One Way or Another

A Demanding Guest, Common Ground, and A Bit of Marriage Advice

"Deal."

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Annabelle was over-the-moon happy that evening.

Not only were Adrien and Marinette there for dinner, but they would be living at their house for at least a few days, maybe more.

She loved having her brother around, and she loved Marinette too. So she was giggling from happiness all evening.

And she tried to convince everyone that she wasn't tired after the meal, but her half-shut eyes told them otherwise. So Adrien took her up to her room to tuck her in for bed. That made her even happier.

"Here you go," he said softly, pulling the blanket over her and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I hope you have a good night, Annabelle."

"Wait! You need to sing before I can fall asleep," she protested.

"Uh, sing?"

Annabelle nodded and sat up, waiting for him to start.

He blinked at her. "I uh, I'm not really a good singer."

"It's okay. Just try!"

And Adrien chuckled. "Alright. Well..." he paused as a thought came to his mind. "How about 'Little Kitty on a Roof'?"

She gasped. "Mama sings that to me all the time! Do you know that song too?"

"Of course. Mom used to sing it to me back when I was a little kid."

"I want you to sing that one! Please sing it! Pleeeeeeeeease!"

And he laughed before he started singing. Annabelle wrapped her arms around her knees as she listened, and she even joined him on the last line.

There was a huge smile on her face after the song ended. "That's my most favoritest song ever!" she declared.

"Yeah, mine too," Adrien agreed, smiling back at her.

"Do you think it's about Chat Noir?"

And he paused, surprised by the question. "No, it's definitely not about him. Mom used to sing it to me long before Chat Noir or Ladybug ever showed up."

"Oh, okay," she said, lying back down.

"But I can understand why you would think that. He does call Ladybug his 'Lady' all the time."

Annabelle nodded. "And she calls him 'Kitty' all the time!"

"Yes, she does. Wow, you sure know a lot about them. You must still be a big fan of theirs, huh?"

A shrug. "Just Ladybug."

Ouch, that hurt. "Right," Adrien said, trying not to let on how disappointed he was. "I almost forgot, you only like Ladybug."

After a nod, Annabelle snuggled into her pillow. But then she looked at her brother again. "Why hasn't Ladybug been around lately? Chat Noir is the only one on the TV now."

"I don't know," he lied in a whisper.

"You don't think something bad happened, do you? Like she got sick or something?"

It felt like his heart was breaking. "I'm sure she's fine." A moment passed as he collected himself. "Maybe she's on vacation or something."

And Annabelle smiled. "I hope she went somewhere fun! Like Disneyland!"

He forced a smile back. "Yeah, maybe she did. But that's enough stalling. It's time for you to go to sleep."

"Okay," she sighed. "Goodnight Adrien. I love you."