I will love again

Advent special Part 1

It was Christmas evening and Gabriel and Nathalie were sitting, as every year, in front of the fireplace on the bear skin, cuddling under a soft blanket, while they were looking outside into the snow.

"I just can't get enough of this little tradition, you started back, when I was pregnant with Hélène", Nathalie hummed and kissed his lips gently. Gabriel stroked along her dark hair with the few grey streaks here and there, that still had that pink strand on the left.

"Yeah, me too. Do you remember the first year, the twins and Louis could walk and we had to watch them all of the time, because they were always were they could get hurt or break something? Not to forget, Hélène, who was trying to keep them from 'being nasty' and was chasing them around all of the time!"

Nathalie giggled.

"Oh yes. I can't believe, that it has been eighteen years ago already. Just imagining, that Adrien is the same age by now, as I was at that Holy night, is just incredible!"

"Just rub it in! Don't worry, I won't feel hurt, if you're reminding me of how old I already am!", the by now completely grey haired man mused and kissed her again.

Flashback:

"Louis, Marcel, Maurice, you should not be doing that!", Hélène yelled as she ran after them, trying to keep them from climbing the huge Christmas tree in the entrance hall. The two and a half year old felt responsible for her little brothers and her nephew and wanted to do her very best, to help her mother.

Nathalie sighed, as she, Gabriel and Adrien had eventually caught all four of them and placed them in their special chairs.

"I am so sorry, that I can't be of any help!", Marinette said and looked at all of them wearily. Being six month pregnant and only allowed to get up for tonight, as she was supposed to stay in bed, because of all the trouble she had been through in this pregnancy already, the young woman felt really bad, that the others had to take care of her son in addition to the very active twins and an almost three year old toddler, who was way too mature and felt responsible for everything.

Adrien crouched down in front of her and laid both his hands on her belly.

"The only thing, you need to worry about, is little Emma! Come, I'll help you to get to the table, my purrincess!", he hummed, then pecked her belly before he got to his feet.

Holding out both his hand, the young man called:

"Careful, heavy and wide load coming through!"

That made them all laugh, though Marinette slapped his upper arm, as she always did, when he made that joke.

"Nette, sit with me!", Hélène shouted, making her mother, who was just lifting her on her chair, wince.

"Would you please not yell into my ear like that, Napkin?", she scolded.

"Sorry mum", she mumbled and opened her arms, to hug her mother tightly. Nathalie bent down and laid her own arms around her first born, making her snuggle her face into her chest.

Marinette looked at her husband and asked sheepishly:

"Are you okay with handling Louis, if I sit with Leni?"

"Of course, Bugaboo, go ahead!"

After dinner, that had sat down in front of the fireplace of course and were unwrapping the presents, when they suddenly heard a loud noise from the hallway and everyone except Marinette ran to look what had happened.

There were the twins, standing in the middle of shattered glass and the branches of the fallen over tree, the Christmas lights tightly wrapped around their little, chubby figures, keeping them from moving.

They were both looking ruefully to the floor, sniffling and on the edge of crying. Gabriel and Adrien could just in time catch Louis and Hélène, who were about to run into the mess, Louis to join the mischief and Hélène to scold her little brothers.

And Nathalie?

She just stood there, holding her stomach from laughing, before she was able to help her children out of this mess. Even worse! After she had calmed down, she exclaimed:

"Just don't move them, I'll go get my phone and take some pictures. I am very certain, we will have a good laugh over this for years!"

And so she did. Only after taking, what felt like a hundred photos, she eventually freed her boys with Gabriel's help, from the wires they were tied up with.

Maurice and Marcel, now both crying desperately, clang on to their mother, making it almost impossible for her to move at all.

"Aww, it's okay! I am not angry, well a little, maybe, but I won't scold or punish you. You already did that yourself, considering, that Santa has no place left, to put your presents now. Shush, don't cry even more. You were lucky, that you already got yours. But remember for next year. If you hurt the tree, there is no place for the gifts and therefor, Santa maybe won't come.!"

The two boys nodded with big eyes and buried their little, hot faces on both sides of their mother's neck.

Gabriel came to help her.

"I think, it's about time, to get them into bed, don't you think, my dear?"

"No!", all four children shouted, but the adults stayed strong.

"Daddy's right, you should all go to sleep now. Louis, if you're a good boy, you can stay with Maurice and Marcel!", Nathalie now suggested, which made the toddler beam widely and he exclaimed:

"Yes, gramma!"

"I will never get used to being called Grandma!", she hissed to her husband, "come you monsters, let's go and brush your teeth. Adrien, you go back to take care of your wife, we got this!"

"Thanks, mum", he said with a smirk and hugged her and the twins. "Good night, boys!"

Then he lifted up Louis and kissed him too. Then Hélène.

"Good night y'all, and merry Christmas!", he hummed, looking at his father, as he did, who went to him and patted his back, while he picked up his grandson and held out a hand for his daughter.

"Goodnight, Adrien!"

And while the young man went back to cuddle with his wife, the older couple brought all four children into Hélène's little bathroom, so they could have a look at them and help them to brush their teeth.

"Yeah, that was quite something", Gabriel laughed. "Do you still have those pictures? I would love to show them to all of them, when they're here tomorrow!"

"Oh, you're so mean! Maurice is bringing his girlfriend for the first time, should we really do that?"

"Well, you had no second thoughts, showing Antoinette the pictures of Hélène in the bathtub!", he mocked her.

"Oh come on, I didn't know, about her crush back then and they were children. It's different with the boys. I am glad, at least one of them started dating eventually!"

"Fine, we'll decide about that tomorrow!"