Next of Kin

Chapter 16

A/N - Thank you for your patience everyone, without further ado, here is the next chapter 💜

"I like that one." Adrien said, leaning against his crutch and pointing at one of the diamond solitaire rings in the jewellery store window.

"It's also the biggest one there." Marinette chuckled. She watched him shifting uncomfortably on his leg. "You know we don't have to do this today. You must already be tired after your physio session this morning and I don't have to have a ring on my finger to prove anything."

"I know that." Adrien said, turning to look at her. "But I don't want your parents thinking our engagement is just some kind of distraction from what's happened to the company. With everything else that's going on..." His voice trailed off and Marinette could see he was troubled.

"Are you having second thoughts?" She asked quietly. Adrien immediately reached out and grabbed her hand.

"No, never!" He assured her, squeezing her hand. "I'll be honest, I've wanted to marry you since the first day I saw you in spots. Finding out you were Marinette, it just wanted to make me do it even more because I love you so much."

Marinette was sure she was going to melt into a puddle right there on the footpath. "Adrien, I've dreamed about marrying you since the day you gave me your umbrella in the rain on the school steps."

Adrien raised her hand to his lips and kissed the inside of her wrist, making her shiver, but there was still a frown there between his eyebrows. "I guess I just... I should have bought you a ring first and..."

"Adrien." She said tenderly, cupping his face with her other hand. "I told you I don't need a ring to know that you love me."

A soft smile spread across his lips. "I couldn't help myself you know. I was looking at you last night and I didn't even hear what you were saying because all I could think about was how I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. My mouth ran away from me again didn't it?"

"You never let that stop you before." She teased.

"Yeah but, this was different. This wasn't just me telling you how much I love you, this was a commitment for life. I should have made it more special."

"Kitty." She said softly, a pink glow highlighting her cheeks. "Last night was the most special night of my life, just being with you made it special. You've shown me so many times how much you love me behind the masks, last night... last night was my chance to show you - and I will keep showing you for the rest of our lives. So let's pick out that ring Chaton, and I'll wear it proudly for all the whole world to see."

"And what about your parents"? He asked, still worried about offending them in some way.

"We'll tell them we are engaged first. Then we can tell them the rest. They already love you, I'm sure they will be happy for us."

Despite Adrien wanting to buy the largest and most expensive ring there, in the end Marinette decided on a smaller classic diamond solitaire. Adrien had to admit it suited her perfectly and he could hardly still the stuttering of his heart as he looked at her hand all through the afternoon as they cooked dinner for her parents.

Predictably on time, there was a knock on the door right on 7pm. The kwamis scattered back to the Miracle box, having helped set the table, and Marinette went to open the door. Much to her surprise, only her mother was standing there with a bottle of quality wine and a sweet smile.

"Where's papa?" Marinette asked. She heard Adrien move to stand behind her.

"Oh don't worry about him. He's just caught some kind of tummy bug. You know what your father is like when he gets sick, he acts like he's dying." She chuckled as she kissed her daughter on the cheek. "I sent him off to bed with something to help him sleep. He should be quite himself in the morning. Adrien dear, every time I see you I swear you've grown taller."