Chapter Text
If Adrien Agreste was asked to describe himself, the words he would use would be less self-centered but nonetheless similar to those on his resume. The same went for Chat Noir - although "Punny" would undoubtedly top the list. He did not think "unexpected" or "impromptu" would be anywhere high on either list (he liked to think that as Chat he was at least a little good at strategy) but when he walked by the Dupain-Cheng bakery one day after fencing, he just couldn't resist the warm homey glow of the shop.
The inside, though, was not nearly as calm as the exterior.
A very frazzled looking Mrs. Cheng along with another equally frazzled woman very similar to her were surrounded with children. "Who- Adrien!" Mrs. Cheng called.
"Oh! Uh- is now a bad-" Adrien was cut off with the swift deposit of a little package into his arms.
"I'm so sorry I just don't have enough hands- Marco! Put that down! I said ONE!" Mrs. Cheng scooped up a young boy who looked about three. "The entire family is here and there were not nearly this many little ones last year."
"At least not many who could run!" The other woman laughed, trying to hold a very fussy toddler in one arm and a sleepy one in the other.
"Marinette's just upstairs in her room and she's got all the sleeping ones- do you mind bringing that little one up to her? And then you can grab whatever you came in for free of charge- Marco!" Mrs. Cheng practically begged.
Adrian smiled warmly. "Of course Mrs. Cheng," he looked over at the other woman who he figured, based upon the apparent Cheng gathering, was Mrs. Cheng's sister. "Should I uh- bring that one too?"
The woman looked up at him as if he had offered to buy her a brand new Mercedes - which he supposed he could , but something told him that may actually have less of an effect. He smiled again as the woman passed over the little girl.
"You know where Marinette's room is. Go right on up." Mrs. Cheng said, now wrestling with a different child. Adrien was half out the door when she added, "And watch out for Tom! He's a little… excited, tonight!"
~*~*~*~*~
Adrien had hardly stepped into the room when Mr. Dupain spotted him. "Adrien!" Tom boomed. The third floor of the apartment was filled with people, Tom standing a head over most. Whatever event was going on was in full swing, with music and bakery treats filling the room, along with what seemed to be a considerable amount of alcohol. Tom swung around him, carefully placing a hand around his shoulder to avoid the somehow still sleeping children. "Meet the future father of my grandkids!" He told the gathering. A large majority of the party turned at that, and Adrien gave Marinette a good run for her money as "best blusher".
"They're gonna have the cutest, most talented little screamers to ever exist." He said proudly before looking down at Adrien. "Although looks like you already got on that!" Most of the party got a good chuckle out of that, and Adrien wondered if it was possible to fry an egg on a face. "Ah, but where's the third one?" Mr. Dupain looked around a bit dramatically, and Adrien let out a bit of a whimper.
"Dad!"
Marinette was halfway down the staircase leading up to her room, blushing nearly as hard as Adrien was. Tom laughed strong and deep, then finally nudged Adrien over to the staircase. Adrien took the steps as fast as he dared. "Remember- there's enough children in this house as it is!" He called after them.
~*~*~*~*~
Marinette practically slammed the trap door shut after they were both up, and then sat down on it heavily. "What was that." she whimpered, eyes anywhere but on him.
Adrien had to swallow before he spoke. "I have no idea," he replied weakly.
She finally glanced up at him. "How are they- How are they still sleeping?"
He looked down at the toddler and infant. "I have no idea."
~*~*~*~*~
Marinette seemed to have the whole sleeping children situation under control (although he was amazed at how many children were in the small house total, and his eyes bugged out when Marinette stumbled through telling him that the older kids were on the second floor in her parent's room, although she was the oldest "child" of this side of her family) so as soon as the other two kids he had brought up were put somewhere comfy, he booked it back down the stairs hoping to slip by Tom unnoticed. He succeeded at the cost of nearly knocking over what was probably Marinette's grandmother. When he finally made it down to bakery level he momentarily considered slipping out the side door for a quick getaway, but thought better of it at the prospect of a few of the best cream puffs in Paris (which he planned on paying for one way or another, even if he had to stick a few bills into a display case before booking it to his car).
"Oh, Adrien! I'm glad you're back in once piece!" Mrs. Cheng said, a kid on each hip. The other woman had two kids as well. The final child toddled over to Adrien on shaky legs before letting out a very demanding "Up!" Adrien vaguely wondered if this many children had ever even walked in his front door, much less if there had ever been that many in the house at once .
Sabine let her heart melt at the scene for a moment. "Oh Adrien, you wouldn't mind one more trip upstairs, would you?"
"Up!" The child insisted arms outstretched towards him.
Adrien smiled at the big blue eyes blinking up at him before scooping the kid up in a big flying arc. The kid shrieked and giggled before settling nicely on his hip. "Of course Mrs. Cheng. No problem at all."
"Oh thank you so much young man." the other woman said, "You're going to be a great father one day, I can just tell." Adrien felt his face heating up again.
"We're just gonna give these little ones back to their parents now that they've had their special snacks," Mrs. Cheng told Adrien as she passed him to get to the stairs. "Just follow me and we'll find them in that crowd upstairs eventually!"
~*~*~*~*~
Adrien did not know how that many people fit into such a small space, but it seemed like no matter how many people Mrs. Cheng introduced him to, there was always someone else right behind them that he hadn't met yet. Every one of the Cheng Clan (though many of them weren't strictly Chengs- Sabine had a lot of sisters) cooed over him and the baby and said something about how a little blond mop would be a nice addition to the group. When they finally found the kid's mother (turn's out he had been holding the notorious Marco) Adrien felt like he had just doubled the number of people he knew.
And that's only one side of Marinette's family!
"Oh wow! You really are great with kids huh!" Marco's mother praised.
"Uhm… I've never really... been around them this much Ma'am, but thank you." Adrian shifted Marco to his other hip.
Marco's mother laughed. "Ma'am! You can just call me Aunt Caliste hon. You really are a natural."
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "That's what everyone keeps telling me…" Marco leaned his head on Adrien's shoulder and let out a big yawn.
Both Sabine and Caliste awwww'd. "Why don't you take him up to Marinette sweetie? And you can tell her to come on down and you can both grab something to eat." Mrs. Cheng told him.
"Of course Mrs. Cheng." Adrien hiked Marco up a bit higher on his hip, smiling down at the sleeping little boy.
"Stay as long as you'd like Sweetie!" Sabine called after him. She turned to her sister. "Oh, I'm so jealous of you right now. I can hardly wait for that boy to call me 'mom'."