A New Year Wish

Chapter 3

Nathalie came in early to get Adrien for the photoshoot and was surprised to find him already awake. After texting Marinette until quite late, he had tossed and turned the rest of the night worrying about Felix. While it was true he did want to be on good terms with his cousin, after all he only had the one, it still concerned him having Felix stay in the house. After all, he and Marinette shared a pretty big secret and he wasn't sure Felix could be trusted with it. While he doubted Felix would try and impersonate him again, he still didn't like the idea of him being around Marinette, even though that sounded totally irrational. After all, he wasn't jealous of Felix and it's not like Marinette would run off with his cousin, would she? Adrien shook his head. That's a stupid thought, of course she wouldn't. He knew his Lady could handle herself, she had before, but he would still prefer to protect her from being put into an uncomfortable position again.

Adrien opened his sock draw but to his disgust he found it almost completely crammed with cheese. "What the hell Plagg?" He called out. The cat Kwami only slightly looked towards him.

"I'm not letting your cousin ruin my cheese again." He said defiantly. Adrien glared at his Kwami.

"But now you've ruined my clean socks." He whined. Plagg floated over and gave Adrien's socks a good sniff.

"Smells perfect if you ask me." Adrien threw his hands up in defeat.

"Now I know why Tikki calls you Sticky Sock." He couldn't help but laugh at the smirk on Plagg's face.

"My Sugarcube knows me so well."

As Adrien made his way to leave out the front door, he was stopped by his father's voice calling him from the stairs. It had been a long time since they had interacted without a prior appointment and Adrien instantly assumed something must have been wrong. He looked to Nathalie, but she smiled and nodded at him.

"Adrien, I've been thinking a lot about you and Marinette last night and after talking it over with Nathalie I feel I owe you an apology." To say Adrien was stunned was an understatement. "I told you at Christmas that I would give your Marinette a chance. I realised last night I had been wrong about her and I wanted you to know that she has my approval."

"Really, you mean that?" Adrien asked in disbelief. Gabriel nodded.

"Well, I'd rather keep her in our family than lose you to hers and her father's croissants." He cocked an eyebrow at his son. "Don't even bother trying to deny you were stuffing your face all over Christmas." Adrien laughed out loud and ran to hug his father. For the first time in many years, Adrien could see a glimpse of the man his father used to be. Gabriel was taken aback by the hug at first, but then brought his arms around his son.

"Thank you father." Adrien said before letting his father go and heading to the car. Nathalie looked at Gabriel with questions written all over her face. Gabriel let out a heavy sigh.

"When Adrien turns 18 he could walk out that door and never come back. I had convinced myself that it wasn't possible before, but things are different now." Nathalie reached out her hand onto his arm.

"Because of Marinette?" Gabriel lowered his eyes and nodded.

"My son is growing up and I don't know how to deal with it. Everything is changing Nathalie, but I still feel Adrien is keeping something from me." He started twirling around the ring on his finger. "I wish Emilie were here. She would have handled this much better than I have."

"Then let me handle it for you Gabriel." It had been difficult for Nathalie over the years. As much as she loved Gabriel, she knew that she could never measure up to the high pedestal he kept Emilie on. She had tried to help him, but in the end the emotional toll was too high. She had given the Peacock miraculous back to him and chose instead to focus her attention on Adrien. In many ways, Adrien had lost both of his parents - Emilie to an eternal sleep and Gabriel to his caged emotions. Nathalie didn't know what it was like to be a mother, but looking after Adrien these past years she felt all the pride, fears and love she believed any parent would have. If she couldn't save Gabriel from himself, she would at least see to it that Adrien was happy.