With a bouquet of yellow roses tucked underneath his arm, Adrien stood in front of two gravestones. One was engraved the proper way—the name properly written on the headstone, that person's role in his life, a loving message for them to be remembered by, and the dates of how long they lived on this earth.

The other headstone was Gabriel Agreste's and the dates of his lifespan—and that was all it said.

Adrien laid the bouquet in front of his mother's grave. The date of her written death had been when he decided to pull the plug. It hadn't been an easy decision considering he never got to say goodbye to her properly. He did, however, have a last moment with her alone, where he decided to forgive her for all that she had done.

Now, his mother was finally at rest. For so long, his father had kept her selfishly alive—if spending years inside of a life machine was even considered living. His mother's heart might have still been beating, but her mind had died a long time ago. She deserved to finally be at peace.

His father, on the other hand, Adrien felt no remorse for. The man didn't even have a proper funeral upon Adrien's request. His father didn't deserve one in Adrien's opinion. Unfortunately, the press not only discovered that Emilie had been underneath the Agreste mansion all along, but that Gabriel was Hawkmoth. This caused the press to be all over Adrien about his father's sudden death. In order to keep Adrien from being charged with murder, he and Marinette had concocted a story about how Gabriel Agreste had suffered from a heart attack when he discovered that Adrien had decided to pull his mother's plug.

And thankfully, the story was believed.

They avoided having an autopsy done as well to make sure that their story stuck as truth. Because Gabriel Agreste was a millionaire and so was his son, Adrien was easily able to find ways to bend the system to protect himself. They were able to get Gabriel buried privately, without a ceremony and without a viewing.

The only thing Adrien hated was having to bury his parents beside each other. It would have looked... strange had he not.

But his father didn't deserve to be next to his mother. Not now and not ever.

A gentle squeeze around his bicep forced him to snap out of his thoughts. When he turned his head to the right, Marinette was already looking up at him, a solemn expression on her face. "Are you ready to go?"

His eyes lingered on his mother's headstone for a moment longer before he nodded, "Yeah... let's go."

Marinette held onto his arm the entire way as she took the lead in guiding them out of the cemetery. He was grateful for her presence—in fact, he didn't like to come here alone. Adrien preferred Marinette's company, and he was glad that she was always willing to join him. They would have usually stayed longer, sitting together on the bench in front of his parents graves to talk about anything, really, especially what had happened over the last few weeks.

But today, they had somewhere important to be.

Today, they were meeting up with Alya and Nino (who were currently watching Emma) at a restaurant, and at that restaurant, Marinette and Adrien were finally going to tell Emma that Adrien was her father.

To say Adrien was nervous would be an understatement. He was actually terrified... which was ironic considering he had been waiting for this day for a long time. He truthfully couldn't wait to tell her, but he also worried she would be disappointed. Despite all that him and Marinette had talked about and gone through, he still had some doubts that he would be a terrible father.

Marinette nudged him with her hip as they walked down the sidewalk together. "I can hear you thinking." She said, and the corner of her lips quirked into a small smile when he looked down to catch her eyes.

He offered her an uneasy smile in response. "I'm so nervous right now."

"You don't need to be nervous." Marinette assured him. "Emma already likes you a lot, both as Adrien and as Chat Noir. She'll like you even more when she finds out you're her dad."

"I just don't want her to be disappointed." Adrien supplied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean... she has to be expecting someone... specific right? I'm sure she's dreamed about who her dad might be and I just... don't want to crush her expectations."

"I think that you might be thinking too much into this." Marinette rubbed his arm affectionately with one hand. "She is only four."

"Right..." Adrien chuckled at that. Sometimes he forgot just how young their daughter really was because she tended to be more observant than him... and smarter too honestly.

"And since she's only four years old, she's going to be excited regardless." With her other hand held tightly in his own, Marinette squeezed him gently.

Adrien nodded mostly to himself. "You're right. I'm just being a little paranoid."

"I'll say." Plagg poked his head out from the hidden sanctuary of Adrien's jacket, offering his holder a bland expression. "Shouldn't you be more nervous about the 'surprise?'"

Adrien's eyes widened at that, and he choked on his own saliva. He'd been so worked up about telling Emma that he was her father that he forgot about the surprise!

Marinette arched an amused brow at him. "What surprise?"

"N-Nothing!" He stuttered out, but he should've known better than to think Marinette would believe him. She arched a brow at him, clearly unconvinced, and that caused him to exhale in defeat. "Okay, so maybe not nothing. It's a surprise... for you."

Marinette scoffed at him playfully and her brows came together in curiosity. "Adrien... you know I hate surprises."

"I'm hoping this surprise you will like." He replied with a tight grin.

Marinette simply shook her head at him, but she was smiling, and it seemed she didn't notice that he was now extra nervous, which was a relief. Of course, Plagg had to remind him of that now, when he was already struggling to walk in a straight line due to his wobbly knees.

His kwami definitely did that on purpose.

Marinette silently tugged on his arm again, and this time, when he looked up from his shoes, he realized it was because they were finally standing right out front of the restaurant. Adrien took a moment to collect himself before he turned to meet her eyes and nodded once, assuring her without words that he was ready.

She smiled back at him, and together, they stepped inside.

Nino waved at them from the round booth he and Alya had selected in the back as soon as he saw them enter. A wide smile pulled on both Marinette and Adrien's lips as they made their way towards them. When they reached the booth, Emma looked up from the kid's menu she was coloring and shot her mother the widest smile.

"Look what I colored Mama!" Emma held up her drawing for her to see. "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Marinette leaned forward to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead. Emma giggled. "That's going straight on the fridge when we get home."

"Take a seat, dude." Nino gestured to the open spot beside him, which was on the outside. Alya was on the inside. She smiled at Adrien when their eyes met.

"Scoot over, Mon Chou." Marinette shooed her daughter playfully, and Emma giggled loudly, scooting further inside the booth to make room for her mother. As soon as Marinette sat down, her eyes were already on Adrien. She was smiling at him fondly, as if her life was complete with all of them there.

He tried to swallow down the lump that seemed to be lodged in his throat. If only she knew that he planned to do more to make their life together complete.

"So, Emma..." Marinette leaned her elbows on the table and turned her head to look at her daughter. "Do you know why we're here today?"

Her daughter was currently preoccupied in coloring, but she apparently could multitask. "To eat good food?" She asked innocently.

"Not quite." Marinette chuckled fondly, "There's something I wanted to tell you. Something... Adrien and I wanted to tell you."

Emma looked up from her drawing then, her brows pinching together in curiosity as she searched her mother's eyes. Marinette's eyes lifted from her daughter's to Adrien, who was already watching the interaction with sweat beading on his brow.

As soon as Marinette looked up, Emma's eyes followed. Adrien suddenly felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest when both of his girls stared at him expectantly.

"Well..." Adrien reached for his collar and tugged. He cleared his throat. "I know it's always been you and your mama—"

"And Uncle Nino and Auntie Alya."

"Right, them too." Adrien chuckled at his daughter's innocent interjection. Everyone at the table was smiling giddily. "But... there hasn't really ever been a papa around—a papa that you can call your own. And so... I-I wanted to tell you that I'm actually—"

"My papa?" Emma finished for him with an adorable toothy smile. Her eyes were shining as she settled back against the cushion of the booth. "I know."

Every single smile that had been at that table vanished in an instant, replaced with absolute shocked expressions. Marinette and Adrien met each other's gaze across the table, their eyes blown wide and mouths agape. Nino had been sipping on his soda prior to the confession, and almost choked on said soda when Emma uttered those words. Alya was just as shocked as she widely stared at the little girl, unsure of what to do or say.

A moment of silence passed between them before Marinette was forced to find her voice. "Uhhhh... how—Emma how did you know Adrien was your papa?"

Emma turned to face her mother, her smile still wide as ever. "It wasn't that hard. He looks just like me!"

Another moment of awkward silence passed.

Marinette honestly didn't know how to respond to that.

"Well damn..." Nino broke the silence then. "How long have you known, Em?"

Emma innocently shrugged her little shoulders and picked up her crayon again, intending to resume her coloring. "I thought he was my papa ever since he came to our house, but also because Mama gave him the look."

Nino quirked a brow. "'The look?'"

"Yeah!" Emma exclaimed excitedly, "The look of love!"

Marinette audibly choked on her saliva. It was embarrassing, but she was more embarrassed about the fact that her daughter had just said she'd given Adrien the look of love on the first day of their awkward reunion.

Nino burst out laughing—either at Marinette's reaction, Emma's answer, or both. When Marinette's eyes found Adrien's again across the table, his cheeks were flushed a bright red. Clearly he was also embarrassed.

"Also..." Emma suddenly leaned in closer towards the table, and on instinct, all of the adults followed her move. She cupped her lips with her hands and whispered, "Mama is Ladybug and Papa is Chat Noir, so if Ladybug is my mama, Chat Noir had to be my papa."

It was then when Alya let out an unholy cackle. "Well fuck me in the eyeball... this girl is smarter than the two of you combined."

"Alya!" Marinette hissed out despite her best friend's laughter. "Language!"

The brunette waved a hand carelessly at that. "No seriously! Who knew two idiots could make such a genius?"

"Alya, please stop talking..." Adrien had his face hidden in his hands, but his plea didn't get Alya or Nino to stop laughing. Their laughter was so loud that they were starting to attract unwanted attention from the rest of the tables.

Marinette cupped a hand to the side of her face to shield her profile from the neighboring table. In the process, Adrien happened to lift his face from his hands and their eyes connected. Adrien offered her a half-smile, to which she instantly returned.

"I guess that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be." Adrien said to her through their friends' flamboyancy.

Marinette found herself chuckling despite her embarrassment. She certainly hadn't expected this to be the outcome of telling their daughter the truth, but she was glad to see Emma smiling as she laughed alongside her aunt and uncle.

____________

Later that night, Adrien was bouncing his knee as he waited for Marinette to make an appearance. Right now, she was doing the final tuck ins for the night, which he figured he would let her do alone since she and Emma had a rather adorable routine.

Much to his surprise, Emma seemed to be thrilled that he was her father. Shortly before he had left Marinette and their daughter in the bedroom alone, Emma had asked him to read a bedtime story to her. Adrien had never done that before, let alone had a parent who read him one when he was a kid. To say it was one of the best experiences of his life would be the absolute truth.

He ended up telling his own bizarre story, despite Emma insisting he was reading the book all wrong. They ended up laughing together with just how silly his story was.

He hadn't known it at the time, but Marinette had been watching them from underneath the doorframe and had even snapped a photo on her phone.

She had made it her new wallpaper too.

In fact, Marinette had snapped a lot of photos of him and Emma ever since Adrien was given the okay to move in. The apartment was already crowded enough, but Adrien sticked to sleeping on the couch. He honestly didn't mind it if it meant he could see his daughter every morning and read bedtime stories to her every night.

As for their alter-egos, Ladybug and Chat Noir were still active. The butterfly and peacock miraculouses were returned to the miracle box. Adrien revealed to Marinette where his amok was—which was inside both his father and mother's wedding rings.

He even asked her opinion on what he should do with them. Should he wear them? Should he keep them somewhere safe and hidden?

She told him it was his choice to make.

Since their were two rings, he intended to let her hang on to one. After all, the past was still a wound that hadn't quite healed all the way yet, and he was certain that she still had doubts that he might leave again. If she had one of the rings with his amok in it, she could make sure that he never left her again.

But when he presented this idea to her, Marinette quickly rejected it.

"I am not going to be someone else who controls you." Marinette said with a shake of her head. Apparently, this idea had crossed her mind before, though, as she confessed to him that she had selfishly thought about asking him for one of the rings at one point.

However, she told him she didn't want to be like his parents. She wanted him to always have the freedom to make his own choices.

That warmed his heart more than she would ever realize it, and he undoubtedly fell in love with her a little more just by her saying those words.

So, he ended up putting both of the rings on a chain, which he only ever wore when he was outside of the apartment.

The floorboards suddenly creaked as Marinette finally remerged in the living room. She was dressed in sweats and an oversized t-shirt. All the lights were off and the apartment was silent. The only ones who were still awake were just him and her.

Marinette took a seat beside him on the couch and placed a hand on his knee to stop him from bouncing it.

"You're nervous." She noted tenderly.

"Very." He admitted.

She squeezed his knee gently. "Why? I'm the one who's getting surprised, not you." She teased.

The side pocket in his jeans burned as he spared a discreet glance at it. Inside was a small case with a very important piece of jewelry in it.

Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked up to catch her eyes. He was sure that when their gazes met, she could see all the confliction swirling in his irises. He didn't wait for her to ask him if he was okay, and he certainly didn't wait for his brain to change his mind.

Instead, he wordlessly reached into his pocket and pulled out a little blue velvet box.

Marinette's eyes instantly widened and her breath hitched.

"This isn't a proposal." Adrien quickly assured her as he opened the box to reveal a dainty, yet gorgeous silver ring. Marinette had made it extremely clear that she wanted to take things slow between them, and he intended to respect that.

Which was why it wasn't an engagement ring. It was a promise ring.

"I know you want to take things slow... and I will go as slow as you want." Adrien told her as he gently pulled the ring out of the box. He held out his hand and despite her shocked silence, she placed her hand in his. "But I wanted to give you something that showed just how willing I am to make this work this time. That I am dedicated, that I love you, and that one day I want a future with you."

Marinette let out a shuddered breath as he slid the ring onto her finger.

"So... I got you a promise ring." Adrien chuckled self consciously. He admired the ring on her finger for a moment before he leaned forward to press a delicate kiss to the top of her hand. "I wanted to make this promise to you, and I didn't want it to just be made with words."

"Oh Adrien..." Marinette was on the verge of tears as her eyes jumped from the ring on her hand to his eyes. She looked astonished, as if she couldn't believe he was doing this for her.

Marinette lunged forward before anything else could be said between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. Adrien instantly wrapped his arms around her and embraced her just as tightly. She sobbed into his neck, her tears staining the collar of his shirt, but he didn't mind it one bit. He found that even his own tears pooled at his bottom lids as he held her closely.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that—just them, but he enjoyed every second of it. It felt as if their souls were reconnecting, as if they had finally flipped a page and were starting the journey of their new beginning together.

Marinette was the first to pull away, and he allowed her to slowly extract herself from the hug despite how much he wished to never let her go. With a watery chuckle, she wiped the lingering tears from her freckled cheeks with the back of her hand. He also wiped his eyes because his tears were starting to cloud his vision.

"Why were you so nervous about giving this to me?" Marinette asked behind her giddy smile.

He couldn't help the nervous laugh that bubbled out from his lips despite his own equal excitement. "I don't know... I thought maybe you wouldn't want it, or maybe I was moving too fast." Adrien's eyes suddenly widened when his anxiety resurfaced. What if he was moving too fast? "I hope I'm not moving too fast—"

"You're not." Marinette assured him with a chuckle. She was once again admiring the ring on her finger. "This is perfect, Adrien. Thank you."

"No Marinette..." She glanced up at him again to find his eyes fondly staring into hers. There was no way he deserved any of her thanks. He owed her everything... and he intended to do the best he could to be the person she and his daughter both needed. And that was just another promise he intended to never break. "Thank you."

This was all he could ever asked for, after all. The fact that Marinette was giving him a second chance was enough. The fact that she loved him and wanted him in her life was a gift from the heavens itself. The fact that he would be able to watch his daughter grow up and be present for the rest of her milestones was something he would forever be grateful for.

It would be impossible to forget everything that had happened in the past, but Adrien was willing to use it like Marinette had—positively. He wanted to use it to grow, to better himself as a person, a better father, and possibly one day, a potential husband.

However, there was still one thing he could never forget, and it was something that he didn't think he would ever be able to use positively. It would be something that would haunt him for the rest of his life... something that he would never get answers to.

He wondered, despite his father's clear intensions on killing him, why the man hadn't snapped him out of existence?

Perhaps, somewhere deep down in his father's cold, black, and bitter heart... the man had loved his son in some strange way.

Perhaps, in some sick way, he hadn't wanted to forget him.

_______________________________

Omg omg omg it's officially the end. Can you believe it? I can't even believe it.

I can't even begin to express how good it feels to say this book is finished. I started this book all the way back in 2017 with a partner who literally disappeared off of social media and to say I was discouraged to continue this story after the first chapter would have been an understatement. But so many of you guys encouraged me to keep going, and for that, I will forever be grateful for your support.

To those who have been reading since 2017—thank you for being so patient and sticking with me through this lengthy process. And to those who started reading anytime between then and now, thank you for giving this book a chance! It has been a very long ride, but this book is FINALLY complete after almost five years!

There's nothing like the feeling of completing something, especially when I was so close to giving up on it. I couldn't have done it without you all! So thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading and supporting this story! Hopefully I will see you again in another one of my stories. :)

Tootles! ❤️

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