Adrien had awoken the next morning to the loving sight of breakfast in bed. Chloé had been resting at the door frame of their bedroom, wearing nothing but his white shirt, watching him take in the assortment of toasted bread, bacon, scrambled eggs, and others on the big tray. What could she say? Her husband did have a big appetite.

"Come here." Her body had tingled at the small command, and she bit her lip as she timidly walked over to join him in their bed.

He had placed a kiss on her forehead and encouraged her to get closer to him as much as she wanted.

Chloé was grateful for that.

"Feeling better?" His raspy voice had asked as he picked up a piece of fruit and let her have a bite.

She could only nod as she nibbled on it, her heart racing at the thought of what Adrien would do in light of the previous night's revelations.

"Chloé," he spoke as he'd dropped the butter knife on the white ceramic plate.

"Promise me last night's not going to be the only time you'll open up to me." He had taken her hands in his, saying, "Never be afraid to let me know how you're feeling. Now I do love my feisty queen," he smirked, to which she had giggled and he'd kissed her fingers. "But showing emotion makes you even stronger than you already are. You'd never be weak in my eyes, never."

A bourgeois must never show wea....

"I—I promise." She had smiled, and he grinned before kissing her lips.

And truthfully, she did live up to her promise. Adrien had never seen Chloé so relaxed since before they started trying for children, which was two years ago. He had also lived up to his promise of letting her explore her new emotions around him before introducing others to her bubble. Hence, the staff had been given a few days off and were due to return the following Sunday.

Margaret, the head housekeeper, couldn't help but wonder what had happened while they were away, as she had never seen her mistress so unwound. Adrien simply shrugged in response as they watched her chatter away with the kitchen staff.

"Don't know, uh, good food?"

The middle-aged woman simply snorted, throwing him a sly smirk, "Yeah, I can think of a certain type."

"I'm right here!"

The duo had burst out in roaring laughter at the flushed blonde, who only glared at the older woman.

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Adrien chuckled at the memory as a waitress arrived with his order.

"Well, look who's happy to see his ex-wife."

Adrien looked up just in time to see a dark-skinned man snag a curly fry from his plate before plopping himself on the seat opposite him. He perked a blonde brow and couldn't help but ogle the other man, whose brown eyes mischievously shone in return.

Shaking his head in amusement, Adrien couldn't help himself, "I always knew the beards would look good on you."

The other man rolled his eyes playfully and grinned, "As did I."

Both men seemed to be in a staring contest, which lasted only fifteen seconds before they burst out in laughter. "It's so good to see you again, Nino."

"Likewise here, buddy."

Just like with Marinette and Alya, the friendship between Adrien and Nino blossomed into something stronger as the years went by.

When the news of his father's death reached Adrien at school, he was devastated. He hadn't even had time to come to terms with his loss when his mother whisked him out of the country that very day.

It had been brutal. Adrien wondered how he had managed to stay sane during the difficult period; losing the friendships he had made in a short time, having to reacclimatize to a new environment and language, all while mourning the loss of a family member.

But he knew he owed it all to Nino.

Ever since that day at Francois Dupont, Nino stood through thick and thin for his best pal. He even chose to move to Milan to further his studies with Adrien after catching him having a breakdown at the front of his new school the day the dark-skinned man arrived.

When Adrien heard that Nino hopped the train to Milan right after his last baccalaureate exam, he chastised him, and the friend simply replied that Adrien's mental health was more important than anything else, and that his parents had given their support.

And so, they did everything and anything together, including living in an apartment outside of campus, going to game nights, study nights, hangouts, and class projects, and, of course, going to therapy.

If there was a word to describe their relationship, bromance would never make the cut.

It was something more that both parties had come to cherish, and they were extremely grateful.

Adrien pouted, crossing his arms like a child after they exchanged a warm, big smile.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back to Paris this month? Alya didn't even say a word at the shoot for their highnesses two Mondays ago."

Nino laughed at his childish antics. Actually, I had her keep it under wraps when she got back some months ago. I've only been in Paris for two days now, so calm your tits, dude."

Adrien was about to say something when he was interrupted.

"Hi Nino, Alya's currently not on seat, so what can I get you?"

They turned their attention to Hannah—as read on her name tag—and he smiled. "It's no problem. We spoke on my way here. I'll have what he's having." Nino replied as he tossed a curly fry into his mouth.

Adrien furrowed his brow as he watched Nino take a bite of his fish fillet.

Alya's not on seat?

"Whu?" Nino shrugged with his mouth full before swallowing. "A man has to eat."

"What did she mean by Alya's not on seat?" The blonde man asked as he watched Nino continue to stuff the food down his throat.

"Uh, because she runs the place?"

"Wait, Alya runs this place?" Adrien asked in awe as his eyes took in the diner as if seeing it for the first time.

"Yeah, for about eight months now. Enough of me. How have you been?" Nino asked, licking off the sauce on his index finger.

"Oh, I've been better..."

They talked as much as they could, about everything and anything, catching up on what had happened in their lives since they separated.

Adrien learned that Nino planned on starting up his production company and was overjoyed to hear that his best friend was working on an animated movie for black kids on hair positivity.

"That's freaking amazing." He commented, and his friend beamed with pride. The blonde man knew the different views the community had on the hair of black people and was glad Nino was taking a step to quell many stereotypical thoughts and beliefs. Adrien offered to help in the production scheme, and the dark-skinned man couldn't have been more overjoyed.

As the topic of Chloé began to come up, the blonde man picked at his meal and tried to respond as carefully as he could.

"She's been...well?" Adrien couldn't help but wince at his slip, to which Nino only shook his head.

"We weren't married for five years for nothing. Now spill."

Adrien sighed as Nino took a sip of his water. "We....recently lost the twins, and it's been hard on us these past few weeks. I've been... getting help, and it was until recently that Chloé sort of did."

"Sort of did?" Nino asked as he held a piece of the fried fish between his fingers.

Adrien looked up as Hannah was about to place Nino's order in front of him before collecting it. After all, Nino had practically claimed Adrien's food, so it'd only be fair if he did the same.

"Yeah, she's been having a rough time coming to terms with their loss and the fact that another pregnancy could be fatal for her." He heaved a sigh. "It's been only a week since she showed how much she's been hurting and I wish there was something more I could do for her."

The blonde man's eyes trailed over his dark-haired friend in irritation as Nino abandoned Adrien's former plate for his new one, snagging the hot curly fry before plopping it in his mouth. He now remembered why eating with Nino was always a bad idea.

How did Alya cope with this man?

After a moment of silence, Nino spoke. "You know, there is something you can do."

Adrien took a break from his meal."There is?"

"I mean, yeah, there's adoption, and also the idea of another woman carrying your baby—hey!"

Nino's lips curled in disgust as the liquid that was supposed to be in Adrien's mouth sprayed him, sogging up his shirt in the process.

"I just bought these." He whined as he tried to get the liquid off his light blue shirt and dark jeans with a piece of napkin that accompanied his meal, oblivious to the turmoil that was currently happening in his best friend's mind.

Adrien's jaw suddenly lost its functions as his mouth kept switching from closed to open. The poor man tried to get a word out, only to fail at each attempt.

"What?" Nino shrugged as he peered over his friend and the soggy fries on the table through his dark-rimmed glasses. "Now you have wasted such good food."

"A—are you crazy?" Adrien found his voice as he watched his friend nonchalantly eye a piece of the wet food before dropping it back on the plate.

"Calm down, Adrien, it seems like the second option has your attention."

Adrien almost yelled. "You think?"

Nino heaved a sigh and explained, "When I said that, I was talking about those situations where you have a person volunteer to carry the baby, you know, in here," he demonstrated by pointing at his stomach, "but the child won't be related to them but to you and Chloé."

"You mean surrogacy?" Adrien perked his blonde eyebrow, and Nino nodded with a smirk.

"Bingo, what would we do without science?" He mused, and Adrien thumbed his chin in deep thought.

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea," the blonde man grinned as he pondered over it.

It may work. Scratch that it was going to work. Adrien wasn't sure as to why he had never thought of adoption or surrogacy. Maybe it was because he was too busy thinking about Chloé's well-being that he put off the search for another solution, although Chloé coming first was never a bad thing.

And with this new idea his friend had brought up, she was still going to pull the shots.

That was how it was always going to be.

Jumping to his feet, Adrien looked at his watch. "She'll be home soon. Nino, I've gotta go break this to her. Thank you so much for the idea, and I promise I'm not abandoning you."

"Yeah, yeah, run along and leave the love of your life alone for a while. It's no big deal." Nino mocked as he watched as Adrien slammed a few euro bills on the table before rushing out of the diner.

"Hi Alya, nice place you got. Bye Alya."

Alya raised an eyebrow in confusion at the glass doors to the restaurant as she watched Adrien hop into his car before heading towards the road.

"What's up with him?" She asked once her boyfriend was within arm's reach. Nino could only swell with pride as his eyes watered.

"I may have just found our boy a solution."

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♬ We'll be making love the whole night through
So I'm saving all my love
Yes, I'm saving all my love
Yes, I'm saving all my love for you ♬

Chloé didn't make it to her bedroom before Adrien swooped her into a slow dance.

She perked a blonde eyebrow, her lips twitching in an attempt to hide her smile as she watched Adrien grin like a child on Christmas morning.

"What's going on?" She laughed as he spun her before taking her for a dip, her body tightly pressed against him.

He spun her again and pressed her body close to him, her back against him, as they moved with the flow of the music.

She giggled as Adrien pressed his lips to her temple.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" She asked as she relaxed against him.

"Well, I met up with Nino today after a few years apart....."

She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "And?"

"And he may have given one or two suggestions....."

Chloé looked up to see Adrien staring down at her with an unsure look on his face. "He suggested we go for adoption or find a surrogate."

The blonde woman removed herself from his embrace and hugged herself. She didn't know why, but her throat suddenly became dry.

Her fingers seemed to have found the locks of her hair as the gears began to turn in her mind.

I—I my babies, pe—people. No babies, ch—children.

Chloé jumped as Adrien took her hands. "Chloé breathe. Deep breaths." He coached and smiled as she did as instructed. "Keep going, love. Good girl."

Adrien rubbed small circles on her and held her close to him on their bed as she drank a glass of water.

"You okay?" He asked as he collected the glass from her. She gave a small nod, and he rubbed small circles on the back of her hand.

Maybe he had come on too strong.

"I didn't mean to drop this on you all of a sudden, as I was excited at the thought of this new opportunity for us." He turned to face her. "Please forgive me, Chloé, and as always, whichever one you decide, I'll go with it. I just want to see you happy."

Chloé looked up as Adrien tilted her chin. "Promise me you'll think about it."

She honestly didn't know what she did to deserve this man.

"I'll think about it." She assured him with a small smile and embraced the warm hug from her husband.

It shouldn't hurt to think about it. Right?

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Hey guys, I would really appreciate your feedback on the story so far. Do remember to vote and leave a comment. Have a great day/night. :)