"Ugh, I'm going to be late!" Adrien seethed behind the wheel of his car. Broiling with impatience, he shifted into a higher gear to overtake the car in front of him, swerving haphazardly back into his lane to avoid the oncoming traffic. The stress from his deadlines and projects was building up and seemed to concentrate in his foot, causing him to floor the gas pedal. Due to some weird oversight in the university scheduling, he was supposed to be administering a final on what was supposed to be his day off, even though it was a weekend, so he needed to get to the school asap before the exam started in a few minutes.

He spotted the traffic light up ahead turning amber. Panicking about losing time, he decided to make a rash decision and gunned the gas. Briefly scanning the intersection he was rocketing toward, he saw no sign of any stopped traffic waiting for the light to turn green. This slightly mitigated the guilt he felt about knowingly running a red light. In just a few seconds he would be in the clear…

A car horn.

A sickening screech.

A bright light.

A crash.

Silence.

Adrien's blurred vision slowly cleared up to observe the scene before him. It was bloody chaos. It looked like some car appeared out of nowhere to turn left, just as he was crossing the intersection.

Crap, he thought to himself as he got out of the car, This is bad. As he approached the car he had just T-boned, a funny feeling settled in his stomach. It was oddly familiar. Like someone he knew drove that car. Like someone he loved could still be in there…

Time seemed to slow down as the he froze near the driver's door. There, with head bleeding, was Marinette, slumped unconscious on the window. The approaching sirens sounded worlds away as a wave of numbness washed over his body. All he could do was stand there as emergency personnel rushed past him to tend to his pregnant wife. As her limp body was transferred to the gurney, he made an attempt to call out, but dread choked his voice.

"Adrien," a faraway voice whispered.

He turned around to look for its owner but found that he was standing alone in the abandoned streets.

"Adrien," it called out again. He couldn't reply with his lost voice, but kept looking around him frantically for its source.

"Adrien! Adrien! Wake up!"

Adrien startled awake to find himself in his dark bedroom staring into a pair of floating, florescent green eyes. Despite the cold temperatures, he was sweating profusely.

"Plagg?" he called out.

"You okay, kid?" his kwami questioned, concerned.

"Yeah," Adrien replied. "Just another nightmare."

"I don't think it was just another nightmare," Plagg stated. "The blast from that that nightmare akuma you guys fought may brought up some stuff that could affect your regular dreams."

"Yeah," Adrien mumbled, "You're probably right."

After the miraculous team had finished with their relatively short (lasting only a day), yet emotionally draining fight, Adrien had returned home with Plagg and Tikki and they all crashed immediately. Now, sitting up awake in his bed, he still felt exhausted, yet he didn't want to go back to sleep. Rather, he was afraid to go back to sleep.

Groaning, he pushed his bangs back and threw off the covers. Jeez, I could use a haircut, he thought to himself. Finding, a spare hair tie, he fixed his hair into a low ponytail before heading to the door. Sensing his movements, Plagg zipped up to accompany him before Adrien held up his hand.

"I just need a few minutes to myself," he said, his hand over his face. Understanding, Plagg quietly backed off to where Tikki was sleeping.

Heading over the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of milk. Before he could even take a sip, the tears started spill from his eyes. Setting the glass down, he braced himself over the sink, shoulders heaving with his silent sobbing.

He stayed in his position for a few moments after he composed himself. Before he could wipe his eyes, however, a small sound behind him caught his attention. Instinctively, he flinched and spun around, only to find, to his surprise, Marinette standing in the door frame of the kitchen. She looked just as surprised to see him up as he was to see her.

The pain of their conversation the day before hit him afresh, but instead of confronting the issue, he decided to squash his feelings inside him.

"Hey. Couldn't sleep?" he tried to sound casual.

"No," she answered in a small voice. "I had a bad dream."

Figures, he thought to himself. Out loud he hummed before responding, "same."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Marinette decided to speak up again.

"Look, Adrien, about before… I'm sorry. I really didn't mean what I said."

"Oh really? What did you mean?" he couldn't hide the hurt in his voice. He leaned back against the sink counter crossing his arms. Settling down on one of the bar stools, Marinette sighed before answering.

"I meant that I didn't ask to be useless during battle. I didn't ask to be injured so that I couldn't remember how our team functioned against La Farfella."

At this point neither of them were looking at each other. Marinette was unsure whether her words were enough to assuage his doubts, while Adrien was unsure whether what she had said was completely true. He was so wrapped up in stewing in his thoughts that he didn't notice Marinette moving from her spot until she was right in front of him.

"Adrien," she said startling him. "I love you." She took his hands in hers and looked deep into his eyes.

"This goes far beyond my old crush on you. This is something right here and now. Memory or no memory," she continued. "I love you and I want you. I couldn't ask for a better husband. And, yes, even though it was scary for me to think about at first, I am happy to be pregnant," she blushed.

For the second time that night, Adrien felt the tears forming in his eyes. He had always been a physically needy person, but Marinette's words warmed his heart better than any hug could at that moment.

"I'm sorry for doubting you, ma lady," he whispered, leaning down to give her an actual hug.

"I'm sorry for arguing with you. You were right," she responded. Before he could say anything else, she used his slightly bent over position as an opportunity to kiss him. This caught him off guard at first, but he soon melted in her embrace. How long was it since he had kissed him like this? He almost forgot the feeling of her soft lips on his.

The kiss, though chaste, brought heat to Adrien's cheeks and flutters to his heart. When they broke apart, he couldn't help cradling her in his arms to savour the remnants of the moment.

Entering the master bedroom, Marinette's heart skipped a bit. She climbed into the bed and was immediately caught up in Adrien's scent which she inhaled deeply. After enjoying a glass of milk together, the two of them decided that maybe going to bed together would help ward off the nightmares. It was highly doubtful whether that was the only intention for both parties, but the two figured that the company would be nice. So, Adrien stayed in the kitchen to deal with the glasses while she headed to bed first.

Marinette's eyes grew heavy as she waited for Adrien, only for them to snap open when she realised that he was standing over her with his arms crossed. She hadn't even heard him enter the room.

"What's wrong?" she sleepily mumbled.

"That's my side of the bed," he lifted one of his arms to sassily point at the spot where she had nestled comfortably.

"And?"

"I want to sleep on my side."

"The other side is cold," she complained.

"Because it's not my side." Groaning, Marinette elected to ignore him by turning her back on him.

Trying to suppress her giggles, she heard him scoff. However, she was caught by surprise when he climbed in the bed on 'his side' and physically scooched her over until he had enough space to lie comfortably.

Turning over again, Marinette found herself facing Adrien's back as he contently snuggled deeper in the sheets. She tried snuggling up as close as she could, and shifted her hands from his shoulders, to his back, to his waist, then back to his shoulders again.

"What on earth are you doing?" Adrien asked.

"I am trying to spoon you," Marinette replied, somewhat frustratedly.

"Pfft," Adrien snorted. "It's gonna be kinda hard with Hugo in the middle."

"Yeah," Marinette chuckled along with him. "It's more like a group hug at this point."

Suddenly, Adrien shifted around to face her and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

"Here," he said. "Now it more like a group hug."

Blushing, Marinette reciprocated his actions before eventually dozing off to sleep.

Marinette's bladder woke her up the next day. Ignoring it for a little while, she lay in bed a bit disoriented. She stirred in her half-awake state before realising that she was not alone in the bed. Blinking her bleary eyes open, she was surprised to find her vision filled with blond hair. Her heart skipped several beats before she remembered what had happened the night before: the conversation she shared with Adrien and how she had kissed him, determined not to hold back on showing him affection.

Gazing tenderly at her husband, she softly stroked the arm wrapped around her midsection as she soaked up the moment. Soon, the risk of wetting the bed skyrocketed and she had to wriggle out of his grasp to make it to the bathroom.

When she exited, Tikki flew in to meet her in the kitchen where they caught up on the akuma battle and the progress in Marinette and Adrien's relationship. A few minutes later, a sleepy Adrien stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and scratching his stomach.

"G'morning," he mumbled, making his way over to her. He leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek, but she expertly manoeuvred herself to catch his lips instead, snapping him fully awake. He smiled into the kiss and instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It is a good morning now," Marinette replied cheekily when they pulled apart. Giving him a quick hug she asked, "how did you sleep last night?"

"Better with you by my side, Bugaboo," he said, leaning down to peck her lips one more time.