The feeling welling up in Nino's chest was a familiar one. He'd first experienced it in a Haitian courtroom, when Nala's adoption was finalised. Now it was rising up in him again as he welcomed his second child into the world. It was a curious mixture of love, pride, joy and a cacophony of other emotions yet to be deciphered. Now this mixture spilled out of his eyes and unto his cheeks for the umpteenth time.

"You're ugly crying again," his wife deadpanned. Nino laughed through his tears. "You'd think I would be the one constantly in tears with the amount of pain that you just put me through."

"Can you blame me?" he sniffed out, pressing his daughter to his chest. "She's beautiful."

"I know," Alya responded with a tender smile.

"You're beautiful too, you know," Alya's smile widened at his words. "And amazing, and smart, and so strong," Nino made a show of ticking a list off his fingers.

"I know," Alya had a more comical expression on her face and rolled her eyes.

He meant every word of it. He had seldom seen his wife more beautiful than she was that day. Her hair was plastered to her face with the sweat that drenched her features. Her expression wore a grimace of pain as she leaned on the (what was it?) squat bar she had requested. Her face had turned red with effort as she grunted out in herculean strength to give birth to their daughter.

Their daughter.

Nino dropped a soft kiss on his daughter's brow as he recalled the first moment she entered the world; her cries were almost drowned out with his as he'd wept like a child. He encircled his arms around her more as he vowed for the millionth time to be her protector. He briefly glanced at the unassuming bracelet on his wrist which he never took off. In more ways than one he'd be her protector.

He perched on his wife's hospital bed and tenderly kissed her cheek. His love for that woman seemed to grow so much since they had been married, and especially over the last nine months. Because of her they had Nala, and now the newest member of their family. Nino felt as if his heart would burst from the abundance of love, and he was okay with that.

"Ugh, I don't want you near me for the next six months," Alya mocked pushed against him. Nino laughed at his wife. "Do you know what kind of ordeal I just went through?"

"You weren't complaining nine months ago, babe. Or anytime at all, really," Nino dropped his voice to a sultry whisper as he leaned in. "And you know you can't keep your hands off me for long." Alya flushed but took advantage of his closeness to kiss him.

"You know I love you right?" she whispered against his lips. He smiled before giving her another kiss, as he still held his daughter securely in his arms.

Alya rested her head against her husband's shoulder and the happy couple stayed a while like that, enjoying each other's presence and that of their sleeping child.

"Aunty Netta, meet Lily Lavender Lahiffe. She arrived by express delivery today," Nino loved finding slightly new ways of introducing his daughter.

"Lily-la!" Nala chimed in. From the first time she had heard her new sister's name, she had been calling her that.

"Aww, guys, she's so precious!" Marinette softly cooed at the baby that Nino had placed in her arms. The child looked up at her with confusion in her greyish eyes, but made no fuss.

After Nala was led out for a snack by her Aunty Nora, Alya dove straight in giving her friend all the 'deets' of her birth story. Marinette laughed at her friend's straight forwardness when describing her pain but still was (kinda) tactful with the more intimate details.

"…and that's why I suggest getting a squat bar. It makes the labour go much more quickly."

"I -uh I'll think about it." In truth, Marinette had not thought much at all about the actually birth her own child. But she almost felt her body having a physical response to hearing Alya's story and holding her child. Her heartrate sped up a bit as she thought about how in a few short months, she would be in Alya's position, with her baby on the outside.

"Aww, girl, don't cry!" Alya interrupted her thoughts. "If you cry Nino's gonna start crying again."

Huh? I didn't even realise that I was crying. Marinette lifted one hand to her face to find that her cheeks were indeed wet with tears.

"It's just that not to long ago, you were still carrying her in your womb, and now she's on the outside, living in the real world. It's just so surreal," Marinette clutched Lily closer to her chest.

"Tell me about it." Alya understood where her friend was coming from. "You're scared aren't you?" she asked in a soft voice. Marinette nodded as more tears spill down her cheeks.

Nino placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I already fulfilled today's tears quota twice over," he joked. That got Marinette to smile.

"If there is anything I know, is that even if you're scared, it's all worth it. And we just restarted this parenting journey!" he continued. "I know you, and I know my bro, Adrien. You two are going to do fine."

"Plus, you're not alone, girl! We're all here for you!" Marinette's smile grew wider as she stroked Lily's soft cheek. "Also, isn't it great that our kids are going to grow up together? It would be so cool if they end up being besties like us!" Alya practically gleamed at the possibility.

By the time Adrien arrived, Alya had planned out their kids' future lives together which included a scarily detailed play-time schedule.

"And we can get Manon and Noël to babysit!" she was saying.

Nino perked up at Adrien arrival and decided to delivered his personalised introduction of his daughter.

"Uncle Adrien, I'd like you to meet the new cat on the block, Lily Lavender Lahiffe."

"Lily-la!" Nala piped up from the corner of the room, where she had been engrossed quietly with a storybook when she returned.

Adrien chuckled as he went to congratulate the couple, giving his best friend a huge man-hug.

"I'm so happy for you, bro," he whispered. Hearing the tremble in his friend's voice, Nino gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"It's gonna be alright, bro. You'll get through this," he whispered back.

I know, Adrien thought as he held his best friend, it's just going to hurt a lot in the meantime.

Nino and Alya were exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. They were eager to head back home later that day. They already had so many family and friends over to see them and Lily (Nora and her family had honestly been such a blessing in watching over Nala) that it had become a bit draining. But they still were grateful that so many people cared about them and offered their help for when they would be returning home.

As they were packing up the room with some idle conversation, Alya suddenly brought up something that was also in the back of Nino's mind since he noticed it as well.

"Hey, babe. Did you notice anything off about Luka when he and Kagami came to visit us earlier?" She questioned. Nino did in fact notice that something seemed a bit different about the musician but he couldn't quite place what it was.

"Yeah. I mean in a way he seemed and happy for us and such but a little bummed out as well? I don't know how to explain it." He accepted the fully packed bag from his wife and slung it over his shoulder.

"No, I get what you mean…," she trailed off as she recalled their friend's earlier interactions with them. For the most part he was smiling and chatting as usual, but Alya couldn't get a certain image out of her mind. Nino had just asked Kagami if she wanted to hold Lily, to which she awkwardly accepted. It was only for a moment, but Luka had been watching on with an almost wistful expression. His electric blue eyes were pensive as he watched his wife hold the infant. Although it was only for a short while, Alya didn't miss it, and apparently Nino didn't either.

"Anyway, I hope they're doing alright," she sighed.

"Me too," Nino responded, before taking his wife's hand in his own. "Let's go home," he said, leading he towards the exit. Cradling her newborn in her free arm Alya smiled at him.

"Let's."

Apparently Alya and Nino weren't the only ones who noticed Luka's off feeling that day. Kagami quietly approached her husband as he sat on their couch strumming aimless chords on his favourite guitar. Luka looked up at her as she sat beside him wordlessly.

"What's up, Ojou-sama?" he teased, putting on an easygoing smile. Despite him using the embarrassing nickname as a deflection, Kagami was not fooled. When she reached for his guitar, he complied, handing it over to her.

"It feels like you have something like this in your heart," she said strumming a few melancholy chords on the instrument, trying to remember what little Luka had managed to teach her. She didn't have his ability to 'hear everyone's song' as he did, but she did hear his song because he had shared it with her.

When she finished playing she looked up at him. The one corner of his mouth was turned up in a bemused half-smile, but the faraway expression in his eyes remained.

"Can you tell me what's bothering you?" she asked gently, her striking brown eyes held his gaze patiently as she awaited his response. He breathed out a sigh before he spoke up.

"Have you ever thought about us having kids?" he asked. If Kagami was drinking something, she would have done a spit take. Instead, she did the equivalent with his guitar, nearly dropping it on the ground before catching it and setting it on the coffee table.

"W-what?!" of all the things she thought he could say at that moment, this was not one of them.

"I mean, a lot of out friends have started their families and are having kids and such and I realise that we never really discussed if it was for us or not," he explained, leaning further back into the couch crossing his hands over his stomach.

Truth be told, he had personally been thinking about it a lot. He had thought about it when their university friends got married and started having kids right away, when Alya and Nino adopted Nala and more recently when Lily was born, when Rose talked about the children she would foster in Achu, and when Marinette announced that she was pregnant. The real thought-equivalent of an ear worm for him was when he saw his wife holding Lily in the hospital. It stirred something inside his heart that he later realised was jealousy.

Kagami swallowed thickly. She had expected he would bring it up sooner or later in their marriage. Before, it had only been in passing like in a joke or hypothetical way, never this direct. However, she was no more ready to it address it now than she was, when they first got married.

Staring down at her hands in her lap she decided to tell him her honest thoughts. Even if it made her sound selfish or pitiful.

"I'm not ready," she started, before taking a breath to centre herself. "I don't think I'm ready to have that conversation." Luka looked over at her curiously. "There are still some things I want to accomplish in my career and as a fencer; personal goals I've set for myself because of my family's legacy. And I want to be selfish for a little longer not having to think about such things."

"I see," Luka turned his head and stared up absently at the ceiling stretching out his long legs and resting them on the coffee table beside his guitar. Guilt started to swell up in Kagami's heart and she reached over to take his hand in hers.

"Look, I'm not saying that I never want to talk about the possibility of having kids. That wouldn't be fair to you. I'm just saying that I'm not ready for that conversation now. I don't even know if I want kids or not—it's just, I need time before I'm ready to have a proper discussion about it."

"How long?" he asked, looking back over at her.

"Give me a year," she said resolutely, intertwining her fingers with his. "By then I would have accomplished most of what I set out for myself."

"Fine." Kagami looked up at him, surprised to see that he seemed relieved. It was like the biggest fear he had was being completely shut down about the topic. "I'm just happy your willing to talk to me about it. Even if it's put off for a year. I think that's completely fair to wait till both of us are willing to hear the other one out. Who knows? We may agree on everything, or nothing. It may be one conversation, or several. I wouldn't be surprised if there'll be some arguments peppered in there." A small smiled played on Kagami's lips at that. "What matters is that you're willing to talk to me about this… in your own time." He brought their joined hands up to his mouth to place a soft kiss on her fingers.

Smiling, Kagami reached over to kiss his cheek then pull him in a tight embrace.

"Thanks for understanding," she whispered in his ear as he wrapped his arms around her.