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The creak of a door knob turning jerked Marinette into consciousness, tugging her out a dream she was sure was lovely, but forgot almost immediately. Tiny footsteps padded across the carpet, and Marinette nearly groaned aloud.
“Mom?”
Marinette blinked sleep--precious sleep!--out of her eyes. Her four-year-old, Emma, stepped into the bedroom as hesitantly as a newborn fawn, her eyes wide and terrified.
Marinette sat up immediately. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"My underwear is wet." Emma patted the junction of her legs. "I didn't wet it, it's just wet."
Seeing no blood, Marinette instantly knew what had happened: Emma had wet the bed. "Ah. Okay. Let's get you cleaned up."
Having stayed up late last night to design a pea-colored frock coat for a client, Marinette didn’t get near enough sleep for this. Wasn't it Mother's Day?
She was prepared to clean Emma up, but as Marinette peeled her blankets off, Emma shed her pajamas and darted out of the room.
Marinette hastily dressed and ran a toothbrush over her fuzzy mouth. She knew Adrien would be downstairs, so Emma was safe, but Marinette didn't want to leave their daughter in wet underwear for too long, lest she get a rash.
Do I have hydrocortisone cream? Marinette thought as she went downstairs. Didn't Emma sleep in her sleeping bag last night? That probably needs washed.
She found Emma hovering near Adrien in the basement "office," a long, narrow, lavender-colored room that housed his desktop computer, hers, and their twelve-year-old's.
Adrien was seated at his desk, playing a video game with Louis. "Good morning, dear heart," Adrien said and then tilted his head toward Emma. "She said something about her legs being sticky?"
"Yeah." Marinette sighed. "She wet the bed last night."
Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Louis shake his head.
Emma pouted. "No, I didn't! My underwear is just wet."
Adrien chuckled. "Happy Mother's Day."
Marinette squinted at him. "Happy Mother's Day; your child needs washed."
Adrien grinned. "Pretty much, yeah." Once Emma had been potty trained, Adrien had begged off duties involving bathing her, citing privacy concerns. So it was Marinette's job to ensure Emma's hygiene was up to snuff. "Emma, you need a shower."
Emma waved her tiny fists. "I don't want a shower!"
Adrien frowned. "You need one."
Louis snorted. "Just take a shower, Emma."
"Louis," Marinette said, her tone one of warning. "Please don't parent her. Your dad and I are handling it."
Louis had a problem with trying to tell Emma what to do. Marinette needed to tell him multiple times a day to knock it off, and she was not in the mood to deal with that today.
Louis looked chagrined. "Sorry, Mom."
Emma looked like she was about to throw herself on the floor, but there was no room to do so between the wall and Adrien's desk. "I'll get a bath tonight!"
Marinette decided to offer a compromise. "How about we wash you off with a rag? Does that sound good?"
Emma stomped her foot. "No!"
"Emma." Marinette folded her arms. “If you don’t get clean right now, you’ll get a rash.”
Adrien smiled, and Emma wailed. “I don’t want an itchy rash!”
Marinette offered her hand. “Then come with me. We’ll get you cleaned up.”
Emma acquiesced, taking Marinette’s hand and trudging upstairs with her. After getting Emma washed with a warm rag and changing her underwear, Marinette let her go back to her dad and checked her sleeping bag.
Yup. Marinette sighed. Definitely needs washed.
Marinette carried the wet sleeping bag downstairs to the basement laundry room, and then walked back upstairs to get breakfast: a Carbmaster yogurt. Marinette had started the keto diet a few weeks ago because her antidepressants and two pregnancies had helped her pack on the weight around her middle. She wasn’t young anymore and no amount of swinging through the city at night could help her get rid of that stubborn belly fat.
On the table was a glass vase of red roses she hadn’t noticed before. Carrying her yogurt, Marinette walked to them in awe. Hidden beneath the roses were white hydrangeas, her favorites. He’s so sweet. I’ll have to thank him when I go downstairs.
She ate her yogurt standing up and returned to the basement office with the rest of her family. Kissing Adrien’s cheek, Marinette beamed. “Thanks for the roses, lovely.”
Adrien, holding Emma on his lap, leaned into the touch. “Of course, my love.”
As Marinette sat down at her computer, Emma hopped off Adrien’s lap and began whispering to him. “I see,” Adrien said, conferring with her with a serious face. “We can do that.”
“What’s up?” Marinette asked, blinking at the two of them across the room. Louis sat at his desk a few feet from her, in the middle of the room.
Adrien beamed. “We’re going to make a craft project--”
“Nooooo!” Emma clenched her fists again. “I wanted it to be a secret!”
“It’s still a secret, Emma.” Adrien rubbed her head, messing up her hair. “I didn’t tell your mom what kind of craft project we’re making.”
Marinette laid a hand over her heart. “Is it for Mother’s Day, Emma?”
Emma smiled, all pink lips and good cheer. “Yes, Mama.”
“That’s so sweet!” Marinette covered her mouth with her hands. “Thank you, both of you.”
“Come on, Emma.” Adrien stood and started shuffling his daughter towards the door. “We can start on that project right away.”
Emma bounced through the door. “Okay, Daddy!”
Marinette opened up her design program to get some sketching done for a client. A woman’s work is never done.
“Hey, Mom.” Louis peeked over her huge monitor from his own computer desk. “Did you want to play a game together for Mother’s Day?”
Marinette tabbed out of the program. She could get the work done later, she assumed, but Emma might keep her busy until after the girl was in bed tonight at 9:30pm. Playing a game right now was a bit inconvenient but making sure she spent time with Louis was important. “Sure, Louis. What do you want to play?”
“Minecraft?”
Minecraft was Louis’ favorite game. He was constantly telling Marinette that he was looking forward to his thirteenth birthday, where he’d be old enough to play Minecraft Virtual Reality on Adrien’s Oculus.
Marinette opened the game. “We can do that, Louis.”
Louis settled in his chair and clicked his mouse. “I’m going to do a speedrun, okay? We’ll probably fail a lot, so I hope you’re used to dying.”
Marinette was not used to dying. She was more a casual player, preferring to gather resources and build structures rather than defeat the Enderdragon. She didn’t know how to tell Louis otherwise, since he seemed set on playing the game in a way she wasn’t used to.
The game loaded, and Marinette watched Louis dart around like a hypercaffeinated monkey. She had no hope of keeping up with him. His hands flew over the keys, and his screen moved so fast, her head began to hurt.
Marinette began doing the more sedate process of punching trees so she could build a wooden pick and mine some stone. She had no intention of doing Louis’ speedrun; they would not defeat the Enderdragon today.
Louis grunted. “We need to find a village.”
Marinette blinked. “Why do we need to find a village?”
“So we can get some food and iron.”
“Okay.” Marinette glanced up at the right corner of the screen only to find it empty. “You need to turn on coordinates so I can figure out where you are.”
“No.” Louis shook his head, his screen bouncing around as he wiggled the mouse. “I don’t need to turn on coordinates. No, thank you.”
Mining some stone she found on the side of a mountain, Marinette furrowed her brow. “If you don’t turn on coordinates, how am I going to find your village once you go there?”
“Oh!” Louis immediately opened the menu and did as Marinette had requested. “We do need coordinates, sorry.”
Marinette crafted four stone picks and a furnace, using up all of the stone she’d mined. Louis’ screen was still erratic. “No problem.”
Before Marinette could take a breath, Louis had found a cave he wanted her to go to. “I’m at 773 and 250. That’s all you need to know. Come find me.”
Marinette was at 842 and 93. She started walking in the wrong direction, and then realized that she’d have to swim through zombie-infested waters in order to find Louis’ character. She tried anyway. “I have to swim to get there. There’s a Drowned, and he’s attacking me.”
Marinette tended to avoid zombies when she could. She climbed out of the water, knowing this was a futile effort. The time was nearing sunset in the game, so she started mining herself a house in the same mountain where she’d found the stone.
Louis frowned at his screen. “There’s no iron in this cave anyway. I’m going to find a village.”
Marinette crafted a door, knowing she’d have to go out and chop trees down for more wood in the morning. Emma strolled into the room, looking pleased as Punch.
“Oh, hi, Mom!” Emma beamed. “I just thought Dad and me could make something!”
“Okay, baby.” Marinette ignored the game for a moment to glance at Emma. “Is your dad bringing it down?”
Emma wiggled in place, her form of dancing. “Nope!”
Marinette didn’t know what to say to that. Louis was ignoring her, so she started focusing on Emma. The girl began digging into her crafting supplies near Marinette’s desk.
Emma picked up a piece of construction paper and a staple remover and closed the teeth around the paper. “Look, Mom!”
Marinette turned to her. “Be careful with that, Emma. It’s a staple remover.”
Emma closed it around the paper again. “I did it right here!”
Marinette smiled and gently extricated the tool from Emma’s hands, intending to put it out of her reach. “Doesn’t it look like teeth? A snake’s teeth?”
“Yeah!” Emma picked up two rolls of masking tape, one purple, one green. “Mom! I have a great idea!” Emma placed the rolls on top of each other. “We can glue these together!”
Marinette shook her head. “No, Emma, we need to use those.”
Emma pulled a bottle of clear glue out of a paper bag. “Mom! Can we color some glue?”
“No, Emma.” Marinette was really getting tired of saying no to her four-year-old. “Coloring glue makes a huge mess, because we have to pour the glue into bowls and we can’t put it back inside the container.”
“Okay! Then…” Emma picked up the purple roll of masking tape and began to peel some tape off. “We can make that bag colorful! With colorful tape!”
Emma began to sing, making Marinette laugh. “Colorful tape! Colorful tape! Uhh… Colorful tape! Mom! Colorful tape?”
Colorful doesn’t even sound like a word anymore. Marinette helped Emma take some of the crumpled tape off her hands and peel some more. “Where’s your dad, Emma?”
Louis answered for her. “He’s upstairs, making breakfa--”
“No!” Emma screamed, dropping the roll. “Don’t tell!”
“Emma, no!” Louis yelled back. “I know not to tell. I wasn’t telling Mom. And now that you’ve told her, she knows something is going on!”
Emma ran upstairs, sniffling. Marinette turned to Louis, who was still playing his game. “You were really harsh with Emma.”
“Emma was whining,” Louis said, “and now you know for sure that something’s going on.”
Marinette counseled patience. She purposefully kept her tone gentle, knowing that she’d snapped at Louis in the past. “I knew something was going on before, so she didn’t confirm anything. But you were awfully harsh with her.” Marinette frowned. “Something I want for Mother’s Day is for you two to get along.”
Louis didn’t look away from his game. “Sorry, Mom. I can keep a secret.” Louis winked. “Better than you think.”
Marinette’s shoulders slumped. Louis didn’t seem to have absorbed the patient approach at all. “Don’t be harsh with Emma.”
“Understoo--Oh, crap!”
Marinette glanced at the bottom left of her screen to read "thechatsmeow" was blown up by a creeper.”
Marinette’s heart sank. She’d totally forgotten playing the game with him.
Louis raised a brow at her, finally taking his hands off his keyboard. “I thought you were going to the place I was going. I set the coordinates and told you where I was so you could go there.”
Marinette needed coffee. She inexplicably felt like crying. “I’m sorry.” Her voice sounded small and weak even to her own ears.
Louis stood immediately and crossed to her desk. “Hey, it’s not your fault I died. I definitely don’t want you to feel it’s your fault because it’s Mother’s Day.”
Marinette gazed up at her son as he looped an arm around her shoulders. “Have a hug, because it’s Mother’s Day and I like you as a mother.”
“I can’t do speedruns.”
Louis released her. “That’s okay.”
Marinette stood, her shaky grip on her emotions still plaguing her. “I’m going upstairs.”
Louis was already settling into his desk chair to start a new game. “Okay, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Marinette walked upstairs, wondering why she was so upset. It’s just a game. I’m not a failure as a mom just because I couldn’t play the game in the way he wanted.
Emma and Adrien were in the kitchen, mixing something thick and chocolatey in a large bowl. Emma ran to her and pressed on her legs. "Nooo! You're not supposed to see!"
Marinette smiled at Adrien. "Am I not allowed?"
"You're allowed." Adrien grinned back. "Just don't pay attention to what we're doing."
Marinette glanced first at Adrien's laptop, where the recipe was displayed, and then at the sink full of last night's dinner dishes. "I'll go get my headphones, and I won't pay attention to anything here."
Marinette walked upstairs to their bedroom, where she charged her Bluetooth headphones. They were an "I appreciate my wife" gift from Adrien and she streamed Pandora radio from her phone with them while doing chores.
She unplugged the headphones, connected them to her phone, and started up her station based on "Spitfire" by The Prodigy, a mix with a fast beat and thumping bass line.
Jagged Stone's new single about Penny blared to life in her ears, and she returned to the kitchen. Marinette filled the sink with hot water and suds, and got to work.
Doing dishes was always calming to her; something about the rhythmic actions and warm water on her hands soothed her very soul.
“Mom?” Emma poked her leg and Marinette removed one side of her headphones. “Don’t pay attention to the little computer, okay?”
“Okay, Emma.” Marinette smiled down at her daughter. “I’ll just… not pay attention to any of it, okay?”
Emma nodded soberly. “Okay.”
Marinette replaced her headphones and started scrubbing a glass. “Take me to the Hospital,” another Prodigy song, had just begun, and Marinette bobbed her head back and forth to the strains.
“Welcome to the scene of the crash,” the lead singer snarled. “Welcome to the scene of the crash!”
Marinette hoped there wouldn’t be a crash. This Mother’s Day was shaping up to be a rather difficult one so far. Things will improve. They’ve got to.
She finished up with the dishes, just as Adrien shut the freezer door. Resting her headphones around her neck, Marinette patted Emma’s head. “Are you done with your craft project, sweetheart?”
“Yep!” Emma started dancing again, which made Marinette laugh.
Marinette turned to Adrien. “What are they?”
Adrien smirked. “What could they possibly be?”
Marinette raised a brow. Then she squealed. “Are they no-bakes?”
No-bake cookies were a mixture of fudge, peanut butter, and coconut. They were Marinette’s favorites. If Adrien had found a keto recipe...
Adrien nodded, smiling. “It’s a modified recipe. I used a mixture of erythritol and stevia.”
Adrien picked up the bowl, running a finger along the glass. He offered the chocolatey goodness to Marinette, who closed her lips around his finger. The batter was amazing, with a deep, rich, chocolate and peanut butter flavor, with a hint of coconut.
As she drew back, she accidentally caught Adrien’s knuckle with her teeth. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your finger.”
Adrien shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“Do me, Daddy!” Emma tugged on his jeans. “Do me!”
Adrien gave her a little of the batter, and Emma followed up with, “Mmm, that’s good but my mouth is burning!”
Marinette chuckled. “It’s probably the cooling effect from the erythritol.”
Adrien agreed, and Marinette crossed to the cabinet to put the last bowl away. She felt a breeze at her thigh, and noticed she had a rip in her jeans. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Adrien set the cookie batter bowl on the counter and squeezed her from behind. “What’s wrong?”
Emma started spinning in circles. “Whee!”
Marinette huffed down at her pants, leaning into her husband’s embrace. “I need to mend these jeans.”
Adrien turned her around in his arms, a twinkle in his eyes. “They’re your Sunday jeans.”
Marinette giggled. “These are not my Sunday best.”
Emma balanced on one foot. “Watch me, Mama!”
“There you are, baby!” Marinette gave Emma a thumbs up.
Adrien grinned. “Of course they’re your Sunday jeans. They’re hole-y.”
Marinette barked out a laugh. “That’s terrible.”
Adrien winked. “So are your jeans, apparently.”
Marinette pushed away from him, her smile threatening to split her face. “Let me wash this bowl.”
Adrien flashed her finger guns. “We have an hour and a half until the no-bakes are ready. Until then, I’ll be downstairs.”
As Adrien left, Emma bounced over to Marinette. “Play with me, Mama!”
“Okay, baby.” Marinette scrubbed the chocolate out of the bowl. “What would you like to play?”
“Superhero!” Emma tugged on the hem of Marinette’s red sweater. “Come save our world!”
Marinette placed her hand on her hip and thrust the other fist into the air. “Whoosh! Whoosh! I’m here! What’s the problem?”
“There’s a villain!”
Marinette gasped, rinsing the bowl. “What kind of a villain?”
Emma stood on her tiptoes. “A monster villain!”
“A monster villain?” Marinette tilted her head. “Was he created by someone or was he born from nature?”
“Ummm…” Emma’s hesitation didn’t last long. “He was created by someone.”
“Okay.”
Emma waved her hands. “And he born baby super fast!”
Marinette translated Emma’s particular brand of play. “He gives birth to babies super fast?”
“Yes!” Emma practically shrieked. “Without being married!”
“Wow.” Marinette winked down at her daughter, drying the bowl. “We’d better defeat him.” Emma nodded, so Marinette made a shooting sound. “Pew, pew, pew! Laser eyes! Well, we’ve defeated him.”
Emma darted back and forth, pointing. “And the babies! They’re running!”
“Pew, pew!” Marinette blasted the ‘babies’ with her lasers. “I defeated them, too!”
Emma gasped. “The babies were full of jelly!”
Marinette blinked, drying the bowl with a white cloth. “The monster babies were full of jelly?”
Emma nodded rapidly. “And the dad monster was filled with so much jelly.”
“Oh!” Marinette put the bowl away, draping the cloth over the stove handle.
Emma tapped her chin. “Can we lick the jelly?”
“No!” Marinette was horrified. “That’s monster jelly!”
“I’m going to lick it.”
Emma stuck her tongue out and made a slurping sound. Marinette cracked up.
This is what being a mother’s all about.
Her phone buzzed with a text, and she opened her messages to find pictures of a sumptuous spread on her mother’s table including avocado, salmon, and bacon. “Brunch!” Sabine’s text read. “Your father cooked!”
“Mmm.” Marinette turned off her music and set her headphones aside on the counter. She picked Emma up, phone in hand, and carried her downstairs to show Adrien. “Adrien, look. My mom has a great Mother’s Day brunch.”
Adrien laughed. “Hint, hint?”
Marinette shook her head. “No, no. I had yogurt and you made me cookies with Emma. That’s enough for me.”
“Aw, man!” Louis piped up. “Emma baked you something? I was going to bake you something!”
Adrien grinned at his son. “You can’t corner the market on all baking stuff, kiddo. Emma had to make something for Mom, too.”
Louis grumbled and returned to his game.
He’s such a teenager. Marinette smiled. My son is growing up.
Emma patted Marinette’s cheek. “I like your cheek, Mama. It’s fat.”
Marinette sighed. “Thank you, baby. But it’s not nice to comment on other people’s bodies.”
“Hey,” Adrien said, leaning back in his chair. “Be nice to your mother, Emma.” Then he snapped his fingers. “I know. Why don’t we all play a card game while we wait for the cookies to set?”
Emma brightened. “The Lorax game, Daddy!”
Even Louis smiled. “That’d be great, Dad.”
“Thank you, Adrien.” Marinette shifted Emma on her hip. “And maybe a board game afterwards? This Game is Bonkers, maybe?”
Emma pterodactyl screeched. “Bonkers, Bonkers!”
Adrien nodded, and the little family played games until the cookies were ready, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company. Adrien brought Marinette his and Emma’s offering from the freezer, and she gladly bit into it.
“Mmmmm.” Marinette’s eyes fluttered closed. Chocolate and peanut butter flavor exploded on her tongue, and the treat grew even richer as it thawed. The cookies were even better than commercially-made keto ice cream, and she told Adrien so. “These are ridiculous. I totally need milk with these.”
Adrien kissed her cheek. “Happy Mother’s Day, my love.”
“Yeah, Mom.” Louis gave her a hug. “Happy Mother’s Day.”
Emma shrieked. “Happy Mother’s Day, Mama!”
Marinette had done some chores, eaten a dessert made especially for her, and enjoyed time with the people she loved.
Mother’s Day, Marinette reflected, couldn’t have gone better.