Adrien was still sitting in his chair at the kitchen table as he watched Marinette pace up and down the room.

"Bugaboo?" he called out to her, "Are you okay?"

"No," Marinette stopped pacing to cover her face with her hands. "I'm so embarrassed."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Adrien chuckled good naturedly. "Your water was going to break at some point."

"Yeah, but it wasn't supposed to break just then! I'm supposed to have another week or so! And now your pants are all ruined…," she trailed off as a contraction seized her body. Rising up from his seat, Adrien rushed over to her side to hold her. She rested her head on his chest while he cradled her as she breathed through the contraction. When it had passed, she continued to lean her head on his chest taking in how his tie hung loosely around his neck. She idly fingered one of the last few buttons on his shirt that she didn't even get the chance to undo before her labour suddenly started.

Sighing, she took a step back from him and took his hands in her own.

"Are you ready to do this, Chaton?" she asked looking up at him.

Adrien gave her a soft smile in return.

"Ready."

"Let's not do that again anytime soon," Marinette complained as she clutched baby Hugo to her chest.

Adrien and her parents laughed.

"You did good, Bugaboo," Adrien praised her, placing gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Mhmm," she mumbled tiredly. Truth be told, all members of the Dupain-Cheng family were exhausted. Especially Marinette, who was in labour for almost a full day. After giving birth around midnight the day after her contractions started, it was no wonder she started to drift off to sleep while she was nursing Hugo. When she finished, Adrien gently took his son from her arms to burp him while Sabine made sure that Marinette was comfortable.

Adrien smiled down in pride at Hugo, gently stroking his cheek as the latter soon fell asleep as well. The last few hours were a whirlwind, and for a brief moment, dark thoughts had begun to cloud him. The thought of not being fit to be a father had crossed his mind and niggled at the inner peace that he had worked so hard to build up over the last few months after the accident. Thankfully, hope and light burst in when Marinette's parents arrived at the hospital. Tom especially was a great help to him during that time. Showing him an example of what a good father is actually supposed to be like. He now felt like he could make it through, especially with all the loved ones at his side. Now as he held his son in his arms, he couldn't help the quiet prayers he murmured, vowing to be the father to Hugo that Gabriel never was to him.

Looking at baby Hugo, it was hard to tell who he took after the most. But it was clear that he had Adrien's sparkling green eyes. But, it looked like he inherited Marinette's dark hair, going by the small tuft on top of his head. Either way he was fawned over equally by both parents. Not to mention his grandparent's and great-grandparents and numerous 'aunt's' and 'uncles'. From the very beginning he was surrounding by loving and supportive network and Adrien knew that despite the uncertainty of the future, they would all be just fine.

"Who knew he'd be so wrinkly?"

Alya elbowed her husband for his thoughtless comment before scooping Hugo up in her arms.

"I think he's beautiful. And he's mine now!" Alya said as she cooed at her new godson.

"You better watch her before she actually makes a run for it," Nino warned the new parents. Adrien and Marinette laughed.

"Well, technically I did owe her my firstborn since collège…" Marinette started.

"Oh, yeah," Alya chortled as she reminisced, "the cellphone incident."

"Cellphone incident?" Adrien and Nino looked at each other in confusion.

"One of the many cellphone incidents," Alya emphasised while Marinette groaned in embarrassment.

"I'm sure it'll make a good bedtime story one day, yeah?" Alya slyly remarked as she brought Hugo up to meet Lily, who was strapped to her father's chest in her carrier.

The babies locked eyes for a while trying to process each other's presence. Eventually Lily blinked her doe-like eyes, now darkened from grey to hazel, before turning away from Hugo in boredom. The latter continued to stare even as he was fussed over by Alya.

As the new mothers were distracted by their children, Nino took Adrien to the side to speak to him in private.

"So, how're you holding up, dude?" he asked in concern for his friend's mental state.

"I'm – I'm doing okay… at least right now," Adrien confessed. "It got pretty dark a couple of hours ago though."

Nino gave him a sympathetic look but let him continue.

"I wasn't sure I could do this, ya know? Take responsible to raise another human being, while working and being a hero. Especially when I feel like I can barely take care of myself, at this point, not to mention Marinette." He took a deep breath, "I wonder sometimes if I'm gonna end up like Gabri—,"

Nino cut Adrien off by physically covering his mouth with his own hand.

"Do not mention that [redacted]'s name out loud," he seethed, his voice barely above a whisper. Initially startled, Adrien looked deep into his best friend's eyes to see not only hatred at the mention of his father's name, but also concern and sadness, all for his behalf.

"You are nothing like that bastard!" he encouraged, "You are Adrien and Chat noir; Paris' defender and the best bro out there."

"Bro…," Adrien pulled him into a hug as the tears flowed down his face.

"Also, whenever you feel overwhelmed, Alya and I are always available for babysitting," Nino said.

Pulling away, Adrien quirked his eyebrow at him.

"Really, dude? You have two kids. One of them is still an infant," Adrien questioned skeptically.

"Ah, we'll just dump them all on Luka," Nino shrugged carelessly. "He could use the practice before it's his turn. I'm sure he'll rack up those XP points pretty quickly."

The both of them laughed as they made their way back to their wives. Adrien feeling significantly lighter knowing that he had great friends he could rely on.

Several weeks later, Adrien and Marinette were settling into their lives as new parents.

"I think he looks like you more," Adrien commented, tilting his head to the side as he examined his son drifting asleep in his crib.

"Really?" Marinette responded. "I just can't get past the fact that he has your eyes," she reached down and gently caressed his face in a way as not to disturb him. "Those sparkling, emerald green eyes, full warmth which draw you in each time you catch a glimpse…," she trailed off as she just happened to lock eyes with her husband. He was gazing at her tenderly, and if by instinct, her hand moved from her son's cheek to caress her husband's.

He playfully nuzzled into her touch just like a cat would as Marinette continued to stoke his face and eventually run her fingers through his hair.

"You were saying?" Adrien smirked at her.

"I love you," she stated simply.

Adrien's heart fluttered at those blessed three words. His initial soft gaze turned passionate, fiery with desire for her as he cupped the hand that was on his face and drew it down to his lips to place a lingering kiss on it.

"I love you, too, Marinette," he said dropping his voice.

Marinette felt a thrill of excitement (and nervousness) pass through her body under his gaze. He continued to kiss and nip at her wrist while staring at her with those hungry eyes that she couldn't look away from.

And didn't look away from for the rest of the night they spent together.

Marinette woke up the next morning to Adrien entering their bedroom with a breakfast tray in his hand.

"Morning, Bugaboo," he greeted her with a kiss.

"Morning," she sleepily replied. "What time is it?"

"Pretty late," Adrien responded. Marinette's eyes bugged but Adrien interrupted her before she flew out of bed.

"Relax, I already fed and took care of Hugo. Plagg and Tikki are with him now." Marinette breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. "I figured that after keeping you up last night, you deserved to sleep in," Adrien scratched his neck.

Marinette flushed deep red at his implication and at the memories from the night before. All the fears and insecurities she had in the weeks before Hugo's birth that caused her to waver in resolve, all were swallowed up in the fact that Adrien loved her. And boy did he ever. He was passionate but yet considerate of her, not to mention patient, keeping in mind that it was several months since he had last embraced his wife. The strangest thing of all was how familiar being held by her husband felt, despite having no previous recollection of it.

Adrien placing the tray of food over her drew Marinette out of her thoughts and into the present.

"Here, have some breakfast. You must be hungry," he said.

"Not as much as you were last night," Marinette cheekily remarked.

Adrien coloured a bit, but managed to fluster her more with his response.

"And I could still go for seconds," he growled as he leaned over to nibble at her bare shoulder.

Marinette laughed and playfully swatted his chest but gave him an appreciative smile.

"I'll think about it after breakfast," she said placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for this."

Adrien beamed his sunshiny smile at her before going to check on Hugo.

While Marinette was in the shower, Adrien started to do the dishes… and some thinking.

Both of them had come a long way since Marinette's accident last fall. Now it was in the Spring and a lot happened since then. He went from not knowing whether his wife and unborn son would survive to being able to spend happy mornings like this with them. In the back of his mind he was always worried that something major would happen to one of them, just by nature of them being superheroes. He never once suspected that something non-supernatural, nonmagical… something like a car accident would threaten almost everything that he now held dear to him.

But somehow those grueling six months came and went. At the time they felt tortuous, like a mountain or a brick wall you faced that was impossible to scale so the only option was to stare at it in despair. Part of the reason was likely that he didn't know when it would all be over. Even now, he could tell that this was something that would never leave them. After all, ten years of her life were stolen from her.

But looking back, Adrien knew that the worst of it was over. They were stronger for it. If anyone would've even suggested back then that these trials were a test to make them stronger he would have socked them in the jaw. But whether or not it was a test, he didn't care to know, for the fact remained that they were stronger for it.

Adrien startled out of his thoughts when he felt Marinette's arms slink around his waist from behind to give him a hug.

"Deep in thought?" she mumbled into his back.

"Mhmm." He dried his hands, then shifted around to hug her properly. "Just thinking about how much I love you. And that I'm glad you're here with me."

"Adrien–," before Marinette could ask about his mental health, he placed a soft kiss on her eyelid, forcing her into an awkward wink.

"I'm okay, Bugaboo," he reassured her. "We're all okay now."

Fin.