Chapter 10: A first solution

Marinette returned to the mansion again that same morning. She was making some more notes of possible solutions for Nathalie and a possible solution for Gabriel, but she would need Luka's help to review them and see if her theories could become a reality. She even needed to know something very important that they hadn't asked before and it was vital information and she would take this opportunity to ask. She brought her notes into her sketchbook for that purpose.

This time the one who would receive it was none other than Gabriel. Gabriel was waiting for Marinette and Adrien to arrive from their meeting with the guardians. He could see how they both arrived at the entrance. Without saying a word, Gabriel opened the door and ran to ask how everything went with the guardians.

"How did it go?" That was the first thing Gabriel asked.

"Everything is solved, at least for the moment. They believed the lie we told them." Marinette said. It seemed to Gabriel that that was not all, he noticed that the mood of the two was not the best.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, it's just that the guardians did a bit of a heavy interrogation, that's all."

Marinette seemed a little dazed, but Gabriel didn't want to dig deeper into that just yet. He remembered that Adrien hadn't had his breakfast yet. Plus, he needed to talk to Marinette.

"Well, since you're here, Miss Dupain Cheng." Gabriel opened the door for her "I'm making breakfast, come here. You too Adrien, you haven't had breakfast yet.

Marinette entered the kitchen, along with Gabriel who took the spatula from her again. Adrien took a seat in the dining room.

"Would you like me to get you something to drink, Marinette? I have coffee." Gabriel offered.

"A little coffee with milk would be nice." Marinette took a seat in front of the dining room. She left her sketchbook in front of her.

Gabriel proceeded to take the carafe out of the coffee maker to pour coffee into a cup and add milk.

"Marinette would like something to eat, I can give you a plate too if you want."

"No thanks, Mr. Agreste, I had my breakfast a while ago."

Marinette decided that she would get to the point.

"Mr. Agreste, there is something I must ask before proceeding with our investigation." Marinette took out some of the notes she made.

"Investigation?" Gabriel continued filling the cup until there was a good amount of liquid in it.

"I was thinking about what we could use to make medicine, but we never thought about whether any of you are allergic to something."

"I´m not allergic to anything." Gabriel turned the pancake he left in the pan.

"And what about Miss Sancoeur?"

"The only one who has allergies here is Adrien. I know Nathalie doesn't have allergies, but I think it would be better if you check with her beforehand." Gabriel served her coffee. "She's in her room."

Adrien entered the kitchen.

"Adrien, breakfast is ready." Gabriel served him a pancake on his plate.

Adrien looked at the pancakes Gabriel had just served him. They were exactly the same horrible pancakes he had been giving since he took on the role of being the family cook.

"But of course, how can I forget my father's pancakes." Adrien took the plate. Gabriel watched as he approached the trash can and opened it, throwing out all the contents of the plate.

"Those go in the trash; I don't know how someone could give you something so tasteless." Adrien left the plate on the counter.

Gabriel didn't expect that reaction.

"But Adrien, I thought you liked them." Gabriel knew he told him before that his pancakes stunk, but he thought he said it again because he was still angry with him.

Adrien looked him, angry.

"Well, there are many things you think about me that are wrong."

Adrien left the kitchen, slamming the door.

Marinette was shocked to see what just happened. Very rarely could you see Adrien be so angry.

"I'm sorry, miss Marinette, for the scene you just witnessed. I know Adrien is still very angry with me."

Marinette started to think. Apparently, Gabriel's food wasn't that good. Maybe she could help him a little.

"And how about I teach you how to make some good pancakes?"

"Some good pancakes?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe that will help you break the ice with Adrien." Marinette stood up from her seat.

Gabriel thought about it for a moment. Maybe getting Marinette's help wouldn't be a bad thing. He also wanted to treat Adrien better than she had in recent months.

"Alright. Teach me."

"Can you show me the recipe you have been using to cook, sir?" Marinette approached the kitchen waitress.

Gabriel used her cell phone to show her

"Gabriel, sir," Marinette saw the recipe "The first thing we should do is change the recipe. This recipe is quite dry."

"So, what should I do to change it?"

"First you must be open to change," Marinette saved some of the ingredients "For example, we can replace some of these ingredients with new ones."

Marinette searched through the kitchen drawers. It seemed that in the last few days all the Agreste's drawers were filled with food. She found a block of butter and baking powder.

"You should add more water and butter. And also, a little baking powder," Marinette poured a little more water from the jug into the bowl Gabriel was using to cook. "This way, they'll be fluffy. You have to mix everything very well, until it is creamy."

Gabriel did as she told him. He proceeded to mix until he achieved the texture that Marinette indicated.

"The fire shouldn't be too high." Marinette lowered the flame a little "And then we should wait a few minutes. You shouldn't leave them too long, because they will get burnt."

Gabriel listened attentively to Marinette's instructions. Gabriel had a batch of pancakes ready using the mix Marinette taught him.

Gabriel took a clean fork and tasted one of the pancakes. As soon as the piece he had cut touched his tongue, he could taste the pleasant taste of the pancake. The texture was easy to swallow and was quite smooth.

Those pancakes tasted better than his own.

He felt that his pride had been hurt in those very moments.

But this time he would swallow his pride. Maybe Adrien would like these new pancakes he made.

Marinette listened to her cell phone, she put the stove aside.

"Sorry, Mr. Agreste, it's my mother, I'll be right back."

Marinette left the room to answer the call, leaving her sketchbook behind.

"Yes mom, I'm sorry something came up..."

Gabriel turned down the heat on the stove while he was waiting for Marinette to come back. He saw in the dining room and Marinette had forgotten her sketchbook. The last time Gabriel had it in his hands he didn't take the time to examine the designs contained within it in detail.

He just focused on trying to destroy Marinette's dreams.

Just as they did with him when he wanted to start his career.

Curiosity gnawed at him. Maybe Marinette would take longer than she thought. It was her only opportunity to review her designs in detail. After the way he treated her, he didn't think she would be willing to let him see her sketchbook again.

Looking towards the door she walked to the table and took the sketchbook in his hands. He opened it carefully. Gabriel examined each of the pages carefully, some pieces were more elaborate than others. This one was more complete than the last time. He found some designs that he hadn't seen before, so he assumed that Marinette drew them recently. But apparently it was not as detailed as the first ones. It was as if she had made them carelessly and hastily.

Marinette's style was quite similar to his when he was young, but Gabriel noted that she also had her own personal touch when drawing, which set them both apart.

He had always thought that Marinette was a very talented designer.

She reminded him of himself when he was young. Everything Marinette represented reminded him of his past.

When she returned, Marinette found Gabriel reviewing her sketchbook. Gabriel turned the pages scrutinizing each of the designs she had on it.

"Mr. Agreste" Gabriel jumped a little when he heard Marinette's voice.

"You're back." Gabriel closed the sketchbook and put it aside.

She sat next to him a little uncomfortable that Gabriel, her former favorite designer, was reviewing her sketchbook again. Gabriel cleared his throat before saying anything. Marinette had been the person who gave him a second chance even though he was rude to her.

"I… I owe you an apology, Marinette. I shouldn't have been so harsh and rude to you. Your designs remind me... of the ones I used to make when I was young. The style you see and the one I use now is not the one you know."

Gabriel then remembered one time when he went to look for something in Nathalie's desk drawer, he found something very similar to one of the sketchbooks he burned, but he wasn't 100% sure it was that one because he didn't look closely.

Gabriel stood up abruptly and quickly left the kitchen. Marinette was very surprised by his behavior. Gabriel headed to the second floor.

"Nathalie," Gabriel entered Nathalie's room unexpectedly "Do you still have the sketchbook that you saved when I decided to throw away the others?"

Nathalie didn't know how he knew that.

"Yes, it's on my desk." Nathalie responded monotonously.

"Thank you." Gabriel was going to leave, but he had a question that he wanted to clarify with her.

"Why did you decide to keep it, Nathalie?"

For Nathalie that was something very personal. But since Gabriel was left waiting for an answer, she had no choice but to tell her the truth.

"It was my favorite," Nathalie remembered wistfully "I didn't want that sketchbook to be lost forever."

"Thank you, Nathalie. Can you tell me where it is?"

"In the bottom drawer, the largest. It's in the bottom."

Gabriel went to the atelier and started rummaging through Nathalie's desk trying to find what he was looking for.

Underneath other notebooks and files he found what he was looking for.

A much older notebook, with pages that were already turning yellow. The cover was very simple, brown. If Nathalie had told him a few years ago that she had kept one of the items he was trying to get rid of forever, he would have been furious with her. But this was the first time he was relieved that Nathalie hadn't gotten rid of it.

He closed Nathalie's desk drawer again and returned the way he had come.

Gabriel left the old sketchbook on the dining table in the kitchen in front of where Marinette was.

"What is this?" Marinette was very curious about what Gabriel just put in front of her.

"It's one of my old notebooks. At least the only one I didn't throw away, from my old sketches before I became famous." Gabriel didn't know that was Nathalie's favorite.

Marinette took it in her hands and began to look through it. It's not every day a renowned designer shows you his sketchbook. He saw all kinds of colorful and creative outfits, different from the ones Gabriel used to design for his brand.

"They're beautiful." Marinette had always dreamed of seeing Gabriel Agreste's work up close, but she never imagined that she would see some of his old work.

Marinette turned the page and found a drawing that clashed quite a bit with the others in the sketchbook.

"Adrien did that." Gabriel looked with nostalgia at that drawing that Adrien made when he was barely 5 years old "He asked me to borrow the sketchbook to see it and when he returned it to me, he showed me his work of art."

"And you scolded him?" Marinette wondered how Gabriel would have reacted back then knowing of his character.

"No, quite the opposite, I let the drawing stay in the notebook." Gabriel ran his hand over the drawing that his son had made him a long time ago.

Marinette noticed how much Gabriel's style had changed over the years. From colorful and vibrant outfits, he had moved on to more opaque and boring ones. Marinette wondered what had happened in Gabriel's life to make such a radical change in his art.

As if he had read her mind, Gabriel gave her the answer she was looking for.

"When my fame grew, I was forced to change my design style. I was no longer able to make the colorful dresses I used to make. Audrey showed me that by making more boring designs, I could sell more and my status would grow. I thought that if I could get more status, Emilie would love me more and we could have the child we always wanted to have, but we couldn't."

Gabriel's expression turned gray.

"But then I got carried away by the power and I just wanted more and more. Until I no longer felt satisfied. Power became an addiction. What ended up leading me to this situation. And it ended up affecting Nathalie and Adrien."

Gabriel looked at the drawing Adrien made a long time ago with sadness.

"And now Adrien doesn't trust me, and he's scared of me talking to him… Just like Nathalie."

Gabriel realized that he had really screwed up. Through it was his own fault Adrien was now afraid of him.

Gabriel smiled sadly.

"I was like you, Marinette; I came from the lowest and my Emilie came from a different world than mine." Gabriel remembered his youth with great sadness." His parents were against our relationship, for that same reason.

"Were you both from different worlds?" Marinette rested her elbows on the table "What do you really mean?"

"Emilie was part of royalty. She was a real princess." Gabriel smiled as he remembered Emilie when he met her "But she was never comfortable with the life she had. She felt chained."

"Does Adrien know about this?" Marinette was worried that Gabriel was hiding things from Adrien again.

"Oh, he knows," Gabriel assured her. "His mother told him the details about how we met. She left out some things of course. She didn't want him to hear about the horrible life that her parents had prepared for her and about some situations that are not very pleasant to talk about or listen to. I took her out of the life she was in, despite her parent's refusal, I wanted to make her as happy as I could considering the life she was having."

"But then, I got carried away by status, and that's why I ended up like this." Gabriel remembered everything that led him to be in that situation "And Emilie's death only made things worse. Although she asked me to let her go. I didn't want to do it."

Gabriel looked at the photograph of Emilie that was in the kitchen.

"If she saw what I did, she would be very disappointed in me."

Marinette at that point realized that Gabriel was being honest with her and that there was much more behind him than the little she knew about the family.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Dupain-Cheng...Marinette. I was mean to you without justification. I shouldn't have separated you from Adrien, especially since you've taken good care of him. I understand if you don't want to accept my apologies, but this time I'm telling the truth."

Marinette gave him a sympathetic look.

"I think it's a good start to change, sir. Thanks for being honest with me.

Marinette stood up from the table.

"I'm going to see Nathalie. I need to collect her information for her medicine."

"She's in her room, upstairs on the second floor. Please tell him to come down to breakfast."

Marinette set out to find Nathalie.

"And Marinette, before you leave," Gabriel looked into her eyes "Thank you for listening to me."

Marinette headed in the direction of Nathalie's room. Seeing the door open, she stuck her head out the door.

"Good morning, Miss Sancoeur." Marinette entered through the open door "Can I come in?"

Nathalie nodded.

"How are you?" Marinette stood next to her bed "Did you had any symptoms that we should worry about yet?"

"Not at the moment, apart from the occasional cough," Nathalie watched as Marinette took out some notes.

"But before we start our investigation, miss, do you have any allergies?

"No, I don't have allergies, the only one with allergies in this house is…"

"Is Adrien?" Complete Marinette "Gabriel already told me."

Nathalie had to at least give Gabriel credit this time. He always remembered how allergic Adrien is to feathers.

"Is there anything else you've noticed in the last few days? Any other symptoms, or something similar?"

"No, Marinette, so far the symptoms have not advanced any further," Nathalie denied "If the symptoms appear, I will let you know myself."

Gabriel told Nathalie about the guardian's interrogation, so she was being a little tactful with Marinette. He didn't know how things had gone, but he felt some empathy for her.

"How did her meeting with the guardians go, Miss Dupain Cheng?"

Marinette wasn't expecting that question from Nathalie. Maybe Gabriel told him why Adrien had to leave from one moment to the next.

"I managed to mislead the guardians, they asked about you, about Mayura, but I told them that I didn't know anything."

Nathalie appreciated that Marinette lied to save her and Gabriel, even though they didn't deserve it.

Marinette prepared to leave the room to go to Adrien's room and organize her notes before going back down.

"Mr. Agreste already made breakfast. He may want you to come down."

Nathalie prepared to go downstairs so as not to leave Adrien alone at breakfast.

Adrien returned to the kitchen again. He couldn't stand his hunger anymore, so he would have to swallow his father's horrible pancakes.

For Gabriel it was the perfect opportunity to try the new pancake recipe.

"Look Adrien, this one is for you." Gabriel served him the pancake just as Nathalie mentioned that Adrien liked them: Simple.

Adrien rolled his eyes. He couldn't see how he could make a good food if his father didn't know how to cook very well.

Adrien took a bite and a very different flavor hit his taste buds; it was much better than what his father usually cooked. He took another bite and noticed how soft the pancakes were and how good they tasted. Adrien proceeded to devour the entire pancake in just a few seconds.

"There's no more?" Gabriel was surprised. He turned around seeing that Adrien's plate was almost completely clean. Adrien had never eaten so fast.

"You want to repeat?" Adrien waited expectantly "I'll make you another one."

Gabriel repeated the recipe Marinette had given him. He made another pancake and served it on her plate.

"Here Adrien. If you want more just tell me."

Adrien's happy face took away Gabriel's sadness for a moment.

"Thank you, father."

Father and son ate together, Nathalie entered and was surprised by the familiar scene she was witnessing.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh Nathalie, I'll serve you your plate." Gabriel got up and left the plate in the dishwasher.

Nathalie thought it was very suspicious.

What are you trying Gabriel?

"Do you want something specific, Nathalie? I can serve you whatever you want, just ask me.

"No thanks," Nathalie sat at the table "I'm not in the mood for your horrible food."

Gabriel thought about answering her back, but he stopped himself knowing that this would not improve things between them. He took a deep breath.

Don't worry, Gabriel, you're doing it for her and Adrien.

Even in the face of Nathalie's refusal, Gabriel proceeded to make a batch of pancakes for her and put some blueberries next to it. He set the plate in front of her, hoping Nathalie would at least try them.

Gabriel just set out to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

Marinette came back down to the kitchen having fixed her notes.

"Next time I come back, I'll bring medicine. We're going to do everything we can to give them something to give them some relief."

"Please let me know when you have it, Marinette." Gabriel said, finished cleaning.

Nathalie meanwhile looked at Adrien. His plate was empty and only crumbs of pancakes remained.

That was very strange.

She reluctantly took the fork and tasted his plate, immediately noticing how different it tasted from Gabriel's usual pancakes.

These tastes good.

"Thank you, Gabriel."

That thank you alone was enough for Gabriel.

Before Marinette left, there was something very important that she had to talk to them about.

It was time to make a difficult decision.

Decide Adrien's future.

"Nathalie, Adrien, I reflected on what you Nathalie told me the other day. We need a plan B for Adrien in case things don't turn out the way we want."

"You mean..." Nathalie knew what she was referring to, but she didn't believe he would go back to what she had explicitly asked him to do before he went completely mad.

"We have to find someone to take care of Adrien. We still don't know what will happen to us and if Marinette here present, will be able to find a solution to our problem. I want to make sure Adrien is well taken care of."

Adrien seemed visibly uncomfortable that this topic was brought up.

Gabriel sat next to the two in the dining room.

"I need to talk to you Marinette, this is a serious issue and I need your support. Please. Adrien you too, this especially concerns you."

Marinette took a seat in the dining room. Adrien didn't want to talk about that.

"Adrien, we need to do this." Nathalie took his hand. When everyone was seated, Gabriel was the last to sit down. He wasn't very comfortable playing this topic either, but it was something completely necessary.

"Well, Adrien. There is something very important that we must do. Is there anyone you like to be with besides Nathalie and me?

"Marinette." Adrien looked at her and she took his hand under the table.

It was the same answer Adrien had given him the first time he asked the same question.

"Miss, if Adrien becomes homeless, and we are no longer here to take care of him, would his parents be willing to take care of him for us until he comes of age?"

"Oh, I don't know," Marinette said nervously. "I know we have an extra room for guests, but I don't know what my parents are going to say about that."

"When will your parents be available?" Nathalie asked, preparing her tablet to leave a reminder.

"At night is when they have less work. But I have to ask first, that decision is somewhat… difficult."

Marinette was sure her parents would start asking questions.

"We need to choose a second person to take care of Adrien, Gabriel," Nathalie was thinking about all the possible solutions "If Marinette's parents are not willing to house Adrien, we have to make sure that there is someone who is there for him…"

All of this was too overwhelming for Adrien. The idea that Nathalie and her father were going to die and he was going to be left alone made his sadness increase. He shed the tears that had accumulated in his eyes.

Adrien hid his face in his arms, and felt Nathalie's hand on his back.

"Adrien, calm down."

"I don't want to leave," Adrien said, "I don't want to leave Nathalie. I don't want to leave my life here."

Gabriel felt guilty. It was time to try to give Adrien comfort.

"Adrien listen..." Gabriel stroked his head.

Adrien raised his head to pay attention to what they were going to tell him.

"We're doing this Adrien because we want you to choose the place you want to stay in case we're no longer here." Nathalie told him gently.

"Your Aunt Amelie will possibly take you with her if you haven't made a decision," Gabriel said "It's not what you want, isn't it?"

Adrien shook his head.

"We want to prevent someone else from making the decision for you, Adrien. We're not sure if Marinette can find a definitive solution."

Marinette saw Adrien's sad face and squeezed his hand to calm him down.

"I'm not going to allow it, Adrien. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen."

Gabriel getting better on his cooking are his fisrt babysteps towards change.