To share and exchange information, ideas with somebody.
The first week back on the job and Marinette didn't know what to feel. Scratch that maybe she did, being back was shocking and overwhelming.
She spent the entire week doing what she loved but she was worried. Worried about the amount of work she had to do after her workday; She had to freshen up, make dinner, make preparations for the next day but what made her distressed throughout the day were the thoughts of her son. Her darling son: Ryan Wayne.
Her dear son: Ryan, who was born just 28 weeks ago [6 and a half months] was being babysat by his grandfather Bruce and great-grandfather Alfred while his parents went to work.
Marinette had her own company called Blossom. Adrien is co-CEO with her. Adrien looked after the business part of the company while Marinette led the design team. The company was working its way up the charts and was pretty successful. During Marinette’s maternity leave she kept sending designs that she made in her free time [she didn't send as many as she would had hoped for but looking after her son took up most of her time, she's made her peace with it and happy that she has bonded with her son] though her employees did a great job without her input/designs as well. Damian on the other hand had stepped in as co-CEO alongside his brother Tim after their father Bruce decided to retire. While Damian was able to maintain a healthy work-life balance after Ryan was born, he was on leave for a month after his wife gave birth.[I know the maximum days for paternity leave is 15 days (at best) but Damian used his holidays to stay with his wife and son here] His wife, Marinette on the other hand was having a hard time.
It was the first week and she could not and would not stop worrying. She usually would call Damian when she started catastrophizing but he was having some important meeting that day and her parents were on a flight to China to go and meet some relatives so she could not talk to her parents either.
It was close to the end of working hours so she would have to endure her torture only for a while longer.
That thought had helped for 5 minutes before she accidentally spilt her coffee on her latest designs, her entire day's work ruined. Instead of crying, she tried her best to clean up the mess that was made. As soon as she was done she realized she had to go home. So, she packed up and made her way down the elevator.
Marinette was on auto-pilot, she remembered getting into her car and the next thing she knew she was inside her home.
She removed her overcoat to hang on the hooks placed behind her living room door. She could hear Ryan crying softly. She started to quickly remove her heels so she could take care of him soon but as she was going through the hallway, she was stopped by her husband.
“Freshen up, I’ll take care of Ryan till then.” he gave her a short kiss on the forehead and headed to Ryan’s room with a bottle of milk in his hand.
Damian could sense his angel was distressed, but he knew his son needed more attention at that moment or he would start screaming soon which would not help his wife in any way.
Marinette went to her closet and found a pair of comfy PJs to wear after she was done showering. She knew after dinner she would sit a few hours into the night and redo the ruined designs so she might as well feel comfortable doing it.
10 minutes had passed and Marinette had still not come out of the bathroom. Damian understood that something had happened and she needed her time, his son had fallen asleep after having his formula and he was placed in his crib in the nursery. So Damian went into the kitchen to get started on dinner. He knew he was not the best at cooking but he did know how to make an easy spaghetti recipe Alfred had taught him and that was going to be their main course that night with ice cream as a possibility for dessert.
15 minutes later and Damian could hear some soft sniffles. He was done boiling the noodles and the ingredients for the sauce were ready. He made his way to the bathroom to see what was keeping his wife, only to find his other half letting out the first sob. He probably wouldn't have heard the sound without his training and he figured Marinette was trying to keep her volume down so that their son doesn't get scared with the sounds of her crying.
Marinette was done with her bath and had finished changing. She saw herself in the mirror, she could see how tired she was with everything happening around her. She had finally reached her limit. It started with insnificant sniffles, but when she let out the first sob she felt two arms enveloping around her to help steady her. She could feel one of her husband's hands wrapped around her waist and the other moving up and down her back to make her feel better. It took 5 minutes for her to get everything out of her system.
Damian lifted Marinette bridal style and carried her to the living room. He settled down on the couch with his love on his lap.
“Sweetheart, I noticed you were feeling off since you came home, do you mind telling me what's been troubling you ?”, he murmured.
“I... I was worrying all day about how Ryan was doing, couldn't focus on any of my designs, I kept wondering about how he was doing and if he needed something.”, she took a deep breath, “I got so distracted that I spilt coffee on the designs that I made today, after dinner I will have to do my chores (the pair had split the daily chores between the two of them, so that one person doesn't have to do all the work) and then redo today’s designs as a result of the spilt coffee”, she spoke softly.
Damian could see tears gathering in her eyes.
“Angel, how about you join me in the kitchen and help me cook dinner if you want or just stay with me for sometime. I’ll be done with dinner in 15 minutes, we can eat and I'll help you with your chores and then you can redo the designs in my study. I have some work to do as well, we can work for an hour or so and if there is still more left we’ll complete it in the morning, everything is ok”, Damian suggested while slowly massaging her palms.
He continued, “Regarding Ryan, I can assure you my father and Alfred will not have a problem with you checking up on him. I have been texting them asking about Ryan throughout this week just like I texted you when you were taking care of him during your maternity leave.”
“Thanks Dames.”, her voice was slightly choked but Damian knew she was feeling much better than when she had arrived home. Sharing her troubles with her husband helped her more than she thought it would.
They shared a kiss which while familiar had many feelings mixed into it.
The couple proceeded to make dinner and finished all their work. They knew, their son would wake them up soon enough to either get his diaper changed or for a feeding, so they went to sleep as soon as they could.
Marinette knew she would spend a lot of time in her life stressing about things but she also knew she had a wonderful better half who would be there by her side, supporting her through the good and the bad times like he had promised her on the day of their wedding.
Damian knew he would be with his wife when she needed him and vice versa. Her and their son were the loves of his life who he cherishes every second of his existence and will continue to do so till he breathes his last.
The pair knew they would wake up in each other's arms the next day. With that thought they slept peacefully. (they were woken up by their son's cries from his nursery 3 hours later, it was past midnight so technically their last thoughts before sleeping were not wrong.)
