Finding Christmas

Chapter 5

Marientte had been right. Tom's Yule Log was a chocolate coated piece of heaven, and Adrien had never enjoyed one as much as this one. Sure, the chef's at the mansion had made them before, but they never tasted as good as this. Then again Christmas had never felt so homely before, even with his mother there. But he didn't want to think about that now.

They decided to also open up the snickerdoodles that Adrien and Marinette had made since they would go stale. Marinette promised Adrien that as soon as they knew his father and Nathalie were going to be on their way back, she would help him make another batch of fresh ones. Adrien felt bad using up their ingredients, but Marinette told him to consider the first batch a trial run and she would expect him to make the next batch on his own. Adrien happily agreed and mused at how very Ladybug of her it was.

While they were having their treats and hot chocolate, Adrien's bodyguard arrived at the door. Nathalie had given him a list of items for both Adrien and Edmond which he had packed into two bags. Adrien and Marinette got up to greet him when Marinette's phone rang.

"Oh, it's Alya. I'll take it upstairs. Just bring your bags up when you're done." Adrien watched her scurry up the stairs with a contented sigh before finding Sabine and his bodyguard.

The large man, who Adrien affectionately referred to as the Gorilla, handed him the bags as well as a message he had written out from Nathalie, mostly to do with Edmond's routine and feeding schedule. Sabine was still carrying Edmond with one arm while she offered for the bodyguard to come inside for a while, but Gorilla declined. He did however accept the box of mixed minced pies and lemon tarts that she offered him. Adrien knew that his bodyguard often looked imposing, but was really a big softie on the inside, and has a real sweet tooth. Edmond bounced excitedly when he saw the familiar face, the bodyguard letting his face melt into a smile as he gently rubbed a finger against Edmond's cheek.

After his bodyguard left, Adrien followed Sabine back to the living room. "Mrs Cheng, can I ask you a favour at all?" Sabine placed a motherly hand on his arm, since his shoulder was a little too high for her to reach now.

"Of course Adrien, you can ask me anything." Adrien blushed slightly at the care and concern in her voice.

"It's nothing bad." He reassured her. "It's just...I asked Marinette if she would like to come with me to see The Nutcracker performance tomorrow night but I wasn't expecting to..." He gestured towards Edmond and Sabine smiled in understanding.

"Oh we can look after him dear." She said reassuringly. Tom affirming his agreement from the couch. "It's not like we are opening the bakery the next morning. And he's been such a sweetheart for his Aunt Sabine." She cooed and nuzzled her nose against Edmond's cheek and he squealed in delight.

"Thank you Mrs Cheng." Adrien beamed, watching the way Edmond interacted with Marinette's mother. Maybe he could sense the familiarity about her, or more likely knew he was being handled by someone who knew what they were doing. While Adrien liked to think he'd learned quite a lot, he was still the big brother and he was sure that being a parent would be a very different, and no doubt more tiring experience. He was feeling more confident that the coffee warmer was definitely the right gift for Nathalie.

"You're more than welcome, and I think you can just call us Sabine and Tom now Adrien." She smiled sweetly at him. "After all we have known you for years and you did ask our daughter on a date didn't you?"

Adrien hadn't really specified it was a date to Marinette, but it was a date wasn't it? At least he hoped that Marinette was going to see it that way.

"Thanks Sabine." It felt a little strange to use her first name after knowing Sabine for so long, and yet it made him feel more welcome in some way. "And I promise we won't be too late getting back."