"You have a very goofy face-"

Marinette's voice teased him.
"My love..."
His heart ached at the sound of her voice.

He wasn't truly healed. It was going to take some time. Everywhere he looked, he only saw her, he heard her in his head. He was constantly dreaming about her.
Adrien constantly wondered what would have been if she had lived. If they would have had another boy or a little girl. He wondered how beautiful she'd look when he first saw her walk down the aisle.
Adrien could almost feel how warm her hands where when he'd take it in his and shared their first dance as husband and wife.
He should have died beside her. He loved Louis, he really did but Adrien often found himself unable to be strong for him.

"Dadda?" Louis asked, suddenly pulling Adrien away from his train of thought.

Adrien blinked, glancing down at the pot of milk he was heating up on the stove top. The blonde reached down, lightly caressing the soft hair on his son's head before pouring the warm milk into a sippy cup and screwing the cap on. He put some on his wrist to make sure it was the right temp before handing it to the toddler.
Louis smiled, standing on his tippy toes to grab the sippy cup and pressed it to his lips.
He took a sip and hummed, turning around in circles before he wandered over to the sofa.
Adrien shut off the stove, turning to look at Plagg nuzzling himself into Louis' hair and falling asleep.

He glanced outside, his lips pursing as the sky was beginning to darken. The male carefully approached his toddler who drank the warm milk from his sippy cup.
"Hey buddy..." Adrien murmured as he plopped down on the space beside him
Louis immediately held the sippy cup in his teeth and climbed into Adrien's lap.
He pressed his cheek against Adrien's chest and held the sippy cup with his other hand.
The toddler stared blankly ahead, his mind occassionally wondering towards Marinette. The child carefully pulled away with a grimace, pulling the sippy cup out of his mouth.

"Mommy?" He asked, his blue eyes glancing up at Adrien with a soft pout.

Adrien looked down at him. He leaned down and kissed the top of his head, closing his eyes as he thought for awhile. He wrapped his arms around the little one, hugging him close.

"Let's...try something new tonight. You want to go on an adventure?" Adrien asked, perking a brow as he pulled back to look at his eccentric toddler.

Louis smiled, nodding his head. He held on to Adrien as he stood up with his baby.
Adrien returned to Louis' room and placed him on the bed. Adrien searched through his closet, grabbing a little sweatshirt and then zipping it up on Louis.
Adrien helped the baby out of bed and grabbed his keys. He then grabbed Louis favorite storybook to which the toddler held the book to his chest.

Adrien lifted the toddler up into his arms and he hugged him tightly as they left the house.

_________________________________________

"You are my sunshine...
My lovely sunshine..." Adrien sang, holding his child close to him as he walked down the silent street.

Louis looked up at his father, smiling sweetly before he closed his eyes and swayed to the sound of the song the way his mother used to when Luka played her music.

"You make me happy...
When skies are gray..."

Adrien looked up to the sky as he sang, the clouds were indeed covering up the skyline, casting an eerie shadow against the city during the night.

"You never know, dear....
How much I love you..."

Adrien gently pressed a small kiss to Louis' head as the crossed the street and into the entrance of the cemetery.

"Please don't take my sunshine away...." the blonde glanced down at his son who looked up at him with a small smile.
The little one suckled on his pacifier before he leaned up and pressed the back of the pacifier to Adrien's cheek in a swift peck.
Adrien furrowed his brow and laughed at the notion. His little toddler pecking his pacifier against his cheek as a kiss.

Adrien paused, moving his eyes together and sticking out his tongue.

Louis giggled, wiggling in his arms at the gesture before his blue eyes glanced around their surround area.
Adrien held the toddler close to him, his heart sinking at the familiar row of tombstones that decorated the area.
Adrien frowned, his eyes capturing the sight of Marinette's parents bent over his fiance's tombstone.
Tom glanced over, spotting Adrien and giving him an awkward smile.

Sabine wiped a few tears away from her eyes before she leaned into Tom.
Both of her parents fixed up the flowers to her grave and Adrien sighed, willing his feet to approach them.

Adrien found it difficult since Marinette's death. He couldn't find it in himself to face her parents especially knowing she was at fault for her death.

"Hey, it's been awhile..." Tom murmured with a weary smile, his arm wrapped around Sabine as she finally fathered the strength to pull away from Marinette's memorial.

  Adrien nodded, a frown tugging at his lips at Sabine's condition. Louis held on to Adrien, whimpering softly at his grandmother's distress.
   "Yeah. Life has been pretty....hectic..." Adrien conceded, watching as Sabine glanced over to Louis.

   "It all seems like one big nightmare..." She breathed, her face pink from crying. "We keep thinking that our only child will come home, but it feels like she's gone away for a long trip..."

  Louis looked at Sabine with a grimace.
Sabine gently reached out to Adrien, taking the little toddler gently from his arms.
  The woman gently hugged the little one, looking up at Tom as he wrapped his arms around the both of them.

   "It's strange. We were so stressed when Marinette got pregnant. We had wished for things to be different at the time, and now we are incredibly grateful that it happened. Otherwise we wouldn't have anything left of her to continue to grow...." Sabine murmured, pulling back to look at the little one.

   Adrien looked down, his stomach doing flips as he recalled that Marinette was pregnant or at least thought to be when she was killed.
   The thought that he was responsible for the cost of not one life but potentially two was eating away at him.

    "Do you think we can take him tonight?" Sabine asked, cuddling Louis close to her.

   Adrien blinked, glancing down at the book Louis held against his chest.
Adrien knew that Marinette's parents were grieving. They wanted to keep what was left of Marinette and bond. Adrien wanted that, he would have never taken that away from Sabine and Tom, but there were some things that he had to do first.

   "Would it be okay to drop him off tomorrow night?" Adrien asked. "Louis and I have a few things to catch up on..." his voice trailed off as he looked at his son.

Sabine frowned, feeling reluctant to give him back but paused as Tom placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

    "It's alright..." he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her head. "He needs some time with Louis too. We've all lost someone we loved with everything we had..."

   It had been weeks before Sabine actually felt like she could function. It had been days and days and days of pure sobbing, her holding Marinette's baby photos and her baby clothes. She had fallen asleep in Marinette's old bed, waking up to an agonizing pain that her only daughter was gone forever. She had tried medication, therapy and over all crying to attempt to get herself back on track, to at least eat and sleep again.
  The only hope she had left was Louis. It was the only flesh and blood that Marinette had left behind for them to love and Sabine was set on seeing Louis as much as possible simply because she saw Marinette when she looked into his eyes.

   "Y-you're right..." Sabine breathed, reluctantly handing over the child back to Adrien with a tear stained face.
    "Please don't forget to see us tomorrow night, okay? We'll make him the same pies Marinette enjoyed when she was his age."
  
   Adrien took Louis back into his arms, the little one not completely thrilled that he was being passed around quite a bit.
       "I won't forget. I promise..." Adrien assured, watching Tom gesture Sabine out of the cemetery as she seemed like she needed to be convinced to do that as well.

  Louis kept his eye on his grandparents, a slight grimace on his face as his lips pouted beneath his pacifier.
   Adrien watched Marinette's parents leave and he turned his attention to Louis.

   "Alright." He breathed, moving forward towards Marinette's tomb.
    He paused, glancing up at her stone. He placed the younger one on the ground, resting his hand on the marble before he looked at Louis who glanced up at the stone curiously.
   The toddler reached up, curiously touching the smooth pattern of the stone.

   Adrien stuffed his hands into his pockets, contemplating how he was going to word this.
    "Mommy isn't coming home..." Adrien explained, glancing at Louis who looked back at him with wide eyes.

    Adrien approached the little one, picking him up into his arms.
  "You see, mommy got hurt... And in order for her to heal, she had to go away into the sky..." He murmured, watching Louis look up into the cloudy grey skies. "So, to remember her down here. We put a stone here, so when we talk to it, we hope that she can hear..." Adrien explained, not sure how to tell his son that his mother's body was under the marble.

   "So what she left behind sleeps here. So we visit mommy while she's asleep..." Adrien pressed his lips together as the toddler looked at his mother's tombstone.

  "Mommy seeping?" Louis asked, pressing his head against Adrien's chest.

   "You see, mommy had a baby in her belly." Adrien breathed, his heart aching at the child he never got to meet.
"T-T-The baby didn't want mommy to sleep alone. So the baby went into the sky with mommy too."

Louis frowned. He wondered why he didn't get to sleep with mommy like this other baby did but he had a feeling that his father needed him more than his mommy did.
   
   "You see, mommy and daddy were always a team-" Adrien murmured, his voice cracking slightly to which Louis cuddled into him, hoping to ease his pain.

   "But its just you and me now..." Adrien's eyes watched the tombstone, his heart aching. "So we have to be a team. Okay?" He mused, looking back down at the toddler and bouncing him on his hip.

"Team?" Louis asked, his head wrapping around the fact that his mother was never coming back. He missed her terribly, but Louis couldn't quite understand yet.

    Did mommy just go away and they will meet her later?

But he was now a team with his father, and the thought of his father behind his best friend was the best feeling in the world.

    Adrien breathed out, attempting to calm himself before he became a sobbing mess in front of the little one.

He had to be strong.

   "S-So I thought we could read mommy a bedtime story. Spend some time with her like we used to..." Adrien suggested, grabbing the book from Louis' hands and carefully sitting on the ground.

   Louis glanced up at Adrien before leaning against him. The toddler watched as Adrien opened the bedtime story book with the family of rabbits.

   "Can you show mommy what was your favorite again?" He asked, chuckling softly. "I think she might have forgotten it."

  Louis giggled softly, excitedly leaning over to turn the pages to find his favorite mommy rabbit.

   "A mommy babbit!" He exclaimed around his pacifier. "Babbit Babbit babbit!!"

Adrien snorted.
    "Yes! Although we can call the bunnies too!" He replied, nuzzling into the little one.

      "Bunnies, rabbits, they all multiply large families on their own-" a sharp voice emanated from behind the boys.

Louis gasped, glancing back at who spoke to them.

Adrien felt his blood grow cold at the sound of her voice. Adrien always found himself being pulled back from her.

  He was digging himself out of the funk he was in, and the moment he floated to the surface to actually breathe air, he was pulled back down by her once more.

   He took a few steps forward, and she kept tugging him backwards. 
He leapt towards Marinette and each time he got close, she tugged him back.

Adrien immediately held on to Louis tightly, standing up and turning to face Lila.

   "What do you want?" Adrien muttered coldly. "Back to rub things in my face again?" He asked.

Louis flinched, holding on to his father's shirt nervously.

   Lila rolled her eyes, a small sigh escaped her lips and she crossed her arms.

   "Your friend Alya..." she deadpanned. "Where is she?"

   Adrien furrowed his brow, his heart racing as he wondered if she had planned to murder Alya next.

   "Why do you care?" Adrien asked, his glare remaining cold towards her.

   Lila sucked her teeth, clenching her teeth.
    "She is friends with Ladybug, isn't she? I need her to tell me where she is, or where she's hiding."

   Adrien chuckled, his stare still cold as he reminisced that Lila had murdered ladybug in cold blood.

    "Waiting for Ladybug to kick your ass?" Adrien asked satirically, perking a brow.

   Lila waved him off dismissively. She had a lot more things to worry about rather than taking hits from Adrien.

   "No..."she sighed. "I know Ladybug and I aren't on good terms, but I know she wouldn't let Chat Noir kill me." She conceded. "Chat Noir....He will kill me."

Louis' eyes widened at the sound of her words, his brow furrowed and he looked up at Adrien with a puzzled expression.

    Adrien narrowed his eyes.
"And what makes you think I'll help you?" He asked, his blood growing cold once more.

   Lila glared back at him, slowly approaching him to which Adrien cowarded Louis.
    "Because then I'll have to take this cute little one from you. Don't give me that option...." she threatened, her voice growing cold as she glowered her eyes down at Louis.

    Adrien felt his heart quicken as he stepped back, not allowing Lila to get any closer to them.
  
    "You touch him and I will kill you myself..." Adrien muttered, his expression remaining hard as Lila rolled her eyes and dismissed them. She turned on her heels, casually moving away as she placed her hands on her hips.

Louis whimpered, hiding his face into his father's chest as he had a bad feeling that his mom went to sleep because of her.

    "Don't be so hostile. We all know Marinette fucked anyone she could get her hands on. That baby looks like Nathan." She replied coldly. "That's all Marinette was, a dainty little whore who deserves to rot in the ground..."

   Louis pulled back, tears pooling in his eyes at the thought of his mom laying in the ground feeling cold and lonely.

   Adrien glanced down, his heart slowing down as he began to feel numb once more.
He couldn't help but to think back to those times Marinette had spent with Nathan.
   He rememebered the misunderstandings and the pain they both went through afterwards.

But Adrien knew Marinette. She wasn't like what anyone had said. Louis was born long before Nathan had come into the picture.
Adrien had no doubts that Louis was his son.
It was devaluing to hear someone say that about the woman he loved in front of their tombstone and in front of their son.

    "Nathan's child..." Adrien pulled back to look at Louis who glanced back up at him with wide terrified blue eyes.

Lila hummed, turning back to look at him with a weak sly smile.
   "I'll help you..." Adrien murmrued, catching Lila's attention almost instantly.

   "What was that?" She asked, turning to face him.

   "I'll help you..." Adrien stated once more, rolling his shoulders.

   Louis sniffled, feeling conflicted and unsure of what his father was planning.
  
    "I'll talk to Alya. I can convince Ladybug to protect you..." Adrien murmured, his face impassive. "She can keep you safe from Chat Noir. He'll have no mercy on you..." his voice trailed off.

   Lila perked a brow, keeping a safe distance between the three of them.

   "Oh yeah?" She mused, catching her lip between her teeth.  "And what's the catch?" She asked, walking and pacing in small circles.

   Adrien shook his head.

"There's no catch..." the blonde assured. "Just to keep my son safe. If Chat Noir is on a murderous rampage, then we all need to be safe..."

Lila narrowed her eyes, reluctant to accept Adrien's proposal.

    "Where do you propose I meet ladybug to talk to her more about this?" She asked, her body coming to a standstill as she glared at Adrien and Louis.

    Adrien shrugged, pressing Louis closer to his chest to keep him away from looking at Lila.
   "What do you say I have Ladybug meet you at the Notre Dame. Perhaps tomorrow night?" He asked.
   The blonde knew full well that Ladybug wasn't going to show up, she had been buried beneath their feet for a couple of weeks.
   He knew that Louis would he safe with Sabine and Tom like he had promised to drop his toddler off. Tomorrow night would have been a perfect time to take care of things.
   Adrien was back on his old motto
He was to get rid of Lila. She would only keep pulling him back if he didn't.

   "Very well then..." Lila turned around, ready to leave them both behind.

"The Notre Dame...tomorrow night."