I have done nearly no post-relationship post-reveal one-shots and that is a crime. I hope you will enjoy this one-shot! Vote and comment if you did.                                                                                                               -Colorado

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"M. and Mme. Dupain-Cheng! Over here!"

"Mme. Dupain-Cheng, what are your plans for the upcoming fall line?"

"M. Dupain-Cheng, how have your students been reacting to you being their teacher?"

"Mme. Dupain-Cheng, has it been hard to balance design and raising a child with your husband?"

"I'm hoping to have the designs of the fall line finalized by the next week and no, Adrien has been amazing with Emma, allowing me to spend plenty of time designing." Marinette walked the red carpet as if she had been born for it.

"There was the initial shock, of course, but I've been getting along quite well with all of them. Teaching is definitely a lot different from modeling, but I don't regret the road I've taken." Adrien answered.

This was a familiar scene for him. Everything from the cameras, to the questions, to the fancy outfits everyone was wearing. The only difference was that instead of Gabriel by his side, it was the love of his life.

"Are any of them cold to you considering everything your father has done?"

"No. My students are mature enough to understand that I'm not accountable for my father's actions." Adrien held his head high. The dig was subtle, but there.

It had taken years for him to recover and a heap load of therapy, but he had done it. He was tired of others pinning the blame on him. He was not his father.

"Hey, look! There's the mayor!"

Thank goodness for Chloe's impeccable timing. He and Marinette were able to escape from the cameras and head into the gala.

"Hey, I know how much you dislike these events, especially considering the memories that come with them, so we won't stay the whole time, okay?" Marinette slipped his hand through his.

"We don't have to do that, Mari. You love these types of things, and as long as I'm by your side, I'll be fine." He placed one of his signature hand kisses on her.

"If you say so kitty, but when you get tired just say the word and we're out of here, okay?"

"Okay, m'lady."

The ballroom had been transformed into something of a winter wonderland, although the Valentine's theme was apparent. A string quartet played music as couples danced and designers mingled. One side of the room featured a buffet and surrounding the dance floor were tables, each with their own dinner set.

"Ah, Mme. Dupain-Cheng, it is lovely to see you again, you too M. Dupain-Cheng." Sebastian Moulin greeted them.

Sebastian had been one of the first designers that Marinette had collaborated with. Adrien was glad to see at least one friendly face here. One that wouldn't ask too many personal questions about his father.

"It's always a pleasure, M. Moulin."

"How are things with the little one?"

Adrien brightened, now that was a personal question he had no qualms with answering. He could talk about his daughter all day long.

"Amazing. Emma's starting to crawl, so we've had to baby proof the house even more."

"Not to mention the lack of sleep." Marinette winked.

"But it's been fantastic."

"Yeah, it really has. She's our little bundle of joy and we wouldn't give it up for the world."

"I must say it is nice to see that my favorite celebrity couple has been doing well. Now if you excuse me, I do believe that Mme. Lavigne is waving me over."

"It was great to see you again, M. Moulin." They departed with a smile.

"I'm glad that he was the first person we ran into." Adrien relaxed his shoulders.

"Me too. It's always better to start the night off talking to a friend rather than someone who doesn't understand when something is not their business."

"I've had more than enough of my fair share of those interactions in my lifetime."

"I'm sorry, Adrien, that's not fair."

"Just the price of fame I suppose. It's okay though, Marinette, I promise."

"You're amazing, mon chaton." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Guh. Um, thank you, m'lady."

"I still can't believe that you still get flustered when I give you cheek kisses. We're married for Heaven's sake." She giggled.

"You don't catch me off guard all the time. Just when you kiss me unexpectedly. Plus, I've caught you off guard plenty of times!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I still enjoy seeing your flushed face though, kitty. Reminds me of when we were kids."

"Well, your flushed face is just as adorable, Mariberry." He leaned down to place a kiss on her nose.

"Adriano, Marinetta!" Another familiar voice greeted as the two of them found themselves being hugged by none other than Vincent Giuseppe.

"Giuseppe!" The two greeted him.

"It is just marvelous to see you again! I can't thank you enough for hiring me to be your photographer, Marinetta. Without you, my reputation would've been tarnished forever."

"It was my pleasure Giuseppe. When we were little you were always in charge of Adrien's favorite photoshoots."

"Modeling for you was always a lot of fun. You allowed me to have creative liberty."

"It wasn't your fault that you were working for..." Marinette's eyes flickered over to her husbands.

"A supervillain." Adrien said simply.

"Yeah, what Adrien said."

"And Emma is doing alright?"

"Yep! I can already tell that she's a totally Daddy's girl." Marinette laughed.

"I wish you two the best of luck, but knowing you two I'm sure there's nothing you can't handle." The two of them exchanged a secretive look.

"Thank you Giuseppe, it's always a pleasure."

"Call me when you need a photographer for your fall line." He waved as he headed towards the buffet.

"He's just as energetic as usual." Adrien chuckled.

"I'm glad he was there for you when you were a kid, even if he was only your photographer."

"Yeah, if Emma ever shows passion for modeling, I'd like him to be her photographer."

"That sounds like a great idea, although I can't deny there's a piece of me who wants her to lean more towards design." 

"Maybe, I'm sure that she'll get at least a little bit of your creativity and if that's the case, then our daughter is going to be incredibly creative."

"And if she gets at least 1% of your smarts she's going to breeze through school."

"Why thank you, bugaboo. Hey! That rhymed!"

"Although, let's hope she'll be able to tell when someone has been crushing on her for years." She winked.

"Hey! I grew up sheltered, you can't blame me." He pouted.

"But anime couldn't teach you that when a girl was stuttering that she normally had a crush on the person?"

"Unfortunately, anime didn't win over dumb obliviousness. And besides, I heard from a little birdy named Tikki that you didn't realize I liked Ladybug until I confessed to Marinette."

"W-well, I knew nothing about you! I thought that you flirted with every girl, your few interactions with Marinette didn't help matters."

"That was me trying to deal with my growing crush on my classmate while I was in love with someone else. Or at least, someone who I thought was someone else." He winked.

"Well, whatever, we were idiots, but we're here now."

"Yeah, that's all that matters, right?"

"Right."

"Oh look honey, Mme. and M. Dupain-Cheng!" It was another familiar voice, but this time it wasn't a friendly one.

Both of them exchanged looks, masking smiles onto their faces.

"Hello Mme. and M. Laurent." Marinette said, kissing the older woman on her cheeks.

"Hello dear, it is absolutely darling to see the two of you again!" She said happily.

"The feeling is completely mutual." Marinette said in the same sugary sweet tone.

It was almost funny to see how fake Marinette was being. Of course, Mme. Laurent didn't see through the act. Adrien had spent years watching Ladybug be kind to people who deserved nothing more than a kick in the face. 

"And you two have a child now, is that right?"

"Yeah, her name is Emma."

"Hmm, I see. So young, too. After all you two are only what, 25-26?" She hummed.

"We're both 28." Marinette answered, her facade slipping just a small amount.

"I see, well, you haven't been married for all that long, right?"

"Eight years and still going strong."

"Eight years? Pardon me, I didn't think celebrity marriages could last that long. It must be so hard living in the limelight like that, never getting a break. You two have been in the spotlight for so long you could never truly experience dating without tabloids going wild. Now when less people will care, you've already settled down. A shame you missed out on the memories you make from dating multiple people."

"With all due respect, Mme. Laurent, I don't think there's anyone out there who would be better for me than Marinette. I've been in love with her since before I knew what love was. Being with anyone else would've been unsatisfactory."

"Really? But how can you say that when you've never been with anyone else? Your fling with the Tsurugi girl doesn't count."

"Because I feel it in my heart. I've never felt disappointed that I didn't have those memories. Being in love is a wonderful thing. I would never want to change the bond Marinette and I have."

Mme. Laurent's smile turned into a frown for a split moment. Adrien tried his hardest to hold back a smirk at his victory.

"Well, I suppose that's your opinion. I certainly would hate to say that I told you so."

"I highly doubt that will be necessary." Marinette grinned.

"Hm, we'll see. Now, I would hate to cut our conversation short, but I see some pastries over there that I need to grab, excuse me."

Mme. Laurent sashayed away, her husband following after her, shooting them a sympathetic smile. 

"Well, that was something." Adrien sighed, shaking his head. Marinette shook her fist in their direction.

"I have never been more tempted to go Ladybug on someone."

"Not even when Lila was lying?" He smirked.

"That's an exception. And of course when Hawkmoth would send 3am akumas."

"Ugh, that was always fun. Seriously, what was he thinking?"

"Maybe our sleep deprivation would make us more vulnerable for defeat?" Marinette suggested.

"I guess so."

"But God, does she really get my blood to boil. There's nothing wrong with dating a lot of people, but saying that everyone has to just..." She shook her head.

"She can't possibly the years of hardship we went through nor the bond we created as partners. Now we're partners in more ways than one."

"Every sense of the word." She squeezed his hand. "And I know I didn't say it earlier, but you know what you said about not being content with someone else?"

"Yeah?"

"I feel the same way. We're soulmates, you know? In a million universes, I would choose you. I will always choose you, for the rest of my life. That's what this means." She pointed to her wedding band. "Our story is unique and while yes, you may be the only guy I've ever seriously been with, I would never want a do-over."

"I love you, princess."

"I love you too, my prince."

They shared a quick kiss, all too aware that they were in public, before breaking apart.

"Come on, let's go get some food." Adrien said, leading her towards the table that Mme. Laurent had thankfully left.

"Okay. I'm surprisingly hungry."

"You don't say? I wonder who decided to skip lunch." He rolled his eyes.

"Look, when you're on a designing streak, you don't break it for anything."

"But that's not very healthy! What if you had gotten super hungry?"

"I knew we would be going to the gala tonight where I could eat, don't worry. I would notice my hunger sooner or later."

"You need some hors d'oeuvres. I heard that the catering was especially good tonight."

"Great! I could definitely stuff my face with preppy snacks right now." She sighed.

"Do you remember that time when we got into an eating competition as Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Yes! Everyone there looked so horrified, it was hilarious." 

"But they weren't going to stop us seeing as we were their precious heroes." Adrien laughed.

"It's too bad we don't have that luxury tonight."

"Oh well, we'll just have to stuff more into your purse."

"You're a genius."

"Thanks," Adrien flipped his hair. "I know."

Marinette laughed.

"Come on you dork."

"Yes, m'lady."

They got their food and made their way to their assigned table. Luckily, Sebastian was also sitting with them, although he was dancing right now. 

"Maybe we'll have to do that after we're done eating." Marinette gestured to the dance floor.

"Sure thing. You know how much I adore dancing with you."

"Even though I step on your toes all the time?"

"I'll have you know when we first danced together, you didn't step on my feet once."

"Yeah, that was just dumb luck." She grinned. "Plus, I had my mind on other things like how close you were holding me. Can't care about feet positions when you're freaking out over your crush."

"Oof, you had a crush on me? That's embarrassing."

"Adrien, we've been married for eight years."

"I know, but still."

Marinette rolled her eyes, and sat down to start snacking.

"Mmm, these are so good." She hummed.

"That's not surprising. These are professional after all." He said, starting to eat.

"Well, that's obvious. I love homemade food, but these are such delicacies. I wish Emma was old enough to have some."

"Well, you are best friends with the daughter of a famous chef. Perhaps you could convince her to cook you something."

"See, this is why I love you."

"I love you too, sapphire."

They continued to snack in comfortable silence, soaking in the atmosphere of the gala. While this wasn't Adrien's favorite scene, it was still one he didn't mind. Especially when he had Marinette by his side. She made everything better and brighter. He was so lucky to have her.

"Hey, you ready to go and dance now?" Adrien asked after noticing Marinette was done.

"Yeah sure! That sounds like a ton of fun."

"Okay, as long as you've had enough to eat."

"Yeah, I did. Plus, there will probably be more later so I'm good."

"Okay, let's go then."

"Did you get enough to eat?" Marinette asked him as they stood up.

"Yep."

The quartet started to play another song.

"Now let's go and dance. I've been itching to hold you close all night."

"Aw, you're so sweet." Marinette cooed.

"You deserve it. That and the world."

"Adrien, you're going to make me melt."

"Good. Then I've done your job as your husband."

"Let's go." Marinette tugged him out onto the dance floor.

Just like always, they fit each other perfectly. Her hands came around his neck and his around her waist as they held each other close. Just like how they did at Chloe's party. Just like how they did in New York. Just like how they did on their third date and wedding. Dancing with Marinette was a memory he would always cherish. She was warm and safe and felt like home. Even before he had taken her name, she had been his home. He had always felt more at peace at the bakery than at the mansion. But home wasn't a place, it was a person. And that person was Marinette. It always had been and it always will be. 

"Whatcha thinking about?" Marinette murmured.

"Just how much I love you."

He felt her chuckle.

"You're such a sap."

"I know, but you love me anyway."

"That I do, mon chaton. That I do."

"I like being with you like this. Just holding you close."

"Me too, I'm sorry I've been so busy with work."

"No, no, it's okay. I know how hectic the life of a fashion designer can be. My father was one after all."

"But you deserve more than that, Adrien. You deserve more than to be shut out, okay?"

"You're not shutting me out, Marinette, I pinky promise."

"You know you're always welcome at my studio, right? Even if you don't understand it all, I would love to have your company after your school day is done. You can grade papers while I design."

"That sounds great, plus it's on my way home."

"And we can spend even more time together." Marinette sighed.

"Sounds purrfect."

"Of course you'd say a cat pun."

"You love my sense of humor. I even recall you saying that was your favorite thing about me."

"Hardy har." Marinette said dryly, but then began to chuckle.

"See? You're laughing right now!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Your humor is great and I love it. No matter how bad the timing may be." 

"Well, it's a good thing because," He spun her around. "I love you." He dipped her as the song finished.

"You've been holding out on me with your dancing moves." She smirked. "I can't believe you dippeed me without dropping me."

"Talent." He grinned.

"Thank you everyone for coming out tonight!" Chloe, who was now the mayor, greeted. "Now, if you could all find your assigned seats, that would be great. Dinner will start momentarily."

"Not talking our ears off with a speech?" Marinette muttered. "I'm surprised."

"She probably just wants us to sit first." 

"Most likely."

"Well, shall we my lady?"

"We shall, my knight in shining armor."

"I love it when you call me that. Have I mentioned that?" He sighed.

"Maybe once or twice." She giggled.

"Good, because that has to be one of my favorite nicknames. Of course, I adore any and all nicknames you give me, bugaboo."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Even buginette?" He grinned.

"Maybe." She winked.

"She finally admitted it." He cheered quietly.

"Yeah, I did. Let's get to our seats, my prince, or else Chloe is gonna blow."

Adrien stole a quick glance at his friend, who was shooting them a playful glare.

"Yeah, we probably should."

They sat down in their seats and waited for Chloe to start talking yet again.

After all, their night was only beginning. 

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This was my first time ever writing married Adrienette. It's a really sweet dynamic that I'd love to go into in the future. I already have several one-shot ideas. Anyways, the gala prompt was one that I definitely wanted to use in a less traditional way. I hope you liked this one and I'll see you tomorrow!                                                                                                                                                       -Colorado