Marinette was worried... very worried. Her parents seemed to be way too calm for the magnitude of what had been presented to them.
They had untouched cups of tea in front of them, Sabine facing the two love birds, while Tom was creating great noise while making pancakes. Sabine was nervously looking between the new couple and her husband.
"How much did you hear-" Marinette finally plucked up the courage to say it.
"Enough." A low growl was in her fathers voice as he interrupted her.
"Tom!" Sabine shot him a warning look across the room.
"No Sabine!" He slammed down the pan and turned the hob off. Turning on his heel he approached the teenagers, spatula in hand, pointing it towards his daughter and Adrien. "You-" he pointed at Adrien, "You have been sat at this table before!" He was getting worked up now, his face becoming red. "I was Akumatised because of you-"
"Calm down Tom, we don't want it to happen again," Sabine interjected.
Adrien felt a chuckle coming from his shirt pocket. No doubt Plagg was finding this situation rather amusing. Adrien holed no body could tell.
"Now I find out you've been upstairs all night!" He started pacing. Marinette's hand was still in Adrien's, they exchanged worried looks and were keeping an eye out for one of those dreaded butterflies. "Using my Marinette because your heart was broken by that Ladybug-"
"Actually dad-" Marinette piped up shyly, unsure of what she was about to say. Adrien shot a look of surprise at Marinette.
'Is she actually telling them now?' Adrien was stunned with disbelief.
"I am Ladybug," Marinette admitted out loud to her parents, looking at her untouched mug.
Sabine and Tom were both taken aback at the news they had just received. Both in shock at the revelation that their Marinette, their little girl, was half of the heroic duo who have saved thousands of people across Paris on hundreds of occasions. Tom, no longer had anger in his face, more horror at the fact that his daughter faced imminent danger on a daily basis.
"No, NO! you can't be Ladybug." Tom exclaimed, shaking his head. "You are my daughter, you are sixteen-years-old-"
"And I've been Ladybug for over two of those years dad-" She stopped herself, realising what she was doing. Stood upright, one fist clenched at her side, the other hand still in Adrien's. "I'm sorry-" She looked at her parents apologetically and turned to Adrien. "We need to fix this now."
He stood up next to Marinette, hesitant, yet determined at the same time. "Mr Dupain, Mrs Cheng," Adrien started. "I know this is not ideal, but we-" He looked at Marinette for reassurance, "-We need to go and fix this mess that we have caused." He turned back to her parents, "I will do everything I can to protect your daughter, both as myself, and Chat Noir." Marinette's head was resting on Adrien's arm, still with worry on her face but happy inside that he was really stepping up and not running away.
Not that she ever believed he would, but meeting the parents and revealing secret identities, could be deemed a bit much for most.
Tom stood there, staring at him in disbelief, that this young boy would have this brazen cheek to try and reassure him over the safety of his daughter. How had he been so blind not to notice his daughter sneaking out at all hours to be the saviour of Paris. He wasn't just angry at that moment, he was disappointed in himself for not paying enough attention to his daughter.
"What is my daughter, to you?" Tom asked adrien outright, looking at him, wondering if Adrien had an agenda.
"Marinette is my friend, my ally, my inspiration," Adrien answered. "Marinette is also the person I love... the person who completes me." He finished his sentence with a blush as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Feeling very aware of the three sets of eyes all fixated on him as he answered the question. Marinette squeezed his hand tightly in response to hearing him say this to her father, a pang of excitement ran through her body.
"And this...is this how you feel about him," Tom looked at his daughter with anticipation.
"It is dad." she looked at Adrien and then at her dad, "I love him."
Her dad was in disbelief at the sickeningly gooey turn this conversation had taken. "Life is hard Marinette, and it doesnt always turn out as you expect it to," he advised his daughter with a look laced with caution.
"Marinette," her mum said softly, "it all makes sense now." Her mum sighed "you are always running around, forgetting your school work, distracted and in a hurry." She continued, "what do you need to do-"
"Sabine!" Tom was surprised at her reaction to all this news "How are you so calm at a time like this?"
"Well Tom, thinking back, all the signs were there, she even has the same hair as Ladybug!" Sabine elaborated. She turned to Marinette and Adrien, "do what you have to do."
Marinette smiled at her mum with gratitude, "thank you mum, I love you both so much." Marinette turned to face Adrien "roof or street route to Alix?"
"If we go by street, we risk exposing Alix as the new addition to the team." Adrien stated, "roof as Ladybug and Cat Noir?" He suggested.
Her parents were watching in awe that this conversation was happening in front of them, the focus in their daughter's eyes was nothing like how they usually saw her. Although they were both worried, they knew that Ladybug and Cat Noir, who had done so much good and faced so many formidable foes together, could fix this. Tom was more sceptical, but he had always known he could trust in his daughter's abilities and judgement and, he had also, always trusted in the heroes since they had made their debut over two years ago.
"Follow me," she pulled Adrien upstairs to her bedroom. "Love you mum, love you dad," she called back as they flew up the stairs.