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Chapter Ten

A Truly Absurd Idea

"Check!" Louis declared as he heroically placed his gingerbread piece at the rainbow-colored palace.

A frown ran across Emma's face as she pushed her glasses up her nose." That's chess, not Candyland," she reminded him. Seven games of Candyland and 3 cheats from her brother and the young genius was ready to throw the board.

"Still," Louis said with his short arms crossed."I win,"

"Only cause you cheated," Emma muttered, hopping down from the bar stool positioned at the counter.

"Dad," Hugo said, looking at his. For the past few days, Adrien had been stuck in old newspaper articles, are relating to the first trial on Gabriel Agreste and now the more recent one. Hugo frowned."Dad," he called out again, this time with more persistence.

"Adrien," Marinette said, almost instantly grabbing her husband's attention.

The exhausted emerald eyes of Adrien Agreste darted up from the newspaper, looking at his wife who was at the moment, attempting to teach Lyric how to crochet." Ya?" he asked, rubbing an eye that was run dry from staring endlessly at the small black print.

Marinette cocked her head to the side, discreetly trying to draw attention to their eldest son. Talk to him, her eyes screamed at him as she returned back to her goddaughter, resuming their lesson. Adrien frowned, taking his time to fold the newspaper, setting it back down beside him."What were you asking Hue?" he asked.

Hugo frowned, eyes reaching out to his mom who was obviously not intervening so they could talk."I was just going to ask if you wanted to play some video games."

"Mariokart!" Louis shouted, plopping himself down beside Adrien who simply laughed, ruffling the boy's blonde hair. Hugo couldn't hide his deepening from, able to remember when that was him. He wasn't jealous and didn't want his dad to laugh when he got excited or ruffle his hair, but he wished there was something they could do together.

"I'm down," Emma said, sitting down as Louis began to excite himself.

Marinette smiled at the scene."I'd love to but-"

"That's fine Marinette," Lyric assured her." I've got to babysit Oliver anyway. But thanks for showing me anyway," she said, setting down what was supposed to be a chain in crochet talk. Five attempts and there had been little to no improvement, but she wasn't really concerned. Hugo had informed her that his mom was just waiting till they knew the gender so she could start making them baby clothes.

Emma - who was not only smart but nosy, always aware of other people's business - scrunched her nose at this statement." Blossom watches him Fridays," she said, Hugo smiling at the sentence.

"Creepy much," he laughed. Emma rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out in his direction.

Lyric laughed it off, trying to hide the paleness of her face. She hadn't told Hugo and didn't. This was a family thing and though she considered him family, somethings they had to deal with as just Couffaine's."Your right, but she has an extra lesson so I'm watching him," she said, pulling her sweatshirt on.

"That's nice," Marinette said, slipping the crocheting needles into a bag she stored her yarn supply in."Have a good time."

"I will," she smiled, trading simple and sweet kisses with her boyfriend, which aroused 'oohs' from Louis.

At the sound of the door closing, Louis started up again. In a mocking tone, he sang, "Hugo and Leery sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love then comes marriages then comes-"

"Okay, are we going to play or not?" Hugo asked, trying to wipe the embarrassment from his face.

"Well, technically it'll be Lyric with a baby carriage before they get married," Emma pointed out.

"They could do the same as your dad and I did," Marinette said, sitting back down on the chair, controller in hand. She smiled, eyeing her engagement ring, able to vividly recall that incredible day." But I doubt that," she said, looking at her son who was bright red at the mention of getting married.

"I-I think we'll wait till the baby," he stammered, voice growing quieter with embarrassment.

"Hugo," Louis chimed from beside his brother."When is Brookie coming?"

Hugo scanned his brain for a moment before answering." The baby's due in De-" he paused."Brookie?"

"Ya, Brookie!" Louis exclaimed with a bright smile."Emma said you guess can't choose if the baby will be a boy or girl, so if it's a girl you two should name it Brooke,"

"Brooke," Hugo said, the name not causing any click of sorts."We'll keep it in mind." he lied, suddenly overwhelmed by the thought of picking out names. They wouldn't know the gender for another three weeks, let alone have names selected. But they sure did have one list to start. His great grandfather, who had said waiting till marriage was the way it should be done, had suggested more traditional names, contrasting the ones from his great grandmother. Almost everyone had suggested one or two, and out of those, there was probably only one or three he and Lyric liked.

Marinette smiled, able to recall the stress of having to pick out Hugo's name."Don't worry yourself. You and Lyric still have time,"

"Barely," he sighed under his breath. The past month had gone by in the blink of an eye and he still had a hard time believing they had around 5 months left.

A frown flew across the mother's face as she looked at her son. Part of her was grateful she'd gone through the same thing with him. It made understanding what he was thinking all the easier."Talk to him," she whispered quietly into her husband's ear.

Adrien turned up at her, clutching the newspaper."I have-"

"You can work on that later," she said, practically ripping the newspaper from her husband's hand."Our son needs you,"

"Secrets!" Louis screeched in front of them.

"God Louis," Emma groaned, clapping her hands over her ears which rang loudly."Do you have to be so loud?"

"Mommy and Daddy are telling secrets," he tattled, crossing his arms.

"We're not," Marinette assured him, picking the boy up and setting him down on her lap."Daddy and Hugo are going to talk while we play some Mariokart."

"Talk?" Hugo questioned, gaze switching from his mom to his dad."Why do we need to talk?" he asked, standing up to follow his dad.

Unsure what he should say and slightly upset Marinette was forcing this on him now, Adrien pushed open the door that led out to the small metal balcony that ran across that entire side of the apartment building." Umm, just come on," he managed to say, ignoring the pleasant smile on his wife's face.

Confused and concerned he might've done something wrong, Hugo followed his father out. To his surprise, it was quite warm. Winter had drawn out into Spring and he hadn't expected the hottest summer, but there they were. Hugo looked at his dad, leaned against the railing, staring out at nothing in particular."Is everything alright?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," Adrien assured him.

"Then why do we have to talk?" he asked, personally in a Mariokart mood.

Adrien looked at his son. He hadn't realized how grown out he'd gotten. The small baby he used to lull to sleep was now worrying over his own baby. It was strange, to not only be watching his son grow too quickly for his liking, but know he'd be a grandpa at 35. Raising his arm, he gently slung it over the boy's shoulder, remaining silent.

Hugo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the action."Dad?"

"I love you, Hugo," he said, continuing to look out at the city."I don't say it enough but I love you,"

It was saddening how shocking the simple two sentences were, but shock was all he could feel. His dad wasn't someone to simply say I love you and he didn't mind, neither was he. Out of anyone, he probably told his girlfriend he loved her the most often and even that wasn't much.

"I-I love you too dad, but why-"

"Look Hugo, I more than anyone know what it's like," Adrien said, looking down at his son with a serious but caring gaze."I know it's not easy and it's stressful, but if you ever need to talk about anything, you can talk to me,"

Wide-eyed, Hugo looked up at his dad, genuinely surprised." T-thanks," he stuttered, not exactly sure what he should say.

Adrien smiled, patting him on the back."So do you have any questions?"

Awkwardly, Hugo shook his head." The puking... does it stop?" he asked.

Adrien couldn't help but laugh at the question."Does she have it bad?"

"Sadly," Hugo sighed."Did mom?" he asked curiously. His parents didn't talk much about when she was pregnant with him and he couldn't help but be a little curious.

"With you?" Adrien asked receiving a slow nod."Ya, I'd definitely say with you morning sickness was the worst. I've never looked at spaghetti the same way but it stopped around 5 months,"

"I'm hoping," he said, feeling remorse for his girlfriend who every morning was holding back to urge to vomit as they walked into class.

"How've you been doing?" he asked.

Hugo shrugged, leaning up against the railing."I don't know. It's still weird and hard to believe there is an actual baby inside of her."

"I know it is," Adrien said, standing beside his son he'd had a hard time believing existed 16 years earlier."I had a hard time believing you were real,"

Hugo nodded, looking up at the clear blue sky."How did mom tell you, that she was pregnant with me?"

"Oh," Adrien said, unable to tell him the truth. No, his son didn't have to be aware his parents were Paris's famed superheroes."Um, well she asked me to come over and just told me,"

"Were you guys together?" he asked.

"We'd just gotten together," he lied, not wanting to make it sounder weirder than it already was," but we'd been friends for years."

"And what did you think?" he asked, staring up at his father's green eyes which he'd received.

"I'm not sure," he said, trying to think back."I don't think I really believed she was serious at first and the rest was history," he laughed, managing to get a small laugh out of his son. It had been so long since they'd gotten to laugh together, it was nice."How've you been feeling about it all,"

The teen shrugged again."I'm nervous, nervous but excited. I didn't think I'd be a dad this young and I'm just kinda worried I won't be a good one."

"I thought the same thing," he admitted."I was worried I'd turn out like my dad-"

"The one on trial, that's been in jail?" Hugo asked. His grandfather was never spoken about and over the years he'd just stopped asking.

With anger bubbling within him, Adrien managed a nod."Yes, the one who's been in jail."

"Why was he put in jail?"

He didn't want to answer the question and really couldn't. Hugo couldn't know they were lady- his thoughts stopped as a certain memory surfaced. He'd tried to forget that horrid day, but he'd always remembered one thing. Hugo. He'd met his son. A 16-year-old version of his son. He couldn't recall much of their talk just that he'd somehow ruined his life and it related to someone named Posie.

"Hugo do you have any friends named Posie?" he asked, not trying to derail the conversation, just wondering who this person was.

"What?" Hugo questioned.

"Posie. Do you have any friends named Posie?"

Hugo shook his head." No, I don't, but why?" he asked, the name Posie one he found himself liking.

Adrien sighed, sorrowing n defeat. It was clear something had happened to this Posie. Something that had ruined his son's life. He needed to make sure this girl stayed safe, but how could he do that when Hugo didn't even know her?" It's not important," he sighed, mindlessly twisting his ring around his finger. To keep them safe he and Marinette didn't wear their miraculous and after years, he would admit he missed his black cat companion he now only saw once every few weeks.

Wait... the miraculous.

Adrien whipped his head in the direction of his already extremely confused son. Sadly, what he and his wife had to tell the boy would only confuse him more."I need you to come with me,"

"Okay..." Hugo said eyebrow raised."Why? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, there's just something I need your help with," he said. This plan was absurd and crazy... but it might just work.

"Okay," Hugo said, able to tell something was wrong. He followed behind his dad, pausing to think as his worried mind circled through a thousand thoughts.

Posie... what a sweet name.