How to win a girl in 10 dates

Epilogue

One Christmas Later

"Two for the maze, and two hot chocolates -"

"With all the trimmings."

Marinette interrupted Adrien's order much to the amusement of the lady at the kiosk. Adrien rolled his eyes and turned back to 'Mrs Claus' at the hot chocolate stand.

"With all the trimmings, please."

"Good choice," Mrs Claus exclaimed, turning around to start on their drinks. One year later and they were back. As promised Adrien had brought Marinette back to the Alps and the tiny town of 'Christmas joy' and her smile was just as jubilant as the first time they'd come here. He couldn't help but wonder if this would become a family tradition. Each year they'd come back, and who knows maybe they'd multiple in numbers over the next few years too.

He felt in his pocket, making sure he could feel the cube still safely tucked away. He'd managed to keep his cool quite well so far, and if this went to plan he could explode in relief in approximately five minutes' time. He just needed his plan to work perfectly, it just had to.

"Do I know you two?" Mrs Claus asked.

"We were here last year," Marinette grinned, taking her drink into her hands. Adrien smiled at his girlfriend, what a year it had been.

A couple of months after Chloé and Kagami's wedding the next big event took place. Alya had announced that herself and Nino would be expecting their first child in July. How they had kept it quiet was beyond everyone, it seemed Alya was a rather good actress when needing to be. Faking her drinking at a number of events, and even passing her morning sickness off as an allergic reaction to pills which had been prescribed by the doctors. Apparently her iron levels were low and nobody thought to link that to pregnancy.

A couple of weeks before Alya's due date, she'd ordered Adrien to come and take her out to lunch. Now, everyone knew you don't ignore an order from Ms. Cesaire, so Adrien went and waited to be quizzed by his girlfriend's best friend, and his fellow teammate. She didn't let him down. Asking him everything about his intentions towards her best friend and what he wanted from life. Adrien felt like he was about to be arrested for not being the perfect boyfriend for Marinette, even though everyone knew that wasn't true.

Turns out, Alya wanted to make sure Adrien was there for the long run so he could be their baby's Godfather, along with their Godmother, Marinette. To say he was thrilled would be an understatement, since the big reveal on Christmas Eve the previous year Nino and Alya had become close friends of his, and he wanted to be in their lives as much as possible. He adored them, and was thankful for Marinette bringing them into his life.

So when baby Dominic Lahiffe had been born on sixteenth July, Adrien and Marinette had been there alongside the grandparents to welcome the little man into the world, and holding such a small bundle in his arms only made him want a family of his own more. One with Marinette.

Baby Lahiffe was soon followed by the next pregnancy announcement, and this one shocked everyone. Not only was it a baby being announced it was also the relocation of two of their friendship group. Luka and Zoè had grown closer and closer since they reunited for Chloé's wedding and had decided to move closer to Zoè's extended family in New York. With twins on their way Zoè wanted family support and although her mother was a lost cause, her father had remarried and his new wife was adored. She was everything Zoè had ever wanted in a mother.

The leaving party that October had been a fun but emotional affair. Tears were spilled and cracks in friendships were healed. Adrien would even go as far as saying Luka had become a close personal friend of his, helping him to heal after everything had happened with his mother and father. The party only turned more emotional when Juleka, Rose and Anarka announced they were setting sail for the far West too. Okay, so it wasn't that far, and Adrien and Marinette had already made plans to visit the following January, but a friendship group which had been through so much together slowly disembandoning was unsettling. A new norm needed to be created, and Marinette needed to find new teammates ... just in case.