"It was fine," Adrien answered with a smile.

Gabriel raised and eyebrow and looked at his son through the rear-view mirror. Adrien's answer had been short and non-descriptive. Perhaps, he should ask for some elaboration. Teenagers were very gossipy, so it seemed unlikely everything would have been fine after that newspaper article. "Was everything okay this morning?"

Adrien was quiet for a moment before responding. "For the most part."

Iris frowned. "Adrien, what happened? You can tell us anything."

"So might as well buy it here?" Alya asked.

"Yeah, but the one I want is still too pricey for me," Marinette said with a sigh. "I won't be able to buy it until next year."

"Hmm," said Alya with a teasing smile. "You could always ask your rich boyfriend to get you it for Christmas."

"Alya!" Marinette turned to her friend. "I am not going to take advantage of Adrien's wealth."

"I was joking."

"Oh."

Adrien shrugged, internally cursing his father's perceptive nature. "Well, like I said, it was mostly fine. Mrs. Bustier and Principal Damocles wanted to talk to me this morning about that article. I feel like they thought I was hiding something when I told them the article was wrong, but they dropped it because it was class time. Otherwise, there's always the normal level of gossip when something noteworthy happens."

Iris gave Gabriel a worried glance. She looked back at her son. "What did you guys talk about?"

Marinette and Alya left the store and were heading back to Marinette's place. As they walked passed their school Marinette noticed a little girl going on about being afraid of pirates? She was telling her mother she refused to go to a play about them. Her mother brushed her off saying she had no choice since her brother was going to be a in the play.

Adrien sighed. He didn't see why he needed to elaborate further. "They just asked me to tell them what was going on at home, and when I told them the interview never happened they tried to convince me that it was safe to tell them if something was wrong. They gave up when I told them that everything was fine again." He hated talking about this. It just reminded him how he caused this problem in the first place.

Iris frowned again. "I'm sorry you had to deal with this, Adrien." She then turned away from and lead back in her seat. Iris glanced out the window. Both Adrien and Gabriel had to deal with people because of that article. Even with her intervention there may be some people who would still believe that story. She had to do something. But what?

Adrien just shrugged again. "It was bound to happen," he said.

The rest of the car ride was rather quiet. Gabriel was both content that he and Iris were able to get Adrien to talk to them and annoyed how far reaching this particular rumor was. The best they could hope for would be most of Paris accepting that the first article was a lie once the next paper hit the shelf.

They pulled up in the courtyard a moment later and exited the car. It felt good to be home. Now they could just retreat into the house, have a nice dinner, and relax.

When they got out of the car and headed toward the house, Iris came to a stop. Right in front of them was her father. He must slipped through the gate before it closed. She stared at him in shock. Was he hanging around here all day waiting for their return? Iris clenched her hands. She stepped forward and was standing front of both Gabriel and Adrien protectively.

"What are you doing here?" Iris demanded trying to keep her voice steady.

"Talk," her father replied simply.

"Talk? You expect me to talk to you after you insulted Gabriel today?"

"Hmph. Your husband was the one who was throwing insults."

Iris shook her hands in anger. They were slowly forming into fists. "Serves you right!"

Iris's father put both his his hands in his pants pocket. You can tell he was trying to stay calm. "Why didn't you call us when you got back? I shouldn't had to hear you were back from the news."

Iris placed both her hands on her hips. "Because you mistreated my family while I was gone. Both you and Mama don't deserved to be in my life anymore." She was trying not keep her body still. Iris could tell her emotions were about to make her body shake.

"We were just trying to do the right thing," her father muttered. "Your poor excuse of a husband failed you. We didn't want that to happen to Adrien."

Iris lost it. She took a step forward and slapped her father across the face. "LIAR!!" Tears were streaming down her face. "YOU AND MAMA DON'T CARE ABOUT ADRIEN AT ALL!! I WROTE TO YOU TWO THREE TIMES!! THREE FUCKING TIMES!! ASKING YOU TO COME TO SEE ADRIEN!! BUT I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE YOUR PARENTS NOT COME TO SEE YOUR NEW BORN CHILD!? IT FUCKING HURTS!!" Iris's body was shaking in rage.

When Gabriel wrapped his arm around Iris's waist, she felt at ease. He had such a calming effect on her. It was useful when her emotions were running a muck. Iris quickly wiped away her tears and took deep breaths.

Iris's father just stood there like a dear caught in headlights. He glanced toward the ground. Slowly his eye brows furrowed. He was trying to find something to say.

Gabriel continued to glare at his father-in-law, unsympathetic to the man's sudden speechlessness. Instead, having the upper hand in the argument boosted his confidence in continuing. "Every single time you've said you were trying to do what's best for Iris is a lie! You're not trying to protect her from getting hurt. All you're doing is perpetuating your hatred for me no matter the consequences. You'd rather tear your own family apart than accept your daughter's choice! And at the end of the day, it's not my fault Iris doesn't want to talk to you. It's yours."

Iris looked at Gabriel and then at her father. He was still staring at the ground speechless. She then glanced back at Adrien. Iris could tell he looked uncomfortable. It was time to end this. Iris reached into Gabriel's pocket and pulled out the gate opener. She pressed the button and the gate opened.

"Leave," she said.

Her father looked up at her and just nodded his head. He then turned around and went out the gate. After he left, Iris turned around and walked over to Adrien. She pulled him into an embrace. "I'm sorry you had to witness this." Iris held him tightly. Tears were forming in her eyes.

Iris couldn't help, but pull Gabriel into the hug. She wanted both her boys by her. She fought back the tears. There was no reason to cry anymore. Her father willingness to leave was a sign that things were offically over. At least with him. Iris wasn't sure if her mother would try to talk to her.

The cold in the air eventually caused them to pull away from each other. They quickly headed inside. Iris closed the front door behind them. Awkwardness filled the air. Iris looked over at Adrien and Gabriel. "How about I make some hot chocolate? Gabe, I will make some tea for you." She gave them a smile. Iris was starting to feel better.

Gabriel nodded, thankful that tea rather than hot chocolate would be on its way for him. He didn't understand how Adrien and Iris could drink liquid chocolate. It sounded gross to him, but if that's what they wanted.

Before Iris exited the room, Lycca flew from Gabriel's pocket and floated near Iris. "You're going to make enough for me too, right? I want extra sugar added." Gabriel narrowed his eyes at his kwami's demanding tone. But before he could say anything, Plagg also made himself known with his own demands.

"If you're taking orders, I want some cheese fondue!" Plagg said loudly.

"Plagg!" Adrien exclaimed, obviously just as bothered by the spoiled demands as Gabriel.