Author's note: Thanks for the reviews!

/

Nathalie keeps the window to her parisien flat open. She continues to look at her watch. She's not worried yet but she is growing nervous. They certainly like to cut things close. She'd be frustrated if worry didn't take precedent. They know what they're doing, she tells herself. They've done this a hundred times before. Not recently though… It would be easy for her to give into panic, especially now that she doesn't have a miraculous of her own to rush out to assist them if they need some help. She'll just have to trust them.

It's not the first time that she's repeated that much to herself but it's the only comfort that she has along with the knowledge that neither of them are fools.

The woman forces herself to concentrate on the papers that she has. There aren't that many copies but an astonishing amount of mistakes. She realizes that she's along way away from dealing with Adrien Agreste's private tutoring. Some of the mistakes are almost amusing, others irritating and the occasional one is downright scary. Still she continues, going over things with a red pen. At least she's more than half-way done. It's somewhat motivating. Macaroon whines nearby. Presumably he'll be wanting a walk soon. She looks over towards him, wondering if it might do her mind some good to take the dog for a walk.

She actually gets up when she suddenly realizes that the mutt is looking out of the window. A second later, she finds herself with two visitor. The heroic duo seem fine. Cat Noir greets her with a beaming, if slightly goofy smile and she knows that everything must have gone alright.

The teen stretches, readying himself. It's Ladybug who heads over towards the couch. Against it, she picks up a walking stick which had been left there. Cat Noir seems to be surprisingly blase about the whole thing. She's not sure if that's just because he's trying to comfort them by pretending that it isn't that big a deal or if he simply hasn't realized what's going on. The superhero smiles as his companion transformers becoming Marinette once more. Adrien is quick to follow up right afterwards with his signature cry – well, a softly spoken so as to avoid startling Nathalie's neighbors - "Claws in".

It's almost as if he was punched in the stomach. He gasps, stumbling forwards. He manages to brace himself against the nearby armchair. It's his leg which he struggled to avoid putting any pressure and weight off on it. His girlfriend is quick to come over to his side, preventing him with his cane. He mutters a "thank you" taking it in order to help with his balance. Marinette doesn't quite step back however, glancing towards him nervously. Again, he offers them a toothy smile in an attempt to conceal his pain. An attempt to take a step forwards causes him to yelp this time:

"Son of a-!" The young man catches Nathalie's disapproving look out of the corner of his eye and stops himself. "I'm too young to have arthritis!"

Marinette helps him over towards the couch so that he might be able to sit down. In truth, he manages to hobble most of the way by himself. His leg still functions for the most part, it's just stiff. On occasion swollen. They'll give it a few moments before checking if he needs a hot water bottle or potentially some painkillers. Until then, Nathalie reserves the right to adopt the – perhaps seen as unreasonable – stance of "concerned mother-figure". She folds her arms, giving him a stern and disapproving look:

"I told you it was too early."

"It was fine Man." Adrien responds calmly stretching out the affected limb. "I just got caught out when I changed back."

"I don't know why it always surprises you. I'm the one who takes the heat as Cat Noir!"

"I know Plagg." The teen smiles sadly as he glances down at his leg. "I'm still trying to get to grips with creaky here."

Nathalie lets out an exasperated sigh, shaking her head as she does so. He's never going to learn. She's convinced of that much.

Thankfully, it would seem that he was telling the truth. After a few moments, the teen has recovered. He's sitting up at any rate. It allows the woman to relax somewhat. Instead, she offers the two teens some drinks. They accept, thirsty after what's been a tiring morning hunting down some troublemakers for the police. Marinette shows Adrien some of her designs. The slight issue with him living in her flat like this is that there aren't a thousand places for him to be. So she decides to give the pair a few minutes of privacy whilst she goes down to get some bread from the bakery and takes the opportunity to check the mail.

The first is routine. The second less so.

As she uncovers the large and somewhat official looking envelope. It isn't so much the appearance of the letter so much as the names on the return address which cause the woman some concern. Nathalie almost opens it there so that she knows just what it contains before risking bringing it upstairs where Adrien can see. She thinks better of it. They're in this together now, aren't they? She takes a deep breath, trying to soothe her nerves as she makes her way back upstairs.

She finds Adrien resting his head on Marinette's lap. He's napping again. It's something he's taken to since his accident. Whilst it's been a good few months now, he still finds himself tired. It seems to just sneak up on him or maybe it's just the effect of being comfortable and with the young woman that he loves. Nathalie's about to hide the letter, it can wait until he's better suited to dealing with it, when she gets a surprise. He isn't asleep, just resting. Turning his head to see her, the first thing that his eyes lock onto is the envelope. He raises an eyebrow, curious.

"It's from your parents." She explains.

The young man's eyes widen in a flash. Marinette shifts over to one side, allowing him to sit up. He does so slowly but doesn't make an attempt to hide his concern. A single nod gives her permission to go ahead and open it up.

She finds herself faced with quite a handful of documentation. It's all very official looking. Bearing government seals and marks. There's no way that she's going to be able to read through all of these before Adrien goes nuts with worry. So she contents herself with skimming over the details. It doesn't take her all that long to work out just what it is. All the same, she's forced to re-read it again and again to make sure that she isn't misunderstanding it as Nathalie assumes that she must have missed a trick somewhere along the line. Her uncertainty doesn't sit well with the young man. Fractious, he gets to his feet, resting on his cane. Marinette lingers next to him but resists the urge to offer any form of help. Eager to regain some autonomy, her boyfriend doesn't always welcome assistance.

He takes only a few steps towards the woman before abruptly stopping. It's as if his courage suddenly gives out. Instead, he fixes the papers and asks in a quiet voice:

"What is it?" He pauses a moment before continuing. "Looks official, they aren't suing us or something are we?"

"Permission..." It takes her a few seconds to clarify. "-to adopt you."

There's a stunned silence that follows. Both Adrien and Marinette fix her as if she's just spoken in some sort of alien language which defies all comprehension. For a few moments, she wonders if she might actually have to repeat herself so as to be sure that they have well and truly understood. It's the boy's girlfriend who manages to pull herself together the fastest. She leans over and places a gentle kiss on Adrien's cheek. The action is enough to bring him out of his daydream like state and snap him back into reality. He shakes his head, evidently stunned. The slightly younger of the two teens gives him a gentle smile.

"I'll leave you two in peace." She declares sweetly, letting herself out.

Adrien's too stunned even to respond to that.

One glance tells Nathalie that they could potentially have a lengthy debate on their hands. For the first time in a while, he seems nervous around her uncertain. Somewhat lost, the teen heads over towards the couch and allows himself to sit back down. She accompanied him slowly, sitting in the armchair opposite him. She places the papers back down on a coffee table next to her, in the scheme of things, they're not that important. What matters is the implications and ramifications. The details can come later. She gives him a few moments to think things through – and if she's perfectly honest for her to do the same.

A part of her thinks it's a little bit silly. All of this for some nomenclature. He already calls her "Man" a southern affectionate derivative of mother. Surely, moving to "maman" wouldn't be such a leap.

It isn't just that however and Nathalie is aware of that much. So she doesn't push him for a response. Instead the woman gives him the time that he needs to reflect properly upon matters. In actuality, she's aware that it could be something closer to days or maybe even weeks that he needs. Although ironically enough, the fact that he isn't jumping at the opportunity one way or another gives her some hope that he's not being impulsive.

"What would it mean?"

"You'd be part Sancoeur. This-" The woman gestures around the room and then to the young man. "-would be official. In the eyes of the law, you would be my son."

Again, it seems to take a few moments to register. Strange though it might seem, it's only a comparatively small number of people who know about their relationship. Even Adrien's friends don't know the entirety of it. Sure, they're aware that the two of them are close but perhaps not the extent of their bond. He makes an effort not to call her "Man" in front of them and Nathalie's not typically subject to excessive shows of emotion. Combined together, they give the impression that what they have is far more of a working relationship.

Adoption would mean going public. It's a spotlight that it's quite possible neither of them want. After all… A part of Nathalie tells herself. Does it matter? If both of them know already? He's an adult now so it's not even as if it would make things any less of a logistical headache.

It takes the woman a few moments to realize that she's essentially wasting her time wondering like this. She would do far better to wait and see just what Adrien feels like. It could be that adoption is just one step too far. Despite everything, he must sill feel some sort of attachment to his parents and- The woman stops pondering what he might be thinking and just waits, trying to gather her own thoughts together. The wait lasts about a quarter of an hour. She knows that something must be on his mind as the eighteen-year-old keeps on casting her periodic nervous glances. There are some words on the tip of his tongue, he just can't quite seem to pull himself to ask them:

"Would you?"

"Do you want me to?" She turns the question against him, unwilling for this to suddenly become her decision.

"Yes."

"Adrien, nothing would make me more proud than to call you my son."

He says nothing. There are no words which quite suit what he has on his heart right now. A smile says it all.