The streets of Paris had been covered in snow a few days ago. With the arrival of winter, the festivities were close to start. Despite the cold, people were coming out to celebrate, so all the noise of people happily reuniting with their loved ones and walking through the streets to reach their destination could be heard.

Nathalie looked out the window of her room in the mansion. Snow formed a white layer over it. The mansion was completely silent, contrasting with the festive atmosphere in the surroundings. It was impossible not to notice the happiness of the people outside. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering why this time was not a happy for them.

She looked at the room around her. It was emptier than last time. A few years ago, they had financial problems and of course, they had to sell some things to be able to live comfortably and not have to worry about bills and food for a prudent time, while they managed to stabilize their situation. Many of Nathalie's most precious treasures and memories were no longer there. It was a very hard sacrifice she had to make, but it was for a good cause.

She looked at the few photos she had on the table. Instead of bringing her happiness, it gave her a lot of sadness, even if it seemed ironic. All those were memories of a better time. The time when Adrien still didn't know the truth about what had happened to the Miraculous and his mother.

Nathalie took the last photo they had taken of Adrien. It was days before the incident. Adrien was doing homework with Marinette and had asked Nathalie to take a picture of them to remember those moments in the future.

The woman ran her thumb over the photo delicately. The big clock in the room chimed in her room, telling her it was already eight o'clock. Nathalie put the photo back where she took it from. She felt a light breeze pass by her, giving her chills.

She went over to the bed to take the blanket she always left on it. She placed it on her shoulders to ease the cold. Nathalie took another of the blankets that was on one of the armchairs in the room before going out into the hallway. She walked slowly until she reached the stairs. Nathalie leaned on the railing as best she could to get down. After using the peacock miraculous for so long, her health was never the same again. Although Nathalie had recovered quite well, she was left with some after-effects, so doing some tasks was quite complicated.

After going downstairs, she headed towards the living room. As she entered, she found a figure before the fire. The person seated there seemed a little pale before the fire, his prominent dark circles showing how tired he was. His almost white platinum hair denoted how much he had aged. Gabriel was in one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace, looking at nothing. His face only denoted... sadness.

Nathalie walked over to him and gently placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you okay Gabriel?" she whispered, bending down a little so he could hear her.

Gabriel looked up to see her. He nodded, placing his hand on hers.

Nathalie took the blanket and covered him with it. It was cold and the shirt he was wearing didn't help too much. She sat next to him in silence, with the flame from the fireplace accompanying the moment. Nathalie stared into the fire, mesmerized by its movement...

And without realizing it, Nathalie fell asleep for what she thought was a few minutes. She woke up alerted, noticing it was already close to midnight. Gabriel had stayed with her all this time with her leaning on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. I fell asleep." She stood up, running her hands over her face, trying to wipe the weariness from her eyes.

"It's okay, Nathalie. I slept a bit too."

Nathalie got up from her place, rearranging the blanket which was out of place on her shoulders and offered her hand to Gabriel.

"Let's rest. You need it."

Gabriel took her hand and headed to their bedroom. They went up to the room they shared a few years ago, when they got married.

After their supervillain identities were compromised in front of Ladybug and Chat Noir, it almost caused a media scandal. They were about to go to jail if the superhero duo didn't intervene, convincing Paris they would see to that they received the corresponding punishment would they receive.

But the worst part was taken by Adrien.

Adrien, as expected, was very disappointed. He did not want to return to the mansion after the incident. Although Nathalie was also under house arrest, she was always very worried about Adrien. Not to mention, she managed to get permission from the police to help look after his well-being while they managed to sort out Adrien's situation.

Amelie had no mercy. As soon as she found out what happened, she took the first flight to Paris. The police took action on the matter and took Adrien away while Amelie resolved the matter. She had found the perfect excuse to take Adrien with her and there wasn't much that could be done for Adrien.

The only thing Nathalie could do was contact the best lawyers at Gabriel's who would agree to work with the amount of money Amelie offered. She also tried to convince Gabriel to go out and see his son. But he refused to do it. Not after what happened.

Little by little Gabriel's mental health began to decline. He no longer felt the inspiration to continue designing so he gave it up entirely. The company was in serious trouble for Gabriel's crimes, but Marinette along with some employees came to help them by doing the work he could no longer do.

With the permission of the police after a period in which Nathalie demonstrated good behavior, she took back control over the company, to ensure it succeeded. But for this, the company had to change its name and Gabriel ceased to be the CEO officially.

A few months after that, Gabriel and Nathalie got legally married. All in order for Nathalie to have more power within the company and be able to make important decisions on it. This was to save what little was left of the company.

Deep down Nathalie was happy to be with Gabriel. But she didn't feel her marriage was exactly what she expected. Gabriel spent his time locked in the bedroom, and the only reason he came out for was for his basic needs.

Gabriel only expected one thing at that point in his life: For his son to come back. Adrien hadn't spoken to him directly in five years and it was taking a toll on Gabriel. Although Nathalie knew it was partly Gabriel's fault as well, she didn't want to push him. He was dealing with a terrible depression, ever since the day when Emilie was disconnected from the machine that kept her alive. It got to the point Gabriel was prescribed some strong antidepressants he had to take every day.

Nathalie at this point thought he already became dependent of that medicine.

They both reached the room. Gabriel changed into his nightwear. Nathalie took a white bottle of medicine from the nightstand, which contained the antidepressants Gabriel had to take every day. When Gabriel came out of the bathroom, she handed him the bottle, along with a glass of water she had already brought before going to look up for Gabriel.

Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed to take his medicine. Nathalie noticed how serious he was and she sat down next to him when he put the glass of water on the nightstand. She ran one of her hands down his back in circles and rested her head gently on his shoulder, knowing well what he was thinking.

"Gabriel, I'm sure that one day, he will call you."

He didn't say anything. Gabriel got up to go to his bedside and pull back the covers to lie down. Nathalie could only see the expression on his face, aged by the passing of the years. She searched inside her drawer for her sleepwear and went to the bathroom carrying her phone in her pocket.

She locked herself in the bathroom and sitting on the toilet, she searched for the number of the person with whom she had been putting together her plan a few weeks ago.

Nathalie hoped that the person she needed was still awake. She waited for the sound of the tone.

One, two, three…

Nathalie was about to hang up, when she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Nathalie?" How are you?" Marinette said from the other line. She sounded a bit sleepy.

"Hi Marinette, did I wake you up?"

Nathalie heard some background noise.

"Nathalie, I thought you wouldn't call. You woke me up, but there no problem at all. Adrien is asleep so he won't interrupt us."

That relieved Nathalie. This had to be secret.

"Is everything ready?"

Marinette moved to another room before answering.

"I'm still looking for a way to convince Adrien. It is not easy for him."

Nathalie took a moment and sighed.

"I know."

On the other side of the call Marinette went to sit on the couch in the room she had just entered with some difficulty, to avoid drawing Adrien's attention.

"My due date is in a few weeks." Marinette said as she rubbed her belly, "I just hope the baby doesn't think of coming sooner. Because if that happens, we will have to postpone the plan."

Nathalie hoped that their plan would work. It had to work. Because it was the only chance for Gabriel and Adrien to reconcile.

Or so Nathalie hoped.


Adrien watched the snow fall through his window. The garden was covered in a light layer of snow, which had been falling for days. He went to the kitchen to check what he was cooking. The spaghetti and meatballs Adrien was preparing were almost done. The smell of food made his mouth water. He hoped Marinette would like it too.

When he and Marinette started to live together, he decided it would be a good idea to learn how to cook dishes on his own. At first, the food didn't taste quite well, but with Marinette's help Adrien improved a lot. And for that reason, he was preparing one of his best recipes, since it was his turn to prepare dinner.

Adrien put the lid back on the pot he was cooking in and went out into the small dining room. He lit the candles on the table. He heard footsteps on the stairs, from where Marinette appeared. Adrien approached her and placing her hand on her back, he guided her to one of the chairs at the table and helped her sit down.

She kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, Adrien."

He just smiled and went to the kitchen when he detected the thin smell of meatballs. Adrien turned off the stove and with a fork he served the two plates of spaghetti. When Marinette took a bite and smiled contently.

"This is delicious, Adrien."

Adrien also served a small plate for the kwamis. They both spent a while eating and chatting animatedly among themselves. But Marinette couldn't help but notice that Adrien sounded a little sad. When they finished eating and Adrien cleaned the dishes they went to her room.

While Marinette brushed her teeth, Adrien looked at the pictures on her phone. He came to one where he was with his father. Marinette, seeing him from the door, sat next to him.

"How are you, Adrien? Are you OK?" Marinette asked worried.

"Oh, it's nothing..."

"Adrien is important to me. I know something has been bothering you." she said, taking his hand.

"I just miss my father" Adrien took Marinette's hand and added "I feel like my father doesn't care about me, years have passed and he has never spoken back to me again, let alone come to see me. I don't know what to think."

It was true. It had been five years since Gabriel had contacted his son directly. He had contacted Marinette, it was some time ago, but she wasn't so sure if it was a good idea to tell him.

"You know, Marinette, I always thought Nathalie would soften him up, but apparently my father too stubborn." Adrien shook his head, remembering the day he suggested to his father he could be happy with Nathalie by his side.

Marinette bit her lip, knowing what Nathalie was doing. But she couldn't tell Adrien anything, she promised Miss Sancoeur she wouldn't. At least not yet. Although, she was interested in knowing more about what had happened between Nathalie and Gabriel, after all, she only knew some slight details of what Adrien once told her.

"Adrien, I've always wanted to know what happened between your father and Nathalie. Can you tell me?" Marinette grabbed Adrien's free hand with both hands.

"It all started once I contacted Nathalie by video call, about three or four years ago..."


Adrien had just come from his school trip where he had had a great time. He had never taken a trip that wasn't for work reasons and he always wanted to know how it felt. Adrien saw his watch and went to the room he was staying in at the Dupain – Cheng's house. He took the laptop and turned it on so he could talk to Nathalie. Adrien had promised her that as soon as he got to the safety of his house, he would call her to tell her how his vacation was. Adrien really did appreciate how much she cared for him, despite everything.

Adrien was waiting in front of his computer in a room in the house where they were staying. He soon received the call from Nathalie. She was as serious as ever, but when she saw him, she brushed aside her straight face to give him a smile.

"Hi Adrien, how are you?"

He had never heard her so casual. Maybe that was good.

They were talking for a while when Nathalie passed one of her hands through her hair to rearrange it. Something shiny on one of her fingers caught Adrien's attention.

"Nathalie, what's that on your finger?"

She looked at her hand.

"Oh, well, I was waiting for the right moment to tell you, but… I married your father yesterday."

Adrien was surprised, maybe too much. Perhaps it was because he never thought his father would be willing to pursue a relationship with Nathalie. Not after the last time he asked.

But something Adrien couldn't help but see the sad expression on his former caretaker's face.

"But you don't look very happy, Nathalie."

"Oh Adrien, of course I'm happy. It's just… it's not how I imagined it to be" she said with a bit of sadness in her voice.

Adrien felt very bad for her. He knew very well Nathalie loved his father very much and the fact she had been there for him since her mother had fallen into a magical coma. He couldn't imagine how she felt at that moment. He always thought that Nathalie and her father had great chemistry between them and many things in common. But it seemed it had not been enough for his father to reciprocate Nathalie's feelings.

"Nathalie, are you okay? Would you like to talk about it?" Adrien asked when he saw Nathalie's expression.

Nathalie vigorously denied.

"No, no Adrien. Don't worry about me" she straighten up again on her seat "I don't want to add more worries to your life. I'll be fine."

But Adrien knew that wasn't true. Nathalie was not fine.

"That's how I found out they were married, at least in a legal way."

Adrien was very serious after talking about it. Marinette took his face watching as tears accumulated in his eyes.

"Kitty…"

"I always thought my father and Nathalie were together. That my father had moved on from my mother and he, me and Nathalie could be happy together. That I would have the same closeness that I had with my father before."

Marinette felt bad. She wiped away the tears which started to fall down Adrien's face with her thumbs.

"I wouldn't mind if I could just talk to my father, even if it was just for a moment."

Marinette nervously clasped her hands, something Adrien noticed instantly.

"Marinette, is something wrong?"

Marinette took Adrien's hands.

"Your father, he called you. It was the day of our wedding."

Adrien was stunned.

"I'm sorry I kept this from you, Adrien, but I didn't know how you would react if I told you. You were so happy that day, I didn't want to ruin the moment for you."

"I know, I understand." He took both of her hands and kissed them "But, why did he call me?"

"Well, he didn't explain much, but I can say he seemed like he wanted to be on good terms with you, Adrien. I told him he could call back another day, I even gave him your number, but from what you told me, it seems he hasn't."

That last statement left Adrien thinking.

"Adrien, I know that you and your father have a… complicated relationship. But from what I've seen and from what Nathalie told me, he may want to fix it."

"I still love my father, despite everything he did. I can't hate him; I don't feel capable of that" Adrien looked down "I really don't know what to do."

"You could give it a try. And if things don't work between you, you can just walk away."

Adrien sighed and looked to the floor.

"I'll think about it."

Adrien left the room for a moment to organize some things. Marinette felt guilty for not having told him about his father's call. But this was the first step to be able to reunite them both again.


I had the idea for this fic after seeing the New York special when it premiered. Will there be the possibility that Adrien and Gabriel reconcile? We will see that in the following chapters.