The first thing Emma did was add hers and Louis's numbers, as well as Bà's, to each of their phones. The second thing she did was changed Louis's background to an image of a field of butterflies, and hers to a selfie of her with her father. Currently, she sitting on his bed, going through his photo albums, and taking pictures of her favorites to keep for herself. And if her Bà just so happened to notice that she had copied every single high school picture that included him and Marinette, so be it. She had already forwarded a ton of them to Louis's phone. She was sure he'd appreciate it.

Adrien, meanwhile, was having a crisis. He met his daughter in his pajamas, of all things. He'd rather die than repeat that with the mother of his children. His future happiness was probably dependent on this second first impression. At the same time, he was also trying to parse down the questions that he needed answers to. What was he even going to say to her?

"Bà, I thought you used to be a model? It can't be that hard to pick out clothes," his rapscallion daughter teased.

"Normally, no, it's not…" he answered distractedly, examining one of his best-tailored suits before putting it back.

Emma closed the album and put her new phone on top of it, sliding off the bed while her dad struggled with his internal debates.

She sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the closet and sitting him down in an armchair. "Stay," she ordered. "You apparently need help, and this calls for a woman's touch."

Adrien looked at the eleven-year-old in amusement while she circled him, lips pursed and rubbing her chin in contemplation like a practiced stylist. "Oh? You know where we can find one of those?" He chuckled.

"I'll have you know that I know a thing or two about dressing oneself for the occasion," she defended. "Trust me, it's like I've been training for this my whole life." She smirked and snapped her fingers, coming to a decision. She moved around his room looking for the items she needed, happily finding them with relative ease. She handed him each item as she found them; black fitted jeans, a belt, and a hunter green button-up shirt. "There. Go put those on." And then she had the audacity to shoo him out of his own bedroom.

She waited patiently for him to come back, stealing his seat. After a few moments, he returned, buttoning the cuffs of the shirt. "So?" he asked, giving a practiced turn.

Emma frowned. "I thought you knew how to dress yourself?" she complained, walking over to him and slapping his hand away from the cuff buttons. She unbuttoned the cuffs and rolled his sleeves up to three quarters. "It's just my mama you are meeting. Relax. Loosen your stance. Think casual," she ordered.

Aside from the extreme déjà vu that Adrien was experiencing, he laughed. "What, no camera?" he asked.

"Oh, that's a good idea!" she exclaimed, jumping on the bed to snatch up her phone. "Sit back down in the armchair!"

He sat down and propped his left leg over his right knee, crossing his arms with an amused smirk. Emma took the picture and considered it for a bit. "Socks and shoes," she decided was missing from the picture. She handed him her phone and fetched the items, handing him black socks and a pair of black leather derby shoes before taking her phone back. She clicked a few more pictures while he put them on.

Adrien raised an amused eyebrow at her.

"What?" she defended, taking another picture. "Candid shots are a must."

"If you say so, princess," he chuckled and put his foot down, shoes properly tied. He then held out his hands, "Well? Am I ready, Mademoiselle Photographer?"

"Juuust about," she said, putting her phone in her pocket. "Put your right elbow on the armrest, like… yeah, like that, now lean your chin on your fist… perfect!" She physically lifted his left foot and placed it in a kicked-out position before stepping back and holding up her fingers like a frame. "Perfect!"

"Have you done this before?" Adrien asked, genuinely curious.

"Maybe," his daughter answered with a grin. "Now give me your best Chat Noir smile and say 'Princess'!"

It was probably the best picture she'd ever taken. She immediately forwarded it to Louis's phone, with the message "Look what I did! Aren't you proud of me?". She couldn't wait for him to see it. She was totally going to forward that picture to Mama when she and Bà finally got back together.

"Mama is going to love you," she grinned.

Adrien could only hope.

"Marinette! Louis!" Sabine greeted them, pleasantly surprised. "We weren't expecting you for a few hours yet! How was the trip?"

"Honestly, mom? Exhausting," Marinette, replied, dropping her stuff off in the entryway hall and giving her mom a kiss and her dad a hug.

Tom pulled Louis over to him, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Mari, what are you feeding this boy? Look at you! The last time I saw you in person, you were this high," he demonstrated, holding his hand about knee height.

"Well, I'm glad the two of you made it safely. It's a shame Emma couldn't join you. You'll have to have her send us pictures of camp when she returns," the small Chinese woman smiled while she helped take bags up to Marinette's old room.

"Oh, yeah, totally," Marinette agreed nervously. She saw as Louis, standing behind his grandparents, rolled his eyes. She glared at him when her parents weren't looking. "Thanks for letting us stay on such short notice, by the way."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all! This is still your home, Marinette. Always has and always will," her mother assured her.

"In fact," Tom added, calling up the stairs, "feel free to move back at any time!"

Marinette just shook her head with a smile and kissed her mom on the cheek again. "Thanks, mom. We'll get settled in and see you downstairs in a few okay? I cannot wait to wash the airport off," she sighed deeply, letting her exhaustion show.

"Okay, dear." Sabine turned to Louis and pinched his cheek fondly before kissing his forehead. "You two get some rest."

Louis rubbed his cheek, and as soon as the trap door closed he turned to his mother. "So when do we get to go see Bà?"

Marinette looked around her old room, taking the miracle box out of her carry-on bag. "Soon. I wasn't lying about the shower." She walked to an old dollhouse and took the lid off, placing the miracle box within, hiding it away. "Not the best solution, but this will do for now," she said, mostly to herself.

Had she used that to hide the miracle box back home, Louis thought, he and Emma would have found it way sooner. He sincerely hoped that wasn't how she hid it while she was a teenager. Then again, it all turned out fine anyway, evidenced by the fact that his mother had yet to lose the box. Well, other than when he took, he added guiltily to himself.

The tired woman grabbed her shower bag out. "Do me a favor, sweetie, and tell your sister we'll be there in a few hours?"

"Sure thing, mama," he answered, climbing up into the loft, both Kaalki and Nooroo joining him. He waited until he could hear the shower before he called for the transformation and made the call.

Juno picked up almost immediately. "Hey, Zhu! I'd knew you'd be calling soon," she bragged. "I have a surprise for you!"

"Oh?"

"Yep! Sending it to your communicator now. Also," she held up a small black box. "Look what Bà got for us."

"He got us phones?" he blinked, keeping his voice down. "But mama said…"

"Yeah, I asked the other parent," she smirked on her end.

Zhuangzi sighed, holding the bridge of his nose in consternation. "Okay, sure, it worked this time, but I wouldn't make a habit out of doing that. Mama is going to have a conniption if Bà starts off by undermining her parenting."

Juno was silent for several moments, then scoffed, "How old are you again?"

"The same age as you. It's not my fault you don't read."

"I read!" his sister replied defensively.

"Yeah, as long as there are plenty of pictures."

"Manga is a legitimate and complex art form, I'll have you know!"

"Uh, huh, and it has nothing to do with the kissy bits."

"You leave my shoujo out of this!"

"Half of all the stories you read can be boiled down to 'Notice me, Sempai!'. Spoiler alert: they usually do."

"Do you want a phone or not?"

"ACHEM," Kaalki interrupted with a pointed look at Zhuangzi.

The masked boy cleared his throat. "… yes, thank you," he replied quietly. "Also, me and mama will be there in a few hours. She's taking a shower first."

The girl on the screen smiled. "Fabulous! I'll go let Bà know. And don't forget to check out that picture I sent you! You'll be thankful for my Ai Yazawa collection after you see it!" She winked and hung up.

Zhuangzi opened the file she'd attached and grinned. Point to Emma, not that he'd ever tell her that, but Mama was going to have a hard time not noticing their father. He chuckled. "Notice me, Sempai, indeed," he said under his breath. "Nooroo, wings fall."

Louis did end up taking a nap. When it was time to leave, Marinette woke him up, a couple of dark cloaks thrown over her arm.

"It's time," she said, sounding a bit less than sure.

The preteen boy rubbed his eyes, forcing them to open despite their stalwart desire to sleep some more. Even in his waking state, however, he still caught the trepidation in her words. "You going to be okay, mama?"

She nodded with a smile. "I'll figure it out," she affirmed.

The two excused themselves from dinner and told Tom and Sabine that they were going to catch a late movie, promising to be careful and not stay out too late. Louis was amused by his grandparents' third degree of his mother. It was all in good fun, on their part. Marinette playfully reminded them that she was, in fact, a full-grown adult and perfectly capable of taking care of herself and others besides, and then they were on their way. Ducking into an alleyway, they both transformed and then put on the dark hooded cloaks that Marinette had brought.

For Epona, it was nostalgic, terrifying, and exhilarating all at the same time. Never in her life had she suspected that she'd be leading her own son across the rooftops of Paris dressed in magical jumpsuits. He'd picked it up so quickly, that she was actually a bit proud.

God, the nostalgia was strong. Their path through Paris was winding, even though she knew exactly where she needed to go. To be honest, she could have just voyaged them right there, but a large part of her wanted this experience, and to forestall the upcoming conversation with her old partner. To get her head straight. To figure out what she was going to say. "Cha… Zhu," she corrected herself, motioning for him to stop on the ledge next to her. She pointed at the building in front of them. "We're here."

"Are we gonna go ring the bell now?" he asked.

She smirked. "Now, where would the fun in that be?" She stepped back. "Voyage!"

"Knock, knock!"

Adrien looked up from the coffee he was nursing, meeting eyes with his daughter before they both got up from the table and followed the voice into the living room. As much as he'd seen in his life, he wasn't even surprised to see the portal in the middle of the room. He just wondered why he'd even expected them to knock on the front door in the first place, to be honest.

"Zhu!" Emma greeted the person sticking halfway out of the portal. "You made it!"

"Hey, sis," the boy said, stepping out fully before turning around and reaching back in.

This was his son, Adrien realized. Louis. He was wielding the butterfly miraculous, though his design was drastically different from when his father had used it. Like his daughter, his son's full-body costume also utilized an overlayer in the form of a purple sleeveless martial robe. His miraculous was pinned on the left side of his chest, with a purple mask, in the shape of a butterfly, framing his blue eyes. His dark blue hair was wild and brushed back, giving it a wind-swept look. When he turned, it revealed a white butterfly symbol emblazoned on the back. Whereas his father had had a cane, Zhuangzi had a staff, which he wore tucked into his wide belt, a similar bubble inlaid in the top. He was also tall for his age, probably a bit taller than Adrien had been at that age.

His son pulled his hand back out of the portal and Adrien held his breath as Epona stepped out with it, the portal closing behind. Only he wasn't seeing Epona. He was seeing Ladybug. Her pigtails were gone and her hair was shorter. The blue of her eyes was hidden by the dark glasses of the horse miraculous. Black and red were replaced by white and tan. But that was her smile. She pulled Emma into a tight hug, and that was Ladybug's smile.

He felt like an outsider looking on. Never had he felt more lonely than he did at that moment, looking at what should be his family. Was his family. Will be his family.

Louis cleared his throat and the Lady looked up. At him. He may have stopped breathing.

There was a pregnant pause before she spoke. "Hello again, Chat." She sounded breathless to his ears. "Adrien."

"L.B.," he managed to reply.

"It's Epona now, actually," she softly corrected.

Not to me, he thought, and I still don't even get a real name. It was a bitter pill.

Emma looked at her brother and motioned for him to follow her. "We'll leave you guys to talk for a moment," she said, even though it didn't look like the boy wanted to follow.

"Wait a minute, Em." The purple-clad boy walked over to him and held out a hand. "Bà. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Louis. Or Zhuangzi. Zhu for short." Adrien shook the boy's hand, then was surprised to be pulled into a sudden hug. "We'll talk later, don't worry," the boy assured him, then whispered low enough that he almost didn't hear, "Go easy on mama. She's terrified, but she'll never let you know."

The boy released him with a wink and then followed after his sister.

"You've had the easy one all week," Epona stated, hanging a couple of black cloaks over the back of an armchair. She absently smoothed out the wrinkles with a gloved hand. "Emma is pretty straightforward. Tends to jump into things feet first. Louis is the main schemer, though. He's way too smart for his own good, sometimes."

"He seems like a great kid," he answered around the lump in his throat. "Care to have a seat?" he motioned to the sofa.

She didn't look eager for that, but she nodded. "Yes, thank you."

They both sat down, Lady Epona on the couch, he on the love seat.

An awkward silence stretched between them.

Adrien cleared his throat. "Would, ah… would you like a coffee or something? Water?" He offered.

"Oh, um… n, no. Thank you," She declined.

Neither of them, it appeared, knew how to start.

"I was wondering…" "I want you to know…" They spoke at the same time. "You go ahead…" "You first…"

"Good lord, how can they be this awkward?" Emma lamented while she and Zhu eavesdropped at the top of the stairs.

Eventually, they managed to straighten themselves out, finally settling on "Ladies First".

The lady in question fiddled with the piping in the seam of her costume nervously. "I want you to know that I'm sorry. For all of this." Epona managed to say, moving her hands in a wide gesture.

Adrien frowned, not really liking the wording of her apology. "Sorry for what, exactly? Not telling me about the twins before now, or me finding out?"

She winced. Probably a combination of both then, he concluded.

He shook his head. "I guess that doesn't really matter." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Can you at least tell me why?"

He watched as her fingers abandoned the piping to clench into a fist on her lap. "You do deserve that much, at least," she acquiesced.

"Damn right, I do," he agreed.

Her gaze shot to him, and then she looked away again, thinking of the words. "It's because… it was because… I'm the Guardian. I had a duty."

He took a breath, tempering his consternation. "That's a bullshit reason, L.B.," he failed to resist voicing. "I would have helped you, you know that. You and me against the world, remember?"

"Always," she whispered, the echo of a memory. Then she shook her head. "But it isn't that simple. It never was. Paris was safe, and the miracle box had to leave. You had a life here, friends. Your family was finally going to be whole again. I couldn't ask you to leave that behind."

"And you could? You did?" He asked incredulously. "How is that fair?"

"It wasn't about what was fair, it was about what had to be," she asserted. "Besides, I wasn't entirely alone."

Adrien frowned again, brows knitting together. "Two newborn infants hardly counts as help or company."

She shook her head with a mirthless laugh. "That isn't what I mean. Besides, I didn't even know I was pregnant until your father pointed it out." He went extremely still, eyes widened in shock. Epona noticed and waved a hand frantically, "No, no, it isn't what you think!" She clarified. "I was still needed at the temple, both to finish my guardian training, and to help develop the cure for your mother. I had to see that through, but I remained as Epona almost the entire time I was there. Your father never knew who I was. To him, I was probably just another temple trainee."

Well, that was a conversation for when he was able to talk to his father again. Preferably in person.

"Okay, so that's your reason for leaving. I still don't understand why you didn't think I could help you. I would have gone anywhere, done anything for you," he admitted. When she didn't immediately answer, he waved it off. "Forget it. I guess your trust in me just didn't extend that far."

"That totally wasn't it!" She vehemently denied, hand over her heart. "Of everyone, you are the only one I could have trusted!"

"Then why didn't you?!" he challenged.

"Because I'm the Guard…" she began.

"Bull…" he interrupted.

"No, hear me out!" she cut back in. "When I found out I was pregnant with the twins, it complicated everything a hundredfold. The miraculous must remain a secret, and as the guardian, it is my job to ensure that it remains secret. It is imperative that I keep my identity as the guardian secret from everyone." She hugged herself and sank into the couch. She was silent for a moment, but he waited patiently, waiting to see how this all connected. Eventually, she seemed to come to a decision. "You… you knew me. Adrien Agreste knew me, the real me. But you never looked at me in that way. You didn't… You didn't love the real me the way you loved Ladybug, and I couldn't take that risk. If I revealed myself to you, and you rejected me, I would have had to name a new guardian or disappear entirely, leaving behind all of my family and never seeing anyone ever again. If you accepted me, but it didn't work out, it would have been the same outcome. With the twins, I couldn't risk it." He noticed the shiver in her limbs and her words caught him. "I couldn't risk forgetting them, the way Master Fu forgot us."

He remembered Zhu's words. They made sense now.

"But now the twins know," he surmised. "I don't know your identity, but they do."

She nodded once, solemnly.

"What…"

"I don't know, yet. I haven't decided," She answered before he could ask the full question.

They both sat quietly for a moment, absorbing and processing.

He had known her civilian self. And she hadn't thought he'd love all of her. Her fears were valid, but hadn't he deserved the chance to prove himself? Her fears had cost them twelve years, but still…

He watched the woman sitting on his couch, silently struggling to hold herself and everything she loved together. He loved her still, even if he wasn't entirely happy with her, but perhaps she was right? Perhaps he didn't really know her.

"Why, if you didn't think I'd accept you, all of you, did you stay with me that night?" he questioned.

She laughed, and it was a wretched sound, almost part sob. "Why, indeed." She shook her head. "It was because I loved you, Adrien, and Chat."

Damn it. That old familiar feeling surfaced at those words, like a close friend long lost but not forgotten. A tightness in his chest that hurt. Much like her, he supposed. He had to ask. He rose from his seat and knelt in front of her, gaining her attention by taking one of her gloved hands in his.

"My Lady, can you not give me the chance? Give us the chance?"

She looked down at him, but he could not read her eyes through the dark miraculous. Ladybug had always had expressive eyes. It made him wonder if her choice of miraculous was purposeful.

The two children in the stairwell held their breaths, looking at each other with wide, hopeful eyes.

"I can't."

The backs of two heads hit the walls of the stairwell in frustration.

Adrien growled. "That is your fear talking." He released her hand and stood up, pacing while he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Suddenly, he had a thought. A wonderful, terrifying, risky thought. "Give me two weeks," he turned back to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You are here in Paris for two weeks. Give me two weeks to prove that I can and do love the true you with the entirety of my heart."

"You'd have to find me first, Chat," she pointed out.

"That is what makes it such a hard challenge, no? Reduces the risk for you."

She frowned. "You can't ask the children who I am."

He smirked. She was considering it. "They've already told me they wouldn't, anyway."

She was quiet for several moments, that unreadable expression on her face. "What happens when you lose?" she asked.

He swallowed heavily. "Well, in the unlikely event that I lose, then you get to keep your secret identity. We develop a custody schedule for the children. We work around the secrecy. I want to be in their lives regardless of what happens here." He knelt back down in front of her, taking her hand in his again, giving her his best Chat Noir smirk. "And when I win," he said in a low, confident voice, "Then you marry me. We be a family. We do this like we should have twelve years ago."

He took pleasure in watching as she blushed straight to her toes. No eye-blocking miraculous could hide that. Adrien didn't need to see her eyes to tell that he'd won this round.

"What happened? What did he just say?" Emma whispered frantically at Louis, who desperately tried to shush his sister and listen. It was a futile effort, unfortunately.