mama, she knows (and papa does too)

Adrien noticed that Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng were very familiar when it came to almost all of Marinette's friends. He caught the warmness every time he came over with his girlfriend and her friends, and sometimes (only sometimes) did he get jealous of the dynamic within the family. He missed having such a beautiful family always around him.

With Alya, the Dupain-Chengs almost treated her like a second daughter, but not the extent that they treated Marinette. She was always welcomed with open arms, and that closeness didn't just end at her. During the rare occasion that Nino visited to the bakery on their lunch break, they treated him just like they treated Alya—with warm smiles and a plate of sweets.

All of Marinette's friends were treated like that. Kim, Max, Juleka, Rose, Mylène, Ivan. Adrien was sitting behind the counter with Marinette when he saw Chloé and Sabrina walk in, and while he was sure that his lady had told her parents countless stories about how much those two bothered her in school, they still sent happy smiles and friendly words when Marinette waved at Sabrina and the redhead waved back.

Sure, he was treated that way too, but it still amazed him that Sabine and Tom could just…welcome people so easily like that.

But he never realized Sabine (and Tom on occasion) treated him a little differently from everyone else.

One afternoon, while Adrien and Marinette were busy studying physics for an upcoming test, she excused herself to the bathroom and vanished from the living room. The blond relaxed against the back of the couch, looking around the room before his eyes settled on the same photograph that sat on the bookshelf from the last time he visited and spent more than three seconds in the living room. The one with the Dupain-Cheng family all smiles and rays of sunshine. The one that looked so opposite to his own portrait with his father that sat on the wall above the main staircase as a looming reminder of how cold his home really was.

He felt involuntary tears prick at his eyelids and frantically tried to blink them away before anyone noticed them. The couch dipped on the opposite side and he turned his head to see Sabine sitting quietly, fixing her hair while humming a soft tune. A blond eyebrow rose as he saw Tom practically skip in with a tripod and camera, fiddling with it as Marinette re-entered the room. "What's going on?"

"A family photo!" Tom said happily, grinning at his daughter. Adrien tensed. "It's been quite some time since the last one."

"Literally only like, a year, papa," Marinette laughed.

Adrien stood up as Marinette sat down, but as soon as he went to get out of frame, Tom's voice stopped him, "Where are you going, son?"

Son. He'd heard that term plenty of times with others, but never with such sincerity as he heard right then and there. "Um, I don't want to be a bother?"

"Oh, dear, no!" Sabine stood up and grabbed both Marinette and Adrien, sitting them on the couch next to each other right in the middle of the cushion. "Make sure you smile, okay?"

"What…?" Adrien whispered.

Marinette nudged him with her shoulder as her father sat next to her and Sabine on Adrien's side. "Smile," she murmured, and Adrien faced the camera.

He let out what he believed was the most genuine smile he'd ever given to a camera. The flash went off and for once he didn't feel like the blinding was all too bad. Marinette and Tom raced up to see the photo, and Sabine placed a warm hand on his knee. "We'll send you a copy so you can have it in your room, Adrien."

"Why did you do this?"

"Don't act like I haven't seen the way you've been looking at that picture on the shelf, dear. Remember, Adrien, you're a part of our family now, no matter what happens. It's only normal that we'd include you in our photo."

He felt the tears return as he smiled. "Thanks, mama—" he stopped, flushing red. "I—I mean—"

She shushed him, smoothing his hair down, and Adrien tried his hardest to keep a purr from coming up. "It's fine."

author's notes:
happy fluff from the tragedy queen before she goes off and starts working on more pressing projects, all of which are multi-chaptered monstrosities that'll make me rip my hair out woohoo
also screw this show it's ruined me emotionally