This damn adorable show has taken over my life... Not that I'm complaining.

"I'm home!"

The moment Adrien walked through the front door, something felt strange.

For one thing, the house was completely empty.

He closed the door, put down his bags, and walked through the halls. "Anybody here?" He called. Nothing. "Kids?… Mari—"

He had barely passed the linen closet before a hand shot out and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him inside.

"Wha—"

As the door slammed shut behind Adrien, the light clicked on to reveal his panicked-looking wife shushing him. At first, he was at a loss for words. He found them soon enough, though. "'Hi, sweetie, it's so nice to see you after you were away on a photoshoot all weekend.' Aww, I missed you, too, it was really—"

"Will you be quiet?!" Marinette hissed. "We have a problem!"

He froze. "What kind of problem? Is it the kids, are they—"

"No, they're fine, I asked Alya to watch them for a bit. I just…" She ran a hand through her hair. "I just needed time to think."

"About what?"

Marinette took a deep breath, leaning back against a shelf of towels. "Okay… Last night, I was working on a dress for a client, and Nino came over to help out with the kids. I needed a break after a while, so I… went out on patrol."

Adrien held back a smile. She was probably the only person who would consider patrolling the city as a superhero a break from their work. When she didn't go on, he felt the need to ask, "And that was the problem?"

"No," she groaned. "I got home maybe half an hour later. I came in through the window in my sewing room, I changed back, and…" She trailed off, hanging her head.

"And…?"

"…And Emma was there," she mumbled.

Adrien's eyes widened at the mention of their daughter. "She saw you?"

"Yeah."

This time, he couldn't help it. The snort slipped out, and then he was unable to stop himself.

Marinette looked up at him, shocked. "Adrien!"

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, "it's just… y…you had your cover blown by an eight-year-old!"

She swatted his arm. "Stop laughing! This is serious!"

"You're right," he said, practically forcing himself to calm down. "You're right. I'm sorry. What did you say to her?"

With a sigh, Marinette folded her arms across her chest. "Well, first I asked her why she came in. She said Nino fell asleep in the living room and she needed me to help her get the boys to bed. Then she asked me if I was Ladybug, and I just told her we'd talk about it in the morning."

"And did you?" he asked, though he felt like he already knew the answer.

Again, she groaned. "No. The first thing I did today was call Alya, and they've been out with her ever since."

Suddenly, something occurred to him. "Wait, so you've been home alone all day?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are we hiding in the closet?"

Marinette's face went blank. She rolled her eyes, opened the door, and stepped out, muttering, "I feel so stupid."

"Mari, you're not stupid," he assured her as he followed.

"No, you're right!" she cried. "Adrien, I've been able to keep this part of my life a secret for years, and now my eight-year-old daughter could blow my cover?!"

Okay, that was definitely the wrong thing to say. He was about to apologize when Marinette's head fell dejectedly against his shoulder. "What am I gonna do?" she whimpered.

Adrien knew he had a few options here: he could have talked her out of her worrying and convinced her that she was just being dramatic, something they both knew she had a tendency of doing; he could have told her that everything would be fine, that Emma would probably forget all about what she saw, but… well, there was no way to be sure of that. So he just wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "But we'll figure something out, bugaboo. We always do."

After a moment that felt far too long to Adrien, Marinette hugged him back. They stood together quietly for a few seconds, then she lifted her head to look up at him. "I did miss you," she said softly.

He grinned. "I know."

Finally, she smiled, leaning in to kiss her husband. No sooner had they come apart than the front door opened and three loud little voices called out, "Daddy!"

Adrien turned around and kneeled down to scoop up Emma and Hugo in a hug as Marinette met her best friend at the door. "You're a life saver," she sighed.

Alya nodded, handing Louis back to his mother, "Anytime, girl."

"Hey, you two!" Adrien laughed, ruffling Hugo's hair. "You guys behave for Mom while I was gone?"

Hugo nodded at the same time that Emma piped up, "Daddy, guess what!"

"What?"

"Me and Mommy have a secret!"

Well, Adrien thought, good thing he didn't tell Marinette she'd forget about it.

He glanced over at his wife a few times in an attempt to get her attention. When it didn't work, he went on loudly, "What kind of secret, Em? Something you can tell me?"

"Yeah, I wanna know, too!" Hugo exclaimed.

That caught Marinette's ear. She quickly put Louis down on the couch beside Alya and scurried over to the three of them. "Hugo," she said with a nervous-sounding chuckle, "sweetie, why don't you go sit with Louis and Aunt Alya? We need to talk to your sister for a second."

Hugo's eyes widened, and he giggled, "Ooooh," as he made his way to the couch.

Emma lowered her head. "Am I in trouble?" she asked worriedly.

Marinette put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Oh, no, honey, of course not," she reassured her. She lowered her voice and continued mysteriously, "But listen, what you saw last night– that needs to stay our secret, okay?" She briefly looked over at her husband. "Not even Daddy can know."

Emma nodded excitedly, her blonde ponytail bouncing against the back of her neck. "Okay!" she whispered.

Adrien smiled, partly because he was happy to play along, but mostly out of pride for his wife for handling the situation so well. "Aw, come on, princess," he teased, "don't I at least get a hint?"

Marinette shrugged. "Sorry, chaton. Girls only." She winked at Emma, who giggled in reply.

Adrien gave his best fake pout and declared, "Well, maybe I have a secret, too." Before he could go on, though, he caught Marinette fixing him with a stare that simply but firmly said, Don't. So without another word, he let the subject drop. One secret at a time, he figured.