Marinette was not going to walk in to her new job on Monday without a solid game-plan. She knew that she and Emma were basically strangers, meaning Marinette wanted to make this day-no, scratch that, this week-as painless as possible.

She had spent the weekend preparing. After she had a nice long chat with Alya, trying to pick her brain for information on Emma, she proceeded to stalk the internet for bonding activities. In the end, Marinette had to trust her instincts and made a list of the activities she had done with Manon over ten years ago.

"Ok, Marinette," she said to herself in the mirror as she dressed in nice yet comfortable clothing. "You can do this. It will be like babysitting Manon: hard the first time but progressively easier." She grabbed a hair-tie then twirled her hair up into an easy bun. "Just make it one day at a time. One day at a time."

She took in her appearance once last time, giving the girl in the mirror a nod of approval before grabbing her precious necklace off her nightstand. She held it tight, feeling the bite of the diamond dig into her palm and the tip of the heart dig into her finger. It seemed almost pitiful to put her wedding ring on the sterling silver necklace Nathaniel had given to her back when they were teenagers, yet, Marinette knew the ring couldn't go back on her finger. She had removed it as a symbol to herself that she was no longer married. That Nathaniel was truly gone. While it stung so badly, it somehow made the days easier.

With a sigh, she shoved the ring down her shirt front and felt the cool metal rest on her skin right above her heart. Then, she grabbed her oversized red purse from her closet and went down into the kitchen to finish preparing for the day.

"Good morning," her mother chirped before shoving a plate of pastries towards Marinette. "Are you ready?"

Grinning, Marinette snatched a pain au chocolate from the plate before giving her mother a side hug. "Nearly. Just need a few more things."

"I'm so excited for you," Maman said for the umpteenth time in the last few days.

"I know, Maman," Marinette said as she pulled a collection of different containers out of the pantry.

"And I'll keep my fingers crossed this works out."

"I have them crossed, too."

Maman's smile grew brighter. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."

Marinette's grin turned teasing. "You know, Maman, you could have kicked me out if you hated having me around that much."

Her mother chuckled. "You know what I mean. I'll forever be your mother and want you to be happy. Without a bottle of wine influencing it."

"That was one time!" Marinette cried.

Her mother laughed.

Marinette rolled her eyes. After chucking all the containers into her bag, she headed down to the bakery, her mother's parting "goodbye" echoing down the stairs.

She slipped into the bakery storage room, taking out the containers one by one and filling them. She double-checked everything before realizing she had forgotten the card. She bounded back upstairs as quickly as she could, snatched the pink card off her desk, then hopped back down the stairs to the door.

She got to her car, grabbing the handle and pulling only to realize it was locked. Rolling her eyes, she stomped back inside. She tossed the door open

To see her mother standing there holding a glittery ladybug charm that kept all her keys together.

Marinette flashed a sheepish grin before taking the keys and thanking her maman.

"Just like old times," her mother said, shaking her head with a smile. "Have a good day."

"Thanks, Maman. Love you."

"Love you, too, dear."

So, after shutting and locking the front door behind her, Marinette was finally able to unlock the door to get into her car.

When she arrived a couple minutes early-sans speeding, thank you very much-Marinette patted herself on the back. She remembered to take the keys out of the car then made her way to Adrien's front door, locking her car behind her before tossing the keys into her bag.

It took a moment for Adrien to answer, but he greeted her with a smile. "Good morning. Come in."

"Good morning to you," she said, walking inside. Adrien shut the door behind her as she hung the large red bag on the coatrack and politely removed her flats.

"Emma is upstairs in her room," Adrien said. "I have to warn you that she's sometimes a bit reserved when it comes to the first day of a new nanny."

While Marinette wanted to ask, she bit her tongue thinking it was probably to early to ask why he referenced "new nanny" so often.

She probably didn't want to know.

The duo walked up the stairs to Emma's room. Adrien knocked on the doorframe before entering. "Emma, Mrs. Marinette is here."

Marinette peeked into the room to see Emma clutching that same black cat plushy she had been holding the first time.

"I have work to do," Adrien said, kneeling down in front of his daughter, "so I'll be in my office. Only come in if you need me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Pinky promise?"

With a smile, Emma wrapped her pinky finger around Adrien's. "Pinky promise," she whispered.

Adrien pulled Emma closer to press a kiss to her forehead. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Daddy."

"Have fun with Mrs. Marinette today."

And that was when Emma's joy faded. She looked past her daddy to see Marinette standing in doorway.

Honestly, Marinette didn't blame Emma. It felt like she was intruding on a very private moment. Still, she smiled at Emma, waving hello. "Good morning, Emma."

She squeezed the cat. "Hi."

"That's my girl," Adrien whispered before he stood. He turned to Marinette. "One last thing: I will be plenty busy, but if Emma needs anything, she is allowed in my office."

"All right."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have stacks of paperwork that need to be done." With that, he headed back downstairs to his office.

With a smile, Marinette entered Emma's room and knelt down to her level. "If I'm going to be playing with you and your kitty cat all day, I think I need to know his name."

Emma squeezed the black cat. "This is Plagg."

Plagg.

Like death.

...O...kay... Well, that was comforting. Still, she put on a smile as she reached for the cat's paw to shake. "Hello, Plagg."

Emma pulled him close before Marinette could grab his paw. "He doesn't like the babysitters."

Marinette pulled back. It seemed winning Emma's trust was going to be harder than she thought. "Then Plagg is a good cat to protect you, huh?"

Emma nodded firmly. "Daddy got him for me after a babysitted hit my hand with a stick. He said Plagg would make sure no nanny ever did that again."

Marinette caught her jaw before it hit the ground. Was she joking? Hopefully she was exaggerating. "Well, I can promise I will never hit your hand with a stick. That's just mean."

Emma stomped her foot and hummed affirmatively. "That's right."

"Well then, Plagg," Marinette said, taking on a playfully serious tone. "You're a good guard cat. Keep up the good work."

That got Emma to smile. She made Plagg straighten and nod.

Marinette grinned. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard, after all.

"Mrs. Marinette?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry. And Plagg is, too."

Marinette looked at her watch, noting that it was lunchtime. "Then we should go make some lunch, shouldn't we?"

In a second, Emma snatched Plagg up in her arms and ran out of her room.

Marinette stood, glancing over the mess of a game spread out on the floor. After the initial introduction, Marinette had asked for the names of all Emma's animals. She wasn't going to remember all fifty of them, but she knew Plagg, and that was good enough for now. After the animals had been carefully and lovingly put away, each given an apology for sticking them back in the bin, they had gotten immersed in one of Emma's favorite games which they had played up until now.

By the time Marinette entered the kitchen, Emma was sitting at the table in wait with Plagg slumped over in the chair next to her.

"I want a sandwich," Emma said, looking up at Marinette.

Marinette would let the lack of manners slide for now considering that she was currently succeeding in proving herself to be the "good guy". "All right. Do you want to make it, or will I?"

"You."

"Okay. I have a deal for you," she said, bending down to Emma's level. "You show me where everything is, and I'll make the sandwiches, okay?"

Emma hesitated before nodding. "Okay."

"First, we'll need bread."

Just like that, Emma found the ingredients that Marinette listed off and helped her line them up perfectly on the counter. Marinette found a few more ingredients on her own to add to the mix.

"Now, we'll need three plates."

"One for you, me, and Plagg."

Marinette paused. "I'm sorry, Plagg. I forgot about you. Then we'll need four plates."

Emma frowned.

"Don't you think your daddy would like a sandwich, too?"

There was one thing Marinette learned very quickly: Emma utterly adored her father. Bringing him up was a surefire way to bring a smile to Emma's face. "Yeah!"

"So, do you want me to make his sandwich, or do you want to make a special sandwich for him?"

"I want to make it!"

With a grin, Marinette hooked her foot around the step stool in the kitchen and pulled it over so Emma could stand by her side. "All right. Hop on up, and I'll show you how to make the best sandwich ever for your dad."

With a childish determination, Emma watched Marinette as she talked Emma through how to make the sandwich.

"Good job," Marinette said, raising her hand up to give Emma a high-five. She eagerly smacked her tiny hand against Marinette's big one. "Now, do you want to take it to your father?"

Emma nodded excitedly, taking the plate from the counter and carefully walking with it out into the hallway.

Marinette grabbed a glass to fill with water then snagged a napkin from the holder as she followed Emma to the office. Emma had set the plate down on the ground in order to reach the door handle. After pushing the door open, she picked the plate back up and entered the office with a proud smile. "I made you lunch, Daddy."

There was a pause. "Thank you, Emma," he said, surprise in his voice. "That looks delicious."

"Can I come eat with you, Daddy?"

"Um... I'm really busy, Em. Why don't you enjoy lunch with Mrs. Marinette?"

Marinette could almost imagine the pout on the little girl's face. "Okay," Emma dejectedly said.

"Oh," Adrien grumbled. There was a giddy, girly squeal, likely resulting from Emma being picked up. "You know I love you. We'll eat lunch together some other time."

The smile must have been back up on Emma's face as she said, "Okay, Daddy. I love you."

"Love you, too."

Emma came patting back out of the room, only to freeze, gasping in surprise when she saw Marinette standing there.

Marinette gave Emma a smile and handed her the glass of water. "Want to give this to your dad, too?"

The girl's smile was blinding as she carefully took the glass in both hands and walked into the office again. Upon giving it to her dad, she ran back out to grab the napkin and returned it to her father.

"Tell Marinette thank you for me," Marinette could hear Adrien say, loud enough to convey his own thanks well enough.

"Okay."

"And be sure to shut the door, Emma."

"Okay, Daddy."

Emma came back out and reached up to shut the door.

"Did your daddy like it?" Marinette asked, ready to hear all about the short encounter that she had already overheard.

But if it made Emma comfortable around her, then Marinette would get the girl to talk about her father all day long. "He said thank you."

"Well that was very nice of him. Now, let's go enjoy our lunch, shall we?"

Emma nodded before bounding back to the dining room.

Plagg got the seat of honor at the lunch table, a single slice of cheese on his plate. The potato chips had been found and opened. Emma had full control over the bag, deciding when and if Marinette was allowed to grab a few chips here and there.

Though Marinette did take the bag away when Emma had more than enough chips. She whined but thankfully got over it quickly.

Afterwards, the dishes needed to be put away. Emma pouted at the prospect. "But I don't want to."

If Marinette was being honest, this was what she was expecting from Chloe's daughter. However, she was not complaining because this wasn't too bad compared to the hissy fits she had been bracing herself for.

"Plagg and I are going to my room."

"But if you don't clean up," Marinette coaxed. "You won't get to have any special treats."

Emma froze, Plagg dangling from her arm.

Marinette bit back a grin.

"Treats?" Emma cautiously repeated.

Marinette nodded. "Yup. Only girls who help clean the kitchen get treats."

Emma stood completely still, but Marinette could see the war as clear as day in her blue eyes. She pouted and whimpered and squeezed Plagg tight.

And Marinette waited patiently for an answer.

"What kind of treats?" Emma asked.

"Well," Marinette said. "That's a surprise. But, I will tell you that I have a whole bunch of goodies in my purse that we need for the special treats."

She could see Emma breaking. It wasn't as though Marinette was asking for a lot, just dishes being put away and the napkins being thrown out. "Do we have a deal?"

Emma pressed her face into the back of Plagg's head. Slowly, she peeked between his large ears to see Marinette. In a flash, she bounded to the table to put Plagg in a chair and immediately started handing Marinette the dishes.

Marinette grinned in victory.

With the dishwasher loaded and kitchen cleaned up, Emma looked at Marinette expectantly. "Treats now?"

"As long as you promise to help me with the dishes after we make the treats," Marinette said. "Promise?"

Emma nodded. "Promise."

"Okay. Wait one moment."

Marinette went into the front hallway to grab her purse then returned to the kitchen and set it down on the kitchen table. With a grin, she opened it up and pretended to dig deep inside. Emma scrambled up onto a chair to watch as Marinette put on her show. One at a time, Marinette pulled out each individual container, each holding a different ingredient. By the time she pulled out the bag of chocolate chips, Emma was wiggling in her seat anxious with anticipation.

Marinette never would have guessed that Chloe's daughter would be so adorable.

"Now, for one last thing." With a flourish, Marinette pulled out the big, pink card on which she had clearly written out the recipe and handed it over to Emma.

Emma took the card, but as she looked it over, her excitement dissipated.

"Can you read that, Emma?" Marinette asked.

She shoved the card back at Marinette, shaking her head.

Marinette frowned. "No?"

Emma shook her head again, this time not looking in Mariette's eyes.

"Why not?" Marinette asked, taking the card.

Emma's hands fell into her lap. "It's hard."

Marinette sighed. She had wondered about this, if Emma had been taught to read or not. Still, she was encouraged by the words "it's hard" rather than "I can't." Marinette rounded the table and sat down next to Emma. "Only if you don't practice," she said, setting the card down on the table. "Here. We'll sound out each letter together, okay?"

Emma's expression never wavered.

"Can you try it?" Marinette gently asked, leaning down so Emma wouldn't have to look up so much. "One word?"

Emma hesitated before little tears started forming in her eyes.

Uh-oh.

"But what if I can't?" Emma asked, her voice wavering. "I want the treats."

"We'll make the treats whether or not you can do it," Marinette said, placating the girl before those tears fell because she knew that once they did, it was over. "But will you try? With me? Together?"

Emma's lip didn't stop quivering.

"I'll even sound out the first letter," Marinette said. "Especially since it's a tricky one. See this?"

Marinette counted it a huge victory that she drew Emma's attention down to the card. "This is a CH. This is a trickster because you don't sound it out C and H, but those two pair together to make CH. So the first sound in this is CH. Now, let's sound through the rest of it, and I'll warn you if there are tricky letters, okay?"

Emma hesitated. "But what if I can't?"

"I know you can," Marinette encouraged.

"You're not going to hit me?"

Marinette's heart sank. "No," she said. "Of course not. I promise. Why would I do that?"

"Because Ms. Mendleave did that," Emma said, the waterworks starting up.

Immediately, Marinette scooped Emma up into her arms and cuddled her against her chest while Emma's sobs grew. "Emma," Marinette cooed. "I will never hit your hand. I promise." She swallowed, wondering what else to tell the girl. "Plagg is here to stop that, right? So how can I hit your hand if Plagg won't let me?"

Marinette mentally cheered her victory when Emma calmed.

"You see?" Marinette said, reaching over to pull Plagg into the spot Emma had been occupying. "Plagg won't let anything bad happen to you."

Emma's tears stopped, and Marinette silently sighed in relief. "I promise, I'll never hit your hand," Marinette said. "I promise. I just wanted to read this together."

Emma wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"Can we do it together? One word?"

Emma hesitated.

"We already have one letter down. And a tricky letter, too. We have CH. Can you read the next one?"

It took a moment, but Emma shifted so as to look at the card.

Marinette inwardly cheered her victory. "CH," she repeated, pointing at the CH on the card. She pointed to the next letter. "What sound does that make?"

Emma leaned forward so as to put her own finger under it. "...O."

"Good," Marinette encouraged, moving to the next letter. "So we have CH-O. What's the next sound?"

The pattern continued as each letter was sounded out, then all the sounds repeated. Emma reveled in the praise Marinette poured out over her, and soon she was working hard to earn more of it.

"Chocolate!" Emma soon cried. "Chocolate!"

"Very good!" Marinette praised, giving Emma a hug from behind. "I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it!"

Emma was all smiles now. Suddenly, Marinette was wondering if she could push her luck. "But we still don't know what we're making, don't we? Can we figure out the next word? It's really short and even has that same tricky letter you already know."

While the grin on Emma's face faded, she turned to look at the card anyway.

Marinette pointed to the beginning of the word. "You know that tricky letter, right?"

In no time at all, the bright grin returned to Emma's face. "Chip!"

"Very good!" Marinette encouraged. "So the title is 'Chocolate Chip.' What's the last word?"

There was no hesitation this time as Emma dove into it. "C..."

"We have another tricky letter here," Marinette gently interrupted. "See how there are two 'o's together? That will make an 'ou' sound. So, k-ou-"

Emma picked it right up. "k... i... e... s. K-ou-k-i-e-s." Emma then lit up like a Christmas tree in the night as she looked excitedly up at Marinette. "Cookies!"

"Yes!" Marinette grinned down with genuine pride. "Good job. I'm so proud of you!"

Emma looked like she could burst in happiness.

"So what does the full sentence say?"

"Chocolate," Emma said, pointing to each word. "Chip. Cookies." Suddenly, she whipped her head around to look up at Marinette excitedly.

"Chocolate chip cookies," Marinette repeated with a smile. "Are you ready to make them?"

"Yeah!" Emma shouted, leaping off Marinette's lap.

Marinette realized that the girl had probably never had the opportunity to make cookies before. It squeezed her heart just a little because Marinette thought every child should have the opportunity to make something sweet. "First things first," Marinette said, "we are going to need a big bowl."

Emma and Marinette scoured the kitchen for one that would do the job. However, instead of a bowl, they found a very nice, very new stand mixer. What Adrien was doing with it when he said he couldn't cook-and very likely didn't bake-was beyond her.

"Can we use that?" Emma asked, leaning over Marinette's shoulder as she looked at the shiny stainless-steel appliance. "Auntie Alya has one just like that, but she never let me use it."

While Marinette held onto the belief that cookies should be made by hand at least once, Emma seemed very interested in the appliance. If only to keep her interested, why not. "All right."

Marinette set it up on the counter, Emma's eyes practically radiating sunshine as she excitedly bounced around the kitchen. She couldn't help but grin at the four-year-old. Marinette knew baking cookies were exciting, but she hadn't thought she'd get this reaction. Things were definitely looking up.

Adrien finished the last bite of his sandwich. It had been a surprise, to say the least. Most of the time, the nannies would bring him in something or inform him that they made food for him and it was in the kitchen. To see Emma enter with a sandwich that she had clearly made herself had made his day.

He'd grinned when Emma then reappeared with a glass of water and again with a napkin. He'd have to thank Marinette properly later.

Finishing up the last of the paperwork, Adrien decided he should take the empty glass and plate back into the kitchen. The wadded-up napkin was placed on the plate as he made his way out of the office.

He was halfway to the kitchen when he heard a squeal and a shout. He hurried towards the sound, only to freeze in the entranceway.

The mixer that Alya had gotten him a couple Christmases ago was on the counter, Emma and Marinette each standing at a side. Emma had her little hands fisted against her mouth while Marinette had reached over the mixer to hold one of the little levers down. But the scene was not complete without the fine layer of white powder that had covered both of them.

And half the kitchen.

Emma started giggling, her bubbly laughter filling the kitchen. Slowly but surely, a small smile replaced the panicked cringe Marinette had been wearing.

The scene was just too amusing for Adrien not to chuckle himself.

"Daddy!" Emma cried.

Suddenly, Marinette's smile disappeared.

Emma ran over to him, her dress covered in white powder that came off in clouds with each step.

"You are a mess," he teased, kneeling down to her level. "What happened?"

"Mrs. Marinette and I are making cookies."

"Cookies?" he asked, once again genuinely surprised.

Emma nodded, her now white ponytail bouncing behind her. "Yeah. She let me add the ingredients and turn on the mixer. I added the flour, but when I turned on the mixer, it went 'poof'!"

"I can tell," he chuckled, brushing the worst of the flour off Emma and creating a nice white cloud in the process. "You are a mess." He walked over to the sink, taking a paper towel and dampening it before wiping off the flour from Emma's face.

"There. Now, go change."

With a nod, Emma tore upstairs.

"So," Adrien began, "Cookies?"

Marinette shrugged. "In my experience, there is no better bonding activity than baking. I...usually am able to manage it without the flour cloud, though," she joked, brushing the worst of the flour off her shirt.

"I'll get the vacuum. We'll clean this up in no time."

"I can manage," she said. "Don't you have work to do?"

"I can spare a few minutes. It's not bad."

"You say even though half the kitchen is coated with flour."

Chuckling, Adrien looked over the kitchen. "It's...not the biggest mess this kitchen has seen."

A curious gleam sparkled in Marinette's eyes. "Now that's a story I'd like to hear."

"Some other time," Adrien promised. "For now, I'll grab the vacuum and start in on cleaning up the flour."

"All right," Marinette said, already trying to sweep the flour on the counter together with her hands.

As Adrien turned towards the hall closet, the line up of food containers on the kitchen table grabbed his attention. "Are...those...?"

"Ingredients," Marinette answered. "I didn't know what you did or didn't have, so I brought everything minus the eggs because I hoped you had those."

Adrien stared at the containers a little longer before turning back to Marinette. "I'll reimburse you for the trouble."

She waved him off. "I live in a bakery. These things come in bulk. It's nothing."

"Except a hassle," Adrien countered.

Marinette shrugged, picking up the pile of flour she'd collected and dumping it in the bowl. "It was no problem."

Adrien sighed. Clearly, there was no winning this one. "If," he said, "you ever do this again, please write down the ingredients you need, and I'll go buy them. There's a notepad on the fridge for a reason."

Marinette glanced over at the appliance that had a dry-erase board and a pad of paper stuck to it. "All right."

The pitter-patter of feet came back into the kitchen just as Adrien was plugging in the vacuum. He turned to see Emma waiting in the entranceway of the kitchen. Adrien vacuumed up the flour on the ground just as Marinette finished wiping off the counter.

"I think we're all good," Marinette said, looking around the kitchen. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"Now," Marinette said, looking over at Emma who stood in the doorway. "Emma and I can get back to making cookies."

Emma grinned before running back up to her stepstool and hopping up on it.

"What next?" Emma asked.

Marinette bent over the pink card that was on the counter. "It says that we need to add a teaspoon of... what's that ingredient?"

Adrien paused as he watched Emma lean over the card.

"B... a... k"

He couldn't move. Instead, he was frozen as he watched his daughter struggle though a word. But he wasn't upset that she was struggling. Oh, no.

He was far more impressed by the fact she was reading.

"Baking!"

Marinette grinned down at her. "Very good! Do you want me to show you a trick with the letters?"

Emma nodded.

"See this? ING? Those three letters will be on the end of many words. They are always pronounced -ing."

"ing."

"Exactly," Marinette said with a nod. "Now, you know a shortcut."

Emma seemed delighted at this.

"But, there is one other word." Marinette continued. "What does it say?"

Emma leaned over the card again. "S... o... d... a. S-o-d-a. Soda!"

"Very good!"

Adrien just stood off to the side, grinning like he was the one who was being doused in Marinette's praise. Emma, for her part, seemed to blossom underneath it.

"Now, go grab the ingredient. It's going to be in the small container with the blue lid."

With a determined nod, Emma bounded off to go grab the ingredient. She looked over the containers before choosing the correct one and return it to Marinette.

"Perfect. Now, which spoon says '1' on it?"

Honestly, Adrien knew he had a stack-load of papers awaiting him in his office, but he couldn't tear himself away. Emma was so engaged in the process. In following directions, picking out the measuring spoons, in reading. How hard had he tried to encourage her to read? Ms. Bustier had taught Emma the alphabet, at least. Taught her the sounds and how to pronounce the words. He'd attempted to carry on those lessons, but besides him reading a bedtime story to her at night, she hadn't shown any interest in reading herself.

Apparently, cookies had to be involved.

The last ingredients were added in the same way. Marinette let Emma have control over the mixer speed again, but she always looked ready to stop the lever if need be.

Finally, Marinette looked down into the mixing bowl with a lot of interest. This got Emma to stand on her tip toes and do the same.

"I think," Marinette said, looking up at Emma, "that this looks perfect."

Emma squealed in excitement.

"But," Adrien interrupted, calling both the girls' attention. "I think there is only one way to truly test that."

He walked over to the silverware drawer and pulled out three spoons. He handed one to a knowing Marinette while he scooped a spoonful for him and half a spoonful for Emma. The excitement on her face was not something he'd forget for a long time.

Honestly, he was excited, too. He had-attempted-to make cookies with his mother when he was young, and he remembered the excitement of getting to taste the dough. He was happy Emma could have this opportunity.

And better cookie dough. Like... wow.

When Emma finished, she was about to dig in for more, but Adrien stopped her. "Whoa, now," he said, "Cookie dough is a small treat. The rest need to be baked."

She looked disappointed. If he was being honest, he wanted more dough himself, but he knew he should practice restraint. Especially when it came to his four-year-old and raw egg.

"He's right," Marinette said. "Warm cookies are the best, anyway."

"Okay," she relented, handing her spoon over to Adrien.

He rinsed the spoons before tossing them in the dishwasher. He did the same with the plate he'd nearly forgotten.

"We'll be sure to bring you some cookies once they're done," Marinette told him as he forced himself to go back to his office.

"Thank you. I'm excited to try them."

It took him a while to re-immerse himself in the endless stack of paperwork that his father would want come Monday, but he managed. By the time he set one completed file folder aside, the door opened to reveal a smiling Emma holding a small plate of cookies. "Here you go, Daddy."

Adrien grinned. "Thank you, Emma."

Emma then ran out of the doorway only to grab the offered glass of milk. She came back with it to give to Adrien, who took it with a smile. "Thank you, Emma. And thank you, Marinette," he called out loudly.

Said lovely lady leaned into the doorway, giving him a smile. "You're welcome."