Chapter 4

Adrien didn't even bother going back to school after the incident at the drugstore. He ran the entire way home, even though he felt like he was going to throw up with every step he took. Adrien flung the doors open to the empty mansion, sped up the stairs, and ran straight into his room. For a long time he paced back and forth, stopping only to rub his temples in disbelief. His worries whirled through his head like a tornado, and it ripped whatever was left of his sanity to shreds.

After this had gone on for long enough, Plagg flew out of Adrien's bag.

"Would you stop it? You're creating a draft," he complained, making a beeline for Adrien's fridge.

"Don't you understand, Plagg? Marinette is pregnant! And Marinette is Ladybug! And I slept with Ladybug! Which means that I slept with Marinette, which means that I got her pregnant!" Adrien snapped, causing Plagg to pause his quest for cheese.

"Adrien, relax! For all you know, those tests could have been for Alya. Hasn't she been going steady with Nino for a long time?" Plagg pointed out, and Adrien pondered this for a second. Then, he shook his head in disagreement.

"But Marinette paid for the test. And she carried the bag out of the store. I've just… I've got a feeling that Marinette really is pregnant. Oh, dammit! I knew we should have used protection," he growled. Now, because of one little mistake, he was going to be a father. How was he going to manage that? Since his own dad was often absent, he had no clue what a good father even looked like.

"Well, why didn't you use protection?" Plagg asked.

"Ladybug, I mean... Marinette, told me that the whole "combing powers" thing would fail if we used any."

"Don't you think that's a little strange, Adrien?"

"Yeah, I guess. But she was so distracting! God, Plagg, I've been waiting for Ladybug to let me love her for so long. I just never expected it to be like this," he sighed. Adrien took a seat on his bed and rested his elbows on his knees. Plagg flew over to him and sat on the boy's shoulder.

"It is unfortunate, I agree. But if that is really your baby, then you are responsible for it."

"I know. And I wouldn't dream of abandoning her now," Adrien admitted. "I still love her, and I know I will love that child." He was shocked by the confidence he had in his words, but he felt no doubt in his heart when he said them. Adrien had known that Ladybug was special ever since they had met, and it didn't take long for her to completely steal his lonely heart. He had been desperately struggling to properly express his feelings to her for a long time now.

'Maybe this baby was a blessing in disguise,' he thought. This would provide a perfect opportunity for Adrien to show her how much he cared for her. He could watch over her, protect her, and maybe in return she would start to care for him too.

A smile came over Adrien's face as he imagined raising a child with Marinette. It would certainly be difficult, especially since they were so young. But he knew they could do it. He had more than enough money to support a family, and this situation would finally give him an excuse to quit modeling. Anyway, he was technically an adult; it was time for him to pave his own path in life.

Even though he felt rather excited, one little thing was still bugging Adrien. Had this pregnancy been planned? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Marinette had wanted this to happen. She didn't explain much to Adrien during their night together, and she had blatantly refused the idea of protection. It didn't make sense to him that their powers would combine after sex. The only thing that Adrien knew that could be created from sex was a child.

He hated these unanswered questions. He wished that he could go speak to Ladybug about it, but she was probably still in her human form. Adrien really didn't want to scare her by revealing that he had already figured out so much. Instead, he decided to go talk to Master Fu. Adrien grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door, barely remembering to take Plagg with him.

"Hey, where are we going?" Plagg complained. "I haven't gotten to eat yet!"

"Sorry, Pal, but we have to run an errand," Adrien explained. He prayed that Master Fu had the answers to his questions, because he would probably go crazy if he didn't have some sort of an explanation soon.

Adrien put his hood over his head and was about to walk out the door when a light hand grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Adrien?" Nathalie, his manager, said with a quiet voice. Adrien jumped around to face her, startled by the sudden contact.

"Oh, hey, Nathalie," he replied. Usually, Nathalie wore a stern look upon her narrow face, and she usually only spoke to Adrien when she had a schedule to give him. This time, however, she had a softer expression.

"Adrien, I wanted to talk to you about something," she revealed.

"What's up?"

"I saw you rush back in a little while ago, and you looked pretty upset," she explained. "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

Adrien could hardly believe it. Nathalie had never been as indifferent and cold as his father, but she usually left Adrien to deal with his feelings by himself.

"Thanks, Nathalie, but I'm okay." He started heading out of the door, but she wasn't finished talking yet.

"I was talking to Mr. Agreste yesterday, and he had also noticed that your behavior recently has seemed a bit… off. He seemed to blame it on teenage hormones."

"Nathalie! No, it's nothing like that! It's…" Adrien started babbling in attempt to stop whatever awkward conversation that she was trying to start. He really did not want to have "The Talk" with his manager.

"Adrien, it's okay. I realize that your father hasn't been the most active in your life, but I don't want you to feel like you have no one to talk to about any issues that you might be having."

"Agh, I get it!" Adrien's outburst surprised Nathalie, who took a small step back. "Sorry, Nathalie, I didn't mean to yell. I just don't want to be late to my friend's house."

"It's alright. I'll see you later," she said, and Adrien felt a bit guilty about leaving her on that note. However, he couldn't wait any longer.

Without a goodbye, Adrien fled out of the house and ran to Master Fu's as quickly as possible. Finally, after navigating the streets of Paris, he found himself in front of the building he wanted. On the front door, a big red "CLOSED" sign hung from the doorknob. Adrien ignored it and started banging on the door with his fist. When no one showed up, Adrien knocked harder.

"Master Fu!" he yelled. "It's Adrien! I need to talk to you, I need your help!" Moments later, Master Fu opened the door.

"I was expecting you sometime soon. Please, come in." Adrien accepted the invitation and walked into the house. He followed Master Fu into the sitting room and took a seat on a lounge chair. He opened his mouth to speak, but Master Fu beat him to the punch.

"First, before you ask anything of me, I need to know what you know. I made a promise to Ladybug that I would let her explain everything at her own pace, and I do not wish to break that promise," Master Fu stated. Upon hearing this, Adrien could not help but become a little bit angry. Ladybug knew what was going on, and she didn't bother to tell him? What happened to being equals? Did Master Fu not trust him? Did Ladybug not trust him?

"Please, don't be mad at the girl. This situation is quite difficult, especially for her. I only made the promise because I was asking so much of her already," Fu described. Adrien still didn't like it, but he decided that it was more important to get answers than to be angry.

"Ladybug told me that HawkMoth is gaining too much power and that we aren't strong enough to beat him by ourselves. Basically, she told me that we needed to combine our powers if we wanted to create a power strong enough to beat him. And for some reason, that involved sex, which is all she told me, but now I realize that she is pregnant and…"

"Oh, it worked! Good, good. If you had waited much longer, I feared that we would run out of time." Master Fu said, and Adrien was shocked.

"You mean, this really was all a part of the plan? You actually wanted us to have a baby?!" Adrien cried, jumping up from his seat.

"Ah, I see that Ladybug did not get around to explaining that far yet."

"Yeah, I think she skipped that chapter," Adrien said sarcastically.

"Well, I see no harm in explaining the backstory to you." Master Fu carefully laid out the history of the previous miraculous guardians, pausing every few minutes to give Adrien a chance to soak in the facts.

"So, you're telling me that her child, I mean, our child, is going to be the source of the power that can defeat HawkMoth?" Adrien stammered.

"Precisely."

"But isn't that just a legend? How do you know it will work?"

"I must admit that I cannot guarantee the plan's success. But I am a miraculous legend-keeper, and I can tell you that it is indeed a very true story. Since you and Ladybug have been bound to your miraculouses, you two have your own unique powers inside. Those powers will get passed down to your child when he or she is born. In a way, your baby will not be a miraculous guardian, but a miraculous themselves."

'No freaking way,' thought Adrien. Not only was he going to be a father, but his child was going to be the most powerful being in the universe? He could only imagine the temper tantrums that this child was going to be capable of.

"But how on earth is an infant going to beat HawkMoth?" Adrien asked, feeling rather stupid for not understanding. Master Fu chuckled in response.

"The child will have great power, yes, but it will act like a miraculous. He or she will be able to give its power to others that they share a strong bond with. For a baby, that means that the power will most likely be shared with their mother and father."

"So, after Ladybug has this baby, we'll be able to tap into their power to beat HawkMoth? That's so cool! Why didn't we do this before?" Adrien joked, but Master Fu sent a glare back in his direction.

"Adrien, this plan was not one that I took pleasure in making. This has already had a detrimental effect on Ladybug, and I hope that you take that seriously."

Instantly, Adrien felt horrible. He had totally forgotten to think about how this all must be affecting Ladybug. While he got to keep fighting crime and living his life, she would be the one who had to suffer the consequences. How could he be so selfish?

"I'm sorry, Master Fu. I will do anything to help her," Adrien promised.

"I'm glad to hear it, Adrien."

Adrien was prepared to get up and leave, but he really wanted to tell Master Fu that he knew about Ladybug's true identity. That way, the Master Fu could talk to them both in their civilian forms without having to worry about all the secrecy.

"Um, hey, Master Fu? There's one more thing I wanted to mention," Adrien mentioned. The old man looked up at the boy with a questioning look, and Adrien continued. "As Ladybug was leaving from… that night, I recognized who she was. I know that Ladybug is Marinette." He didn't know what to expect from the older man, but he was surprised when Master Fu's eyes quickly filled with anger.

"Do you realize how much danger you just put Ladybug in?"

"Hey, what? What do you mean?" Adrien stammered.

"Your identities were to remain secret for a good reason. Those secrets keep you safe, Adrien. Now, if you were kidnapped, tortured, or out of control you have information that can be not just against you, but Marinette as well!"

Upon hearing those words, Adrien's heart shattered. He never wanted to put Ladybug in any danger, and now he had royally screwed up. He hung his head and started to walk out of the shop, ashamed of his actions.

"Wait, Adrien," Master Fu called. Adrien turned back around, but he refused to meet Master Fu's gaze.

"Since we cannot change the fact that you know the truth, we should use it to our advantage. Marinette will surely struggle over the course of the next year, and you are the only one that can help her. Speak to her as Chat to assure her that you are willing to support her, and help her as Adrien by being her friend. Just make sure that you keep your two identities separate."

A slight smile crept onto Adrien's face. He had wanted an excuse to get to help Marinette, and having Master Fu's permission gave him the perfect opportunity. He now had the chance to fix his relationship with his princess, and he wasn't going to waste it.

Wow! I have so much fun writing this story. Thanks to everyone for your support!