No Way Out

A Speech and A Nickname

The Agreste mansion loomed over Marinette as her father pulled the car through the gates and into the driveway. She knew Gabriel Agreste was rich, but not that rich.

Her surprise must have shown on her face because Tom laughed after he parked the car. "Slightly larger than our place, huh sweetie?" he joked.

"Yeah. Just a little."

He laughed again. "Are you sure that you don't want me to come in with you? I don't mind."

"No, it's okay," Marinette said. "I'll be fine. They're my family now too."

"Yes, they are. And they love you just as much as your mother and I do. I mean, what's not to love?"

A smile came to her lips. "Thanks, Papa."

"You're welcome, sweetie. Let us know how the doctor's appointment goes, and have fun re-meeting your in-laws."

Marinette was silent for a moment. "It's not really my in-laws that I'm nervous about meeting," she admitted quietly. "It's my... husband." The last word came out strained; it was still odd to think that she had a husband.

"If you're not ready for..."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," she interrupted, even though her actions were not matching her words. She didn't make any attempts to exit the car. Instead, she just stared out the window at the intimidating house.

After half a minute, Tom shut off the engine, causing Marinette to look over at him. "There's something that I want to tell you. Something that I've never told you before."

"What?" she whispered.

"What I said this morning, about being okay with you getting married at twenty? That was true. I was totally fine with it. But then the wedding day actually arrived, and suddenly I wasn't so fine." He paused as he remembered. "That morning I woke up in a panic. I thought that you were too young. I thought that you were being rushed into the marriage. I thought that it was a mistake. As the hours went by that day, I formed an elaborate speech in my head; a speech that I needed to give to you before the wedding started. The speech was about... how it wasn't too late. It wasn't too late to call off the wedding. It wasn't too late to change your mind. You had your whole life ahead of you to get married; you didn't need to do it right then and there. Your mother and I would fully support you. Adrien would understand. All of the guests would understand."

There was another pause before Tom continued. "I practiced it over and over in my head, just waiting for a chance to tell you. But every time I saw you, you were surrounded by other people. The makeup and hair stylists were there, the photographers were there, then your friends were there, then your grandparents, and then your future in-laws. The first time that you and I were alone that entire day was when the ceremony had already started. The other members of the wedding party had already gone out, and it was almost our turn. That was the moment. I needed to say it before we went out there and I walked you down the aisle. So finally, I looked over at you, and you looked over at me. And do you know what I said?"

Some tears had formed while Marinette was listening to her father. "Your speech?" she offered with a weak shrug.

Tom shook his head. "No. The only thing I said was 'I love you, Marinette.' And then you smiled at me, and said 'I love you too, Papa.' Then, we went out there together."

Confused, she blinked at him. "So, you never gave me the speech? Why didn't you..."

"Because I didn't have to," he explained softly. "I could see in your eyes that you didn't need to hear any speech. There was no doubt, no hesitation, no hint of any uncertainty. You knew that you were exactly where you were supposed to be. And then, as we were walking down that aisle, I saw the exact same thing in Adrien's eyes when he looked at you. There was no doubt there either. Just pure love and happiness."