For ML Staff Appreciation Week, Day Two. Theme: Friendship/Family. Second in the Fistbumps Verse, pre-series.

Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug, etc, etc. Enjoy!

The parents of the Dupain-Cheng household weren't stupid. They weren't blind, either, and contrary to their daughter's belief, they knew exactly who it was behind the mask of Ladybug. How could they not, after all? She was their daughter. They knew her better than anyone else, except for herself.

They worried, of course. Oh, did they worry. That was Marinette out there, saving Paris, the same Marinette who once tripped over her own feet and fell face-first into an open bag of flour. That was the same Marinette who would spend hours crafting the perfect piece of clothing, sketching it and creating it all on her own. That was the same Marinette they used to tuck into bed and tell stories to every night, the girl they had raised for almost a decade and a half. She wasn't fooling her parents anytime soon, that was for sure.

Superhero work was dangerous, though. They always cringed in unison whenever they saw her and Chat Noir fighting yet another villain- apparently called "akuma" or something like that -on the news. Very rarely would she escape completely unscathed, always hiding a bruise, a scrape, or even, on one memorable occasion, a broken wrist.

("I was just clumsy and fell down the stairs at school," she told them with a sheepish grin as the doctor placed a cast. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

Her parents very carefully didn't tell her that they had seen the way she'd favored that wrist after fighting another akuma that afternoon, the way Chat Noir had hovered over her and refused to leave her alone after she'd gotten hurled into a brick wall. They didn't mention the little red sprite poking worriedly out of her bag, only shifting to stand in front of it so that the doctor didn't see. They simply kept their mouths shut, nodded along, and gently reprimanded her for being so careless.)

Then, there was her partner. Chat Noir. The confident, flirtatious hero was Marinette's polar opposite. Much more reckless than Ladybug, more prone to jumping in feet first and figuring out a plan on the fly. He was smart, though, that was clear. He saw things at different angles, figured out exactly what buttons to push so that the villain kept their attention on him while Ladybug set up their attack.

The two worked well together, Sabine and Tom had to admit. Ladybug and Chat Noir were two halves of a whole, each needed to balance the other out. The pair were inseparable, always seen together and hardly ever apart. Everyone knew they were a package deal- where one went, the other followed, and it usually ended with a villain getting trounced between them.

At first, Tom and Sabine hadn't been sure what to think of this mysterious character that was suddenly spending so much time with their daughter. They literally knew nothing about him beyond the fact that he was Chat Noir and that he had the biggest crush on Ladybug. On Marinette. That… had certainly been an interesting development, one that they hadn't quite known how to react to.

"Well, at least he takes care of her," Sabine remarked one day as they watched the news. Ladybug and Chat Noir were in the process of fighting what appeared to be an honest-to-goodness dragon, with the firebreath and wings and scales and all. Chat had just leapt in front of Ladybug, staff a whirling blur between his palms as he blocked a wave of oncoming flames. Meanwhile, behind him, Ladybug was fiddling around with something on a fire hydrant, likely meant to completely douse their opponent.

Tom sighed. He had mixed feelings about the whole business, really. On one hand, he knew that Marinette would never stop. They had known that from the start, ever since realizing that Paris' new protectors consisted of their little girl and a total stranger. Marinette was just too stubborn to give up on something once she had started. Besides which, becoming Ladybug had actually been rather good for her. She was more confident now, more sure of herself. She wasn't afraid to speak up or state her own opinions.

On the other hand, it was an incredibly risky business. Being a baker was so much more secure. It certainly didn't have the same prestige, but at least there weren't superpowered people trying to kill you on a semi-regular basis! And this Chat Noir person. He was rather cocky, perhaps a bit overconfident. Tom didn't want either of them to get hurt one day because of that.

Over time, however, the Dupain-Cheng parents learned to live with it. Soon, Ladybug was just another fact of life, another side to Marinette. They adjusted.

Then, a boy named Adrien Agreste began frequenting the bakery.

It had started… about a month previous, Sabine figured by her mental calendar. Marinette had been late to lunch that day, appearing rather sheepishly at the door with a boy in tow. He was introduced as Adrien Agreste, a classmate from school. Sabine instantly recognized him as the boy Marinette had been crushing on for months, ever since he transferred into her class at the beginning of the school year. What did this mean, then? Had she finally confessed?

The answer, it would seem, was yes. The pair had quickly vanished onto the roof after collecting some sandwiches, cookies, and, for some reason, half a block of cheese. They didn't come down until they had to go back to school, and when they did, they were holding hands. Marinette wouldn't stop blushing, her face a vivid red nearly the same shade as her Ladybug costume. Adrien sported an ear-to-ear grin that he couldn't seem to wipe off, practically skipping as they left the bakery.

It only took another couple of weeks for Tom and Sabine to realize just who Adrien Agreste really was. Besides being the son of the famous Gabriel Agreste, they were almost completely sure that he moonlighted as Chat Noir, Ladybug's partner and the other half of Paris' superhero duo. He certainly had the looks for it, and they saw how many calories he packed away in one sitting. That would fit with how much he likely burned with his superhero work alone, not to mention all the other extracurriculars they learned he also had from Marinette.

Besides which, just about the entire city noticed when Ladybug and Chat Noir began to act closer than usual. Coincidentally, it was at right around the same time Marinette and Adrien got together. Somehow, neither parent thought that was just happenstance.

Oh, neither teen had outright told Tom or Sabine that they were dating, but it was obvious. For the most part, the two parents approved. Adrien was a very nice and caring young man, and he was so far gone on Marinette it wasn't even funny. Except that it sort of was. Honestly, there were moments when Adrien reminded Sabine of Tom when he had started dating her.

"They are rather cute together, aren't they?" Sabine murmured to her husband, watching as the teenagers bickered playfully on the couch. Adrien held the remote above his head, taking advantage of his greater height and reach to keep it out of Marinette's grasp. Marinette scowled playfully, getting a sly look in her eye before jabbing her fingers into the ticklish part of his ribs. Adrien yelped, reflexively curling in on himself as Marinette snatched the remote with a triumphant shout.

"I suppose," Tom agreed, voice a low rumble as he replied so that they didn't alert the teens. He regarded the pair with a look of fond amusement. At that moment, they were nothing more than teenagers, happy and carefree as they, for once, let themselves act their own ages.

Sabine hummed in contentment, leaning against the comforting warmth of her husband. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tucking her against his side in a half-embrace. Perhaps they weren't the most conventional family, what with the superhero business and all, but they made it work. Honestly, she was rather proud of herself and of Tom for handling things so well. Nothing she had ever been taught on parenting had ever prepared her for the scenario she faced, not by a long shot. Still, they tried their best, and so far, things seemed to be working out alright.

The kids would open up when they were ready. Until then… all the parents had to do was wait.