"Adrien?!"

Adrien stopped right in his tracks and stared at Marinette and Alya, huddled around Emma. Marinette had been crying. Alya looked like she wanted to rip his head off from ruining the moment. Emma giggled and pointed at her father. "Da!" she cooed.

Marinette screamed again. "Wh-wh-what - how - you - Adrien - what?"

Alya looked frantically between the couple and then sighed heavily. "I think it's time to go inside."

******

"But why are you here?" Marinette said angrily to her husband. "I came here to be away from you."

"I didn't want you to come home to see my face, since I know you hate me right now," Adrien admitted. "So I came here."

There were so many thoughts and emotions in her brain that she thought she might explode.  Marinette threw her head back and let it fall into her hands. She had already cried so much that her tear ducts had dried up and all that came out was a muffled scream of frustration. She looked up and closed her eyes, letting one last single tear slide down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said finally, and picked up Emma's car seat. As she walked out the door she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and a metal wring pressing against her skin. "Adrien, get off me."

"Marinette -"

"Get off!"

"I'm sorry, Marinette. I really am and - I made a huge mistake. If you would only give me that one chance to redeem myself, to prove to you that Chloe doesn't mean a single penny to me then I would gladly take it. Please..."

Marinette just glared at him. This was the man who ignored her for several weeks, after she kissed Nathaniel. And now he was expecting her to give him another shot after only a few days of knowing what he'd done?

"Second chances don't come so easily. That's why you should always make a good first impression." She gave him a blank glance and turned around. But the second she made contact with the doorknob, her face cringed with heartache.

"Wait!" Adrien called out, and clutched her shoulder, swiveling her around. "What about Emma? Are you just going to keep her from me? She's my child too, Marinette. You can't do that."

"Not if I get a lawyer and legally take full custody of her."

Adrien suddenly stopped breathing, his heart beat slowed down and he stared down at Emma, her glowing green eyes looking back into his. This innocent baby had been born three days ago, only to see her father was a cheater, only to see one parent standing caring for her. She was so precious, so delicate. Too new to experience so much drama on her first days.

No, he wasn't going to let her go to court at this young. No, he hadn't made good choices lately, but making mistakes doesn't make you a bad person. He admitted to himself that he had committed a major crime - he admitted it to the world. Maybe he could never get the love of his life back into his arms again. But there was still a chance with Emma.

So he looked Marinette right in the eye, and said, "no."

"Excuse me?" she scoffed.

"I can't explain how sorry I am - how guilty I feel. I know the hurt and betrayal you experienced was way beyond what you have ever expected. I know we can't start over because you can never erase the past no matter how hard you try. So even though you forget about me, I'll always be thinking about you and Emma."

Marinette's eyes traveled along her husband's face. His startling green eyes, his pale cheeks, the way his bottom lip naturally pouted, his sleek eyebrows, curved out nose - he was right. She would never forget him. She would always treasure his charming features and kind nature somewhere special in her heart. "I'll always be thinking about you too, Adrien," she breathed. 

His heart almost leaped out of his chest. Was she really forgiving him?

"But," Marinette continued. "I'll also always be thinking about the way you scarred me. It felt as if the whole world was just . . . falling apart. As if everything we had had just been a lie. As if . . . you never even loved me. Because making a mistake like that doesn't have excuses. You can't just blame it on the alcohol. It doesn't work like that. It was your choice to get drunk. It was your choice to kiss her. Then it was your choice to sleep with her. It was all your mistake."

"But I do love you," Adrien said, "I love you and our daughter. I just want everything back to normal."

"How can things be normal when you cheated on me, Adrien? Our relationship is screwed up, can't you see? I kissed my ex-boyfriend, you slept with my enemy, and right now the only thing I'm sure of is that you and I are both wondering if this relationship will hold."

"It will hold, Marinette, I know it will! A couple of bumps on the road doesn't mean you have to quit on the whole entire ride!"

"No, we're not talking about a couple of silly bumps on the road, we're talking about a big ditch that we fell into and now we can't come out of it!"

"And now you're just going into fancy metaphors!" Alya shouted. Marinette and Adrien jumped. They totally forgot she was there, being so deep into their argument. "Listen," she continued. "I know for a fact that Marinette kissed Nathaniel, and Adrien slept with Chloe, right?

They nodded.

"That's messed up," she muttered. "Anyways, I know just the thing to help you two."

"What?" Adrien eagerly asked.

"Couple's Therapy!"

Hi!

Recently I've been telling you that I'd make a longer chapter but I haven't . . . so there you go. 975 words. Boom.

Ooh, today I have a Reader's Choice for ya! 

This Chapter's Reader's Choice:

So next chapter do you want me to continue Adrien and Marinette's life or do you want me to switch to Chloe's POV? The Chloe choice is probably going to be a lot shorter than if I wrote about Adrienette. But it all adds up to you folks! So comment below and make sure to vote on this chapter. Have a miraculous day, everyone! 

Signing out!

~Laurel