Eighty-Three: Dinner for Four

Chat goes into overdrive when he realizes why Marinette has invited her parents over for dinner.

"You… want to do what?"

I knew my masked feline eyes had gone wide as I stood there in our kitchen, watching Marinette put the finishing touches on the dinner we were mere minutes away from serving to her parents. Unfortunately for me, she had neglected to share the true reason for dragging her folks over to our place, correctly guessing that had I known exactly what she'd been planning, I would have fled for the hills – such as they are in Paris. A tiny part of my feline self was annoyed that she also knew my gentlecat nature would never have left her high and dry like that… but there was a first time for everything.

And I could feel my muscles tensing for a leap past the table set for four on our balcony and the empty late afternoon sky beyond it.

Holding up her engagement ring, Marinette simply looked at me. "This is partly your fault, Chat," she reminded me for the fourth time in as many minutes. "You seem to have neglected a key step in the proposal process."

I blinked. "Mari—"

"Explaining where I had gotten the ring, not to mention who had given it to me is an experience I won't soon forget," she continued as she went back to stirring something on the stove. "It would have been far easier if you'd asked Papa for my hand in marriage."

"With what was going on with Rena and Carapace, I didn't get a chance to catch up with Tom before we left for Nice," I replied – again. "And we're sort of up in the air about the whole Adrien-Marinette thing and how to get there. I didn't want to go to your father as Chat only to have to backpedal later."

Marinette sighed. "I get it," she said softly. "And it's partly my fault for having the ring on last time I was over to the Bakery."

That was new. "You take it off?"

"Only when visiting my parents," she said, looking back at me. "For the same reason. But I was distracted that afternoon, in a hurry, and totally forgot. Maman saw it and burst into tears of joy; Papa was understandably annoyed to find out that way."

"You told them it was me," I stated, "Chat-me."

"Yes," she nodded, turning to the oven and checking on the casserole inside. "And now, tonight, we'll tell them who you really are."

"I can't believe I'm the one to be saying this," I started, "but I think it's a terrible idea for me to reveal my true identity to them. Not before we've dealt with Hawkmoth."

"They are already in the line of fire because of our relationship," she reminded me. "To be honest, I think they deserve a tiny bit of the truth."

"Princess, I don't dispute that we can trust them with my secret. But we don't know what the future holds – what sort of pressure Hawkmoth or one of his akumas could bring to bear on them." I moved around to stand behind her, and placed my paws on her shoulders. "I can protect them – and you – but I worry that might stretch us a bit thin. With Alya and Nino in on the secret, that means at there will be six of us who know the identities of one or more Heroes of Paris." I turned her then hugged her close to me. "Statistically that makes it far more likely we are in danger. As are they."

"Seven, if you include Master Fu," she reminded me as she reached up to brush back a lock from my wild mane. "It's not like you to object to one of my plans," she continued thoughtfully. "Maybe this one isn't quite up to scratch."

"I'm just worried there could be unintended consequences," I said. "I love your parents like they were my own. I don't want them to get hurt in any way."

Marinette buried her head against my costumed chest. "Damn. My idea seemed so much more academic and sensible when I invited them, but you're not wrong. Now I'm not so sure."

I started to reply when a feline ear pivoted. "Elevator," I sighed. "Time to face the music."

"What are we going to do?"

Smiling, I kissed her just below the casual bun she'd put her hair into. "We have dinner," I replied.

Marinette caught something in my look. "Chat—"

The doorbell rang, and I kissed her again. "I'll get them settled."

Swinging the door wide open revealed Tom arm-in-arm with Sabine, who was carrying a small wicker basket. My feline nose confirmed that she had, indeed, brought dessert as she had promised. "Madame and Monsieur," I bowed them in, waving to the main space, "welcome to our humble abode."

"Thank you," Sabine replied after first pulling me into a hug.

I took the basket from her and then settled the two of them on the patio before returning to the kitchen for the bottle of wine Marinette had chosen and four glasses. Adopting my best server persona, I put the glasses down in front of my future parent-in-laws and then inserted a claw into the cork.

"This is one of our favorites," I smiled as I cleanly pulled it out with a smart pop. "I hope—"

"Now that is handy," Tom said, his eyes on the cork still attached to my claw.

"You should see how easily I can open packages," I laughed as I decanted some wine into each of their glasses.

"I can imagine," Tom said. He waited for a beat before adding: "Where did Marinette's design studio go?"

I glanced back toward the living room and where the setup had originally been. "Oh, we moved it into the other bedroom," I replied, before turning back to him, a smile on my face. "We didn't need—"

The look on Tom's face stopped me cold. "You're… sharing… a… room?" he asked.

While it wasn't the first time Marinette's parents had been to the apartment, it was the first time since Marinette had allowed her kitty to share her bed on a rather permanent basis. It was clear from Tom's expression that this particular aspect of being in a relationship – let alone engaged – had not occurred to him. Glancing at Sabine, I could see she was barely suppressing her humor at her husband's sudden revelation. "Uh… Monsieur…"

"You said the suit didn't come off," he replied. "When I let you move in with her. Is that still true?"

I swallowed, and caught Sabine turning away, tears streaming down her face as she tried unsuccessfully to keep from laughing. "It's… mostly true," I said, smiling sheepishly. "My powers have changed a bit as I've grown older."

Tom's jaw dropped.

Sabine couldn't take it any longer. "Dear, these kids are allowed to have a life," she said.

"But he's living with Marinette. They were—"

"They are in love," she reminded him. "And have been for years. You know that as well as I do."

"But—"

"Honey," Sabine said softly, "remember that week on the Riviera?"

I had never seen Tom blush before. Clearing his throat, he looked up at the late evening sky. "That's different."

"Not really," Sabine replied sweetly. She looked up fondly at Marinette as she arrived with the salad. "And now that we know they're getting married…"

My girlfriend smiled as she settled into the chair next to me. "Salad first, as the casserole needs a few more minutes." She looked to me and smiled. "We're both sorry about not looping you in on that earlier," she said, turning back to her parents. "Things have been crazy."

"I'm sure," Sabine replied. "When is the date?"

"We've not set one, yet," Mari replied, glancing to me. "There are some… challenges on that front."

"Such as?"

I noted that Tom seemed to have withdrawn from the conversation, so I focused on Sabine. "Well, I'm Chat Noir for one. I can't exactly walk up and get a marriage license."

"Why not?"

"That's not obviously who I am," I explained, smiling slightly.

"Isn't it, though?" Sabine smiled wider. "Chat is the same person in or out of the costume, my dear." Looking at her daughter, she continued. "Unless I miss my mark, I think Marinette realized that a long, long time ago."

I blinked, for I thought behind that sweet smile of my girlfriend's mother was a subtle recognition – and not just of my own identity. Startled, I looked to Marinette, who's eyes had gone wide. "Maman…" she said slowly.

"So, you marry Chat," she continued, eyes twinkling. "It's no more complicated than that. Your father and I are fully behind that."

"We are?" Tom said blankly.

"Yes, we are," she laughed.

Tom looked at me and smiled slightly. "This will be a bit of an unconventional marriage, won't it?"

"No more than ours," Sabine chuckled. "So… when's the date?"