“Silver or red, Adrien?”

“Neither,” Adrien groans. He is currently elbow-deep in a box of ornaments, but Nathalie’s inquiry is enough to kill all of his enthusiasm. He flips the lid of the box closed and lets out a long sigh. “Nathalie, why can’t we do a fun tree? Father isn’t going to join us in decorating, so why do we have to do it his way?”

Nathalie purses her lips and glances towards Gabriel’s office as a way of answer. She turns her eyes stoically back to him. “Silver, then,” she decides when Adrien doesn’t make a selection.

“Do you remember how much fun we used to have when all the ornaments were free game?”

“I do.” She begins to unwind a length of silver tinsel, and the little plastic pieces fall around her feet, catching the light as they go. “I also remember an orange and chartreuse combination that nearly brought your father to tears.”

“But that was the best part! Both you and Mom were laughing so hard. And he was too, after he got over the shock.” Adrien gazes loosely at the tree, and a fond smile forms on his face as he pictures that day. “We fixed it, anyways. Father chose new colors, but it was still… festive, at least.” He pouts, taking a look at the monochrome decorations that Nathalie takes out. “If it’s all silver, we’re going to have to leave out so much good stuff. Like this,” he exclaims, digging through the box.

“Adrien,” Nathalie scolds. “Careful you don’t break anything.”

“But look,” he implores. He holds up the two little clay ornaments he was looking for, a Ladybug and Cat Noir, both wearing Santa hats. “They’re so cute! My friend Marinette made them for the whole class last year. Can’t we put them up?”

“Your father won’t like it,” Nathalie says. “And you have no idea how much,” she mutters under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. Can you please help me wrap the tinsel, Adrien?”

He presses his lips together and stares up at her with a forlorn look.

Nathalie knows him too well, however. “Silver or not, I know it’s your favorite part.”

Adrien stares back at her, and he tries very hard not to reveal his excitement, but there isn’t a staring contest that Nathalie can’t win. Adrien cracks, and a smile forms on his face. “Okay, toss it down.”

She drops the other end of the tinsel down over the railing, and Adrien catches it below. Nathalie holds her end at the top branches of the tree, watching with carefully concealed amusement as Adrien runs around the tree with his end, creating a messy spiral.

“Neatly, please.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix it after.” He wraps the tail end around and grins up at her, his face glowing pink with sweat. “It is fun,” he admits. “We should switch next time so you can try it.”

Nathalie tries not to show her displeasure at the idea. “That’s sweet Adrien, but I wouldn’t want to take that from you. Besides, you’d have to grow a few more inches first.”

“I’ll catch up,” he defends. “Just you wait, I’ll even be taller than Father.”

“You don’t have to convince me. You grew like a weed this year.” She gives him a rare smile. “Now help me hang the ornaments. I know our color palette is limited, but there’s still plenty to choose from.”

After an hour, the Agreste Christmas tree is fully assembled. The tinsel has been adjusted to a perfect spiral, mostly by Nathalie, and dozens of silver ornaments hang off the branches. They are mostly plain baubles, with a few snowflakes and angels sprinkled in. It’s perfect.

“It looks like something out of a catalogue,” Adrien complains to Nathalie, who is concentrating on centering the star at the top of the tree, which only she can reach.

“Good. Your father will be pleased.”

“Well, I’m not,” Adrien grumbles. “It’s bland. I don’t get why he wants it like this. I miss the old way of doing it.”

“Adrien,” she says, and there is a seriousness in her tone that catches the boy’s attention fully. She takes on a sympathetic expression. “I know it may seem like a lot of new rules for no reason, but try to see it from his point of view. Your family had certain traditions that don’t feel the same without your mother here.”

Adrien’s brows draw in. He silently picks at the tinsel clinging to his shirt.

“You and him process in different ways. I think it’s simply too painful for him to see the tree looking as it always has when so much else has changed.”

“Well, I feel like it’s putting our misery on full display.”

Nathalie comes down the stairs and stands next to him, looking at the full picture herself. “It does look drab,” she admits.

“See?” he exclaims.

She adjusts her glasses and thinks. “Perhaps we can get away with a little bit of color. Just a little bit. If it’s uniform.”

“We have some candy canes in the kitchen,” Adrien proposes. “Can we use those?” Nathalie nods. His eyes light up with excitement. “I’ll go get them.”

Nathalie picks up the Ladybug and Cat Noir ornaments off the floor so she can return them to the box. She examines them, and she can’t help but be impressed by the craftmanship and detail that had gone into them. Turning them over to look at the feet, she finds that they’ve been signed in the tiniest of letters, ‘MDC’ with a few hearts. It’s an absurd sentiment, but she suddenly feels sad that they have to be returned to storage, unseen for another year.

She glances towards the kitchen. Before Adrien returns, she quickly hangs them together on the side of the tree, where they are mostly concealed by a big ornament. They’re not exactly visible, but there’s a satisfaction in knowing they’re there and that Gabriel is unlikely to find them anyways.

With the candy canes up, the tree is proclaimed to be complete, and the two of them begin clean-up. There’s shreds of tinsel everywhere that will have to be vacuumed up in the morning by the maids, but in the meantime, Nathalie and Adrien stuff the box back up with unused ornaments, tissue paper, and packing peanuts.

Once everything is regathered, Adrien continues to rifle through the box. “Did you lose something?” Nathalie asks.

“No, I just wanted to take a look at some of the old ornaments,” he says. “Like this one!” He holds up a lopsided cotton ball snowman, clearly an art project from his childhood. He laughs at it. “Some of them are kind of funny.” He picks up another one, this one being a snowglobe ornament. “Since we’re not using them down here, do you think I could pick out some of my old favorites and take them up to my room?”

“I don’t see why not,” Nathalie agrees. She glances down at her phone. “I have to finish up my work for the day, though, so leave the box outside the office when you’re done, and I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Nathalie!” Adrien says, beaming.

“Don’t break anything,” she reminds him. She turns away and goes back to the office.

Adrien collects as many as he thinks he can carry. He smiles as he takes them out of the box, warmed by fond memories. A surprising amount are his own disastrous creations from a younger age, and he finds far more of his old crafts than he had expected. What really draws his attention, however, are many of his mother’s old ornaments. She had brought many home from her travels, accompanied by wild stories. These make up the majority of Adrien’s haul, and he’s not entirely sure that he’ll return them to the box when the season ends.

A few more ornaments catch his eye. Occasionally, his mother, his father, and even Nathalie would sit with him to make Christmas decorations, and he recognizes some of their work. There are some paper snowflakes that could really be anybody’s, a few papier-mâché figures that he believes are his mother’s, some hand-embroidered pieces that are surely his father’s, and some intricately painted glass ornaments that he specifically can attribute to Nathalie. The one that draws his eye the most is a tiny white suit, made from real fabric. A very young Adrien’s head sticks out from the collar, sketched in colored pencil by Gabriel.

Adrien is in awe of his find, never having seen this particular piece before, and touched by the fact that his father had made an ornament in his likeness. “What do you think, Plagg?” he whispers, bringing it close to his shirt.

Plagg laughs. “Look at those chubby cheeks. Oh, young humans are so amusing. It looks like someone was eating his camembert.”

Adrien wrinkles his nose. “I definitely was not.” He looks up, struck by the sudden urge to hang it on the tree. “It’s not silver, but it’s white. That’s really close,” he justifies.

“Hey, you don’t have to convince me, kid,” Plagg points out.

Adrien’s eyes dart over to the office door, which is closed and quiet. Before he can talk himself out of it, he runs over to the tree, slips his likeness onto the highest branch that he can reach, and backs away, panting. He then closes up the box, leaves it outside his father’s office, and brings his favorite ornaments upstairs.

Before she leaves for the day, Nathalie spots the box of decorations and remembers that she let Adrien pick through them. Sighing, she carries them into the office and sets them on her desk, intent on returning them to their rightful place tomorrow.

“Nathalie, what are those?” Gabriel inquires, coming over to see for himself.

“Just some Christmas decorations, sir. Adrien was looking through them earlier, for old times’ sake.” She fights the urge to sigh again as she sets down her coat. “I can deal with them before I go.”

“No, don’t bother,” he says, holding up a hand. He looks curiously into the box. “They can stay in here. Perhaps they’ll bring some much needed inspiration.” He rubs his temples.

“Still stuck on the same piece?” she asks sympathetically.

He clenches his jaw. “Yes.”

“I’m sure you’ll get it soon, sir,” she assures him. She reaches for her coat again hopefully, perhaps prematurely. “Is that all?”

“Yes, yes. Go home,” he insists, already distracted by the contents of the box. “It’s late.” He doesn’t notice Nathalie’s silent celebration as she finally pulls her coat on and makes it out the door.

Memories flood back to him, some of them happy, some sad, but most bittersweet. He finds many of Adrien’s old crafts in the box, bringing him back to a happier, simpler time.

Gabriel is not a man easily amused, but one creation has him stifling a laugh. The ornament is meant to be an angel, and it’s made from a paper plate, two pieces of foil, and some garish pipe cleaners. The best part, however, is a photo of his own face, clumsily trimmed and then pasted on with far too much glue in the manner that only a very young child is capable of. It looks wildly out of place.

And still, he can’t help but smile. He believes it’s one that Nathalie helped Adrien to make, so it doesn’t come with the same kind of painful memories associated with others that Emilie contributed to.

He sighs, deciding that he should take a look at the tree, now that it has been completed. It has been decorated impeccably, with the ornaments falling in a neat pattern, and the tinsel oriented in a perfect spiral. He frowns as he notices a couple of candy canes hanging from the branches, but he supposes he can let that slide.

He becomes aware that he is still holding onto Adrien’s ornament. It is, perhaps, the most ugly ornament of the bunch, but somehow, looking at his perfect glittering tree, Gabriel feels that it is exactly what is missing. He ascends the stairs and hangs it high, near the tree topper.

For the next week and a half — past Christmas and even through New Year’s — unauthorized ornaments continue to appear on the Agreste family Christmas tree. Nestled into the branches are many crafts, funny souvenirs, and even just some plain baubles in a color other than silver. Nobody looks too hard at the tree, attempting to avoid suspicion themselves, so they don’t really notice each other’s contributions.

On one occasion, three ornaments are nearly added at the same time. As Adrien creeps down from his room, Nathalie walks out from the office with a hand tucked discreetly into her blazer. Unfortunately for both of them, Gabriel is already in the foyer, gazing up at the family portrait with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Adrien. Nathalie. What are you doing?”

They both jump, caught in the act.

“N-nothing!” Adrien stammers. “I, ummmmmm, was just thinking about getting some hot chocolate.”

“Well hurry up and do it now,” Gabriel orders. “If you drink it any later, the sugar will keep you awake.”

“It’s fine, I changed my mind!” he exclaims. “I’m actually really tired, I’m going to bed, goodnight!” He runs back up the stairs and quickly enters his room.

Gabriel looks to Nathalie. “I felt a draft,” she explains. “I thought the front door was open. I see it is not. Goodbye.” She turns and retreats back into the office.

Gabriel shakes his head and turns pensievely back towards the portrait, reveling in the stillness.

After a moment, he sighs. He pulls a tacky pink light-up Eiffel Tower ornament from behind his back and hangs it on the tree.

On January 2nd, the ornaments come down, and nobody has really thought this far ahead.

Adrien is forced to explain to Nathalie as she finds a Star Wars ornament tucked along the bottom of the tree. “It’s kind of silver,” he defends. “Partially.” The bright green pickle is harder to justify. “I… didn’t think food counted.” But Adrien quickly finds that Nathalie has no high ground. He catches her sneaking a popsicle stick gingerbread man into the box. “Hey, I didn’t hang that one up!”

She glances at him from behind her lenses. “I thought food didn’t count.” They both let out closed-lipped giggles as they continue.

Dismantling the tree ends up being the most fun it’s ever been. Nathalie and Adrien have a great time justifying their decorations and gushing over each other’s. “I had to hang these up,” Adrien says when Nathalie finds one of her own painted glass ornaments. “I remember being surprised that you could paint such fine lines, but I shouldn’t have been. You have to be detail-oriented to please Father.”

“Of course,” she says. “You know, I did a lot of stitching for him in the early days of the company. I had to have steady hands.” She refocuses on her new discovery. “Oh, Adrien, this was always one of my favorites.” She holds up an ornament of a pastel snowflake, pieced together by many tiny clippings of construction paper. “You worked so hard on this one. It took you days.”

“I was so frustrated with it,” he recalls. “It’s not symmetrical.”

“It’s very good,” she insists. “And you were only ten.”

“Well, it’s definitely better than this one,” he laughs, pulling down a sloppily-painted nutcracker that is one of his earliest creations. The mouth smears up almost all the way to the eyes. “Not one of my best. Why did you put it up?”

Nathalie blinks, taking it from him for a closer look. “I didn’t. Are you sure it wasn’t your doing?” Adrien shakes his head.

“The buttons are silver,” a voice says from above. They both look up to see Gabriel standing at the top of the stairs, clearly amused. “It counts.”

“Father!” Adrien laughs. “Did you put that on there?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gabriel insists, though a quirk of his lips betrays him. He eyes the boxes surrounding them, and the haphazard mess of paper, cardboard, and packing peanuts. “I see we have a few strays on the tree this year. Perhaps you could use a hand.”

It takes far too long, but the tree is eventually stripped bare, and all the ornaments packed away.

“I think that’s the best tree we’ve had in a while,” Adrien says. “What about you?”

“It definitely had plenty of charm,” Nathalie says. “Sir?”

“It was acceptable,” Gabriel admits. Something in his eyes softens. “Maybe we can ease up the restrictions for next year. Would you like that, Adrien?”

“No!” Adrien exclaims, surprising them both. “Are you kidding? This is the most fun I’ve ever had taking down the tree and maybe even decorating it. Please keep the rules, I want to do it exactly like this next year.”

“Are you sure?” Gabriel asks. “I heard you wanted less constraints.”

“Absolutely not. If anything, add more. Maybe we can do teams next year. Or penalties if you get caught. Or—”

Gabriel and Nathalie smile knowingly at each other as Adrien continues to come up with ideas for next year’s tree heist. It all sounds a bit ambitious, but they can make it work.

A new Christmas tradition for the Agreste household is born.