Set during Season 6 'Werepapas.' When I came up with this idea, I had only seen the whole episode once all the way through so I didn't remember every little detail. And then when I saw this prompt, I got really excited to write it. But, after I finally found the episode online to rewatch and dissect to write this story, I learned it was 'lunch' and not 'dinner.' But, what the heck! Lunch used to be referred to as dinner (and dinner was called supper). So I'm just going with this.

One more small change; Marinette isn't faking a British accent while pretending to be the wait staff.


Adrinette April 2025

Day #26: Family Dinner

Marinette and Adrien were both concerned. This dinner with all four of his grandparents was taking a dramatic turn. His mother's father—Lord Emil—was talking about claiming custody of Adrien and making him move to London with him and his wife.

On top of that, the Lord also wanted Adrien to hand over the Twin Rings. No one but Adrien should ever possess those rings.

Even after sneaking through the kitchen together to get back into the foyer where Nathalie and his bodyguard where to ask what they could do, they weren't sure.

Lord Emil was his family. Nathalie wasn't.

Back in the dining room, as Adrien's other grandfather, Johnny, served out his burnt ballotines onto everyone's plates, Adrien sat back in his chair at the head of the table.

"Let me handle this," Marinette whispered to him as she pushed in his chair.

"Marinette, no," Adrien whispered to her, but she was already walking behind his mother's parent's chairs. He wasn't sure what she intended to do but he was nervous.

But first, Marinette had something else to do.

Just before she and Adrien had left the kitchen together, they both had to duck as a flying burnt ballotine came whizzing passed their heads. Lady Milly had tried to cut one open with a knife and it went flying. She was intrigued by the bizarre dish and really wanted to try it. She just needed to get passed the burnt outer layer.

Thus, just before leaving the kitchen, Marinette found a tool to help her out.

The bluenette in a maid's uniform approached the noble woman. As she looked up at her friendly face, Marinette said, "Here, ma'am. Try this." And presented her with a nutcracker.

Milly's face brightened and she took the tool. She placed the ballotine in between the jaws and squeezed the two linkages together.

CRACK!

The ballotine's black shell cracked like a walnut.

"Brilliant! Thank you, young lady," Milly said, grateful to the sweet and clever maid in pink. Marinette smiled at her. And behind her, Adrien smiled too.

His girlfriend was just so sweet.

"Milly, hush! There's no need to be thanking the help," Lord Emil barked at his wife, wiping the smile off all of their faces in an instant. Milly sunk into her chair. "And you," he said directly to Marinette. "Don't you have work to do? Why are you just standing there, watching us? This is a private family matter."

Also intimidated under his cold glare, Marinette hesitated.

"I'm…I'm here for Adrien," she said, her voice smaller and meeker than she planned on responding. And it wasn't a total lie. She was there for Adrien. Not as a maid but as his girlfriend.

"Well, if you're here for Adrien, be useful and go fetch him something to eat that won't kill him. And for me as well," he ordered, pushing away his small plate of burnt ballotines.

"Right away…sir," she replied in a sad voice. Suddenly, it was like she was herself a year ago, dealing with Chloe and not knowing that she could speak up for herself.

This man was even worse.

As she turned away to go into the kitchen, she glanced back at Adrien who mouthed an apology to her. He hated seeing her like this. And that his own grandfather was treating her so poorly. He wanted so badly to speak up on her behalf but he was hesitant too.

They were his family.

Lord Emil cleared his throat. "Getting back to the matter at hand. Adrien, hand me the Graham Twin Rings." Marinette stopped dead in her tracks just before opening the kitchen door. She saw Adrien look down at his hand with the rings on his finger for a moment. She was about to intervene when the Lord noticed his wife picking at her ballotines that she'd cracked into halves with a fork. "Milly! Are you actually going to taste this horror?"

"It looks like there's something still edible inside," she said, scooping out some of the inner stuff with her fork and putting it in her mouth. Marinette panicked again as Adrien moved his hand and was about to take the rings off but before he could, Milly suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my!" Everyone's focus at the table snapped to her, including Adrien's. Seeing as she had a minute, Marinette quickly slipped into the kitchen for a new distraction. "It's incredible! Absolutely delicious!" she said, looking across the table to the one who made them.

"Thank you so much," Johnny said with a smile.

"Hand me that nutcracker so we can crack ours open as well," Gabrielle said, reaching her hand out, asking for the tool next.

"Yes. I have never burned my ballotines before. I need to taste for myself."

"Enough of this foolishness!" Lord Emil yelled, pounding a fist on the table, making everyone startle into silence. Marinette came back into the room just in time with a bowl of her Great Uncle's signature Celestial Soup—renamed after her—that she had made earlier for the next course. "Adrien! The rings!" Lord Emil reached his hand out to Adrien, demanding he hand them over.

But, before Adrien could get them off, Marinette decided to approach with the soup.

"Here you are, Lord Gram," she said, putting herself between the Lord and his wife's chairs. And also between him and her boyfriend. She was hoping the soup would distract him enough to not ask for the rings yet, buying her more time to come up with a better plan. Or, if they were lucky, the soup could put him in a slightly better mood. But today, she was not so lucky. "This is the best soup in all of-" As she spoke, bowl in hand, her foot accidently hit the leg of the Lord's chair, making the bowl jerk in her hands. She kept her hold on it but some of the liquid spilled over the rim. Most of it landed on top of the white table cloth, but a small bit ended up on Lord Emil's coat sleeve! Milly gasped the loudest, seeing the stain on her husband's clothes. She knew what was coming next. The poor girl. "Oops," Marinette said. She quickly placed the bowl down on the table and faced the Lord. "I'm so sorry. I'm such a klutz," she tried to apologize.

Lord Emil's face was stoic as he looked down at the spot on his jacket that was no bigger than a quarter. "A klutz?" he said, his voice cold but level. He stood up, removing the napkin from his lap. Marinette took a step back as his chair moved backwards. "You are not a klutz," he said before turning around sharply. "You. Are. An. Imbecile!" he yelled louder than even. Marinette took another step back, startled and frightened. Every adult in the house—including Nathalie and the bodyguard—were startled too. But not Adrien. He was seething. "How are you a maid?! How could Gabriel hire such a clumsy, dimwitted, incompetent, pathetic little girl like you?!"

"I-" Marinette stuttered.

"Silence!" the Lord yelled, making Marinette shrink back more. Adrien's fists clenched on top of the table. "Get out of this dining room! And get out of this house! You're fired!" he hollered, pointing towards the door.

Finally, Adrien couldn't take it anymore. "Grandfather!" he yelled, standing up abruptly from his chair. Everyone looked at him in shock. "You can't fire her!"

Lord Emil sighed in irritation. "Adrien, you might live here at the moment but this house does belong to the Graham de Vanily family. And since she works here-"

"You can't fire her because she's my girlfriend!"

All of his grandparents were shocked again. "You're…you're dating your maid?" Milly asked.

"Oh, how romantic!" Gabrielle gushed.

"Marinette doesn't work here at all. She's just my girlfriend," Adrien calmly clarified. "She's only dressed like a maid because it was the only way she could be here for me today because I was so nervous about meeting all of you." Adrien's gaze went back to the tall Lord with narrowed eyes. "And Grandfather, with all due respect," he said, walking away from his chair and over to their side of the table. "Nobility or not, family or not…" Adrien stood beside Marinette and took her hand, interlocking their fingers. "Nobody says such vile things to my Marinette!" he stated proudly but still angry.

He made the mistake of letting Chloe get away with being mean to Marinette for far longer than he should have. He refused to stand by and allow anyone else to ever again.

"But…she spilled soup on me!" Lord Emil stuttered, showing the sleeve. As if that would justify his outburst.

"Emil, it's only a tiny dollop," Milly tried to reason, but of course, her husband shut her down.

"Milly, silence!"

"Stop yelling at my grandmother! You be silent!" Adrien shouted back at him. He hated the way this man spoke to his wife, his other grandparents, and his girlfriend. Family or not, this man was toxic. His mother had been right to cut at least him out of her life so long ago. "I don't care if this house is technically yours or whatever! And I'm keeping the Twin Rings because they belonged to my parents. That makes them mine now," he bravely proclaimed. Marinette mentally sighed in relief. "As for who gets custody of me…" he said a bit slower, collecting his thought. Marinette had asked him earlier what he wanted. She asked him that more than anyone else in his life ever did, which was one of the many things he loved about her. He wasn't sure before if he should choose or just let his grandparents choose for him. But now, he chose to choose. "I'm already being well taken care of by Nathalie, so I intend to stay here in Paris with her. Even if you do have the power to evict us from this house," he stated. They could find somewhere else to live if they needed to. Nathalie could hear him in the foyer. A happy tear formed in her eye. Adrien's gaze then looked across the table to his father's parents. "But I'd love to see more of you guys and get to know you better," he said kindly to them.

"Oh, we'd love that very much Adrien!" Gabrielle exclaimed with joy. Beside her, Johnny grinned.

"And me?" Milly's quiet voice asked. Adrien looked at her with a gentle smile.

"Of course, Grandmother Milly," he told her. Then his gaze turned sour again as he looked back up at her husband. "But Lord Gram…" he said, calm but bitter. "Anyone who treats my family or my girlfriend like you have has no place in my life." In other words; there was no way he would be living with him anywhere. "So I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Flabbergasted, Lord Emil looked at his grandson, outrage on his face. "H-How dare-!"

"I said leave. Now," Adrien calmly cut him off.

No one spoke for several seconds. And no one left. Not even Lord Emil. That was when Marinette had an idea.

"Adrien," she said. "How about instead, we all go to my house. My parents and grandparents on my father's side would love to see you and meet your grandparents."

Adrien smiled, liking the suggestion. If Emil refused to leave, then they would leave. Family was family no matter where they were, after all. "Can Nathalie and my bodyguard come too?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Splendid!" Johnny exclaimed, standing up. "I will bring the truck and serve them my fries!" Marinette and Adrien, along with Milly, made their way to the door, the older man stopped Marinette and held her hands. "You are an exquisite young lady. My grandson is lucky to have such a loyal girlfriend on his arm," he said kindly before planting a light peck on her hand.

Marinette smiled, glad that at least one of Adrien's grandfathers liked her.

"What about the ballotines?" Milly said, a bit disappointed that they were leaving a few of the delicious morsels behind on the table.

"I will make some more for you, Lady Milly," Johnny reassured her as they walked out of the dining room with the others.

The noble lady smiled. "Just Milly is fine. We are family after all."

"Yes," Adrien agreed. "We all are."

Nathalie, Adrien, his bodyguard, Marinette, and Milly all piled into a car and headed for Marinette's house. Johnny and Gabrielle followed on their motorcycle.

Leaving Lord Emil alone in the mansion to think about how to better treat his family if he wished to remain a part of it.


You know, this whole custody argument wouldn't have been necessary if Gabriel had simply made some sort of Will before his 'final plan.' He knew he was dying and that he was going to wish Nathalie healthy again in exchange for his life, so it would have made perfect sense and easy for everyone to name her as Adrien's legal guardian.

Next 1 is tomorrow! See u then ;D

Less then a week before the end of the month and STILL NO SIGN OF THE MARICHAT MAY PROMPTS! WTF!? Waiting is giving me SO much anxiety! I won't have enough time to write and post on time at this rate and I HATE that!