Talk to Me, Princess | Marichat - Miraculous Ladybug

BONUS CHAPTER - SEVEN: My Forever After | POV: Marinette Dupain-Cheng

As I bustle about the kitchen to prepare Emma and Thomas a lunch, the phone ringing interrupts my train of thought.

"Hello?" I answer, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder as I chop some carrots and celery.

"Hello Marinette, is Adrien home?" Felix's voice rings out, making me smile. He's been so busy with Law School for so long now that it's become rare to hear from him. Despite our differences from the past, he's easily become one of my favourite people to talk too.

And I just love how brotherly his is with Adrien. When everything fell apart during Gabriel's arrest, Felix really stepped up to the plate.

"He's playing with Emma and Tommy outside right now. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah it's all good. Just missed talking to my cousin. Kagami wants to swing by sometime soon to see you and the kids. Are you guys free next Thursday? Say, dinner time?"

"Is this your way of asking me to cook you hot pot again?" I laugh out, hearing him chuckle.

"Kagami loves having hot pot with you as well, you know. Don't shove all the blame on me."

"Well, you're both more than welcome to come by anytime you want. I'll get the ingredients for hot pot next Thursday." I grab some bread, slathering it in mayo before I assemble the cheese, lettuce and spinach. This is Emma favourite sandwich right now, where as Tommy will only nibble on fruits and veggies for lunch. I'll give him some dry cereal to crunch on while he's at it. That should hold him off till dinner.

Tommy being 2 years old, I've learned a lot about the differences in babies. Like for example, at 2 Emma was happy to eat anything you handed her. Tommy, on the other hand, prefers chicken nuggets and celery with peanut butter. Only.

But I suppose that's just parenting, it's different for everyone. Not just each family, but each child has different needs. One size doesn't fit all.

"Excellent, I'll let her know. Oh, and can you please pass a message along to Adrien for me?"

"For sure." I cut Emma's sandwhich into four halves, the perfect little squares resting on her plate surrounded by veggies and some dip. I think she'll enjoy this.

"Gabriel reached out to me." The knife in my hand clatters onto the marbled countertop, the silence in the room loud enough that all I can hear is the static from the other end of the phone, and my thrumming heart beat. "He wants to fund the rest of my way through school. I think it's his attempt to sneak back into Adrien's life."

"What did you say?"

"I told him that'll I'll consider his offer the day he eat's a pile of dog shit." Snorting at his response, I watch the knife on the countertop. This is the first time in years that Gabriel has spoke to any of us. Not since we filed that restraining order on him once he was out of prison. Flashes of a memory from years ago skip through my mind, of the time Chloe saved Adrien from Gabriel's last ditch attack against him, with a knife.

When we filed the restraining order, we wanted to ensure he never comes around Emma, or Adrien. He'll never meet his grandchildren, and he has no one to blame but himself.

"And I'm assuming that the conversation ended there?"

"He tried to plead with me, but I told him simply put, calling me to get back into Adrien's life was a violation of not just the restraining order, but also the no-contact-order I have placed on him. I told him if he doesn't lose my number and piss off, I'll have him sued for every last dollar to his pitiful name." Felix's calm voice sends shivers down my spine, so eerily collected like a snake about to snap.