There was excitement in the air.

Along with the excitement, however, there was also some nervousness, some concern and a little bit of impatience.

Luckily for the people in the waiting room of the maternity ward, there was also some amusement. And that was all due to the two youngest people there. Because they decided that the waiting room was a perfect place to run around and play.

But one of them wasn't listening to the other.

Annoyed that he kept pulling away from her, eight year old Annabelle yelled over at him. "Hugo Gabriel Agreste, you come here this instant!"

The two year old responded by giggling and crawling under one of the chairs to get away from her.

Emilie chuckled. "Oh Anna, you don't need to shout at your nephew."

"But Mama, he keeps running away from me!"

"He's just having some fun," Gabriel responded, sitting hand-in-hand with his wife. "Let him be."

With a pout Annabelle went over to one of the chairs and plopped down. Then she sighed. "How much longer do we have to wait?"

"As long as it takes," Nathalie replied in a less than helpful answer.

Another sigh. But she smiled as she watched her nephew out of the corner of her eye. He was attempting to sneak up on her, but his constant giggling was giving away his position.

He never reached her.

Because the sight of his father made him forget all about his sinister plan. "Daddy!" Hugo yelled, announcing Adrien's presence.

The group turned to Adrien as he scooped his son into his arms. The resemblance between the two of them was simply unbelievable. Hugo looked strikingly like his father with his fair skin and green eyes. In fact, they would have been completely identical if it weren't for the dark raven hair that Hugo inherited from his mother.

"What's going on, baby?" Emilie asked excitedly, standing up. "Are they here?"

"Yes," Adrien beamed in reply.

There was a chorus of squeals as everyone started exchanging hugs. Annabelle started jumping up and down.

"How's Marinette?" Sabine asked Adrien.

"Perfect. She did amazing."

She smiled in relief.

Then Adrien looked at Hugo. "What do you think, buddy? Are you ready to meet your new brother and sister?"

"Mommy!" he said in reply.

"Yes, Mommy will be there too. Come on." And he led everyone down the hall to the room.

Marinette was waiting for them in her hospital bed with a newborn baby in each arm. "I'd like to introduce the two newest members of the family," she said with a smile once everyone arrived. "Here we have Emma Sabine Agreste," she continued, gesturing to her right arm. "And Louis Thomas Agreste," she said, gesturing to her other arm.

"Aww," everyone murmured in unison.

"May I?" Emilie asked, stepping up to Marinette.

"Of course."

And Emilie picked up Emma. "Oh, she's so precious!" she said, fawning over the blonde girl. "Come here Annabelle. She looks just like you when you were born!"

Annabelle stepped up to the baby and smiled at her.

"Louis Thomas," Tom said, picking up his raven-haired grandson. "I like that name."

"We thought you might," Marinette laughed.

Everyone took turns holding the new arrivals. Then once they all got their turns, the babies were placed in their bassinets to sleep. And the topic of conversation shifted.

"How do the recent numbers look?" Marinette asked Nathalie.

She checked her tablet. "Very good. Another increase since last quarter. If this keeps up, you're going to have some very busy few months ahead."

Marinette groaned. "We barely have enough help already. And now with my maternity leave, we'll be down even more." A pause as she thought, then she looked over at someone. "Gabriel," she purred. "Are you sure that you won't reconsider my offer? The Marinette brand could certainly use a talent like yours."

"That's very kind of you to say, Marinette," Gabriel replied. "But I'm fine where I am now."

"Of course," she said, unsurprised by his response. "So, you don't miss working at all?"

He shrugged. "I'm still on the Board of Directors, so I have to go into the office occasionally. But the company is more than fine being run by my managers. Besides, I'm really enjoying the position I have now." And with a smile he turned to his wife and wrapped her up with an amorous kiss.

After a moment, Emilie pushed him back. "Gabriel," she chastised him playfully. "Not in front of the kids!"

"You think that's the worst we've seen from you two?" Adrien asked, earning a chuckle from the group.

Tom leaned over to Sabine. "So that's where Adrien gets it from," he joked.

Sabine laughed before she turned to Marinette. "Alright sweetie, we're going to head out so you can get some rest. We'll watch Hugo until you two get back home."

"Thanks Maman," she replied.

"Sabine," Gabriel murmured. "Would you mind taking Annabelle out to the hallway with you for a minute? I'd like to discuss something with Adrien and Marinette in private."

"That's not a problem," Sabine replied with a smile.

After going around with hugs, Sabine and Tom wrangled the two kids out of the room.

With them gone, now it was just the five of them.

Well, actually seven of them if you include the babies.

Well, actually twelve of them if you include the kwamis too.

"Oh, they're so cute!" Tikki squealed, flying over to the sleeping newborns.

Plagg seemed unimpressed. "Great," he said sarcastically. "Two more loud pooping machines to interrupt my beauty sleep."

"Oh stop," Nooroo muttered. "You adore Hugo."

"He's different!" Plagg insisted. "He's a sophisticated young man who understands the fine art of cheese appreciation! Camembert, Roquefort, Brie, you name it! The kid loves every single type of cheese he tries!"

"Well I still think they're adorable!" Duusu declared, referring to the babies. "Poop and all!"

"Me too," Reaggle agreed.

They all murmured back and forth for a minute until Gabriel cleared his throat. "Alright, you've all had your chance to see the babies. Let's go now so Marinette can rest."

One by one all the kwamis disappeared. Nooroo returned to Emilie, Duusu returned to Nathalie, and Reaggle returned to Gabriel. Even Tikki and Plagg disappeared too.

"Call us if you need anything," Emilie said, hugging Adrien goodbye.

"We will."

They all exchanged hugs and finally it was quiet again in the hospital room.

With just the two of them there, Marinette looked at her husband. "I blame you for this, you know," she said, a coy smile on her lips.

"Me?" he asked, smiling back.

"Yes, you. Twins run in your family. And now we have three kids under the age of three."

"I thought that it has to run through the woman's side?" Adrien replied with a smirk.

She playfully narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, okay," he added, putting his hands up in surrender. "It's my fault."

"Yes, it certainly is."

Smiling brightly, he stepped right up to her. Then he leaned in for a kiss.

But before his lips could reach hers, the sound of a newborn cry made him stop.

Marinette glanced over at the bassinets for a moment to see which baby was crying. "Your Princess is calling for you," she said, turning back to her husband.

He shook his head. "You're my Princess," he insisted. "We'll have to come up with a different nickname for Emma. Because there's only one Princess in this family."

Marinette smiled. "Okay Kitty," she whispered.

Caught in her loving gaze, Adrien couldn't move. All he could do was stare at the woman before him.

She was his everything. She was his best friend, his wife, his children's mother, his savior, his reason for being and his one true love. She was all of those things and more.

As he stared at her, a memory suddenly flashed before his eyes.

For a moment all he could see was a fourteen year old Marinette standing in front of him. And her words echoed in his head. 'I'm in love with you,' the blushing girl confessed.

And the memory of the single greatest moment of his entire life was over just as quickly as it began.

Suddenly brought back to reality, Adrien's gaze returned to the beautiful woman before him. And he finally gave her the reply that she deserved all those years ago. "I'm in love with you too, Marinette," he whispered.

Confused, she tilted her head at him.

In an attempt to kiss her again, he leaned forward. But the sound of a second cry made him stop.

With the realization that their lives were changed forever, Adrien and Marinette paused for a moment. Then they smiled at each other.

The End

Thank you for reading! Part 4 is out now! The title is 'No Way Out!' 😘