𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 ✔️

Chapter Fifteen

Christmas was right around the corner. Christmas itself wasn't was Adrien feared. No. That was easy. It was the chaos the holidays wracked on his schedule that he dreaded. He also dreaded the fact that Marinette, being as immensely competent as she was, meant he now had the ability to attend holiday parties.

Unfortunately.

A knock sounded on his door, and Emma was up like a shot. "Marinette's here. Marinette's here!"

Adrien chuckled as he answered the door. "Hi."

She gave him a bright and cheery grin. "Hi."

"You look lovely," he said, taking in her curled hair and red dress as she walked inside.

"Thanks. You aren't the only one with a holiday party to attend. Speaking of which," she said looking down at Emma. "I think you need a dress. Am I right?"

Emma gasped as Marinette pulled a gift from her ever-present large, red bag and handed it to her. She eagerly took the gift with a squeal, immediately sitting on the ground to open it.

Adrien watched with a grin as Emma tore through the paper, then opened the gift box to reveal a dress with a black top and fluffy, multicolored skirt.

Emma gasped and squealed and hugged it close.

"What do you say, Emma?" Adrien reminded.

"Thank you, Marinette!" she cried, wrapping her arms around Marinette's neck.

"You're welcome," Marinette said, returning the hug before pulling away. "Now, let's go get ready, shall we?"

"Okay!" Emma whipped around and bounded up the stairs.

Marinette and Adrien chuckled as they watched her scamper to her room.

"Thank you again for doing this, Marinette," Adrien said. "I really appreciate it. And Emma will have a good time for sure."

"You're welcome. It will be a blast, I know it. Alya and Nino are coming as well, so it's going to be a lot of fun. My parents will love her and she'll love them."

"Marinette! Marinette!" Emma cried from the top of the stairs. "Come on!"

"Coming Emma." With that, she headed up the stairs.

Adrien followed her up. After all, he had to get ready as well. Though, he was certain that the party he had to attend wouldn't be half as much fun as the party Marinette had organized.

Before he could turn off to his room, Marinette stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Really quick, I was wondering if it was okay to curl her hair? I thought it would be really cute in curls and ribbons, but I'm not going to use a curling wand if you say no."

Adrien paused for a second. "Yeah. That's fine. Thanks for asking."

She flashed him a smile. "Okay." And just like that she was off.

Adrien took his time getting ready, making sure he was impeccable in his tuxedo. When he was certain that not a hair was out of place, he walked to his office, doing last minute paperwork as he waited for the call from his father saying the limousine was here.

Instead, the doorbell rang. Adrien got quite a surprise upon seeing his father at the door.

But his heart sank when he saw more paperwork.

"Trust me, I dreaded giving you this unfortunate gift."

"At this rate, I'm going to have to hire an assistant of my own."

"Can you make it through the holidays?"

"Hopefully?"

"Because I don't want to put any more stress on you or Nathalie in terms of hiring."