Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Marinette, you are so very important to me. When I met you, I knew you were special. You fought for what you knew was right, and stood up to anyone that got in your way.” Adrien says, beautiful sunlight coming in through windows. “I’ve never known anyone so happy to fight for what she’s believed in. You’re generous, you’re kind, and you’re smart. You’re the most creative person I know, and for years I knew you as the perfect woman. You put up with so much of my troubles…and when everyone else turned away from me after my Father was defeated, you were one of the only people to hold out your hand for me to take. That’s why I’ve given you my everything.” He says, his black suit accentuated by a green tie and the green dye that highlights his blonde hair. “I love you so, so much.”

“Adrien…” Marinette smiles, wiping tears from her eyes. “When I met you , I thought you were…well…a bit of a dork.” she chuckles. “I thought you might have been spoiled, and the way you acted around me…well, by the end of the day, I had to admit, I was a fan of you.” she chuckles, her long hair flowing down her back. “For a long time, I thought you were perfect. The horrible mindset I had for myself made me blind to the atrocities you faced each and every time you lived your life. But, as time went on, I realized just how broken you were. And me, well, I love a challenge.” She puts a hand on his cheek, smiling as her smooth white dress with red accents hugs her body. “Adrien Agreste, you are and always have been the man I love. It’s time we made it official.” She says, and the two smile at each other, then to the man beside them.

“You may kiss the bride.” the pastor says, and the two lock lips, and a grand applause rings out around them…and then an explosion is heard in the distance.

“Of fucking course…” Adrien mutters.

“Hey, we made it through the ceremony.” Marinette whispers back. “That’s bound to count for something.”

---

“People of Paris, I am Mindbreaker !” the shrill voice of the madman cries out, standing atop a machine, wires running across the Eiffel Tower as he grins down at the panicking populace. “People have been far too content with their drivel!” he declares, wearing a horrific doctor’s lab coat and wild gray hair, with red goggles. “Back in my day, people had to work for their place in society! Well now, they will! Once I use the Eiffel Tower as a catalyst, all of Paris will work for me ! It shall enter a new age! And age where all shall know the name of-!”

In that moment, a voyage gateway opens up overhead, and two figures come crashing down, kicking Mindbreaker off of his pedestal!

“AGH!” he screams as he lands on the ground, glaring up at the duo above. “Team Miraculous!” He scowls.

“What is with these madmen and their monologues?” A man asks, showing a cobalt blue set of robes that fit tight, with gloves and boots to match with a set of horns protruding from his mask, his eyes resembling a sinister devil as his hair is black and slicked back.

“Aw, c’mon, Krampus, it’s just like the comics!” an excited tween states, looking like a Princess warrior in her attire of chocolate brown, her brown hair tied in a curling ponytail down the back.

“Do not get caught up in these childish fantasies, Alicorn. It is as they say-” Krampus begins, and Alicorn audibly groans.

“Enough with your old idioms, already! I got 5 minutes and I wanna kick butt!” Alicorn grins as she leaps off of the platform, and Mindbreaker scowls as she lands in front of him.

“Well, if it isn’t the resolute Krampus and his student, the spunky Alicorn!” Mindbreaker scoffs. “I must admit, despite how young you seem, Krampus, you always seemed like you could understand the old ways of the world- I have been looking forward to fighting you the least!” he declares and Krampus lands aside Alicorn.

“I accepted some time ago that balance can only be achieved by moving forward with time, not backward.” He states.

“And that’s why we’re gonna win!” Alicorn states and leaps forward, and Mindbreaker growls and slips a gauntlet onto his right hand, blocking the horseshoe strike!

“Kids these days, no respect for-”

“BLAHBLAHBLAH!” Alicorn interrupts and keeps fighting wildly, and Krampus groans and facepalms.

“Well, she has to learn somehow…” he says and readies himself, charging in to fight alongside his student.

The two heroes do battle against the madman, and he uses his gauntlet to send out electronic pulses as he tries to make his way back to the platform. “You will not be able to stop me! All of Paris will come under my contro-” he begins, but an explosion occurs, the platform falling to pieces, the wires across the tower all crumbling to dust by connection, and from the rubble steps a figure, and Mindbreaker scowls.

“Well, well, well…if it isn’t the leader of Team Miraculous.” he snarls as the pitch black hero steps forward. “ Vanta Noir !”

“Alright, the threat is over, who the hell are you?” Vanta Noir arches an eyebrow. “I was kinda in the middle of something here.”

“Foolish hero! I am the bringer of your doom! I am the subjugator of Paris! I AM-” He begins, but Vanta Noir leans to the side, looking at Krampus.

“Krampus, you got an answer for me?” he asks, ignoring the villain.

“Calls himself Mindbreaker. Another mind control villain.” he answers.

“Fu… another one ?!” Vanta groans. “What is with these idiots and mind control? It’s just sad at this point.” he rolls his eyes.

“Hey! I wasn’t done!” Mindbreaker declares.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Mindmelder.” Vanta Noir waves his hand dismissively.

“It is Mind breaker !” Mindbreaker retorts, his glove beginning to prime with electricity. “Now…prepare to pay -!”

“Cataclysm.” Vanta Noir says dismissively, sending a pinpoint cataclysm that impacts and destroys the gauntlet. Mindbreaker just stares at his now bare hand in disbelief, and Vanta Noir rolls his eyes. “Why does no one ever see that coming?” He sighs and turns away. “Just…just bring him to jail.” He says as a bola comes from nowhere, binding the villain entirely. “This is a waste of time.” he says, and stepping out of invisibility is a tiger heroine with dark skin and her hair curled down her back.

“I’ll take him there right away.” she nods to Vanta Noir.

“Thanks, Rakshasa. I gotta go.” Vanta Noir says and sinks into the ground through his Black Hole.

“That was so cool !” Alicorn giggles like a fangirl. “Vanta Noir and Myrrha are so cool !” She says and ladybugs and butterflies cover the city, healing the minimal damage done to the city.

---

As the akuma leaves his bell, Adrien sighs as he calls to detransform, and tosses Plagg some cheese as he lands face-down on his couch.

“How are you, dear?” Marinette asks, two kwamis fluttering out to chat with Plagg.

“I shouldn’t have gone. That was a waste of our time.” he sighs. “Krampus and Alicorn had it, and Rakshasa was there the whole time…” He explains.

“Well, you know as well as I do that the rest of the wedding party wouldn’t get there as fast.” she chuckles.

“Why did we even have a wedding? We’re already all legally married…” he says, looking towards the framed picture of himself, Marinette, Kagami, and Luka.

“It’s for the papers, dear, you know that.” Marinette says as she chops up some vegetables for soup. “And you know why you had to make an appearance.”

“Yeah, yeah…” He rolls his eyes. “Heroes of Paris, protect and serve, the whole deal. We’re unstoppable!” He smiles. “What I wouldn’t give for a challenge …we haven’t had something that could even be considered one in five years.” he says, recalling the Ladybird incident.

“Well, we could always look for a new challenge.” she says, smiling at him.

“Like what, a global threat?” Adrien asks, interested.

“I had…something else in mind.” she says as she holds up a small bead of a unique material. “Now that we’ve made it official, well…maybe it’s time to experiment .” she says, and a grin spreads across Adrien’s face as he stands up.

“You mean…?” he asks, and she giggles.

“I do.” she nods, and Adrien pumps his fists into the air.

“Alright!” he cries out in triumph. “I’m gonna be a dad!”

Chapter Text

“The idea behind our child is simple.” Marinette says to herself, overlooking her private room in their abode meant for magical experimentation. “We must concoct a bead made of a material that will withhold an amok without itself being considered “destroyed” when it melts to form the child around it. The bead will be placed surgically in my womb, infused with an amok and DNA of all three other sources, and slowly, over the course of nine months, it shall form into a child- a true human and sentimonster hybrid!” She laughs maniacally.

“I love her so much.” Adrien says in the next room over, lovingly listening to his lover’s mad ramblings and experiments.

---

Felix Graham de Vanily had woken up groggily after a long night of being Phoenix. Those four arguing over the best way to use his sentimonster was never helpful, especially during a robbery. He yawns as he makes his way to his cupboard and opens it up, taking out a box of cereal and getting a bowl, pouring the milk first (because yes, he is that type of man), and then turning the box to the side to begin pouring the cereal in…but instead of cereal coming out, he sees a handful of gray splashes, and her narrows his eyes as five multimice surface.

“...we’re out of cereal.” one of them says, and Felix scowls.

“Evidently.” he says, putting the bowl to the side. “Where are the rest of you?” He asks, and when they look a bit sheepish, he sighs. “You really need to stop making your little wall nests. Now get back together and clean yourself up.” He orders, and they pout and begrudgingly climb out of the bowl and start making their way to the walls to call the others. Felix just sighs and pulls out his phone.

Maybe I can order some breakfast for myself. Though she’ll probably complain that I didn’t get her anything…I can probably run out and get myself something alone if I hurry. He thinks to himself as he walks through his home, dumping the milk in the bowl down the drain and heading to get properly dressed. 

Of course, first he had to pat down each and every article of clothing to make sure one of the Multimice hadn’t infested his clothes, like she was so prone to do. And, sure enough, he found one particularly sneaky one curled up in the chest pocket of one of his dress shirts. 

“I’m going to be wearing this.” He tells her, and she smiles wide.

“Oh, I don’t mind~ Spending a day listening to your heartbeat sounds relaxing~” she winks, and he rolls his eyes and picks her up by her legs and tosses her aside, onto his bed, and several other Multimice begin to clamber together to reform, and the now full-sized Multimouse gives him a pout.

“C’mon, Fey, you never let me spend a day with you!” She complains.

“And what am I to do if we need Multimouse? Do you expect me to come all the way home to get the rest of you?” he asks.

“You worry too much.” She pouts, sitting cross-legged on the bed, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks as her animated cowlick twitches, showing her annoyance.

“And you’re incorrigible. Just detransform already- Marinette and Adrien will be meeting us for lunch at noon, and I’d rather not explain how you’re traipsing around as a dozen of yourself.” He states, and she sighs.

“Well…any chance we can pass the time~?” she asks with a wink, and Felix rolls his eyes with a light blush.

“Not today. I need to do some shopping because someone ate all the food.” he says. “Now turn back and help me make a list…” he says, turning around just as she turns back, and his face goes totally red…to see Bridgette wearing nothing but her Miraculous.

---

Marinette had spent the past few hours testing beads in body-temperature apparatus, beginning by testing how well they held akuma instead of amoks, since they functioned identically in terms of item possession. She was…having mixed results. Most were considered “destroyed” when they melted down, and the few that didn’t became extremely brittle when they were brought through the phase of “rehardening”, so she’d have to test these remaining on an animal, which she personally was not looking forward to. Hmm…their hamsters could be viable test subjects…

No, bad Marinette. She tells herself, shaking her head. Test on an animal that isn’t yours. The Zoo might be intrigued by the concept of a sentimonster animal…then again, it would develop more intelligence than any animal there, so that could be a disaster waiting to happen. I could ask Bunnyx to find out which exact combination would work, but…that feels like cheating, I like the challenge.

Marinette paced around her lab, considering her options. Testing on an animal might not be an option, with the present dangers. Not unless… “The Public.” she mutters to herself. “The public might be against it, but…they might not be. If we play this carefully and announce this to the public, I could test it on something in the zoo.” She pulls up some tabs on her laptop. “And…” a smile curls across her face. “By the look of things, one of the gorillas recently lost her baby. This could be just what we need.”

---

Marinette and Adrien sit across from Felix and Bridgette, Felix eating delicately as Bridgette stuffs her face with food- parallel to how Marinette eats just as delicately, occasionally feeding Adrien as he eats heartily.

“It’s an intriguing plan…it could be risky.” Felix notes, but Bridgette slams her hands on the table and stands up.

“I say go for it! The sooner you figure out how it works, the sooner you can make it work for me !” she proclaims, and Felix gets very red in the face.

“B-Bridgette, quiet down-” He insists, but she pumps her fist in the air.

“I! Want! A! Baby! And this fool isn’t putting one in me, no matter how much I try!” she proclaims a little too loud, drawing attention from around, and he pulls her down, trying to shield his face from the prying eyes, as Marinette looks mildly amused by the exchange.

“Well, then, this will be a more than suitable test.” Marinette says. “So long as we play our cards right, a new little gorilla will be in the zoo, and soon, a few new senti-kids will be walking around Paris.” she says, and Felix gives a deep sigh.

“I give no promises on my end, but I’ll do whatever I can to aid you.” he affirms.

---

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news!” the creole woman announces for the camera. “I’m Alya Cesaire, here reporting live from Le Grand Paris! The newly dubbed Adrien Dupain-Cheng is planning on making an announcement for the city at large today, said to have to do with his new home life. For years, people have speculated the extent of Adrien’s nature as a stay-at-home husband for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, also known as fashion extraordinaire MDC, but it seems we will learn the full story here today, folks!” she says, and on a stage, Adrien steps forward.

Tapping the microphone, Adrien smiles gently as he addresses the crowd. “People of Paris. I’m so very glad to see the support people have given me over the past few days- ever since my wedding, I’ve gotten congratulations and thanks for me being myself from friends and strangers alike. Ever since my Father was put to Justice years ago, I began to think of how I could possibly make a real impact on this world, even as a sentibeing.” he explains, closing his eyes to think. “As many of you know, I am effectively the last of the Agrestes. My Mother fell ill and passed from using the Peacock Miraculous, and 3 years ago, Nathalie Sanceour faced the same fate.” he says, sighing sadly. “The Graham de Vanilies are my only family, and so I have chosen to leave the Agreste name behind- the reason I took my beloved Marinette’s name.” With that, he opens his eyes with a bright smile. “And, that is why I am happy to reveal that my wife and I want to ensure that my family line continues. It is important that it does- even if it is just me.” he says, and already murmurs spread through the crowd, and he holds up his hand. “As some have speculated, and they are correct, it is impossible for a human and a sentibeing to have a child…or so we believe.” he says and chuckles. “However, we have reached out to Team Miraculous, and…well, perhaps I’d best allow Team Miraculous’ expert on the subject to speak.” he says, turning, and people applaud as Phoenix steps onto stage.

The indigo-clad hero walks to the podium as Adrien walks away and taps the microphone. “Quiet, please.” he states calmly, and the muttering crowd silences instantly, and he clears his throat. “When M. and Mme. Dupain-Cheng reached out to us, we at first believed it to be a lost cause. However, Myrrha and Chat Noir were inspired, and have been working to discover a way to allow them to have a true child. We believe we have found a solution, but it is…a complex one.” he says. “I will spare you the details, but the possibility exists that it will not work. And for that, there must be a test. Myrrha suggested testing on an animal, similar enough to human anatomy.” he says, and at the mention of such a thing, many already began murmuring several opinions on the subject. “Which is why…” Phoenix continues before they can get out of control, “we have decided to choose Mona, a gorilla in our local zoo. Mona recently lost her own child of a mere month old due to a birth defect, and so we believe this can both aid Mona in getting through the depression she has fallen into as well as paving the way to the new Dupain-Cheng child.” Phoenix explains. “We will now take questions.”

---

Several experiments and less than a year later, a new baby gorilla was born. The little Lisa was healthy, strong, and acted just as a gorilla should- only time would tell if her intelligence was more than that of a Gorilla, but the important part was discovered.

It worked .

---

Marinette lay unconscious on the operating table, Adrien overlooking her, concerned as the doctor begins the surgery. From the viewing platform above, Felix is dressed like Phoenix and swathed in shadow, as in his cupped hands, Duusu amokitizes a feather to sell the illusion to the onlooking Doctor as the feather hovers out and enters the bead just before it is implanted- infused with DNA from Adrien, Luka, and Kagami. This child would be the true combination of the four people, and made specifically to grow and be human, with all the beautiful decisions and chaos that came with it.

Two weeks later, Marinette was pregnant.

Chapter Text

“Pregnancy is hell.” Marinette complains to no one and everyone as Kagami sits beside her. Luka is currently performing with Kitty Section, and Adrien has his shift at the bakery.

“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Kagami says, giving a soft smile as she holds Marinette’s hand.

“I hope so. If she comes out different, Ema’s gonna come back in time and kick our asses before she fades from existence.” Marinette says with a light chuckle.

“Well, I’m sure the public will be excited to meet our daughter.” Kagami says, laying her hand on Marinette’s stomach. Marinette was four months pregnant, and showed the baby bump quite visibly. 

“Well, at least I finally have a use for the pregnant woman collection I made last year.” Marinette smirks. “Ugh, I’m craving cheese. Get me Plagg’s stash.” she orders, and Kagami rolls her eyes as she gets up.

“He’s not going to be happy.” Kagami says.

“I’ve never given a fuck before, what makes you think I’m gonna start with pregnancy cravings ?” She asks matter-of-factly, and Kagami soon comes over, her nose scrunching slightly as the scent of the cheese. Kagami brings it on a plate with some crackers and a small knife, but Marinette just grabs the cheese and gobbles it up without a second thought.

And yet, Kagami cannot help but keep her smile on her face as her feral lover consumes the cheese like a ravenous rodent.

---

“What is with people these days?” Claude whispers, looking around a corner to see a number of armed and masked folks keeping a number of bank clerks and customers hostage.

“I swear, word got out somehow that Myrrha’s pregnant.” Allegra growls.

“I don’t see how. We didn’t even know until a week ago.” Alan adds.

“It doesn’t matter. Time to take them down before they decide to search the building.” he says, and the other two nod, seeing that the cameras are already disabled- those terrorists just dug their own grave.

“Xuppu, Showtime!” Claude announces, and the kwami enters the fashionable headband circlet he wears.

“Wayzz, Shell On!” Alan calls, and the kwami enters his sweet bracelet.

“Trixx, Let’s Pounce!” Allegra orders as the kwami enters her familiar necklace.

“If any of you even tries anything, I swear to god, we’ll-” one of the robbers threatens, holding up a gun, but a green barrier suddenly rises, trapping the three robbers in the main room within! “What the?!” he exclaims as the three heroes enter the scene.

“Vixen, Tortuga, Wuking!” one of the civilians exclaims. “The Quantics are here!” they exclaim, and Wuking looks proud.

“Hah! See, it’s catching on.” he says, proud of himself.

“It’s still a dumb name.” Vixen rolls her eyes, and Tortuga lands on the ground.

“I’ve got these three, but there are five in total we saw. They’re probably already at the vault. You all go check it out.” he says, and the heroes head down towards the vault.

Once down at the vault, they see one of them is holding a gun to a teller’s head while the other loads up several bags with money.

“Mirage.” Vixen whispers while Wuking softly conjures an “Upset” (a new power) item- a cork. As Vixen leans around the corner, she takes the mirage bead into her hand and nods to Wuking, and he nods to her.

Climbing to the ceiling, he darts to the other side of the hall across it, and then lands on the other end. They are on opposite corners of the hall entrance, and prepare to launch their respective items, and- they do so with ease. The cork ricochets around the room and plugs into the gun of the hostage keeper with ease, while the mirage bead impacts the man in the vault, and his eyes glaze over. The other looks to see a cork in the gun, and seems confused, until he sees the two heroes standing at the end of the hall.

Needless to say, things fell apart pretty quickly for him when his gun fired confetti.

---

As the five perpetrators are hauled off to jail, the three heroes are celebrated as they rush off to detransform.

“I still gotta go back and make my deposit. I swear, if those guys screwed up the bank system, I’m gonna lose my shit.” Claude states.

“It’ll be fine. Those guys only had the skill to try and take physical money.” Alan dismisses. “It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, hope you’re right.” Claude sighs.

“You guys still on for video games tonight? I’m thinking of bringing ‘Nettie a care package.” Allegra suggests, and Claude smiles.

“Yeah, sounds cool!” He grins.

“Fine by me.” Alan nods.

---

Over the next few months, Marinette was cared for by her dear friends, but she’s a busybody- she has been physically dragged away from her work room on more than one occasion, and they considered locking it, but apparently Marinette just taught herself how to lockpick and opened it up. Not only that, but if Adrien wasn’t around, it literally took at least three people to drag her out due to how strong she is.

Of course, the thing that primarily kept Marinette calm and in place was whenever Manon came to visit. Manon, now in her tween years, wears a pair of sunglasses that rest on her head (similar to how Chloe sometimes dresses), with her pigtails training off as she happily wears her typical overalls and spends her visits listening to Marinette’s belly and happily reporting any kicking she feels to Marinette, all while Marinette just listens kindly to Manon’s wonderful excitement.

“You just wait, Marinette! I’ll babysit for her, just like you did for me!” Manon insists, and Marinette smiles sweetly.

“Is that a fact?” Marinette asks, just thinking of the trouble Manon could get into with her little engine of chaos she knows Emilie will become.

“Yep!” Manon proclaims proudly. “I’ll be the best babysitter! I’ll use everything you and Alya taught me to be the best of the best!”

“I’m sure you will, Manon.” Marinette says with a kind smile. “Now, help me sit up to get us some food…”

---

Luka and Alix sit next to each other, having coffee together and looking out across the Parisian skyline. “The balance is shifting soon.” Alix says.

“Yeah…I had a feeling. Emilie can’t exist without chaos, huh?” he asks.

“You have no idea. I’ve seen what’s coming, and…it’s not something they expect.” she looks away. “I’m…I’m ashamed that I can’t do anything about it, because it all has to happen.” she says, choking back some additional words.

“Everything will be fine.” Luka says, confident.

“I know it will be.” Alix says. “It’s everyone else’s knowledge I’m worried about…”

---

On the day Marinette’s water broke, she was rushed to the emergency room by her spouses. Her parents waited with her, proud of her and ecstatic to meet their granddaughter. The Doctor helped guide her through it, as well as her Mother, as her loves waited to the side, Adrien holding her hand tight as she screamed in pain, working to push her daughter out of her.

She soon worked, and as Marinette panted in relief as her dear out of her, she was confused as to why no one was as relieved or celebrating as her, until she finally begin to sober up from the pain medication.

…Emilie isn’t crying.

Chapter Text

“Is she okay?!” Adrien bursts up from the chair, looking at the Doctor that walks out of an examination room from the Doctors looking over Emilie, while Marinette is anxious in her hospital bed.

“She’s fine.” The Doctor starts off with, assuring the parents. “Your daughter is okay. We’re not entirely sure why she isn’t crying- she’s not bigger, premature, and it wasn’t a difficult delivery. We’re not sure why she didn’t cry. Do you believe it could be related to her senticreature nature?” The Doctor asks Adrien, who ponders this.

“Well, even if it’s lessened, I still vocalize pain…” he mutters.

“Lisa, the gorilla senticreature.” Marinette begins. “She made a lot of noise when she was born. It’s not the senticreature thing.” she explains.

“Well, if it’s not that, we’re not entirely sure what it could be. Rest assured, however, she is healthy and safe. We have determined that she is, indeed, a healthy baby girl, and breathing properly. We’re going to just wrap up things and bring her right to you.” the Doctor assures the family before leaving.

Marinette lays her head back on her pillow, relieved. I was one set of bad news away from calling Alix… She thinks to herself, and looking to her lovers, it seems they all might be thinking the same thing. But they don’t need to. Emilie is healthy, she’s alive, she’s well, she’s just…different. But we knew that already.

---

Marinette is holding little Emilie Dupain-Cheng in her arms. She is sleeping peacefully, and Marinette smiles at her daughter. “My little Ema…” she says quietly. “You’re going to be perfect.” She smiles, and Adrien comes over to gaze at his daughter.

“I love her so much, already.” Adrien says with a grin. “Everything we’ve done…all the hardships and pain, it’s all been worth it for her,” he says.

“We’re going to raise her better than we were raised.” Kagami adds, resting a hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“And already, I can feel a beautiful melody being composed within her.” Luka concludes.

---

Unlike most babies, whose eyes colors and hair can change slightly over time, Emilie’s did not. When Emilie’s eyes began to focus, they were the same dichromatic hues as expected, and her hair was still the full blonde of her Papa.

“We’ll be taking her in public soon.” Marinette says, and Adrien smiles.

“You sound worried.” He notes, and she chuckles.

“Maybe a little.” she admits. “I’m still not sure how much we can tell her, or even how much we can hide…” he says quietly.

“We can’t and won’t hide anything.” Adrien insists. “She deserves to know, and make her own decisions from there. We’ll teach her the values of secrecy.” He explains. “I just think that, after everything we’ve gone through, we shouldn’t have to put our own daughter through our secrets. I mean, what are we gonna do? Lock the kwami room and make it off limits?” he asks, and she chuckles as Tikki rests on her shoulder.

“You’re right.” Marinette says and she plants a kiss atop her daughter’s head, then sets her down in her crib. “No secrets. She deserves better than that.”

“Now, I’m gonna go call Chloe and see just how much she has planned for our little ‘outing’.” Adrien says and walks away as Marinette coos over her daughter.

---

Pushing the sleeping Ema in a stroller some weeks after her birth, the foursome arrived at the Grand Paris, with the infant’s wide eyes taking in everything around her.

“She’s gonna have to get used to big buildings with how often we travel between our place and the hotel.” Luka says with a smile.

“I’m sure she’ll get used to it soon enough. She’ll have inherited our natural affinity for direction.” Kagami insists.

“Gami, she’s a baby.” Adrien says. “Give her a few years,” he jokes.

“Oh my goodness!” a voice says, and they look up to see Chloe Bourgeois, wearing her typically designer attire, with a grin on her face. “You’ve finally shown up! Took you long enough.” She says dismissively, tossing back some hair elegantly, and Adrien looks at his watch.

“We’re ten minutes early.” He says.

“That’s beyond early for me.” Marinette smirks.

Chloe puffs out her cheeks and huffs. “Well, ex cuse me , but I happen to want to see my Goddaughter! You’ve kept her holed up for long enough.” she says, and Marinette rolls her eyes.

“Remind me why I let you make her the godmother?” Marinette asks Adrien.

“Because she was my first friend?” he offers, and she just chuckles as Chloe comes up and crouches down, looking over Emilie.

“I must say, I can’t stand most babies, but at least yours seems well behaved.” she says as she looks into the eyes of the child, who just stares back without so much as a noise, sucking on a pacifier.

“Any chance we can head to the cafe now?” Marinette asks, and Chloe stands up.

“Right, right! This way!” she says and leads them to the cafe and they proceed to get Ema comfortable in a booster seat.

Over the course of the afternoon, several people came to see the baby and give some ‘good luck parenting’ gifts to the four parents. When Felix and Bridgette arrive, Bridgette coos over the little baby while Felix just gazes down at Ema with…mixed feelings. It probably didn’t help that literally only Marinette, Adrien, and Felix knew Jester’s true identity and nature- and therefore what this calm little baby is destined to become.

“C’mon, Felix, Ema won’t bite!” Bridgette insists.

“Maybe not yet .” Felix responds, eyeing the seemingly innocent baby.

 Marinette just smiles as she sees the trouble Felix has getting anywhere close to his tormentor, even when she’s just a baby. There’s probably a story behind that. that they’ll learn eventually . For now, she gathers the gifts together with Adrien and Kagami’s help while Luka stays with Emilie, and soon there are footsteps as a familiar face enters the room.

“Sorry I’m late!” Alya says as she comes in with a sigh. “I got caught up recording Nino’s latest gig.” she explains, and Marinette smiles as she hugs Alya.

“No problem, Al. C’mon, let me introduce you to Ema.” she says, and Alya smiles wide.

“Yes, please~” she says and smiles wide at the little baby. “She’s already such a quiet little angel.” She says, and Adrien smiles.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, that won’t last forever.” He says, and Alya groans.

“It’s true . I remember when the twins were babies, and neither of them were nearly as quiet as Ema…” she sighs. “I can only hope you guys find the suffering of parenthood soon enough.” she says while sticking out her tongue playfully.

“You say that, but I fully expect our little girl to have some friends soon enough.” Adrien jokes and kisses Ema’s forehead.

---

The months would go onward with a peaceful Ema making sounds and playing with toys, like any baby would, but never making a fuss or crying.

“You don’t think it’s actually a sentimonster thing, do you? Like she’s forcing herself to be subservient?” Adrien asks, worried.

“Based upon some of the early sentimonsters Felix made? She doesn’t have the capacity yet to do such a thing.” Marinette answers.

“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Kagami says.

“Ma…cur…brgh...” Ema coos.

Marinette’s eyes immediately dart to her and sits next to her darling daughter. “What was that, sweetie? Was that ‘Maman’? Say ‘maman’, baby~” She smiles.

“It might not be that easy. She was probably trying to say something that she’s heard around the house…” Luka says.

“Ma…cu…” Ema burbles again.

“‘Maman is cool’? I agree, Ema~” Adrien teases.

The four of them continue to joke until Ema leans back onto her back, and lets loose a word…well, the best approximation of one.

“Marculash!” She announces.

The room fell dead silent except for the little baby’s gurglings.

“Did…did she just say…?” Adrien asks to no one in particular as Ema announces it again.

“The one word we say in this house more than anything.” Kagami notes with a soft smile.

“And we can’t even tell anyone it was her first word!” Marinette yells, exasperated as she leans back and lays on her back on the carpeted floor.

Chapter Text

“You haven’t come in some years.” Gabriel says as Adrien sits across from him, visiting him at the prison.

“I’ve had no reason to visit.” Adrien responds coldly. “I’m just giving you a common courtesy, and only because Marinette convinced me to.” he says.

“I find it deplorable to believe that woman is your ‘better half’,” Gabriel states, glaring at the now third ring on Adrien’s hand.

“She’s far more than that.” Adrien says with a bit of a smile, admiring his three rings. “However, we felt the need to inform you that we’ve overcome the final hurdle in our relationship.” he explains.

“And that is?” Gabriel asks, disinterested but aware that Adrien will not leave until he tells him.

Adrien then looks his ‘father’ in the eye. “We have a daughter now.” he says, and Gabriel’s eyes widen. “And before you ask, yes , she’s mine. And Luka’s. And Kagami’s. At least half of her is the pairing you desired, right ?” he asks with venom in his voice, and Gabriel glares back at him.

“I…I have a…?” his voice softens, but Adrien slams his hand on the table.

“Before you make any assumptions , if I have my way, you will never meet her.” Adrien clarifies. “She is my daughter , and she’ll know of all you’ve done soon enough.” he says and stands up. “That is all I wanted to tell you. And if I’m lucky, I’ll never see you again.” he says, leaving the dumbstruck Gabriel behind in the visitation room.

---

The years had gone by faster than the parents intended- soon, Ema was growing up as the years went by. The parents had decided against allowing Ema to attempt pre-maternelle or maternelle; someone so young could not possibly keep the secrets of her life. However, Adrien was quite adamant that Ema must go to Primary School, as she deserved the education and school life he never got, and frankly, the others agreed. Luka himself was home schooled, but that was only because their family could only afford for one of the twins to go to school, and Luka was more than glad to let his sister go.

When Ema was six years old, Kagami made the arrangements herself to ensure that her daughter would be placed within a wonderful Primary School. There was a very low tolerance for bullies, as well as well-respected reccomendations. Kagami considers that perhaps a good relationship with this primary school would be good for their future- after all, they planned on having more children.

“You know why we have been hesitant to send you to school, right Ema?” Marinette asked her little daughter, who was getting ready for her day with the help of the kwamis, like a disney princess (as pointed out by Adrien).

“Because I need to be careful, what I say, so you, Papa, Dad’s, and Mother’s identities aren’t put in danger.” Ema recites diligently.

“That’s right. However, we've seen how well you’ve existed in public. You’ve always been good at keeping our secrets.” Marinette smiles, and Ema beams proudly.

“Which is why…” Marinette crouches in front of her. “In about a month, we’ll be taking you to school. You’ll be spending a few hours most days away from home, and without any of us. It’s a place where you can learn things, make friends, and get used to not always being around us. Are you okay with that?” Marinette asks. Ema unfortunately doesn’t have a say, but maybe Marinette can spend her month getting her to understand…Marinette remembers that she first began to spiral into panicking rants whenever she was left alone at maternelle, much less primary school.

However, to her surprise, Ema just nodded. “I’ll be ready, Maman. I’ll make you proud.” she says confidently. Surprising, but…also not. Ema is always a brave girl, and even when Manon babysat, she was quiet and obedient. Marinette wondered exactly when her chaotic tendencies kick in…

---

Emilie Dupain-Cheng had a deep love for the people in her life. Her Maman, Mother, Papa, and Dad were all dearly beloved by her, and Ema loved the kwamis just as much. Her family was expansive, and she only felt a slightly lesser love for their friends and her extended family. Ema believed that perhaps she just had a deep love for people in general, and was excited to share that among the other children she would meet in a month.

Ema knew she was weird- she learns faster than anyone else, and she speaks better than most other kids she’s seen her age. She’s heard people say that she’s weird for never throwing tantrums, but it never made sense. When she sees the heroes battle, she never feels like she’s in danger, and she feels a kinship with this one gorilla at the zoo. Yes, Ema is weird, but her parents have always done their best to treat her like their little Princess, so she never minded this knowledge.

Ema has lived for six long years, and is aware that this is only the beginning of her journey, and has grown up with the tragic stories of past Miraculous holders, as well as the story that brought the Heroes of Paris to where they are now, including the story of her Grandfather. She wasn’t sure if she could blame him or not…certainly, she doesn’t believe that losing any one person in her family or anyone she cared for would be worth destroying everything to rebuild it.

When the time came for primary school, the toddler was driven to class by her Maman and Papa. 

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” Adrien asks, very visibly conflicted on separating from his daughter.

“I’ll be okay, Papa.” Ema insists with a smile.

“Really? Cause we could probably put it off for another few days if you really need some more time…” Adrien insists, but as he is crouched in front of his daughter, she pats him atop the head.

“You’ll be okay, Papa. You can pick me up in a few hours, and then we can have a big dinner to celebrate my big day.” She says, and Adrien has proud tears pouring down his face as his own daughter gives him a pep talk.

Marinette takes Ema’s hand and starts to lead her inside. “Wait in the car, chaton. I’ll take Ema inside.” she says.

“Have a good day! It’ll be over before you know it!” Adrien bawls a little bit, already desperate to see his daughter again.

“Will Papa be okay?” Ema asks her Maman, and Marinette smiles down at her.

“He’ll be fine, dear, I promise.” she insists. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to make all your favorite food over the course of the next week.” she says, and Ema gets a wide grin at that indication.

Ema is led to a room where many kids her age are already chattering about the playing amongst themselves before class begins, as many Mothers are dropping their kids off. Her own Maman talks to the teacher, and Ema is given a place to sit while she quietly waits for class. She quietly waves goodbye to her Mother, and soon, class begins.

The first day is widely what her parents said it would be- getting to know one another. Ema is hoping to learn things, but unfortunately, it’s just other kids talking, and…Ema mostly avoids them. They’re not what she was expecting. They’re loud, they’re drooly, they’re… weird.

Maman compared the Kwamis to young children, but these people are nothing like them. I was expecting to love them the same way I love the kwamis when I take care of them, but these people…they’re just oversized babies. They act off. I expected to love them all, but…

…but why do I feel nothing for them? Not even the teacher?

---

Adrien worked hard on a feast of a dinner. “Adrien, I love you, but with all this food, we’re gonna have leftovers all week .” Luka insists, tuning his guitar on the couch.

“I can’t help it!” Adrien responds. “I’m worried about Ema. Agh, I should have spiraled with Marinette weeks ago when I had the chance!” he exclaims, remembering how Marinette, some weeks ago, had decided to spiral herself silly in anxiety, so she would function properly when the day came to send Ema to school.

“I’m not sure Mari’s attempts to have ‘controlled anxiety attacks’ is an example to follow.” Luka chuckles, but Adrien just throws up his hands, exasperated.

“Well, it’s been working !” Adrien exclaims, exasperated as Luka just laughs lovingly, the disgruntled Adrien continuing to cook.

---

Kagami soon drives up and waits outside for Ema, who wanders outside once classes end.

“Hello, Mother.” Ema greets her.

“Hello, Ema. How was your day?” Kagami asks, and her daughter seems…disappointed.

“It wasn’t like Papa said.” she said, disappointed, and Kagami leads her to the car.

“Your Papa can exaggerate.” Kagami admits. “However, I’ve heard he’s been working hard on your food for tonight.” she says, and Ema smiles.

“Yay!” is all the little girl vocalizes as Kagami drives them home.

---

A meal of delicious foods is enough to take Ema’s mind off of the day she had today. Maybe that would be a good way to look at it…school could be a minor distraction while she awaited it to end so she could see her family again.

But Papa seems to value school so highly, and Maman wants me to make friends…

I have time. I’ll make a few friends to make them happy.

I just hope they don’t expect too much of me…it doesn’t matter, it’ll be easy.

Making friends with those people will be like taming animals.

Chapter Text

Ema’s first week of Primary School wasn’t just spent learning what they sought to teach all the students- it was also spent learning about the other students, and the teachers themselves. She learned their names, their likes, their dislikes, their personalities…everything that would be useful information. The only issue is that her memory isn’t perfect, and since she hasn’t learned how to write perfectly yet, she’ll need to work on perfecting that before she begins taking notes on their behaviors.

On Ema’s second week of school, she followed her Maman and Papa’s advice and brought in a box of macarons the two of them had made together, so she could share them with the class. Apparently, it’s a good way to make good impressions on her classmates. They were right, and the other kids clambered to have a macaron and thanked her, and introduced herself, wanting to be her friends, but…

But they don’t like me. They just like Maman and Papa’s food. I can’t be friends with all of them. Maman warned me that making too many friends will be tiring, especially when I’m young. They just came for food.

Ema still proceeded to learn their names, and frowned as she began to hear about what they wanted. They told her about their favorite flavors, not wasting any time. She would bring them once a week, and experimented as she did. Sometimes she would “forget” the macarons to gauge their reactions. Sometimes she would have too little, or too many. Sometimes she would take flavor requests. Sometimes she would get requests wrong . It over time became a game- she was less interested in whether or not they were truly interested in being friends and more interested in their reactions to her antics. People knew nothing else about her, after all.

One day, however, Ema was finger painting and creating a cacophanus mess. It brought her joy to let the colors merge into an abstract explosion of color, but as she did, another student came to her.

“Hi! I’m Thea!” she says jubilantly.

“Hello.” Ema responds.

“What are you painting? It’s pretty.” Thea asks.

“Nothing. Just smearing.” Ema says.

“Fun! I’m gonna try that!” she says, smearing color on her own sheet. Thea’s smears, however, begin to resemble a brown mess. “Aw…you’re better at it than me.” she says, and Ema looks at her, confused as to her words.

“I’m sure it’s just a fluke…” she says quietly.

“I think you’re cool!” Thea says with a smile. “Do you wanna be friends?” she asks.

---

Just days later, Ema was waiting for her parents to pick her up when she sees a boy from her class- Marcel, she thinks- rush out and almost run into her, tripping and falling. “Agh!” he falls and whimpers as his knee is scraped.

Ema walks over and looks at him. “Are you okay?” she asks, and he looks up at her, clearly having scraped his knee with tears in his eyes.

“I’m- I- bugh- auh-” he sputters, and she walks inside as he blubbers and soon comes out with a bandaid from the nurse’s office. He looks on, confused as she just applies it to his leg. He looks on, amazed as she then begins to continue waiting, like she didn’t do anything.

At least now he’ll stop crying…that was annoying.

“Erm…” the boy says, sniffing and wiping his tears as Ema looks down at the sitting boy. “Do you wanna be friends?”

---

Ema does not know how this happened. One week, she was observing her peers as normal, and the next, two peers in particular have called themselves her friends and follow her around everywhere like a pair of puppies, with leashes in the form of macarons.

Is this how friendship works? They just decide they’re your friends and follow you around? I suppose I never told them ‘no’, but Maman wouldn’t have liked that. And now…

She looks around, her first year of school is almost over, and she sees countless balloons and other kids around her.

Now I’m at a birthday party.

“Ema!” she hears Thea say excitedly as she hugs her after running up to her. “You’re here!” she grins.

“Yeah, you invited me.” Ema responds, confused as to why this might be a surprise to Thea.

“Come on, we’ve got games!” Thea exclaims, pulling Ema along as Marinette gets the cake set up that Ema’s grandparents were paid to make for the party.

---

“Thea’s told us so much about Ema! Well, as much as she could.” Thea’s mother tells Marinette.

“Ema’s told us about Thea as well. She’s friends with everyone in her class, right?” Marinette asks.

“Oh, yes! That whole class is thick as thieves.” the woman says, and Marinette looks over to see her daughter being swarmed by children and looking rather…ambivalent to the situation.

“Yes…so it would seem.” she answers, and after seeing one of them sneak away an extra macaron from the box Ema brought, Marinette murmurs to herself, “Thieves is right…”

---

Ema soon became known as being good at games. She had some fun exerting her mind and body in a new way, so she enjoyed these birthday games. Of course, when it came to play team hide and seek, everyone wanted her on their team. In the end, she was on Thea and Marcel’s team, and as they were heading into the nearby thicket in the park, Thea grinned.

“Alright, Ema, I’ll show you the ropes of- where’d she go?” she asks, suddenly dumbstruck as Ema is nowhere to be found.

Ema just looked down at her dumbstruck team, Marcel being the only one to have seen her scale a tree in mere seconds, lounging on a high branch as she had seen her Papa do time and time again. In just under an hour, she was the only one from her team left, and thus helped her team be declared the winner.

“How did you do that?” Marcel asked, after the fact.

“Do what?” Ema asks, tilting her head.

“Climb a tree like that! I’ve never seen anyone do that so easily!” he exclaims.

“It’s easy for me .” she shrugs.

“Cool.” Marcel says with sparkling eyes.

---

“She’s becoming more athletic, already.” Marinette says over dinner, pride in her voice, which makes Ema smile.

“It’s settled, then. We’d best get working on a training bokken.” Kagami states calmly.

“Kagami, we agreed that there would be no training to fight until Secondary, at least!” Adrien scolds, and Luka chuckles.

“That’s assuming she somehow doesn’t teach herself before then.” Luka smiles.

---

Soon, Ema’s first year in Primary was coming to a close, and her own birthday would be not long after that. 

“I want a hero party…” Ema says.

“We can make that happen. Maybe even the prestigious Chat Noir will make an appearance~” Adrien gloats, but Marinette hits him in the back of the head.

“ No real heroes.” she scolds.

“Yes, Ma’am…” he pouts, and Ema smiles.

“I’ll invite my class.” Ema says.

“About that, Ema…” Marinette says. “You don’t need to invite the whole class , you know.”

“...what do you mean?” Ema asks, confused.

“I mean that you can just invite the people you like .” Marinette says, holding Ema closer. “I’ve seen how you interact with some of your classmates. They don’t all act like your friends.” She explains.

“...” Ema stays quiet, feeding this thought with her own. Maybe Maman is right…I thought making no friends would make her upset, but they’re upset that I’ve made fake friends. I didn’t see this coming…I should fix it.

“Maybe…we invite no one. See who my real friends are based on who gets upset…” Ema says softly, and Marinette kisses the top of her head.

“We can do that if you want, dear.” she smiles.

---

In the end, going into her second year of school, Ema only entered with two ‘friends’. However, she still believes they’re with her because they were smart enough not to be dissuaded by not being invited. She still leads them along by their leashes of snacks, favors, and awe. She can continue her experiments in friendship with only two subjects.

Chapter Text

So, ladies and gents, I've hit a bit of a block (as you've noticed) thanks to the slew of new Miraculous episodes grinding me to a creative halt as they hurt my brain.

However, I have had other ideas lately, and I'm wondering if you guys are interested in me making a whole "Miraculously Broken" series, or a "Broken Timeline".

Especially, a rewrite of the whole Miraculous series, not just Season 4 onward, with some Feralnette, Badass Chat Noir, eventual Chloe redemption, and now with less Alya salt!

It's just an idea, and I'm considering writing up the concept and posting it before anything else, and I'd like feedback on the idea in general.