(Those who didn't get the pun, it means feelings! Hope you enjoy this!)
A few months later...

"Marinette, dear, are you free right now?"
Sabine asked with hesitation in her eyes as she peeked inside the bluenette's room, "I actually want to talk to you about something..."

Marinette smiled, " Yeah, mom. Come on in."

Her mother walked in the room and saw her surrounded by enormous piles of old, dusty design materials...

As Sabine raised an eyebrow questioningly, Marinette blushed in embarrassment and quickly responded.

"They are the things that I bought in college... It was stored here for a while now. and. I couldn't use them because Mr. Agreste provides all the materials required and Luka didn't let me bring the old things when I moved in with him and insisted on buying me everything again... So, I just want to take it to the orphanage and donate them. Laura likes to design... Maybe it'll be of some help to her..."

Sabine sat down on the chaise and curiously asked, "Marinette, you've been out for few months now after the babies were born. Anyone I should know about?"

Marinette almost spat out blood on hearing that...

Which mother asks her daughter such a direct question with such a straight face?

Apparently, Sabine Dupain-Cheng does...

Marinette became fifty shades of red, "No mom. I'm not interested in dating someone right now. "

After a while, she spoke up again, looking at the ground,"Mom, after what happened to him... I won't start dating again.I would feel like I'm betraying him... "

Her mother hesitated for a while, "Mari, what I am going to say doesn't mean anything special. You don't need to overthink it but I just want the best for you..."

Sabine knew that Marinette suffered from depression for quite a while after Luka passed away, so she didn't have the courage to tell her before.
Now that she gave birth to the twins and was feeling a lot better, Sabine really wanted to have a heart to heart talk with her...

"Mom, I understand. You don't have to worry about me, I'm strong."
Marinette said with a smile.

She held her mom's hand just like how Sabine would hold hers when she was little.

Her mother became more open and less worried after hearing her words.
Sabine said with concern, "Mari, you are only 23 years old... You're still so young... What are you going to do with the twins right now?"

"Mom... I'm fine. I work for a living and the salary is more than enough for sustaining our family... A few weeks later, I'll be promoted to Deputy Head of the Designs Department. Do you know how much money that is? " Marinette laughed.

"I'm not interested in numbers. I'm interested in things money can't buy. Even if you have the most money in the world, can you buy the twins fatherly love? " Her mother asked.

Marinette didn't respond.

"Can money buy you a husband that would be by your side through thick and thin?"

The bluenette still didn't respond.

"Mari, I understand that you're a strong and independent woman. All these years, you've been worrying about other people. It's time you think about yourself and the twins... They were born into this world without a father, which means that they'll grow up with only your love... Are you sure you want them to live that way?"

"Mom, I don't want that either, but what can I do? Luka is... " Marinette's eyes started getting watery.

She tried so hard to not think about him because she was scared that her depression would intensify and that would hamper her ladybug duties...

"His accident was unfortunate and heartbreaking... I know that... I understand how you feel, baby... but are you sure that you want to be alone forever?" Sabine looked at her daughter with loving eyes and asked.

"I will be fine on my own... Really! I can support myself and I don't need anybody else other than you guys... "
Marinette quickly wiped off the tear that escaped from the corner of her eye and tried to smile, but Sabine saw through her facade clearly...

"Mari, you're wrong... You're only in your twenties... You've still got a long way ahead of you. Put it this way: your life only started, your husband had... passed away. Shouldn't you give someone else a chance? I really don't want you to be alone."

Marinette looked up in shock at her mother.

"Mom... you mean...?"

Sabine took a deep breath in and slowly said, "Yes, Marinette. I think Adrien is a good man."

Her mother didn't wait until she gave a reaction and continued to say, "Adrien loves you. I can tell. I heard that he had feelings for you for a very long time. "

"Um... Mom, who did you hear this from? Did he say anything to you? " Marinette looked flushed.

"No. He didn't say anything. I've been young before and I can see how he looks at you. There's just so much love in his eyes... That child has done so much for you. Even I'm touched by his actions. Mari, you need to know that I'm not asking you to give him a chance because of his family background. I'm asking because he is a good man. He's someone that you can rely on, someone that can give my grandchildren a loving family. He has changed because of you, both in a bad or good way. That shows how much you have an influence on him... Even if I were blind, I would still be able to tell that he loves you wholeheartedly."

"Mom... I can't say that I don't care about him... I-I... maybe even like him... just maybe. There are some people in life who you just can't get over." She added hurriedly. "But right now, my emotions are kinda in a frenzy. What if I mistake my gratitude for him as love? He's a man that deserves so much. He deserves someone who loves him with her whole being... If I don't love him, and still choose to be with him anyway... I'll be disrespecting both him and myself. He's not a second choice, you know?"

"I didn't say you have to make a decision right away. I'm just saying that you need to think about what I said for a bit... However, Adrien's downstairs. He came just before I had climbed up here in my old bones... " Sabine laughed.

Marinette hurriedly dusted herself off and followed her downstairs, ignoring the knowing smirk plastered on her mother's face the entire time.

When she reached her parents' room, she saw something that was rather heartwarming.

Adrien was wearing a white shirt that was not fully buttoned up.

You could see his collarbones and they were....quite, ahem, I can't write that...

(I just imagined Adrien in that getup and I was blushing like anything 😳... Back to the main story, hehe)

He was lying down on a snow white carpet...

On his left arm was Blue, and on his right arm was Ames.

He wasn't just holding them, he was hugging them.

Adrien had to be extremely gentle because he was afraid that if he used too much strength, he would scare the babies...

The two little babies laid peacefully in his arms. They were exceptionally quiet. It seemed like they were even smiling.

On noticing them standing at the doorway, he asked, "Ah, Mari...Auntie. Don't you think that they look like they're smiling at me?"
Adrien looked very excited.

Sabine said with a smile," It does seem like it. Even though they're too young to have expressions, they are too adorable. "

Adrien nodded and went on about how the twins were going to be the most beautiful and the smartest people when they grow up...

Marinette stood at the door silently, watching Tom enthusiastically join Adrien in brainstorming about the possible future plans for the babies...

Ever since she gave birth, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Adrien had been treating them twins as his own.
After the birth of them, Marinette felt like she had somehow lost status.

Whether it was her parents, Adrien, her friends or even Mr. Agreste. He had asked her to bring the twins with her whenever it was possible and often spent his time playing with them.

Everyone was concerned about the twins... They would only get the purest water, the softest clothes on market, the best quality baby products...

They took turns carrying them and singing to them... Everybody seemed so happy.

Especially Adrien, he stopped here everyday on his way to work, and kiss them good morning. Then, on his way back, he would buy something for her, food and clothes etc. , whatever caught his eye that day. He refused to leave until the babies fell asleep and would lounge about in her room till then.

If people didn't know better, they would have thought that she was his wife and Blue and Ames were his children.

Adrien handed them over to Tom gently and stood up. He walked over to her and pressed a kiss on her hand, "M'lady. "

She smiled.

Marinette gently asked, "How was work today? "

Adrien felt his heart warming up. It was as if she was his wife and was asking how his day went today.

He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, "Nothing much. Same old. Same old."

As he chatted with Marinette casually, he thought about his conversation with his friends a few days back.

They were at a bar, drinking beer together. All of the guys from their class, except Nathaniel and Marc was present. They were working on a new comic book recently.

Kim was fantasizing about the cruise ship, "Hey, Adrien. How about this? What if you lend me the ship for the first few years? The twins are still young anyway and won't be able to ride it, haha."

"Don't even think about it. " Adrien gulped down another shot.

"You treat them like your own children. Hey, why don't you ask Marinette if you could be their godfather? It's not like she's going to refuse. " Nino chimed in.

"He's right. The chances of her turning you down is only 0.42%. " Max commented.

"I don't want to pressure her; I like the way things are. " Adrien said; he was happy with what he had.

"So, are you going to keep being friends with her? For the next decade or so? Wait, Agreste, I have a good idea, care to listen to it. It's about you and Marinette. " George's brain buzzed with what he felt what was a great idea.

"Fine, let's hear it. " Adrien swirled his wineglass as he glanced over to George; under normal circumstances, he didn't trust in the latter's ideas as they were always super weird.

"Answer me this first, when do you think the twins are going to use the cruise ship you gave them?," George asked enthusiastically.

"At least, when they're 6 or 7 years old…They're too young right now. I'm afraid they'll get into an accident if I bring them on board. " Adrien said.

"Then wait for a few years. Hold a birthday party for the twins on the cruise ship and propose to her then and there. I think that the chances of her refusing your proposal is super low. By then, you would have been by her side for years and be close to her heart. The twins will love you very much even if you are not their biological father. It's the perfect scenario..."

Upon hearing George's suggestion, Adrien wanted to refute immediately, but this time he had nothing to say- his friend had a point...

"But what if my proposal fails, won't things become awkward between us? " Adrien responded quietly.

"It won't be. First of all, I'm sure she'll accept. And if... things go south... Nothing will change. You guys will always be friends. Plus, the twins will love you too much. They'll sure help you. Don't worry about that."

All of the guys agreed that this was a great idea.

Adrien didn't say anything and downed the glass emotionally.

Thinking about this, he absentmindedly took out a small square black velvet box from his pocket.

He opened it carefully.

Inside the box, rested a shiny diamond ring. It was a 115 carat pink diamond which was uncovered near South Africa. Adrien had secretly bought it from an auction when he was informed of Marinette's pregnancy. Then, he had taken it to a well-known ring designer and and spent about a year to make this unique ring - Angel's smile.

The pattern of the ring was an angel with wings and a warm smile on her face. The pink diamond was her skirt. The craftsmanship was complicated and extremely difficult to forge...

He had originally wanted to present her the ring as a gift when she gave birth… but he wasn't able to do it… He felt like blushing and disappearing under the earth in embarrassment everytime he even thought about it...

But when George suggested him that crazy idea, it had unexpectedly caught his attention. He had decided that he would use the ring to ask her to marry him on the twins' fifth birthday.

He stared at the ring for a long time...

Marinette's footsteps were heard ascending the stairs and he hurriedly stuffed the ring in his pocket.

When she appeared, they started busily chatting again.

From the corner of the room, there were two kwamis who silently watched everything and were grinning ear to ear.

After a while, Tikki bit on her cookie as she said, "Plagg, which ship are you?"

Plagg feigned ignorance, "What ships?"

Tikki slapped his shoulder playfully, "You know it, Plagg. Adrienette, Ladrien, Ladynoir or Marichat? I personally like Adrienette and Ladrien. They're so cute! "

Plagg looked away and groaned, "Eh. I don't care about it."

As soon as Tikki flew away to fetch him more Camembert, a smile made its way on his face and Plagg threw his arms up in excitement, "Marichat for life!!!"

(A common sentiment I can clearly relate to!!! MARICHAT FOR LIFE!!!!)
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A/N - Hey, guys! So, I'll be resuming my every day schedule from today. And also, thanks for so much reads and 50 votes. You are the kindest people I know.
Stay pawsome!! 🐾