All Adrien ever really wanted was a family.

His own was... less than perfect. Okay, dysfunctional. He adored his parents, sure, and would do anything for them, but clearly they wouldn't do everything for him, as they could not for one day put aside their differences for the sake of their son. And, once he realised that wasn't what loving families were like, he longed for something normal. Something real.

Something like Marinette's family.

Her kind and caring parents, Tom and Sabine, were every lonely and neglected child's dream. They were loud, joyful and boisterous, worried about their amazing daughter, as well as teaching her how to be the amazing person she was. 

And, as he woke up at 9am to sunlight warming his face, wrapped around the girl he loved and a pink blanket draped across their bodies, he realised.

He had found a family. He had found where he belonged. 

Ever since his mother left, he had longed for that accepting love. The kind of love where you know that they have flaws, you know that they make mistakes, you know that they might be messy or clumsy or imperfect, but you still love them. The kind of love where you watch them wear a gross shirt with unbrushed hair and the makeup from last night smudged all over their face, sipping coffee because they have things to do and all you see is beauty. The kind of love where you trust that they love you back.

And when they went downstairs, to be greeted by her parents and a pile of gifts underneath a sparkling tree, even a few for him, he couldn't help but feel part of her family. 

He guessed Tom just knew. Maybe he noticed the way Adrien would look at her while she excitedly gushed over her new sewing machine. Maybe he noticed the smile on his face as he watched her laugh as her father wore the dorky pun t-shirt Sabine got him, only to realise she got the same one for him.

However he knew, Tom gave him an approving nod and a warm smile, and secretly slipped him one last gift with a subtle gesture in her direction. Adrien, understanding, smiled in thanks and gave it to her, only to see it was a heart shaped locket with a key. She had gasped and flung her arms around him, not noticing Tom standing proudly with Sabine next to him, remembering his first Christmas with his wife. 

Yes, all Adrien ever really wanted was a family. And, as the next year went on, he found he was always welcome at the Dupain-Cheng household, no matter what time he showed up on their doorstep. He talked to Tom and Sabine about his father, he revealed most of his secrets and bared his soul to them, he learned how to bake and cook and do many household things that he had constantly been sheltered from by staff, it wasn't even uncommon for him to come home to them with Marinette after school. 

And it was. It was home. It was home with them, it was home with her. 

And every night, whether it be on patrol or simply at home with his wife, he remembered the first time he found a home.

They were his parents, step or not. She was his true love, fairytale or not. 

He had found his family, his home. All he wanted that Christmas Day so long ago, he had found. 

Adrien smiled.

Perhaps it was okay to not love Christmas back when he had none of the things he had now, but he surely knew it was his favourite holiday today.