Knock knock

Marinette looked over to the window to see green eyes and a black mask. Jumping up, she hurried over to open the window. Chat jumped inside, grinning. She frowned at him.

“I know I told you to come over but I meant the through the front door, not the window, Adrien.”

He shrugged, the smile still on his face, and stepped to the side so no one outside could see him de-transform. “I just wanted to see M’lady as soon as possible, that’s all.” She sighed, running a hand down her face partly in frustration and partly to give herself time to compose herself. She still wasn’t fully used to the “Chat Noir is Adrien” thing and Chat’s flirtations mixed with Adrien’s looks and personality was dangerous.

“I just don’t want rumors to start,” she explained, “if Hawkmoth thinks that I’m important to you then he’ll target me and that’ll create all kinds of complications.”

“But you are important to me,” Chat pouted sadly.

“You’re important to me, too,” she smiled, “but Hawkmoth doesn’t need to know that.”

“...I’ll start coming through the front door in the daytime,” he relented.

“Good. My parents are out making a delivery so we’re safe, but it’d be awkward if one day they come into the room and you’re somehow in here with me.”

“That’s true. I want to stay on the good side of my future parents-in-law,” he winked at her with a smirk.

“Now you’re getting ahead of yourself,” she lightly pushed him with a soft laugh.

“Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?”

“Just so long as you can separate fantasy from reality,” she smirked at him.

“But what of my reality is also my fantasy?” he countered, grinning. She blushed.

“W-well then,” his grin grew wider as her blush deepened, “ well then you might be luckier than you think,” she finished lamely, unable to think of a good comeback.

“Well you are my lucky charm so I guess you make me lucky,” his smirk widened as she became a flustered mess.

“Y-you...oh just shut up you stupid alley cat,” she muttered, hiding her face in her hands. There was a moment of silence before she felt him pulling her hands away. He smiled down at her.

“You know I love you.”

“...I do,” trying to change the topic, she picked up a box of decorations. “Now let’s get to decorating, shall we?”

“Yes, we shall,” he took the box from her and went down the stairs as Marinette rolled her eyes behind him.

“You’re such a gentleman,” she sarcastically commented.

“Thank you, I know,” he replied, setting the box down in the center of the bakery. He looked around the space. There were already some small decorations such as wreaths in the windows and Christmas lights on the ceiling. “What do we start with?”

“Can you get out and untangle the tinsel? I’ll unpack the small statues and other various things.”

“Yes ma’am,” he saluted and went to work. Marinette unpacked the items, mentally categorizing and arranging the decorations in her head.

“Um...Marinette?” a sheepish voice called to her. She turned. Her jaw dropped at Adrien’s predicament. He was impossibly tangled up in the sparkly stuff, strands of tinsel everywhere.

“H-how? How does that even happen?” she questioned, hands spread open and pointed towards him to express her incredulity. He shrugged in reply.

“Sorry…?”

She sighed, and went over to try and get him out of the tinsel. “You do realize you were supposed to untangle the tinsel, not tangle it even more,” she commented drily.

“I-I don’t know! It was just so tempting for some reason! If you want to blame someone, blame Plagg for giving me these cat instincts!”

“Hey kid,” Plagg started from where he and Tikki sat on a counter, “cats like yarn, not tinsel. I have no idea what the heck you’re doing.”

Marinette sighed as she untangled the last strand of tinsel. “Just make sure he doesn’t go anywhere near the tinsel-” A blur of color sped past her. “Adrien, no!”

It was too late, he was already in the ribbon, rolling around and having the time of his life. She walked over.

“Adrien,” she scolded, a stern glare on his face. He paused and, realizing what he had done, smiled sheepishly at her.

“M-merry Christmas,” he said uncertainly, spreading his arms out to indicate that he was her present. Shaking her head, Marinette kissed his nose, smiling gently.

“Bit too early for that. Now, let’s get you out of there.”

The second he was out of the red fabric, Marinette put both the ribbon and the tinsel in a box and firmly sealed it shut, making a mental note to hide away all her yarn later.

"So, what should I do?" Adrien asked, looking like a lost kitten. Marinette smiled.

"You can put the statues on top of the counter. I'll start working on the tree."

"Roger!" Adrien smiled and went to work. Marinette watched him affectionately, smiling at the way he hummed as he worked, before walking over to the tree that sat in a corner of the bakery.

Marinette watched him affectionately, smiling at the way he hummed as he worked, before walking over to the tree that sat in a corner of the bakery. She took a deep breath, savoring the scent of fresh pine. Each year her family got a new, fresh pine tree that filled the bakery with the warm smell of Christmas. She looked over to the box of ornaments and smiled, running a hand over the small objects fondly. Every year, their customers were encouraged to bring an ornament to hang on the bakery's tree. Now, the tree was filled with ornaments, none of them the mass-produced, shiny balls of red or gold. Each ornament had a story with a meaning. Each ornament had more value than any everyday store-bought ornament could ever have. Each ornament was a memory. And Marinette knew the story of each and every one.

She smiled as she started hanging them on the tree, the stories running through her mind as she carefully placed them on a branch. There were hundreds of ornaments, the collection building up as the years went by. Each ornament was signed and dated, to commemorate the day it was given. Most of the ornaments had a message, written by a loved one of the owner secretly. The customers loved this tree, always searching for their ornament, smiling at the memories that it brought and laughing or "Aww"-ing at a message. Marinette paused in her, hanging, finding an ornament that brought a smile to her face.

"What's that?"

The voice came from behind her ear and she jumped, dropping the ornament. Thankfully, Adrien's hand caught the object before it hit the ground. Curiously, he brought it to his face and inspected the tiny, golden item.

"A needle and thread?"

"Yep," Marinette beamed. "It was given to me the year I found out I wanted to be a fashion designer. I was 5 years old then, always drawing a random thing that my parents couldn't decipher or going into my mom's closet and dressing up in the clothes I liked." She carefully hung it on a branch and smiled at it fondly, seeing memories that he couldn't.

Adrien smiled at Marinette's happiness. Truthfully, he didn't know that much about the kind bluenette so he cherished each and every bit of information that she revealed. He wanted to know everything about his princess.

"What's this one?" He asked, pointing a small black camera.

"That's Alya's! She was ecstatic to get her first ornament," Marinette leaned into him and whispered conspiratorially, grinning. "What she doesn't know is that our family got her a real, professional camera for her this Christmas." She smiled, no doubt picturing her friend's reaction. After a minute, she reached over and took a packet from beside the box.

"And this one," she dropped the packet into his hands, "is yours."

"Y-you got one for me?" Adrien's voice was thick was emotions and his eyes shone with unshed tears.

"Of course," Marinette smiled as if giving him an ornament was the simplest thing in the world. "open it."

With trembling hands, he opened the packets and withdrew the ornament. Bringing it to his eyes he admired it, spinning the ornament slowly. From the thread hung a small, black, crouching cat that was staring at the small red ladybug perched on its nose with acid green eyes.

"It's beautiful," he murmured. Reverently, he placed the ornament next to the thread and needle, a tear slipping down his cheek. He hugged Marinette from behind, burying his face in his shoulder.

"You're so much emotional, kitty," Marinette laughed quietly, ruffling his hair.

"Have I told you that I love you?" he asked.

"Yes," Marinette tilted her head back to rest her head on Adrien's and covered his hands with her's.

"Well, I love you."

"I know," she closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, "I love you, too." Adrien's arms tightened around her in response. They enjoyed each other's warmth in the loving moment, neither of them needing to say anything. After a moment, Marinette's eyes opened and she freed herself from Adrien's arms. Turning around, she cupped her face and wiped away his tears with her thumbs.

"Shall we get back to work, kitty?"

"...mhm," Adrien nodded obediently and Marinette smiled at how cute he was. They resumed hanging up the ornaments, Adrien about some of them and Marinette cheerfully telling him their stories.

When they finished, they turned off the lights and turned on the Christmas lights. Adrien hugged Marinette again, and they admired the warm tree, thinking about the numerous stories that hung on its branches.