6. Chapter 6

The mice had just finished Cinderella's lovely pink gown by the time Emma was fast asleep.

Marinette smiled. Right on schedule. She grabbed the remote to pause the movie. Then she took the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over Emma and Plagg. With a smile, she turned to leave the room, only to leap from her skin at the sudden sight of Adrien in the entranceway.

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he whispered.

"I didn't hear you come back," Marinette said. "Did you forget something?"

"A few files for my father," he answered. "However, since Emma is currently out, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course."

Marinette followed Adrien to his office then took the indicated seat while he shut the door behind her. "So," Adrien began, making his way to his chair. "Firstly, let me say that I know we had a two-week agreement, but I really want you to stay."

Marinette blinked a few times in mild surprise. Monday of week two wasn't even half way over, yet it was clear by his tone that Adrien was adamant about keeping her hired.

"And I know that we had an agreement that you also had a two-week trial period," Adrien continued. "While I don't want to put pressure on you, I would like to know if you had considered staying?"

It wasn't written out on his face, but Marinette could see the desperation that leaked out through his eyes and his voice. She was thankful that she had taken the weekend to seriously think this over. "I have," she answered. "And I would like to."

Relief washed over Adrien as his tense shoulders sagged and his expression relaxed. "You have no idea how large of a relief that is."

While she was proud to have proven herself worthy enough to be a nanny, Marinette couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion. "I thought you would have had nannies lining up to take this job."

"I have a list of nannies that I could call if you didn't work out," Adrien said. "But I've been through half of them already prior to you."

That caught Marinette off guard. "Yet you hired me?"

Adrien nodded proudly. "None of them have been able to connect with Emma the way you're able to. None of them were able to interest her in reading, or even considered it. Furthermore, none of them made Emma assist in any sort of chores, which I really appreciate you for."

"Of course," Marinette said, her confusion growing. "But, aren't the nannies you hired supposed to be professionals? How are they not…well… raise her?"

Adrien shrugged. "I don't have an answer to that. Maybe it was something in the way I phrased their duties?"

Marinette's lips pursed in thought. "I think encouraging Emma to read and having her do chores would be under 'watch Emma.' And I think most nannies—heck, most women—would realize that."

"Then maybe I didn't outline what I wanted clearly enough? Or, do you think it's the name?"

"The name?"

"Agreste is an intimidating name in the professional world," Adrien said. "It's taken me a while to come to terms with it, but I've realized that people tend to pay extra attention to serve me once they realize my word could make or break them."

Marinette shrugged. "I don't know. It could be the reason for some, but I don't see how that would make them treat Emma differently than any other child."

"Then I don't know," Adrien said, relenting with a shrug. "And I don't really care because now you're here and Emma adores you and—"

"She does?"

Adrien smiled. "Yes. She does. She's always told me she doesn't like the other nannies, but you're the first one she likes."

Well, that was flattering.

"And she likes you even after you make her do regular chores. So, that's speaks volumes, in my opinion."

"I'm just trying my best," Marinette admitted.

"And succeeding," Adrien said. "As far as I can tell, you're a good influence on her. I was really hesitant to hire a nanny in the first place because I wanted to ensure myself that Emma didn't end up spoiled, which I was worried would happen if there was a caretaker around the house. Chloe grew up in that way, and while she had many good traits, her biggest flaw was her sense of entitlement."

Marinette snorted. That was an understatement.

Adrien glanced at her with a quirked brow.

A rock sank in her stomach. "Please tell me I didn't say that out loud."

When he hesitated, Marinette wished she could melt into a puddle right then and there.

"I know you and Chloe attended the same school," he eventually said. "Background check and all that. You two graduated the same year. You two knew each other?"

While her cheeks still felt warm with embarrassment, Marinette nodded. "Same class. Nine years in a row."

"What was she like?"

Marinette frowned, mostly in confusion. "Pardon?"

"I was homeschooled," Adrien said. "And while I knew how Chloe treated servers and waitstaff, I never got the chance to see how she treated her own peers. What was she like?"

Hesitantly, Marinette chewed her lip. "I… I mean… I don't want to bad mouth her or anything to you."

"She was that bad, huh?" Adrien prodded.

Marinette cringed.

"It's okay," he said. "I know my ex-wife was… far from perfect. I really am curious as to what she was like in school, though. I wouldn't count it bad-mouthing her if you just told me what she was like."

While still hesitant, Marinette relented. "Honestly, Chloe was my bully." She snorted. "What am I saying? She was the school bully. Period. I was just her favorite target."

Adrien's brow quirked. "Why?"

Marinette shrugged. "I never figured that one out."

"Sorry," Adrien said, waving his hand in a circular motion. "Continue."

"She was so cruel. The nicknames hurt, but the nasty things she did… those were the worst. Sometimes, I just didn't understand how a person could be so mean."

"What was the worst thing she did?"

Marinette paused. "The worst thing she did was pull the fire alarm as a joke then blamed me for it. Nino and a couple others stood up for me, but in turn, she got the whole school in trouble. Sans herself, of course, because the second some sort of consequence would show up, she would toss out her 'my father is the mayor' card and no one would want to cross her. So, while we were scrubbing the school top to bottom, she was admiring her perfectly manicured nails."

Adrien shut his eyes in shame.

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Adrien asked. "Telling me the truth?"

Unable to explain it, Marinette shrugged. "In a sense."

"Please, don't be," Adrien said. "I asked. I wanted to know. Thank you for telling me. I commend you for not bad-mouthing her."

Marinette huffed. "It wasn't always like that. Nathaniel was the one who helped me let it go. He'd always say 'even in her meanness, she got us together, so why should we be mad when her nasty prank backfired on her?' It took a while for me to accept that and let things go. Of course, that's easy considering that once I graduated, I never had to see her again."

Adrien hummed. "Still, that's a level of maturity you should be proud of. Trust me, there are times I resent Chloe. And I was married to her."

Marinette took a breath. "If… if this isn't too forward," she began. "Can I ask how long you've known Chloe?"

"Chloe was my closest childhood friend," he quickly answered. "My mother starred in a movie her mother was directing. We were handed off to the same babysitter, so we played together all the time. We were younger than three, at the time, but once the movie was over, my mother liked having lunch with her mother at the hotel, so the two of us would be thrown together for playtime and that was fine. We had a good time. Then, Alya's mother worked as a chef over at the hotel. There was one time that Alya's father came in with her to see her mother and somehow, she ended up with Chloe and I. That's how we all grew up together."

Marinette's eyes widened. She hadn't known Alya grew up with Chloe, too.

"Alya and I both knew Chloe wasn't perfect," Adrien continued, oblivious to Marinette's reaction considering the way he was staring a hole into his desk. "That she was entitled. But I don't think either of us knew how bad it was." Adrien then looked back up to Marinette. "In any case, no matter how obnoxious Chloe was, I still wish she was in Emma's life. I'm doing the best I can, but I can't be a mother to her."

"Adrien, from what I've seen and heard about you from Alya, you are doing the best job you can," Marinette assured. "You should be proud of yourself for that. Emma adores you. You're the only reason I get her to do chores. I have to tell her that her 'daddy would appreciate if she enter-task-here'. I'm not magic."

At this, Adrien's eyes widened in surprise.

Which caught Marinette off guard. "Does that really come as a surprise?"

"A bit," he admitted.

"It shouldn't. Not when you're basically her everything."

Adrien's gaze hit the desk, where it stayed for a long while before it came up again. "I… guess I should actually explain the reason I called you in here."

Marinette nodded at the change in topic.

"Fashion week is coming up, meaning that, first off, my work weeks are going to be longer."

"As you told me last week," Marinette said.

Adrien nodded. "Yes. And that's just the work load minus some of the events. I haven't attended the evening events for a long while because of Emma. However, since my father found out that I hired a good nanny, he believes that now I'll be able to attend said events. Now, feel free to say no, but would you, by any chance, be able to watch Emma those extra…three hours or so? Or is that unacceptable. Please, don't feel bad if you can't or don't want to, but know I'm willing to pay you bonus for it. My father would really appreciate if I was there, meaning we both would be in your debt for it."

Marinette paused in thought. "I mean," she began. "I could if you really needed me to. I don't have anything planned." The extra cash wouldn't hurt, either, especially since she was squirreling it away for future plans.

Adrien nodded. "I would really appreciate it. There are three nights: Wednesday, Friday… and then there's the kicker: Saturday. If you can only do the weekday nights, that's fine. I can work with that. I just need to know now so I can search for a babysitter."

Marinette paused. "I can do Saturday, as long as it's only the night."

"It is," Adrien said. "It's the big end-of-the-week ball with all the investors and fashion designers and everyone making deals and etcetera. And I need to be there so I know about all said deals and whatnot. It's easier than someone taking notes of it all and handing them for me to sort out later. I've done that for a while, and it's a real pain."

"Understandable."

"It's from six to midnight," he said. "Because it's a dinner. While I'm insistent upon leaving early, hoping to be home ten thirty-ish, it might be a little later."

"That's fine," Marinette said. "I'm very much a night owl."

Adrien relaxed. "You have no idea how appreciative I am."

Marinette shrugged. "It's no problem. From the sounds of it, I'll be putting Emma to bed, then."

"Yes," Adrien said, as though he only just realized it himself. "In bed by eight, then I read her a story, which means lights out by eight ten, eight fifteen. Eight thirty cut off on the weekends because I read an extra chapter."

Marinette grinned. "I'm glad to hear you read with her. I'll admit I was a bit worried when she didn't want to read the recipe that first day."

"Yes," Adrien growled. "I have Ms. Mendeleiev to thank for that. The reason I stayed home with new nannies from then on, and the reason Emma got Plagg. I'm still amazed that you got her to read considering how many nannies before you failed."

"Tears were involved," Marinette admitted. "But once we got past them, everything was good. I wanted to read more with her, as well as maybe do some worksheets in the future."

"That sounds great," Adrien agreed.

"But that's also the reason I asked you to get the letter magnets," Marinette said. "I wanted to see if that would encourage her."

Adrien just grinned. "Thank you. That… I really appreciate the effort you're making to ensure Emma reads. That's really going to help when she goes into kindergarten next year."

"I would like to think that's part of my job," Marinette dismissed with a shrug.

"Well, either way, thank you. It's very much appreciated."

"You're welcome."

A short silence passed between them. "I… guess if that's all…?"

Marinette thought it over. "I don't think so. I can probably figure out bath time."

Adrien nodded. "She's not one to fuss about baths, so she'll tell you if you're doing something wrong."

It was a relief to hear. "Then I guess the only other thing I can think of is dinner for Saturday."

"I'll have her fed," Adrien said. "You won't have to worry about it."

Marinette nodded. "Okay. So, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of… next week?"

"Yes," Adrien confirmed. He took out a pad of paper. "Wednesday," he said writing it down, "the event is seven to ten. Friday, same, Saturday is the six to hopefully ten. Can you be here half an hour before that?"

Marinette nodded.

"Emma's bed time is eight," he continued, scribbling down notes on the little paper. "No television or tablets after seven; she needs to wind down. Bath time usually takes half an hour with her, then have her brush her teeth before bed."

"All right."

"Perfect." Adrien ripped the sheet of paper off the pad to hand over to Marinette. "One last thing," he said as Marinette took the paper from his hand. "Emma has never had a nanny at night. I've always been there."

"There's a first time for everything," Marinette said with a shrug. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for it," Adrien said. "Just thought I'd give you that warning because I don't know if she'll react to it or not."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Thank you," Adrien said with a smile that quickly caused Marinette to remember why she had plastered his photos on her wall as a young teenager. "I really appreciate you doing this. You're incredible."

Word, she even felt like a teenager again as she fought back a blush. She was an adult, for heaven's sake, she could handle a compliment. "I try."