Two Year Later

Nino walked upstairs after his set was done for the night, he'd hired a few DJs so he could have a few nights with his young family. But tonight the toddlers were with Natalie and Alya's parents at the cabin that the grandparents had bought to have easy access to the young family, so tonight it was just him and his wife, at least as long as the children went to sleep for their grandparents. Natalie and Alya's parents took one weekend a month and Mari and Nino's parents took another weekend. The twins were almost three and Elisa two so some sleepovers were better than others, in a few years it would be more than one night but for now, he'd make the most those two nights a month. 

"Dots? Where are you?" He found a note on the coffee table, "Hmm, maybe she had to go help with the kiddos? He sat and opened the note. 

My Dearest Nino,
In another world, we were lovers, 
we were brought back into this one and found love in other's arms. 
Today we are once again, husband and wife with a joined family.
I love you so much and am so proud of you. 
Our lives couldn't feel more complete. 
But how would you feel if we become a family with four under four?
To make our little family complete?

Nino looked over at the wedding wall, Mari had found these multi-photo frames and had started filling one for each "family" so the kids would grow up seeing their parents.  He smiled at the wall, he heard the floor creak behind him. He turned to see his wife standing there hand hovering over her stomach. "Happy?" She whispered. 

"Excited and terrified." He walked over and hugged her.  "Look at that we are back where we started!" He smiled, they were 27 and expecting their baby again. 

"Only this time we have three more kids!" Mari giggled, "Come on let's go enjoy our night alone."

***

Five Years Later

Mari stood in her store folding clothes and waiting for her next client who wanted a custom wedding dress made.  The sound of her children's giggles draws her out of her brainstorming. "Mommy! Mommy!" the kids wrapped around her in a group hug. 

"Hey, Kiddos! How was school?" She was answered with a chorus of voices telling her of the stories of the day, math homework to be done, spelling tests and letters to practise. "Okay, Okay, Daddy should be up soon, so go on up and enjoy the cookies and apple slices I left for you, and then have dad help you with homework." Her three seven-year-olds smiled and kissed her cheeks and headed upstairs. She smiled, they looked so much like their parents.  André and Howard had Alya's auburn hair and Howard had a mind like hers, always wanting to know more, whereas André already was showing Alya's no-nonsense attitude. Elisa had Adrien's golden hair, but her bright blue eyes and pale skin town, yeah, she stuck out in family photos, but she looked enough like Mari that no one questioned it. Her five-year-old, Victora Maria Lahiffe was still small enough that Mari could pick her up, so she did, and the girls exchanged cheek kisses. The young girl raced to catch up with her siblings, she had Nino eyes but Mari's hair. 

She heard shrieks and giggles from the stairs, Nino must have woken up in time to scare them at the top of the stairs. Mari didn't have time to enjoy the noise of her family because her new client was her. 

***

Nino laughed as his children giggled at his scare. He made a point of being up when they left for school and awake when they got home so he could spend time with them even though he worked at night. "Alright kiddos, let's pound out that homework so we can surprise mom with supper!" He made them do homework on Friday night simply so they had free time all weekend.

"Oh, daddy! Can I make brownies? I have half the amount of homework the twins do!" Elisa smiled. She was definitely Adrien and Maris child, she had a mind for numbers and baking was like second nature to her, she loved when they went to Paris for the weekend because Tom and Sabine let her work in the big kitchen and taught her new recipes. 

"If you get your homework in 30 minutes we should have time to both brownies and supper." He kissed the top of her head as she started her math homework. "Boys do you need help? Once everyone is done with their math, we'll do spelling words. But I'm gonna help Victora with her letters." 

Elisa flew through her math homework and started her brownies. once they were in the oven the older three ran through spelling words and all three did surprisingly well. Thankfully the twins got Alya's love of writing. So were they struggled in math they excelled in spelling. Soon all five of them were busy making a pasta dish with chicken, broccoli, cauliflower and parmesan. Sure the kitchen was tight but Nino loved helping his wife. 

"Daddy?" His youngest tugged on his shirt while he worked on the veggies. He looked down so she knew he was listening,  "Are we going to Paris this weekend?" 

"No. Remember Nana and Granny and Gramps are coming tonight and you guys are going to the cabin. We packed last night, we going on a hike with them to the beach." This was the anniversary of the day Mair and Nino came back from Dou Luna, not that Natalie and Alya's parents knew that, but they were glad for the distraction. 

***

Mari walked upstairs worn out that the bride had been a piece of work. Hope you are okay with frozen pizza because I can't cook. That bride was extra. As she opened the apartment door she was greeted by a group hug by her children and the smell of brownies and chicken. "You guys cooked dinner! How wonderful!" She kissed Nino with echoes of gross and giggles from her children. 

"And I made brownies that we can share with Nana, Granny and Gramps!" Elisa smiled brightly. 

"Oh! Wonderful dear. I think we have some ice cream left, should be tasty, but mommy is starving so let's eat!" The kids ran to the table and Nino kissed his wife one more time. 

After dinner, the grandparents arrived, Mair loved watching this set of grandparents interact with her and Nino's daughter, she wasn't their grandchild but they loved her just the same. After brownies were enjoyed by all, Mari and Nino were alone. Well only for a moment their Kawmis came out of hiding. The four of them stayed in the master until the kids were in bed, it was too risky to have their kids spoil their secrets. Master Fu had offered to take them back to the temple, but they had wanted to stay, so Mari and Nino made random appearances as heroes to fundraising events and school to let Paris know they here not alone. 

"Trix? Plag? Wanna come with us tonight?" Mari fed Tiki some leftover brownie

"Thanks, LB, but I don't need to see my kitten tonight." Plag floated over to the fridge. 

Trix looked over to Nino, "Tell her Hi for me, but I'll keep sock her company." Nino nodded. 

"Wayz Shell on!" 

"Tiki Spots On!" 

The two quickly powered up to Astro Bug and Astro Turtle and flew off to the small cemetery just outside Paris. Returning to Ladybug and Carapace the couple walked hand in hand to the plots where their old lovers are buried. Each on the edge of their plot so that Nino and Mari would be buried next to each other. But besides their first love. Mari had already agreed to be buried under Graham Cheng, just to make similar. Mari leaned against Adrien's tombstone and Nino against Alyas. They flipped through photos on their phones telling them all about their kids. After all the updates were had. Mari looked up at the stars. "Think they'd be mad?" 

"That we got married? Nah, I think they'd understand. Especially if they got to see what we went through. But you are an amazing mother to the twins, Alya would be so proud of you." 

"Adrien would be impressed with your dad's skills, if not a little bit jealous. He would be grateful your raising his daughter." 

"He'd definitely want me over Luka." Mari couldn't help but giggle.

"You're not wrong my love." Nino smile at his wife. She reached across and took his hand. 

Yeah, life had been hard, they been broken but they were stronger and happy. Looking up at the stars she couldn't wait to see where life took them next.