Ladybug Adrien was oblivious to Peacock's overly interested question. She was his friend, after all. Of course she would want to talk to him about current things in his life. "Well, my father made me some clothes, I got some small gifts from friends at school, and my mother made two different cakes. One for me and one for my father. The cake is delicious! I can't wait for her to come home.  And then there's whatever Chat made me, but I won't know what that is until later, of course."

Peacock just nodded her head happily. He loved her cake! But she told herself to remain calm. "I'm really happy for you, Ladybug."

"Me too," Chat Marinette chimed. She then grabbed Ladybug Adrien by the arm. "Well we must be going. We have a date after all." She then dragged him off.

Peacock watched them leaved before turning to Hawkmoth. "Well I'll be seeing you, Hawky. Have a nice evening."

Ladybug Adrien turned and waved to Peacock and Hawk Moth as Chat Marinette dragged him away.  She was acting strange. Like she didn't want him chatting with Peacock. Weird.  Maybe she just really wanted to get back to the Ferris wheel so they could continue their planned evening?  Probably.  He was most likely looking too much into something unimportant.

Hawk Moth didn't think before gently grabbing Peacock's arm to keep her from leaving. "Wait. Why not chat for a bit?"

The kids detransformed by the nearby alley and returned to the Ferris Wheel. They got in line and luckily didn't have to wait long. They got on the gondola which contain a seat on both sides. The kids sat next to each other while the kwamis sat on the other side.

"So," said Marinette in a teasing voice. She held his gift close to her chest. "Should I give this to you now?"

Meanwhile Peacock tried her best to play it cool. She just give him a teasing smile. "Aw! Did you miss me?"

Adrien moved closer, locking eyes with her as a smile formed on his face. "I think right now is the perfect time for gift giving."  His hand inched forward as if to take it from her, though he didn't try to steal it this time.

"Something like that," Hawk Moth answered with an exaggerated shrug.  To the point like always, he paused only briefly before jumping to more important matters. "So, you seemed very interested in the cake Adrien got," he said. Of course, she'd been overly interested in all of it, but her reaction to the cake was most important to him.

Marinette just smiled and handed him his gift. "Here you go!"

Oh snap. "Why does that matter?" Peacock question. "And you know I never brought up any cake. I was just asking what we got like any other person would. If it was you're birthday or Marinette's I would do the same."

Adrien smiled and eagerly unwrapped the gift.  He had expected clothing of some sort seeing as that was Marinette's specialty, but the scrap book in front of him was even more exciting. He flipped through the pages, grinning like an idiot at each picture.  There were so many good ones!  He had to remind himself to look up at her.  "Thank you!  This is amazing!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're right. You didn't mention the cake specifically.  But are you sure you would be quite as interested in mine or Marinette's birthday? You seem very fond of Adrien for some reason."

Marinette blushed. "Thank you. Alya and Nino helped me gather pictures. Did you look at the last photo?"

"Of course I would be!" Peacock said somewhat annoyed. "Why would I be fond of Adrien?"

Adrien looked back down at the scrapbook.  "Well, I guess I should thank them as well. I have one more page before the end," he answered as he flipped the last page and stared at the last picture.  She had taken his request to heart and given him a very good picture of her. He looked back to her. "This picture is perfect."

Hawk Moth shrugged.  "How would I know?  You just seem to pay far more attention to him than to Marinette in most circumstance. In fact, Marinette seems jealous that you're getting close to him even if you'd never be romantic with him."  Gabriel had to keep himself from cringing at that thought.

Marinette inched closer to him. She was blushing even more. "Do you really think so?"

Peacock just laughed. "Teenagers! It's very easy to become jealous at that age." She then gave him a wink. "Are you jealous as well? If you want I can pay more attention to you too! Adrien said you got a cake as well. How was it?"

Adrien nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her the rest of the way to him.  "Yes.  I really like it."

Hawk Moth sighed, deciding not to call her out on the subject change. He had pushed hard enough at the moment.  "You're implying there's a reason for me to be jealous," he said with another shrug before answering her question, "The cake was really good. My wife makes the best lemon cake. But the way it was delivered... It seems like she's in Paris.  It's strange.  I would have thought she would have come home by now."

Marinette beamed. "Well you're able to take the picture out. I didn't glue it down. So if you want to frame it or hang it in your locker you can."

Peacock was thrilled he still love it, but her happiness was soon crushed when Hawkmoth question her whereabouts. "Yes it is strange, but maybe things are difficult right now so she can't come home." A lame answer, but it was worth a shot.

"Purrfect!  I will find the best place for it," he said.  They seemed to have hit a pause in their conversation, so he took the chance to lean in and kiss her.

Gabriel sighed. "I don't understand what would be so difficult for her... It's not like we'll be mad at her for disappearing."

Marinette returned his kiss. She was happy he liked her present. "Happy birthday, Adrien."

Peacock opened her mouth, but closed it right away. A pain of guilt struck her. She should just reveal herself right now. She opened her mouth again, but nothing came out. No! Not yet! Just comfort him.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she knows that. Now I must be going. I need to go find Gui. We were trying to find the brothers' hideout before the beast attack. Bye." She then ran off the building and flew away before he could say anything else to her.

"Thank you. I'm glad I could spend it with you," Adrien answered.  This definitely was his best birthday in recent memory.  If only the Ferris wheel ride wasn't almost over.

Hawk Moth watched as Peacock struggled to say something before she finally decided to make a quick exit.  "Good luck..."  He murmured, watching as she disappeared over the rooftops.  Their conversation had only strengthened his suspicions that Peacock was Iris.  But that still wouldn't explain why she couldn't come home.  

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned toward home. Whatever she was doing, he should respect her decision. She could know something he didn't. But that didn't mean he had to like it.