Adrien sighed as he adjusted his coat against the chilly November winds as he made his way to his car. That morning he had got up and had breakfast with Marinette as usual, then got ready for work and was sent off by Marinette with a big smile and a wave. This was steadily becoming their new routine, their new normal. He tried not to be bitter about it by reminiscing about the abundance of hugs and kisses that he used to have. He should be grateful for what he got, right? But still he couldn't seem to help his increasing moodiness. That particular day, part of it stemmed from the fact that Marinette was going out by herself to visit her boutique.
He had fussed over her like a mother hen despite her repeated assertions that she should be fine. Tikki assured him that she would look out after her, but he still preferred to be there for her, and if he didn't have to go to work, he happily would have accompanied her. However, in the end he relented once she promised to check in every now and again via text. After all, her visit to the store was necessary. She needed to meet with Noémie and Adélaïde, who worked at her boutique, to discuss how they would be handling business. This was a crucial step in trying to adjust to the life that the accident had threatened to rob from her. From them. All Adrien could do at that point was to whisper silent prayers for her safety as he pulled into his parking space at the university.
Marinette was running late. Comme d'habitude, she thought mirthlessly to herself. In this case, she could get away with saying that it wasn't completely her fault. She had become a bit distressed about the number of items in her closet that simply wouldn't fit, and had to finally resign herself to dip into her maternity clothes stock. Despite the slight blow to her pride, she was excited. She had been in contact with the two ladies who worked at her boutique and couldn't wait to finally meet them, or, rather, see them again.
After successfully manoeuvring through public transport with Tikki's help, she finally made her way to the store. Once she entered, she was greeted by her two workers. Adélaïde was tall and stocky, with a mass of reddish blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and long bangs which partially shielded her violet-blue eyes from the world. Noémie, on the other hand, had a slighter, more petite frame and kept hair swept up in an updo which highlighted her piercing amber eyes, which especially stood out against her dark-brown skin. Both of them were extremely pleasant and immediately made Marinette feel at home.
They spent the next couple of hours going over the store dynamics and figuring a work plan for the rest of Marinette's sick leave and maternity leave. Like Adrien, both of them expressed concern for Marinette wanting to jump back into work so soon after the accident, however, the three of them managed to work out a schedule that they thought was reasonable. Soon, Marinette left the store in good spirits. She was happy about sorting out her work situation, and even happier about reacquainting herself with the two ladies. Using the information she gained from her diaries and what she had gathered from their conversation, she couldn't help but trust that the store would be in good hands while she worked from home most of the time.
Lost in her musings about the boutique and the workers with Tikki, Marinette was not paying attention to the street in front of her and narrowly avoided colliding with a tall man.
"Oops! I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going…," the rest of her apology died on her lips as she stared at the familiar blonde. Adrien? She thought in confusion. Wasn't he supposed to be in class at this time? Realisation dawned on her around the same time the man's previously miffed expression shifted from surprise to a bit of concern.
"Marinette? Are you okay?"
"Félix," she acknowledged a bit coldly, initially recalling her first memories of him. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks."
"I heard about your accident. I'm glad to see that you are doing better." Marinette couldn't tell if he was being genuine or not. As she tried to recount all her memories of him, she remembered that even though he didn't always have an ulterior motive for acting nice (at least towards her) she still kept her distance as a precaution.
"Thank you," she said cordially before starting to walk off.
"Wait!" he called out. When she turned around, he put on a sheepish expression that she didn't buy for a second. "I think it's actually good luck that I ran into you." Marinette raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Sensing her skepticism, Félix shed the act all together and decided to speak from the heart for once.
"Look, I know that you're not a fan of me, with or without amnesia, but I wanted to talk to you about something important." This caught her attention.
"I'm listening."
"Did you eat lunch already? Maybe we can talk about it at a café or something." Marinette sneaked a glance at her purse to see what Tikki thought. Her kwami only shrugged. It seemed like she too couldn't tell what he was up to.
"First tell me what you need to talk about." Marinette said crossing her arms. Félix gave her an annoyed sigh before seemingly giving in.
"It's about my wife, Bridgette."
"You want me to help you get back together with your wife?" Marinette picked at her sub-par spinach quiche, partly at the incredulity of Félix's request and partly because she was a pastry snob and that quiche wasn't cutting it.
"Yes?" Félix offered her the rest of his salad hoping to earn brownie points with her. Despite the intimacy of the gesture, she accepted because she was very hungry and he did technically warn her that the quiches were bland at that café.
"How long were you two separated?" she questioned, after several mouthfuls of the delicious salad.
"Two months, one week and five days," he replied immediately. Marinette swallowed and contemplated the information given her.
She had recognised Bridgette's name from one of the gift baskets and cards she had received a few weeks ago when she had returned home. She also came across her name in her diaries several times but not many details were given in those particular entries. However, according to Félix, they had met in university and became pretty close; and apparently, he had met Bridgette through her. Marinette didn't know if she should apologise to Bridgette an account of the last point, but for the time being she decided to give Félix the benefit of the doubt. He seemed to really care about his wife.
"Look," she started off cautiously, "I can't promise you anything. If she left you, she may have had a good reason to. First and foremost, she is my friend and I'm going to make sure that she is doing okay," he seemed truly dejected at that. "But, if she seems open to it, I'll mention that I ran into you and that you said you really miss her. That's only if she's ready to talk about you," she emphasised.
With his hundredth sigh during their conversation, he stood up.
"Fine. Can't say I didn't try. I appreciate you listening to me though." With that, he went over to the front counter to take care of the bill then exited the café, leaving Marinette alone with Tikki, the salad and her thoughts.
"And you think he's being genuine?" Adrien asked over dinner, after Marinette recounted the day's events to him.
"I don't know," she replied, eagerly tucking into her homemade quiche. She wished that she could give the cooks at the café her quiche recipe as charitable donation. "There was nothing in his behaviour today that raised any red flags," she paused, thinking, "but I think it's strange that Bridgette would go for so long without seeing him, and barely communicating with him over a small issue." Adrien nodded in agreement.
"I don't want to push her into anything, but I do want to meet up with her, to make sure she's doing alright," she continued.
"And are you going to ask her about Félix?" he questioned. Marinette shrugged.
"I'll leave that for her to bring up."
Several days later, Marinette was back at the same café to meet up with Bridgette. She decided on the same salad she had with Félix and a bolognese sandwich (Tikki had persuaded her against the tuna salad sandwich, something about limiting her fish intake). She soon spotted a woman who matched the description of Bridgette: long blue-black hair with a cowlick in the centre, bright blue eyes and chubby cheeks. Coincidentally, she was sitting at the same table Félix chose a few days ago.
"Marinette!" she called out to her.
"Bridgette," Marinette made her way over to the woman. Before she could give any other kind of greeting, Bridgette stood up and gave Marinette a warm hug.
"It's so nice to see that you're doing better!" she exclaimed emotionally. "I wasn't sure how to reach out and I wanted to give you and Adrien some time to recover from this, but I was soooo glad when I got your text!"
"T-thank you," Marinette almost had to gasp for air. Bridgette hugs just like Papa, she noted. "I really appreciated the basket and card you sent and I recognised your name coming up a lot in my diaries."
Bridgette soon released Marinette from the hug and gestured for her to take a seat. Marinette managed to get a quick glance at the woman's frame, noting that it was not too unlike her own. Except…
"So tell me, what's it been like for you these past few days," Bridgette's voice interrupted Marinette's thoughts. "I can't imagine what you and Adrien are going through."
The two women spent the next couple of minutes catching up. Marinette could see why they became good friends. Not counting the uncanny similarities between the two, in appearance and in personality, something just clicked between them and Marinette found no difficulty being comfortable around her.
"…and that's why this is my favourite café," Bridgette recounted yet another story to her friend. Marinette smiled at the account as she lifted the last forkful of her salad to her mouth. "It's funny how we ended up ordering the same meal!" Marinette paused for a moment before feeding herself the mouthful.
"Yeah," she said after she swallowed.
"Félix was the one who got me hooked on the salad," Bridgette remarked offhandedly. Marinette keenly observed her friend. This was the first time she mentioned anything about Félix. Deciding to take a risk, Marinette spoke up:
"I bumped into him the other day." Bridgette looked at her in surprise. "He said that he misses you," she added in a soft voice.
"I know," Bridgette sighed. "He texts and calls me every day." Marinette noticed her friend's eyes becoming watery before the latter turned her head to the window.
"How are you doing, Bridgette," Marinette reached for her hand, "I know that this isn't easy for you," she gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Brigette looked back at her, and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.
"Honestly, I don't know how I feel," she said with a weak smile. "We've been separated before and usually it's the same thing over and over again but…" her voice shook. Marinette patiently waited for her friend to compose herself.
"I just want things to change, you know?" she continued, "I knew Félix wasn't the best person when I married him. Not that I doubt his fidelity to me or anything," she quickly clarified, "but, ethically he's a bit…twisted." Marinette gave her hand another comforting squeeze.
"We fight and we argue about it, then we make up and he's better for a while, but then it's the same thing in no time. I know I can't change him but… I just want him to be a good person, damnit!" she shouted. Marinette was a bit alarmed over Bridgette's sudden change in mood but she kept her hand firmly on her friend's.
Ignoring the curious glances that her friend's outburst had drawn to them, Marinette urged Bridgette to continue.
"This time, I-I really want things to change."
Marinette, quickly weighed her options of what to say next, then decided to go out on a limb based on what she noticed about her friend during the brief time she stood when she greeted her.
"Bridgette," Marinette began cautiously, "Are you—are you pregnant?" Bridgette nodded, with newly formed tears in her eyes.
"Does Félix know?" The tears spilled over to Bridgette's cheeks as she choked out a negative response.
Geez, what's in the Parisian water? Marinette thought to herself. There's me, Alya and now Bridgette.
"How far along are you, if I may ask?"
"Around three months," Bridgette fought to compose herself. "I found out when we were already separated for like a month."
Marinette now fully understood the weight of her friend's struggle. Even though she had her own issues to deal with presently, she had a feeling that things would work out in the end. She had Adrien by her side and even though it would probably take a while, they were sure to work out their situation. They always did. She looked over her friend with concern.
"I honestly don't know what I would do in your situation," Marinette started out, "but, if you're certain of his love for you and if you feel comfortable with it, maybe you should tell him. Tell him what his behaviour could potentially cost him.
"Honestly, I don't know Félix as well as you do and he's not exactly endeared in my intact memories," the corner of Bridgette's mouth raised a bit at Marinette's attempt at levity, "but my gut says that he does care about you and would like to know about his child." Bridgette gave her a small smile.
"Either that, or Hugo's just telling me to lay off of spicy foods," Marinette joked, affectionately resting her free hand on her stomach. Bridgette laughed outright at that.
"Thanks Marinette, for everything," she gave Marinette's hand a grateful squeeze before getting up to wrap her in another bear hug.
"That was something, huh?" Tikki piped up as she and Marinette were waiting on the bus.
"Yeah," Marinette replied, snuggling deeper into her coat against the wind. "Who knew marriage was so complicated," she mused. "Especially when you add a child into the mix," she whispered, her hand drifting unconsciously down her stomach.
"It is a lot of work," Tikki agreed. "That's why it should never be entered in lightly. You have to be someone and be with someone who's willing to put in the effort to make it work."
Marinette pondered her kwami's words. She started to doubt that like her laid-back 'everything will work out in the end' attitude would be enough for her and Adrien. I'm going to have to put a lot of effort into this, she thought. The question is where to start?
A notification from her phone brought Marinette out of her thoughts. She leisurely skimmed the message before doing double take and reading it again. After re-reading it three more times, she took off from the bus stop in a familiar direction.
"Where are we going?" Tikki asked, worried about Marinette's frantic walking speed.
"The hospital!" she replied breathlessly. "Alya is having her baby right now!"