Desideratum

Chapter 34

Luka came home one cold November evening to find both Marinette and Cadence nestled up on his side of the bed. His son was cuddled to her chest, underneath the covers, while his mother was lying on top of them, not dressed in her pajamas, but rather in a short, black dress. Her heels lay abandoned on the floor.

He was unable to hide his smile.

Crossing the room to reach the two most important persons in his life, he tried to be as silent as he could. Once he was beside them, he bent down to press a light kiss to Cadence's forehead, before brushing a hand gently over Marinette's head. Marinette stirred, and he touched his lips to hers. She whined.

His smile widening, he took a seat on the side of the bed, beside his son, and rubbed her arm soothingly.

She opened her eyes to look at him.

"You okay?" he whispered, gazing at her adoringly. "You're still dressed, sweetheart."

She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "I'm too tired to think about that," she murmured. Then she opened them again, trying to blink the sleep out of them. "Everything alright with you?"

Luka smiled, brushing dark hair away from her face. "Yeah. I'm going to take a shower. Go back to sleep."

She needed no more encouragement.

Before he entered the bathroom, however, Luka made his way to the closet and pulled out a blanket, which he draped over her unmoving form. He knew perfectly well that she would refuse to slip under the covers with their son, but that was not to say he would let her freeze.

When Cadence slowly blinked his eyes awake that morning, he found it hard to recognize his surroundings. He usually woke up with the sun in his eyes and his pet by his side, and yet neither of those elements was now present.

Instead, he was greeted by a large, spacious room with light-colored walls and a window right beside the bed, from where the sun's heated rays couldn't reach him.

Yawning, he stretched and turned his head to the side. The moment his eyes fell on his mother's sleeping form, he seemed to remember where he was and what he was doing there. He had waited for her to come home in their bedroom, but as it was, he must have fallen asleep before she did, because he couldn't remember seeing or talking to her.

Sitting up, he slipped out from underneath the covers and was preparing to leave the bed in silence when he noticed, from the corner of his eye, exactly whose chest his mother was cuddled to. A wide grin spread on his face, and before he even knew what he was doing, he had jumped over Marinette and onto Luka, waking both of them up.

That was hardly something he cared about at that moment, though.

"You're back!" he exclaimed, excitement written all over his face as he gazed down at his father.

Marinette groaned and rolled over on her stomach, but there was no denying the sleepy smile both of them had managed to catch. Luka grinned as he stood, taking his son with him. "Come on, let's let your mother sleep in."

"You'll make me breakfast?" Cadence questioned as he was carefully set down on the floor.

"I'll try," he replied, amused, and stayed behind as the little boy ran out of the room, most probably to search for his animal companion. Bending down, he smoothed a hand over Marinette's back and pressed a gentle kiss on her temple. "Do you want some water?" he asked.

Marinette nodded sleepily.

Luka complied with a smile and was back in a mere minute, holding a glass of cold water in his hand. He helped her up and she took a few sips before she placed the glass on the nightstand. Then she promptly groaned. Standing up in one swift movement, she turned her back to Luka and pulled her hair over her shoulder.

"Take it off," she grumbled, only now registering the discomfort her inappropriate clothing caused her.

Luka laughed as he slowly lowered the zipper and slipped the dress from her shoulders, allowing it to pool down on the floor and leaving her in her underwear. Stepping out of the material, she climbed back in bed, under the covers this time, releasing a quiet sigh as her head hit the pillow.

All Luka could do as he tucked her in and kissed her forehead was smile and think about how much he actually loved her. "Cadence," Luka called as he moved about in the kitchen, pulling out two cups to make hot chocolate.

The boy looked up from his spot at the table, fixing him with questioning brown eyes.

"Was your mother always so tired?"

"No," he said, shaking her head. "Sometimes, when she had big projects."

"And what did you do?" he pressed, curious.

"I slept in with her," he answered, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Luka laughed.

"It was nice. She'd make me food when we woke up and then we'd spend the entire day together—being lazy."

"You really do love spending time with her, don't you?" Luka asked, smiling.

Cadence nodded. "Sure!"

"I'm going to wake her up," Luka announced, picking up the two cups and setting one on the table, in front of Cadence. "Then maybe we can find something to do together."

That morning, Marinette woke up to the sweet smell of hot chocolate and light kisses pressed on her bare shoulder. She smiled. A hand reached out to brush the dark hair out of her face, the touch familiar and soothing.

"Wake up?" a voice whispered suggestively in her ear. "I have hot chocolate."

Her smile widened. Stretching lightly under the covers, she rolled over on her back. A pair of warm lips met hers immediately, and she hummed in pleasure, rounding his neck with her arms.

Luka ran his large, warm hands from her shoulders down her arms, before encircling her small waist. The dark shivered slightly under his touch, but he grasped her hips and easily lifted her up, forcing her in a sitting position.

A small laugh escaped her lips as he pulled away.

"Hey," he murmured as he tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Hey," she greeted back.

Luka reached for the cup of hot chocolate he had set on the nightstand. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he handed it to her. "Better," she replied, taking a sip of the warm liquid. "Where's Cadence?"

"I left him downstairs, with Spaceball."

She fought a smile at the predictable answer. "Did you make him breakfast?"

"I did," he said, surprisingly serene.

Marinette watched him skeptically. "What did you do?"

Luka laughed. "I am astonished by the trust you have in me," he told her.

"You are hopeless in the kitchen, Luka," she countered, throwing him a bland look.

"Then maybe her majesty will cook us something when she decides to get out of bed," he suggested, clearly amused. Marinette rolled her eyes and Luka grinned as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"You know what I find weird?" he asked, pulling away.

"What?"

"Your phone," he said.

She raised an eyebrow, pressing for an explanation.

He was quick in granting it to her. "It didn't ring once."

Marinette sighed and shifted so that she was now leaning against the headboard more comfortably. "It would have," she said, before taking another sip of the hot beverage. "But I turned it off."

Luka's eyes widened. "You turned your phone off?" he asked, almost incredulously.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead replied with a simple, "Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

She hesitated. "You were right," she eventually admitted. "There are things that matter more."

"You're going to quit?"

She smiled at his enthusiasm. "I don't know. I just know that… that I've seen almost nothing of my son for a week… and that's not what I signed up for. He's the most important person in my life—along with you. And you two should come first."

Luka grinned and shifted closer. "Maybe you could help me," he suggested, his brown eyes positively twinkling.

"Help you how?" she asked, curious.

"There's always something to do. You could be the very own designer of artists under our label."

Marinette laughed.

"They do!" he defended. "We can find something that will let us be first—and that you'll love doing."

Her eyes softened as the true meaning behind his words was slowly revealed to her. Placing the cup on the nightstand, beside her, she leaned forward, tucking a rebellious lock of dark hair behind her ear as she looked into his eyes.

"You'd really want to see me there… in everything?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper. "Even in your work? You want me to be there every time you turn your head? You really want to have no escape?"

"Yes," he told her firmly, without an ounce of hesitation in his voice.

Tears invaded her eyes, unbidden and unwelcome.

Luka smiled and cupped her face in his hands, his brown eyes warm and reassuring as he spoke. "I want you there, Marinette—everywhere. I want you to entangle your life so badly with mine that you won't ever be able to disentangle it, that you won't ever know where mine begins and where your ends. I want you to know everything and to be there for everything. Because, really… Marinette, you're my life."

Leaning forward, he pressed a gentle kiss on her nose.

"Nothing's ever going to change that. Never."