Chapter 10

After Adrien's aunt and cousin left, Nathalie sighed in relief, as well as having to listen to Gabriel's complaints about not being able to retrieve the twin ring Felix stole from him. Everything what happened with Amelie and her son brought back so many memories of her past with the Agreste family, especially one in particular, when she was a new intern at Gabriel's. Just when Adrien was about to come into the world.

Emilie tried to hide what was happening with no avail. A few hours later, Nathalie knew that she was not feeling well.

"Miss Agreste, you must go to a hospital."

"I don't want Gabriel to miss the birth of his son" Emilie said as she doubled over in pain at the coffee table.

"But you know about your state. It's not safe you have the baby here" She took Mrs. Agreste by the waist and putting an arm over her shoulder helped her out, got her into the car and laid her on the back seat. She drove herself to the hospital, where they admitted Mrs. Agreste.

As Gabriel did not arrive and the delivery was imminent, Emilie asked the nurses if Nathalie could come in with her, because she was afraid of being left alone. Nathalie agreed.

After half an hour of holding Mrs. Agreste's hand and her screams of pain, it was finally over. Little Adrien was born. He was very small and had a mass of blond hair. His eyes still weren't a certain color, but you could tell they would be quite light.

Nathalie admitted that he was beautiful.

"Thanks to you, I was able to get to the hospital on time. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there." Emilie took her hand as she waited for her child to be brought to her again.

"No need to thank me, Emilie."

Emilie tried to get up, but she fell back onto the bed. She felt very weak. When they brought the baby, Nathalie, arranged the pillows for her so that she could give her son his first food. Luckily, Gabriel arrived to help them. He kissed Emilie tenderly. She saw the little bump that was on her chest and there she knew they had officially become parents.

Nathalie was going to retire from there. But before she could leave, Gabriel's voice stopped her.

"You were right to bring her, because if they had waited for me, Emilie would have had our son at home. And that would have been fatal for both of them."

There was a moment of silence.

"Thank you, Nathalie. Take the day off. I'll see you early tomorrow."

She nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Agreste, and congratulations for you son."

With that she left the room. But she couldn't avoid to feel a bit envious about the whole situation, but it was impossible. She wanted to be as happy as they were, but nevertheless she felt like a bad person for having those kinds of feelings. They had offered her their home without even knowing her. She owed them loyalty for it.

A few days later, Emilie was already at home with the new member of the family. The little boy looked at the place with curiosity, since everything was new to him and his mother gave him a tour of the house.

"And this will be your room, little one" Emilie whispered to the baby in her arms. The room was quite large, much larger than the other rooms in the mansion. It was decorated with some stuffed animals and other baby things.

Emilie looked at her little boy with loving eyes. He became her whole world from the first second what she saw him. For Nathalie, it was interesting to see how someone so small could change the way the two Agrestes behaved, because Gabriel also adored his son, although he did not show it the same extend as Emilie did.

Around the same time, Gabriel had decided to hire a bodyguard for the protection of his family and to watch over his wife and his son in case an incident such as Adrien's birth happened again. Likewise, Gabriel made a special request to her, something that was not stipulated in her contract, but that she was willing to accept: To ensure the well-being of Madame Agreste and her son in times when he could not do so.

Nathalie began to follow madame Agreste everywhere. She knew this was not to Emilie's liking, but only she only followed the orders that her boss gave her. And although Gabriel tried to be with them as much as he could, the world of fashion was too demanding.

Emilie was disappointed. But Gabriel always tried to remedy it.

He spent time with his wife and child. He showed how much he loved them both. Nathalie greatly admired that. A man who would give everything for his family. No matter what happened. She wished her family had been that considerate, because this way things would have been different. One day while she was watching Emilie, she approached her with Adrien in her arms.

"Nathalie, could you hold him for me for a moment? I'm going to the bathroom."

Emilie handed Adrien into her arms and quickly left her to enter the bathroom.

Nathalie looked at the little boy. Adrien looked way too much like his mother. He had those mint eyes and the same innocent look as her. She had to admit that he was quite adorable. He opened his eyes when he realized that he was not in his mother's arms anymore. For a moment he started to get a little fussy, but Nathalie rocked him a bit to try and make him sleep again.

Mrs. Agreste came out of the bathroom just at that moment. She took her child in her arms.

"Thank you very much, I hope he didn't give you trouble" Emilie looked at the face of her son who showed a small smile when he saw her mother.

"No problem madam, that's what I was hired for."

She watched as Emilie carried her son into her bedroom. She waited for her to close the door to continue her work normally

Emilie was normally awakened in the early mornings by the cries of her son. She usually rocked him until he was calm. Sometimes Nathalie took care of him when it was necessary or when Emilie asked. The first time she held him, she found him very light and quite fragile. He always looked at her with those green eyes in a curious way.

Nathalie remembered when he took his first steps during his first year of life. At two years old he was quite a rambunctious kid. He used to run all over the house, with the gorilla behind him. Of the hundreds of times he ran away from the bodyguard, he went to see her and Gabriel. She could hear his noisy laughter when he entered the atelier, just to greet them, even though he only knew a few words.

Sometimes he would reach out to grab her glasses, but she wouldn't let him, otherwise he would break them. It had already cost Gabriel several pairs. His room that was big enough for a boy his age. He liked toy cars a lot, so his father always brought him many.

Sometimes little Adrien would give her drawings. They weren't of the best quality, as they were made up of crooked lines and colors outside the stripes, but it was a cute gesture. She kept them in one of her desk drawers. She although she then began to take them to her apartment to be able to keep them in a proper way.

By that time, her financial situation had improved a lot and she, at the same time, had stopped feeling so alone. Nathalie began to have a certain affection for the Agreste family. After all, it was as if she had been accepted into their family.

She also remembered when Emilie's sister, Amelie, would occasionally visit the family and bring her child with her. Felix was the complete opposite of Adrien, he was a problem child, but someone who loved Adrien very much. Nathalie had a hard time getting along with him the first time she met him.

When Adrien was 5 years old, she Nathalie started teaching him. Although the original plan was that Adrien would have a tutor for each of his subjects, Emilie and Gabriel realized that having so many people teaching him was not a good idea. So, Emilie and Gabriel asked her if she could give classes to Adrien, having very good grades at her subjects in her school years.

It wasn't something she had much experience with, but she did the best she could to teach him. It wasn't her job, but seeing Adrien made her day better. She felt it was her duty, her commitment to him. She liked the boy too much not to accept the request of her boss and his wife. She was in charge in particular of his history classes and the occasional subjects she was asked to teach.

Emilie helped her as much as she could, but she couldn't always be there, because of her work as an actress. In some projects it was necessary to leave France to remote locations, places where Adrien could not be taken, for his own safety. Nathalie had to stay with Adrien many times, as she was the only person they trusted to take care of him.

When Adrien was eight years old, she started working as a model for the Agreste brand when Gabriel started working on his first children's line. Little Adrien was very nervous because it was the first time he did that kind of thing. Luckily, his father taught him a few things about the job before his first show.

The fashion show was a complete success, as even that catapulted Adrien into forming his own modeling career. Adrien did not have the ability to speak in the first interview he gave, as he was too shy. They had to work on that for a long time. Nathalie knew Adrien was overwhelmed with all the great amount of attention he was receiving. It was not something that a child of his age would commonly live.

Over the years, things did not change. She would get up, go to the mansion, prepare for her work, give Adrien classes, then continue working a few more hours until the end of her job time and in the end of the day, to return to her apartment to rest. Then the next day she would do the same tasks, again. Everything became very monotonous and routine. Likewise, Adrien gradually went from being an adorable child to a pre-adolescent about to reach puberty. But the only thing that never changed was his innocence.

What did change was the relationship between Gabriel and Emilie. A very cordial and friendly relationship, became an increasingly distant one. Their work meant that they no longer had time for themselves, and that affected Adrien as well. From time to time the couple had arguments, but it did not get far, since they always managed to fix their problems. Or at least they were doing it for Adrien's sake, since they didn't want Adrien to be affected by this.

Nathalie always tried to stay neutral in these situations. She knew that they both loved their son very much. But she always thought they were very overprotective of him. They didn't let him go to school and they didn't let him go out to do things like a normal kid would. He had no friends except for Chloe, the daughter of Mayor Bourgeois.

He was like a bird in a golden cage.

After Mrs. Agreste got ill and fell into a coma, everything went downhill. Gabriel became stricter. He closed in himself, forgetting about his son and everything that happened around him. Adrien was just trying to get over what happened to his mother. About three months later, Hawkmoth would emerge and she would be his only witness.

Just before Adrien turned 13, she saw a change in him. He seemed more interested in looking out the window than paying attention to his classes. She called his attention with questions about the lesson that Adrien answered perfectly. This behavior lasted for several months, until the day he escaped from the mansion and she had to go looking for him.

She saw how much he longed to be able to go to school like everyone else. So, she decided to advocate for Adrien in front of Gabriel. When she entered the atelier to talk to him alone, she was a little nervous.

She still vividly remembered the conversation she had with him that day.

"Sir, I need to speak to you" she said entering the atelier.

"Where is Adrien?" He asked, quite confused.

"He's at school."

"Why? I gave you the order to brough him back home!" He said, furious.

"I wanted to speak to you first. I just want to give you my reasons."

Nathalie stared at him.

"Adrien has been locked up in this house for a long time. And I don't think prohibiting form going to school is going to prevent him from escaping again."

Gabriel was about to answer her.

"Let me finish please. Sir, think of it as an opportunity to prevent Adrien from finding out what are you doing. I don't think it's a good idea for him to know."

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed clearly defeated. He admitted that that would be a better idea.

"Very well. But I don't want Adrien to drop his private lessons."

"I'll take care of that. I'm going to organize his schedule so that he can continue with his classes" Nathalie took her tablet and opening her calendar app, she began to move some things. "Thank you, sir."

After everything that had already happened, she knew it was a mistake to become so fond of Adrien and Gabriel. It had consequences. Especially if Gabriel brought Emilie back. That would only hurt her more. Her feelings for Gabriel would never be reciprocated. And she would only have to resign herself. Love hurts a lot.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head and went to the atelier again. She would continue her work in the hope that it will help her forget. At the same time, her boss came into the atelier in a hurry.

"Nathalie, do you remember the deal I made with Lila Rossi? She's going to do some chores for me, for our plan."

Nathalie had already forgotten about the plan her boss had finished.

"Are you sure of this? Once you start this, there is no going back."

"I'm very sure" said the confident.

"But can we trust that girl? You know how she is..."

Gabriel nodded.

"I have a good control over that girl. Don't worry, Nathalie."

Despite what Gabriel told her, Nathalie could only think that she had a bad feeling about all of this.

This chapter was difficult to write for me, so it is why is shorter than the others.