Adrien and Marinette stood in front of an old brick building. The sun shone from behind it, casting a shadow over the couple. It had been twelve years since they had stood on the doorstep of the orphanage, but this time it was different. This time, they were adopting.

Marinette felt tears prick her eyes as she remembered that night, but she blinked them away, reminding herself that Emma was probably with another family keeping her safe from the dangers of Paris. She squeezed her now husbands hand and opened the door.

The door opened to reveal an older woman sitting at a desk with a baby in her arms while she careful organized stacks of paper. She was humming a lullaby as she stapled some papers together, not seeing the young couple in front of her.

Adrien shut the door, which made a creaking noise as it swung closed, alerting the woman of their presence. The lady stopped humming and smiled at them. "Hello dears! Are you here to make a difference for a child?"

Marinette and Adrien nodded and the lady stood up, calling for an assistant. A younger woman walked into the room and took the baby from the lady's arms before walking out of the room.

The lady turned back to them and held out her hand, saying, "My name is Mrs. Welsh."

Adrien and Marinette shook her hand and introduced themselves. "Are you here to adopt?" She continued with a small smile.

Before they could respond, a girl around the age of 12 came storming into the room and plopped down in the corner, taking deep breaths. Mrs. Welsh frowned and firmly asked, "Emma. What is wrong?"

Marinette tensed at the name of her daughter as Adrien watched with observant eyes at the woman. Emma huffed and said, "Stupid Jack said I wasn't special enough to be Ladybug and Chat Noir's daughter! He said I was too clumsy and stupid! I started yelling at him than Mrs. Gilligan told me to come here."

Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other, intrigued with the girl. With a forced smile, Mrs. Welsh said, "We'll discuss this later Emma. Now go into another room, I'm talking with someone."

Annoyed, Emma stood up to go but Adrien exclaimed stepping forward, "It's fine! Say, Emma, why do you think Ladybug and Chat Noir are your parents?"

Marinette look at Adrien quizzically, hoping he wouldn't accidentally hint that they were the superheros. Emma got her first look at them and looked down embarrassed, "Ms. Libby was there when I was left here. She says she saw them on the roof of the building opposite the orphanage." She mumbled.

Marinette let out a small gasp and she too, stepped toward Emma. She saw green eyes hidden behind her dark hair. The heroine was even more convinced now. Marinette looked back at Mrs. Welsh and asked, "May we speak to Ms. Libby please?"

Mrs. Welsh looked unamused but left to go get her. Emma glanced between them and played with her fingers awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "Are you gonna adopt someone?" She finally asked.

"That's what we're hoping," Adrien said with a smile, "Hey Emma, how long have you been here?"

"Oh. About 11 years I think." Her eyes seemed to brighten at an unseen thought, but Adrien and Marinette had their ideas as to what it was.

A slightly plump lady walked into the room, following by Mrs. Welsh. She saw the young couple and squinted at them. She mumbled something under her breath as her eyes widen and she looked to Emma. Emma walked over to her excitedly and announced, "Ms. Libby! I need you to tell Jack off for claiming I'm not Ladybug and Chat Noir's kid!"

Ms. Libby chuckled at her, "Oh Emma! This happened last week! And aren't you going to tell me who these lovely young people are?"

She looked up to Adrien and Marinette with a smile. It seemed friendly. Like a "We've met before" kinda friendly. They returned the smile and Marinette was sure she had recognized them.

"So," Mrs. Welsh interrupted the revelation, walking behind her desk and grabbing some papers, "If you would follow me, I'll help you find your future child!"

"Oh! We've found her." Adrien announced looking to Mari, then Ms. Libby, then to Emma who obviously knew what was about to happen since she was trying to hide a huge smile.

"Wanna come home with us, Emma?" Marinette continued, showing a toothy smile at Emma.

"Do I ever!!!!" The girl yelled and ran to them, hugging them both. She suddenly pulled away and ran out the room.

Mrs. Welsh had a horrified look on her face and she turned to Ms. Libby, who shared a concerned face with the couple. "She's actually doing it," she muttered.

Faint popping sounds could be heard, accompanied by shouts of "I'm finally leaving!" and "Screw you Jack!"

Emma ran into the room with a backpack on and mini confetti popper in hand. She yanked the string from it and confetti went flying.

Adrien and Marinette bursted out laughing and motioned for Emma to get closer to them. Adrien pulled her into a group hug and squeezed his family tight, "This is purr-fect." He joked, but both Marinette and Emma had to chuckle at that one.

"Welcome back little butterfly."

•••

OH MY GAWD ITS FINALLY DONE!!  I should've known I wasn't gonna stick to my prediction. Welp, this is way after October 12 and I have long since chosen my high school and finally graduated middle school! So sorry for the wait!!!! I kinda lost interest in Miraculous and focused more on Voltron and Supernatural for a while, then I started watching some more anime shows. But after months of little bits of writing this one-shot, I pulled myself together late at night and finally finished it. PHEW!! 😅 Also, THE LATEST EPISODE WITH OLDER ALEX AND MARI AND ADRIEN HAS ME SHOOK!!!