"I know," Lycca said with sigh. "But sometimes fights are necessary for relationships to get stronger."

The week passed quickly with Adrien staying home to ensure he was completely healed and to start working on the mountain of homework he now had. Gabriel continued working from home and was genuinely considering permanent work from home days in the future.

Finally, Saturday came. Gabriel was glad to note Adrien seemed completely healed. They had a good lunch with Elise where he was able to apologize for his actions the past six years. Once she left, Gabriel began grabbing some of the dishes to help clean up.

Iris was in a great mood. Lunch with her sister went much better. She walked into the kitchen after saying goodbye to her sister. She saw Gabriel was starting on the dishes. "Hey. Today went well!" She smiled at him. Iris then bumped her body against his. "And you like my lemon cheesecake!"

Gabriel smiled, "Yeah.  Things went better than I expected. It's a good thing I liked your cheesecake. How awkward would it have been if I told you, in front of Elise and Adrien, that I didn't like the dessert you made for us?  It would have been terrible."  He was only half joking.

Iris gave him a sly smile. "Then you would have to apologize to me in private." She then twisted her fingers in his hair. She then let out a laugh and kissed him the cheeks. "Sorry I couldn't help myself." She gave him a goofy grin. "I'm sure you missed my dirty talk."

Gabriel smirked, "All the time, my dear." He returned her kiss with a kiss on the forehead. "On another note, rather than apologizing in private, why don't we celebrate the successful night in private?"

Iris grinned. "Sounds good to me."

They finished up cleaning the dishes. After Iris went upstairs to her sewing room, she opened the door and left it opened. Iris walked over to her shelves and stared at them. She wanted to work on something, but she wasn't sure where to start. Her eyes shifted to a calendar that was on the wall. It just occurred to her that it was the almost the middle of November. A smile appeared on her face. They were slowly getting closer to Christmas!

Iris walked over to the calendar and started to count down the days to Christmas. She then flip the page back to November. They were almost a month away! Which meant that she needed to start Christmas shopping and decorating! Oh decorating! They could do that now! It would surely brighten up the place. 

She then left her room and made her way to the attic, but then she stopped. Adrien popped into her mind. He would probably love to help! She turned around and went to his room. Iris knocked on the door. "Adrien? Can I come in?"

Adrien looked up from his computer.  Multiple news sites as well as the Ladyblog were pulled up on one of his monitors, like usual, to watch for any signs of beast activity.  Now that he was healed, he couldn't wait to stretch his legs a bit. And jump over some buildings.

He smiled and nodded, knowing she couldn't see the gesture. "Yes, come in," he answered.

Iris came into the room. "Hey!" She walked over to him. "I know it's somewhat early, but I'm going to decorate for Christmas. Do you want to help?"

Adrien's eyes brightened. A real Christmas. Somehow, he'd missed the fact the winter holidays were going to be way better going forward. Maybe his father would actually have some Christmas cheer for once!  He grinned, nearly jumping out of his seat in his excitement.  

"Sure!"

Iris clapped her hands. "Great! Let's go! I keep all the decorations in the attic."

They then left the room and walked down the hallway. Iris stopped at the end of the hallway and pulled on the draw string. The stairs came down and they walked up them. Iris opened the door and walked into total darkness. Iris placed her hand on the wall and searched for a light switch. When she found it, Iris turned the lights on.

The light filled the room which revealed the butterflies. They noticed their visitors and flew around happily. One even landed on Adrien's head. Iris was in shock.

She looked at her son. "Why are there butterflies up here?" She held out her finger and one of the butterflies landed in it.

Adrien stared at the swarm of butterflies, his eyes wide as his jaw fell open. So many butterflies... "I can't believe I missed this..." he whispered, only half hearing her question. He waved the butterfly from his head, but it just ended up landing on his shoulder along with two more. All that time, he could have found his father's butterflies if only he had decided to go look in the attic. Everything could have ended so much sooner if he had just had some reason to come up here...

"These are father's butterflies. I thought they only appeared when he was transformed..." he finally answered, his gaze still focused on the butterflies.  "I just can't believe I missed this..." he repeated, still in complete shock that they'd been so close.

Iris walked around the room in amazement. The butterfly was still on her finger. She stopped walking and stared down at it. The butterfly flapped its wing happily. She smiled. "They seem friendly." She then looked at her son. "It's a shame your father keeps them up here."

The other butterflies swarm around in agreement.

"Do you understand me?" Iris question them with a raised eyebrow. The butterfly that was on her finger floated up and flapped its wings twice. "Oh wow they do!"

Adrien nodded. "They're friendly when they're pure like this. I didn't know he had so many." The butterflies seemed energized when he agreed, as if happy to know he had forgiven them for akumatizing him. "But letting them fly around the house would be a dead giveaway if we had a random visitor," he said, this statement receiving the opposite effect. The butterflies suddenly slowed their flapping, the entire swarm drooping a little.

Iris frowned. She didn't like seeing them sad. She could tell they hated being cooped up in here. Iris glanced back at her son. "But if we trained them to hide" Iris spoke slowly. "Then it will be fine!"

The butterflies flew over to her and circled around her in happiness. Iris couldn't help, but smile at them. She reached out her hand and one of them landed on it.

Adrien shrugged and watched the butterflies dance around her. His mother was probably right. If they were sentient enough to understand speech, then they should be able to hide when necessary. "You'll have to convince father to let them out. They're his butterflies, after all."