Don't know why but I had a blast writing this one. As I said, this story still has a long way to go especially since I'm planning stuff for Blossom because I love torturing my characters MUWAHHA! So just know that although there will be some more happy moments between Lyric and Hugo, hell for them and everyone else is certainly not over.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Daughters in law and Grandkids

The memories felt like they'd just happened. The feeling of bubbles being blown into her face. The feeling of him climbing into her lap. The feeling of him running up with a drawing that made tears prick her eyes. So many memories she'd made with the beautiful human she loved more than anyone else. The little blonde boy who called her 'mommy' and would bring her dandelions just because they reminded him of her hair. The little boy she'd rocked to sleep at night, and had taught to play the piano. The little boy she always dreamed of watching grow up. Of seeing him go to school, see him fall in love. Cry as he married the person of his dreams and cry as she held her first grandchild.

But that wasn't Emilie Agreste's reality.

She wasn't running her fingers through a 12-year-old boy's hair. In that bed, connected to life support wasn't the boy she'd waved goodbye to on that Sunday morning. Her dainty fingers brushed his golden locks away, and she stared down at the face of her son. Her son who wasn't a teen anymore. Her son who had already graduated. Who'd already fallen in love, gotten married, and had not only children but a grandchild.

She didn't want to think about the fact she'd just met her daughter in law who had been standing beside a twelve-year-old girl who looked like a female version of her son. Her granddaughter. And how along with her granddaughter being at the hospital, just a few floors below was her great-grandchild. She wanted to smile at her twelve-year-old son, and laugh as he told her witty jokes she had no clue how he came up with. But her son wasn't twelve and would never be twelve again.

"I used to sing that to you when you were a baby," she whispered softly, fingers pushing back his hair. The memories of rocking him to sleep and humming the tune of 'You are my sunshine' seemed all too recent. But looking at the man lying before her, it was clear to her just how long it had been.

She'd tried to not let herself believe it when the doctor along with Nathalie informed her just how long she'd been in a coma. But she couldn't deny it for long. Just looking at Nathalie was a dead giveaway. Her silky dark hair had a slight grey sheen to it and her pristine and I-Mean-Business glasses had been replaced with circular ones that appeared more like sunglasses. Soon enough her grim reality came crashing down on her.

Of course, she was grateful to be alive, but she'd missed out on her son's entire life. He wasn't twelve anymore and he wasn't just her baby boy. He was a husband, father, and grandfather. The mere thought made her feel old. How could she be a grandma! Let alone a great-grandma!

Emilie sighed, shaking her head as she looked down at the phone Marinette, who'd she'd just discovered was her daughter-in-law. In her fit of shock, Marinette had pulled up some photos, hoping they'd make her feel better. Starting back over 16 years ago Emilie scrolled through the photos.

At first, she'd only seen her son in the occasional friend group photo. But even that was a shocking sight. Whenever she'd pictured what her son would look like older, memories of her husband as a teen flooded back, but she could easily tell Adrien resembled her more. Soon enough, her son appeared in more photos, and her heart melted at the sweet gazes he passed down to Marinette. From the photos alone she could tell she made her son very happy, and she was very glad he'd had her all those years she'd been asleep.

She stared up at he son, frowning at the oxygen mask covering his face and the many monitors hooked up to him. She'd still received no explanation for why he was in a coma and why she'd been in a coma. The last thing she could remember was that morning. A perfectly normal morning. She'd had a meeting with her old agent regarding a part on an upcoming film. It was shooting in America so she wasn't entirely sold but the premise for the movie had captured her attention and she was willing to talk it over.

She'd left late in the morning, to the sound of her son's piano teacher instructing him on what to do next. She'd smiled at the sweet melody and decided she'd take him out for lunch when she got back. Adjusting the brooch Gabriel had gifted her a few years earlier she'd headed out to her meeting. But she never arrived.

It all was so vague but she could recall bits and pieces. First things had grown blurry and she felt another fit of coughs brewing. Then there was a hand. She wasn't sure if she'd grabbed the hand or it had grabbed her but the last thing she could remember was the cold cement of an alleyway and then darkness. She had no clue whose hand she grabbed and no clue how she'd ended up in the hospital.

It was all so blurry. She wished things made sense but as she flipped through the photos she only grew more confused. Soon enough she was approaching photos from that year. They started off normal, showing the boy Marinette had told her was Hugo, her oldest grandchild along with two other girls who were identical. Marinette had briefly said one of them was his girlfriend and she could guess the one he held close was her. It seemed like they were celebrating something, a birthday perhaps. But a few swipes later she saw a photo of an ultrasound image. As the pictures passed some of Louis and Emma(her other grandchildren apparently) touching one of the twin's stomachs. She continued to sipe, seeing pictures similar to that one until they stopped. The picture's dates skipped from early July to late August until some photos of a beach appeared. That's where they stopped.

Emilie sighed again. This all couldn't be happening. It was too much for her to take in and she wouldn't let herself accept it. She'd missed her son's entire life. He was a father, husband, and grandfather now, what room was there for him to be her son?

"You've gotta go back to your room. They want to do some more bloodwork," Marinette said shyly from the door well. She'd seen so many pictures of Emilie but had never thought she'd get the opportunity to talk with her. It was definitely more awkward than she'd expected. She never thought she'd have to go through the embarrassment of telling someone she'd been a teen mom again. By then she'd gotten used to getting stared at when she admitted that she'd had her son at 18, but none of those people had been her husband's mother. She had to tell this woman who'd just woken up from a coma that she was the wife of her son who'd been a teen the last time she saw him. Not only that but they'd had a child together as teenagers and no their son had his own child, making her not only a grandma but a great-grandma.

"Thank you Marinette," Emilie said as the woman pushed her through the doorway, leading into her room.

Marinette smiled."It's no problem, now if you want I can grab you some food or-"

"Not that," Emilie sighed, staring down at Marinette's lock screen. It was a photo of Adrien, laughing with a five-year-old Hugo and just a two-year-old Emma. The three looked so happy, all a mess in their pajamas. Emilie stared up at her, tears welling in her eyes."Thank you for making him so happy. W-when I couldn't,"

Marinette hadn't expected praise nor felt she deserved it, but the woman's tears broke her heart. Kneeling down, Marinette wrapped her arms around her." He's made me very happy too," she whispered. Although things had been rocky lately, Adrien had undoubtedly brought so much light to her life, even if he'd royally screwed up."Thank you," she whispered.

Emilie pulled away, laughing deliriously down at the phone."You both made some beautiful children,"

Marinette chuckled, nodding her head." They're all crazy," she said, helping her over to the bed."Mrs. Agres-"

"Emilie, please," she said with a kind smile. Marinette could easily tell where Adrien got his smile from.

She nodded, pushing the wheelchair towards the wall and sitting down on the foot of the bed."Emilie, I wanted to ask you what you and Gabriel were doing. With the miraculous."

Unlike Marinette had expected, Emilie stared at her with confusion in her eyes."What are you talking about?" she asked. Marinette could tell she wasn't lying but even so, how did she not know what she was talking about? She and Adrien had concluded years ago that her coma was due to the use of a broken miraculous but they'd also concluded she must've been in on it all. But what if she hadn't been?

Hesitantly, Marinette pulled out the small brooch from her pocket. Emilie immediately recognized the object, a quiet gasp escaping her."My brooch!" she exclaimed.

Marinette's eyes snapped up."So you recognize this?" she asked.

Emilie nodded, examining the brooch."Gabriel gave it to me for our last anniversary, or our last anniversary we ever celebrated. He said he got it during his business trip to China but didn't specify where he got it from." She frowned, running her finger along the center."It used to be cracked."

"Wait, so you're saying this is just a brooch?" Marinette asked, startling the woman by her tone.

"What else would it be?" Emilie asked, handing the brooch back over to Marinette." Dear are you okay?" she asked."You look pale."

Marinette waved off at the woman, giving herself a minute to process everything. Emilie knew nothing. To her, the thing that had forced her into a coma had been a simple brooch she'd received as a gift. The miraculous, Hawkmoth, the akumas, she knew nothing about any of it. But the brooch had caused Emilie to fall into her coma, so she had to have been using it without knowing. But how could that be possible? And Gabriel had to have known that it could kill her. So why would he have her use it? What had he been planning before the akumatizations? What was his true plan?

"Marinette,"

Her soft voice broke Marinette from her chance and she met the woman's worried gaze.

"Are you sure your okay?"

She nodded, forcing herself to keep a calm composure."Ya, just tired. I haven't gotten much sleep this week,"

"I bet," Emilie said, pursing her lips together."Marinette, if you don't mind, could you explain to me what happened? Why Adrien's in a coma and the whole situation with Hugo?"

Marinette paused, debating if she should tell the truth or the lie they'd been telling everyone."Earlier this year Hugo and his girlfriend Lyric got pregnant. The baby was born stillbirth a few months ago. To try and ease everything we all went to the beach and there Adrien fell and hit his head. When the ambulance got there Lyric told them she'd been having stomach pains and fainted. She's a twin and twins run in her mother's family so we found out that there had been an unnoticed twin. To help her health they delivered the baby early a few days ago." Marinette explained. It felt wrong to lie but until she knew what Gabriel's true intentions had been she didn't want everyone knowing her and Adrien's secret.

"Those poor things," she said, thinking back to the earlier photos from January, where Hugo and Lyric had both been smiling brightly." Speaking of Gabriel, where is he?" she asked.

Shoot, Marinette thought. Of course, Emilie was bound to ask about where her husband was, but Marinette had hoped she'd have some more time to think up a good response. But it wasn't like it could stay a secret forever. All of Paris knew that the famed fashion designer was behind bars, so his wife would eventually find out. Marinette sighed, looking over the woman."Gabriel's in jail."

So she could've phrased it better, but either way, Emilie would've been shocked. Still, outright telling someone their husbands in jail might not be the best way to go about things. To be honest, Marinette didn't really care. She felt awful for Emilie and was there to explain it all as best she could, but Gabriel Agreste? He could burn in hell for all she cared.

Blossom stared down at the check. The bust worked its way closer to their apartment building and she still had no clue how to go about telling her parents. Maybe she should just tell her dad. He'd take the news easier than her mom but still would get upset. Or she could tell her mom, she would certainly get more upset but at least that hurdle would be over with. Or she could run in, waving the check around screaming out what she'd done. She bit her lip, blind on what would be best.

As the bus rounded the corner she decided she'd wait a few days. She'd wait for the perfect alone with her mom to tell her everything. Not just about the check, but come clean about how she'd been lying to both of them for the past few months.