Work Text:
“Mayday! Mayday!” Nino cried, holding back a laugh as he collapsed on the sofa. “I’ve been shot!”
Louis giggled, flashing a mischievous grin that was a complete echo of Adrien’s (albeit missing a tooth or two). “I got you, Papa!” the seven-year-old cried in triumph, blowing on his finger pistols.
“You did, alright,” Nino agreed, reaching over to ruffle his son’s dark hair.
“Papaaaaaa!” Emma whined, tugging on his pants. “Up! Up!”
Nino smiled down at the little blonde. “Alright, Baby Girl. Piggyback or spinning?”
“Spin!” Emma cheered, thrusting her chubby arms up toward the DJ.
He shot his girlfriend a wry smile across the living room as he scooped their daughter up. He spun her around and around, and then carried her by the ankles for good measure when she giggled out a request for more. When he finally set the little cyclone of energy down, she wobbled over to Marinette, her lips pulled back in a big toothy grin.
“Mommy, Mommy! Did you see? Papa spinned me!”
Marinette glanced down over the book she was reading to Emilie and smiled at her other daughter. “I saw, Kitten. Did you say thank you to Papa?”
Emma’s brows furrowed for a moment, and she spun back to Nino. “Thank you, Papa!”
Nino smirked at Marinette before rolling off the couch. “You’re welcome, Baby Girl. Now c'mon kiddos, it’s time to get ready for bed.”
“But Papa!” Louis and Emma whined in unison.
Nino leaned down and pretended to whisper conspiratorially, “If you guys behave now, I’ll make sure Mama and Daddy bring you sweets when they come back from their trip.”
Emma nodded immediately, but Louis seemed to weigh his options before agreeing.
Nino ushered the kids toward the bathroom so they could wash up, and he looked back to where Mari sat with the other two.
The fashion designer gently closed the book and nudged Emilie to follow her twin and her big brother. “Go on, Pumpkin, we can finish this tomorrow.”
Emi nodded, yawned, and blinked her amber eyes up at Marinette. “Ok, Mommy. Love you,” she whispered before hopping off the chaise and catching up to where Emma was waiting for her. Louis picked the girls up and over the baby gate, careful to stay behind them on the way up the stairs.
Alone in the living room, save for baby in his bouncer, Nino straddled Marinette on the chaise, one hand braced on the fabric near her upper thigh, the other cupping her face tenderly.
She glanced up at him with her sparkling baby-bell eyes, and Nino felt his breath catch. While the DJ was distracted, she pecked his nose and grinned.
“I love you,” she announced softly.
Nino felt his lips twitch up in a grin. “Same.”
He felt her punch his shoulder lightly, but before she could utter a complaint, he closed the space between their lips, melting into each other from years of practice.
When they pulled back, panting, he rested his forehead on hers. “I love you, Mari.”
She smiled, and Nino swore he could feel the affection radiating off of her. She gave him another quick peck and a tight squeeze before nudging him. “You should go make sure they actually brush their teeth,” she reminded, knowing full well that their children had an aversion to toothpaste.
Nino made a show of getting up after much prodding. “You’ve got Jerome?” he asked his girlfriend, moving to follow the older three kids only when she nodded. With one last glance, he loped up the steps.
“C'mon, Little One,” Marinette said to their fifteen-month-old, “Time for pjs and nightie-night.” She settled him on her hip after setting the fairytale book down.
Jerome blinked at her with Alya’s eyes, and babbled something as Tikki floated around his head. “Yeah, I hear you,” Marinette mumbled absently as she looked after the retreating figure of her boyfriend.
She shuffled her ladybug slippers (a gift from her pun-loving boyfriend) out of the living room and grabbed Jerome’s bottle from its warmer on the kitchen counter. Once she tested the temperature, she handed him the bottle and headed toward the stairs, careful to step over the baby gates without jostling Jerome.
When she found Nino, he was already in the nursery, tucking the twins in.
“Papa, tell us a story,” Emma said from beneath her pink and white-polka-dotted blanket. Emilie nodded from her own burrow in a matching purple blanket.
“Please, Papa,” Emilie mumbled softly.
Nino put his hands up in defeat, and Marinette felt herself smiling as she stood beside the crib that had first belonged to Louis, and then to Emilie, and now to Jerome.
“You little ladies drive a hard bargain. Any requests?”
“Ladybug and La Mariposa!” Emma cried out, pumping her fists in the air. Marinette stifled a giggle; of course Emma wanted to hear about her mothers’ hero identities.
“Chat Noir!” Louis called from his room across the hall, not letting his Daddy be forgotten.
“And Papa,” Emilie added. “Don’t forget Papa,” she scolded her brother and sister.
“Alrighty, Louis, you wanna come in here, or just pretend you’re not listening?” Nino called across the hall.
“I’m not listening,” came the cheeky reply, but nevertheless, their oldest stood in the doorway a few seconds later.
“Okay kids, this is the story of how I met Mama, Mommy, and Daddy.”