I am well aware this story is much slower and less action-based than the first. I'm sorry for that and I'm sorry if it's boring. I just wanted to say thank you to those who stuck around and to those who read my work since it's something I've always been self-conscious of, knowing I'm nowhere near being the best but knowing people will read the shit I come up with means a lot to me. So thanks :)

Chapter Twenty Eight

Defying Odds and Gravity

The long corridors felt longer than ever before. She'd been to that hospital more times than she could count. Thanks to her mom working there but also for her more frequent checkups due to diabetes. So many times she'd had to walk them, but even when she happened to be being pushed through them, they felt longer than they ever had. And she felt more alone than she ever had, though quite the opposite was in place. her nurse stood behind her, steadily pushing her in the wheelchair, and Hugo and her mother were at her sides. Hugo's hand cradling hers while her mother's hand rested on her shoulder, gently rubbing it. Doctors swarmed around them, hurrying to tend to other patients. There was no silence on their journey down the hall, but it was the silence that was haunting her.

She was waiting to wake up. She was waiting to have her brother jump on her, telling her they made pancakes. She'd sit up in her bedroom shared with her tin, the necklace with her daughter's name hanging around her neck as she sat there. Sad. Alone. And with the thought of her dead child.

But dreams didn't last weeks. She could remember the pain of the aftermath of her surgery. she could remember her mother and father holding her as she cried of joy but also worry. She remembered the way Hugo whispered to her that things would be okay. And she remembered her daughter's cries, a quiet sound she never expected to hear.

To be honest, she felt lucky. She knew her aunts had struggled with infertility and had lost a baby a few years back. At the moment they were taking a break and all she knew was they planned on trying to adopt or foster a baby. She too had lost a baby. Let it be known her aunt Rose had been warned that having children would be difficult and that was the reason for miscarrying while some of the most powerful items in the universe caused hers, but she still felt lucky.

Easily she could've woken up. Easily Adrien could've chosen to take Marinette's advice and not use the miraculous to save her. Easily she could've gone the rest of her life not knowing what caused her daughter's death. But Adrien had chosen to make his wrongs right and she'd been giving a second chance.

She'd done nothing to cause her child's death, but at the same time, she'd done nothing to cause her to be saved. It all felt like luck.

The door in front of them swung open and her eyes snapped up. The hallway was wider and multiple doors led into visible rooms only barricaded by glass. A quiet whirring filled the hall, the sound being produced by many machines that were helping to keep ill infants and premature babies alive.

"In here," a nurse tagging along with them said, ushering them into one of the rooms. The soft noises of the machines grew louder as she was pushed into the room. Her eyes scanned the area as she searched for the bassinet that held her baby. Kagami sapped places with the nurse, gently pushing her where the nurse directed. Soon enough, her gaze cast over an incubator stationed beside a heart monitor. Tubes fed into the incubator and all connected to the smallest baby she'd ever seen. Her skin was pale but had a pink when to it and she lied on her stomach, the only thing covering her being a diaper. Her breaths were slow as the oxygen mask did almost all of the work and the heart monitor connected to her chest.

Back when her mother had to do the task of telling her she was pregnant, one of her first thoughts was who will you be? A boy or girl? Which of us will you look more like? What will you be like? Spicy or sweet? Lovey or naughty? Chubby or petite? Those questions lingered even after she'd watched her daughter be buried. All she could wonder was who that little girl would've been. Well now she to look at her.

The small, sweet, and all-around perfect baby. She was the perfect combination of them and though no defining features were present yet, she could see bits of each of them in the infant.

Hugo stood beside her and she could feel his hand go still in hers. She didn't bother trying to look up at him, able to picture the welling tears of happiness. And either way, there was no looking away from the small human being they'd made. Something that was nothing but a mistake but came out more perfect than they ever could've imagined.

"Hi," she whispered quietly, gently pressing her hand against the glass. It was warm to the touch but not hot enough to burn. With how tiny she was she couldn't know how long it would be until she got to hold her, but the warmth of the incubator at least acted like a warm blanket or a mother's gentle touch." She's perfect," she whispered.

"She is," Kagami agreed, simply relieved to see her daughter and granddaughter were recovering okay. The silence from Hugo was apparent and Kagami flashed her eyes towards him. He was pale as he stared into the contraption, green gaze locked on the infant within. She raised her hand, assuringly rubbing his shoulder. She felt guilty going in when Marinette had to stay out, but when it came to who the third person would be, it was a no-brainer choosing Kagami. And although she was glad she could be with her daughter, Hugo needed support from his mother more than Lyric did.

The nurse smiled kindly, walking towards the trio."It's going to be some time until she can be held, and even then we expect she'll have to spend some time here, but you are allowed to touch her." she said, pointing to two holes in the side of the incubator where gloves were in place so no heat left but they still had access to feel her.

Without hesitation, Lyric inserted her hand, letting her fingers fill the glove. Her speed slowed as she stared back at the small being. So perfect, so small, so wonderful. Being cautious, she placed her finger on her small arm, gently stroking at the soft surface. Well, thanks to the glove she couldn't be sure whether or not it was soft but it sure looked it. She smiled, tears welling as she felt her move. It was only a slight twitch but more than she ever could've hoped to feel.

"You wanna?" she eventually asked Hugo after what could've been hours spent simply staring at the baby.

Hugo finally pulled his eyes away from the baby and turned them to Lyric. He shook his head, an expression of shock still plastered on his face. She didn't blame him, after everything they'd gone through, the loss, and the pain, she understood him having a difficult time believing their reality was real. Even after getting the chance to touch her she still worried she'd soon wake up.

And even if she were dreaming, she wished with every part of her being that she'd never wake up.

"How was she?" Marinette asked curiously. She was saddened to find out they weren't allowed to take any photos and longed to see her granddaughter, even if it were beyond a screen.

"Alright," Lyric said, upset by the news on the status of her daughter's health but unable to wipe the smile of seeing her for the first time."They said her immune system isn't fully developed so they plan on keeping her here until she's stable enough."

"How long do they expect that to be?" Marinette asked with caution.

Lyric frowned, gripping at the sheets of the bed."At least a month, but probably more." She had no clue how she'd survive that. She had to stay in the hospital the remainder of the week and once she was discharged she planned on visiting every day, but the time where she'd be away from her daughter would be unbearable. She'd only been away from her for half an hour and she felt like she was going to lose it!

Marinette frowned, having had expected it to be a while but she'd been hoping it would be under a month."Have they brought up why you suddenly got pregnant again?" Marinette asked. With the stress of the past week, she'd been trying to keep her mind off what they'd do once the baby was born. They couldn't tell everyone what had really happened. It was dangerous enough telling Lyric and part of her felt she had to tell Kagami, but anyone outside of them was much too risky.

"No, why?" she asked, startling when the door opened. Relief passed over her when it was only Hugo. Since they'd seen her, he'd been silent. It surprised her, mainly since she hadn't expected him to be more emotional than her.

Marinette turned her head, smiling when she saw her son."Perfect timing," she mumbled, waiting until he acknowledged the two of them."I was just trying to think about what exactly we should do,"

"About Posie?" Lyric asked, smiling as Hugo sat at the foot of her bed.

Marinette nodded."I can't risk telling everyone the truth about what happened so we'll need to figure out how exactly to hide it up."

"You mean hide up how she exists?"

"Exactly," Marinette said, holding her finger rot her chin as she thought."Her name is probably the easiest to fix,"

Hugo's eyes shot up at the statement."What do you mean, her name?"

"I love her name, but we can't explain to everyone how she came back to life. Tikki and I were talking about some ways to make her doctors look past everything but me and her will deal with that. But we can't keep her name."

Lyric felt her heart swell. To her, that baby she'd just met was the baby she'd always had and was the same little girl she had already loved. But to the rest of the world, they were different beings. Posie to everyone else was dead, and this small baby was a miracle of sorts.

"But..." Hugo tried to argue, his voice quivering."But she's..."

Marinette's face fell and she sat on the bed, staring lovingly at the two teenagers."I know you both have been through a lot, and I know none of it has been easy. But the miraculous is dangerous, you both know the mental and physical damage it can cause. Believe me, if I could know everything would be fine I'd explain it to every single doctor and every person we know, but I can't know that things will be fine, and I don't want anyone else to get hurt like Posie was. I know it isn't fair, but it's just not something we can't risk."

Stomaching the cries that wanted to break free, Lyric nodded her head."I understand... it's just hard."

"I know it is," Marinette said softly, grasping both of their hands." You two have been much stronger than I would've," she said, breaking a weak laugh."I would've been a blubbering mess if this happened to me."

"So what will we tell everyone?" Lyric asked, aware that Marinette was trying to ease the tension but found herself unable to smile.

Marinette thought for a minute before answering." I'm going to tell Kagami, everything." she stated. She knew Kagami was stubborn and even if the doctors stopped looking into what happened, she'd continue until she found an answer." And I might tell Luka," she said, still hesitant. The two of them were excellent at keeping secrets or things to themselves so she trusted them, but how many people she wanted knowing their secret was still up for debate.

"But besides them, I'm pretty sure we'll go with that unseen twin thing. I doubt anyone will question it since twins do run in your family." Marinette explained.

"What about the doctors and nurses? I'm sure they inked her feet the first time, won't they just compare the two and realize it's somehow the same person?" Lyric asked.

"Neither of you need to worry about that. Tikki and I will figure that all I out." Marinette said, smiling as it felt a thousand pounds were lifted from her shoulder."I just need the two of you to worry about the baby,"

The two frowned at her calling their Posie, the baby. It hurt since that's all she could be. To the world, to their friends and family, Posie was gone. But at least to them, she'd always be their Posie.

"I guess we need to figure out a new name," Lyric sighed, watching as Hugo continued to stare out the window. The rain had lessened and she guessed that they'd get some sun tomorrow." Hue?" she asked as he seemed to ignore her.

"It's bullshit," he muttered.

"What?" she asked, surprised that was the first thing he muttered.

"It's complete bullshit. Our daughter dies, now we have her back and have to pretend she someone else." he cursed, glare continuing as he turned away from the window and to her."It isn't fair and we shouldn't have to put up with it. We should be allowed to call our daughter what we want and not-"

"Hue." she interrupted, his voice immediately falling silent. Frown in place, she held her arms out, signaling for him to sit with her. He obliged, sitting beside her. Head resting on his shoulder, she stroked his soft hands."No matter what she's still our daughter. We might have to give her a different name, and to everyone else, Posie might still be gone, but even if she were a different baby, she'd still be ours. We don't deserve this, and we're lucky to have been given another chance with her. Not everyone gets that and easily we could be in biology class right now."

Hugo cracked a smirk, nodding his head."I guess,"

She frowned, planting a kiss on his cheek."We'll figure this all out, somehow."

"Somehow," he agreed with a smile.

The comforting silence between them was broken by the door slowly opening."Can we come in?" Sadie asked, trying to be polite while Blossom and Esther stepped in without a welcome. Each of the three held a bag, most likely from the drug store, and tucked under Esther's arm was her laptop, decorated with a variety of stickers.

"Sure," Lyric quietly laughed as the three entered.

"Sorry we didn't call," Sadie apologized again, a worried smile on her round face.

"No, it's fine, we've just been in here," Lyric assured her.

"Well good, since we aren't leaving," Ester declared, setting the bag down on the bed."You didn't get a baby shower, and we had a feeling you needed some pampering,"

"So we got some nail polish, masks, food, and we've got movies," Blossom said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Oh and, Mama and Papa made some cornetto," Sadie said, pulling a small tin from the bag she held.

She felt stupid, wanting to cry at something too small, but when her life had been hell for the past week, she needed it."This is-"

"Perfect? We know," Esther grinned, pulling open her laptop. The backscreen was open to an image of the musical Wicked. While she had merely enjoyed it, Ester had fallen in love with the sho when they saw a bootleg of it. Esther had sworn once they were in college they'd take a trip to London and see it on the West end. She doubted with her current situation she'd be seeing any musical in the near future."Sorry, Hugo but this a ladies-only event."

"Aww come on, you can paint my nails," he smiled jokingly, holding his hand out.

Esther rolled her eyes."Take a pastry and go,"

"Fine," he humphed with a smirk, snagging a cornetto from the Christmas-themed tin before he walked away.

"So, have you gotten to see her yet?" Blossom asked, holding her sister's hand as she painted each nail a deep blue. Mesmerized by the simple stories, and the delicious pastry she held, Lyric simply nodded.

"I bet she's adorable," Sadie exclaimed as she fought with Esther for the purple.

Esther tossed it to her, selecting a teal for herself."Not trying to rush you or anything but have you guys thought about names?"

Lyric fell pale, thinking over her response before speaking."Um, we haven't started yet."

"We could help, you know, suggest some," Sadie said, frowning as Esther stole back the purple.

The twins laughed lightly and Lyric smiled at the three ladies in front of her."I'd like that a lot."