Adrien woke up to a cold bed, not exactly the way he thought the morning would go after the night before, but still he couldn't deny the happiness he felt to still be here; the bed he shared with his wife.

Before falling to sleep the previous night; he'd called off his transformation whilst he and Ladybug got better acquainted, after all she was the one who wanted to feel him, he had to admit though, having her fingers run through her hair was a whole other feeling as they kissed and cuddled until they fell asleep.

Looking over to the bedside table, he looked at the alarm clock checking to see if the power had come back on. Taking the flashing of the red '0's to be a good sign, he turned onto his side and patted around his bedside drawer for his phone.

With the six hour time difference he was shocked to have found it was still morning in Paris, shocked and internally happy. It meant more time with his Lady; if he could find her that was.

Laying on his back, he placed his hands behind his head. Oh, what a night! He looked up to the ceiling, a dazzling smile on his face as he remembered their previous night together. He finally felt like a man, not in a disturbing way, more like, he had a wife, and a proper family now; and when his Lady had fallen asleep on his chest everything just seemed to finally click. His dreams were no longer filled with ideals and fantasies, instead they were filled with his real life. He placed his hands over his eyes and dragged them down his face, unable to wipe the smile from his lips.

"Get that smug grin off your face," Plagg flew up and near Adrien's head, the latter attempting to smack him out the way. "You look stupid."

"Shut up!" Adrien grumbled, leaning over to reach for his phones (yes, plural).

Pulling both from the drawer, he quickly checked on his friends a sigh of relief as they all informed each other that they were okay; Alya and Marinette had gone off to work and Nino had the day off to work on the soundtracks for an advertising campaign he was part of. He made a mental note to message his friend a little later, he couldn't remember the last time he spoke to Nino at a normal time, a time when one of them wasn't half asleep or rushing to get somewhere.

Next, he checked the forecast in North Carolina, praying they were still on hurricane watch and he could stay in Paris for a couple more days. He'd really made progress with Ladybug, and he didn't want to have to leave and kill the momentum, not when it seemed she was finally letting him in.

Eventually 'The Weather Channel' app loaded and he could see Charlotte was clear, as was the rest of the state. Damn! Pulling up his emails, he waited to see when he would be back at training, only to be pleasantly surprised when the email from the team manager recommended training from wherever they were for the next couple of days.

Easy!

A few runs around Paris as his alter ego would take care of that. Maybe even a game of kiss chase? He giggled to himself at the thought. Pushing the covers to one side, he stood from the bed, placing the first of his phones down and looking at the second.

Ladybug: Morning Kitty Cat, I've had to go into work. I should be finished about 5pm, I hope you'll still be there ❤️

A heart. She'd sent him a heart! Oh, goodness! This was just...he couldn't describe it!

Love! A voice in his head did the hard work for him. But it was right, this really was love.

Chat Noir: No worries M'Lady. I've got the rest of the week off, would you be okay putting up a stray? ❤️

Her reply was almost instant, she must have been waiting for his message. What a thrill!

Ladybug: Of course it is. I really enjoyed the time with you last night, and not to inflate your ego or anything, that was the best night's sleep I've had since we took down Monarch ❤️

"Me too, Bug, me too." Texting out a quick, flirty, message he let her know he felt the exact same way, a happy loved up sigh leaving his mouth as he placed the second phone down next to the first.

Stretching, he looked around the room. There were still many boxes to unpack, plus the poster of Jennifer Lawrence he really should part with. He knew for sure, if he'd been here in his mid teens the whole room would be covered in pictures of Ladybug. Since he hit 14 no other girl had come close. He walked to the poster and pulled it from the spot on the wall, taking a chunk of plaster and a substantial amount of paint off with it.

"Ooops!" he said, looking to Plagg for a reaction only for the kwami to shake his head and fly over.

"Why don't you just man up and move into the grown up bedroom. That way it's a fresh start for both of you and you can leave us Kwamis in here. All we need are pillows and maybe a nice blanket or two?"

Blanket!

Adrien suddenly remembered the accident from the previous night, how Ladybug had tripped and spilt something over her favourite blanket. Snorting, he exited the room, the memory fresh from Ladybug head butting the wall during her seduction routine. Plagg followed Adrien out, continuing to shout and warn him that he will not be ignored. The blond grabbed his wig and removed it from his head, his search for Ladybug's new fleecy red blanket priority.

He found said object just outside the bedroom door, and grabbed it. Maybe if he was going to wash her blanket he could do the same for other items too. Maybe, he could empty her washing baskets, or wash the bedsheets, the aforementioned item seemed a good shout.

Moving back to the bedroom, he looked around before turning back to Plagg, currently settled on the pillows eating whatever Ladybug had left out for him.

"I know the other bedroom would be better in terms of size, and the ensuite is amazing, but I don't know if I want to sleep in a bed where my parents have..." he pursed his lips and shivered, pulling the white duvet cover off the quilt, he repeated his actions with each of the pillows, flinging Plagg to the other side of the room as he pulled the cover from the fluffy cushion underneath (luckily, not a feather one).

"That was not nice!" Plagg huffed only for Adrien to shrug.

"Who said I was being nice?"

"Oh, so now you're married and have caught a bug, it doesn't matter about me anymore? I get it! I'm now second best." Plagg sniffed, Adrien rolling his eyes at the fakeness of his kwami.

"You've always been second best, get over it."

"The cheek!" Plagg zoomed away as the other kwamis came around Adrien laughing before flying off to find (and tease) a grumpy Plagg. The whole apartment was chaos and he began to wonder how Ladybug had coped with them all for so long. She must have been at the end of her tether with them; give him a baby any day.

A warm pulse ran down his spine as he thought about a baby with Ladybug. A baby with black hair and piercing green eyes, just like a mini Marin- nope he wasn't going down that slippery slope again. It was taking up too much of his time comparing the two and trying to place one into the other. He needed to get over it; for his wife's sake and his own. He scooped up the sheets and headed towards the kitchen.

Adrien dropped the sheets down in front of the washing machine and placed his hands on his hips, embarrassed to say he had no idea how to work the damn thing. There were dials to turn, buttons to press and a weird drawer thing which he thought was where the washing powder went. Also, how the hell do you get into the damn thing?

"Okay Adrien, you're a smart guy! You can work this out, it can't be too hard." he said to himself, before grabbing his phone and looking up the make and the model on the internet. He quickly read over the manual and absorbed as much information as possible; getting a quick idea of what the symbols on each item meant. He continued his search by looking for washing powder, or, according to Google, capsules.

Opening cupboard after cupboard, he began to wonder where Ladybug would have put the washing powder.

Think, Adrien, think!

He looked around the kitchen, pursing his lips, if he was Ladybug, where would he put the capsules? He looked around the room trying to get into her train of thought, when his eyes stopped on the sink.

The sink! Of course.

He made his way over to the cupboard situated under the kitchen sink and opened it like a villain taking down a superheroes lair. "Gotcha!" He said, grabbing a hold of the blue and white box, the word capsules on the side.

Right, next job, separate by washing temperature. He could do that. He sorted the sheets, the blanket and a load of Ladybug's clothes and underwear into piles (a boyish giggle escaping his lips when he touched her bra. How adolescent!) Right, that was sorted. Now to put a pile in the washing machine. This was child's play!

He congratulated himself so far on being a successful, domesticated house husband. Perhaps when he moved back to Paris he could do this full time. He had enough money from his basketball contracts and endorsements to support them. Maybe he just wouldn't work anymore.

Okay, so he'd got the washing, sorted the washing and placed it in the washing machine...now he just needed to add the capsule, turn it on and ba-da bing, ba-da boom, washing done; maybe he'd have a chance to dry it all too.

He stood in front of the capsule container and looked at the opener. A clip at the front and two in each corner. Easy! He pressed one...nothing. Holding down two...still not budging. Finally, he placed his chin against one as his hands worked the other two...and still nothing.

Picking up the box he twisted and turned it around trying to see if there was a hidden secret somewhere. Nothing. He looked at the instructions on the side of the box, it seemed so simple so why wasn't it working?

Finally giving in, he walked back to the bedroom. He picked up his phone and found Nino's number. He was going to call his friend anyway, so maybe he could kill two birds with one stone.

As he waited for his friend to pick up the call, he made his way back to the kitchen and the washing machine. Perhaps he could try and work out the dials and buttons whilst he was waiting. Finally, Nino answered much to Adrien's relief.

"Nino, hey man! Listen, I'm kind of in a predicament."

"What have you done, Agreste?"

"I can't get the safety lock off the washing capsules."

There was silence on the other side of the phone, which was suddenly filled by the shrieking laughter of Nino.

"Nino? You still there?"

"Yeah, sorry, I thought you said you were doing the washing. I must have blacked out for a moment."

"No, I am. I'm actually going to do the washing."

"Like clothes and all?"

"Yup, clothes, a blanket, a couple of other things."

"Hold up. Let me get this right. You're doing the washing? What happened to your housekeeper?"

"I'm not at home right now," Adrien cringed, wrinkling up his nose waiting for Nino to piece this together.

"Not at home? Well I know that, you said you'd been moved out because of the hurricane. Are you not at a hotel, or something?"

"I'm - at 'or something'?"

Silence once again took over and Adrien swore he could hear the tick tock of his life passing by as he waited for Nino's reply.

"Ok, I don't want to build my hopes up too much here, but Adrien? Are you at a woman's house? Or a man's? You know we love you either way right?"

Adrien laughed, his hand going to the back of his neck as he thought of a reply to Nino. Damn, he wanted to save this until he was back in Paris permanently, he really wanted to see his friend's face, but it seemed now was as good as ever.

"Your hopes have been met because, yes, I'm at a woman's house."

"And you're doing her washing? She got you wrapped around her little finger or something?"

"Nope, well, kind of...but I'm doing our washing."

"Dude!" Nino started chuckling on the other side of the phone, "You got a girlfriend? I can't believe this! When? How? Who? Why? When? Is this why you broke up with Louella?"

"Actually, Louella was a publicity stunt. But I haven't got a girlfriend," he took a deep breath, "I have a wife."

A crash, a smash and some words similar to those Luka spewed out in the live chat came out of Nino's mouth.

"Married?" he hissed, "you got married and you didn't think of telling me."

"I haven't told anyone, man! This is between us okay, you can't tell Alya, or Marinette." His heart did a weird flip, his hand going up to his chest. Maybe he had heartburn?

"Fine, but I'm not happy, dude! The most special day of your life and we weren't invited; the girls are going to be crushed."

"Yeah, well, it was in the spur of the moment decision. Maybe we'll have a vow renewal at some point."

"You better! I have my best man's speech already written and ready to go, don't take this away from me."

"Well, now you know, my wife is at work and I want to clean the apartment for her, but I can't work out the capsule container."

"You mean the dials, because they are -"

"No," Adrien interrupted, "I can't work out the capsule box."

"You're useless! How did you manage to get a wife?"

"My amazing charm and supermodel good looks?"

"It definitely wasn't your jokes and domestic ability. You must be one hell of a machine in -" Nino was interrupted by Adrien's groan.

"Don't finish that sentence please."

"Fine, so tell me what kind of box have you got?"

"One with three little pushy things."

"Oh yes! The evil of all boxes. Press the middle one in first and give it a little push up, then repeat for the sides at the same time."

Adrien held the phone between his chin and shoulder, freeing both his hands on the box and after 16 attempts he got it.

"Yay! I'm in, excellent!"

"Do you want a sticker or something?"

"Har har! Okay, so clothes in, dials in the right place, capsule in, door close, temperature button sent and go!"

The sudden noise of water filled his ears, the sound of success!

"Good work, man."

"Thanks for your help Nino, and don't forget, no telling the girls, I know you hold secrets like a strainer."

"I honour the bro code man, but I want deets next time you're over in Paris."

"Sure thing."

"Oh, one more thing, you did separate the colours from the whites, right?" Nino asked, Adrien screwing his eyebrows together.

"Why? Do they not get along?" Adrien laughed.

"You didn't, did you? Oh my God, your wife's going to go apeshit! You're meant to separate the colours so they don't mix. Darks with darks, colours together and whites."

Adrien looked down at the washing machine full of mainly whites; as it spun in its hypnotising circle round and around Adrien's eyes widened, because every so often something bright and red appeared at the window. Oh no!

"And say a red blanket snuck itself in there with the whites? Like white blouses? A couple of tees? Maybe some underwear? What - what would h-happen then?"

"Listen man, I need to go, Alya will be back for lunch soon with Marinette. Just when the cycle has finished please send me a pic." Nino's laughter filled the phone as the call ended, the bleep of the ending tone pounding in his head.

Oh no! What had he done? Pulling up his phone again he found his best friend, aka Google, and asked them what was going to happen to his washing, only to find a rather detailed video which announced everything was going to turn a lovely shade of pink.

"Plagg," Adrien screamed, causing the kwami to come flying to his holder.

"What? What is it? Is Monarch back?"

"Worse," Adrien gulped, "look." He pointed to the washing machine, the red blanket at the front of the plastic door.

The black kwami broke into crazy laughter, flying up to the machine and watching the red spiral around and around.

"Nice work, kiddo! I might call it karma."

"What am I going to do? She's going to kill me. It's all of her white clothes."

Plagg cackled once again, moving away from the machine and heading towards the master bedroom suite.

"You want my opinion kid? You have approximately six hours to turn your parents suite into a room your wife would see as yours. Unpacking her boxes, tidying up the place-"

"Buying a new bed because there is no way I'm sleeping in that!"

"Just move yours out of your room into here for now, it's nicely decorated, I think she would appreciate it."

Walking to the closet Adrien apprehensively pulled it open. He hadn't been here since he was a young teen and he was unsure whether it had been cleared out or would still have pieces of his mother dotted around the room. Taking a deep breath he slid it open, only to be met with the sight of nothing, except a blanket (how ironic!)

Sitting down on his knees, he reached forward and pulled it out from the empty void, turning it over in his hands as he examined it. It was his baby blanket. The one he never used to sleep without. His security until he was nine years old and his father told him to grow up.

Adrien thought a memory like this would make him cry, that his heart would bleed for its loss, but almost a decade later and holding this in his hands allowed him to breathe again; allowed him to smile.

And for the second time that day he remembered he had his own family now. A family away from Gabriel and all his wrong doings, from Nathalie, from hurt and imprisonment and pain. He had a future. A future which one day could be bundled up in this blanket just as he was, stroking it against their soft skinned face, helping them to fall asleep as he once had. He pressed the soft yellow material to his face, the colour of Buttercups, and smiled once more, a stray tear leaving his eye. He was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay now.

"Thanks, mother," he whispered. Standing up and placing the blanket on a side table, he looked around the room. Plagg was right, it was time he looked to the future and moved into the big boys room.

He began to strip the bed, before picking up the mattress and moving it into his old room to swap over with his. Once he'd sorted the mattress and the bed he started on Ladybug's boxes. Emptying them into drawers and hanging clothes in the closet. She'd already explained her personal belongings i.e. identity belongings, have been securely put away in her office, so he didn't need to worry.

He cleaned the bedroom, the bathroom and got stuck inside the duvet cover as he attempted to make the bed, but it still didn't mean enough.

"What am I going to do about the washing, Plagg?"

"You have a large bank account don't you?" He wiggled his eyebrows at his holder, Adrien shaking his head and laughing. Ladybug might be his partner in anti crime, but Plagg was his partner in crime.

•••••

"Alya, Adrien is not in Paris! If he was he would have let us know. Nino said he'd spoken to him this afternoon and he was messaging us all last night." Marinette walked to her door, stopping outside and waiting for Tikki to check that no security cameras were functioning.

"But there are rumours he was seen out in Paris today!"

"Come on Alya! It was probably Félix, you know they always get the two mixed up."

"True, but still, if Buttercup has come back and we don't know I'm going to kick his ass."

"You tell him that. Anyway, Al's I'm just home, so I'm going to go see my husband."

"You do that girl," Marinette could hear the way her voice had changed, of course Alya was 'going there', she knew she shouldn't have told her friend about the previous night. "Say hi to the Kitty Cat for me."

"Goodbye Alya." Ending the call before Alya could respond, Tikki appeared beside her holder, giving Marinette a nod. She looked side to side down the hallway before calling her transformation and opening the door.

"Chaton?" she called, looking around in hope of seeing her better half. She walked down the hallway heading for their bedroom, only to find it empty. "What the hell?" she said, walking around the room. "Chat?" she tried again.

Nothing.

She looked down at the ground and noticed rose petals, petals she was quite sure weren't there there mere minutes ago. Following the petal path she made her way out the bedroom door and back into the hallway, catching a glimpse of Sass and Mullo turning into another room. The master suite. The smell of a delicious feast struck her nose, Coq Au Vin if she wasn't mistaken. Had Chat Noir cooked? Her favourite meal as well? He may not have got the snack right, but 10/10 for this.

"Chat Noir? What did you do?" she whispered to herself, moving out of the room.

She followed the obvious trail, turning into the bedroom and looking around. The closet door was open with a whole array of new clothing mixed alongside what she suspected was her old clothing. She also noticed the room had been modernised from when she'd been snooping. The old darker woods changed to bright whites, and greys, with the tiniest touches of pink. It was beautiful.

Ladybug headed towards the rails on clothes, brushing her finger along them as she looked at the labels of very expensive brands.

"Do you like them?" Chat's muffled voice sounded behind her and had her spinning on her heel to look at him. He was lying on the bed with a red thornless rose in between his teeth.

"What did you do, Kitty?" she said with a smile, her arms folding across her chest.

He removed the rose from his teeth and smiled at her; the smile which told her he'd most definitely done something.

"Just because I've done something nice for you doesn't mean I've done something bad. Geez, have a little faith in me."

She raised one eyebrow in response, she knew her kitty and she knew his actions, and this was an action of forgiveness.

"Fine, I may have made a slight mistake when washing your clothing earlier."

Her face transformed from shock into laughter. "You put something red in with the white's didn't you?"

"Maybe," he said, a slight smile taking over his own lips.

"Silly kitty. But just so you know, pink is my favourite colour." She walked over to the bed climbing on and sitting next to him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to sit next to her. "I'm proud of you for trying, and for all of this. You didn't have to do it though, it was a mistake and mistakes happen."

He sighed, looking at their hands linked between them. "I just thought... I don't know what I thought."

Giggling, she stretched forward, placing her arms around his neck and pulling him in towards her, her lips meeting his for a soft, delicate kiss. She rested her forehead against his, her smile still being worn proudly on her face, maybe even with a little more sparkle thanks to her husband.

"Did you cook as well?"

He looked at her with a sheepish grin. "Do I get another kiss if I say yes?"

"You bought it from a takeaway, didn't you?"

"Actually, from Le Cinq. But I'm keeping it warm in the oven." he said proudly.

She moved forward and kissed him once more on the lips. "I suppose you deserve this then."

She wrapped him into a tight hug, breathing out a sigh of relief to be home, and more importantly to be with him. He really was wonderful.

They'd finished their meal not too long after she'd arrived home, and she couldn't deny the most delectable taste of the Coq de Vin she'd ever had. So now, they were settled on the couch in costume cuddling up as a superhero movie played on the television.

She watched as the hero protected his girlfriend, keep harm away from her as he was battered and bruised by both human and non-human attacks. She suddenly felt uncomfortable in the seat and began to wriggle about a little.

"Are you okay?" He moved his arm from behind her shoulders; the cold air hitting her and the loss of his touch magnifying.

"Yeah, I'm okay? Are you?" she lied, turning her head back to the television only to see another attack and flinch almost out the seat and onto the floor..

"Hey, LB, there's something wrong."

"Why do you do it?"

"What?" he questioned, his eyebrows creasing from the question.

"Why do you do it?"

"There's many reasons," he coughed, shuffling a little uncomfortably, "people, um, some people want babies, and others, well, I hear it's a good stress relief."

She looked at him curiously, before realising what he was talking about and bursting out laughing.

"Oh my God, Chat! Not that 'it'!" She pointed to the television. "It! As in put yourself in danger for me."

He looked mortified and she couldn't help but laugh more. "I - um -I've just made an idiot of myself haven't I?"

"Not a chance, you've always been an idiot," she snuggled back into him, grabbing his arm and placing it back over her shoulders. "But you're myidiot."

"That makes it okay then." he said, digging his fingers into her ribs and tickling her.

Her body was jerking in reaction, her legs and arms flying around everywhere as he attacked her with his fingers. They moved around on the sofa, Chat finally stopping by pinning Ladybug down. He brought up a hand and pushed a stray lock out of her eyes.

"And in answer to your question," he whispered, "losing your heart's desire is tragic, but gaining your heart's desire? It's all you can hope for. I couldn't lose you Bug, I'd rather you live a thousand lives without me, and be happy with someone else than you risk yourself. It's nothing to do with the Miraculous, it's to do with love. If I have to perish for you to live then let it happen, because I wouldn't give this, right now back for anything."

She couldn't help the softening in her heart as it finally caved and let him in, opening its arms wide ready.

She stretched up, holding onto his neck and pulling him down into a deep, passionate kiss, one of gratefulness and thanks, one that could express the words she couldn't, not yet anyway. Because right in that moment, right when he once again admitted to sacrificing himself for her she fell deeply and utterly in love.

Ladybug was completely and utterly in love with Chat Noir.