There was a reason that Marinette Dupain-Cheng Agreste was in charge of disciplining her three beautiful children, serving as the main voice of reason in the family in place of her husband.

In fact, there were plenty of reasons in which she was seen to be the main mouthpiece of their little family despite Adrien having equal power, love, and being the main breadwinner. Then again, such things didn't matter as they were pretty well off as a result of Agreste inheritance and Adrien having taken over the business aspects of his father's fashion line.

That's not to say that Marinette did not stop proving herself responsible as she maintained her own fashion line cooperating with her husband's bequest on top of rearing their children. She was earnest in contributing to society while balancing the needs of Louis, Emma, and Hugo. She wanted to ensure that her dreams remained a reality, and it was a major blessing that Adrien made taking care of the children so easy. He was a natural at bringing joy and laughter into their lives.

And then many years back, when she had taken on the mantle of Ladybug and her husband as Cat Noir, she showed herself as the more proactive of the duo. She demonstrated true leadership and showed no hesitation in protecting the citizens of Paris from Hawk Moth's akumatized victims. This included finally taking down the mad man abusing the Butterfly Miraculous and unmasking him to all of Paris.

With the threat finally settled, identities revealed and accepted, and Miraculous returned to restore the balance, Marinette felt that she could finally move on and settle down with Adrien with less worries. But of course, no life would be perfect.

Such a life will require constant maintenance and moderation.

That's one main reason why Marinette took it upon herself to be the voice of order to guide their children, to correct them despite any stubborn resistance and chastise them with love.

After all…

There was one memory that the strong dark-haired woman harbored that chilled her tender heart in solid ice. It scared her more than the first time she became Ladybug, the time before she worked up the courage to confess her love to Adrien, and the revelation of the man behind Hawk Moth combined.

It had started out as a normal day. She was watching over Emma while Auntie Alya offered to take Louis and Hugo off her hands for the day as to lessen her burden. Emma was five and had the stamina of her father and the sensitivity of her mother. Even without the company of her brothers or her friends belonging to the family of Nino and Alya Lahiffe, she was certainly a ball of energy who knew how to have fun.

It was getting late in the afternoon, approaching dinner time to be exact. Marinette was expecting her husband and her sons to return in a matter of minutes as Adrien had called ahead, letting her know that he was picking their sons up from Auntie Alya, though she did note that he sounded particularly tired and stressed out during the call. What she didn't expect was a loud startling crash in the living room, which nearly made her drop today's dinner on the floor.

She still retained plenty of her clumsy attributes from her youth, but that wasn't the point.

Rushing to where the sound came from while nearly tripping out of her slippers, Marinette found a sorrowful Emma near the shattered remains of an antique vase. Though Emma had escaped the aftermath unharmed, she shivered knowing that she was in big trouble for breaking something very carelessly.

"Emma… tell me what happened," Marinette requested as calmly as she could, attempting to convey over to her daughter that there's nothing to fear. "Tell me the truth."

"I-I-I didn't mean t-to!" Emma sniffled, trembling. "I-I was running and I t-t-tripped! It w-was an accident!"

"Emma," Marinette hummed in a low tone, sending the signal on how serious she would need to be careful in the future.

It was likely that she might've inherited some of her mother's clumsiness, but she needs to learn how to control it. At least she wouldn't make the same mistakes Marinette made when she was her age.

"Disappointing…"

The voice that said this was unfamiliar; it was unnecessarily strict, callous, and cold. Marinette and Emma turned to the source at their front door, still not believing that it came out of the mouth of the loving husband and father. Louis and Hugo stayed root in place out of shock and fear. Marinette willed to look into Adrien's eyes, frightened by the lack of life and vibrancy those green eyes usually had.

Only after maintaining eye contact did the color gradually returned. His eyes had widened from realization, but looked away and left without saying anything.

Though while Marinette watched her husband skulk away, her maternal senses picked up major incoming distress from the little girl next to her.

"… Papa hates me," Emma whimpered as large amounts of tears dripped from her face. "… Papa hates me!"

Marinette had feared something like this would happen. Her sons came over, still in shock on what had happened. She gave Louis and Hugo quick hugs and kisses before tending back to Emma, bracing her broken heart against the painful wails of a desperate child convinced that she was unloved.

Sometime after Emma had calmed down and requested her three children to clean up before dinner, Marinette went over to hers and Adrien's bedroom to take care of the problem. Her troubled man simply sat at the edge of their bed with his head held low, seemingly staring in space.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and cautiously approached him. He didn't seem to react to her presence, but that didn't stop her from coming closer. As soon as Marinette was close enough, she could see the somber, regretful look he had and sat down next to him without further hesitation.

"… Hey," Marinette started.

"… Hey," Adrien mimicked in a dark tone a few seconds after, still staring into space.

"… So…"

"… I know…"

"… Rough day?"

"… Mmm."

"… Emma… she… you know…"

"… Yeah… I'll apologize soon…"

"… What happen? … And why?"

Adrien didn't respond immediately, giving a sharp exhale through his nostrils before looking up at the ceiling. Marinette placed a hand on his arm, giving him the support he needed to talk to her.

"… I can't escape my father, that's what happened," Adrien said with a feral growl in his throat. "I'm afraid, Marinette. I'm becoming like him."

"You're nothing like him," Marinette quickly rebutted, narrowing her eyes at the mere mention of the man that scarred her beloved in his youth. "You're a loving husband and father who's always there for his wife and children. You've proven yourself a million times better than Gabriel. You've kept to your promise that you strove that you'd never end up like him and I promised to keep you to your word no matter what. You're kind, sincere, honest, and shouldn't have been punished for it back then, but please, let the past go. It's just this one time and now you know."

"That can be said for a lot of good people that still suffer unjustly," Adrien shrugged. "But that's life. Still, it's no excuse for what happened earlier, for carrying stress from work and taking it out on you… On Emma."

"There's so much good in you, Adrien," Marinette sighed lovingly, pulling him into a gentle embrace. "It's why I married you. Your heart is true and on the straight and narrow. I need you my life. I couldn't make it this far without you in my life, my dear kitty. I'd probably still be a clumsy mess without you."

"You would've managed, my Lady," Adrien murmured with a gentle smile. "You're strong, after all."

"I'm only as strong as the man by my side, my Cat," Marinette quipped, prompting a gentle chuckle from her husband. "You've always been the only one for this bug while I've been the only one for you. I'm here for you always."

"Cat you ever stop being so adorable?" Adrien grinned, only to be responded by a slightly annoyed groan from his wife. At least she started to show more personality and sass once she was accustomed to talking to him since their teen years. "You know there's a reason that you're the main voice of reason for this family."

"Because you can't go a day without having some ridiculous pun, cat-related or otherwise, come out of that hot meow-th of yours?" Marinette grinned, pleased that Adrien was coming back to his true self.

"No. It's because it turns out I really hate my father."

Well, that was a turn that she didn't want to go through again.

To prevent this relapse, Marinette pushed Adrien down on their bed to snog the living daylights out of him, right before anyone could ask when dinner was supposed to start.

So it's liable that Adrien would have some daddy issues and might unwittingly carry it over into his future marriage. I may or may not have done a decent job in portraying what I needed, but I think the message should be clear.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Particular moments stood out? Please review!