Babysitting Stories

Meeting the Twins

·Césaire Appartement·

   "I thought you and Marinette were 'just friends.’" Plagg teased as Adrien hurried his way to the Césaire's family apartment.

   Adrien rolled his eyes at the little Kwami. "That's all we are," he replied.

   "Sure! That's why you always go running to her rescue."

   "What are you talking about?" Adrien inquired as he glanced at the snarky Kwami near his side

   “Well, for starters, you followed her on a date with Nathaniel.”

   “Nathaniel was akumatized and Ladybug asked me to. You know I can’t say no to M’Lady,” Adrien responded.

   “Okay, fine. What about the time you agreed to translate for her uncle?” Plagg grumbled.

   Adrien didn’t even have to think about how to reply to this suggestion. “How could I pass up the opportunity to practice Chinese with a native speaker? My father would have grounded me for at least a month if I had refused. Even if that’s not the reason I agreed to do it.”

   “How about the time you ignored The Gamer to whisk her to safety? Plagg supplied.

   “What, was I supposed to leave her to fend for herself? She’s just a civilian, after all.” He didn’t see how protecting her from Gamer proved he had an interest in her.

   “I give up,” Plagg mumbled with a roll of his eyes as they stood outside the door.

   Adrien shrugged and knocked firmly on the Césaire’s apartment door. Plagg promptly hid while Adrien patiently waited for someone to answer the door. When it opened, Alya was looking extremely excited.

   “Adrien, you’re here! I have to get going, I’m already late!” Alya spun around and grabbed Marinette who was close by, pulling her towards the door. “You can do all the introductions, right Marinette?”

   Marinette didn’t reply, simply nodded as her eyes met his. He offered her a quick smile and was about to say hello when Alya continued.

   “Great!” Alya had grabbed her backpack and hurried down the hall, “Have fun!”

   “Wow, she’s really in a hurry. I guess I took a little too long,” Adrien teased as he stepped into the apartment.

   Marinette giggled softly at his comment and closed the door behind him. She was going to reply when a set of twin girls ran out of one of the bedrooms and promptly ran over to him.

   “You're really handsome, who are you?!” one of them inquired.

   He wasn't able to resist the chuckle that escaped him. Kids sure loved saying whatever popped into their heads. "Well, thank you. My name is Adrien. What are your names?” he asked, pointing at each of them with one hand.

   One of the twins - dressed in green pajamas and pink earrings - pointed to herself, “I’m Ella!”

   Next, the one who had complimented him - dressed in pink with green earrings - replied shyly, “and I’m Etta."

   “Well, It’s nice to meet the both of you,” he replied while bopping them both on the nose. The twins both giggled. He'd always had a way with kids, even Ladybug had commented on it once. They always seemed to love him. Perhaps it had something to do with his modeling personality.

   Marinette turned to the twins, “So girls, what should we do? Watch a movie? Play a game?"

   “MOVIE!” they cheered together.

   “Well, that’s pretty decisive,” Adrien said to Marinette as they watched them run off towards the couch.

   Marinette giggled softly as she glanced over at him, “Once they make up their mind there is no changing them. I once stayed the night here with Alya babysitting them and let me tell you, that was an adventure.”

   “Oh, no. What have I gotten myself into?” Adrien teased with a wink. He watched as a blush painted her cheeks before he made his way over to the couch. “So, Etta, Ella, what movie are we going to watch?” He was certain they would force him to watch some terrible film for kids.

   “BRAVE!” they shouted together.

   Every little girl on the planet seemed obsessed with Frozen, but not these two, which surprised him. Of course, he didn’t mind. In fact, he was relieved. He definitely preferred Brave over Frozen. Adrien grinned as he took a seat next to them, leaving just enough space for Marinette next to him, “Oh, fantastic choice.”

   Marinette quickly searched the movie cabinet and found the case to Brave. She placed the DVD into the player and turned around as the commercials began. “Should I make us some popcorn?” Marinette asked the twins.

   They bounced up and down on the couch as they nodded enthusiastically, “YES! Yes! Popcorn is a must!”

   Marinette handed him the remote as he chuckled softly, leaning away so the girl’s screaming wouldn’t be so loud in his ear. He was kind of regretting the choice to sit next to them now, but at least it would protect Marinette’s ears for an evening. Marinette made her way into the kitchen while Adrien expertly navigated the commercials and got to the main screen. He searched for extras, hoping there was a sing-along for the twins to listen to while they waited. Fortunately, there was one - Touch the Sky. He pressed enter and waited for the excitement to peak.

   As soon as the song began to play, the girls were bouncing up and down in their seats and singing, “When cold wind…”

   Adrien listened to their terrible, out-of-pitch singing as they jumped off the couch and started dancing in the middle of the room. He watched them ran this way and that around the room. They were just way too adorable.

   "AGAIN!" the twins cried when it ended.

   Adrien peeked over his shoulder at Marinette, who was still making popcorn and decided one more round would keep them busy. He pushed play and they started dancing and singing again. However, this time he wasn't listening as his attention had turned to Marinette's quiet singing from behind him.

   “… Touch the Sky!” the girls belted out as the song ended.

   Marinette approached with a small bowl of popcorn for each girl and a larger one with the rest. She placed the two bowls on the table for the twins and took a seat next to him.

   “I hope you don’t mind sharing. I don’t want to dirty all the bowls in the house, but I also don’t want their fingers in my bowl,” she whispered.

   “I don’t mind at all.” Adrien chuckled once more as he navigated back to the main menu and pressed play. He was perfectly happy sharing with Marinette if it meant not sharing with girls. Ella and Etta bounded towards the couch and climbed up to sit on it. They both tried to grab some popcorn and couldn’t reach. He smiled as he picked up both bowls and handed them to the excited pair.

   “What do you say?” Marinette asked softly as the girls took the bowls from Adrien.

   “Thank you,” Ella mumbled, her attention already on the tv.

   “Yeah, thank you, Adrien,” Etta repeated before getting excited over the little wisp on the screen.

   “You’re welcome.” He knew they wouldn’t hear his reply, but made sure to say it anyway. When he turned to look at Marinette, she was watching him. She glanced away quickly, but not before he saw a light blush on her cheeks. Was she embarrassed about being caught watching him? He smiled as he reached for a small bite of the popcorn in their bowl.

   “I’m shocked they are behaving thus far,” she whispered.

   Adrien offered her an amused look. “You mean they’re not like this all the time?” he replied in a sarcastic whisper.

   Marinette merely shook her head at his teasing before diverting her attention to the movie. Adrien turned his attention to the screen as well, eating the popcorn he had collected from the bowl. As the movie continued, he tried but couldn’t make his mind focus entirely. He was overly aware of how close he was to her and how much he liked it.