Marinette fixed the snug beanie on her head before continuing to gather the rest of the presents on her list. When she came home, she opened the apartment to find it empty. Slightly cautious, Marinette stepped inside and found a note left on the dinner table:
Hey Mom! I took Hugo and Emma out for some last minute Christmas shopping, we'll make our way to Mrs. Bourgeois's hotel to meet you later.
~Louis
"Out Christmas shopping? I wonder what he's buying? Although... it's not really safe out in the streets right now with Gabriel on the loose," Marinette thought to herself as she held a curled finger to her lip, "I mean... he's responsible enough to watch them right? They're good kids, they won't tire out their older brother too quickly... even though he's only 14, he's forced to act more mature for his age considering the things he's been through. I trust him... although I can't say I have all my faith in him, I trust him enough to not freak out about it." Marinette sighed before grabbing some spare wrapping paper out from her closet and wrapping the gifts she bought with Adrien's gift flitting around in her mind.
Elsewhere in the Christmas decked streets of Paris...
"You know... it'd be nice to know what Maman wanted before coming out here in this blizzard to buy her gift," Hugo sucked in a cold breath as he brought his Christmas tree themed mittens up to his mouth and blew hot air to warm himself up.
"I think I have an idea for what would be a good gift," Emma suggested as her brothers looked at her with interest as she pointed to a jewelry store across the street that they could barely see. Louis nodded slowly, but he was still confused.
"A piece of jewelry?" Louis asked as Emma smirked and snapped her fingers.
"Not just any piece of jewelry, but birthstone earrings!" Emma replied proudly as Hugo and Louis looked at her in amazement.
"That's an amazing idea! Alright, guys, hold my hands as we cross the street," Louis replied as his siblings nodded and held his hands as they all crossed the street together and into the store, shaking off the ice and snow before they came in.
"Alright, Maman's birthstone is a ruby since she's born in July," Hugo explained to Louis and Emma as a quiet employee bowed to them.
"Really? I thought it was onyx?" Emma wondered aloud as Hugo looked at her questioningly and Louis whipped out his phone and googled it. (A/N: Ok! I actually have no idea when is Marinette's birthday but since her earrings are either black or red in the tv series, I picked the month that had both a red and black gemstone as its birthstone: July. It has both ruby and onyx but ruby is more widely accepted so yeah... so don't @ me at that)
"Well you guys are both right, July has ruby and/or onyx as it's birthstone. However, I think she'd like ruby a lot better," Louis said as he read the gemstones off his phone. Hugo and Emma nodded and they continued into the store to find the birthstone jewelry displays. As they approached one of the displays, an employee greeted them.
"Hello, may I be of service to your shopping today?" The employee asked as Hugo spoke for the group.
"Yes, we're looking for birthstone jewelry, do you happen to have any displays in here?" Hugo asked as the employee nodded happily and gestured her hand further down the displays.
"Yes we do, if you would follow me..." the employee said as the three followed her further down the aisle and they stopped at a display that was full of colorful jewelry, shining with the sparkles of every color of the month, "now, there are special fusion birthstone jewelry where we take two birthstones that are associated with the same month and incorporate them into the same jewelry." The three siblings gasped as they all had the same thought: is there a ruby/onyx fusion birthstone jewelry?
"Mademoiselle, do you happen to have ruby and onyx fusion earrings?" Louis asked hopefully as the lady nodded and took out a set of said earrings from the display box and set it in front of them. There were three in total. Louis, Hugo, and Emma looked at them all in awe as they looked from one to the other. In the light, they had a brilliant red shine with a blackish ring of light around them. One of them was in the shape of a heart with an onyx center and ruby all around it. The second was a supposedly an onyx earring in the shape of a circle but when you shine it under a bright light, it sparkles like a ruby. The third was a diamond shaped earring where one earring was ruby and the other was onyx.
"Which one do you think Maman would like?" Hugo asked as Louis and Emma shrugged and looked closely at all of them.
"We have to pick one quickly since we have to meet up with the others at the Bourgeois hotel," Louis warned as the siblings flickered their eyes from one to the other. Then, Emma thought to ask a smart question.
"Miss, umm... which one is the least expensive?" Emma asked as the lady pointed to the circle earrings and Louis and Hugo nodded in agreement.
"How much are the earrings?" Louis asked as the three fished out all the money they stole from their own savings. The lady looked at them sweetly before answering.
"Huit cent cinquante euros," The lady replied curtly as Louis felt the color drain from his face.
"850 euros? You're kidding right? That's the least expensive earrings of the bunch?" Louis asked incredulously as the lady nodded curtly, "Do you guys happen to have a coupon?" Louis nervously asked his siblings as Emma shook her head and Hugo looked triumphantly at him.
"I happened to save this coupon for this very predicament!" Hugo smirked as he fished out his coupon from his jacket and Emma eyed it suspiciously.
"Wait, Hugo, let me see that..." Emma asked as he handed the coupon over to her and she immediately frowned upon looking at it, "ummmmm Hugo? This expired two months ago." Louis face palmed and looked worryingly at the earrings.
"Really? Are you kidding? Why!" Hugo exclaimed exasperatedly as he swiped his coupon back and fished out another one, which Emma inspected.
"Oh my god, this one expires today!" Emma exclaimed as Hugo gasped in shock and amazement and handed it to the lady.
"Ahh.. a 50% off coupon, alright, you're going with the circle earrings correct?" The lady asked as the three nodded and she guided them and the earring box over to the cash register and scanned the coupon, "Alright... that will be quatre cent vingt cinq euros."
Louis frowned slightly as he collected all their savings and it added up to 500 euros, "Hmmm... 425 euros right? Ok, here you go Mademoiselle." Louis handed the payment to the lady, who registered it into the machine and him back 75 euros.
"Thank you, I'll wrap up the gift for you, may I ask who these earrings are for?" The lady asked as the trio smiled wide.
"It's for our mom!" Louis answered warmly as the lady smiled graciously handed them a small bag with the earrings inside.
"What a thoughtful gift, your mother is sure to love it, Happy Holidays!" The lady called out to them as they left and they turned back to reciprocate the farewell.
"Happy holidays and best wishes to you!" The trio called back as they stepped back out into the chilling, blustery blizzard.
"Ok... now does anyone remember the way to the Bourgeois hotel?" Emma asked as she stepped closer to Louis and shielded her eyes from the snow, "Hugo? You have the best memory out of the three of us, you remember the way from here?"
"Can't argue with that..." Louis agreed begrudgingly.
"Hmmm... no... I never really committed the way to the hotel to memory since Maman hates Madame Bourgeois anyway..." Hugo replied as Emma groaned and wiped the snow from her eyes. Louis sighed as he looked up and down the street. Suddenly, a blond mop of hair caught his eye and he looked closer and immediately smiled. Looking further, he saw a blue haired woman by his side and he frowned slightly.
"Hey, isn't that Dad?" Louis asked as Hugo and Emma excitedly looked in his direction and squealed.
"Oh my god! That is Daddy!" Emma exclaimed as pulled on Louis' arm and led him to the pair in question. Hugo followed right beside them as he immediately noticed Kagami and sighed.
"He would most likely know where the hotel is," Hugo mumbled as he followed his siblings to Adrien, who turned around when he heard a call of his name. Adrien immediately smiled when he saw the three and he came up to them.
"Louis! Hugo! Emma! What are you guys doing out here!?"Adrien asked cheerfully as Kagami eyed them indifferently as Hugo lifted their gift bag.
"We were out Christmas shopping and we were supposed to meet up with our mom later at the Bourgeois hotel, but we kinda don't know where it is..." Louis scratched his neck nervously as Adrien looked at him in understanding. Adrien then turned around and calculated the distance in his head since they were also just heading there too.
"Well... it's pretty far from here, it won't do to walk, how about I give you guys a ride?" Adrien asked as Louis looked to his siblings.
"What do you guys think?" Louis asked as Hugo and Emma immediately gave him an answer.
"YES!"
"Alright then, my car's this way, come along then," Adrien gestured for them to come along as the three bounded in step with Adrien and Kagami and continued to their car. As they walked further down the street, Hugo felt a weird disturbance when he was holding the gift bag and he looked down at it to find that the case holding the earrings were gone. Hugo looked behind him and caught a glimpse of a man who slipped the case into his pocket. Narrowing his eyes at the man, he sprinted back, causing the group to look back at him in confusion.
"COME BACK HERE YOU THIEF!" Hugo yelled as he sprinted up to the thief and launched himself onto the man's back, drawing the attention of onlookers in the street.
"GRAAAHHH!" The man yelled as Hugo combined both his hands into a combined fist and swung it down on the back of his neck, causing him to scream out in pain and fall to the floor. Hugo then slipped his hand into the man's pocket and grasped the case and stood up from the floor and held it up in victory.
"HAHA! I got it you thief!" Hugo exclaimed as he opened the case to find the earrings intact. Breathing a sigh of relief, he felt Louis and Emma's presence fill in beside him.
"Someone pickpocketed the earrings? Maybe we should be a little more careful, good thing Hugo noticed," Louis commented as the man stood up and looked at them in disgust and he stepped forward as he was about to try something until Adrien stepped in and glared at the thief.
"I would suggest you don't try anything and leave them alone before I report you to the police," Adrien warned the man before a look of fear flashed across his face and he ran off in the opposite direction. Adrien sighed before turning to the kids and Kagami.
"Alright, let's go," Adrien sighed as the group made their way to Adrien's Mercedes and drove off to the hotel. When they got there, the entire hotel was decorated with colorful lights and festive decorations and they looked in awe at everything when they stepped out of the car. Together, they walked into the hotel to find Marinette and Alya setting their presents down on the gift table.
"MAMAN!" Hugo and Emma squealed as they ran up to Marinette and hugged her. Louis followed slowly behind and the two smiled knowingly at each other.
"Kids! You're ok! Did you manage to find everything you're looking for?" Marinette asked as she eyed the gift bag in Hugo's hand. Emma immediately stepped in front of Hugo and covered for him since they secretly agreed that they wanted it to be a surprise.
"Yep, we did, however, what we bought is a secret," Emma said playfully as Marinette raised an eyebrow at her daughter.
"Is that so? I wonder who's that present for?" Marinette asked coyly as Emma giggled and Hugo set the gift bag on the table. Marinette then noticed Adrien and Kagami behind them and smiled gratefully at them.
"Did you guys take them here? Thank you so much, I was really worried about them with the blizzard out there," Marinette looked past them to find the blizzard still raging outside, she was surprised to see that the snow hasn't built up all that much.
"It's really not a problem Marinette, I found them out shopping and I offered them a ride here," Adrien smiled warmly at her as Kagami took note of the warmth and kindness she felt between them. It was cozy, but it was also sickening.
"Thank you again, you are my hero, I never would have wanted them to stay out in the blizzard that long," Marinette sighed in relief as Adrien felt his heart warm up at the fact that he is 'her hero.'
"Me neither, good thing I caught them when I did," Adrien laughed playfully as Marinette smiled at him. Suddenly, their cheery banter was cut off by Kagami, who honestly couldn't take any more of this.
"Alright, Marinette, next time, please don't leave your kids out in the middle of a blizzard because I'm pretty sure that's a red flag for bad parenting," Kagami snapped at Marinette, who looked at her in shock. Alya, Adrien, and the gang had the same look plastered on their faces.
"Ummmm... Kagami, if I may ask, what is your problem?" Marinette asked as Kagami looked coldly between her and Adrien.
"Maybe we should discuss my problem in a different location, perhaps outside?" Kagami suggested as her eyes never left Marinette. Marinette frowned as she walked past Kagami and back out into the cold so they could talk. As soon as Marinette stepped out the door onto the balcony that had a mystical view of the street with all the snow swirling around, she whipped around to face Kagami.
"Kagami, what is going on? I thought we didn't have any issue with each other! And yet you're attacking me as if you have some sort of grudge, instead of making some sort of snarky comment, talk to me like an adult. You can do that can't you?" Marinette huffed as she crossed her arms and Kagami continued to look at her piercingly.
"Honestly Marinette, don't patronize me, you know exactly what's my problem with you," Kagami said solemnly as Marinette narrowed her eyes at the clearly angry woman across from her.
"Don't assume that I know what the problem is. Please, enlighten me," Marinette said almost tauntingly as she couldn't help but let some of her sass slip out.
"It's you and Adrien, and I hate to say it but it's that feeling between you guys, like, he can't keep himself away from you after all these years," Kagami sighed as Marinette's eyes widened from slight shock.
"If you hate it, then don't say it! Kagami, there's nothing going on between us! He's already engaged to you! What could I possibly do?" Marinette asked incredulously as she felt her heart break just a little more. She hated pushing him away, she really did, but it's all for the sake of her children, or at least, that's what she keeps telling herself anyway. Marinette heard a shuffle from inside the hotel and she and Kagami looked back inside to find Adrien and her kids looking curiously at them, "Adrien, if you could please take them back inside, that would be great. They don't need to hear this."
"Mari... Kagami... is there something wrong? Did I do something?" Adrien asked as Marinette saw the confusion and hurt in his eyes. True, this conversation was about him, but he didn't need to know that.
"No, you didn't, don't worry, it's her," Kagami reassured Adrien as she looked back at Marinette coldly as the wind picked up and blew a gust of freezing air between them. Adrien looked back at Marinette, who sighed.
"If you must know Adrien, she was just concerned if we still have that emotional attachment from what we had 15 years ago," Marinette sighed as Adrien's eyes widened as he looked between Marinette and Kagami. Maybe it was because of the cold, but he felt his cheeks heat up immensely because he came to terms about his feelings as well. He just simply loved Marinette too much.
"But that's..." Adrien started but Marinette cut him off.
"Impossible, Kagami, that was 15 years ago, Adrien and I are just friends," Marinette forced out of her throat as she was pretty sure she heard Adrien's heart crack. Adrien looked at her incredulously as feelings of disbelief and anger welled up. It was just so hard to hear that the feelings she wrote to him in her letter and 15 years ago were gone. Was that how much her love was worth after all these years? Marinette was about to say something but another voice cut her off.
"That's an obvious lie and you know it Mom!" Louis shouted as Marinette looked up at him in disbelief as Hugo and Emma stood firmly with a pout on their faces, "When are you finally going to be selfish with your own feelings? You've shut yourself out of your own feelings for 15 years Mom! You refuse to cry and you refuse to be happy! Don't think that we don't know about you crying in your room every night! Stop lying please! For us!" Louis pleaded as Adrien stood there shocked from his words. Marinette... cries every night? Adrien looked back at Marinette who was staring into space with a saddened look, it looked almost wistful somehow. Finally, she spoke.
"You don't understand Louis, I'm doing this for you, and regardless of whether I'm lying or not, Kagami, I won't stand in your way, you've won... there's nothing else to say," Marinette said silently as Kagami looked at her in shock. This wasn't the Marinette from 15 years ago. She used to fight or die trying. Now she's just not even trying. Who was this person?
"Who are you?" Kagami asked as Marinette let out a laugh in the bitter cold and looked at Kagami with a heartbroken look.
"An afterthought... a memory... a relic of the past... choose any of those choices. I'm ultimately a shadow who can't be saved. Choose your battles wisely Kagami, as I have lost mine," Marinette whispered as she walked briskly back into the party, leaving the group behind to ponder on what she said. Kagami stood there shocked as Adrien was about to go after her but Louis held him back by the arm.
"Don't."
"Louis, let me go to your mother, she's..." Adrien started but Louis eyed him with a saddened look as he looked in the direction where Marinette left.
"Choose your battles wisely Da-, I mean Mr. Agreste, she gets... depressing like this often, it's hard to shake her out of it unless someone talks her into feeling better. It's usually Hugo, Emma, and I's job to do that. However, this time... it's Kagami," Louis explained as Adrien relaxed his arm and stayed put. However, when he heard Louis' next words, his heart felt incredibly warm again, just how it was when he was Marinette that night 15 years ago, "If it makes you feel better, my mom loves you so much, she was definitely lying, and if you looked close enough, you could see my mom's heart break when she said that. Her love hasn't faded, it never did, she just hid it because it became a danger to us," Louis explained as he gestured to Hugo and Emma. Adrien smiled but he also had a thought: Why did Marinette have to hide her feelings? It felt like everyone knew the answer but him. Although, he knew that the kids knew what was wrong about her, but were keeping it iron sealed for her sake.
Marinette groaned as she watched the festivities and the Christmas music rang in her ears as if there was no tomorrow. To be honest, the music wasn't making her as happy as she'd want to, but it was cheerful music nonetheless. She watched from the bar as people were laughing, talking, sharing some sort of Christmasy banter that she wished she could take part in.
"What was I thinking? I left my kids! Alone with Adrien and Kagami! And I strutted out of that conversation as if I was entitled to run away from my problems forever! I can't... I know I can't... and yet... why am I still running?" Marinette asked herself softly as she felt that same feeling of despair form a cloud over her heart, "Louis... Hugo... and Emma... forgive me... I wish I could care about myself for once... but I don't have that choice-"
"And why don't you have that choice?" Marinette heard a voice cut her out of her thoughts and she looked to her left to find Kagami sitting on the chair next to her.
"Kagami, I didn't realize you were right next to me... Kagami, look, I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to come off as detached or cold. It's just... things changed and I'm no longer the person I used to be," Marinette sighed as she continued to look down at her hands, pondering what else she could say.
"Those kids of yours... they're Adrien's aren't they? Even your twins... I don't know how, but I can sense they're Adrien's," Kagami finally spoke as Marinette felt herself tense and relax.
"I suppose figuring that out is the easy part. Yes, all three of them are Adrien's children. They know that Adrien is their father, it's just Adrien that doesn't know," Marinette explained as Kagami immediately followed up with another question.
"Why doesn't Adrien know?"
"He can't know... for his own safety, and for the safety of my kids. The horrors that would ensue if he knew, I wish I could tell him but... no one can save me, and no one wants to... even if he tried," Marinette replied as Kagami continued to look oddly at Marinette. Marinette felt her eyes bore into her. As if she was looking into her very soul, maybe a little too much.
"Hmmm... I suppose I would be horrified too if people caught wind of the fact that I was involved in a medical malpractice resulting in an accidental insemination and a gynecologist scandal. What a shame..." Kagami smiled knowingly as Marinette immediately froze and looked at her incredulously.
"H-h-h-how do you know that?" Marinette asked slowly as Kagami looked back in front of her and replied without looking.
"Does it really matter how I know how you became eternally bonded to Adrien? All that matters now is that the safety of your kids are compromised," Kagami said lowly as Marinette felt herself grind her teeth and the sweat droplets slowly forming and making their way down her face.
"It's Gabriel isn't it? He told you when you got engaged to Adrien. That cheeky bastard... so what... are you working with him? I honestly wouldn't be surprised," Marinette asked coldly as her tone returned to the cold and calm demeanor she always took.
"Hmph, yes, he did tell me your situation when Adrien got engaged. I was pretty shocked mind you, but I didn't think you could sink any lower," Kagami chuckled as Marinette turned sharply towards Kagami and before Kagami knew it, a lightning fast hand smacked her across the face with a force that could be heard throughout the hotel. Marinette glowered at Kagami as she continued to recoil from the strength of that slap. Call it a "bitch slap" if you will.
"I have worked too hard and made too many sacrifices for you to drag my legacy through the mud. I won't listen to you continue to sully the Dupain-Cheng name. No matter how much I wish I could quit or give up, I haven't. And that's because unlike you, I have something too precious to lose. So tell me, who has really sunken lower?" Marinette asked calmly as Kagami looked at her with a mixed expression of shock and hatred. Unbeknownst to them, Marinette's kids were behind the counter, listening to every word. It did come as a shock to them that Kagami would even know such a frightening amount of their family history.
"Oh my goodness, I didn't realize that Madame Kagami is evil!" Emma whispered as Louis pressed his body against the wood underneath the counter as if he was afraid someone could notice them.
"Sometimes I feel like even the world is fighting against our family... it's only a matter of time before our family's strength will no longer be enough. Why does everyone hates us?" Hugo whispered as he held his knees to his chest and continued to stare at nothing in particular. Louis frowned at the words that came out of his brother's mouth, Hugo was pessimistic, yes, but not this downright depressing.
"Hey," Louis called out softly as Hugo turned to face him. Louis placed his hand on his brother's shoulder and smiled warmly at him, "don't doubt our family bond, the world can go take a hike if it hates us. We have each other, we have Mom, we will get through this. I promise."
"That's right, we may have been brought into this world in a pretty weird way, and we may annoy each other to pieces sometimes, but we are family and that's final. We need to find some way to get Madame Kagami away from Maman," Emma chimed in quietly as Hugo looked hopefully at them. They always knew what to say to make him feel better. That's what he loved about them.
"You guys are the best. Alright, does anyone have a plan?" Hugo asked as Louis and Emma gave him an "are you kidding?" look.
"Bro, it's usually you that comes up with the plans," Louis deadpanned as Hugo nodded and peeked over the counter to see that Marinette and Kagami were still having their epic stare down. Hugo threw thoughts around in his mind for a bit before something came to him.
"Got it! Ok, now does anyone have a disguise?" Hugo asked as his siblings shrugged and Hugo sighed as he reached behind him and pulled his hoodie hood over his head enough so they can only see his mouth. Hugo suddenly stood up, catching the attention of the women in question and shouted in a voice that was extremely different from his own even though no one could describe HOW exactly it was different.
"OH MY GOD! Is that a fencing student who is in need of assistance?! I can see the sabers poking out of his bag and everything!"
"Oh my goodness where?!" Kagami asked as Hugo pointed towards the main entrance of the hotel. Kagami nodded and made her way towards the main entrance while she took one last regretful look at Marinette. After she was gone, Marinette narrowed her eyes at Hugo before reaching her hand up and pulling his hood off.
"I thought I recognized that voice, thank you Hugo," Marinette felt her lips tug into a grin as she wrapped Hugo into a hug. Hugo hugged her back with the same vigor while Louis and Emma came out behind the counter and patted Hugo on the back.
Louis took Kagami's seat and sighed as he looked aimlessly ahead, "I dunno Mom, it seems like we're getting backed into a corner. Madame Kagami knows our family history, it's getting harder to hide it from Dad, and who knows when Gabriel will strike at this point. Sometimes, I feel like it's just a matter of time before everything blows up in our face."
"I know... I tried... honestly Louis," Marinette whispered as she felt her voice crack in a sob, "I wanted to give you guys a childhood where you didn't have to watch your backs in the fear of being killed," Hugo and Emma took the remaining seats as they listened to their mom continue to apologize, "but now I can't even do that..."
"Some Christmas party this turned out to be..." Emma grumbled as she rested her head on her arms.
"Yep... can't we just hand over the presents and be done with it?" Hugo asked as Marinette pondered it for a second before standing up.
"I guess it's time to hand out presents, let's go kids," Marinette sighed as they made their way over to the presents table and met everyone there. Marinette spotted the handsome blond mop in the crowd and Adrien immediately turned his head towards her and smiled softly at her. It was almost like he sensed exactly where she was. The handing out of the presents went smoothly, or as smoothly as it's going to get and everyone was happy about their presents. Marinette had gotten Louis a new hoodie that she made herself and he couldn't wait to put it on. The hoodie was Totoro themed and mostly green with the characters from the movie relaxing in the forest greenery. There was a blue streak running through the lower half of the hoodie since it was a river and the very top part was gray along with the hood.
"This looks so cool Mom! Merry Christmas!" Louis hugged Marinette as Marinette passed out some more presents. She got Hugo a new pair of headphones and Emma that semi-expensive doll set she always wanted.
"Cool! My old ones were broken! Thanks Maman!" Hugo smiled and fitted the headphones just right and hung them around his neck.
"OH MY GOD! I've been wanting this particular set forever! Oh thank you Maman, Merry Christmas! We actually got a present for you too!" Emma chirped happily as Louis came up to Marinette and handed her a small box that was wrapped in dainty ribbon.
"Oh you guys, you didn't have to get me anything," Marinette started but Louis had something else in mind.
"We wanted to get this for you Mom, it's our way of showing how much we appreciate how much you've done for us. And we're so proud to call ourselves your kids," Louis smiled warmly at Marinette, who placed a hand over her heart and felt her eyes tearing up. When she finally opened the box, she gasped as a pair of onyx earrings came into view and when she held them up to the light, they shone with a red brilliance.
"Oh my goodness, are these the new fusion gemstone earrings I've been hearing so much about?" Marinette clapped a hand over her mouth as other people are taking notice of her reaction. Hugo smirked as if he knew something his mom didn't.
"They're more than just gemstone earrings, they're your birthstones, ruby and onyx. Emma came up with the idea for the earrings but Louis thought we should make it more personable by including both. Do you like it Maman?" Hugo asked hopefully as Marinette wiped a tear from her eye and let out a happy yet sob laced laugh.
"You guys must have spent so much on these earrings... thank you... You three are my greatest gift, and I'm lucky to have you three, even in my darkest hour," Marinette sniffed as she drew all three of them in for a big family hug.
"It's no big deal, we had to buy you a gift for once, even if it did cost a lot," Louis commented as he smiled into his mother's shoulder as Hugo and Emma tightened the hug from the outside. The image looked perfect, from Adrien's point of view. The picture would have been more perfect if there was one more parent to fill the void. Alas, that remaining parent remains in a separate world even though that line between their worlds grow ever closer.
Marinette then finally let go of her children and went back to the table to find the last gift she had brought, which was for Adrien. She wrapped her fingers around the box and turned around to find Adrien behind her.
"Oh Adrien! You startled me," Marinette sighed as Adrien eyed her present with interest. Adrien then noticed a little tag on the ribbon that read: From Marinette, To Adrien.
"Is that present for me?" Adrien asked teasingly as Marinette fiddled with the tag before smiling.
"Yeah, it's yours, I hope you like it," Marinette sighed as Adrien took a hold of her present, touching her fingers in the process. It took Marinette a second to register the warmth of his fingers on hers and they both stared at each other for a moment before Marinette quickly brought her fingers back and flushed at the contact.
"Thank you Marinette, but I wanted to give you my present first, I really hope you like it," Adrien said warmly as he handed her gift which was wrapped in red with gold ribbon. Marinette smiled excitedly as she carefully unwrapped her gift and gasped at what was inside: a light blue knit cap with a blue and white pom pom on top. The embroidery around the hat had snowflakes and Marinette felt the material within her hands, "It's honestly nothing to what you can do, but I did spend weeks taking knitting and sewing classes so I could learn how to make it. Do you like it?"
"You took crochet and sewing classes to make this for me? Adrien, I love it! But you didn't have to," Marinette rubbed the fabric and reveled in the fact that Adrien made it for her. Adrien smirked proudly as he continued to explain.
"I made it to match the scarf you gave me for my birthday," Adrien gave her a boyish grin as Marinette hung her mouth open in surprise.
"Adrien! You remember that?!" Marinette asked incredulously.
"Of course, you let me think my father gave it to me for the longest time, it is my favorite scarf after all," Adrien smirked at her as Marinette smiled cutely back at him. Adrien could get lost in Marinette's eyes and adorable smile if he wanted to and he almost did if it weren't for Nino noticing and coughing to bring him back to reality.
"Thank you Adrien, this means so much to me," Marinette fit the cap snugly on her head and Adrien couldn't help but smile wider.
"Ummm... yeah, no problem," Adrien shook himself out of his trance as he carefully unwrapped the present. Alya, Nino, Chloe, and the rest of the gang looked on with interest as Adrien unwrapped his present and felt his breath get caught in his throat as he laid his eyes on the package inside the box. It appeared to be a photo album but what was written on the front made Adrien almost tear up: "The Two of Us Against the World."
"It's a photo album of the photos we took when we were in high school, I figured you didn't have any of the photos, so I copied them and put them all into one album so you could always have a reminder of how much we've shared together," Marinette smiled as Adrien flipped through the photo album in awe. There were pictures from Adrien's first outing with his friends, Adrien's first Christmas with his friends after his mother's disappearance, and much much more. However, one photo that happened to catch his eye was one of him hugging Marinette from behind and both of them showing their wrists to the camera, showing their matching bracelets that they got for each other.
"Hey Marinette, you remember this photo? It was us when we both noticed that we were wearing each other's lucky charm. Do you still have yours?" Adrien asked as Marinette looked at the photo with an air of wistfulness.
"Yeah, I remember, it was... so long ago. But I don't have my charm bracelet anymore," Marinette answered quickly as Adrien felt his heart sink. Why he was so prone to emotions, he had no idea, maybe he was just that compassionate of a person.
"What?" Adrien asked in disbelief as he felt anger swell up in him. He couldn't believe that she actually lost hers.
"And before you get mad at me, the reason I don't have it is because it's no longer mine," Marinette explained quickly and as if right on cue, Louis came up to them and lifted his arm to show Marinette's charm bracelet on his wrist, "I gave the charm bracelet to Louis as a birthday gift long ago."
"My mom gave this to me when I was 6, it's my greatest treasure, I hope you aren't mad about it but my mom does ask to see it from time to time. So don't worry, we didn't lose it," Louis rubbed the bell charm on the bracelet and smiled at Adrien, who breathed a sigh in relief.
"No... not at all, treasure that charm bracelet with all your heart Louis, it does bring you real luck," Adrien winked at Louis, who grinned back at him. Adrien turned back to Marinette who was looking nervously at him.
"So? Do you like your present Adrien?" Marinette asked as Adrien smiled softly at her.
"Yeah, it was exactly what I needed, thank you Marinette," Adrien replied as he stepped forward and hugged Marinette, who sighed in relief and hugged back. Alya and Nino looked at them happily, seeing those two together like that, it was everything for them. Just as Marinette was about to pull away, she felt Adrien's arms lock around her tighter.
"Adrien?"
"Do you mind if we just stayed like this for a bit? I missed this..." Adrien whispered softly into her ear. She could hear the gentleness in his voice. Marinette knowingly smiled as she nodded happily.
"Sure."
Unbeknownst to them, a familiar blue-haired figure watched as they hugged each other happily. However, it was at this point that she made up her mind about something she had been keeping in for a while now. It was something that only she could do for Adrien. Kagami sighed as she came up to them after they pulled away and whispered into Adrien's ear.
"Hey Adrien, may I please have a word with you?" Adrien looked at her questioningly before nodding.
"Sure Kagami, what do you need to talk about?"
"Perhaps we shouldn't talk about this here," Kagami looked around uncomfortably, particularly at Marinette before leading him away to a private place in the hotel.
"Alright Kagami, what did you need to talk about that required this much privacy?" Adrien asked innocently as Kagami clapped her hands together and brought it up to her lips.
"Wow... this is really hard for me to say, but ummmm... Adrien, I... think we should call off the wedding..." Kagami said carefully as Adrien took a moment to process what she said before putting on a face of horror.
"You want to call off the wedding? B-b-but why?"
"Adrien, this is really hard for me to say but I believe it is the right thing to do," Kagami tried to explain as she took a deep breath and attempted to speak again, "I feel like I'm getting in the way of the one who you truly love Adrien."
"What do you mean?"
"Grrrr, Adrien! Don't you see!? You're meant to be with Marinette! Not me!" Kagami explained frustratedly as Adrien's eyes widened before he tried to argue back but she cut him off before he could, "and before you say anything, Adrien, it was meant to be her from the beginning. Even 15 years ago, you guys were about to be together until she mysteriously disappeared. I was just a replacement your father put in place of her."
Adrien looked on at her in disbelief as he interjected back, "That's not true Kagami, I love you Kagami, you weren't just a replacement for Marinette, I can promise you-I."
"Adrien please, we both know it, the instant connection you have with Marinette is a godsend compared to what we have. You were always happier around her even when we were teens. She's it for you, and you're it for her," Kagami tried to speak through slight tears. She thought she could get through this without crying, after all she resolved to do this coldly. But she couldn't, not with Adrien.
"Kagami... are... you sure you want to do this? Is there anything I can do to change your mind somehow?" Adrien asked as Kagami shook her head.
"No... this is the right thing to do... she needs you Adrien, more than you know, don't worry about me. I'll be just fine," Kagami reassured Adrien as he took one last look at her before Kagami slipped off her ring and tried to hand it back to him, but he stopped her.
"No, I bought it for you, keep it," Adrien looked sadly at the ring as Kagami shook her head and placed the ring in Adrien's hand and curled his fingers around it.
"No... you bought it for the girl you're going to marry." Kagami breathed heavily as if that was her final sigh. That ring didn't do justice with her, it was always meant to be someone else's, and the truth came out on this Christmas Day.
