To Guest: I will see what I do; a couple of those are really interesting, especially with Rose and Nino. And Emilie visiting with Audrey about her poor parenting could turn into another Gabriel situation…

To Butterfly: As originally envisioned, this is actually what the whole "Woman out of the Fridge" was building toward, with Emilie and Marinette forging a good, positive relationship. I'm glad it expanded into so much more, but this was the goal.

To Rose Tiger: They have the kind of mother-in-law/daughter-in-law (to-be) relationship that I think everyone wants to have, where they are friends because of more than just a shared love for Adrien.

Th yellow 14: That is too common of an attitude with regard to wedding planning; he's probably not going to keep it for very long now that Mama is involved!

The bell above the bakery door tinkled as Emilie pushed it open a little after two in the afternoon. The kids would be finished with school in an hour or so; when they left she would ride with them to the Agreste offices to visit with Jeanne and Marinette about the Christmas party – they had a couple months left to plan, but it was always better to start early. And in the meantime… She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of fresh-baked bread. The seating area was largely empty; apart from an older man sitting in one corner and nursing a cup of coffee, the only other person in the room was a young man scrubbing down the other tables.

Sabine glanced up from the glass display case she was in the middle of wiping and smiled brightly on catching sight of Emilie. "Come in, Emilie!" she called. "Tom is just in the middle of his prep work for the evening rush, and we're just finishing up our midday cleaning." She placed the rag behind the counter and waved for Emilie to follow her up to the apartment. "I'm so glad you came over today. I'm sorry I haven't been over to your house since you returned; some days we are so busy I start at four in the morning and five minutes later Marinette is coming through the door after work!"

Emilie smiled. "Don't worry about it," she assured her, taking a seat at the small round dining table. "For as much as I love the Mansion, I do need to leave that place a little more often! And it was such a pleasant day for a walk."

Sabine nodded and turned on the stove to boil the water for tea before pouring out a pile of reject cookies on a plate. Emilie selected a cookie for herself as Duusu phased out of her purse and grabbed his own cookie, settling on the edge of the plate to eat it.

"Mmmm," Duusu squeaked around his full mouth. "Your cookies are some of the best I've ever had!"

"Tom started from an old family recipe with these and made a few… modifications," Sabine explained, scooping loose tea leaves into the teapot.

Emilie furrowed her brows slightly on sensing the competing emotions from Sabine. Once the water was hot enough, Sabine prepared the teapot and set out teacups for them. "You have such a lovely house," Emilie observed, admiring the decorations. "I see where Marinette gets her design aesthetic from!"

Sabine laughed. "Her father is the artist," she replied, looking fondly into the distance at a wall of family pictures. "One of these days I'll have to show you the album with some of the cakes he's decorated. He sometimes says that he should have been a sculptor… though you can't eat sculptures!"

Emilie chuckled. "When he first started, Gabriel was the same: so passionate for his art. I really loved that about him." She fell silent. Duusu looked up at her, his eyes wide and his mouth starting to droop into a frown. "Sorry. He's still…"

Sabine nodded sympathetically. "Adrien has been the same way all year," she confided. "Every so often he will make some comment about the way that things used to be, and suddenly it's like the wound is reopened."

Emilie let out a breath. "I don't begrudge this second chance," she admitted sadly, "but sometimes I wonder if I wasn't better off not having a chance to know what he had become."

"Adrien has certainly been happier since you woke up," Sabine observed. "And Marinette positively adores you!"

Emilie smiled in embarrassment. "She is a wonderful young woman," she replied. "You and Tom must be so proud!"

"We certainly are!" Sabine agreed. Emilie felt her emotions shift slightly.

"But…" she prompted.

Sabine gave her a look. "You know it's a little disconcerting when you do that, right?"

Emilie shrugged. "You get used to it."

Sabine laughed dubiously. "I'll take your word for it. So what do you sense from me?"

"I sense that something is troubling you," Emilie answered. She closed her eyes and concentrated. "There is some guilt and worry there under the surface. But overall you feel very content. And happy."

"I am very happy to see the kids so happy," Sabine acknowledged, nodding. "Adrien used to spend almost every night here, but now he has a reason to return to the Mansion in the evening. Marinette has been far more relaxed and less stressed out over the last month."

"I am glad I've been able to help them, even if just in a small way," Emilie told her. "Even if it's just by helping them carry some of the burdens they've been taking on."

"Just be careful," warned Sabine, giving her a small smile. "Marinette is exceptionally good at over-committing herself; I would hate to see her start over-committing you, too!"

Emilie smiled and sipped her tea. "And yet you feel guilty?"

"I worry I have not been doing enough for them," Sabine admitted. "After her weekly teatimes with you she's almost on cloud nine; I wish I had the time to do the same for her." She chuckled ruefully. "It is a pity she is at school during our afternoon slow time."

"A benefit of essentially running Agreste will be the ability to set her own hours," Emilie reminded her.

Sabine hummed doubtfully.

"You are still her mother," Emilie pointed out. "She knows how much you love her – and she has said how much she appreciates the time you do put aside for her."

"I should do it more."

"You and Tom do have a business to run."

"It's not more important than our daughter."

"Of course it isn't," Emilie agreed with a nod. "But it is still time-consuming. And even in spite of that you spent last year parenting both kids."

Sabine laughed. "It wasn't quite as hard as you make it sound," she commented. "I suppose you might say a benefit of everything that happened is that they've learned self-reliance. Adrien is such a gentleman, and they have become so good at caring for each other."

Emilie smiled fondly. "To find him so mature and happy and loved… it's more than I could have hoped for – and positively miraculous given everything else I've learned about the last four years. All the same, I'm happy stepping up to help you and Tom share the load in supporting them. After all, my schedule is far lighter than yours."

Sabine returned her smile. "I am glad you are making such an effort with Marinette," she noted. "Tom's mother, Gina, was very enthusiastic when we first met, but she took a very 'hands-off' approach to our relationship: she was around on occasion, but not regularly. These days as often as not she is off adventuring. And as much as I appreciated the space, I sometimes wish she'd been more supportive, especially when Marinette was younger." She gave Emilie an impish grin. "But don't for a moment think that when the grandkids start coming you'll get them all to yourself! Even if they'll be living with you!"

Emilie returned the look and quipped, "Oh, don't worry: someone has to teach them how to bake!"