"Adrien, let me hold her for a moment, you look as if you were about to pass out. Come, sit!", Nathalie whispered as she carefully took the newborn out of his arms and nudged him towards the chair next to Gabriel's bed.
The designer had been brought into a private room after waking up and his oldest son had made his way here, to be with his parents and find some comfort as long as he was still waiting for his wife to come back from the surgery, she had been rushed into.
"N-Nath, I-I can't l-loose Marinette! I n-n-need her!". he sobbed and buried his face in his hands.
Gabriel cleared his throat, then said with his still weak voice:
"Adrien, come here!"
The younger man immediately obeyed and sat down at the edge of his father's hospital bed.
The older man took his hand into his own and squeezed it as tight as he could.
"You won't loose her!", he soothed, "neither will you loose me so soon. We're here with you, son!"
Adrien sniffled, then leaned his head against his father's shoulder.
"Thank you, dad, but I'm still scared. We haven't even found a name for our new daughter yet. Have you seen her?", he then asked, seeing the weakened man shake his head barely noticeable.
"She's wide awake, have a look, grandpa!", Nathalie now cooed and placed the newborn girl in her husband's arms.
Gabriel smiled, as he looked down at his new granddaughter.
"She's just as pretty as Emma was! But she has Marinette's hair instead of yours! A real beauty! Good thing, they could remove that thing in my heart, so I can see them all grow up hopefully!"
He then turned his attention to the baby:
"Hello little beauty! Why don't you just call her something, that describes her beauty? Like Belle? Or Jolene? Tell your wife, as soon as she's awake, I am sure, she's gonna love it!"
Tears were brimming Adrien's eyes, as he stared at his daughter and nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds good! Thanks father! But I think, I will go and wait for Marinette to be brought into her room now! We have to be there, when she wakes up!"
Gabriel nodded, but Nathalie said:
"I'll go with you! You still look as if you were on the edge of just fainting! We don't want anything to happen to your child now, right, Adrien?"
"Thanks, mum!", the exhausted man hummed. It didn't happen often, that he called her mum instead of Nath, but right now, he needed his mother a lot and was thankful, that she was there with him.
The caring woman patted his cheek, then took the newborn from her husband and kissed him softly.
"I'll be right back, honey!", she whispered and gestured Adrien to lead the way.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital room, the midwife had shown him, they could see two nurses pushing the bed with Marinette inside, telling him, that the doctor was on his way, to give him all necessary information.
"Nath, can you stay for a moment longer, please?", Adrien begged and the older woman agreed instantaneously.
It wasn't his son, but Édouard himself, who walked into the room a moment later.
"Adrien, Nathalie! How are you feeling? Don't look so sad, she's going to be fine. It was just a larger blood vessel, which has been ruptured while the placenta was being delivered. Those things happen and though she lost quite an amount of blood, she will soon recover! Let me see the little one! Hello gorgeous! It's about time, you get some one on one time with your mummy, right? Come, Mrs Agreste, I want to see your husband! How's he doing?", he babbled, making the concerned man and his stepmother grin.
The proud father took his daughter out of Nathalie's arms and sat down on the mattress with his wife, leaning his head against hers, while he placed the little girl in between them, so Marinette would immediately be able to see her once she woke up.
It was only ten minutes later, when the new mother began to stir and looked frantically around, then saw her husband at her side and her daughter between them and smiled weakly.
"Did you think of a name yet?", she asked hoarsely, making Adrien flinch and gasp.
"M'lady, you're awake! How are you feeling?"
"I've been better! How's our baby?"
"She has been waiting for mummy to finally wake up and feed her!", Adrien cooed and placed her completely in her mother's arms, "can you hold her? If not....oh, okay!"
Marinette had already taken a firm hold of her child and was now pulling up the hospital gown to let her child drink. The newborn did instantly.
The new father grinned and hummed:
"My father suggested, to give her a name, that tells about her beauty, like Belle or Jolene!"
His wife though grimaced.
"I don't like the name Belle! But if were already talking about Disney princesses, how about Jasmin?"
"Mh, I like that! Do you want to be a little Jasmin?"
"She said yes!", the blissful mother chuckled and gently stroked along her child's head.
A sudden turmoil on the other side of the door made them look up.
"I want to see my mum! You can't keep me away from her! I love her so much! I want to be with her, she certainly needs us all!", came Hugo's agitated voice from the hallway.
"Go and let the bunch inside!", Marinette hissed though she really was exhausted. Having been so close to dying, made her long to see all her children at once.
It was Emma, who hugged her first, trying to apologize:
"I'm sorry, mum, I tried to keep him quiet, but he just wouldn't listen! How are you feeling?"
Marinette smiled tiredly at her daughter and kissed her cheek.
"I'm good now, Em. Thank you for taking care of Hugo. And you, come here. I'm fine, see? You must listen to Emma, sweetie! I know, it's all a bit confusing right now, but I promise, we will soon all be together again! Where's Lou? And Marion and Tom? Are they alright?"
"They went to see grandpa first! But I wanted to be with you, mum! I will never again leave you!", Hugo exclaimed stubbornly.
His mother grinned.
"You'll have to leave with Emma and daddy later, Hugo! But I will be home soon too and so will your little sister. If you're careful, you can hold little Jasmin."
"Oh mum!", Emma enthused, "I love that name!"
Marinette smiled and closed her eyes, while laying back into the cushions. Adrien gave her a concerned look, then said to his older daughter:
"Emma, would you go get Louis and Marion? I think your mum wants to see them too, before she takes her well deserved rest for the night, okay?"
The teenage girl nodded and ran off, returning a few minutes later with her brother and his little family.
"You scared us, mum!", Louis said quietly, "please don't do that ever again!"
Then he hugged her tightly, while he couldn't hold back any longer and started to cry, the very moment, his mother was holding him.
Marinette laid her arms around her first born and stroked his head very gently.
"Shush, my baby, it's okay! I am going to be fine and so is your grandpa! You know, those things remind us of how lucky we actually are and how scarcely we notice and appreciate it. How's your dad, Kitty? I figure, he's already in his new room, if you were able to see him! Honestly, I would like to say 'hi' too. Don't give me that look, you can push me there with the bed or in a wheelchair, I don't feel like walking, but...."
Now it was the new mother, who started to sob.
"He h-h-has b-been like a father to m-m-me, even when my d-d-dad was still alive! I-I...."
She buried her face into her son's shoulder trying to find some composure, to finish her sentence.
But she didn't have to. All the people, who were standing around the hospital bed, knew exactly, how she felt and that she missed her father a lot.
"What about grandma? Were you finally able to contact her?", Emma now questioned, speaking out, what they all were thinking.
Her mother shook her head.
"No, but I left messages for her with Shu Yin and Cheng Sifu , asking them to call us, because I have so many things, to tell her. Shu Yin was moody and bitching around, like she always did and uncle Wang sounded tired, so I didn't want to worry him. All they both could tell me was, that she was on a journey to find her inner peace and balance again. If you ask me, that's bollocks! I am certain, she met someone new and is just too scared to tell me, because she thinks, I would be angry that she replaced my dad! I would be so happy, if she did find someone to be with, though!"
"Okay", Adrien intervened, "that's enough now. I will push you with the bed and our new daughter into my dad's room and there you are going to stay. They can separate you with a curtain, if necessary, but just to not take the risk of any of you stubborn .... uhm, people.... get up on your own to visit each other, when noone is around to help, I will lock you up together. !"
Hugo began to giggle, while Emma and Louis grinned mischievously. It wasn't very often, that their father tried to disagree with their mother, but when he did, he was just as loud and stern and even a little scary, as he had been right now.
And usually, the strong willed woman wouldn't go without a fight and that was, what they were waiting for.
Their smiles though faltered, when Marinette held out her arms and just whispered:
"Come here Adrien, let me hold you for a while too. I know, it was too much over those last days! And you're right, I will stay with Gabriel, not only to keep you calm, but also, to watch out for him and for Nath, to take it a little slower from now on!"
She began to chuckle.
"That reminds me of the camping trip, when one of the tents broke and we were all forced to share the remaining one for the night. It was tight but cozy and the children really had fun, jumping around on us!"
The slowly relaxing man beamed at her, as he too remembered.
"Yeah, it was the trip where Emma came to be!", he hummed and kissed her temple, then continued to tell the story to his children, "but not in that night. We usually had two tents, one for Nath, father, Hélène and the twins and the other for the two of us and Lou. But then ours somehow....", she paused and took a deep breath, "caught fire, when somebody, was lighting up the fire to cook our meal and even though all the others told him, to keep more distance from the tents, because of the strong wind on that day...."
Adrien gazed sheepishly to the ground.
"Yeah, yeah! I was nineteen back then and I learned my lesson. We still had fun all together under one big canvas. And we bought a new one the next morning, but Louis refused to set one foot inside after seeing the other burn down. He wanted to stay with 'gamma and gappa'! That's how Emma was created, so stop nagging about the bloody tent", he now ranted after repeating his son's wrong pronunciation.
But Louis only laughed with them, as he carefully took his son and placed him in Marinette's free arm.
"Look at how big he is next to his 'auntie'!", he mused, "what's her name, mum? Dad?"
"Jasmin!", Hugo blurted out.
Marion, who had been sitting at the side to feed her son without interruptions, now smiled with them and leaned down, to peck Marinette's cheek.
"That's a wonderful name!", she whispered and Lou instantly agreed.
"Come, let's all help, to get our patients into one cell, I mean room!", the young man and new father now jokingly said.
Marinette was released from the hospital only four days later, as they had been able to cauterize the bleeding without needing to do major surgery but could do it laboroscopycally. Gabriel though had just been told, that they would like to keep him for another week, just to make sure, what he had politely declined.
"Seriously, this wasn't a clot from my wrong way of eating and living, it was according to the doctor, who removed it, a clotting from doing the vaccination all wrong. The only reason, why you want to keep me here is, you being scared, that I might sue this place because of it and ruin you all. But believe me, all I want is to get out of here. I would never even consider, to destroy my future son in law's heritage. And now, I want anyone of you to bring me the release papers, which I will sign and then, I will call said young man, to pick me and Nathalie up! Do you understand me?"
The young resident, who was looking, as if he was about to burst into tears, just nodded and rushed out of the room to find another doctor, who would handle this situation. He had just been following orders and had delivered the message.
Nathalie shook her head.
"The poor boy, he almost peed his pants, Gabe!"
But she couldn't hide her smile and her eyes were sparkling mischievously.
"How are you feeling, Gabriel. Honestly, please!", she now interrogated him.
He smiled at her lovingly and held out one arm for her to join him on the bed.
"I am feeling fine by now, love. But I need to get my strength back and I can't do that, if they keep me inside of this bed. The problem has been eliminated, my heart did not take as much damage, as they had already feared and I am getting bored and restless in here. I promise to you, my love, to not go back to working, until they allow me, but I want to be home with you and our children and grandchildren and, damn it, we're getting old woman, our first great grandchild! So please, let me push the young doctor around just this once. It reminds me of the old times, when people used to be afraid of my temper!", he pleaded, giving her his saddest look.
Nathalie scoffed.
"Yeah, darling, not to forget, both of us, terrorising the whole city as supervillains!", she then grinned and leaned her head onto his shoulder.
They laughed about that for a little while, then Gabriel eventually spoke again:
"You know, Nath, I am already sixty two years old by now and I have been thinking about...."
"About what, honey? You know, you can tell me!"
"Retiring! Not right away and most likely not completely, at least not as long as little Jasmin needs her mum with her, but.....maybe in a year or two! I would love to take some time off and just look after the little ones, while the kids get their lives in order. And then, when Colette is a little older, I want to travel with you, darling. Like we did back then, when we were looking for the miraculous, while Emilie stayed home with Adrien. God woman, the way you looked in those shorts back then! I would have never cheated on her, but over this week, damn it, have you any idea, how many of our helpers were drooling after you?"
"You", she ranted, "after all those years, we've been married now, you still find ways, to make me blush!"
She had reacted quickly and rolled herself on her side to now straddle him, pinning his hands to the pillow, while she bent down to entangle him into a passionate kiss, while grinding her intimates along his member, feeling him harden in an instant.
Wrapping his arms around her back, Gabriel pulled her closer, ignoring the slight pain in his groin, where they had made the incision to push the katheter through his veins to his heart and remove the clot, which had blocked one capillary in the myocard.
He had been lucky, that when the ambulance had arrived, one of the paramedics had reacted rather quickly and injected him a high dose of heparin, hoping to be able to regain at least a little blood flow and therefor the supply with oxygen in the affected area.
Now he just had one thought, making love to his wife, who still could make him covet her with only a few touches.
Being fully aware, that they were in a public place and could get caught every second, Nathalie wanted to scold and stop him, but after seeing the love and the longing in his eyes, she couldn't get herself to do it. And if she was being honest, she didn't want to either.
While they were still tearing their clothes of one another, Édouard knocked gently to then open the door to the designer's room, but quickly shut it again, telling his colleagues to give them a little alone time.
The very aroused couple had noticed the door being shut, but by now they didn't even mind any longer and continued with kissing and caressing the other's body, Nathalie soon feeling his erection rub along her clit and moaned desperately, then lowered herself very slowly onto his staff, taking him in completely, before she pushed herself up so far, that she felt him almost slipping out, to after that impale herself with his hardened member again, very soon moving up and down in a steady pace, feeling her own bliss wash over her and bent down to muffle her cry of relief in his chest.
As she did, she felt her husband's hands grab her butt firmly and pull her down on him forcefully, while he at the same time thrusted up and into her depth with a last few moves, before she felt the familiar twitching inside of her and heard him moan her name loudly:
"Oh fuck, Nathalie, I love you so much!"
With a beaming smile the woman kissed him gently, then scooted off of him, grabbing some tissues from his nightstand to wipe away both their body fluids, before she searched for their clothes and after getting dressed herself, she quickly helped him into his.
Only when they were both decent again, she carefully glimpsed into the corridor, seeing the old gynaecologist sitting in the waiting area, headphones in his ears, but grinning knowingly at her. He gestured to another person, she couldn't see right now and a moment later, he entered the hospital room with the responsible doctor, who already had the discharge papers with him and only Gabriel was to sign.
Half an hour later, they had packed up everything and were sitting outside of the hospital on a wooden bench, enjoying the warm September sun for some time, when they heard their oldest daughter's voice:
"There you are! We've already been looking for you inside, but they told us, you had left almost twenty minutes ago! How are you doing, daddy?"
She looked at both their faces for some time, when he smirked and answered with:
"Wonderful!"
Hélène shook her head and groaned:
"Really? You couldn't even wait until you're back at home? Let me guess, you even did it in his hospital bed!"
Nathalie though shrugged and winked at her, then said:
"Maybe! But that's really none of your business. How's my little granddaughter? Can I take her out of the stroller or will she start to fuzz, if she has to go back?"
Leni smiled and opened the belt, then hummed:
"She'll throw a tantrum anyway, if you get her out or not, so enjoy the little terrorist!"
The older woman chuckled, as she took a hold of the seven months old baby and held her high into the air, to then whirl around in circles, hearing her cry out happily.
"Mum! She's going to puke all over you, she has just..... Well, I warned you!", the young mother now laughed and tried to wipe the mixture of milk and vegetables off of Nathalie's clothes. But the assistant only laughed:
"Relax, Napkin! It's not the first time, a baby threw up on me and certainly not the last. Let's just get home, so I can change! Have you talked to your brother or Marinette already? How are they doing at home?"
Hélène just giggled and whispered into her ear:
"I am not allowed to tell the both of you, but they're all back at the mansion, even Louis, Marion and Tom. They said, as there was no way, dad would stay here for even one more day, it would be great, to have a big dinner all together tonight. So Maurice is in the kitchen with Marcel, while Claire and Océane are setting up the table. And Nick is helping Louis and Adrien to put one of your old cots together, so Tom and Jasmin can sleep in there together, if necessary. It's hilarious to watch them!"
They soon arrived at their home, Gabriel stubbornly insisting to carry his granddaughter inside, who had fallen asleep, like she usually did when she was in the car and was now waking up.
"Just go inside and stop fussing over me. I was healthy enough to make love to my incredibly pretty wife, so I can as well carry my grandaughter into the house. Right little Val?", he asked and the baby nodded and grinned, "see, we're good! Now go! I know, that the children are up to something, so please, go and join the welcome home ambush with them. But tell them, I will be pissed, if they are going to scare this little girl here!"
Nathalie pecked his lips very softly and muttered:
"Fine! I need to change into something without baby vomit anyway! And I am sure, they won't 'ambush' their father, who is still recovering from a heart attack!"
Gabriel only grinned, then called after her:
"You my dear are thinking way too innocently, when it comes to our children and grandchildren! Even if the twins have become a lot calmer by now, they still love to play tricks and scare people out of their skin! And now, go and tell them, to be prepared for their old, weakened father, who just got released from the hospital!"
He winked, then watched her sway her hips as she climbed the stairs and walked through the double winged door.
"Isn't she incredibly hot, your grandma?", he cooed towards the baby on his shoulder and she squealed back at him, "you understand your grandpa, right?"
Valentine giggled and smashed her head onto his shoulder, leaving a trace of orange saliva, the last remains from her mashed carrots and the breast milk, on his blazer.
Grinning mischievously, he called for his oldest daughter, the moment he arrived in the atrium as well and said:
"It seems, as if I needed to undress too. So take your daughter back for a little while, I'll go and join your mum in the shower!"
Hélène scoffed.
"Yeah, right! Use my poor, innocent child as an excuse to take a shower with mum! Just go and give her to me and for fuck's sake, keep it calm, even Nick's mum is here by now!", she scolded him, while she nudged her father towards the stairs. Then she remembered:
"We decided on a date for our wedding, by the way! Considering, how short life can be, if something unpredictable happened, we choose the twenty-sixth of this month. And I don't care, what you will try to say, I just want the family there and I want to keep it small, a little ceremony in the garden will do. But if you and Marinette can somehow find the time to make a subtle, but nice dress for me, that would be great. Nick already offered to watch after both girls for the time you'll have to measure and do whatever you do. So as long as we're all three busy, he and Adrien will take over all responsibility", she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I just hope, they are better in taking care of the babies, than they are with building a cot for two newborns! If Lou wasn't with them, they would probably get badly injured, while doing so!"
Gabriel laughed along with her.
"Believe me, Napkin, I would fail epically too. But I am sure, that Marinette will be just as thrilled, to start with you dress right away, as I am! So don't worry about that. Your mum will certainly help to watch after the children and so will all the people in this house, even Édouard, when he comes over to pretend to visit, while he secretly keeps an eye on Clarisse! But don't tell him, that we all know!", he muttered.
"Not a word! He will be here later too, by the way! And now hurry, we really have been working our butts off today, so.....!"
The proud father, grandfather and great grandfather nodded, then pecked his daughter's forehead and got on his way into his bathroom, to surprise his beloved wife under the shower.
A/N: This still wasn't the last, as I will do at least one more for Hélène's wedding!