Second Chances

mommy -------->chp33

Marinette’s fingers and toes were crossed that this was going to end well. She and Adrien had gotten Emma hyped about his absence, promising movies and girl-time and sleepovers. And Emma was excited.

Just how far that excitement would go was the question. She and Adrien hoped it would go a very, very long way, but they had their doubts.

So far, day one was a success. She and Emma had spent the day just as normal. They watched a movie in their pajamas with popcorn and Emma fell asleep in front of the television.

Marinette had texted Adrien such, and he texted back a big thumbs up.

Day two started out fine. They made pancakes and played superheroes and colored and then it was suddenly six-thirty and Marinette was calling Adrien on skype for her and Emma to talk to.

“Are you and Marinette having a good time?” Adrien asked Emma.

And she happily launched into everything that they did that day.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Adrien excitedly replied. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”

Emma nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

“Emma,” Marinette said. “Why don’t you go grab the pictures we colored to show your dad?”

“Okay!” And just like that, she vanished from the room.

Marinette leaned conspiratorially closer to the computer screen. “Day two was a success.”

“I’m so happy,” Adrien said. “At least one thing’s going right today. Two down, three more to go. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly.”

Marinette crossed her fingers just as Emma came running back into the room. “Look, daddy.”

After she showed off her pictures, Adrien praising them all the way, it was time for him to go, so they said their goodnights and good byes. “Have fun with Marinette on your adventure.”

“I am.”

This was good. They were doing good. Bath time went smoothly, and then they built a fort in Emma’s room before they read a story. By eight-fifteen, Emma was in bed snuggling Tikki while Plagg was at her back. Marinette slipped out the door, then took a quick shower before slipping into the guest bed. After turning her phone on silent—she didn’t want to risk any dings or noises waking Emma—she sent off a text to Adrien. Day two, success.

She put the phone on the nightstand, then shut off the lamp, tossing the room into darkness. Until her phone screen lit it up with a call.

Adrien.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

“Hi. I just wanted to see how she was doing.”

“Like I said, the day went really well. No signs of her being stressed out without you, yet.”

“Good,” he said, relieved. “That’s really, really good. Best news of the day.”

“How are you holding on?”

“My father was right to send me. The company I audited did lax on a few policies, which my father suspected they would if he sent me in his stead. But that only means more work for… I’d like for you to guess who.”