Marinette's bladder woke her up the next day. Ignoring it for a little while, she lay in bed a bit disoriented.

Where am I? she thought sleepily to herself. Oh, yeah. I'm home. The words sounded foreign to her even in her thoughts. She stirred in her half-awake state before realising that she was not alone in the bed. Blinking her bleary eyes open, she was surprised to find her vision filled with blond hair.

Her heart skipped several beats before she remembered what had happened the night before: the tense conversation she shared with Adrien and how he had cried himself to sleep in her arms. A wave a pity washed over her as she remembered her partner's distress and she recalled her own tears that were shed for him.

Fully awake now, she realised that Adrien was in a deep sleep, with one arm lightly draped over her midsection. Trying not to disturb him, she moved her arms from where they loosely held his shoulders and tried to quietly wiggle out of his grasp. Adrien stirred slightly, while Plagg was displaced from his spot, but the two didn't wake and Marinette silently scuttled off the bathroom.

Afterwards she met Tikki in the kitchen and the two of them began to prepare breakfast as quietly as possible. A few minutes later, a sleepy Adrien stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and scratching him stomach.

"G'morning," he mumbled, making his way over to her.

"Morning!" she replied brightly, hoping to start their day off in a cheery manner. She soon froze, when she realised that Adrien was starting to lean towards her with his lips puckered.

Snapping fully awake, he suddenly realised what he was doing. He took a few steps back spurting forth apologies.

"No, no, don't apologise, it's okay," she tried to assure him, blushing bright red. "Let me guess? We have a first morning kiss routine or something?" she tried to keep her tone light.

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck. Before he could say anymore, he was caught off guard by Marinette cupping his face in her hands and giving him a soft peck on the cheek.

"W-well, there's no reason not to continue, right?" her face was still red as she tried to keep her voice even.

"Right," he responded with a soft smile, before moving to help her with breakfast.

"How did you sleep last night?" Marinette questioned, still worried about her partner.

"Better than in the last few days," he admitted. Marinette was relieved at that. Soon the both of them were sitting down across from each other at the table for a simple, yet satisfying breakfast.

"And are you sure that we've got enough cheese for Plagg?" Marinette asked for the fifth time.

Trying not to sound exasperated, Adrien responded with another, "Yes, I'm sure." For good measure he added, "if we buy him more cheese, he will just eat more cheese."

Marinette nodded then quickly checked the grocery list she and Adrien made after breakfast before zipping down another aisle. Adrien quickly followed with an almost filled shopping cart. He was quite impressed with his lady, to say the least.

It wasn't even 24 hrs since she was released from the hospital and she already set out a plan for them. She expressed her concern that the only food that was in their apartment was from the food baskets and quickly made up a meal plan for the week. Even though he couldn't help feeling down when she had asked him about his food preferences, he still was pleased that deep down his lady hadn't changed. Which is more than I can say about myself, he thought dejectedly.

With the standard grocery items in their cart, as well as a set of thank-you cards and two pillboxes for their medication, the couple made their way over to the cashier to check out. Things were going smoothly as they unpacked their cart before Marinette had a mini freakout as she searched her pockets and her purse for her wallet. Slightly amused by her lack of awareness of their situation, he rested his arms on the cart before she turned to him a bit distressed.

"Adrien," she spoke in a terse whisper, "I can't find my wallet!" He simply pulled out his pocketbook and handed her his card.

"Thank you," she breathed out in relief, "I'll pay you back as soon as I find my wallet." He snorted at that.

"No need, Bugaboo," he said. Marinette turned around after she paid the cashier and handed him back his card in confusion. In response, he paused from loading the groceries back into the cart and tapped his wedding band before resuming his task.

"Oh yeah…," Marinette said in a tone as if she made some great discovery. She, in turn, fiddled with her own wedding rings as the two of them made their way out of the store, towards Adrien's car.

On the drive back to their apartment, Adrien again wondered how much he'd have to adjust his behaviour for his amnesiac wife. Before the accident they were very close and affectionate as a couple. It was no lie to say that even before they were married that this was true, their marriage only bringing in a new dimension of intimacy into the relationship. As Ladybug and Chat Noir they worked well as a practically perfect team and their banter game was on point. Even as Adrien and Marinette, they had become very close friends and caring with each other. Of course, he had already decided that she would set the pace to how much physical affection she was comfortable with (ignoring his sleepy mistake that morning), and discussions about intimacy were off the table until after the baby was born, in order to maker her feel most comfortable. Marinette's voice startled Adrien out of his musings.

"Thank you," she said quietly. This time Adrien was confused, but didn't want to tempt fate by looking at her and kept his eyes on the road.

"The groceries are nothing, Marinette…," he started before he was cut off.

"No, not for that," Marinette shook her head. "Thank you for your patience with me." Adrien stayed silent while she continued. "I can only image how frustrating it is for you to hear me ask about your food preferences, or not knowing how much cheese Plagg eats on a weekly basis or not realising that being married means that it doesn't matter who pays for the groceries." She took a deep breath. "It feels like I have to learn myself again, learn who you are, and learn who we are as a couple; I'm grateful for your patience through all this."

By this time, Adrien had pulled into their parking space and shut off the engine. Taking her left hand in his own he turned to face her.

"Like I said in the hospital, this wasn't your fault. And, I am personally honoured at the opportunity to get to woo you again. I'd do it a thousand times over for you, ma lady." He placed a soft kiss to the back of her hand, justifying the action to himself as something that Chat Noir has done countless times before.

Flushing pink, Marinette gave him a warm smile before pulling him into an awkward, yet tender hug, which he gratefully returned.

Not too long after they had returned home and packed away the groceries, Marinette and Adrien retreated to their separate rooms. Marinette had found some of her more recent diaries and set to work examining them. Adrien had decided to give her space for the time being and busied himself in preparing for work the following Monday. He had taken that week off of work and left his TAs and fellow faculty members to take over his classes. He sighed once he thought about the amount of work that would be awaiting him when he returned to the university.

The both of them employed themselves in this way with only brief interruptions for lunch and dinner. Despite knocking back a good bit of work, Adrien couldn't help feeling down. Even though his day started off well spending time with Marinette, he presently only had the feeble distraction of work to take his mind off of the depressing thoughts that always seem to lurk at the back of his mind. His usual solution was to find a better distraction in the form of his lady, or find his escape in sleep.

Glancing at the time, he murmured his surprise at how late it had gotten, and went to check up on Marinette. When he opened her door, he found her passed out on her bed with her diaries spread out around her in a mess. Lingering by the door with a forlorn expression on his face, he sighed before blowing her a kiss. It looked like sleep was his only reprieve now.

The rest of that week was uneventful for Adrien and Marinette. They'd wake up in their separate rooms, greet each other with a cheek kiss, make small talk over breakfast then go into their bedrooms to attend to their separate work. It seemed that they were slowly returning to normal life, or at least some semblance of it. Even though he was trying to hide it, the change in their interactions was beginning to take a toll on Adrien. The dark corner of his mind seemed to claim his attention more and more, despite being more diligent with taking his medication regularly. When they had met with his therapist, he was informed that this was almost an expected effect of Marinette's accident, and that he should take his time to reacquaint himself with her. He had almost rolled his eyes at that. That was his plan all along, it was that he just didn't anticipate how difficult it was going to be in the meantime.

However, a few patches of sunlight shone through the darkening sky every now and again. Sometimes she would suggest they spend more time together, like watching a movie, or taking a walk even when it got colder outside. He appreciated that. He loved the moments they shared together, teasing each other like the Ladybug and Chat Noir that they were (even though he had to discipline himself to avoid a particular brand of teasing).

One particular incident that stood out, happened first thing one morning. He had just greeting her with a forehead kiss (something different to jazz things up), when he noticed that she was shuffling around a bit nervously.

"What's wrong?" he asked, hoping that he didn't do anything to make her feel weird.

"I -um, wanted to talk to you about something," she addressed her toes. She felt Adrien's hand tilt her chin up so that she could look at his patient expression. Taking a deep breath, she started, "I was wondering if you could, um, maybe putthetoiletseatdownafteryouuseit?" she blurted out.

Oh shoot, Adrien thought. He had become so absent minded recently that he had totally forgot about doing a simple task like that. "I'm so sorry, Marinette. I'll remember from now on," he promised.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, her brain now going into rambling mode, "I usually don't mind it was just that last night I had to pee in the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake you up because the bathroom light and fan go on at the same time so I went to use the bathroom in the dark…," she trailed off, hoping that she didn't make a complete fool of herself for spazzing over a simple issue.

Adrien's face was blank for the two seconds it took to process what she was saying before a catnip-eating-grin spread over his features.

"You fell in, didn't you, Marinette?" he teased. Her jaw dropped open in protest.

"I did not!" Adrien lifted an eyebrow at her while his grin grew wider. "I'm telling you I didn't! Don't smirk at me! I almost did but I caught myself!"

"Uh-huh," he replied in an incredulous tone. "In all seriousness, I'll remember to put it down so that you don't fall in again." This riled up Marinette again, while Adrien clutched his stomach as he doubled over in laughter.

"You listen to me, Adrien Alexandre Ariel André Athanase Agreste!" she wagged his index finger at him while he immediately sobered, "I did not fall in and that's final!" she crossed her arms over plump stomach with an exaggerated harrumph.

Adrien stood in silence for a moment before he answered her. "That's not my name," he responded simply. Marinette unfolded her arms and turned to face him with genuine surprise on her face. For all the time she had that stalker crush on him in collège, she was sure she at least remembered his full name.

"It's not?" Adrien shook his head.

"It's Adrien,"

Duh, she thought.

"Alexandre,"

Meaning 'defender of man', quite fitting that he turned out to be a superhero.

"Ariel,"

Because look into my eyes and tell me that he's not a Disney princess.

"André,"

A pathetic attempt to suck up to Audrey Bourgeois, by naming him after her husband, she almost gagged.

"Athanase,"

Like I could forget that one. Looks like I do remember his name, she gloated to herself, almost missing what he said next.

"Dupain-Cheng."

"Wait, what?" she wasn't sure if she had heard him right.

"My name is Adrien Dupain-Cheng." She looked up at him with an unreadable expression before she blushed.

"Is this how guys feel, when a woman takes their name?" she asked shyly. "Like kind of proud that someone wants to be a part of their family and a bit protective over them?"

Adrien chuckled at that and shrugged, "I wouldn't know about that, but I'm glad that you made me a part of your family."

He could have sworn that his heart melted into a puddle at the sweet smile that she gave him in return.