Chapter Text
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Sabine knew how it had gotten to that point, sure, but it was supposed to be different. They were not supposed to be moving to Paris to start a boulangerie while dragging along a seven-year-old daughter, especially not one who refused to speak French.
God, they had had plans. They were going to live in China for a few years, so Sabine could support her parents, before moving on to raise their future children in Paris. Keyword: future. The plan was not to have a beautiful, incredible, bundle of joy while they were still in China. They never planned for Tom’s business there to take off, and they never planned to stay that long. They had wanted to raise Marinette in Paris , after all.
Starting a business in Paris- a bakery, especially- was incredibly difficult. Sabine knew it. She knew her husband’s talent as well, but they had both been struggling, working long hours and finishing up tired and weary. Sabine found herself at his side during the days as often as she could, but upstairs in their apartment their child needed tending to. They were falling behind the swift current of the businesses in Paris, but she would never say anything, not to her sweet husband, who fought for his dreams, no matter how difficult.
No, she had vowed to stay silent on this.
Still, they were struggling. Marinette made it as easy as a young child could, but she still needed to be occupied, and she still needed to learn to use languages other than her native Mandarin. Sabine thought they were lucky that their little daughter loved to draw and design so much, and had picked up such an inexpensive hobby- that is, until she tried to turn the window curtains into a dress with a pair of scissors she found.
They were sinking, and they had no one to catch them. Marinette needed more stimulation- she was gifted, but they had no fabric for her other than the curtains, and the business needed more attention they couldn’t give it, not with their young daughter in the house.
It came as a miracle, then, when Marinette had spotted the ad on their old television. “Mama! Mama! Chá kàn！”
Sabine did come and look. Gabriel , the fashion brand, was holding a design contest for teenagers, it seemed. On the screen, an imposing man and a beautiful young woman stood next to each other, both wearing clothing emblazoned with the signature butterfly logo.
Sabine blinked. She recognized that woman- it was Emilie Graham de Vanily, her roommate and best friend from when she was an exchange student at Paris Descartes University. She also vaguely recognized the man- he had been Emilie’s boyfriend when she had met her, though Sabine had never taken a liking to him.
She was interrupted from her thoughts by her daughter tugging on her sleeve. “Mama! Mama! Wŏ rù mǎ？Can I do it? P-please?” The girl stumbled over her words as she spoke the foreign tongue, and Sabine thought back to the advertisement. It was for teenagers only, but it wouldn’t be a bad time to reconnect with an old friend.
She patted her daughter's head, nodding. “Of course, Marinette. Make sure you turn in your best work- this is the Gabriel brand. Have you heard of them?”
Marinette shook her head, wide-eyed. “Well, I’ll just have to take you window shopping sometime this week. How does that sound?”
The girl squealed with joy, rushing over to her stack of paper and colored pencils, beginning to work. Sabine sighed, and began composing her message to Emilie.
It was a few weeks before Sabine heard back from Emilie. The response was a request to meet at a nearby coffee shop for afternoon tea and to catch up. Sabine immediately accepted.
What she hadn’t expected, though, was for Emilie to try to convince her to let Marinette live with them, the Agrestes.
“Your daughter is seven, right? I have a son her age.” Emilie had Marinette’s drawing on the table next to her coffee, hair up in a messy bun. Sabine was struck with an image back from University, when they used to study together and Emilie would become so engrossed she’d stay up all night.
“I… yes, but that doesn’t explain why-”
Emilie picked up the drawing, studying it. “She’s an impressive artist, Sabine. And she speaks Mandarin too! Oh, Gabe would love to meet her.”
Sabine smiled tightly. “I still don’t understand why…”
Emilie set the drawing down, looking at Sabine fully for the first time in their meeting. She had bags under her eyes, and her clothes didn’t fit as well as they did before- she had lost weight. Emilie furrowed her brows. Was she truly denying that she was struggling?
“Sabine… You need the time to run the bakery. You need to be able to get it started without having to also raise Marinette. I’m offering for her to come to live with us for a little while, just until you guys get back up on your feet. God knows my son needs more friends who aren’t Chloé.”
Sabine stared. “I… I mean, We’re perfectly fine, Emilie, I appreciate it, but…”
“Listen, Sabine. I see how tired you are. You’re not holding up, and at this pace, forgive me for saying it, but it sounds like you’ll be out of business in a month. I don’t want to let that happen to you. It sounds like your husband is talented.” Emilie fixed her kind eyes on Sabine’s shocked face. “Marinette is clearly talented, and while she’s with us, she can learn about fashion from one of the best fashion houses in Paris. They could practice Mandarin and French together, and Marinette would have access to the best tutors in the country- of course, if you don’t want to send her to public school. You could visit her whenever, and she could come visit whenever. Seriously, Sabine, it would be no trouble. Consider it?”
Sabine frowned. She didn’t want to send her daughter off. She loved her with everything in her, but how could she make Marinette keep living like she was? Emilie was right- if they couldn’t give the boulangerie all they had, it would go under, and then both of Marinette’s parents would be unemployed. That wasn’t an option.
“I’ll… I’ll have to talk to Tom.”
Of course, Fate has its ways of pushing people together, and Marinette was living in the Agreste Manor by the end of the month. This didn’t entirely go as planned either, however. For, while it only took a few months for the bakery’s sweets to be some of the most sought after in Paris, Marinette never entirely switched back to living with her parents. She found herself waking up in her parent’s bakery to the aroma of yeasty bread and fresh pastries, going to public
school, and walking home to the Agreste mansion, where she’d tell Adrien about her day as he listened with wide eyes. She’d then follow Emilie around, greedily taking in information about the fashion and design world. She spent her afternoons surrounded by fabric, designing in her custom sketchbook before returning to talk to Adrien. Soon, she picked up some of his hobbies as well- she attended fencing class with him on a semi-regular basis, and she had picked up piano from spending so many hours in his room. Gabriel had insisted she be signed up for gymnastics, and she joined the art club at her school.
Sabine didn’t entirely mind, though. Marinette was happy, and she had started speaking French- that was a plus. She’d also become incredibly good at English, as she tagged along at photoshoots, so she was certainly learning , and she had a support system that was rapidly growing. Sabine loved her daughter, and if keeping her happy meant giving her, well, this , Sabine would do it all over again.
And that is the story of how Marinette Dupain-Cheng grew up side-by-side with Adrien Agreste. The story doesn’t end here, though. It doesn’t end with their friendship or the Agreste family's unusual approval of Marinette. No, it just begins there.