A.N. This may have came out as a surprise for some of you. I shall be posting my 'Acknowledgments' chapter after this. You will know more of my sentiments in that chapter. For now, I would love to say thank you for staying with this story (especially the characters) 'til the end. I hope you will enjoy this last chapter ❤️

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3 years after

ADRIEN

Where. Is. She???

The bells on top of the bakery's door jingle as I push it open. It is late in the afternoon already but the smell of fresh-off-the-oven pastries is still evident in this now quaint yet historical room.

"Adrien!" Sabine exclaims out of surprise. She places a tray of rolled dough in the oven then wipes her hands on her apron. "What are you doing here, my son?" As I walk to her, she also starts to walk towards me.

I lean down to kiss her cheek, "Hey, mom. I hope I'm not interrupting one of your 'rush hour' sessions."

"Oh, you came in with perfect timing! Do you like the new bells?" She asks, pointing at the red bells covered with black spots. "They are 'ladybug' bells. People say that it brings good luck to your business!"

"As much as I would love to hear about good luck for the bakery, I need a lot of luck in finding your daughter."

"Marinette?" She asks, puzzled. "You can't find Marinette? Have you checked the cemetery?"

"I visited Tommy, Emma, father and dad before coming here." I answer. "I was expecting to see her there, but I got nothing."

"Okay, okay." Mom then scratches her head in frustration, "How can this girl keep on giving me headaches until now? Even to her own husband!"

"Mom, your blood pressure." I remind her with a laugh. I bring a hand close to her but she slaps it away.

"Don't mind me. Think of your wife!" She utters, "How could you even lose her?"

I rub the nape of my neck awkwardly, "It's a long story actually. Let's just say that I've finally realized that women don't take too long in the bathroom."

She turns back to me in confusion, "An argument you started?"

"She started it!" I retaliate. "She asked me how long do I think women take in the bathroom."

"And what was your answer?"

"Two hours," I mumble earning a smack on the head from mom.

"Excuse me! Our maximum is just an hour! Some even only take 20 minutes." She sighs in frustration and continuously rubs her forehead, "But why would she get so worked up with that?"

"That's exactly the reason why I'm struggling here. We were just at home and she stormed off in anger when I told her my answer!" I sit on a chair and sigh heavily in defeat, "I don't want her mad at me. I never meant to make her mad at all."

"I know that, Adrien." Mom says, "But the both of you are family now. You should be talking it out instead of running away from each other. My daughter may still be stubborn about it, but I know that you'll make her realize everything." She gently smiles at me and I smile back at her.

"You're right," I whisper and stand to embrace mom. "You, Sabine, are the best mother-in-law out there."

"You darn right, I am!" She utters leaving me to laugh at her. "Now, we need to think of another place where she would go to..." Mom utters, clearly in her thoughts. And just like a lit lightbulb, a new idea comes into my mind.

"I know a place," I say and pull away from hugging her.

"Where, Adrien?"

"The orphanage," I answer, my smile getting wider. "I bet she's at the orphanage."

----------------

I run up the familiar steps of the school but halt to read the new sign adorning the entrance.

St. Gab and St. Tom's Public Orphanage: A Government-funded project

I may have given up the school to the IRS but they gave me the freedom to make the name for the new orphanage.

"Hey Gab and Tom, your names got a nice ring to the sign." I whisper, hoping for those two souls to be the only ones to hear my words.

As I push the door open, I'm greeted with the sight of Alya and Nino at the front desk with Karla.

"Alya!" I exclaim in surprise. She turns around and greets me with the same energy.

"Hey, Adrien!" She wraps her arms around me and I do the same.

"It's such a surprise to see the both of you," I say after the hug. "And Nino- oh my goodness, you brought the little dude with you!" My voice turns to a whisper upon setting my eyes on the sleeping baby, wrapped in yellow cloth, being carried by Nino.

"The little dude partied too hard last night," Nino jokes in a hushed voice. "But I bet that he would have been excited to see his uncle."

"Of course, because I'm his favorite uncle," I gently run my knuckles on the baby's smooth forehead. "So what brings you guys here? Especially the little one?"

"We got invited to come here this afternoon," Alya answers walking to stand beside her husband.

"I don't remember inviting anyone today...who invited you?"

"Moi," a cheerful voice sings the word from the back and I let out a laugh as I turn to greet the person.

"If it isn't the one and only-"

"Chloé Trocelli!" The blonde woman declares with an arm raised to the air. Fabien, her son, follows after her holding his mother's other hand.

"Why am I not surprised," I utter before giving her a hug. "It's great that you're here to visit the orphanage." I ruffle Fabien's hair teasingly. He laughs  and playfully pushes my hand away from his hair.

"We plan to stay here for two weeks before going back to Italy. My husband is taking care of the baby at Daddy's place. I might as well drop by here and meet up with old friends, rather enemies," She drops the witty remark and it causes Nino and Alya to laugh.

"But we're seeing a better version of you right now," Nino compliments Chloé right after.

"My high school phase has been dead for years already. We're missing someone though...where's Marinette?"

Oh, shoot!

"Oh my God!" I gasp, "I've been too caught up with what was happening that I forgot my main reason as to why I'm here."

"And that is..." Alya trails off, urging me to continue.

"I...I can't find Marinette." I mumble, hoping that they wouldn't hear my answer. But I thought wrong as Chloé bursts out laughing and Alya smacks me on the back of my head. Nino decides to move away so that the baby wouldn't wake up from the sudden loud noises.

"Adrien, you are hilarious," Chloé says.

"And crazy," Alya continues. "How could you lose your wife?"

"She stormed off during a petty argument of ours."

"Maybe she stormed off out of sensual frustration," Chloé suggests, playfully winking at me.

"Chloé, we got young ears here." I scold her, glancing at Fabien who was just minding his business.

"He wouldn't understand anything yet," she dismisses me with a wave of her hand. "Let's go back to the topic, shall we? Maybe Marinette is showing signs that she wants to add another member to the family already."

"Chloé-"

"I think you don't make her excited anymore, Adrien." Chloé continues.

"Wait until my best friend hears about this interrogation," Alya adds in excitement.

"Okay, that's it." I take Fabien's hand from Chloé's hold. "Fabien, would you want a tour around the orphanage?" I ask him in a sweet manner.

"I would want that please, signore." He answers sheepishly.

"Excuse me," I say, speaking to the three so-called adults in front of me. "I would like to surround myself with pure minds such as Fabien's. Chloé, I'm bringing Fabien to one of the art therapy classes. You can find the room with the help of Karla later."

"See you later, mama." Fabien says, waving a hand to his mother.

"Have fun, Fabien." Chloé softly pinches the cheek of Fabien then tauntingly raises an eyebrow at me, "Signore Agreste," she starts, "we will still have you on the chopping board when you get back." She raises a hand for Alya to slap whilst Nino tries to hide his smirk by cradling the little dude in his arms.

I scoff to hide the fear I feel towards them. "You guys will never change. Let's go, Fabien." I bring the boy with me and we start to walk on the opposite corridor. I change my pace of walking into a slower speed since I'm afraid that the little boy could not catch up with me. He seems to be enjoying all the details of the orphanage around him.

"This used to be a school, right signore?" He asks innocently.

"You're right, Fabien." I reply. "Most of the classrooms here are now used as bedrooms and dressing rooms for the 80 kids living here."

"Those are a lot of kids, signore! How I wish I could live with those kids...I could be friends with them all."

"Who are your friends, Fabien?"

The boy brings his head down and stops walking, pulling me back to where he is standing. "I don't have friends..." He mumbles, his tone of voice turning sadder with each word.

I kneel in front of him and place my finger under his chin to lift his head. He pushes my finger away and looks down again. "Of course you have a friend," I coo. "You have your younger brother."

"Francis? But he keeps on pulling my hair. I don't get to see other kids because it's mama who teaches at the house."

I could not let this boy feel down for his whole duration here. He's still seven and he should not be feeling any stress at this age!

"Hey, look at me." I softly instruct him while I also bring his chin up again. He follows me and his eyes peer into mine. "I know a boy named Tommy," I start. "He's a year older than you, Fabien but you would have been great friends."

"Will I get to meet him?"

I laugh nervously, "It...It will take a very long time for you to see him," I answer the boy truthfully. "But if ever you feel lonely, I want you to pray to him. And I'm sure that he will find a friend for you to play with. He could even make your younger brother behave for just a moment!"

"You really think so?" He starts to smile again and his eyes are gleaming with excitement.

"Of course! Because I talk to him too." I stand and grab Fabien's hand once again. "Now, I want you to pray to him right now because I feel like he's leading us to a new group of friends for you." I finish with a playful wink and Fabien could not contain his excitement as he uses both hands to clasp onto mine.

I lead Fabien to one of the rooms used for art therapy. Once I open the door, he gasps in delight upon seeing around 20 kids his age scattered around the room. Some of them have paint all around their aprons and even on their faces and hair- they must have been doing some practice painting before the real activity.

Even the assistants, David and Lea, have paint on their clothes too.

"Wow," Fabien exclaims.

"Good afternoon, Sir Adrien!" The children greet me in chorus. One little girl waves shyly at me and I wave back with a huge smile on my face.

"Hello!" I greet them back. "Kids, this is Fabien. Do you still have space for another painter?"

"Of course, we do!" Lea answers in glee. She walks to Fabien and I could see the ring on her fourth finger glisten under the light.

"Do you have no plans on hiding the ring?" I tease her.

Her eyes dart to her ring and she blushes, "Sometimes I forget that I'm now wearing a ring- an engagement ring, to be exact." She takes it off and places it in one of her pants pockets. "David just doesn't like it when I take it off."

"Because some of these kids might take you away from me." David suddenly speaks up, wrapping an arm around Lea's shoulders. "And I don't want her to lose it because rings are really expensive." He whispers, leaning only towards me.

"Tell me about it," I whisper back. He holds out a fist and I bump it with mine.

"Hey Fabien," David crouches down to be in the same height as the kid. "Are you excited to paint with other kids?"

Fabien nods in glee, "I want to also paint like Signore Agreste."

David chuckles and holds his hand, "Now come on, you'll also learn to paint like Sir Nathanaël."

The door then suddenly swings open and Nathanaël enters bringing new sketchpads and paintbrushes with him. "Did someone say my name?" He asks, beaming. The kids run to him and Nath crouches down to greet every one of them.

"He's Sir Nathanaël," David tells Fabien. "Want me to introduce you to him?"

Fabien nods shyly then David takes him to Nathanaël who was still interacting with the other kids. "Sir Nath," David starts, "I would like you to meet Fabien. He will be joining us for two weeks."

Nath looks at Fabien with a smile then grabs his hand to shake it, "It's awesome to meet you, Fabien!"

"He's Chloé's son," I inform Nath from the side.

Nath lets out a light laugh, "You have the same eyes as your mother," He tells him. "Hopefully not the same attitude as before." He murmurs. I chuckle because of Nath's comment.

"We had the exact same thoughts when I first met him, Nath." He presents his hand and I take it to give a firm shake. "How's the solo art exhibit?" I ask.

"It's doing really well," He starts. "At first, the audience found it taboo to see psychological events portrayed through art. But now, I can see how they are slowly accepting the change of norms and such."

"It's nice to see you enjoy what you're doing."

"Honestly, it's been a long time since I've felt happy with my work." He finishes with a sigh in content. "Now," He claps his hands loudly, "who wants to paint already?" The kids raise their hands including Fabien...and even David and Lea. "Let's get painting!" Nath exclaims and starts to distribute a new set of art materials per kid. I decide to not disturb him anymore since he was really having fun with the children around him.

Now I'm back with my only worry- Marinette. I still have no idea where she is.

Lea must have noticed my sudden change of demeanor since she walks away from the kids and goes near me. "Are you okay, sir?" She asks. "Your eyebrows are furrowed in worry and you also seem...disturbed."

I sigh, "I may sound crazy, but I lost my wife and now I don't know where to look for her."

"You lost Miss Marinette," she starts off slowly, "and now you can't find her..."

"Yes, and now I'm starting to freak out."

She then giggles out of nowhere, "You are seriously goals, sir."

"Goals?"

She waves a hand to dismiss what she recently said, "A term we, millennials, use. Anyway, as much as I would want to help you, I have no clue where she would be as of the moment." She rubs her chin, deep in her thoughts. "But have you tried looking in simple places too?"

"Like where?" I ask.

"Your house," she suggests. "You may never know. She must have been there this whole time."

"But that would be impossible-"

"How could it be impossible if you haven't checked there yet," she cuts me off with her sudden claim. I glare at her whilst she looks at me with eyebrows raised. "Why not go home and check if she's there."

"I sense something fishy here."

"Hey," she shrugs, "I'm just suggesting some possible outcomes. You know what? How about you go," she starts to push me away from the room. "And check your house like right now, okay?"

"But, Lea-"

"See you, sir!" She utters before closing the door, leaving me alone in the corridor.

Well, I have no option but to go home...?

I start to walk back to the entrance. And just as I pass by the front desk, I overhear a conversation of two ladies.

"I wonder what she prepared for Sir Agreste," one says. My hand hovers over the doorknob as I eavesdrop on their conversation.

"It must be something really extravagant since she needed the whole day for us to keep him away," the other one gushes.

"So you do know where she is," I exclaim turning around to face the culprits. Beezus and Ramona look like they were caught red-handed (which is what really is happening) and Karla rubs her forehead out of stress.

"Miss Marinette is so going to kill the both of you," she mutters referring to the sisters.

"Beezus," I start, "tell me please. Where is Marinette?"

"M-Miss Marinette?" She stammers then rubs her arm nervously. "Darn, I did not notice him at all. Should we tell him, sister?" She leans toward Ramona.

"I-" Ramona starts but is immediately interrupted by Karla.

"She's at home, Sir Agreste," Karla says. "Miss Marinette is waiting for you at home."

"How...How come you know?"

"Sir, she asked all of us to keep you busy for the past hours. Almost everyone here knew...except you," Ramona utters. "B-But you shouldn't be mad at her at all!" She stutters, trying to clarify the real intention of why my wife has been hiding from me. "She really wants to surprise you in a good way."

"And it's not that much of a surprise anymore since now you know," Karla speaks. "But I think we've given her enough time to prepare already. It's best if you go home already, sir." She finishes with a smile.

"This is not a prank, right?" I ask, starting to feel skeptical. "My wife is really at home?"

Ramona rolls her eyes. "Oh my God, you're making me so inpatient. Yes, she is at home!" She opens to door for me, "Now go and see her already." She pushes me out and I follow. "And be sure to make her happy," she says before closing the door behind me.

I...I have no words. This is such a queer day.

But the best part is that I know where Marinette is.

I run faster down the steps to get to the parking lot and there is more bounce with each step I take. I guess it's because I'm excited to see her. I accidentally bump into a person who is going up the steps.

"Sorry!" I apologize to the person.

"Adrien!" The person suddenly exclaims in glee. I come to a stop as the person calls my name.

"Ivan!" I utter upon seeing his face. I take his hand to shake it. "What brings you here?"

He points at the orphanage with his thumb, "The IRS wanted me to check on this place. They want to see how it has been running from the last check-up."

"Hopefully there would not be too many flaws."

He laughs heartily. "I doubt that, Sir Agreste." He then comes closer to me, "Say, you wouldn't mind me asking you a somewhat personal question, right?"

"Well, what's your question?"

"Adrien, your debt has been lowered down to less than a million already, you get to paint and teach at the same time, you're surrounded by people who support you as you support them in return, and you got your wife back." His voice then turns into a low whisper, "Tell me...you're living the good life now, aren't you?"

I let out a light chuckle. "I'll give you my answer the next time we see each other. For now, I need to go home. I can't wait to see my wife." I smile at him before continuing my way down the steps.

----------------

Closing the door behind me, I make sure that I am as quiet as possible. Marinette might be in one of these rooms and just as enter, the house is weirdly quiet. No sound coming from the television or even from the kitchen.

We even made an agreement that whoever arrives first at home must greet the other person loudly. Marinette has not done that. Maybe she's not home and I have just been tricked this whole time.

I check the kitchen to be sure but it's not as topsy turvy as it usually is. The living room is also very clean with the throw pillows carefully propped and lined by color code on the sofa. Marinette must have done some cleaning which is weird considering that well...she's Marinette.

Suddenly the scents of chocolate and vanilla infiltrate my senses and I can't stop myself from being enraptured by it. But where are the smells coming from? Clearly nothing is being made in the kitchen.

I walk to the center of the house, still trying to figure out where the smells are coming from. I've checked most areas except one- our room. I walk carefully to our room with never-ending thoughts going through my mind.

But how in the world could the scents come from our room? Could they perhaps be scented-candles?

My hunch becomes true as I open the door to our bedroom. The lights are off but different vanilla and chocolate-scented candles of all sizes are lit. Most of them have more melted wax dripping on the original wax holding the wick. The smell of the candles start to become too much of a nuisance, I decide to switch on the lights and proceed to blow out each and every single candle in the room.

Right on the bed is a sleeping person sprawled on our comforter. The person has only one of my button-up polos on her body, and just by looking at the see-through fabric of my polo, she is wearing her black basic underwear. As much as I would want to run my hands on her exposed yet silky legs, I have to wake her up and check if she is okay after breathing in all the strong scents the candles emitted.

I softly shake her from the waist and gently call out her name, "Mari? Mari, wake up." I hover over her as I continue to wake her up.

She stirs in her sleep and suddenly her eyes open like as if a sudden realization has hit her. She gasps when she sees me over her. "Oh no," she whines, covering her face with her hands. "I can't believe I slept!"

I chuckle lightly. "My lady," I coo. "My lady, are...are you crying?" I ask feeling alarmed when I hear her sniffing.

"I'm just mad at myself," she cries. "I had everything planned."

"My lady, a night like this can be repeated," I tell her, doing my best to comfort her. "And if you're worried about losing the mood, well I'll always find myself in the mood." I confess, feeling my cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"No," she wipes her tears away. "tonight's different. I practically asked almost everyone to keep you away from the house the whole day. They all done their part while I did not by sleeping." She groans and covers her face as she starts to cry again.

"Hey," I whisper softly. "If you could just tell me how special tonight is, then I could help you stop crying."

"Adrien," she forces out a soft laugh and wipes her tear-stained cheeks, "I'm ovulating." She whispers.

I become speechless, clearly stunned with her announcement.

"After tonight, there is a high percentage of pregnancy for me," she continues. "I know all our attempts before were futile and it has left the both of us frustrated."

It has become hard for me to swallow as my breath gets caught in my throat. But I will not hide them any longer, I will allow the tears to fall. "Y-Yes," I cry softly. "They have made us frustrated."

Marinette cups my cheeks with her hands. She uses her thumbs to wipe the tears away. "Then don't you think it's time for us to try again?" She asks in a whisper. "This time, with a sure outcome?" She gives me that sweet smile of hers.

I nod as the tears continue to fall, "Yes, yes I would love that." I capture her lips with mine and kiss her endearingly and lovingly. She kisses me back with the same force and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me closer.

I pull back and rest my forehead on hers, "Marinette, you know that I love you so much, right?"

She closes her eyes and I follow, "You tell me that every day. But you know what, those words can still take my breath away."

I smile and dare to open my eyes. I find that she's looking into mine. "I love you too, Adrien. More than ever."

I lean down and press a kiss on the side of her neck. "Don't you think this piece of clothing has been suffocating you?" I ask, referring to the shirt on her.

"Yes, for the past hour," she answers. Her hand then sneaks up to the first button of mine, "And you seem suffocated too," she then unfastens the first three buttons on me.

I undo the first button on her, "I have a question though," I undo the second button. "Why did you choose chocolate and vanilla?" I unfasten all buttons, stopping at her chest area.

She smirks at me, "Because they are known to be aphrodisiacs."

I stop what I am doing and burst out laughing with her answer. She laughs, "What? What's wrong with my amazing set of scents?"

"Nothing's wrong," I assure her letting another laugh escape my lips. "Actually, nothing wrong is going to happen tonight." I lean down and kiss the area where her heart rests. She hums in content and starts to caress my arms. I kiss her lips and rest my hands on her waist.

My phone, in the back pocket of my pants, then starts to ring and we pull back. The both of us groan in annoyance and Marinette swears under her breath. I take the phone out from my pocket.

"The call might be important thou-"

"Not tonight," I immediately end the call and turn off my phone. I place it on the desk beside the bed. "I'm not going to let anyone bother me as I show my wife how much I love her," I whisper, leaning close to Marinette again. She smiles lovingly at me and I see a tear fall from her eye.

"Not now," I continue, my lips getting closer to hers. Her smile grows wider and she starts to cry again. I also find myself starting to cry with her.

"Not ever." I finish before immersing ourselves, once again, in this moment.