"Did you ever want to give me up for adoption?"
  
   The question seemed to have come from nowhere. While it was true, she did have her first child while young, Marinette never regretted keeping her children.
   She was under immense pressure back then, her relationship with Adrien was completely backwards, her parents were incredibly upset with her, she was still in school and she had the weight of being Ladybug on her shoulders.
   She felt like she didn't have a choice. She felt as if that option would have been the better life for Louis.

Upon changing her decision, Marinette could not see her life without her kids. She was glad she decided to keep her firstborn. It changed her life in ways she never thought possible.

  Marinette furrowed her brow, her hands stilling against the kitchen counter. Had it not been because it was still so early in the morning, she would've screamed louder than a kettle at such a question.

  "What brought this on?" She asked, eyeing her son curiously as she watched him lean against the kitchen island with ease.
His blue eyes remained glued to his mothers hands as she peeled the wrapping paper off the macaroons she made the night before.

  "I don't know..." Louis murmured, rubbing the back of his neck nervously before he sunk into his black hoodie. "The other kids from school were talking about it and I got a little curious."

Marinette glanced down, her heart racing within her chest as she placed each macaroon onto the display plate with ease.
  "Honey, I had you at such a young age..." Marinette explained, her eyes moving over to him. "I had doubts that I'd be a good mother to you, but don't you doubt that your father and I love you. You make me the happiest mom out there."

Louis glanced up at his mother, offering her a small smile. He parted his lips, ready to respond but was muted the moment Marinette shoved a macaroon into his mouth.

  "Is your sister dressed?" Marinette interjected before she turned around to open the fridge. "You're gonna be late."

Louis hummed, chewing the macaroon off before plucking it out from between his lips.
"I woke her up..." he shrugged, turning to grab his backpack off the floor.

Marinette grabbed the prepackaged juice containers for her little ones, always preparing that they had a little snack before going to school. It was a little something her parents did for her when she was around their age.

  "Good morning~" a voice emanated from the doorway and Marinette glanced up to be greeted by her sleepy husband.

Tikki floated in beside Adrien, a small smile on her lips as she sat on the counter.
  Adrien reached over, picking a macaroon off the plate and offering it to the little Kwami with a small smile.

  "Have anything for me?"

Adrien chuckled at his Kwami's groggy voice. He wasn't sure if his little friend was too keen on sweets, but its been many years and his chronic diet of cheese eating didn't change one bit.

  "I don't always keep smelly cheese on me, but I'm sure there's some in the fridge. You should know that by now." Adrien yawned.

"Morning." Marinette murmured, watching Adrien and the Kwamis as he reached for the coffee pot. "Slept alright?"

  Adrien shook his head, sighing as he poured a mug of coffee with a grimace.

"I think I slept wrong." He murmured, glancing over to Marinette with a playful pout. "My neck is as hard as a rock."
 
  Marinette reached over, reaxhinf over to run her hand through his hair with a warm smile. She then reached for a macaroon and placed it into his palm.
"I'll give you a massage after work today."

"You're a saint." Adrien whispered, leaning down to plant a soft kiss to her lips. "I love you."

  Marinette hummed against his lips, a small blush brewing on her cheeks. They had been married for years, yet she still found herself blushing like a teenaged school girl with a crush whenever he was around or kissed her.

"I love you too." She murmured against his lips before he pulled away from her to drink his coffee.

"Mommy!!" Emma called out, the youngster running into the kitchen with her pigtails coming undone.

  "Where's your bag?" Marinette inquired, wondering why her daughter looked as thought she literally just rolled out of bed.

  "I'll grab it!" Louis exclaimed, brushing past his sister to leave the kitchen.

Emma hastily climbed on the kitchen island chair. She slammed a crinkled piece of paper on to the counter, her green eyes glanced up at both her parents.

  "We're doing a paper on our favorite heros!" She piped. "How did we meet?" She asked, reaching over to grab a macaroon from the display plate that Marinette had left there earlier.

  Marinette felt a lump in her throat. Although most parents would be thrilled that their children considered them heros and want to write about them, it was a little different when it came to her and Adrien.

   Especially because the two of them were actually heros, who had identities that were pivotal that they remained secret. It didn't help that both Louis and Emma were aware that their parents lived double lives. It wasn't like Marinette didn't trust their kids, but she did worry that someone might accidentally pry it out of them.

  "Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart." Adrien murmured softly, glancing at Emma who seemed eager to get an answer from her mother. "But you kinda came out of her."

Marinette immediately slammed her hand into his chest with a reprimanding glance. "Shut it-" she hissed, watching as Adrien flinched with a small laugh to her reaction.

  "Remember, you guys have to be at your grandparents after school okay? We'll be there to pick you up after we get out of work. Make sure you do your homework before then!" Marinette instructed, watching as Adrien placed his coffee mug down to fix Emma's lopsided hair.

  Emma whined, barely taking a bite of her macaroon before Adrien scooted her off the chair.

"Don't forget your juices!" Marinette called out, quickly placing a lid of the macaroons and grabbing the container of juices for the kids.

  She followed both her little ones out of the kitchen hastily. She needed to have her boutique open at a certain time and she knew that the beginning of the week was always busy. It was almost like her parents' bakery.
  Adrien took one last gulp of his coffee, before he set the mug down and followed his family out while Plagg and Tikki followed close behind.

_________________________________________

  Adrien felt uneasy.

He could vividly recall those many years ago when he stood in this very building. He hadn't seen the ghost since, but he couldn't shake this uneasy feeling that brewed within him whenever he came.

  Adrien glanced down, his brow furrowing as he recalled grabbing his mother's hand and trying to get her to follow him but she wouldn't budge. She refused to leave the room on the second floor. When Adrien left the room to quickly grab his phone and call someone for help, she was gone when he returned.

   Any normal person would have said he was crazy, but he knew his mother. That was definitely his mother.

Adrien hadn't brought it up since. It hurt him to keep secrets like this from Marinette, but part of him worried that he was truly losing his marbles. They both had been through so much trauma, it wasn't a far fetched idea to think that they could both be losing it.

   Marinette knocked on the window from the inside, immediately withdrawing Adrien from his perplexed train of thought. His green eyes immediately peered away from the window on the second floor straight to his wife who gawked at him like he had five heads.

  Adrien waved at her awkwardly, feeling a little jumpy as he could feel Plagg move within his pocket.

   "Are you just gonna stare at that window all day?" Plagg asked, poking his head out to curiously glance at Adrien. "Cause Marinette will grow suspicious."

"I know..." Adrien replied, watching as Marinette beckoned for him to come inside. "This place just makes me feel weird for some reason."

"Did you see a ghost?" Plagg inquired, knowing all too well what Adrien had seen the years prior. He had dreams about if for weeks after.

"That was no ghost." Adrien murmured, his heart sinking to his chest. "At least I hope it wasn't." He sighed.

She couldn't be a ghost. He remembered that he hugged her. He held her hand. He spoke to her. They embraced one another and spoke about how much they missed one another.

Adrien had so many questions, and she felt so real.
There was no way that was a ghost.

Adrien glanced up the moment Marinette poked her out of the boutique shop door with an inquisitive look.

"Are you gonna come inside or what?"

Adrien and Plagg both looked at Marinette briefly before he nodded shyly and stepped inside.

"It was so busy!" Tikki piped, sitting next to the til with a wide smile. "I almost felt bad for Marinette. She had to handle the whole thing while you were out!"

Adrien glanced at Marinette, offering her an apologetic smile as he slipped his hands back into his pockets just as Plagg floated out.

"Sorry I'm late." Adrien murmured, watching as Marinette closed her sketchbook from her last order. "My father kept me a little later than usual."

Marinette shook her head with a small smile.

"It's no biggie." She assured, caressing the top of Tikki's head briefly. "I'm grateful for the opportunity. I enjoy it."

  Adrien nodded, his eyes following Plagg as the little Kwami floated around the shop, looking for something to play around in.
   The blond rubbed the back of his neck, simply feeling uneasy. There were times more than he could count that he wanted to come by the shop and help Marinette out, but there were images that he just couldn't get out of his head.

  "Are you alright?" Marinette asked, shoving her sketchbook to the side. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

  Adrien shook his head, watching as Tikki immediately floated towards Plagg to reprimand him the moment he began to pull one of the threads off of Marinette's sewn in display jackets.

   "Nah, just...I just have a lot on my mind." He murmured, reaching up to scratch the back of his head casually. "You know. Same shit. Different day."

"Except he did see a ghost!" Plagg piped, his tiny head popping up from being Adrien's shoulder.
His tiny body was wrapped in a black thread and the small creature flailed its tiny limbs as he tried to break free of the confines he created for himself.

Adrien immediately shot Plagg a warning glance, his cheeks reddening with frustration.

Plagg showed no remorse, he simply glided back towards Tikki a wide grin on his face as he floated around her.
 
  "Wanna give me a hand here, sugar cube? I'm a little stuck." He teased, ignoring Tikki's disgusted scoff.

  "You're going to ruin Marinette's clothes!" She reprimanded, her blue eyes glaring at him as he simply laughed it off.

  Marinette would have scolded Plagg for pulling one of the threads off her jackets but she was much too distracted by Adrien's expression of confliction.

  "What is he talking about?" Marinette asked, perking a brow as she tucked some hair behind her ear. "You've seen a ghost?"

  Adrien bit his lip, wanting so bad to simply shrug it off, but he knew how badly Marinette thought into things. It didn't matter how much they've grown, some things about them consistently remained the same.

"H-He's talking about the woman in the window." Adrien stammered. "You know, the one on the second floor."

  Marinette widened her eyes, briefly nodding. "Oh yeah." She breathed, quickly folding her arms. "The shopkeeper next door told me about her. She claims everyone has talked about the woman in the window, even she says she's seen her." Marinette pondered, lowering her blue eyes to the ground as she worried she was truly running a haunted boutique. "I've never seen her..."

  Adrien nodded, his heart racing as he felt as if it were best to end the conversation right then and there. If he had told her what had transpired those many years ago, she would surely think he was insane.

  "You've seen her, haven't you?" Marinette inquired, immediately walking around her work desk, and approaching him. She ignored the Kwamis behind Adrien, the two creatures bickering as Tikki struggled to get Plagg out of the threads he had tangled himself in. "Did you see her in the window too? Was that why you were standing out there staring like that?"

  Adrien shrugged, feeling awkward at the situation. He thought hard about it.
  He contemplated letting it go, but at the same time he needed to throw Marinette a curveball every once in awhile.

"How crazy would it be to say that the ghost haunting this place might actually be my mom?"

  Marinette widened her eyes, immediately taking a step back.
"What?!" She exclaimed, her blue eyes glancing into his as she couldn't tell if this was some sort of cruel joke.

"Hear me out!" Adrien conceded, immediately reaching over to grab his startled wife by the shoulders. "Do you remember before we got married? We stopped by this place before it opened up. We were settling things in and you were cleaning up." Adrien paused, attempting to read Marinette's confused expression as he spoke.

"The guys left, you left with Alya and I was in here for a bit by myself. I was moving some boxes and I heard a noise upstairs. I thought someone had broken in, so I went up to check it out." Adrien glanced down, the lines under his eyes deepening at the memory of finally seeing his mother after so long.

  "I saw her. I saw my mom. She was in that room. We hugged. She kissed me. We both cried." Adrien murmured, almost feeling like he should be traumatized. "I- I could physically touch her. I was sure she was there. I left to get some help, and when I came back she was gone. It was like she was never there."

  Marinette simply gawked at him. Her mind continued to race at a hundred miles a minute. She certainly didn't know what to make of all of it. She knew it must've made him feel horrible to see his mother one minute and then she be gone the next but she couldn't deny this horrible feeling that began to brew in her stomach.

"And you're sure this was your mother?" She asked, her heart sinking into her stomach with a grimace.

  Adrien nodded, his hands rubbing her shoulders gently. "I know it's been forever and a day since I've seen her, but... I know with every fiber of my being that was her."

  Marinette frowned, shaking her head in disbelief. "That's my sewing room. I've been up there countless times, I spend hours in that room. I haven't seen anyone up there before." She breathed, worry etching on to her face as she brushed her bangs away from her brow with a quick look of confliction.

  "I know...maybe that's why I think I'm crazy. I haven't seen her since, but everytime I'm here I get this weird feeling..." his voice trailed off, his heart racing as the more he spoke about it, the more insane he sounded. It almost made him want to crawl up into a hole and die.

   Even Marinette thought he was crazy. She was right, she spent more time in this boutique than he had and if anything were to pop up, she'd definitely see it. Adrien did return here quite a few times, but he hadn't seen her since that day. Perhaps he had so much trauma he thought he saw her.

"Maybe I just thought I saw her." Adrien murmured softly. "Maybe I'm just going crazy. The real ghost of this place is probably playing mind tricks on me." Adrien dropped his hands from her shoulders so that he could run his hand through his hair. "Maybe I have too much trauma."

  "That's the thing." Marinette breathed. "We've both been through so much shit. I don't think you're crazy, it just all seems suspicious." She explained, her hand slowly reaching over to grab his. "I swear if Hawkmoth is planning something, I don't know what I'd do."

Adrien immediately swathed his arms around his petite wife and drew her closer to his body without a second thought. He rested his chin against the top of her head and closed his eyes.

"No, no." He murmured, relaxing as he could feel her arms hesitantly wrap themselves around him. "I don't think that's the case. I think I'm just so mentally fucked up, seeing myself losing you, losing the kids, and even almost losing my own life, I guess my mind just created some way to cope."

  Marinette pressed her lips together, her stomach quivering. It didn't matter what Adrien said to her. The fear was already implanted in her heart and the suspicion was already implanted in her brain. If Hawkmoth was after her husband again and was willing to use his own mother to torture him, she would find some way to put an end to him once and for all.
  She wasn't sure how much more trauma they could take.

But that was a promise.

"I'm free!" Plagg exclaimed, twirling around their heads with a wild laugh. His tiny body casually swung side to side as Tikki placed the loose threads on to Marinette's work desk.

   Both Marinette and Adrien gently separated from one another and Marinette sighed, her face growing red with so much frustration she wasn't sure what to do with herself.

   "Are you okay, Marinette?" Tikki asked, gently floating towards her holder with a look of concern. "You look like you're scared."

  Adrien turned away from Plagg, his heart sinking at Marinette's expression and he inwardly slapped himself for not dropping the situation when he had the chance. Had it not been for Plagg he probably would've been able to sweep it under the rug.

  Marinette nodded, quickly tying her hair into a bun as she didn't like the feeling of every single eye glaring her down.

   "I think we should close up shop. I want to do a quick patrol." She sighed, placing her hands on her hips as she glanced up at Adrien. "You up for it?"

  Adrien nodded, a weary smile stretching on his lips as he attempted to conceal the worry he had for her.

"As always, my lady."

_________________________________________

  Ladybug glanced down, her blue eyes peering against the sunset that had begun to bless the skylines.
   It hadn't been long since she went out to check the streets, in fact it was part of her and Chat's duties.

They had made sure to plan it as often as they could before it was time to pick up their children. Ladybug exhaled, feeling the wind blow through her bangs as she stood on a rooftop, admiring the streets down below.

   She gasped, her eyes widening the moment she felt a pinch on her butt and she immediately whipped her head over towards Chat who simply glanced back at her with a toothy grin.

"Sorry. Your butt looks amazing in this suit." He replied, standing beside her as he too glanced down at the streets below.

  Ladybug simply rolled her eyes, reaching back to rub her butt as she could still feel the sting from the pinch.

"Paws off, kitty-" she teased, a small smile stretching on her plump lips. "Or I'll have to tape a box to my ass so you can't look at it. I think it's becoming too much of a distraction."

  "We're married, and we have two kids." Chat reminded. "I'm allowed to look at how sexy my wife is. I can't help it."

  Chat grinned, a small blush brewing against his cheeks as he loved how taut her body looked. While it was true, they ate a ton of sweets and snacks since having kids, the work they did as heros kept them in top notch shape, though Adrien couldn't care less how Marinette looked. No matter what she wore, she was the sexiest woman he'd ever seen. Granny panties and all.

  Ladybug widened her eyes as Chat began to glide his clawed hand across her ass once more.

"Kitty!" She hissed, immediately slapping his hand away with a deep blush. "We are in public! There are people around!"

  "Who is gonna see us from all the way up here?" He teased, leaning closer to kiss her cheek softly. "We've been working together for years, I think it's time the public knows we're more than just partners."

  Ladybug snorted, her eyes landing on someone on the streets down below.

  "I think everyone can already guess that." She assured, crouching down so that she could have a better look at the person who caught her interest. "That will have to be something we deal with later."

  Chat hummed, rubbing a clawed fingertip on the inside of his lip before he crossed his arms. His glowing green eyes remained fixed on Ladybug as she watched Louis walk down the street, holding hands with his little sister.

  "So how long do you plan to spy on them?" Chat asked, casually taking a seat on the ledge beside her. "You do realize that they know how to get to your parents' house, right?"

  Ladybug rolled her eyes, taking a seat on the ledge as well. She frowned her heart feeling heavy at the thought about what Louis had asked her that morning.

"I'm not spying on them." She sighed. "I just worry for them. Louis was kidnapped twice. I just want to make sure they make it okay." She pouted, her hand reaching up to rub her blushing cheek.

"Does it really count being that I was the one who kidnapped them both the second time?" Chat mused, perking a brow as Ladybug looked at him.

   "You weren't yourself. So technically it does. I wonder if they remember these things and I worry for them." She sighed. "Louis asked me if I ever wanted to give him up for adoption..."

  Chat leaned forward, furrowing his brow at the confession. He glanced down at Louis and Emma as they crossed the narrow street by the park where Marinette used to breastfeed him as a baby.

"Woah, where did that come from?" He asked. "Maybe he heard you in the womb."

  Ladybug groaned, placing her hands over her eyes.

"Babe-- that's not funny. I really don't want him to think there was ever a chance we didn't want him. I was seventeen, I was scared. I didn't know who you were and I felt like I didn't have a choice..." she removed her hands from her eyes. "But deep down I always knew I wanted to keep him."

Chat reached over, placing an arm around her and tugging her close. He pressed soft kisses to her forehead and he relaxed against her.
  "I know, bugaboo." He murmured. "Even I was scared to death and I was real vocal about keeping him. You were thinking about what was best for him. Shit, even I feel like it would have been a good idea considering the shit they've been through because of the work we do. But at the end of the day, we love them and they love us. We all have each other and we wouldn't want it any other way. That's what matters."

  Ladybug pouted, attempting to find comfort in his words, but deep down she secretly hated herself for even considering giving Louis up for adoption those many years ago.

  "They're just getting to that age." Chat continued. "We've been there before. They're becoming curious, they ask a lot of questions. Emma has a loose tooth, they're growing, they're going through all types of emotions and next thing you know Louis will have a girlfriend-"

"Girlfriend?!" Ladybug interjected immediately pulling away from him, the thought of her only beloved son getting a new woman in his life eventually, suddenly sending daggers straight into her heart. "He's eleven!"

  "So?" Chat shrugged. "I was four and people called Chloe my girlfriend. Granted, the first person I've ever had sex with was you, but you're never too young for romance."

  Ladybug shook her head. She couldn't imagine Louis dating at his age and she couldn't imagine Emma dating at just the tender age of eight.

In fact, the thought that Marinette was out and about saving Paris as well as having sex at the teenaged age she was made her mortified. Since becoming a parent she understood why her parents had become so upset when she got pregnant.

  She'd be sobbing every night if Emma or Louis started having kids while still in school.

  "They have awesome parents." Chat continued. "I'm proud of our kids. They do a hell of a job taking care of each other."

  Ladybug nodded, her blue eyes following her little ones as they walked out of her view. The heroine quickly stood up, grabbing her yoyo from her waist.

"Okay, time to change location." She rasped, glancing back at Chat who stood up beside her, extending his weapon instantly.

"You got it, my lady!"

Down below Louis kept a tight grip on his sister's hand. He had grown a little hungry and he couldn't wait to have some of his grandmother's cooking. She always made them something when they stopped by, it was one of his favorite reasons for coming over.

  The preteen stopped, his blue eyes glancing up at the skyline as he spotted Ladybug and Chat Noir hopping across rooftop to rooftop which was something Louis caught them doing every so often.

   "I think they're watching us again." Emma whispered, leaning into her brother as she seemed to spot the duo from where she stood aswell.

"I think you're right..." Louis deadpanned, wondering what to say to them when he saw them later that night.

☆☆☆