Second Chances

F&B -------->chp58

Hugo was six-months at Christmas. Marinette had told Adrien her hesitations, specifically that Hugo was too young and that they were looking to move soon, but Adrien was convinced Hugo was plenty old enough and that moving wouldn't matter so why not now for Christmas.

Marinette was not convinced.

So Adrien sat down and wrote a contract, being sure to include two very important lines that basically summed up to "Mom will not have to deal with cat litter."

For good measure, he laid on the kitty-cat eyes before pulling his trump card.

"It's for the kids."

Exasperated, Marinette relented.

Since it wasn't exactly something they could wrap up, Adrien printed off a picture before folding the paper and placing it in a large box. Marinette thought it was genius.

Come Christmas, everyone gathered at Adrien and Marinette's. It was the second time they had a large Christmas together, and Adrien still couldn't quite get over just how wonderful it was to have everyone around the tree, talking and laughing and being merry.

Presents were passed around and opened and talked about and adored. And then Emma finally got to open the big box that said 'Open Last' on the top.

Her entire expression fell when she saw just how empty it was. And when she took out the paper, there were a couple laughs by Tom and Sabine as well as inquisitive looks by Gabriel and Nathalie. However, that all changed in an instant when Emma opened the paper to reveal the picture.

"We're getting a cat!"

Suddenly, there was a very happy, squealing, excited six-year-old, who was giving out hugs to the entire room. "I'm getting a cat! I'm getting a cat!"

It wasn't for Christmas but well into January, once all the holiday cheer had worn off and people realized that Christmas kittens and puppies were far too much work and therefore packed them in a shelter, that the Agrestes found themselves looking at the cats for adoption. There was one that Emma found—large, black and fluffy—that she insisted was the best and was determined to get.

Adrien looked over the information, finding out that the kitty was good with kids having been with a family that had a baby. However, there was one little catch with the wonderful black cat named Felix.

"What?" Marinette asked, spying the look on Adrien's face. So he walked over to show her the catch that Felix came with.

She looked at the line, then looked exasperatedly up back at her husband before looking over at Emma, who had her hand stuck through the cage to pet a clearly very tolerant Felix.

A shelter volunteer walking a hyper red and white spaniel came up to them. "Can I help you with anything?"

Hugo immediately started fussing, and for the first time, Adrien was worried that this may have not been the best idea.

"She's friendly," the worker assured, looking at the baby. "Very friendly."

Adrien looked back over at Hugo to reassure him, only to see Hugo's fussing was because he couldn't reach the dog. Marinette knelt down so Hugo could reach the object he was grasping at. Upon touching the dog's snout, he immediately became a smiley, giggly baby. And the dog just sat there, nuzzling Hugo's hand and causing him to squeal happily.