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Finally.
Adrien suspected he must be grinning like an idiot as he laid on his side, gazing at the unbelievable sight before him. Blissfully oblivious of his lovestruck stare, Marinette slept on, the soft blanket draped over them, her face more relaxed than he’d seen all week.
Finally.
He had almost shouted that word last night when she opened the door for him. His heart had sung that word when she whispered his superhero name. He had breathed that word in a relieved sigh when she stepped aside to let him into her house.
And finally, finally, finally, they had talked. Doubts were dispelled as questions were answered. Apologies were offered and revealed identities were confirmed again and again. That, yes, she was Ladybug, and he was Chat Noir. That yes, it was she who broke up with him six years ago because she was supposedly in love with another, and that it was he who left the next day without making another attempt to fight for her. That yes, she loved him and he loved her, and they still loved each other even after all these years apart, as Ladybug and Chat Noir and Marinette and Adrien.
Yes, yes, and yes.
The next few hours were almost like six years ago, on that single blessed, cursed night when they shed their transformations and came together. Except, last night they hadn’t been sightless in the dark. Last night, Adrien had been allowed to look at her. He’d been happy enough with the faint moonlight that outlined Marinette in ethereal silver. But she took it one step further, turning on her bedside lamp, bathing them both in a gentle golden glow instead.
She was beautiful. Adrien knew she was beautiful. But actually seeing the adoration in her eyes, the giddy pink on her cheeks, and the inexplicable amazement in the curve of her lips had taken Adrien’s breath away. And then she had reached up, pulling him closer, bringing their hearts together, the beats erratic but wonderfully in sync.
Finally.
Adrien felt his heart swell, and it took all of his self-control to not suddenly swoop in and capture Marinette’s lips. To pepper her cheeks and nose and eyes with little kisses. To barrage her with words of the feelings that he’d hidden in his heart for years. Words that he hadn’t been allowed to say the whole week he’d been back in Paris, words that he was finally allowed to say.
“I love you, My Lady.”
Marinette said nothing. Her breathing didn’t change. Her consciousness remained in her dreams, unaware of how his chest was dangerously close to bursting with happiness.
God, he was such a sap.
He could wake her up, of course. Maybe gently kiss her awake like the Princess he called her. But at the same time, watching her without interruption was quickly becoming one of his favorite things in the world—
“Daddy?”
Adrien nearly jumped in surprise, twisting around to see his daughter standing at the door.
His daughter.
The thought still overwhelmed him sometimes. All these years he’d thought that the one night he shared with Ladybug had resulted in nothing but short-lived bliss and their painful separation. And yet, there stood his daughter, his precious little lady with Adrien’s hair and eyes and Marinette’s freckles and smile.
“Hello, Emma,” Adrien greeted her quietly, carefully sitting up without jostling Marinette. “It’s not even dawn yet, sweetheart, why are you awake?”
At the doorway, Emma rubbed her eyes. “I had a bad dream…”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Emma nodded, padding over towards Adrien as he slid off the mattress to kneel beside the bed. For a split second, Adrien became concerned about his state of undress, but Emma only yawned, as if it was perfectly normal to find Adrien in a t-shirt and boxers in Marinette’s bedroom in the dead of the night.
“You left, in my dream,” Emma began. “You went back to America and never came back…”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Adrien breathed, smoothing her golden hair from her forehead as if he’d been doing it for years. “I’m right here. I’m not going to leave like that.”
Not again, anyway. Never again.
Emma immediately brightened. The excitement in her eyes was practically screaming as she cupped a hand to her mouth and whispered, “Did you convince Mama to keep you?”
“I did, in fact,” Adrien whispered back, winking conspiratorially. “I did what you told me. I did a nice thing for her, and I kissed her. I didn’t even need chocolate!”
The speed at which horror replaced the elation in Emma’s face made the pride in Adrien’s smile fall to the floor with a crash.
“Daddy,” she gasped. “No, no, no! You need the chocolate! You have to get it before she wakes up! We need to be super extra sure that Mama will want to keep you! What if my bad dream comes true?”
Adrien paused, considering his determined little girl. The last time Marinette had decided that they were better off apart, he hadn’t fought for her enough. This time, it was going to be different. And if fighting for her meant going out to get chocolate before sunrise, then so be it.
Maybe along the way he could pick up some breakfast. Perhaps bread and cheeses—if Plagg was still around, he would have gotten a kick out of that. Adrien had wanted stay beside her until Marinette woke up, but maybe serving her a magnificent cheeseboard for breakfast in bed was a pretty good idea, too.
“Okay then, little lady,” Adrien conceded. “I’ll go and buy chocolate for your Mama. Off to bed you go—”
“Oh, but Daddy, can I come with you? I have to make sure you get the ones Mama really likes.”
“All right,” Adrien chuckled. “Go and get dressed.”
Emma beamed, throwing her arms around Adrien in a hug before practically sprinting to the door.
As for Adrien, he retrieved the rest of his clothes as noiselessly as he could, checking every now and then if Marinette was still asleep. He didn’t go near her, didn’t even brush the stray lock of hair that had fallen on her face. He paused at the doorway, looking over his shoulder one last time.
Marinette was going to be blown away when she woke up.
Adrien could hardly wait.