"But I don't wanna."

Marinette expected this. It was why she had taken her time finishing the quilt, delaying this inevitable struggle for another week. She could have just taken it to Rose earlier, but Emma had continued asking about the quilt, so Marinette had to face this.

"But that's why we made it," Marinette said. "So that we could give it to someone else."

"But I want it."

Marinette's mouth pinched into a thin line. "Emma," she said, looking the girl straight in the eye. "I know you like it, but we made this quilt for someone who doesn't have a quilt so that they can be happy."

Emma just continued to pout and snuggle the quilt.

Marinette heard footsteps coming behind her. "Emma," Adrien said, kneeling down beside Marinette. "You knew that you were helping Marinette make this quilt to give away. You and Marinette can make a new quilt-"

"But I like this one."

"Emma," Adrien continued. "You and Marinette can make a new quilt. But only if you give this one away."

And Emma fell to the ground with a pout and a cry.

Marinette looked over to Adrien who just looked back at her with the same exasperated expression. Adrien leaned over to whisper, "I'm sorry".

"I expected this," she whispered back.

They remained side by side while Emma held the blanket, her cries slowly subsiding.

"Emma," Marinette tried again. "You have blankets and toys and lots of other things. But there are kids who don't have that. This is going to make some kid just like you very happy. Aren't you always happy when you get something new?"

Emma nodded.

"And this blanket," Adrien said, reaching to touch the quilt Emma had in her hands, "is going to make someone very happy. You and Marinette can always make another quilt, but some kids don't get to make quilts. They don't have a blanket. Don't you think this should go to someone who doesn't have a blanket?"

At this, Emma cried again.

Adrien shot an apologetic cringe at Marinette. She waved it off and patted his arm reassuringly. It wasn't his fault that Emma was just being a four-year-old who couldn't comprehend that some kids didn't have what she did.

Some three minutes later, Emma finally handed over the blanket, tears still in her eyes as Adrien rubbed her shoulders.

"Thank you, Emma," Marinette said. "You'll get to make someone very happy."

She buried her head in her dad's shoulder. He hugged her, rubbing her back. "I'm very proud of you, Emma."

With a whine, she grabbed Adrien's shirt tightly. He picked her up and held her a moment, rubbing her back soothingly.

Marinette stood from her spot kneeling on the floor, shooting him an apologetic smile in the process. It looked like he shrugged, mouthing "it's okay."

The rest of the morning involved a somewhat moody Emma. Admittedly, Marinette was thankful that Emma's afternoon nap meant Marinette didn't have to deal with her for a short while.

"You handle her tantrums very well."

Marinette looked up from where she had her forehead planted against the table to see Adrien placing his now empty bowl into the dishwasher. "Can't say it's my favorite thing to do."

Adrien snorted. "Said every parent ever."

She chuckled at that.

Adrien took a seat beside her at the table. "Still, you are incredibly patient with her."

"I used to babysit Nadia Chamack's daughter, you know, the newscaster. That girl could through a tantrum like you wouldn't believe. I used to be a huge push-over. I took me a year to learn how to resist the 'baby-doll eyes'."

"Well, it served you well now. I don't think Emma quite has the eyes, but her little pout..."

"That's pretty hard to resist."

Adrien nodded. "I walk a very fine line of trying not to be a push-over yet trying not to be a bad parent."

"You're a rock star; that's what you are."

"I don't think I'd go that far," he said with a grin. "But thanks. For what it's worth, you are the best nanny I've ever employed. As a person and how you handle Emma."

Marinette's expression softened. "Thank you. I really like being her nanny. She's so precious. Well, most of the time."

"No argument there," Adrien concurred. "But I'm partial because I'm her dad."

Marinette hummed, resting her cheek in her hand, elbow propped on the table. "Did you ever think about being a dad? Before Emma came, that is."

Adrien paused, frowning in thought. "I don't think I ever gave much thought about it. It was one of those things Chloe and I didn't really touch on when we got married. But... I mean... even though it's hard being a single dad, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love Emma to pieces. Trying to imagine life without her now is nearly impossible."

A slow smile drifted across her face. "I always knew you deserved that 'World's Best Dad' mug."

He hummed his agreement. "Is it too much to say you would be a great mom? I see you as the kind of woman who would raise a family."

Her heart stung and her stomach twisted. "I wanted three," she said, her voice wistful.

"Three?"

Marinette nodded. "Felt like a good number. Nathaniel said two would be enough, and I would have settled for it, but honestly... we were struggling just for one."

Adrien's expression fell.

"We tried for over a year," she said. "As you can tell, it was never fruitful."

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "Nathaniel was really good at convincing me that the longer we waited, the more financially stable we would be for when we did have a child. He was right, I suppose. But by that point, I moved on to begging for the dog and hamster I wanted."

"A hamster?"

"Well, it was going to be a cat-"

"What's wrong with cats?"

The offence on his face sent her laughing. She'd nearly forgotten who she was talking to. "I just wanted a hamster."

He tried to frown, but the mischievousness in his eyes paired with the slight upturn of his lips belayed that. "Okay. I'll give you a pass this once."

"Thank you," she teased with a grin. "I didn't know I needed your approval for a hamster."

"Well, you see, as the man you're walking down the aisle with, it's very important that we can agree on if you should have a cat or not."

One of the most unladylike snorts came out of her as she tried to hold in her laughter and epically, tragically, spectacularly failed. She let herself laugh until she could look him in the eye again. They were so green and bright and shining and good gracious, if her teenaged self could see the kind of smiles that he was shooting her way now, she'd realize his modeling photos did him a great disservice.

"Why don't you have a cat?" Marinette found herself asking.

His crumpled expression as he thought it over was adorable. "That's actually a good question."

Marinette chuckled. "Well, then you have no right to criticize me for not wanting a cat."

"You think maybe Emma would like one for Christmas?"

Marinette rose a brow. "You think it's possible that you can find a cat that's patient enough to be dragged around like Plagg? Because that's what's going to happen. Plagg's going to be replaced by some poor cat that Emma is going to wish was her best friend."

Adrien shrugged. "How many animal shelters do you think are within a... say, twenty-five-mile radius of here?"

Marinette's smile faded.

"I mean, there has to be one cat-"

"Adrien."

"Yes?"

"Forget I ever mentioned it."

He snorted, a lopsided smile quirked up on his lips. "Okay, okay. Out of the mercy for said poor cat, I'll wait until she's older."

"Good call."

"Only because you suggested it."

Marinette smirked. "Okay."

There was a slight pause between them, during which a smirk grew across Adrien's face. "How long do you think until I can get her a cat? One, two years?"

Marinette leveled him a flat look. "Do you want my honest opinion?"

His grin widened. "Yes. I do."

"Wait until I'm no longer her nanny, 'cause I'm not cleaning a litterbox."

Adrien burst into laughter. A loud, sunny, infectious kind that Marinette did her best to resist. "I'm dead serious."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Just look at your smile!"

"What smile."

"Deny it."

She didn't.

Adrien's grin never faded. And she couldn't help but let the smile that she wasn't wearing grow.

"So no cat?"

Marinette couldn't do anything other than roll her eyes.

Adrien almost felt ashamed at how happy he was that it was Wednesday. He hated just how happy he was to drop Emma off at his father's house and enjoy a night where it was just him, Marinette, good albeit cheap food, video games, and some friendly competition.

When he got home, he immediately set up the console before pulling out his game selection. Once that was done, he quickly headed to the bathroom to check his appearance in the mirror. Vain, likely, but he couldn't help it. He chalked it up to the model in him instead of facing the reality of it.

The doorbell rang, pulling him from his thoughts. He quickly raced to the door, his heart beating faster with excitement.

"Hey, Marinette."

Her grin was heart-stopping. "I brought Chinese. Maybe I'll let you choose a game you can win so you can keep the broccoli beef."

Scratch that. His heart had now stopped. "Well, you brought the food this time. Lady's choice."

Her smile was wicked. "Well, then I guess it's good for you that I got two boxes of broccoli beef and two of chow mein."

Was it bad that he liked this feeling? This discombobulation of emotions he didn't want to put a name to? When put like that, he'd would swear he's a teenager who couldn't keep his emotions in check instead of the twenty-seven-year-old man he was.

She marched past him into the living room where she started sorting through the games. He shut the door before taking a peek inside the bag she'd brought. He saw the five boxes, one of which was different with a fancy logo on it, and two pairs of chopsticks.

But no fortune cookies.

It shouldn't be that big of a deal. They were cheap, tasted like paste, and weren't remotely real Chinese. But his last one, the one he still had resting on his nightstand, had been a good one. He could still picture it. Take a chance. You will succeed.

And that chance, he thought, happened to be the young woman who was placing a game into the console.

"Chose one?"

She nodded. "Yup."

He set down the bag on the table and began pulling the boxes out, which allowed him a good look at the box that definitely didn't contain Chinese take-out. He cracked it open-

"Ah-ah-ah!" Marinette cried, slamming her hands around the box to keep it closed. "No peeking!"

Now he really wanted to know what was in the box, but she took it away from him and began heading towards the kitchen. "This is for later."

He pouted, causing her laughter to grow and fill the house.

And his heart.

He shook his head. He needed to get ahold of himself.

That's when he noticed what was playing. "Mario cart?"

"It's your favorite, right?" she asked, plopping down beside him on the couch.

"Well, yeah. I just wouldn't have expected you to pick it."

She shrugged. "I've been beating you enough lately. I thought you'd maybe like to have a victory."

Well... he would, but that wasn't the point of game night. "Whatever you want to play. I picked last week."

"Then I want to play this."

He shrugged but wasn't going to complain. "Okay."

Four races later, it wasn't surprising Adrien had won the tournament. He'd lost one race, and that was only because Donkey Kong and Bowser ganged up on him and knocked him off the track.

"How are you so good at this?" Marinette asked, setting her controller down to grab her take-out box.

"I played this way too much in my teenaged years," Adrien bragged. He set down his controller to grab his own box of food. "Racing games are my specialty."

"No kidding." Marinette curled up cross-legged on the couch, shoving a bite of chow mein in her mouth.

Adrien chuckled, leaning back against the couch and turning to face her. He opened his mouth to snap out some retort, only for her phone to ring. She glanced at her purse, her brow furrowed in confusion, then set her box down to dig it from her purse. Again, she looked at the screen and frowned, but answered it anyway. "Hello?... This is she."

Recognition flooded her face, followed by nervousness. "Um... no, I don't think I'd like to renew the lease."

With a frown, Adrien set his box of food down and watched Marinette begin to fidget in place.

"I have to the end of the month?"

Another pause.

"All right. I'll... I'll figure something out. Thank you."

She hung up the phone and dropped it into her purse.

"Is everything okay?" Adrien asked, seeing the stress throughout her entire body.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. She collapsed onto the couch. "It's fine. It's just... something I've been putting off and really don't want to do."

"Do you need any help?" He didn't know what he was signing up for, but if Marinette needed help, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Maybe. I... I don't know."

"What with?"

Marinette's lips pursed into a thin line. "Nathaniel and I lived on a houseboat, one that was really small and only held what we needed at that particular time. We had to rent a storage unit to hold a handful of our other things and..." She sank into her seat. "I know what we stored in there. It's been over a year and I still don't feel ready to weed through that. But at the same time... I don't want to keep paying for this unit. Not since I'm thinking about moving out on my own again."

Adrien grimaced. "Okay. We'll go together. I'm sure Nino and Alya could find a little time, but even if they can't, I'll be there, I promise."

"But... Emma-"

"Don't worry about that," Adrien interrupted. "At all. Really. Nathalie could watch her for a little bit while we sort through your storage unit. Okay?"

Marinette looked hesitant, but Adrien refused to budge.

Slowly, a small semblance of a smile crossed her lips and her eyes softened. "Thank you. I really don't think I can handle going by myself."

"You don't have to," Adrien assured, reaching out to rest a hand on her forearm. "We're all here for you."

Her smile widened, but then she slipped away from him towards the kitchen. For a moment, Adrien wondered if he'd been too forward. He pulled his hand back to his lap, only for Marinette to round the corner with a lit birthday candle on top of a cupcake.

"Alya told me your birthday was two months ago," she said, carefully sitting down on the couch and holding the lit cake up for him. "Right around the time we happened to end up on that dinner outing thing together. I know it's a little late, but I wanted to make it up to you, especially since you got stood up. So this was supposed to be a birthday cupcake, but you could take it as a big 'thank you' as well. For everything."

He felt as though a fire had lit in his belly and his cheeks flooded with heat. His wide-eyed gaze flickered back and forth between her and the chocolate cupcake he really wanted.

But he really wanted her as well.

She extended the treat towards him. "Better blow out the candle before it completely melts."

He scolded himself for his thoughts. She still wasn't ready. He would have to be patient and wait for his chance the fortune cookie promised. For now, he shut his eyes and made a wish on a girl who was slowly filling his heart more than he ever could have guessed possible.