Lyra: More Mari & CatDad that no one really asked for but are getting anyway. Part 2 of 3.
Ep: I did! You just couldn't hear me yelling from outside your window.
MR: But it is so stinking cute! (oh, wait… that was yesterday's dirty diaper that was stinking.) Still absolutely adorable, though!
"Don't transform!" Marinette's voice called from their bedroom as he crawled through the window back into their apartment. Chat froze, straining his cat ears to hear if everything was ok. Giggles and whispered words from their bedroom was all he could make out - at least relieving him of the worry that had instantly seized him.
His evening runs had become part of his daily routine - a way to keep fit and give the people of Paris some sense of assurance that they remained protected by their superhero team, even if they didn't see Ladybug much anymore. Ladybug was far too busy with her new mission - motherhood.
Chat dropped his feet onto the floor, carefully sliding the window closed behind him as the bedroom door clicked open.
"Ok, let's show Papa," Marinette's soft voice cooed. Chat turned to find his wife in the hallway, hair tied hastily into a messy bun at the top of her head, dressed in a set of disheveled pajamas with their dark-haired daughter in her arms. At eleven months old, Emma was a joy - smiles and laughter and a dangerous twinkle of mischievousness in her eye. Marinette grinned at him before turning her back to fiddle with something, give their daughter a few words of encouragement, and then plopped the little one on the ground.
Emma moved like lightning, knees and arms moving in perfected rhythm as she crawled at top speed to his direction. A set of tiny bottom teeth peered out at the wide grin between the softly uttered mumbles of "Papa" chanted out with each movement. Chat's heart melted for the millionth time watching her. How did he end up with this amazing gift? Squatting to get lower to her, he put his arms out to scoop her up just as she reached him.
"Hello, my little kitten," he whispered, laughing a little as she grabbed his bell. His eyes caught sight of a small fabric golden bell of her own dangling from the front of her black pajamas. A moment of closer examination had him realizing that Emma wore new jammies - an exact replica of his own suit, with seams sewn right where his own lay, and the zipper pull covered carefully with the fabric bell. A tail dangled from the back and, when he pulled the hoodie up over her hair, little black cat ears poked out the top as Emma laughed.
But the cutest part of the whole thing were the green outlined cat paws added to the bottoms of her feet. Little kitty toe beans. He squeezed her close, honoured beyond anything that Marinette had spent so much time and effort to make such an outfit.
"Why, Emma, I do believe your maman has made you a mini-me!"
Emma clapped happily before her fingers reached for his bell again. Chat's eyes drifted to his wife, who remained in the hallway with a half-smile on her face watching them.
"Thank you," he said, voice caught with emotion. It never failed to catch him off-guard when she did something to show him exactly how much he meant to her, how much CHAT meant to her. It only took a few wide steps to close the space between them - planting a kiss on her lips for a moment before scooping her up in his other arm.
Marinette yelped, clutching at his neck while he spun them both around. Emma laughed wildly, throwing her head back with that sparkle in her eyes while Marinette scolded him and squealed.
"Put me down!" Her hand swatted his shoulder until he finally smirked and dropped her gently back to the ground. "I'm guessing you like it then?"
Tossing his little mini kitten into the air and loving every screech she made as she flew.
"It's purr-fect, just purr-fect."
Marinette beamed and, Chat - well, he stayed in his black cat suit much longer than he had in years, eventually needing to placate an annoyed kwami with a large amount of cheese when he finally transformed back.