He's a single dad trying to raise a four-year-old girl while trying to manage a multi-million-dollar business. When I heard of his dilemma, there was only one person I could think of that I could recommend in good conscience.
In a World… without magical jewellery, Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng never met. Each of them fell in love with someone else, but found heartbreak in the end. Now, Adrien just wants to be a good father, and Marinette is struggling to cope with her husband's death. Trust Alya to decide that she knows best about what they need.
Second Chances is a completed Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction by TheNovelArtist
, published on FanFiction.Net (here) and Archive of Our Own (here). A rewritten version is also available as an independent work on Amazon, as Second Chances by Alexandra Nicole. Not to be confused with the Death Note fanfic of the same name by Spades 44, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfiction by Anafandom.
These tropes really belong together:
- Adaptational Heroism: With magic nonexistent, Gabriel wasn't able to descend into supervillainy. He was eventually able to properly grieve for his late wife, and has made great strides in rebuilding his relationship with Adrien, as well as being a doting grandfather to Emma.
- Adoption-Induced Pregnancy: Marinette has an important announcement for Adrien right when he presents the papers that would officially make her Emma's mother."So," he said, shifting to hover over her. "What do you say, Marinette? Will you be the mom of my child?"Her breath hitched, and Adrien grew worried that he'd said something wrong. He opened his mouth, only for the response to die on his tongue when he saw the sweet look that wore. "Adrien," she said, her voice soft and gentle and precious. "I already am."
- Betty and Veronica: Downplayed as it's not hard for Adrien to make his choice between Marinette and Lila, but he does absently notice at one point that although Lila is a model wearing tight clothing intended to show off her figure (and is actively attempting to seduce him), he's more distracted by Marinette in her oversized sweater and plain jeans.
- Blanket Fort: Marinette ends up building a pillow fort with Emma to distract her when Adrien is forced to attend a social gathering.
- Boyfriend Bluff: Gender-swapped. When Marinette walks in on Lila attempting to seduce Adrien and clearly making him uncomfortable, she promptly refers to him as "sweetheart" and acts as though they're dating, making it easy to send Lila away. Adrien plays along, in a mixture of confusion, trust, and wishing it were real.Marinette: Oh, um… that was me… trying to help. You were looking really uncomfortable and you've told me so many times how much you can't stand when Lila rubs up against you, and there’s really nothing like a girl to get another girl to back off.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Adrien and Chloe grew up around each other; from his point of view, dating and marriage just seemed to arise naturally from their relationship. Unfortunately, it turns out that Poor Communication Kills; despite the amount of time they spent together, they weren't on the same page regarding what they actually wanted and expected in marriage, resulting in both their marriage and friendship breaking down.
- Daddy's Girl: To convince Emma to do her chores, Marinette likes to emphasize how much her father would appreciate it. She later remarks on how well it works, as Emma adores her father.
- Death by Childbirth: That's what happened to Chloe. She needed a caesarean, and reacted badly to the anaesthesia.
- Honorary Uncle: Marinette pauses for a moment when she hears Emma referring to "Auntie Alya", wondering how Alya became so close to the family. (Helping Adrien cope with Chloe's passing, and with suddenly becoming a single father, certainly contributed.)
- Insatiable Newlyweds: Marinette and Adrien agree that they'd like to start trying for a child immediately, but Adrien privately admits that that's not the only reason their nights get steamy.Alya: Well, no one can say you two don't have fun.
Adrien: No. No, they cannot. - Kids Play Matchmaker: Apparently, Adrien spent a lot of effort convincing Gabriel a relationship with Nathalie will be good for him.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Emma was conceived by Adrien and Chloe after one drunken night while they were actually in the process of a divorce. Nathanael and Marinette, on the other hand, were trying for several years to have a child, but without success. Subverted when Adrien and Marinette get married; they are both expecting to require fertility treatments in order to give Emma siblings, but a few months later, they get definite proof the problem wasn't about Mari.
- Let's Wait a While: Marinette is recovering from the tragic death of her husband just a year earlier. Dating at all is something she has to work her way up to, working through the nagging sense that she's betraying Nathanael. By the time of her wedding to Adrien, she's ready, but she wouldn't have been okay with physical intimacy before making that commitment. note
- Loophole Abuse:
- When Adrien tries to pay Marinette extra for the days she looked after him and Emma while he was sick, she tries to turn him down, insisting that she's "not walking out the door" with the check he's written. So he picks her up and carries her out.
- It is revealed that Adrien learning about Chloe being pregnant wasn't an accident. Sabrina promised her not to tell, but "accidentally" sending an SMS to the wrong number is a different matter.
- Making Room for Baby: Adrien convinces Marinette to move into a bigger house six months after their son is born.
- Marry the Nanny: Alya swears that when she recommended Marinette as the nanny, she wasn't trying to set them up romantically, not with how Marinette is still hurting from her husband's death. And it takes a long time for Adrien and Marinette to consider dating. But they really do fit together like a family pretty much from day one.
- My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Downplayed. Nino insists to Alya that they wait a year before trying for a kid. While they are both still younger than thirty, this is enough for Alya to complain to the happily expecting couple.
- Noodle Incident: Something happened, before the story but after Nathaniel's death, involving Marinette and a bottle of wine. Her mother still hasn't given her corkscrew back for fear of a repeat.
- No Pregger Sex: Inverted; first, when Marinette is upset about the birth not starting despite the pregnancy being to term, Adrien states some old wives' tales claim sex might speed it up, and she drags him off at once to test it. Later, Marinette tells Adrien she is pregnant again, and the two immediately start a proper celebration.
- Pinky Swear: Emma does it twice with Adrien and once with Marinette.
- Remarrying for Your Kids: Adrien, as a single father, has trouble finding a nanny for his daughter until Alya recommends him Marinette. Since she is recently widowed herself, it takes them twenty chapters to have a proper date, and he has no intention to rush her into a marriage... but once the girl starts calling Marinette "Mommy", they both realize the matter, one way or another, cannot be delayed.
- Ring on a Necklace: After losing Nathanael, Marinette wears her wedding ring as a necklace. The day she and Adrien have their first date, it takes her a lot of effort to leave it at home. She eventually takes to instead wearing the ladybug pendant that Emma gave her, symbolising to herself that she's moving on.
- Romancing the Widow: Played very straight. Marinette is still hurting after the tragic loss of her husband, and Adrien tries to strike the right balance between respecting Nathanael's memory and wooing her. He himself is a widower, but has had several more years to adjust, and his marriage had already broken down by the time Chloe died in childbirth; he feels ready for a relationship again.
- Second Love:
- As referenced by the title, both Adrien and Marinette are on their second time around. Marinette's marriage ended in a tragic housefire; Adrien's ended in divorce.
- There is also Gabriel (after years of inner conflict) letting go of Emilie and marrying Nathalie.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Adrien is starting to babble about the furnishings he's bought for Marinette's room, when she grabs his shirt with both hands and interrupts him.
- Single Parents Are Undesirable: Discussed by Adrien, who has found that women tend to have second thoughts about flirting with him upon learning he is a single father, and, moreover, actually dedicates a lot of time to his daughter. He actually finds that some women find the idea of a single father appealing, showing interest in the father, but are turned off by encountering the child, which baffles him. Lila Rossi, upon attempting to flirt with him, is initially taken aback by hearing about his daughter, then later seems to move past that — but still comes from a family that doesn't think highly of Adrien actually taking some of his time to raise his daughter himself.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Defied by Sabrina, who was fired and blacklisted after violently rejecting her boss' unwelcome advances.Adrien: What happened to your old job? You had a position working for some multi-millionaire keeping his business in check.
Sabrina: I did. But he didn't appear to know the difference between a secretary and an escort. - Totally Trusting Love Interest: Marinette walks in on Adrien and Lila in his house on Valentine's Day, with Lila very much dressed for the occasion and within Adrien's personal space. But she knows Adrien well enough to be instantly confident that he's uncomfortable with the situation, and she promptly helps get Lila to leave. The contrast between the two women is stark enough in Adrien's mind to lead him to a Relationship Upgrade with Marinette shortly afterward.
"Do you want overly-credentialed? Or someone I would hand my own wiki off to, say ‘have fun’, and not worry about for the rest of the day."
<Beat>
"Names and numbers."
"Oh, there's only one."
<Beat>
"Names and numbers."
"Oh, there's only one."
