Adrien handed the closed communicator back to his daughter, stunned. The conversation had been extremely brief, but heavily laden with three fundamental truths.
First, he not only had a daughter but a son as well.
"Twins?" he reiterated weakly. When he first saw the blue-haired boy in the purple mask sitting next to the masked woman who had once been his Lady he'd nearly had a heart attack. That sheepish grin when he'd said hello… Just like Emma, he was the perfect mixture of Ladybug and himself. Even with the mask, he could tell that the boy had his facial features with her coloring.
"That was Louis, a.k.a. Zhuangzi." Juno gave him a sheepish grin, similar to her twin's. "Now that the secret's flown the coup, I hope that's not too much of a bird-en," the mini peacock wielder punned, actually giving him a wink and finger-guns.
Adrien laughed whole-heartedly, a heavy tightness settling in his chest. He did not miss when she exhaled in relief. She'd punned just to tug his heartstrings and lighten the mood, but he was still so purroud. Leading to fundamental truth number two.
Both of his children were as mischievous and crafty as the day was long.
His mirth subsided as he wiped a stray tear from his eye. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, but he answered around the lump in his throat, "The idea isn't entirely un-pheasant. I can't wait to meet him."
Juno chuckled, thought, then said, "Then I have no egrets." Oh, that was a good one… He pulled the girl into a tight hug while he chuckled. He had so much to catch up on…
Ah, but that left fundamental truth number three still looming. Their mother was on the way here, and she was NOT happy.
He squeezed the girl one more time. "Your goose is probably cooked, though," he warned.
She sighed heavily with a nod, extricating herself from his hug. "Fall my feathers." After catching Duusu in her hands, she pulled the bucket closer and shared some of the popcorn with peacock kwami. "That's okay," she admitted. "She could ground me for life and I still wouldn't regret finding you."
He dramatically placed a hand over his heart. If this was an anime, Adrien thought, there would be a cupid's arrow sticking straight out of his chest. He'd only been a dad for two days, and he already knew he'd fight heaven and hell if he had to for these kids.
"And your mother is on her way!" Duusu danced in the air, continuing in her wistful sing-song voice. "Two lovers, meeting again after years of separation… It's so romantic!"
Emma laughed and Adrien blushed. Clearing his throat, he replied to the excitable kwami, "I hate to break it to you, but I highly doubt she remembers me that fondly. She's more likely to skin this old cat than anything else."
He didn't miss it. There was clearly a look exchanged between his daughter and her kwami. It was quick, but there was a dangerous glint in the eye and a sly upturn of a lip. They were plotting something.
Her bluebell eyes lit fully with another familiar expression not a moment later, however. She put down the popcorn bucket and handed him the second remote. "Well, Mama isn't here yet. I bet I can pound you into dust at Ultimate Mecha Strike 6 in the meantime," she challenged.
"Sun Li, I need you to clear my schedule for the next week... No, don't worry, I'll take care of that matter myself. I'll be in the area anyway… Have we heard from Mao Daiyu about the materials for the fall line?… Forward the samples to Robin, I trust his intuition… Yes…." Marinette raced around her bedroom, throwing items in her bag as she frantically packed. "Thank you, Sun Li. See you in a week." She hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed, looking at the chaos spilling out of her suitcase. How should she even pack for this? Should she pack something cute? No, what was she thinking, she wasn't even going to be meeting with Adrien out of costume. It was completely out of the question.
She'd spent the entire evening lecturing Louis on the importance of secrecy and the dire dangers of the miraculous when she probably should have been packing. She couldn't impress on him enough how reckless he and his sister had been, though. Her son had then assured her that they'd both agreed not to reveal who she was to their father, though mainly because they didn't want to end the game early. For once, their deviousness played in her favor, but that was the only good thing about this situation.
Maybe the black and burgundy dress? The A-line with the under-bust corset? It was very flattering on her… What was she even thinking?
She packed a sensible pantsuit, picked her phone back off the bed, and sent another message to her parents, reminding them of her impromptu visit.
"Mama, I'm finished packing," Louis said from the doorway, a duffel bag over his shoulder. She noticed that he was still clutching the small jar of beads that used to be his bracelet in one of his hands. Her heart went out to him. He'd been devastated when he'd learned that Emma's Sentimonster was on a timer. It was either release the amok or have it go into a stone stasis like Feast once had all those years ago. It had been hard on both of them as they watched the pinion dissolve. Again she was reminded of just how cruel the peacock miraculous could be when misused. She regretted her son learning this lesson the hard way.
"Oh, sweetheart," she sympathized, crossing the room to pull him into a hug. "It will be alright." She smoothed his hair and planted a kiss on his forehead. "I promise I'm not angry." She paused and gave his forehead another kiss. "Well, not anymore, at least."
He gave her a small smile. "I know, mama." He looked down. "You're just really worried and scared."
She didn't miss his use of the present tense. "Does it show that badly?"
He turned his head to the side, looking at her hap-hazardously half-packed suitcase. "Well, that and…" he placed his hand over his shirt pocket, where she knew the butterfly miraculous was still concealed.
"Oh, yes, that." In light of their upcoming trip, she'd let him keep it "For Protection Only! No Akumas!" There was no way around it that they'd be traveling with the miracle box, after all. She'd rather he be able to protect himself, just in case. It still gave her no end of anxiety.
"It will be alright," the blue-haired preteen parroted back to her. "Besides, I've learned my lesson." He looked down at the jar of beads, a contemplative frown on his face. "I know you didn't want me to keep Nooroo, and I know I haven't been the most responsible with him. I messed up." His knuckles whitened as his hold tightened. "But I'm going to earn this, and then I'm going to prove to you that I can help."
Marinette put a hand over her heart, a look of affection and pride threatening to bring a tear to her eye. "Come here, you," she pulled him into another hug. "Stop growing up so fast."
He hugged her back, resting his chin on her shoulder. It was still a few months until his 12th birthday, but he was already almost the same height as his mother. It was a stray thought, but he was going to be tall, just like his father and grandfathers. "I'm going to take care of you, mama. I promise."
She gave a small chuckle. "Silly boy. I'm the one who is supposed to take care of you."
Louis broke the hug and had the audacity to grin at her. "You sure? I can help you pack."
The older blue-nette pursed her lips at him and gave his shoulder a playful push. "Get out of here. Make sure you pack plenty of honey sticks for Nooroo." She turned back to her mess of a suitcase, hands on her hips, and listened to him chuckle and walk away with a "yes, ma'am". Her gaze didn't stray from it as she temporarily was lost in thought, for probably the millionth time that day. It was moments like this when Marinette clearly saw Chat in Louis.
Heaven help her.
She reorganized everything in her suitcase three times before finally snatching the black and burgundy A-line out of the closet and packing it as well.
Louis stretched his back and took in the sights of Frankfurt Germany, or at least its airport, during their two-hour layover. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to such long flights, but he did enjoy seeing new sights. The flights between London and Shanghai had had different layovers each time. He was glad they were going to be spending an entire two weeks in Paris, though. They'd only been home from London for two days before Mama had discovered his and Emma's scheme.
His mother had been here before, so she led them to the nearest bakery to their target concourse, where they were able to find a seat and a snack. The airport was crowded. He hadn't noticed it so much last time they'd flown because he'd been so focused on Senti-Emma, but this time the amount of emotion was distracting and almost overwhelming. Everything from extreme happiness from people reuniting to extreme anger from lost luggage.
He held their seats, focusing on some of the breathing exercises that he'd learned through tai chi. Before he knew it, his mother was back, handing him a pastry. She must have noticed his distraction, because she asked, "Is everything okay?"
He thanked her for the pastry and nodded. "Yeah, it's just…" He took a bite. It was good, though a bit on the dry side. Nowhere near as good as what his mother made at home. He spoke while he chewed. "Let's just say that I'm starting to understand why Grand-pere Gabriel used to stay home all the time."
His mother sputtered, choking on the sip of coffee she had just taken. "You know about that!?" she righted herself while dabbing at her top with a handful of napkins.
Louis handed her some more napkins. "Well, yeah. Emma told me."
"And Adrien no doubt told her," she surmised, a slight frown pulling at her eyebrows. She more absentmindedly used the extra napkins to clean off the small spots on the table. "Did she… tell you anything else about him?"
"You mean how he and grand-mere are traveling the world together? I think that's about it, really," he answered, now much more interested in his mother's reactions.
"Is that so?" She sounded distracted. He watched her throw away the napkins and take a slower sip on her coffee while he nibbled on his own pastry. She seemed very interested in her coffee lid, to be honest. "Did, ah, did Emma say anything about how A… your father, felt about that?"
He watched her for a moment, eyes narrowing in suspicion before he relaxed and answered with a dismissive shrug. "No, should she have? Want me to ask her?"
"No!" she exclaimed suddenly, eyes wide in panic, then in embarrassment as she realized she'd just drawn the attention of several other travelers. "No, that's… that's okay. No need to do that," she tried to play it off nonchalantly, taking another long and slow sip of coffee.
"Hmm," was his only response. This was interesting. Mama was usually so confident and assertive. Now she was acting as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She was practically radiating anxiety. And for him, that was actually sort of literal. He finished his pastry, threw away his trash, and took out his portable game system, deciding to distract himself while they waited it out.
After a few minutes into his game, his mother also took out her sketchbook and pencil but didn't seem to make much progress even after several moments. She had a basic form sketched, masculine, but that was about it, from what he could see through the surreptitious glances over his screen. She seemed to be struggling with a new suit design. She ended up doodling for lack of a better word. After about fifteen minutes of that, her anxiety spiked and she ripped out the page, throwing it away in the trash with the napkins. She closed the sketchbook with a huff and shoved it back in her bag.
"Mama, are YOU okay?" he returned her earlier question with emphasis.
"I'm fabulous, why do you ask?" She sarcastically replied, then took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm okay. I'm just…"
"Yeah, I can tell," he replied, with a quick glance up at her from his screen, tapping his pocket.
She huffed. "I should have made you trade for the turtle," she said under her breath.
The blue-haired preteen looked up at her with a mock scandalized look. "Mother! How could you consider such a thing!" He shook his head and put down the system. "I'm no turtle, but I have ears. You wanna talk about it?"
"With my eleven-year-old son with a penchant for schemes and meddling? Not on your life," she answered, hiding a small smile by taking another sip of her coffee.
"I'm almost twelve," he replied defensively.
"Not. On. Your. Life."
Meanwhile, in Paris, Emma helped clean the house while her father made several phone calls. Luckily, it was a relatively small townhouse, but still plenty big for a bachelor and guests. As curious as she was about her father's phone calls, Emma was admittedly not the neatest house guest. Her own room at home was ordered chaos. She had a system, and everything was where it should be, it just seemed like a mess to others. Regardless, she needed to help her father make the best first impression possible!
She currently had her hands full of pillows and blankets, taking them back upstairs to make the beds after the blanket fort she and Bà had made the night before. It just so happened to take her past his office while she went, so naturally, she listened at the door for a moment.
"Thanks, Nathalie. I appreciate it, and you have no idea how much. … it was great to hear from you again… I did miss you!…" he laughed. "I promise to call sooner next time… Bye Nathalie."
Duusu fluttered out of the nest he'd made in the blankets excitedly. "Miss Nathalie! I hope she's doing well these days."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Who is she?"
"My holder after Emilie," the peacock swooned. "So beautiful and tragic!"
The current peacock holder was on the verge of asking more when the office door suddenly opened.
"I thought I heard a little birdy out here," Adrien teased. "Eavesdropping, are we?"
"Whaaat? Nooo… well, maybe, yes a little," Emma admitted, then jostled her armload upward a bit. "I was really just returning these, though. You know, making sure everything was nice and neat. For when mama shows up."
"Well, in that case," he took the armload from the girl, "After you, princess."
She happily turned on her heel and pointed upstairs. "Then, follow me, my knight!"
The two happily made the beds with only a minimal amount of pillow throwing, and then moved on to cleaning the rest of the living room. Emma ran a hand through the couch cushions, with Duusu assisting, double-checking that they'd gotten all of the popcorn out when the kwami suddenly paused.
"Zhuangzi is sending you a message, Emma," the peacock informed her.
"Perhaps I should get the two of you phones," her father considered while moving the recliner back into its intended place. "That would be much easier on poor Duusu and Nooroo."
"Oh, I don't mind! I'm glad I can be useful," Duusu sang happily.
"Hmm," the older blond smiled, a bit sadly to Emma's eyes, "Plagg was the complete opposite."
"Tikki calls him an old stinky sock for a reason," the blue kwami noted, then to Emma, "Oh, he's being very insistent!"
"Hold that thought, Bà. I'll be right back," she excused herself, taking her kwami back to the guest room. "Okay, Duusu, spread my feathers."
Sure enough, there were a series of text messages on her communicator.
Z: On the way. Stopped in Germany. Mama is big time anxious. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was a flight risk. She still doesn't want Bà to know who she is. We need a plan. Can't talk. Text back. I only have five, tops.
That wasn't good. She sent a text back.
J: I thought the plan was to get them to fall in love again?
Z: That won't work if we can't get her to meet with him face to face! I don't think it's just the miracle box.
J: How about if I start dropping hints about her to Bà?
Z: Maybe. But what we really need is for Mama to realize that she doesn't have to do everything alone. She has this massive sacrificial hero complex for some reason.
Z: We need to make it impossible for Mama to just run away again.
J: I'm gonna tell Bà. He would be on board if we brought him in on the plan.
Z: …
J: what, don't think I should?
Z: You've turned into something of a daddy's girl, haven't you.
J: Says the momma's boy.
Z: Touche.
Z: Don't tell him outright, but don't stop him if he starts to figure it out. I think mama is going to try to keep us both in costume while talking to Bà. That means we have an opportunity. You said he had a soft spot for mama out of costume?
J: It seemed that way to me. He looked really dreamy or something when he was telling me about her the other day.
J: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Z: :)
J: Operation: Parent Trap, Phase 3?
Z: Game on! I'll update you when we land in Paris.
Z: Crap, I've been in the bathroom too long. Don't jump the gun. Talk to you soon.
"Well, crap. Fall my feathers." Her transformation faded, and she frowned. "Why can't mama just be simple?" She and Louis had their work cut out for them, that was for sure. Cell phones would make it a lot easier to coordinate. It was a shame mama didn't want them to have one until they were thirteen. Well, twelve was almost thirteen, and they were almost twelve.
Ah, but now they had a second parent to ask! She grinned.
Adrien surveyed his living room, double-checking for anything that might be out of place, unseemly, or embarrassing. Emma had done a decent job getting things cleaned up before he'd started helping, he noticed. The house was officially ready for company!
He liked this. He liked having another person living with him, sharing meals, making messes, cleaning together. He'd had more domesticity in the last few days than he had in the past year, and he was loath to go back to how it had been. Whatever he had to do to make this arrangement more than just a blip in his existence, he was going to do it. Nathalie had been a veritable font of information on the legalities, even though she had been somewhat surprised when he'd asked. Only somewhat, though. It actually concerned him a little how unsurprised she'd been.
Regardless, there was still so much to do. He still needed to let his friends and family know about Emma and Louis, preferably before they got it from a less than flattering third-party source. He'd already left a message for Père and Mère to contact him a.s.a.p. with their answering service since that was the most he could do while they were out of range of modern communications. That still left everyone else, though. Thankfully, he was nowhere near as high profile as he had once been, but he was still not immune to being the target of the gossip rags. Then there was the matter of legal custody, getting his will updated, changing his beneficiaries. A lot of that probably needed to wait until he was actually able to have a conversation with Ladybug.
Or the woman who had been Ladybug. And damn if that didn't complicate things. He didn't even know her name, much less where she lived. Emma had been very cagey about the details, but now more than ever, he needed to know. It was pretty much impossible to make domestic plans with a secret identity.
He had so many questions that the Lady needed to answer. So many that he should probably write them down before they met. In the meantime, that line of thought would have to wait.
Emma bounced down the stairs, Duusu sitting in her hands and happily munching on something. "Hey, Bà, were you serious about that phone?"
He smiled. "One hundred percent, princess."
For the first time in a long time, Marinette Dupain Cheng stepped onto Parisian soil outside of a Fashion Week. Unlike last time, there wasn't a crowd of old friends waiting to catch up and greet her. No one she needed to lie to or hide from. She did not have an entourage of employees waiting for instructions. And for the first time ever, Louis Dupain Cheng accompanied her. She reached out and grabbed his hand for assurance, though she wasn't entirely sure which one of them needed it more. Probably her.
"Welcome home, Mama," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.
She gave him a wry smile. "Home is where the heart is, Louis."
He smiled back and repeated. "Welcome home, Mama."
AN:
I think I like Louis best.
To Agiani and Starlin's Ghost, thanks for your comments! I hope this story is living up to your expectations!
Thank God for Spring Break! I am going to make sizable progress on this story between now and Sunday. No upload schedule (obviously). I'm just going to post as I finish. This isn't beta'd (again, probably obvious) so feel free to shoot me a message if you see errors!
