Worth It

Chapter 16

"Dupain-Cheng? I did not expect you to be here today," he said.

"H-hey Felix. I did tell you that I'd most likely bring the dress over this weekend. You said you'd be free. Seems like you have your hands full though," she said looking at the brunette child.

Felix then dropped his head and sighed, "I completely forgot. Made that arrangement with you forgetting that I would be looking after my mother's friends' daughter while they went out. I would have told you not to come,"

"Yeah, well I'm here now. You look like you could use help,"

"I am perfectly fine," Felix quickly replied.

"What I heard earlier and the look on your face says otherwise. Have you ever looked after a baby on your own before?" Marinette asked.

"No I haven't," Felix replied honestly, "I am not too sure why I even agreed to do this. She's only 11 months old,"

"Good thing I'm here then! I've babysat many times so I can help you out. You clearly need it so don't try and deny my help,"

"I don't want to take up your time Dupain-Cheng-"

"Nonsense! I haven't got anything else to do today. This'll be free of charge,"

Felix sighed, "Fine. I can't deny the fact that I need help here,"

"Perfect," Marinette placed the bag that had the dress inside down and held her hands out so that Felix could hand Holly over to her, "you can take the bag, I'll try and calm her down,"

Marinette took the crying baby girl from Felix and began to rock her in her arms, "what's her name?"

"Holly," Felix replied.

"She's so cute!" She cooed. Holly's cries were now soft as she opened her eyes and looked up at Marinette, "maybe she's hungry,"

"There is some formula in the kitchen. I can prepare a bottle. The living room is the third door on the right. The door is already open so you can't miss it," he said before making his way to the kitchen.

When Marinette made it to the living room, she took off her bag and sat down on the lavish sofa.

"Now, what should we do with you to make you calm down a little?" Marinette said to the baby as she made herself comfortable. She cradled Holly in her arms and stroked her rosy cheek with the back of her index finger.

Holly's fussing simmered down when her brown eyes met with Marinette's blue ones. She held onto Marinette's finger and began to make little sucking sounds.

Marinette giggled, "I guess you are hungry aren't you?"

A few minutes passed and Felix came back with a bottle of milk. He was pleased to see that Holly had calmed down with Marinette.

"I see you are a professional at this,"

Marinette chuckled, "I guess I'm just really lucky when it comes to kids," she replied as she took the bottle from Felix, "I've found it much easier the past couple of years. It makes me pretty excited to have my own in the future,"

Felix looked at Marinette. She was focused on feeding Holly who looked like she would fall asleep after her feed. Marinette did look very motherly. He knows she would be an amazing mother.

"I do wonder if I'll even find someone to share that with though,"

Felix quirked a brow, "what do you mean? Why would you not?"

"Well, I haven't had much luck when it comes to love. I've had nothing but crushes and those never went well. Or the two that liked me, I was just never into them that way," Marinette sighed, "maybe I'm just not that desirable,"

"Or... you just haven't met the right person yet,"

Marinette looked up at him, "the right person you say?"

"Yes. 'The one' as others like to say. Allegra talks about it all the time,"

"Have you ever fallen in love? Or had a crush?"

"I had no idea what a crush was until I made friends. I still don't understand it. I've never felt anything for anyone before,"

"Well, if you ask me, I think you'll find 'the one' too. That's if you want to of course," Marinette said. She flashed him a brilliant smile before focusing on Holly again.

Felix's heart been to thump against his chest quite rapidly and he felt warm all of a sudden. He felt confused more than anything. What was this feeling? He wasn't sick-

"Hey, I think Holly will be asleep by the time she's finished. Wanna watch a movie while she sleeps?"

"We have movie streaming platforms. But I don't really watch TV," Felix replied.

"If you have Disney+, we can watch the live-action Lion King. I've always wanted to see that one,"

Felix nodded, "I can have a look," he said. He took the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV on.

As Felix searched for the movie, Marinette put the now empty milk bottle aside and began to burp Holly by putting the small blanket over her shoulder then placed Holly over it and began rubbing her back.

Buzz, Buzz

Marinette pulled her phone from her pocket and noticed that it was Jagged calling.

"I'm gonna take this quick. Can I give her to you? She still needs a bit of winding," said Marinette.

Felix seemed hesitant but nodded, "Yes, I think I can manage,"

"Great! Make sure you're comfortable," Marinette put the blanket on Felix's shoulder and then placed Holly on him, "just continue to rub her back like you saw me do. I shouldn't be long,"

Marinette only stepped out for about 10 minutes before she came back to find Holly asleep and cradled in Felix's arms.

"Well would you look at that," Marinette smiled as she sat down next to him, "good job Felix,"

Felix scoffed lightly, "I didn't do much Dupain-Cheng. You did more than I could have done,"

"Well, that may be true, but now you should be able to o it by yourself the next time if you have to watch her again," Marinette responded as she adjusted Holly's hat, "now then, let's watch the movie,"