Summary: Feat Aubri proving that she is a better single-parent that Gabriel. An awkward conversation between Elder-Adrien and Aubri for perspective, about being parents: neither know what they're doing. Everyone freaks out at the sight of blood. Everyone hates their day jobs. Aubri should just go through and smash her phone against the nearest wall. Burning of clothes are implied. Aubri is such an awkward ball of sunshine that matches her son(s). Ellayne is an adorable ray of sunshine. Marinette is hired for knowing her colours. Aubri wants to commit murder.

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A/N: Okay, so first of, I apologise for the lack of update for over a month. Kinda was in Japan. Kinda waiting for the next season (why. why did it get delayed T_T). I had hoped to write more while I was in Japan. Didn't happen. Although I did manage to write 19000 words on a non-ML related story. Any RWBY readers be interested in reading such a big story? Not as if I've made any RWBY stories before. Whoops. It's probably bad. ANYWAY. Go read this chapter while I go bang my head against the wall for starting another story, to add to all my current unfinished stories I have yet to complete.

Beta'd by Toxic Girlfriend (ff & Tumblr).

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Long ago, before we met, I dreamt about you. The peace you'd bring, the songs we'd sing, the way you'd make things new. Then, one day, you arrived, I heard your angel cry: helpless, small and perfect – welcome to your life. And on that day, I made a vow, whispered and true: No matter what, no matter how I made this promise to you – I will cling, I will clutch, I'll hold onto you, I won't turn away: I won't leave, I won't go, I will stay with you, all our days.
-Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams

Volume II – Part XVII

Aubrianne could definitely see why her son spent so much time at the Dupain-Cheng residence, seeing as it was much warmer, and had that always desired lived-in feeling.
Something she could never duplicate in her own home, thanks to her so-called husband, father to her son, no matter her efforts.
She could see the blind pleading her son had given her for her to leave him there the previous night. It was if he thought she would demand he come home.
Hell no.
It did make her make a mental side note to mention to Adrien, or at least prove she wasn't at all like his father.
She could have wept in relief when Sabine gave her an extra key so she could come and go like her own daughter was like to the Agreste mansion (not that Marinette had a key, per say as much as facial recognition with Nathalie, and Agreste household staff, to be let in on sight. But hell, same def, right?)

So Aubrianne was not as early as Marinette's parents (who were up at dawn. She praised their resolve), but not late enough to still see the elders of her son and Marinette still asleep on the couch, with their child (her granddaughter?) snoring lightly along with her father still in her cushion fort. She notched her ear upwards, and didn't hear a sound from above, so the teenagers were asleep as well.
Aubrianne wandered over to the kitchen, she got the stern-but-kind - "my-house-is-your-house" reprimand from Tom when she asked if she could return in the morning.
She could see a lot of her time being spent here. Not that she minded.

She got out a glass but the cabinet door shut with a surprising amount of force that made her freeze-cringe. Cabinets. These cabinets didn't have soft gaps. She filed that away for her to remember.
"Was'it?" She heard being slurred behind her, making her flinch again. She whirled around to see her adult son (?) waking up, pawing his eye in sleep. "One more?" He questioned after he yawned.
One more? One more what?! Aubrianne panicked.
He shook his head. "Glass. Another glass." He intoned, switching eyes.
Oh…! Aubrianne understood and whirled back around to get another glass, making sure to close the cabinet slowly so it wouldn't slam shut.
She silently watched as Adrien got up from the couch, making sure his wife was comfortable, checking on his daughter was still in her fort (and asleep), then made his way over to the table where Aubrianne had thought would be the best place for a medium-awkward conversation.
"Thanks!" He said in relation to the cup of water, but not as loud to wake his family.
She smiled at him awkwardly, not really knowing what to say to him.

Adrien seemed fine in drinking his water, and waking up.
"The kwami's still must be asleep, Pyaar hasn't noticed you." Adrien noted, a little sleepily.
"You have Pyaar?" Aubrianne asked, curiously. Her kwami hadn't exactly been talkative about what had happened, or visible since she woke up.
Adrien nodded. "Ours doesn't have a Paon to go back to." Adrien remarked, then yawned.
Aubrianne flinched. "Sorry…" She muttered.
Adrien regarded her. "You're apologising, why…?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"It's just my son is… How did you… I don't…?" Aubrianne tried, her nose scrunching up in distain for herself when she couldn't put forth what she meant properly.
Adrien seemed to understand, though. "How did I get from where your son is, to where I am now, without any supportive parents?" He asked, not sugar coating his words. Aubrianne just nodded numbly. Adrien looked thoughtful. "Well, I have Mari to thank for a lot of my progression, as both as Adrien and as Chat Noir. She was the only one I was able to go to as both versions when things at home got too much for me to handle, or when Gabriel got out of hand…" He stalled seeing her frown.
"Out of hand? How?" Aubrianne spat.
Adrien only chuckled. "Towards the end of us uncovering him, he knew who I was, and reacted accordingly. I didn't know who he was until we uncovered him. He was rather a bastard about it, and uncovered me at the same time. It took Paris a long time afterwards for its civilians to trust Chat Noir, for the death threats to stop. Mari, as both herself and Ladybug as well as Alya, had a big hand in that. Ladybug wasn't exactly very happy with the direction the media was going in, and went to town on them spectacularly, when once they demanded her to come by herself on missions." He told her.

"When did you uncover him?" Aubrianne asked, curiously watching as he pulled out his phone as a soft alarm went off. He got up, walked over to the fridge to pull out a baby bottle, then over to the stove-top to turn it on, it clicked several times. "We've had Nooroo for more than ten years, I think? I was an adult in the eyes of the legal system by the time we got to him." Adrien told her as he filled up a pan of water to put on the stove, he turned back to her fully as he waited for the water to boil.
"I think your son has it much easier this time. Paris doesn't know that he is Chat Noir, so hopefully, that will help him, alongside you being in his life again." He told her.
Aubrianne twitched uncomfortably. "I don't think I'm doing very well, don't really know what I'm doing…" She muttered, but he heard her over the water coming to bubble.
Aubrianne watched him place a timer on his phone, and place the full bottle in the water. Just in time for his daughter to start fussing.
"As if any parent knows what they're doing." He remarked, smiling as he strolled over to pick up his daughter to quickly stop her fussing to loudly to wake her mother up.

Adrien gave his daughter as Eskimo kiss and she happily squealed. "Shh, shh! Let's not wake up the house, huh, ma petite rayon de soleil?" He asked. Ellayne giggled happily at her father.
Aubrianne might have melted into giddy goo at the nickname.

Adrien looked to her. "Mind taking her for a sec?" He asked.
Aubrianne nodded. "Sure!" She remarked happily.
Ellayne fussed over being moved away from her father. "Muh! Da-da-da-da!" She said grumpily.
Adrien just ended up laughing. "Don't mind her, Aubrianne, Ellayne will only get worse if she doesn't eat on time!" He laughed getting his daughter's bottle ready.
Ellayne seemed to disagree, and stuffed her kwami toy into her mouth for his penitence.
"I really did put a lot of effort into that toy, Ellayne!" Adrien said just as grumpily as his daughter.
Aubrianne laughed, having severe flashbacks to when her own son was this size, and gently pried the toy out of her mouth. "You made this, huh?" She asked.
"Yes. And it took ages. I got the idea when Mari said she was pregnant, and I was barely able to finish it properly by the time she was born!" Adrien said indignantly, checking the milk temperature by spot check. Ellayne, seeing her bottle, made grabby hands for it. "Not yet! It's too hot!" Adrien told her. Ellayne blinked then sulked.
It made the adults laugh.

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Marinette and Adrien jolted awake when they heard a shrill cry of a baby.
"Was'it?!" Adrien nearly yelped, finding out his bad luck came back and he whacked his head. "Ow…!" He moaned, cradling his head.
"You okay, Minou?" Marinette asked sleepily.
Adrien groaned. "What was that?" He asked, rubbing his head.
Marinette giggled. "Did you forget that Ellayne is here with her parents?" She asked.
Adrien paused, blinked, then registered his pain again and groaned. "Yeah." He murmured.
Marinette giggled, and got up onto her knees to shuffle forwards to him. "Let me see." She told him.
She screeched seeing blood. "YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
And that was how the rest of the household knew they were awake.

Elder-Marinette was trying very hard to keep her giggles in. "You two. Never change." She giggled. She had a wet cloth down on Adrien's head, while her husband was dealing with Ellayne who had tripped.
Though, it was rather funny to see Marinette tear down the stairs in a panic about blood. Not so much when she saw the blood dying blonde hair, or when Aubrianne paled so much she faltered. Note to self – Aubrianne doesn't deal well with familial blood.
"Mimmy," Adrien grumbled at her.
Elder-Marinette just laughed. "Let me guess, you hit your head on the bed alcove, again, huh?" She asked.
"THAT WAS ONE TIME, DAMN IT!" Elder-Adrien near on screeched indignantly.
Elder-Marinette laughed. "Yeah! And you got a concussion from it!" She replied.
Adrien blinked and looked for Marinette. "Note to self, don't get a concussion from your bed." He remarked, then hissed in pain.
"Sorry, Chaton!" Elder-Marinette yelped.

Once Elder-Marinette had staunched Adrien's head bleeding with enough pressure, Ellayne was slowly getting past hiccupping. Adrien and Marinette couldn't help but watch enraptured as Elder-Adrien settled and coddled his child, from where they were they could hear him humming an unfamiliar melody softly as he rocked her in his arms, notching her into his neck and nuzzled into her in comfort.
Aubrianne watched on in comfort that Adrien would grow up to be separate from his father, that nothing his father could have ever done could have stifled out the Adrien she watched comfort his daughter serenely, as if being a father came naturally to him made her smile at the pair, happily, if not a little sadly.
There weren't many times her child had been held by his father, it only took one look around the walls of the house she was in to see how many memories Marinette had of her family comforting her.
Aubrianne blinked away nostalgic tears, remembering a far off memory she took out her phone.

Do you know the location of my memory box collection?

-Sent 9:05

But maybe she could bring some closure to his life. It wouldn't be much, but hopefully, it could mean something to the child looking on with a look of saddened envy.

Indeed. Would you like me to retrieve it for you, Ma'am?

-Received 9:06

Aubrianne could get over the use of the honorific if Nathalie could get that damn box for her.

"Alright, you. Off and have a shower." Elder-Marinette ordered, a little too disturbed at seeing blood-dyed blonde hair.
Adrien nodded and moved off.
"Please get all the blood out, I'll be seeing it in my nightmares." She told him, unknowingly voicing all females in the room.
He turned and nodded. "'Kay, Mimmy." He told her as he went.
She didn't flinch. She couldn't flinch.
Mimmy.

Aubrianne looked to her phone when it chimed, and they all watched as her face fell. It wasn't Nathalie about her box collection.
Elder-Adrien's face lit up in amusement as he watched (and heard) his mother spew out a string of vocal curses that he wouldn't have wanted Ellayne old enough to hear and memorise. It was amazing to know all his previous conceptions of his mother was being smashed amazingly.
"Something's come up?" Elder-Marinette asked, trying to hold off on giggling.
"I swear, I'm gonna throw this stupid thing at a wall." Aubrianne muttered.
"Aubrianne…?" Elder-Marinette asked, trying to gain the other woman's attention.
Aubrianne looked up, her eyes narrowing. "You're a design artist, correct?" She asked. Elder-Marinette nodded, still with no clue why. Seeing the nod, Aubrianne turned her phone to her. "What is wrong with this picture?!" She near yelled, as if offended.
Elder-Marinette recoiled. "That's just…" She tried.
Elder-Adrien who became curious, looked over his wife's shoulder and was overcame with laughter. "Oh, my god!" He laughed.
Ellayne babbled in a rant and waved her toy at the phone menacingly, making her father laugh more.
"What's up?" Marinette asked, curious as well.

Adrien came back in to have Marinette collide with him in what looked like disgust.
"That's awful!" She cried, offended.
"What the…?" He asked.
"You didn't have to wear it." Elder-Adrien snickered.
Aubrianne looked at him incredulously. "How even. Why." Aubrianne tried.
Elder-Marinette clicked her fingers when she remembered. "Right! I remember! Everyone hated it!" She said gleefully.
"I was much happier when we burnt it." Elder-Adrien said happily.

They all watched as Aubrianne suddenly look torn between expressions.
"Maman?" Adrien questioned, not ever having seen the expression over his mother's face, he had no idea what it meant, so didn't know how he was supposed to act to it.
She looked to him. "Excuse me, I'm sorry, but from what I've seen from walking Paris, you used to model…. Do you still model? Is it something you like doing?" Aubrianne asked, fearful of scorning her own child, annoyed at herself for not knowing any of these answers herself.
Adrien blinked at her. "It's not something I enjoy doing… I only started doing it because Father asked me to, so I did to make him happy." He told her.
They all saw the flinch. "…Right." She started awkwardly. "So, he won't be wearing it, huh?" She asked, looking to Elder-Adrien, who shook his head.
They all watched as she looked conflicted again.

"What's wrong, Aubrianne?" Elder-Marinette asked.
Aubrianne shook her head. "I need to fix this," she waved the phone in her hand. "…But I don't want to leave…" She stated.
Aubrianne wanted to set out that she wasn't like Gabriel, and not set aside Adrien when work came calling her name. She couldn't in good conscience let someone wear that monstrosity. She couldn't in good conscience leave her son. She took over the Agreste label because she actually enjoyed fashion as much as her late husband did, (though not to a point where she would ever leave Adrien on the waste side.) There was a pretty huge line between those two aspects.

Adrien sided his head. "…How long would you be gone for?" He asked, curious for her answer.
Aubrianne blinked at him. "I'd definitely be back for dinner, if they can't fix this within a day, they can scrap it." She said venomously glaring at her phone.
"You took over the Agreste label?" Elder-Adrien jumped in finally finding his voice.
Aubrianne nodded. "I actually enjoy working in the industry. I asked Adrien first." She rushed to say.
Elder-Adrien blinked at her. "There's something I didn't know. You would love Mari here." Elder-Adrien remarked.
Elder-Marinette whacked him with her elbow good-naturedly.
"…I could come back here when I'm done…if I'm welcome too…?" Aubrianne asked, nervously looking from the elders, then towards the store where she could see Marinette's parents serving and working.
Adrien nodded and smiled. "Yep!" He told her for Marinette. He practically lived there anyway.
Though what he wasn't expecting was his mother to gather him up and hug him tightly, it caused him to yelp.
"Thank you, Adrien." She muttered to him.
He nuzzled into her. "What for? You need to work." He told her, he understood.
She hugged him tighter. "Yes. But I didn't want to work… Didn't want to work if it meant leaving you by yourself – I wanted, I wanted to prove…" She tried telling him.
Adrien wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He understood what she was trying to say.
"You are proving it." She heard Elder-Adrien butt in softly.
Aubrianne pulled back to look at him questionably.
"Just by being conflicted between staying and going means you want to spend time with Adrien. I never saw Gabriel conflicted between these two ideals." Aubrianne felt her son tighten his grip around her. "Adults need to work, it's a fact of life. Knowing that you've only recently taken over means you can't have time off, that everyone wants your opinion on every little detail to size you up, to make sure you can perform correctly." Elder-Adrien told her, with Adrien nodding.
Aubrianne lifted her son's gaze back to her. "I'll be back soon, alright? I promise." She told him, finally letting go.
Adrien nodded. "Go save someone from wearing that thing." He told her.
She gave out a bark of laughter, and nodded.
She'd save someone from wearing that monstrosity, and she'd do it before nightfall.

Both Marinette and Adrien had retreated to sitting on the stairs to observe Ellayne finally figuring out she could run, everywhere. It wasn't something that had her parents alarmed, but the girl slammed onto her butt almost every five minutes, they only interfered when she decided she'd investigate the electrical socket in the wall.
"Ah. Nope, let's not have a fried little Ellayne today, huh?" Elder-Adrien remarked pulling her away and distracting her with her kwami toy.
Adrien looked at his phone when it chimed the ringtone he assigned his mother. It was a simple photo message (she had apparently figured out how to send one), of the monstrosity, and a single word of —WHY?!—, that sent him into laughing fits.
Her involving him in her life, even when she was at work, which was probably something she shouldn't be doing, made him feel contented. She made the effort his father never did.
Marinette looked over to him, and saw the photo.
"Oh god, why those two colours?!" She asked.
"They don't mix?" Adrien chirped.
Marinette shook her head adamantly.

Marinette says those two colours don't mix.

-Sent 11:00

GOOD! She knows her colours! Tell her she's hired!

-Received 11:01

"Marinette, you're apparently hired." Adrien said chuckling, showing her the message.
Marinette lost her ability to speak, and did a pretty good imitation of a gaping fish.

Aubrianne was fuming by the time she sent for Nathalie to come get her. Marinette knew more than these people! And they had graduated from the best design colleges! Maybe she could get Marinette to work with her. (As long as Adrien and Marinette were willing, that is). She would legit have no qualms about changing names, giving Marinette all the credit the girl should have by now in the fashion world, (she had seen that competition that she won for Agreste back when, thank you very much!)

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She fumed even now, she had just left simpletons who gave her that questioning look/glare when she told them she was leaving for the day, and asked that they not work much longer and return to their families, she even had that one person asking how they would get it in by deadline if they all simply just left. She gave him a death glare. She had a son to return to, and she wasn't about to break the first promise she made to him since he was old enough talk back to her just because of a simple thing as a week away deadline! Did these people love their work more than their families?! Most of them apparently did, or had it drilled into them by Gabriel that work came first.

However, seeing the time, she knew she wouldn't break her promise: she had called ahead, once she searched up the bakery's number, to ask when dinner was served, and if she was still welcomed to attend, to which Sabine screeched at her that she had the key, and that she was always welcome and that it would be served by six.
She looked up seeing the familiar car pull up, and without waiting, she let herself in. She didn't need to tell them where she was going, thankfully as the Agreste driver pulled away.
"This is for you, Aubrianne." Nathalie remarked, holding out a box.
Aubrianne smiled nostalgically as she took it from her to hold onto it tightly, as she fished out her phone from her winter coat.

I have something for you.

-Sent 7:45

She smiled as the message pinged that it sent, and looked out the window to watch the falling snow in content.
She had hoped the banter they had back and forth throughout the day had helped him as much as it helped her with how much she found out she had with separation anxiety.

When she opened the door to enter the Dupain-Cheng residence, she was immediately hugged by her son, and she was extremely worried the box would harm in.
"Maman…" He whispered to her.
All thoughts of the box left her thoughts as she hugged him back as tightly as he held her.
"I'm back, mon petit poussin." She told him happily she had made it, blinking away happy tears and nuzzling into his hair, she heard him give out a happy noise that she remembered her promise and kept it.
As if she were going to forget any time soon.

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A/N: So, this story is probably gonna be on a short hiatus until the next season comes out, because this story now depends on what happens in the next season, and will work around it. My bad. Sorry.

And if you think that Elder-Adrien wouldn't be wearing anything cat-dad related, you are sorely missing out, head over to this chapter on AO3 to find out.