Second Chances

exhausted -------->chp53

"Auntie Alya! Auntie Alya!"

Marinette grinned as Emma ran to the door the second the doorbell rang through the house. She followed behind and opened the door to reveal Alya.

"Auntie Alya!" Emma cried reaching up to hug her.

"Hey!" she greeted, kneeling down to hug the little girl. "How's my little school girl doing? Is she having a good time in first grade?"

It had been a surprise to them all. Within the first two weeks of kindergarten, the teacher approached them and said that, basically, Emma was too smart for her own good and knew everything she needed to for kindergarten. Marinette and Adrien had a very long talk about bumping Emma up a year, and in the end, they did. Whenever Emma ranted and raved about what they did in class or the cool thing they learned or the friends she was making, it reaffirmed that they made the right decision.

Marinette listened to Emma tell Auntie Alya everything about school until the buzzer went off on the oven, signaling the cookies were done.

"That's what smelt so good!" Alya commented.

"Emma's getting really good at helping me make them," Marinette said as she pulled them from the oven. "Right?"

Emma nodded. "I help mommy read the recipe and measure out everything."

"And she does a really good job!" Marinette encouraged, holding her fist out.

With a grin, Emma bumped it.

Alya giggled. "Then I'm sure they'll be delicious. I'll take some home for Nino."

"But we can't give away too many," Emma spoke with seriousness. "We have to save them for Daddy."

"We'll have plenty for Daddy," Marinette assured. "Don't worry, but we want to share with Uncle Nino, right?"

Emma smiled and nodded.

"How is 'Daddy' by the way?" Alya asked. "I haven't heard from him in days."

"He's exhausted," Marinette answered with a frown. "He's trying to balance his job and his father's while Gabriel and Nathalie are on their honeymoon. Sabrina is a godsend, but even she's getting weary. And this is during a lull time."

"It doesn't matter if it's a lull time," Alya sympathized. "He's balancing two jobs at once. Of course, it's going to wear on him. How much longer until he returns?"

"Thankfully, only another two days," she answered, picking up a spatula to transfer the cookies from the cookie sheets to a cooling rack. "I mean, on one hand, Adrien and I are really glad they went on a two-week vacation because they need it. But on the other... I just want them to come home for Adrien's sake. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have Mr. Rossi breathing down his neck about potentially pulling out."

Alya's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Something about he can't be in a company where the owner marries a secretary, and his daughter is throwing a fit that Adrien didn't marry a model."

Alya scoffed. "Then give him the money and tell him bye-bye."

Marinette smirked. "That's what Adrien wants to do, but he's trying to have him hold on until his father returns."