Desideratum

Chapter 35

One evening, in December, Marinette and Cadence came home to find Luka looking over a bunch of papers in the living room.

"Hey," Marinette greeted as she entered the room, her cheeks rosy and her smile wide. Bending down, she kissed him lightly on the lips. "What are you doing?"

"Looking over these," he answered, holding up a sheet of paper. Marinette raised her eyebrows as she took it from him. "What are these?"

"Statistics," he answered simply.

"And what's the deal with them?" Luka shrugged. "I have no idea."

Marinette laughed—that was so much like him. "Well, would you like some company?" Luka grinned, nodding enthusiastically.

"Okay," she said. "But I need to make some hot chocolate first. I'm freezing." It was then that Luka noticed the absence of his energetic son.

"Hey, where's Cadence?"

Marinette rolled her eyes as she made her way out of the room. "Outside, where else?"

When she came back, she slipped into his arms and curled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Luka smiled as he held the papers up to allow her to accommodate, placing a small kiss on the top of her head.

"Figured out what they are yet?" she asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "I'm on that," he replied

Marinette smiled. "You know…" She sighed. "I'm proud of you."

Luka seemed to freeze upon hearing her words, his entire body tensing. "…What?" he breathed.

"Yes," she confirmed. "I'm proud of you. You achieved all your dreams… You're who you wanted to be and where you wanted to be. And I know it wasn't easy—but you never gave up." A small smile on her face, she turned her head to look up at him. "And you're doing a great job."

A long moment of silence passed before Luka found his words to speak. "You're amazing," he whispered, awed.

Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Is that so?"

"Yes," he answered. "Any other woman… Who would have wanted to even hear about this ever again? It tore us apart. Had I not become who I am today, we wouldn't have had all the problems that we did."

Marinette shook her head. "You have no way of knowing that. And, Luka…" Breathing in, she shifted in his arms so that she was now facing him. "I love you for everything that you are. You've wanted this ever since I met you. Your family wanted this for you. It was your destiny. And I accept it and I love you for it." Sighing, she buried her head in the crook of his neck and pressed a kiss to his warm skin. "I do."

Luka placed the papers on the coffee table and wrapped his arms fully around her small figure, his embrace tight, warm, and protective.

Kissing her temple, he heaved a sigh. "I wonder if there will ever come a time when thinking about it will no longer hurt," he murmured against her skin.

Marinette closed her eyes. "Maybe."

"Thinking about not having you here, in my arms… Thinking about not knowing Cadence…" He paused and shook his head. "I don't think I would have ever worked up the courage to look for you if I hadn't thought I'd seen you that day. This, us, now… It all came down to a chance. And I can't even remember how I managed to live six years without you."

"I know…" she whispered. "But you know what?" She pulled away to look into his eyes. "I'm grateful. That our paths crossed again, that we're together now. I have you and I have Cadence—and that's enough for me. It's more than I ever dared to ask for. You want more, I can feel that. You want to change the past, but that's not possible, Luka. We need to come to terms with it. And I'm sure we will. We're on the right path."

Luka sighed and tightened his embrace, coaxing her to return to her favorite spot on his chest. "Everything will be alright," he spoke.

Marinette smiled. "Exactly."

They spent hours wrapped up in each other's arms, discussing random matters and trying to make sense of the statistics. The atmosphere was comfortable, and with her in his arms, Luka felt as if everything was already alright—in his life and in the world.

Cadence joined them after a while, cold and wet, but with a grin on his face that could have lit up the entire room. Marinette straightened from where she sat with her back to Luka's chest, an almost incredulous look on her face. "What have you done?" she asked.

Luka grinned when he noticed Cadence trying to stifle a laugh.

"Well, I was playing with Spaceball, and he jumped on me and sent me into this huge pile of snow, and of course—"

"Of course you jumped on him and went headfirst into another pile of snow," Marinette completed for him.

Cadence grinned sheepishly.

His mother rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said, sliding off the couch. "You need to get out of those clothes."

"What about Spaceball?"

"Spaceball doesn't wear clothes, Cadence."

"Yeah, but he has fur!"

"Yes, well, you can blow-dry his fur after you get changed!"

Marinette left him with a kiss, and went to tend to Cadence, their banter resounding clearly through the house. With a smile on his face, Luka also stood up, and, placing the papers in his hand back on the table, went to raid the kitchen for something to eat.

When the two joined him once again, Marinette started to cook dinner.

With his son on his lap, stealing cookies behind his mother's back, and her moving around in his kitchen, he felt complete. He felt like he had a family.

And he knew then—he would do anything to keep them by his side.