he attacked you since you were gonna take his siblings and two, you kicked him into the button and almost killed a 6 year old boy!" Marinette angrily justified as Gabriel finally turned his head to look at her and she stared back at him, through blizzard and all, "However, it's the Christmas season, and I really don't want to have this conversation with you, especially today."

"You really think I'm going to let you relax because it happens to be Christmas Eve?" Gabriel asked as Marinette felt a growing pit drop into her stomach.

"Hmph, I knew it. Why should I expect you to care about the one holiday where the entire purpose of it is to not go around threatening people like a creep and come off as a total jackass?" Marinette glared at him as she held her presents closer to her body. Gabriel laughed as he turned around to face her and in all honesty, she wished he didn't.

"Even I'm not that cruel, but I do wish you a happy holidays considering what's waiting for you in the shadows that haunt you. You may be safe for the next two days at best, but remember: No one can save you, and no one wants to... good day to you," Gabriel replied as with a blink of Marinette's eyes, he vanished. Marinette stood there in the cold as she processed what he said, it's that same foreboding sentence that keeps haunting her over and over. She knows she dug herself a hole too deep to get out of, but she hopes at least, she can save her children from falling with her.

"No one can save me... and no one wants to... but that's ok... because it's not me who needs saving... it's Louis, Hugo, and Emma. They don't deserve this, not in the slightest. My power alone is not enough to keep them away, but it's not a matter of whether I can... but a matter of I have no choice but to," Marinette convinced herself as she steadily calmed herself down from triggering another attack and continued into the blizzard... alone.