"Faceless Future" Book 2 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 4: Sabine and Tom Discuss Adrien. And Cat Noir?

"So, Tom, how did it go with Adrien today?" asked Sabine, aiming her question toward her husband who was in the bathroom getting ready for bed.  Sabine flipped through the newest baking magazine, propped up in bed in the adjoining bedroom.  The magazine reminded her that tomorrow she wanted to ask Adrien whether he found the baking magazine that she gave him to be interesting or not. Reading about the history of baking was not for everyone. Her daughter, for one, disliked reading about baking despite the fact that she enjoyed the actual process of baking.

Tom came to the doorway of the bathroom, flossing.  "He did really well.  I think his baguette will bake up nicely tomorrow.  I'm trying to decide what to teach him next."  Tom went silent, pondering options. Croissants?  No, too complicated for a beginner.  Another cookie?  Hmm . . . that's a possibility.

"Did you get a chance to ask him how he was doing?" Sabine asked him looking up from her magazine and interrupting his thoughts.  She had asked Tom to try to check in with Adrien, man to man, but she figured that there was only a fifty-fifty chance that he remembered.

"Yes, luckily I remembered you asking me to check in with him, before I got completely lost in the baking.  He says he's happy here, but that things are still not going well with his father and that he's afraid to meet him at the house, in case his father would lock him in."  Tom let what Adrien really said sink in.  What kind of father would lock his child in?

Sabine was mulling over what Tom said along with the things that Adrien had said to her, too.  She then compared it to all that Cat Noir had been telling her over the last few months when she'd been having tea with him to let him talk.  She nodded to herself, confirming that all of what she heard seemed to point to one conclusion. 

"Tom, I think that Adrien is . . ." she paused, not wanting to sound silly.  At the same time an unexpected thought entered Tom's mind and he continued with "Cat Noir!"  He almost laughed out loud, whether over the ridiculousness of the idea or from the thrill that he may be interacting with a real-life superhero everyday, he wasn't sure.

Tom left the bathroom and sat down next to Sabine.  They looked at each other.  "Do you think it's really possible?" asked Tom, frowning. It did really seem pretty ridiculous.  Quiet, polite Adrien as the cocky and sometimes obnoxious Cat Noir, who also broke Marinette's heart?  Tom snorted lightly.  Not too likely, and yet . . .

"Anything's possible, of course, and Cat Noir must live in Paris to be close enough to protect it.  And they both have controlling families with high expectations and Adrien and Cat Noir both seem to do a lot of the same activities," said Sabine.  She wasn't sure what she thought about having a superhero living in the house. Could it put our family in danger? she wondered. But, he is such a pleasant boy, who hasn't been any trouble at all. And, he is still in obvious need of our support, whether or not he is Cat Noir.

"What should we do?" asked Tom. It's kind of exciting to think we may have a superhero living in our house! he thought.

"Certainly not ask him!  But, maybe we can make things easy for him if he seems to be needing to leave at a moment's notice?  Help support his excuses?" said Sabine slowly, wondering if it would be obvious if he needed to leave.  Would a superhero just jump up from the dinner table after getting a notification of a supervillain out in the city and run out the door?  Or would he be more subtle than that to make sure to protect his secret identity?  Sabine shrugged to herself, not having the slightest idea what the answers to her questions might be.

"What about Marinette?  Do you think she knows?" asked Tom, worriedly, again bringing up his memories of hearing Marinette saying she was in love with Cat Noir and the heart-wrenching sobs she had when Cat Noir had said he was in love with Ladybug instead.  It completely broke Tom's heart to see his little girl so upset! 

Something suddenly occurred to him and he hurriedly added "But, if Adrien is Cat Noir, and Cat Noir is in love with Ladybug, then why is he with Marinette now?" He didn't want to see Marinette get hurt like that again, especially by the same person that did it before. Adrien seemed like such a nice boy. He didn't want to learn that he had read Adrien all wrong.

Sabine pondered his questions.  "I don't think that Marinette knows he's Cat Noir.  We've never seen any indication.  And while you were perfectly happy to have your daughter dating a superhero, it seemed like Marinette had started to worry that having a superhero boyfriend would be dangerous, so maybe we shouldn't tell her what we suspect?  We don't know for certain after all!"

"As to your other question, Cat Noir had mentioned that he was in love with Ladybug, but it didn't seem like she returned his affections. So, maybe all of that time Adrien and Marinette spent together on the school project helped him to see Marinette in a different light? I mean Adrien had to have known Marinette had a crush on him for a long time as it was so obvious!" Sabine continued trying to work everything out. "And, now that I think about it, it would help to explain how Marinette had fallen in love with both Cat Noir and Adrien seemingly at the same time. Maybe part of her does recognize that it's the same person? That is, if it is really true."

They sat silently for a bit.  "So, we should just continue helping Adrien the way we are now and try to support any excuses he has if he needs to suddenly go fight supervillains?  And not let Marinette know that he is Cat Noir, to try to protect her from getting hurt?" asked Tom, confused by the whole situation.  Sabine nodded.  She hoped that that was the right thing to do.