One sided benefits

Sabine and Nathalie

After informing Adrien and Gabriel about their plans, they had dressed Belle into warm clothes and placed her in the car seat, covering her with a soft blanket too, and then they had all climbed into the back of the limousine.

While the women went into the park, where it was rather calm at this time of the year, the trees lacking the leaves and the soil wet and muddy, Belle strapped onto her mother's chest with a special carrier, Adrien and Gabriel strolled over to the bakery, to not only get some sweet baked goods, but also to inform Sabine, that Marinette and Nathalie were just a few feet away right now.

The bell above the door made the cute tingling sound and the small woman behind the counter looked at them, as she did with every customer, smiling friendly and lilting:

"Welcome at the Dupain-Cheng bakery! What can I do for you?"

Yet the moment she saw the two Agreste men in front of her, she stopped talking immediately and therefor only made it to: welcome at, before she stared at them open mouthed.

"Good afternoon!", Gabriel said very softly and approached the woman, who herself was now walking around the counter, with his arms outstretched and his hands held out for hers.

"Gabriel, Adrien! Before I say, that I am happy to see you, please tell me, that Marinette is alright and you're not here, because..."

"We're not!", Adrien fell into her anxious words, "she's with Nathalie and Belle outside in the park. And she's fine! But she misses you and when she was at my therapy session with me yesterday, Mike told her, it was important, that she eventually would talk with you. So, uhm, if you would like to come see her, once we're back with them...."

He hesitated, not being able to read the chinese woman's expression.

Gabriel placed a hand on his shoulder and took the word:

"It was actually Nathalie's idea. She thought, that meeting spontaneously like that, would feel less like a must for both of you and leaves each of you the chance, to leave, without making everything worse, because one is in the others personal space and has maybe to be asked to go."

"I don't know, what to say right now!", Sabine gushed out.

"Maybe we should order something first then!", the designer suggested and hugged the tiny woman with one arm shortly, to encourage her at least a tiny bit.

"She's not coming, right?", Marinette said disappointedly, as she saw her boyfriend and his father walk towards them, two boxes and a bag full of delicious sweets in their arms. She was fighting back the tears already, when Adrien pulled her into his arms and Gabriel explained:

"She's closing the bakery right now. Then she wanted to quickly change her clothes before she comes over. I think, she needs a moment to get herself under control again. So give her this little time, okay?"

The dark haired woman looked up at him and nodded with a hesitant smile.

"I get that. I needed to prepare myself too, before we came here!"

While the model kept a firm hold around Marinette's waist, after they had chosen a piece from the bakery each, Gabriel let Nathalie pick her favourite treat too, he grabbed something for himself, then gave the bodyguard the remaining things to take into the limousine with him, telling him, to have some of it too, while he would be waiting. The Gorilla made a grunting noise of approval and left them on their own.

Though they were dressed warm enough to sit down on a bench for a short time, they all kept walking, enjoying the fresh, cool air, talking about all the things they could think of to make the time pass faster.