No Way Out

A Birthday and A Dark Tunnel

The following week wasn't any better. It wasn't any worse though.

The week after that, however, was worse. Much worse.

Marinette got stuck working late every single night. Despite her insistence to Adrien that she would leave work at a reasonable hour, she found herself being wrong every time. No matter how much she tried to prioritize getting home to her family, inevitably some unforeseen problem would come up that had to be dealt with.

It was difficult to tell who was more upset about the situation. While Marinette felt overwhelmed and extremely guilty, Adrien felt lonely and extremely frustrated. With each day that went by, the feelings only got stronger and stronger.

Then one Sunday night, everything got much, much worse.

But that morning, things actually seemed a little better. It started when Adrien was woken up by a shower of loving kisses.

"Good... morning," Marinette breathed as she moved her way up and down his neck.

"Oh, Princess," he murmured. "It's so much better than 'good' right now. It's wonderful."

She smiled and kept going. "How's my... gorgeous husband... feeling on... his birthday... today?"

"Mmm, fantastic."

"That's good... to hear," Marinette said before taking a break to meet his gaze. "Does my husband want his birthday present right now, or should we wait until later?" As she spoke, she ran her fingers playfully down his body.

"Right now," Adrien replied, not needing to think about it.

She laughed a little. "I was hoping that you'd say that." Then she leaned in and kissed him.

He happily kissed her back and put one hand to her neck and his other hand to her waist. Then he started removing her pajama bottoms until he heard a noise.

The sound of footsteps approaching from outside their bedroom door made him stop. It also made Marinette quickly readjust her clothes.

"Mommy!" the seven year old whined as he opened the door and walked in. "Emma keeps taking my game and hiding it in her room. She did it again last night and now she won't tell me where she put it."

Marinette gave him a sympathetic look. "Hugo," she said. "Don't you have something to say to your dad this morning?"

A moment of thought before the answer was upon him. "Happy birthday, Daddy!"

"Thanks, bud. Are you excited to go over to your grandparent's house tonight for some cake?"

Hugo vigorously nodded. Then he looked over at his mother. "Mommy, can you tell Emma to stop?"

"I'll tell her," Marinette sighed. "Just give me a minute, and I'll be right there."

With a nod and a smile, he spun around and left the room.

"Close the..." she tried to yell out after him, but he was already gone. Then she groaned and collapsed against Adrien's chest. "Why are they awake so early? It's Sunday."

"I don't know," he said. "On school days, I literally have to drag them out of bed. But every Saturday and Sunday they're up at the crack of dawn. I don't get it."

Marinette didn't respond. She just lay there until she heard a screech coming from down the hall. "Mommy!"

With another groan, she sat up and looked down at her husband. "I guess your present will have to wait until later." A smirk grew across her face. "I'll have to make sure that it's extra special since you have to wait," she continued in her most seductive voice.