"Is this… my fault?" Sabrina leaned back in her seat on the couch, resting one hand on her stomach. Today for the first time, she'd had to break down and stop wearing her normal, more form-fitting shirts. She frowned, running her hand along the softer fabric. It wasn't a maternity blouse… but it was definitely looser around her stomach than anything she normally wore. And this was just the beginning; Marinette had already loaded her down with enough maternity clothes to last until her third baby was born! Her cheeks flushed. Not that she and Max were even thinking about more babies…

Half the time, the fact that they were expecting one was already more than she could handle.

Seated across from her in her accustomed armchair, Emilie hummed thoughtfully, her lips pursed in a pensive expression. "What do you think?" she asked, selecting one of the macarons from the tray between them and biting it in half.

Sabrina shrugged. "Well, if I hadn't… well… done it, then I wouldn't be pregnant right now, would I?" she pointed out, gesturing toward her belly. She could feel heat rising in her ears.

Emilie raised an eyebrow, her emotions shifting slightly to betray a hint of amusement. "That's true," she allowed, dipping her head in a small nod. "But unless there's something you're not telling me, you didn't actually conceive this child by yourself, sweetheart!"

Sabrina flushed, looking down at the empty teacup in her hands, and swallowed. "But I could have said 'no'," she insisted, finally meeting Emilie's calming gaze. "I could have said no. That first time, Max asked a dozen times if I was really sure about this. I could have stopped at any time. I could have said I didn't want to. But… I wanted to." Her shoulders slumped. "And even after that, nothing said we had to keep doing it without protection. We could have done it differently, safely. But it never even occurred to me. I didn't care about consequences." Her breathing hitched. "Until the consequences happened."

"Did you force him into it?" Emilie arched an eyebrow pointedly.

Sabrina started, her eyes bulging out. "What!? No! Absolutely not! I would never–" Emilie smiled, stifling a laugh, and Sabrina let out a huff. "You knew that."

"I did," Emilie confirmed, nodding. "And that means that you cannot be fully responsible for what happened. He could have stopped himself, too. He could have gone to the store just as easily as you. You can't accept all the responsibility for this – Max contributed 50% of the baby; he shares 50% of the responsibility for creating him or her." Emilie hummed, her emotions reverting from amusement back to calm and compassion. "What does Max think about all of this? About having a baby together? About being parents?"

Sabrina's lips curved up in a ghost of a smile. "He's excited," she answered, humming fondly. "He's happy – every time he sees me, he lights up and his love and happiness almost overwhelm me. I–I thought he loved me before, but now…" She swallowed, blinking back tears. "He really wants to have this baby." Her mouth turned down into a frown, and she looked down at the floor. She let out a heavy sigh, and her shoulders slumped. "But I just can't shake this fear that it's all just the heat of the moment, the emotional high of being reunited after Angola, of defeating the Tarasque and returning to Paris, of finding out about the baby, all of that together. The thought that keeps running through my mind is that it won't last, that he will resent me – resent the baby–" she gulped hard, trying to bite back the words "–because he wasn't ready to be a father."

"That is a valid feeling," Emilie told her sympathetically, the calm in her emotions increasing, pushing on Sabrina's own emotions. Emilie chuckled, shaking her head ruefully. "You are both so young: you've hardly grown up yourselves and already you're jumping into parenthood! I would honestly be worried about you if you didn't feel at least a little trepidatious about becoming parents at 18." She gave Sabrina a sympathetic smile. "And if it is all based on emotion, well, you and I both know how emotions can change."

Sabrina sniffled. "Do you think Max is going to resent this?" she whispered.

"We'll get to you and Max," Emilie assured her, holding up a hand. "But I think we need to start with you. I think the better question to ask right now /might be whether you are resentful of this." Sabrina cocked her head, pursing her lips. Emilie raised an eyebrow. "Before all of this happened, did you want to become a mother?"

Sabrina furrowed her brows, inhaling and exhaling slowly. "I… guess I hadn't really given it much thought," she finally admitted. "I definitely wasn't opposed to the idea. And I suppose when it did come up, I thought it would be nice to have a child of my own, someday. But I had so much else to do. So much of my focus the last few years has been on the Heroes of Paris and on supporting my friends – doing what I could to help them cope with the stress and anger and frustration when they came up. Sometimes, that was practically a fulltime job itself! And then you helped me start studying at Descartes to become a counselor, and I thought that might be the best way for me to contribute to the Heroes of Paris, especially after we helped the Girls back in the fall." Emilie smiled fondly. Sabrina let out a breath. "But then Angola happened, and now I need to work on my counseling – I have to regain Marinette's trust–"

"Do you really think she needs to see more from you before she will trust you again?" Emilie interrupted, giving her a pointed look.

Sabrina frowned. "With everything I did while we were in Angola, I have to make up for it," she insisted. "Marinette said that it would take time before she would really trust me."

"What was Marinette concerned about when you told her that you were pregnant?" asked Emilie. "Was she afraid that you wouldn't be able to continue to do your counseling so you could regain her trust?"

Slowly, Sabrina shook her head. "She was afraid that I would get hurt and get the baby hurt. But she was excited and happy for us to have a baby." She chuckled. "We might never need to buy clothing again…"

"And does that sound like someone who doesn't trust you?"

Sabrina let out a breath. "No."

"So do you think you still need to worry so much about regaining Marinette's trust?"

"I guess not…" Sabrina frowned. "Although it would be nice to hear that from Marinette…" Sabrina's stomach clenched.

Emilie hummed to herself, pursing her lips. "That is good to know," she murmured to herself, annoyance and amusement coloring her emotions. She shook her head and cleared her throat, examining Sabrina closely. "You're still anxious. About Max?"

Sabrina nodded, gulping. "I just–what if something happens? What if I lose him again? I–I lost him once… what if it happens again? I–I don't think I can lose him again." She tried to reach out with her emotions, beyond herself and the baby, but all she could sense was her own anxiety, her own fear, her own guilt. Her breathing hitched.

Emilie leaned forward, over the coffee table, and took Sabrina's hand. "You are safe here," she whispered. "Max is safe. Nothing is going to happen to him while he is working down in his lab."

Sabrina sniffled. "I–I know that," she murmured. "But I–I couldn't sense him! What if–"

"What if nothing," Emilie told her, raising an eyebrow. "I can sense his emotions, and aside from a little frustration, he's perfectly fine." Sabrina's shoulders slumped in relief, and she slowly started forcing herself to breathe: inhale slowly, hold, exhale… Emilie hummed, eyeing Sabrina carefully. "Do you normally react this way when you can't sense how Max is feeling?"

Sabrina shrugged. "It's only happened once since we found each other again in Tarascon," she admitted, looking down at the floor as heat rose in her cheeks. "Normally, I try to feel him all the time, just to make sure that he's safe."

Emilie hummed. "Do you… trust Max?"

"Yes…"

"Then manage your worries, and trust him," Emilie advised her. Sabrina scoffed. "I know how easy it is to worry," Emilie told her. "Believe me: I worried about you and Chloe and Adrien and Marinette and all of you kids, the whole time that you were in Angola. You were not just out of my empathic range, but entirely out of contact! If I had allowed myself to, I could have spent the six weeks a quivering mess, unable to do anything for worry. All I could do was focus on myself and what I could control, and trust that you would be okay."

"But if something did happen to Max, I would be able to help him," Sabrina pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"That's true," agreed Emilie. "And that's also true if something happened to me, or to Adrien, or to Marinette, or to Chloe, or to your Mom and Dad, or to any of your other friends. Do you check on them all the time?"

"Well, no…"

"Why not?"

"Because they know that if something happens and they need my help, they can just feel really angry and scared, and I'll be able to find them and help them," Sabrina answered.

"Does Max know to do that?" Emilie asked, arching an eyebrow.

Some of the tension in Sabrina's chest relaxed. "Yes. He does."

"So, if he isn't feeling so angry and scared…" Emilie prompted.

Sabrina sighed heavily. "Then that means he's not in trouble," she finished.

Emilie hummed, the corner of her lip twitching upward. "It sounds like you don't need to track his emotions quite so religiously."

Slowly, Sabrina shook her head. "I guess not." She pursed her lips. "But after the Tarasque – after I felt his emotions just… vanish when the Tarasque stepped on him and the portal shut – I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that sensation."

Sadness grew in Emilie's emotions. "It isn't easy to lose someone – not when we can feel their emotions the way we do. It will always hurt. There will always be pain." Emilie's mouth turned down. "But because we can sense their emotions, we have something of them that will never go away. We have the memory of their emotions – their love, compassion, happiness… All of that is still there, and in a way that lets you keep them alive."

"I tried to do it," Sabrina whispered quietly. "I tried to remember those good memories, the love and happiness that he had felt toward me. I tried to accept what had happened. And I was almost there… only for him to show up and save me again in Tarascon." She laughed humorlessly. "And then… I guess I was back to square one."

"Not square one." Emilie squeezed her hand. "You are far stronger now than you ever were before. You have learned to rely on others. And you've learned to accept loss and pain, even when it's hard. That makes you strong and mature."

Sabrina swallowed, breathing in and out slowly. "I… think I understand. Thank you." She winced, rolling her shoulders. "Oh… My back feels sore," she groaned.

Emilie gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry to say that that will get worse before it gets better."

"I suppose it will get better in seven months when the baby's born?"

Emilie stifled a laugh. "Try more like four years when the baby's too big to carry!" Sabrina leaned her head back and groaned. "You could try a chiropractor," Emilie suggested. "It did wonders for me when I was pregnant with Adrien."

Sabrina hummed, frowning. "Maybe I'll look into it." She furrowed her brows. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"Will Max resent the fact that you got pregnant?" asked Emilie. Sabrina nodded. Emilie tapped her chin for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't think Max is ever going to resent this," Emilie told her. "I can feel his emotions, just as much as you do. And his emotions are full of excitement and love and affection. But even if the emotions do change, that is only a small part of the picture. His love for you – and for the baby – is not simply about emotion. It's about action. And everything he has done since finding out has been for you and the baby."

"I hope so…"

Emilie watched her for a long moment. "Are you feeling resentful about this?"

"I didn't exactly want to have a baby during my first year of university."

"That is an enormous responsibility," Emilie agreed, nodding. "Regardless of when it happens. But from my own experience, it is not a responsibility that I have ever regretted accepting. And I hope that the same will hold true for you and Max, as well."