Chapter Eleven: It's going to be hard

*Things are about to get a bit heavy in the next couple of chapters!

Adrien stood in front of his father who was scowling at him. Gabriel had pulled him inside almost as soon as he and Marinette climb down from the table. "I had expected you to be more responsible!" Gabriel seethed. "Having intercourse! Unprotected, even! What were you thinking?"

"Father, please." Adrien began, Gabriel's hand coming up to signal for him to be quiet.

"No, Adrien!" Gabriel's expression softened a little as did his tone. "I am disappointed with you and Miss Dupain-Cheng. However, you two are old enough to deal with the consequences of your actions. Which you are clearly ready to do." He gazed at his son who looked at him with a big smile. "You are responsible for her and the child now, I expect you to handle it with maturity."

"Thank you, Father!" Adrien said, so happy with his father's reaction, that he felt as he could be dreaming. He hugged Gabriel, who shockingly returned the hug. "I have to go help Marinette explain to her parents!" he said and ran out the door.

"Marinette, what did Adrien mean by 'little human being growing inside you'?" Sabine asked, staring at her daughter, who would not meet her eye contact. Marinette grabbed a small photo album from her bag and shoved it toward her.

"I'm fifteen weeks pregnant, mom." Marinette breathed out, her voice breaking.

Tom stood behind his wife, a hand on her shoulder. He looked down at the pictures. "How long have you known?" He asked.

Marinette shook her head. "Not long, I got sick and Adrien asked me how long I had been getting sick. He had a hunch and made me test... Then I just went to the doctor's the other day..." she explained.

"I am disappointed, Marinette." Tom said with a heavy sigh. "However, your mother and I felt like this could happen because of the amount of time you spend with him."

An arm slipped around Marinette's waist, she looked up to see who, though she knew already. She gave a small smile. Adrien looked at Tom and Sabine.

Tom stared at the blonde. "I am sure your father already gave you the 'I'm disappointed' speech." Adrien nodded. "Do you love my daughter?"

"With every fiber of my being."

"You really intend to marry her?"

"Yes." Adrien said and looked at Marinette. "I don't think I could continue to breathe without her."

Marinette's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Adrien, who was already smiling down at her.

"How do you feel about having a child with my daughter?"

"Elated, Sir." Adrien pressed a kiss to Marinette's temple. "I thought my heart would burst when I suspected she could be pregnant. She has been having a hard time coping with it. But I think she was more afraid of how father and you guys would react."

Sabine smiled up at Tom, who smiled at her. She pulled Marinette into her arms, hugging her tightly. "We will always love you, Marinette." she whispered and continued. "We had hoped this would wait until you were older, but that did not happen. Adrien clearly loves you, and you love him. You two just got engaged! I am sure you and my grandchild are in great hands." She smiled at Adrien, caressing his face gently.

Tom clapped Adrien on the shoulder. "Welcome to the family, my boy!"

Adrien chuckled. "Thank you!" he said. After Sabine and Tom walked away, he assumed to go talk to his father or Nathalie, he pulled Marinette into a tight hug. "That went well."

Marinette smiled and looked up at her fiancè. "What did your father say?"

"The same thing your father said minus the 'welcome to the family' bit."

Alya sat on Marinette's chaise watching Marinette as she slid her promise ring around a chain. It had been a few days since Adrien's birthday and Marinette had wanted to do something special with the promise ring. She was going to give it back to Adrien. Not because she did not want it. Not because she no longer wanted that promise. She loved Adrien so very much and wanted him to have that piece of her with him always.

"Are there any big differences between him and Cat Noir?" Alya asked.

"Adrien? Not really. They are the same person, I think behind the mask Adrien feels freer to be himself. Which is the same Adrien I see all the time." Marinette responded tucking the ring and the chain into a small box.

"Do you guys ever fool around as Ladybug and Cat Noir?" Alya asked, blushing at her own question. She wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer.

Marinette shook her head. "Not really. Not together anyway. I, as Marinette, will mess around with Cat Noir. He as Adrien will mess around with me as Ladybug. We don't usually do anything serious unless we're ourselves." Listening to her own explanation, she felt insane talking about herself as if she were a different person.

Alya nodded. "Is it weird?"

"What?"

"Being a couple and superheroes at the same time."

"Not really. It is hard because he is Cat Noir and I am Ladybug, We can't be Marinette and Adrien, even though I am still clumsy as Ladybug." Marinette began. She shifted to sit next Alya on the chaise. "We can't let our emotions for one another get in the way. He has been thrown down the streets, luckily he has cat reflexes, but it is scary. What if he can't catch himself? What if he gets hurt, or worse? I can't allow myself to get scared, because I have to stand my ground."

"Doesn't that complicate that?" Alya asked pointing at Marinette's stomach.

Marinette nodded. "Very much so." she said, rubbing her stomach. "He will have to protect me more than he does usually because I have to be so very careful."

Alya placed a hand on Marinette's. "Sounds tough. I am sure he can handle it."

"He can. "

There was a sudden crash on her balcony and she looked up. Cat Noir popped through the skylight. "Hey Princess!" he said with a grin. "I'm going to need a bit of help out here." he said before quickly disappearing.

"I guess you are about to find out how well he can handle it." Alya said as Marinette stood up.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

Alya watched, for the first time, Marinette become Ladybug. After the transformation, Alya scanned over Ladybug. "Oh hey! Look! You don't look pregnant!"

Ladybug looked down at he stomach, the small bloating she had been hiding the best she could was no longer there. Her heart started to pound in her chest. "I don't understand!" she said. "I will have to ask Tikki later!" she said as she jumped through her skylight

Alya followed Ladybug out of the skylight and watched as she disappeared over the side of the balcony. Running to the railing she leaned over, watching as Ladybug joined Cat Noir who quickly filled her in on what was happening. His body language was uneasy, he was scared. There! She noticed a large figure coming toward them. She could not tell from where she was what it was, but it looked to be shrouded in a black smoke.

Then it began, what looked lightning went straight for the duo. Cat Noir easily deflected it by spinning his staff. He quickly leaned over and kissed Ladybug. Alya shook her head. And then they split up. Cat Noir distracting 'Smokey' while Ladybug got behind it. They worked so well together. It was no wonder they are such a wonderful couple. They teamed "smokey" without even speaking to each other. They didn't have to. They knew. They did it so many times. There it was, Alya watched in near horror as Cat Noir took a huge blow, having stepped between "smokey" and Ladybug.

Alya could see Ladybug panic, but she had to stand her ground. She swung her yo-yo to deflect any attacks. She heard Ladybug yell for Cat Noir. He was back on his feet and running back to Ladybug's side. It did not take much longer after that for them to defeat "smokey" and return everything to normal. They both leapt onto the balcony and slipped through the skylight.

Alya followed them through and watched as the transformed back, Ladybug holding on to Cat Noir as if her life depended on it. She had been really scared. Alya did not envy her. That was a lot of pressure. "Are you okay?" she asked from atop of Marinette's bed, the two standing together on the floor below.

Adrien looked up at her, giving her a nod. "I'm fine. Thank you." he replied. He turned his attention back to Marinette who was shaking.

"Marinette." Alya said climbing down. "It's going to be hard. He's going to get hurt. You can't let it scare you. Or the next six to seven months Paris is doomed." She said. It was not easy to do so, but this pregnancy was making her panic too much.

"Alya is right, Princess." Adrien said. His hands firmly on her shoulders to push her back far enough to look into those beautiful bluebell eyes. He winked with a grin. "I'll be fine!"

Marinette nodded. And stepped away from Adrien, grabbing the box she left on her desk. She opened it and pulled out the ring that she hung on the chain. Holding it up to Adrien she smiled. "I wanted you to have this. I wanted you to keep this part of me, your promise, our promise. You have done so much for me, given me so much." she slid her hand over her abdomen and smiled.

Adrien grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a kiss, crushing his lips against hers. After he pulled away he slipped the necklace on and put the ring under his shirt to prevent it from catching on anything. "Je t'aime!"

"Je t'aime aussi..."