As much as he hadn't wanted to, Adrien was glad he had listened to Marinette and stayed to have breakfast with his father and Nathalie. He hadn't liked the heavy atmosphere that had been hanging over them through the week and while it wasn't exactly comfortable or warm, it was normal, or at least the kind of normal Adrien was used to. Adrien still wasn't happy with how he had found out about his mother, but he was willing to forgive his father and move on. While his father was being evasive about his own illness, Adrien was pretty sure he had less time than he was letting on. Why else would he be going to such great lengths to make sure the company is secured? On top of that, Adrien was almost certain his father was hinting at a autumn wedding next year to coincide with Paris fashion week. Talk about creating headlines! While Adrien appreciated his father's endorsement of Marinette, it was leaving Adrien slightly weirded out how enthusiastic his father seemed to have been about it.

Adrien shook off his questions as he walked into the bakery. He had far more pressing questions on his mind this morning. The young model breathed in the warm smell of the fresh bread and pastry. He had been spending so much time there lately it wasn't just a second home to him, it was like coming home. Tom was busy at the shop front with a barrage of customers, while Sabine was in the kitchen. Adrien was surprised Marinette wasn't at the counter helping like she usually does.

"Oh Adrien, I'm glad you're here. Can you take this up to Marinette for me?" Sabine passed him a tray with a hot wheat bag, a glass of water and some ibuprofen. Adrien looked at the items and felt his heart sink. Sabine smiled at him and patted him on the cheek. "It's alright dear." She said. "These things are just part of life. You'll just have to get used to it I'm afraid." Adrien had to smile at her motherly ways.

"Oh, I know Sabine." He chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

"I know you will." She said, giving his arm a light squeeze before heading back to the storefront to help her husband.

Adrien walked the tray through the house and up to the trap door. He stopped for a moment to take stock of himself. He told himself he was being ridiculous. After all, he had absolutely no right at all to feel disappointed about this. He knocked and waited to hear 'come in'. Walking through, Plagg flew out of his pocket over to Tikki who was next to Marinette on her chaise. They had been watching a movie on her laptop, but upon seeing Adrien, she sat up gratefully taking the items from the tray. After swallowing the tablets, she placed the wheat bag on her stomach, she settled back into the chaise. Adrien sat with her, taking her hand and kissing it.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, rubbing her hand between his. Marinette let out a little sigh.

"I'm not that bad really. I've had months worse than this, mama just likes to fuss." She said. Adrien nodded, biting his lip before asking the question.

"So...I guess that means you're not...?" Marinette looked away and shook her head. "Well that's good, I suppose." He continued, rubbing the back of his neck and casting his eyes to the floor. "I mean it wasn't like it was planned or anything, or like we were trying to or that we should have been hoping for it or..." Marinette pulled herself up and stopped his rambling with a soft kiss.

"It's okay Adrien." She said, rubbing his cheek with her thumb. It was then that he could see the puffiness around her eyes and unshed tears. "I was disappointed too." Adrien cocked his head to one side.

"You were?" He asked surprised and she nodded in reply with a sad smile. He looked lovingly at her, and it still made her heart skip a beat when he looked at her like that. "I know I shouldn't have, but guess I just got used to the idea." He admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear. "And I guess I kind of hoped it happened."

"Me too." She admitted quietly. "When I realised this morning I actually cried. Wasn't that silly?." Adrien shook his head.

"It's not silly Bugaboo." Tikki floated up between the couple.

"She had been Googling early pregnancy symptoms all week and had herself almost convinced yesterday." Marinette flushed pink in the face.

"Well, unfortunately things like cramps, headaches and fatigue are pretty vague symptoms and can also be PMS too, which it turned out it was. I'd even gone and bought a test the other day and had it ready in my bedside drawer. I suppose I won't be needing it just yet now." She choked back a little towards the end. Adrien moved across more on the chaise so he could hold her to him with his free arm.

"I did tell you Marinette, it was an increased risk, not a guarantee." Tikki reminded her. Marinette nodded her head against Adrien's chest.

"I know Tikki. I just let my thoughts run away with me." She looked down at her fingers entwined with Adrien's. In truth she had been daydreaming about having children with Adrien since she first fell in love with him at thirteen, but for the first time it almost seemed real. "It's strange though when I think about it, to feel a kind of loss for something that wasn't even there, just a thought in my own head." Adrien pulled back and ran the back of his fingers through her hair.

"A thought in our heads m'lady." He corrected her, kissing her forehead and resting his head against hers. "I was just as invested in this idea as you were and..." He paused for a moment to look into her eyes. "I still am." Adrie cupped her face and kissed her lips. Marinette wrapped her arms around him, tilting her head to the side and deepening the kiss, gasping as his tongue danced in her mouth.

"Ugh, you two are gross. It's not like you can try making kittens right now anyway so where are my gooey cheese balls you promised me kid?" Plagg huffed with folded arms and flicking tail. Adrien and Marinette started to giggle, resting their foreheads against each other.

"Who needs babies when you have a Kwami of the floating stomach." Adrien chuckled.

"I'll have you know..." Plagg started when he was cut of by an irritated blur of red.

"Oh shush up you Stinky Sock and leave them
alone. I've got your cheese balls over here." Tikki scoldered, dragging the unamused Kwami off.

"He has a point you know." Marinette mused, shifting her wheat bag back over onto her sore tummy.

"Hmmm." Adrien hummed. "For now at least." Marinette gave him a coy look.

"Oh, that reminds me. I heard from Kagami and Luka this morning. They made it to London fine, but Kagami's mother is livid, as you can imagine, and told Kagami on the phone she will be heading to Japan this morning to have her daughter completely removed from anything to do with her company and Kagami can consider herself disowned." Adrien's eyes widened in shock.

"Disowned? Wow, that's not unexpected I suppose, but I thought she might have at least tried to be understanding." Marientte shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. She seems to be on the warpath. Kagami said she doesn't care, but I could tell from her voice that she's still hurt by it, and maybe a little afraid. Luka is so supportive though." Adrien hummed in thought.

"Well, they are safe from her now. I guess you and I will have to plan a trip to California and visit them after they settle in." Marinette laughed.

"Well I'll have to buy a new bathing suit then." She quipped, boping him in the nose.

The young couple settled into Marinette's chaise, continuing on the movie she had been watching with Tikki. It wasn't all that long before the pain killers she had taken caused Marientte to fall asleep. Covering her over and gently kissing her on the head, Adrien left Plagg with Tikki and headed down into the main bakery. There were less customers now after the mid morning rush and Tom was cleaning down some of the countertops while Sabine stacked the dishwasher.

"Can I help at all?" Adrien asked. "Marinette fell asleep." Sabine wiped her hands on her apron.

"Come and have some tea with me dear. I'd like to have a talk with you." Sabine's voice was warm and calm, but Adrien couldn't help a rush of panic that swept over him. Usually if his father wanted to talk to him, it was rarely a good thing. He followed Sabine into the family kitchen and sat at the table. Sabine brought over the kettle and poured out some Oolong tea. Taking a seat at the small round table, she brought her chair over closer to the blonde and placed her hand on his on the table.

"How is your father doing? Marinette told us about his diagnosis, I'm very sorry." Adrien lowered his lead.

"I...don't know really." He said, holding tears back. "He doesn't really talk to me about it, only to let me know when he's going to London for treatment. Nathalie stays pretty close to him these days so I know she will look out for him. I feel like he isn't telling me everything though. He's always been a solitary kind of person. We've...well we're not very close, we never have been really." Sabine patted his hand.

"And what about Miss Sancoeur? Is she someone you are close to?" Adrien looked back at her, then looked away with a shrug.

"Nathalie's always been very kind to me, and I guess we're closer than we used to be. I know she cares, but she's not a warm person I guess you could say. Maybe that's why her and father get along so well." He tried to laugh, but it sounded forced. Adrien then furrowed his eyebrows "When I say it out loud my family sounds awful doesn't it? I've no mother, I'm not close to my father, his assistant probably knows more about me than he does and my Aunt and cousin have their own set of problems. It sounds down right dysfunctional." He slumped into the chair and watched the steam
Rise from his cup. Sabine took a sip of her tea and gave him a kind smile.

"Families come in all shapes and sizes Adrien. Some you are born into, some you choose to make your own and others you create yourself out of love." Adrien hesitated before looking back at Sabine.

"She told you?" He asked quietly. Sabine nodded and Adrien rolled his shoulders in. "I'm so sorry Sabine..." He began shaking his head before she stopped him.

"I'm not angry or upset at you Adrien." She assured him. "Marinette doesn't always tell me everything that upsets her, but when I found her crying this morning I honestly thought it was because she was pregnant, not because she wasn't." She placed her arm on his shoulder. "When two people love each other, it's only natural that they want to become closer. I'm not judging you for that. Marinette said you talked about the risk you were taking and that you would accept responsibility for that." Adrien nodded his head. "Can I ask what that was? I know you have an apartment now. Were you planning on moving in together?" Adrien shook his head.

"Not exactly." He replied. Digging his hand into his pocket, he took out a small box and slid it across the table. Sabine looked at it curiously before opening it, a small gasp passing her lips.

"Oh Adrien, it's beautiful." She exclaimed. "It's unusual too, with a ruby and an emerald like that."

"It's a family ring." He hastened to explain. "My Great Aunt Lady Charlotte, Lottie, gave it to me when we went for that photoshoot at Château Roseraie. I...if Marientte had been expecting, I was going to give it to her today." Sabine looked up from the ring into Adrien's eyes. Her kind eyes meeting his hopeful ones.

"And now?" She asked. Adrien rubbed the back of his neck again before he caught himself and dropped his arm, a small blush bloomed across his face.

"I still want to." He admitted. "I never want to be with anyone else. I know we are only young and I know what people will think, but I also know that Marinette feels the same and that means the world to me."

"You love her very much don't you." It wasn't a question because she already knew the answer. Adrien leaned back into his seat and looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't think I can even put it into the right words." He said, leaning forward again. "She means everything to me and I'd give everything for her." Sabine looked back at the ring in the box. Maybe you already have, was the thought that went through her mind as she ran a finger over the emerald and ruby stones. Closing the lid she passed the box back to him. Her face became more serious.

"I know you and Marinette want to have children, but you know her doctor suspected she has endometriosis." Adrien put the ring back into his pocket.

"I wondered that." He said, worry lacing his voice. "We learnt about it in biology and I noticed she had a lot of the symptoms with the cramping and pain."

"I had it myself." Sabine said. "But I agree with Marientte holding off on doing a laparoscopy, at least for the time being. Sometimes things can have a way of sorting themselves out." Her mind trailed back in time. "When I was a young girl in Shanghai, a famous French pastry chef came on a six week cultural tour. He brought along with him his dashingly handsome apprentice and I knew I loved him from the first day we met. I was acting as their interpreter and Tom and I spent as much time as we could together in those six weeks, and when it was time for him to leave back for France, I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't go with him. I packed my bags, kissed my mother goodbye and never looked back. We wanted to have a family straight away, but months ticked by and each cycle was met with disappointment. Then one day, a miracle happened."

"Marinette?" Adrien smiled. Sabine nodded.

"I knew she was special, from the first time I saw her. Believe me, there is no feeling on earth quite like holding your own child in your arms." Adrien smiled shyly.

"I can't wait for that." He said, remembering back to the photoshoot where Marinette held little Louise.

"I know dear, but I just wanted you to know that sometimes you have to be patient. Marinette has always had luck on her side though."

"That she does." Adrien agreed. Of course, having the literal Kwami of creation in her bag would help enormously in that regard.

"Will you do me one favour though?" Sabine asked. Adrien shifted nervously in his seat.

"Of course." Sabine chuckled at the nervous look on his face.

"Just wait until after her birthday to ask her to marry you." Adrien let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"That I can do." He said, leaning over to hug her and relishing the feeling of a mother's embrace. "You're the best you know." Sabine patted him on the back.

"So I've been told." She laughed, sitting back with her hands on his shoulders. "You know you can always come and speak to Tom and I about anything. You're never alone Adrien. I know Tom already thinks of you as the son he never got to have, and we both love you. You are already part of our family and new members are always welcome." Adrien was speechless as a tear rolled down his face. He'd felt so alone in the world for so long, but with Marinette and her parents, he really felt like he belonged somewhere, with people who really loved him for himself, and not for what he could do for them.

"Mama, why are you making Adrien cry?" Marinette asked, walking into the kitchen. Adrien wiped his face, standing up and giving her a soft kiss.

"They're happy tears Princess, I promise. Are you feeling better?"

"Much." She smiled. "Want to go for a walk before lunch? I feel like I need to stretch my legs." Grabbing her sun hat, Marinette looped her arm through Adrien's as they made their way towards the park.

It was a beautiful sunny day, with the park full of picnickers and children playing. Marinette leaned her head against Adrien's arm as they walked along.

"So what were you and Mama talking about?" She probed, giggling at the evasive look on Adrien's face.

"Oh, just your birthday." He fibbed, rubbing the back of his neck. Well, it wasn't a total fib, but he knew Marinette wasn't buying it.

"Ah huh." She mused, stopping in front of Adrien and pulling him down by the collar. "You never were a very good liar Kitty." She teased, getting up on her toes and pressing her lips to his. Adrien wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer to him, the rest of the world falling away. He almost lost it completely when Marientte ran a hand up under his shirt over his abs.

"You know it's not fair teasing me when I can't do anything about it." Adrien pouted. Marinette giggled, reaching her lips up to his ear.

"A promise of things to come." She whispered before capturing his lips again. The two soon made themselves cosy under a tree. Marientte sat between Adrien's legs, resting against him as he leaned back on the trunk. He dropped a few lazy kisses on her shoulder and neck, letting her melt into his embrace.

"I want to try again." He said softly into her ear. Marinette shifted around in his arms so she could see his face. "If you want to though, I'm not forcing you into making a decision. I'll keep my hands to myself if I have to." Marinette cupped his cheek with her hand.

"I do want to." She murmured against his lips. "I want us to be a family Adrien. You're already a part of me." Their kisses were soon interrupted by Adrien's phone ringing. Reluctantly he let go of Marinette to answer.

"Oh hey Chlo, what's up?...How did you know we were in the park?...Oh that was quick." He looked down at Marinette, Tikki passing her phone to her before snuggling back in with Plagg. Sure enough, there was a pic of Adrien and Marinette from a few minutes ago locking lips already trending on Instagram. "So what can I do you for, your did you just ring up to tease me?...He what?...You are?...But I thought Felix was staying for a while?...Well I guess we'll see you when you come back then...Oh shut up Chlo, how about you watch your own hands...yeah yeah go on, bye."

"What was that all about?" Marinette asked.

"Apparently my father offered Felix to come work with us here for a while, but he turned it down, instead taking up an offer to travel to New York with Chloé and Audrey for a few weeks, they are pretty much leaving now." Marinette raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really? Are they...?" She asked, leaving the question hanging with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly I don't think I want to know." Adrien chuckled. Marinette let out a small sigh.

"Luka and Kagami are gone, Chloé will be away, Alya and Nino won't be back from their holidays until next week, looks like it will just be just you and me for my birthday Chaton." Adrien lifted her chin up with a hooked finger.

"Is that a bad thing m'lady?" He asked, she responded by wrapping her arms around his waist.

"It's perfect." She mumbled, smiling against his shirt.

******

The week passed in a hectic flurry at the Gabriel headquarters. Spencer would have been pulling his hair out if he'd had any. The fabric orders for the Autumn line were lost in transit and the substitutes were not doing justice to Marinette's designs. The only thing that arrived was the Merino wool, so at least the jacket would be ready and they could get the urban line moving. Adrien agreed to model it at fashion week in an attempt to boost promotion, but there was no doubting it, the company was battling to gain back ground in the market. The Haute Couture gowns were failing to sell and several media outlets were reporting that the Gabriel name as a brand was all but washed up. Gabriel himself had not designed a new gown in over a year and while Spencer was working day and night with the design team, they just couldn't land that same wow factor that the Marientte's 'sunset dress' had made.

By the time Friday night rolled around, everyone was exhausted. Marinette flopped back into her seat, rolling her neck after being hunched over her desk sketching. A steaming cup of takeaway coffee was placed in front of her next to the vase of orange roses Adrien had given her that morning for her birthday.

"Where have you been all afternoon?" Marinette asked with a pout. Adrien grinned mischievously.

"Just organising your birthday surprise. We should bail out of here early Bug, there isn't much more we can do this afternoon anyway." He suggested, rubbing his fingers into her aching shoulders.

"You just want some of papa's chocolate cake." She laughed.

"Im not denying it. Your dad's cakes are legendary."

"I prefer cheese." Plagg stated from under the desk. Tikki rolled her eyes.

"You can't have cheese for a birthday cake." The red Kwami stated with a deadpan stare.

"Why not?" Plagg argued. "Isn't that what cheese cake is for?" Tikki cracked up with laughter as Adrien shook his head.

"Plagg, there is no actual cheese in cheesecake." Adrien laughed. Plagg scowled at him with ears pinned down. "Oooh, if looks curd kill." Adrien punned, still teasing the unamused cat.

"No, it's called false advertising." Plagg grumbled. The kwamis hid back under the desk when Nathalie walked in through the door.

"I've got the back up orders arriving on Monday, but the Chinese silk substitute is too scratchy, we'll have to find something else." Marinette dropped her head onto the table with a loud groan. She didn't like to blame Plagg for bad luck, but this particular run seemed to be impossibly bad.

"I can't do this." Marinette wailed. "I'm not clever enough to come up with ideas that are worthy. If Spencer with all his years of experience can't save the collection, then what hope do I have." Adrien rubbed her back and Nathalie crouched down next to her.

"Marinette, this is not your fault. The company has been having issues for some time. Gabriel is in a board meeting right now and the investors are not happy with the direction Gabriel has been going. Companies go through slumps from time to time, but the real issue though is the bad press we are getting." She pulled out her tablet and showed them an article "Gabriel washed up and washed out". The article was accompanied by a very unflattering picture of Gabriel entering the building, his eyes gaunt and his skin pale.

"Your father doesn't want word of his illness getting out fearing it will scare off the investors, but I don't know how much longer he can really hide it for." Marinette tapped her pencil on her sketchbook, Adrien and Nathalie both seeing the wheels trying to turn in her head. Nathalie placed her hand on the bouncing pencil. "Take an early afternoon Marinette. You've worked hard all week and you and Adrien deserve a night off, especially for your birthday." She pulled a small parcel out from her pocket. "It's a little gift from Gabriel and I."

Marinette unwrapped the gift to find a pen. In fairness it wasn't just any old pen, but a gold fountain pen with a small diamond at the top and an M monogrammed onto it. "It's lovely Nathalie." Marinette smiled. "Please thank Mr Agreste." Nathalie smiled and nodded before leaving the office.

"Well it's a lot nicer than the lame pens I always got." Adrien quipped. "At least until I got your scarf." Marientte whirled her head around to look at him.

"How did you find out about that?" She asked, surprised.

"Nathalie told me a few days ago." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "She felt bad about it and confessed. I should have known my father wouldn't have been that thoughtful. I messaged Alya after and she told me the whole story. I wish you had told me then though."

"You were happy. That was the most important thing." Adrien took her hand and pulled her up into a hug.

"You make me happy m'lady." He cooed. "Come on, bring your coffee and let's get out of here."

Arriving at the bakery, Tom and Sabine had closed early, hanging fairy lights in the house with a two tiered chocolate cake decorated with pinks edging on the chocolate frosting. A one and an eight candle sat on top. Next to the cake was a large box wrapped in pink paper with a purple bow.

"Happy Birthday sweetheart," Tom beamed, picking her up in a bear hug. "Come and open your present." Marinette looked over at Adrien and could see he clearly knew what it was and seemed almost as excited as her parents about it. Carefully opening the paper, her hands flew up to her face.

"Oh my gosh." She squealed. "Thank you so much." She jumped up and hugged her parents before coming back to look all over her brand new sewing machine, a top of the line deluxe edition.

"We figured that the future head designer of Gabriel should have the best sewing machine." Sabine beamed. "Adrien helped us get the right one and picked it up for us this afternoon."

"So that's where you went, you sneaky cat." Marinette said, poking him in the side. If her slight slip of the tongue was noticed by anyone, they chose not to say anything.

"This one is from me." Adrien smiled, passing her a small jewellery box. Marinette could tell from the wrapping that it was expensive.

"Adrien, what have you gone and bought." He just gave her a very Chat grin.

"You"ll have to open it and see." Opening it, her eyes instantly watered up.

"Oh Adrien." She exclaimed as she pulled the silver chain out. Hanging from it was a round silver pendant with a star in the middle, a blue aquamarine stone at its center with the four points of the compass marked in diamonds.

"I told you, you're my North Star Marinette, helping me to always find my way home to you." He took the necklace from her hands and clasped it behind her neck. Marinette ran her fingers over it before she turned around, cupping his cheek and giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

"I love it." She whispered. "And I love you."

"I don't mind telling you son, I half expected a different piece of jewellery in that box." Tom laughed.

"Papa!" Marinette gawked mortified. Sabine took her husband by the arm.

"Now, now dear, I think you are just a hopeless romantic."

"Hopeful." Tom corrected with a finger in the air. "I'm a hopeful romantic. Adrien might be heir to a fashion empire, but I'm holding out that at least one of their kids will be baker. I need to pass this place on to someone you know." Marinette buried her bright red face into her giggling boyfriend's shirt.

Later that night, at a beach resort hotel, the distinct squeal of one Alya Césaire was heard being hushed by her half asleep boyfriend when the first picture was caught on camera of Ladybug and Chat Noir, wrapped in each other's arms and kissing under the moonlight.