Marinette's  POV:

     I almost fell and Adrien caught me.  I blushed. Great there I go making things awkward again.

    I  heard someone approach the fence that surrounded the shed and backyard area.

    Who was it?  Why did  I have a feeling it was bad news?

     Adrien gently set me on the ground. He walked over to the gate. He opened it and peeked out.

      "Hello?" He said.

        I stood in front of the shed uncertain what to do. 

       "Hi, Adrien, I found this message in my mailbox and believe it is meant for her," The lady said.

         I  felt brave since Adrien would not let anyone harm me. "Hi, I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng," I introduced myself.

        "I see, well then, this is for you, Miss Dupain-Cheng, and I am sorry. I suggest you read it sitting down," The lady said. With that, she left, and Adrien shut the gate back. I heard him lock it. I was glad. I did not think the lady was too friendly.

            I  looked around for a seat. Adrien brought me a chair. I sat in it. 

            I ripped open the envelope not bothering to check who it was from.

            I gasped as I read the letter. It was bad news alright. I sobbed as I re-read it.

          Dear Marinette,

             I regret to inform you that Thomas Dupain-Cheng, your father has passed away.

            I am sorry I did not reach out to you sooner. I am the brother of the late, Sabine Dupain-Cheng, may God rest her soul. I  recently discovered through some friends that you were no longer on the streets. I am relieved to hear it.

            As for your father, as you well know he was a drunkard, an abusive man towards you and your mother, and he died a poor man. He was said to have died from a liver malfunction, but I believe he drank himself to death. May God have mercy on his soul.

               I am in charge of his estate and he did not have much to leave you. I discovered two items that you may find of value to you. One is a rather tattered book, and the other is enclosed within the package that I hope will find its way to you soon.

              Take care of yourself, my dear niece,

              And remember when love finds you,

          for I am sure it will,

          To care for it, and find ways to prove your worth.

       Sincerely,

your Uncle John F. Dupain-Cheng

  PS. I  reside  in China these days so I don't travel often to where you find yourself, but am pleased that someone took it upon themselves to save you from the sad conditions of the alley life. 

PPS. You need not worry about the funeral arrangements for I have sent means to have those sorts of things taken care of my niece.  Again, you have my dearest and sincerest sympathies.

   "Marinette what troubles you?" Adrien said. I could hear the concern in his voice. I felt him hold me close.

     "I-It's my father, he is dead. I had hoped he would find comfort somewhere outside the bottle and that I would have some good times with him. Tis something that will never happen now. My uncle says I will receive a package and a tattered book soon. Those were the only things from my father's estate. Nothing else was left because he died a drunk." I sobbed some more.

     Adrien did not say another word. He did not have to. His presence was all I needed at the moment. I wept for what was lost and for what could never be. I wept for all the time I spent hating my father and for the sad reality that he had met. I wept for all the homeless people out there who still have no one to love them.

         I shivered, and he placed a shawl on my shoulders. I did not ask where it came from because I did not want to trouble him anymore. It seems try as I might that trouble follows me everywhere I go.

  Marinette's Flashback...

   "Come on father, give me a piggyback ride, please," I said.

     "Marinette, don't trouble him, you know how he gets when he comes home from work," Sabine said.

        "Mother, I only want him to love me," I sobbed. I was only five years old. 

      "Marinette, don't fret over such things. It is not healthy for you. Besides, I am sure after things get better at his job; he will be happy to give you piggyback rides," Sabine stated.

           It was not to be... Three days later, my father was fired from his job. He had been caught drinking alcohol on the job.  He was immediately let go with no questions asked. He scoffed. "I will show them. I will show them all."

          When I was seven my father had been at his new job for six months. Six months of being sober, so I thought everything was fine. Little did I know how wrong I was about everything? My mother was ill. Father refused to help her.

    He came home drunk one day, and everything went downhill from there. We lost the car, we lost our home, and he drowned my beloved cat. I was heartbroken. I wanted to run away, but my mother would not let me. She insisted we stick together because we are family.

     Some family, I thought. My father is a drunken fool and my mother does not see it.

         This is how we came to live in the alley.  We stayed there for the rest of my mother's short life. She grew weaker every day. I was sixteen when Adrien rescued me from that life. It was also that year when my mother could hold on no longer. It was the year I saw my father for he truly was a broken down, drunk who couldn't keep a job. I found marks on myself I had not seen before and I knew he was not the same father from my childhood. He was a monster. 

        End of Marinette's Flashback...

      I sobbed at the memory of my poor, dear, sweet mother who refused to leave my father despite the disgrace he had become. I sobbed for the rest of my childhood being robbed because of him. I sobbed because of the scars I was afraid to let anyone see. I felt worthless.

      Who was I to find love? No, I resolved myself to be single forever. When Adrien held me close and gave me the shawl I felt warmth.  I felt something I had not in years. I was afraid. 

        Adrien didn't know, I was a girl who was not worth it. Maybe I would have been better off in the streets. At least then I wouldn't be so afraid to lose him.

  Find out more in Chapter 11

 Until then,

bye-bye, 

little owlets!

Summer out!

*Author's note: Do you think, Adrien will ever tell Marinette where he got the shawl? Is  Marinette right about being worthless because of her troubled past?  Does Adrien love her?  Does she love him? 

  In Marinette's Flashback, the house they lost was the second one she had to move from because the first one her father lost because of a gambling debt he couldn't pay off before she was born.

 Find out by reading more of the story.