Fifty-Six: Yes, Dear

Author's Note: Carapace and Rena Rouge make the rounds while they fill in for the vacationing Heroes of Paris.

Special Note: A short turtle/fox interlude while I wrap up my Camp NaNo July project. Chat and Ladybug will be back from vacation next week – I promise.

Rena Rouge snuggled into Carapace high atop the glass dome of the Grand Palais, letting her fox ears brush the shoulder of the turtle that had been her partner in more ways than one for longer than she cared to remember. His reassuring presence was something she'd come to rely on; more so when the dawning recognition of what the future held for the two of them had hit some six weeks earlier.

Looking down to where his gloved hand was upon hers, both resting gently on the now quite-visible evidence of their love, she still felt all the fears that she supposed all new parents experienced - though not all carried the extra burden of part-time superhero duties piled on top of motherhood. It had only been Chat Noir's calm insistence that she could do it that had partially eased her fears; combined with the certainty she truly had the support of her friends and future husband, she'd begun to sleep a bit easier these past few nights. She'd seen the feline superhero use those empathetic talents on innumerable akuma victims; having them turned upon her brought a welcome jolt of confidence that she'd sorely needed – something Chat had, of course, known at the time.

Chat Noir.

She smiled at what Carapace had told her earlier, at how even now, when they were reasonably certain Chat knew they were on to his civilian identity – and, possibly, Ladybug's, too - their friend had continued to try and play the oblivious feline they now knew had never truly been the case. She wondered what kind of a reunion the four of them would have once the lovebirds got back from Nice but figured it would be something along the lines of welcome relief now that secrets had been revealed all around.

It made her glad she'd not completely blown it earlier when she'd been under Manon's control.

Turning her attention back to the sparkling night lights of the city, she'd privately been thankful that their patrols had been exceedingly quiet. Not that she wasn't up to the task of protecting Paris; rather, she'd always wanted to have the same sort of quiet, superhero moment with Carapace that she'd documented on her blog repeatedly between Chat and Ladybug. It was funny in a way, for she'd known – always known, really — that those two would wind up together, even if that messy, complicated fall-for-the-wrong-alter-ego thing had threatened to derail it any number of times.

That had never been a problem for her, for nearly from the moment she'd been locked in that animal cage with Nino, Alya had known she'd found her soulmate. It became locked in stone when he'd taken his first spin as the turtle and had bravely fought off her akumatized sister to save her; it hadn't been hard to see through his mask to the love that had driven him to take up the mantle of hero. For his part, Nino had figured out pretty quickly who was beneath the fox ears, though it wasn't until college that the two had finally – albeit secretly - broken Ladybug's edict and officially shared their secret identities with each other.

It was also how she knew that, despite Ladybug's fears, knowing who her partner was would likely only strengthen her relationship with the feline. That they had been so blind to it for so long was the real tragedy – no, that was too harsh, she thought. They had figured it out, hadn't they? Blind perhaps only in the sense that it took so long for the barriers to drop enough they could see who the other truly was.

Sighing, she snapped her Fox Phone open and saw the hour was far later than she'd realized; it was rapidly becoming Sunday morning, though technically, it wasn't a real issue per se. But her editor had sent a long list of changes on her most recent article – an expose on counterfeit fashion, not normally a subject that was in her wheelhouse, though it had meant scoring an exclusive with Gabriel Agreste – and with an early deadline on Monday, she really needed a few hours of sleep before working on the piece. For even if Chat and Ladybug were due back the following day, she was hoping for one last spin around the city as Rena – as her pregnancy progressed, she knew her chances to savoir the experience would become more limited. So work first, then play; not a bad trade, on the whole, if it meant you could still don the mask and ears at the end.

"Babe, we've got to call it a night," she sighed.

Carapace leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Tired, fox of my heart?"

"You've been hanging around Chat too much," she replied with a smile. "No, I could stay out here forever; I think I'm finally understanding why Chat prowls the way he does. The freedom we have – when Hawkmoth is quiet, obviously – is a bit intoxicating." Pushing herself up, she stood and put a gloved hand out to help her partner. "But I have to be a responsible adult tomorrow. And you need to finish that new mix for your label."

She saw him roll his begoggled eyes. "Yes, dear," he laughed as he intertwined his gloved fingers in hers.

"Don't do that," she laughed. "We're not an old married couple."

"Yet," he reminded her with a gentle kiss on her lips. "Look, about that..." He took both of her gloved hands into hers. "I'd like to get married," Carapace said softly.

Rena rolled her eyes. "I know that," she laughed.

Cap flushed darker, something that she found quite endearing. "What I meant was... I'd like to, well, make it official. You know." He paused, and she tried not to chuckle as he pulled a very Adrien-like move and ran a hand to the back of his neck. "Uh... before."

Rena couldn't help but laugh; Carapace was totally adorable when he was flustered. "We had talked about pushing it off, hadn't we?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I don't want to wait any longer, babe." He let her go and started to pace a bit. "Chat convinced me before they left for Nice that everything's cool now – but for a while there, I was worried that what happened in January might have thrown us off track permanently. Then with our kidlet-"

"Yes," Rena interrupted, reaching out for him. "Let's do it."

Carapace turned fully toward her. "Really?" he asked, not quite wanting to believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah. I mean, we have to wait for my best Ladybug to get back; and you need your Best Chat." She smiled as she pulled him in for a kiss. "I think they will make themselves available as soon as we ask them..." Rena said before trailing off.

Carapace tilted his head. "I've seen that look before," he said with a half-smile. "You're as bad as Ladybug when you get to planning. What are you cooking up now?"

Rena laughed. "How cool would it be to get married like this?"

"Like... this?" Carapace said, frowning. "You mean... as heroes? I don't know if Ladybug would go for it..."

"Yeah!" Rena replied excitedly. "I think she might. Of all people, she'd understand how it's almost a dream-come-true for me. It would be on the down low, of course, and we can do a full ceremony with our family after the kidlet is born. What do you think? Would you do it?" She paused, then added, "For me?"

Carapace smiled as he pulled her into his arms. "For you? Yes, dear." He smiled wider. "But you have to convince Ladybug. Chat'll be easy – he'll do whatever Ladybug decides."

"I accept that challenge," Rena laughed. "You two are more similar that I realized," she added as they started to trot to the end of the roof for their return home.

"True," the turtle chuckled as they leapt into the night together. "We both know when we have it good. Believe me."