Chapter Text
"What." Her husband says flatly, "is he doing here?"
She has to agree. They might be in Félix's home city but London's such a large place she hadn't even thought to worry about running into him when they came to Elliot's graduation. The anonymity of living in a city like this is one of the things she's missed over the years.
Yet here he is making a beeline towards them.
If not for how the widening of their son's eyes, that he's never been quite able to hide, betrays his panic she'd think it was Adrien disguised as his cousin to avoid attention. It would make more sense than Félix making eye contact with and then walking up to a couple of strangers.
Elliot doesn't quite fidget, as he looks between the two of you. "Adrien never told you."
Worry squeezes her throat but she manages to croak. "Told us what?"
"Félix knows I'm Adrien's brother. He discovered Adrien was visiting someone in London and well I do look..." rather like a young dark-haired Gabriel Agreste he doesn't have to say. The awkwardness of his resemblance to his father is known to all of them.
She regrets it not being something they were able to keep from him, for all she also wishes Adrien had found them sooner, but she hates that her son might blame himself for his appearance.
Noémie tries to be the sensible one and stay calm. She can tell his father wants to scream, and only the number of people around are stopping him.
"He what?" Mickael snaps.
"Don't worry! He doesn't know it all he thinks,"
"Ah Elliot," a deeper voice than she was expecting interrupts. She still sort of thinks of Félix as the age he was when they fled despite knowing full well how old Adrien is. "I heard it was your graduation and had to stop over to say hello since my cousin's so busy. And these must be your parents."
Félix holds out a hand that Mickael gingerly accepts, "Félix Graham de Vanily. I'm Adrien's cousin. I must say it was awfully good of you to be a father to Elliot after my Uncle killed himself without even doing anything for him."
"I'm sorry?" Noémie doesn't have to hide her shock, and she's suddenly hit by the version of events Félix believes, or claims to believe, happened.
The idea that Gabriel would have...no. Yes they had but that was afterward, and it was different. And he'd married her before it.
"I'm sorry," she'd bet money Felix isn't at all, despite his words there's a certain gleam in his eyes, "I'm being insensitive. He does know right?"
She gathers herself up and cooly responds, "my husband is fully aware of our son's parentage."