Vulnerable

5

"MARRIAGE?!" Exclaimed both Tom and Sabine from the kitchen of the bakery.

Adrien laughed nervously as he wiped his hands on his apron. "Y-Yeah...B-But I understand what you're going to say and you may kill me with that bread knife now." Deep down, he had been considering what to do for Marinette for graduation, but the look on his face right now while talking to her parents was fear with a smile. He feared the rejection from Tom more than Sabine's opinion on the event. He took up an afternoon shift at the bakery to gather his thoughts before asking for Marinette's hand in marriage.

Sure, there was better ways to approach the topic, but he let it slipped, and now he's a mumbling mess standing a few feet away from a set of bread knives.

"My boy," Tom started after he washed his hands from the flour he worked with. "As much as we love both you and Marinette, are you sure you two are ready to get married?" he asked.

"Have you talked to your father about it, Adrien?" Sabine asked, hanging up her apron.

Adrien nodded and looked at them. "I have, and his reaction about marriage was about the same as yours." He sighed and brushed his hand through his hair. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "As cheesy as it sounds, I want to live a long life with Marinette. I'm happy that she went to a great college for fashion, but what's next in the future has both of our heads spinning. I want to put her thoughts at ease by going through it together. She's going to be a fantastic designer with the connections she made through school and myself. Putting the family name aside, I want to do everything I can for her so she can have that dream career. I want her to be happy."

Tom and Sabine looked at each other to consider Adrien's reply. Tom looked at Adrien with a stern look. "We'll discuss more about this if you are serious about purposing to our little girl." He said.

Sabine left Tom's side to stand in front of Adrien and picked up his hands. "We would love to see you and Marinette get married and have children, but don't rush it, okay? You two just turned 20 and almost done with college."

Adrien laughed nervously a bit. "Father said the same thing." He said.

"How about we talk about this with your father, Adrien?" she suggested.

He blinked a few times before stuttering again. "I-I don't know. He's such a busy man, a-and I-I don't want to be in the way, a-and...um..."

"It's not like we met him before." Sabine laughed a bit. "Remember the dinner party before she left home last Christmas?"

"I-I totally didn't mean to drop the salad bowl on him!!!" Adrien panicked, remembering how he dropped a whole bowl of salad on his father when he tripped on a cord. His face turned red in embarrassment by remembering it. Hearing Marinette's parents laugh caught his attention.

"I'm sure your father is fond of Marinette just as much we are fond of you, Adrien." Tom said. "Let's arrange a lunch together and talk. This is a life changing event." He smiled at him before he heard the bell from the door, meaning a customer walking in. He patted Adrien's head as he walked back to the front of the bakery.

Adrien looked down at the tiles on the floor. "Yeah...life changing." He mumbled. He felt a pat on the back and looked at Sabine.

"We love you, Adrien, it's just Marinette is our only daughter and watching her get married is another milestone that is very near. We are just looking out for you two." She said with a smile.

Adrien smiled at the thought and bowed his head. "Thank you, madam. I'm sure we can talk about the future with my father in the room."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem to him." She said before walking to the front of the bakery.