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English
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Part 4 of Nino Appreciation Week, Part 3 of Ninette Reveal Series
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Published:
2017-10-05
Words:
1,038
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1/1
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13
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77
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8
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A Birthday Gift

Summary:

Nino prepares a surprise gift for Marinette's birthday, something she always wanted to have. But his wife also has a present for him.

Nino Appreciation Week, Day 5: Family

Notes:

A sequel to "Stay" (from ML Reveal Week) and "My Hero" (Day 2: Hero/Villain), but it can be read as a stand alone piece.
Because those two stories were hurt/comfort, I decided Ninette deserves more fluff, so this is supposed to be just sweet and funny. Enjoy!

A ginormous thank you to Remasa for her constant presence and support before and throughout this week. It was a lot of fun!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

‘I propose a toast!’ Adrien raised both his glass and his voice over the hum of the party. ‘To our lovely birthday girl! May she always look as happy as today! Happy birthday, Marinette!’

‘Happy birthday, Marinette!’ The guests recited after him.

‘~Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!~’ Alya intoned for the seventh time, but everybody seemed totally unperturbed with another repetition, cheerfully singing with her.

When the last notes of the birthday song died out, Adrien raised from his seat and helped Amélie up.

‘I hope you’ll excuse us, Mari,’ he said apologetically, ‘but we have to go. The babysitter can stay only until eleven and Amélie needs her sleep too.’ He tenderly put his hand on his wife’s round belly.

Marinette observed this gesture with genuine smile, and Nino fought the urge to hug her immediately. They had been trying for over a year now and although Marinette couldn’t have been more ecstatic about Adrien and Amélie going to be parents for a second time, he knew deep down she wished her and himself could finally get there too. He hoped his little surprise would cheer her up a bit. He hadn’t given her the baby they wanted. Yet, he corrected himself, he hadn’t given her the baby yet, and not for the lack of enthusiasm for the idea. But he could give her something to care about while they waited for their dream to come true. The package was resting secured in his work room and waiting for the guests to leave.

Alya followed Adrien’s steps. ‘I have a morning flight to catch, Mar-Mar. We’ll talk when I’m home, okay?’ She pulled Marinette for a tight hug. ‘Awwww, I already miss you!’

‘Me too!’ the birthday girl complained. ‘It’s not the same if it’s just skype.’

‘One more year, I swear, and you’ll never get rid of me,’ the redhead winked.

‘Do you need a lift?’ Amélie offered. ‘I’ll be driving by your hotel anyway.’

‘Then I won’t refuse,’ Alya smiled and with one last wave she left with the Agrestes.

‘We’ll be going too, sweetie,’ Sabine was already cleaning up the table with Tom’s help. They were amazingly effective, like one person with four limbs. Nino wished one day he could be as synched with his super-teammates as his in-laws had been with each other.

‘We have the new apprentice showing up for the morning shift.’ Tom ruffled Mari’s hair and kissed her forehead. ‘And you should go to sleep too, cupcake. You look tired.’

‘Happy birthday, Marinette!’ Dupain-Chengs sang happily, making their goodbyes with Nino and leaving.

Marinette sank to the sofa. Nino started massaging her shoulders and she sighed with relief.

‘Ready for your last gift?’ he asked after a while.

‘Another one?’ She turned to face him. ‘You spoil me, Mr. Lahiffe.’

‘I do what I can, Mrs. Lahiffe,’ he kissed her. ‘I’ll be right back.’

When he returned Marinette was frantically going through the contents of her oversize bag. She stopped as soon as she saw him, instantly putting on her most inconspicuous look. That meant she was hiding something.

Nino chose to ignore it for the moment and put the large package on the coffee table. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but this is a bit heavy. Happy birthday!’ he said and motioned her to unwrap the gift.

‘Let’s see what you’ve been up to,’ she giggled ripping the paper and ribbons. ‘Oh, Nino! It’s so cute! Thank you!’

‘I know we were talking about bringing a new member to this family, and this isn’t what we had in mind,’ he felt he should explain the idea. ‘And that’s okay! We still have plenty of time. But I thought that could give us some practice in the meantime?’

Marinette blinked at her husband in disbelief. ‘You really need more practice than taking care of two kwami with occasional visit from Plagg?’

‘Hah, maybe not, then.’ Nino suddenly felt stupid. They really had been a very responsible couple. ‘Tikki and Wayzz helped me choose.’

His wife opened the cage and let the little golden hamster sniff her hand. ‘It’s so sweet of you. Thank you.’ She flashed him a warm smile. ‘And remind me to thank the other two members of this family for their help. It’s perfect.’

‘It’s a he-hamster.’ Nino supplied and Marinette’s giggles followed. ‘What?’

‘Hihamster. That’s going to be his official name,’ she declared. ‘Hihamster Lahiffe. What even gave you this idea?’

Nino shrugged. ‘You wanted to have one when we were teens and today your dream came true!’

‘Funny you should say that,’ she murmured.

‘Why?’

‘Oh, I have a present for you too,’ Marinette ignored his question, but returned to her bag and ducked her head inside.

‘Maribug, you’ve got it all wrong, honey. It’s your birthday, so you should be getting gifts, not giving them,’ Nino snickered at her antics.

‘Oh, don’t you worry,’ she replied taking a small box out of her bag. ‘My dreams came true today, remember? Here,’ she passed him the box.

Nino reluctantly opened it and stared at the content. ‘Lovely,’ he said after a while, utterly puzzled. ‘Are these for Wayzz?’ he asked  pulling out two tiny green shoes. ‘He doesn’t really have feet, you know, plus they are too big for him.’

The corners of Marinette’s lips quirked in a pleasant smile. ‘Sometimes you really are slow, Shelly,’ she shook her head. ‘They aren’t for Wayzz, they’re for Lahiffe Junior!’

‘Nettie, hamsters don’t wear shoes and besides how did you even know you’d get one-,’ at that moment Nino finally caught up with his wife beamy smile and the joyous sparkle in her eyes and then the realization came. He sat on the sofa, his head spinning and hands shaking.

‘You… You’re… We are…?’

‘Uhuh,’ Marinette sat down beside him and he instantly wrapped his arms around her, tears gleaming in his eyes.

Nino rocked them gently for some time, holding her close to make sure this was real.

‘We’re going to have a little turtlebug,’ he whispered. ‘I honestly don’t know how I’m going to top that gift next year.’

‘I might have a few ideas,’ his wife replied cryptically, squeezing him tighter.  

Notes:

This is my last story for Nino Appreciation Week.
I didn't have enough time to write those two last prompts, and besides my ideas were rather angsty so I've decided to end it here, on this fluffy little drabble.

I hope you liked it. Please let me know. I appreciate your kudos and comments. They give me life!

Next on my update list: "Tomorrow's Hopes", that third chapter is almost done.
Check out my other stories and visit me on tumblr. I tend to post sneak peeks of the stories I'm working on and share mostly miraculous content.

Ginormous thank you to my miraculous friend Remasa for her constant presence and support before and throughout this week. It was a lot of fun!